Subject: Scientology's criminal conspiracy of religious persecution-- the debate.
I want to contribute more to the debate on Scientology potentially being the US's greatest remaining religious persecutor.
I believe that the "church" of Scientology is involved in a criminal conspiracy of rampant religious persecution to deny religious freedom to former members and to crush religious reformers. I believe that the problem is so bad that it MUST soon be taken to the US State Department, the United Nations, the heads of all other legitimate religions, and to governments such as Germany, Greece and France where Scientology like a wolf in sheep's clothing is claiming it is the innocent victim of religious persecution.
The following is a part of what I have seen. (Please feel free to add your experiences and information to this debate and send them to me for the New Scientology's Religious Persecution Section of the Factnet Scientology page. These accumulating reports will then be organized and forwarded to the government(s) religious freedom protection arms as well as others for investigation.
1. When I was in Scientology I was asked by my ethics officer on approval of the Intel branch to go to a Scientology competing church called Abilitism (it was on their squirrel group list) and find a way to infiltrate it and cause its destruction.
2. I have witnessed Gerry Armstrong a key religious reformer of Scientology having to flee the US because of Scientology's continual harassment of his religious reformation efforts. What is most concerning about this is that it was done for the most part by using the US court system to silence his religious dissent and reformation efforts. "In addition to violating and abusing its own members' civil rights, the organization over the years with its 'fair game' doctrine has harassed and abused those persons not in the church whom it perceives as enemies." --Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Paul Breckenridge, June 1984, in the Gerry Armstrong case
3. I have seen the religious reformer of Scientology Enid Vein driven to the edge of bankruptcy by using the US court system to silence her religious dissent and reformation efforts. In order to avoid exhaustion and bankruptcy she eventually capitulated to Scientology's litigation assault
4. I am familiar with raids Scientology has made on Former members homes to silence their religious dissent and religious reformation efforts, Dennis Erlich, Bob Penny Arnie Lerma etc. One little spoken of raid was the first in LA, on a man named (I believe) Bostrum. He was raided in a Scientology sting operation for selling his former religions religious texts. He had no money and quickly capitulated to Scientology's litigation machine twisting secular law to control religious dissemination. (Dennis Erlick has more of the details on this.)
5. I am familiar with the 1991or 1992 SP Declare list put out by Scientology that lists scores of Scientology religious reform groups that I believe have mostly been closed due to Scientology's covert religious persecution and open litigation abuse by way of using secular laws never intended to be twisted to crush religious freedom.
6. I am familiar with public and secret policies in Scientology such as the last points of the "Keeping Scientology Working" policy which promote and demand the destruction of competing Scientology reform churches and any religious dissent. I have personally experienced a continuos 17 year litigation and covert operation assault on my personal religious freedom by Scientology through its use of malicious litigation to punish and silence me from both peaking of my religious experience in Scientology and to punish and silence me for continuing to work for both religious and secular reform of this group. The raid on my home and Scientology new lawsuit against me personally was just the latest of this outrageous personal religious persecution. "Substantial evidence supports the conclusion Scientology leaders made the deliberate decision to ruin Wollersheim economically and possible psychologically....We do not mean to suggest Scientology's retributive program... represented a full scale modern day 'inquisition.' Nevertheless there are some parallels in purpose and effect. 'Fair game,' like the 'inquisition,' targeted heretics^Å Such conduct is too outrageous to be protected under the constitution and too unworthy to be privileged under the law of torts." -California appellate court, 2nd district, 7th division, Wollersheim v. Church of Scientology of California, Civ. No. B023193 Cal. Super. (1986)
7. I am familiar with supposed confidential religious confessions made by members while in Scientology being used against them after they leave as blackmail or to embarrass them into religious silence or religious reform inaction.
These experiences help me pose the following questions for serious ARS debate:
1.Is the Church of Scientology perverting secular for-profit trade secret and copyright laws into a state sanctioned form of religious persecution.
2. Is the Church of Scientology perverting secular for-profit trade secret and copyright laws to crush religious reform movements of ex-Scientologists.
3. Is the Church of Scientology perverting secular for-profit trade secret and copyright laws to removal religious competitors and try to create and enforce a religious monopoly?
4. Is the Church of Scientology perverting secular for-profit trade secrets and copyright laws for enforcing a state sanctioned religious authority, orthodoxy and purity?
5. Is the Church of Scientology perverting secular for-profit trade secrets and copyright laws to stop former members using they obtained legally from Scientology's religious scriptures according to their individual religious free choice and religious freedom tells them is appropriate (the Bostrom raid?
6. Can a non profit church or religious organization that is given special state protected and sanctioned religious freedom and other special class and tax privileges and protections, then from this position of special class, privilege and protection twist the state's secular law to crush the religious freedom of its former members and its reformers?
7. Were secular business trade secret and copyright laws ever intended or designed UNDER ANY STRETCH OF THE INTENTION OF THE CREATORS OF THESE LAWS, to inhibit religious freedom, help one church establish a monopoly over other competitive churches, help enforce religious authority, orthodoxy and purity, or crush religious reform groups?
8. How can Scientology's true intentions of religious persecution etc. be demonstrated to the court system and in the current cases so that their current efforts to pervert secular copyrights and trade secret law can be seen for what it is and thrown out of court as another example of the most vile bad faith litigation a claimed church could enact--- a protected religion enacting in religious persecution!
9. How should the paid attorneys who pervert secular law to assist Scientology in their religious Inquisition be help legally and financially accountable for their parts in the conspiracy of helping Scientology carry on a program of religious persecution and deny the religious freedoms and civil rights of their former members?
10. How does Scientology's religious persecution practices effect the removal of its US IRS tax status and removing its tenuous religious status in other countries?
Other discussion points:
1. How can Scientology's actions of their extensive US religious persecution be called to the public's attention as well as to the attention of other religions.
2. If you are not aware of it, Scientology has instituted a massive media program using big celebrity actors to redirect global attention away from the suicides, the criminal activities, the multi-government crackdowns and most importantly its own outrageous religious persecution practices. The way it has chosen to redirect attention is to misdirect the public's attention to a bogus and easy to sympathize with cover story is that it is THEY who are the innocent victims of religious persecution in countries that are cracking down on them for their criminal activities. How can this be countered?
Is there a way that that the alt.clearing technology people can be motivated to become more active and supportive of existing litigation against Scientology in the protection of THEIR religious freedoms against Scientology's religious persecution?
Lawrence Wollersheim IMHO
Personally
PS please forward this to anyone who should be involved in this debate and particularly to Enid Vein and Bostrum.
A
