Church of Scientology wins court case in US

Here is the press release:

Church of Scientology International & Religious Technology Center Win in Court Against Former Member

U.S. District Judge rules in favor of Church of Scientology affirming religious nature of the work of Scientology staff

Los Angeles (Vocus/PRWEB ) April 5, 2010 -- On April 2, 2010, the United States District Court, Central District of California (Case No. CV 09-3987 DSF (FFMx)) granted a motion by the Church of Scientology International ("CSI") and Religious Technology Center ("RTC") dismissing a claim for alleged violations of federal and state labor laws based on the plaintiff’s years of religious service at CSI and RTC.

In the ruling granting summary judgment dismissing the wage and hour claims, Judge Dale Fischer today agreed with the Church of Scientology that the members of its religious order, known as the Sea Organization, which is comprised of the Church’s most dedicated members, are not subject to labor laws. Because the plaintiff chose to join a religious institution under her Church’s doctrine, her work was not subject to the payment of wages, the Court stated.

Judge Fischer specifically found that the plaintiff "was employed by a religious institution," that is, Church of Scientology International and Religious Technology Center, "was chosen for her position based largely on religious criteria," and "performed religious duties and responsibilities." The Court stated that like members of other religious orders, the plaintiff was only able to hold these positions based on her commitment to Scientology.

The plaintiff was a member of the Sea Organization from 1991 until 2005. During her years in the Sea Organization, the plaintiff held many positions within Scientology. Both CSI and RTC are recognized as churches by the IRS. The Sea Organization is a religious order for the Scientology religion and is composed of the most dedicated Scientologists in the world—individuals who have committed their lives to the volunteer service of their religion.

The first Sea Organization members formulated the one-billion-year pledge to symbolize their eternal commitment to the religion, still signed by all members today. As volunteers and members of a religious order, Sea Organization members work long hours and live communally with housing, meals, uniforms, medical and dental care, transport and all expenses associated with their duties provided by the Church. They also receive a small allowance to purchase personal items, as all of their other expenses are fully covered by the Church.

Sea Organization members are at the forefront of spearheading the Church's massive social mission, including the largest non-governmental drug education campaign on Earth, the largest human rights education campaign on Earth and many more programs that touch the lives of everyone. Today, some 6,000 members of the Sea Organization occupy staff positions in upper-level Scientology Church organizations around the world, ensuring that the religion is available to the millions of Scientology parishioners who live and work outside the Church.

CSI and RTC note that while the plaintiff has chosen to litigate her case in the media, the Churches will continue to present their case in court.

Contact:
Karin Pouw
(323) 960-3500 phone
(323) 960-3508 fax

Scientology Leader, Mr. David Miscavige

There is a whole new section of the Scientology web site that features the ecclesiastical leader of the Scientology religion, Mr. David Miscavige.

Check it out: David Miscavige: Chairman of the Board Religious Technology Center and Ecclesiastical Leader of the Scientology Religion


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Scientology: Renovations to the Online Presence

Not only are major renovations occuring to Churches of Scientology around the world, but the online Church has also just had a major makeover. Check out the new look of the Scientology Web Site.

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Scientology Ex-Members

A small handful of ex-members of the Church of Scientology have been getting some attention in the media recently.

When you take "that species of journalist whose interest is more in sensational copy than in an objective statement of the truth."¹ and you connect them up with the noisiest of ex-members, each of whom is "likely to be suggestible and ready to enlarge or embellish his grievance"¹, you will understand why the resultant media attention occurs.

Of course, the truth is nowhere near as entertaining as the fictional accounts of a disgruntled ex-member who "acts from a personal motivation to vindicate himself and to regain his self-esteem, by showing himself to have been first a victim but subsequently to have become a redeemed crusader."¹

Courts and other official investigators ignore the testimony of such people because it is well known that ex-members "always act out of a scenario that vindicates themselves by shifting responsibility for their actions to the religious group."¹

Of course, not all ex-members have complaints. In fact, the majority have been found by sociologists to harbor no ill-will against their former faith and because of this, ex-members with an axe to grind have been given the name "apostates" to differentiate them from the benign majority of ex-members.

