A roundup of news stories about — and some research resources on — the Church of Scientology.
Katie Holmes’ detox diet follows Scientology Second Dynamic
Katie Holmes and her husband Tom Cruise missed the Academy Awards because she was too tired by her detox diet. … [According to a source,] “The Clear Body, Clear Mind plan utilises a regime of exercise, sauna sweat-out, vitamins and minerals to cleanse bodies of toxins. … The source said Katie is following the teachings of the Scientology Second Dynamic, a book that advises on conception and marriage.
What is the Second Dynamic? Well, we think that — like so much else in Scientology — it’s all part of the cult’s quackery, the big fantasy world created by founder L. Ron Hubbard.
The Scientology Lies website provides more info:
Scientology teaches that a being’s strongest urge is to survive, and that the urge to survive is expressed in eight ways, known as the Eight Dynamics. The Second Dynamic is sex and the family. (What are the others? The first is the self, the third is groups, the fourth is humankind as a whole, the fifth is life forms (including animals and plants), the sixth is the physical universe, the seventh is the spiritual, and the eighth is infinity.)
Although Scientologists vehemently oppose any alterations to L. Ron Hubbard’s writings and teachings, the current management of the Scientology organization has been changing the definition of the Second Dynamic from “sex and family” to “creativity”.
[…]
And what about that detox diet? See:
Demystifying detox diets Many experts advise caution in the age of the toxic quick fix
Riverside County supervisors to consider third draft of picketing ordinance
Riverside County supervisors could adopt an ordinance Tuesday that would limit picketing outside homes in unincorporated Riverside County, including dormitories at the Church of Scientology’s compound near Hemet. … This is the third draft of the ordinance that supervisors have considered since November. … Anti-Scientology demonstrators and local First Amendment advocates have opposed the picketing rules as unnecessary constraints on freedom of speech. They say supervisors are giving the church special treatment. Church representatives say the protesters are lying and that they are part of a group that has made dozens of bomb threats and death threats aimed at the compound.
Did we mention the Scientology Lies website? The site includes documents regarding Paulette Cooper. Whenever Scientologists mention bomb threats, we think of Paulette Cooper — one of countless people who has been on the receiving end of Scientology’s hate- and harassment activities. ScientologyLies.com writes, “Paulette Cooper is a journalist who suffered extraordinary harassment after writing an article and a book about Scientology. FBI raids of Scientology offices turned up evidence of conspiracies against Cooper, including Scientology’s attempt to frame her for sending bomb threats – threats which Scientology operatives sent themselves in order to get Cooper jailed.”
See also: Looking over my shoulder, The Inside Account of the Story That Almost Killed Me — by Paulette Cooper.
Controversial church linked to tutors on state list
A tutoring agency in Cobb County [Florida] with ties to the Church of Scientology has drawn critics along with federal dollars.
Applied Scholastics pledges to offer only secular lessons. But critics who lodged four complaints last year against the nonprofit —- which uses Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard’s teachings —- wrote they feared it wouldn’t keep ideology out of the classroom.
State education officials began an annual inspection in February and will observe the group’s tutoring this month. The review will include making sure Applied Scholastics’ policies and teachings are geared toward secular instruction, officials said. […]
Applied Scholastics has caused controversy in recent years in U.S. cities as well as in other countries. … Supporters argue the program is nonreligious and has helped students overcome learning problems. Opponents argue it’s a veiled way for Scientology —- which some opponents charge is a cult —- to bring its ideas to children and their parents.
The Scientology vs. Education website provides indepth information about this Scientology front group:
Applied Scholastics claims that it is wholly independent of the Church of Scientology. Its chief executive officer Bennetta Slaughter says that “they are separate organizations … We are strictly an educational organization. We are not part of the church.” (St Louis Post-Despatch, July 27, 2003). Taken literally, this is true. Applied Scholastics is indeed a legally separate corporation. However, it has so many ties to the Church of Scientology and its corporate alter ego, the Church of Spiritual Technology, that it cannot be regarded as being anything other than a Scientology subsidiary.
L. Ron Hubbard was a deeply troubled person who had trouble separating fiction from reality.
Court tells Berlin district to remove anti-Scientology warning poster
Last January a Berlin, Germamy, borough placed a public kiosk on the sidewalk near the city’s Scientology offices. The kiosk bore a poster with a big stop sign and a printed message: The district of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf “expresses its opposition to the activities of the Scientology sect in this district and in Berlin, and hopes that responsible parties in Berlin will watch the Scientology sect with a critical eye in the near future, and that any new information will be made public.”
Naturally, the cult was not amused, and it asked for — and received — interim relief. According to a Feb. 27 article in German daily Der Tagesspiegel the Berlin Administrative Court has ruled the poster must be removed — temporarily.
The district has removed the kiosk, but says it will continue to warn citizens against Scientology’s activities. In press releases (virtually the only way Scientology manages to get any positive press) Sabine Weber, the cult’s german president, calls this a ‘hate campaign. Which is very rich coming from a church known for its hate- and harassment activities — unethical behavior based on the writings of its founder.
Church of Scientology coming to Ocala, Florida
The Church of Scientology will soon call Marion County home following the controversial group’s announcement that it plans to open a church and education center downtown. […]
[Church of Scientology spokeswoman Pat] Harney said there have been enough inquiries about the church in the area to warrant a mission building in Ocala. The facility would be for educating people about the basics of Scientology, but not for advanced study.
“We’ve been experiencing a lot of interest (in Scientology) in Ocala,” Harney said.
Asked if [John] Travolta, who lives in a gated community with a private airstrip in nearby Anthony, was one of the reasons the church decided to locate here, Harney said the decision was based on people’s interest in the church.
“There’s no telling if (Travolta living in the area) played a role,” she said.
Harney said she understands sometimes Scientology is controversial, but that’s because people often do not understand the religion.
Scientologists use this as a standard excuse: if people criticize their ‘religion’ it is because they do not understand it. But that does not account for the huge number of people — including countless former Scientologists — who do understand Scientology and therefore criticize it.
This includes such high-profile defectors as actor John Duignan. John was in the Church of Scientology for 22 years, and rose to become a respected member of Scientology’s highly secretive ‘Sea Org.’ Here, he tells his shocking story in person for the first time:
See all 16 parts of the interview with John Duignan here.
See also John Duignan’s book, The Complex: An Insider Exposes the Covert World of the Church of Scientology
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