For a more detailed discussion of "apostates" and their recent allegations see this article: Defectors About Scientology - Breaking with Scientology

(1) Quoted from "Apostates and New Religious Movements" by Prof. Bryan Wilson

(2) Quoted from "The Reliability of Apostate Testimony About New Religious Movements" by Lonnie D. Kliever, Ph.D.

Scientology: What is the Sea Organization?

Here is a great article giving a very complete description of the religious order of the Church of Scientology, The Sea Organization (Sea Org): Church of Scientology Sea Organization.

This is probably the most comprehensive article I've seen on the subject.

Working with David Miscavige (3)

And yet another statement by someone who worked with David Miscavige for decades: General Affidavit Declaration Of Information By Jason L. Bennick.

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Working with David Miscavige (2)

Here is another statement from someone who worked closely with David Miscavige for decades: Affidavit Of Yael Lustgarten. It's a fascinating read.

Working with David Miscavige

Mr. David Miscavige is the leader of the Scientology Religion. He has been the impetus behind the Church of Scientology's many programs to curb drug abuse, promote human rights and assist in disaster areas.

Here is a fascinating statement from a man who has worked with Mr. Miscavige for 24 years: Witness Statement Of David Bloomberg.

My Time in the Sea Organization of the Church of Scientology

The Sea Organization is the religious order of the Church of Scientology. Many religions have religious orders, in the Catholic Church this often consists of monks and nuns who swear oaths of chastity and poverty. They dedicate themselves to their religion and to helping others, e.g. Mother Teresa is an outstanding example of this.

For a good description of the Sea Organization and why it is called the "Sea" Org read the article here: The Sea Organization, The Religious Order Of Scientology.

I was in the Sea Org for a couple of years. In that time I worked in the staff training area, training executives in the Church's administrative technology.

I enjoyed it, I learned a lot, the job had its tough times and its fun times and I made many good friends.

It was very clear from the start that I was working in a religious fraternity. We didn't wear monks' garb and we didn't pray several times a day but we were definitely and without doubt working in a religious capacity.

I was in the Sea Org at Saint Hill in England, which is a beautiful place (that's what you see in the picture above). I loved to take walks in the gardens in front of the Manor house. It was so peaceful and serene there.

I've moved to the US since I left the Sea Org but recently, on Facebook, I've found old friends I knew there. It's so cool to be able to connect up again despite the distance between us.

Both my kids were recently in the Sea Org, over here in the States. Their experiences were very similar to mine and both have many good friends from their time serving our Church.

Sorry I couldn't be more controversial or put some exciting conflict in there like the news media always manages to, but often the truth is not as entertaining as fiction.

If you have any questions about the Sea Org then I'd be happy to answer them. Just make sure you follow my blog guidelines.

Scientology Case Forces Russia to Obey Human Rights Conventions

The final decision in a case brought by two Scientology Churches in Russia was handed down on March 8th. The victory by the two churches is not just a win for the religion of Scientology but also for all religions in Russia.

Bottom line: the arbitrary law that prevents the registration of a religious organization unless it meets some extreme requirements, is a violation of human rights conventions.

You can read the full story here: Church of Scientology–Final Judgment of European Court of Human Rights Defend Religious Freedom
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Scientology: How do you show tolerance for other religious faiths if you believe yours is the only true one?

Steph asked: How do you show tolerance for other religious faiths if you believe yours is the only true one?

Tolerance is very important. We don't believe our religion is the "only true one". We believe that it is a workable path to spiritual freedom, but we don't discount the fact that there could be others.

A person can be a Scientologist and a member of another religion. In my years as a Scientologist I have met Scientologists who are also Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Hindu. As long as being in another religion doesn't get in the way of your spiritual advancement then there is no conflict.

My church is a big supporter of human rights and sponsors a human rights educational campaign (Youth for Human Rights and Human Rights ). Freedom of conscience and religion is a basic human right, and in order to allow others to practice this right one must practice tolerance.

On a personal level, I try to never make fun of or denigrate another's beliefs or religious ideas. If I get into a discussion with others about their religion I always validate what they are doing because I feel that having a grounding in the spiritual side of life is very important.

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Scientology: Have you always belonged to this religion?

No. I was raised in the Christian faith. I went to Sunday School as a kid. You'd probably call the church Protestant. My mother was into it, my father didn't really care and by the time I hit fourteen or fifteen I was an atheist. The whole religion thing made no sense to me. I wanted proof. I wasn't into faith and belief.

So when I came across Scientology, I carefully ignored the fact that the organization was called the "Church of Scientology". A church was something I was not interested in being part of. But the book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health made sense to me and I wanted to know more so ... onto the next question.
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Scientology: What happens in a typical church service? (1)

The first part of my answer is this video:

The Spirit of the Season

Here is something to help you get into the spirit of the holiday season. It's from the Church of Scientology, Mission of Seattle blog: A Mid-Holiday Season Pick-Me-Up!

Splurge on it!

Helping Kids stay off Drugs

The Church of Scientology of Los Angeles was where the Drug Free Marshals program started, 16 years ago. Since then the program has activated young people of all backgrounds, faiths and ethnicities in pledging to live drug-free lives and helping their friends and families do the same.

And the program is still going strong: Church of Scientology of Los Angeles Youth Help Kids Say No to Drugs

An example of a member of Anonymous

When the people who attack you are like this guy - Mark Fisher In His Own Words - then you know you must be doing good, because only someone like that would oppose a group that supports human rights and has a campaign going against the global sex-slave trade.

Christmas comes to Hollywood

Winter Wonderland on Hollywood Blvd has become a Hollywood Christmas tradition and this year the 60ft Douglas fir that is the centerpiece for all the fun was actually planted in 1983, the year that Winter Wonderland began.

For the full story click here:

60ft Christmas Tree Arrives at L. Ron Hubbard's Winter Wonderland for the 26th Consecutive Year

Scientology and the Da Vinci Code

The other day, a co-worker who has the subtly and diplomatic skills of a charging rhino (I'll call him Bill), asked another co-worker (Joe) who the woman and child were in the picture on his desk. Joe replied that it was the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus. Bill went on to extract from Joe that Joe was a Catholic. Bill the rhino then asked Joe if he'd read the Da Vinci Code and what he thought about it. Joe (who does have some diplomatic skills) said he hadn't and attempted to move the subject off to something less controversial, but Bill persisted.

Being a mediator at heart, I jumped in and said a couple of things about the book that directed the rhino charge elsewhere and saved Joe from further embarrassment.

Having read a couple of the books referenced in the Da Vinci Code and not having a foot in either camp, I sent Joe a link to an FAQ, that authoritatively and accurately debunks Dan Brown's assertion that "all descriptions of [..]documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate" and are based specifically on the fact that "in 1975 Paris' Bibliothèque Nationale discovered parchments, known as Les Dossiers Secrets" which reveal the story of the Priory of Sion. (See The Da Vinci Code Faq.)

As I said, I have read a couple of the books that are referenced in the Da Vinci Code and I must say they make fascinating reading and I can understand how they could have influenced Brown to write his book. They are filled with fascinating speculations and intriguing deductions but they are not filled with much in the way of facts.

I re-read the Da Vinci Code FAQ and was struck by the idea that, in all probability, millions of people now believe that the Priory of Sion exists and that Christ was married-with-kids. And all based on the attempts of an impoverished French would-be aristocrat to ascend to the thrown of France followed by the machinations of a TV producer attempting to improve his ratings by embellishing an already outrageous story.

It's a frightening commentary on how gullible people are. Just because a fiction writer says at the start of his book that something is true doesn't mean it is, but apparently millions of people are willing to just accept it without question.

So what has all this got to do with Scientology? Well, if you are foolish enough to start hunting around the Internet for web-sites about Scientology you will find many that say extremely alarming, damaging and downright nasty things about Scientology and the Church of Scientology and, like Dan Brown in his opening note to the Da Vinci Code, they will assert that what they are saying are "facts".

Of course I can simply tell you, "It's a pack of lies" and then you can say, "So how can I tell if your blog isn't just a pack of lies also?" And the answer is that, without further research, you can't.

So, here is what I suggest:

• If you are not interested in further research then please don't believe any of it. Don't believe the detractors and don't believe me. Just stay completely neutral on the subject. Allow Scientologists the same rights as anyone else when it comes to what they believe and what religion they wish to practice (See: Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
• If you are willing to do some further research then buy a basic book on the subject (such as Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health or Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought), read it and then use the practical methods the book gives you to improve your life or the lives of others. At that point you will be able to evaluate for yourself if the subject is valid or not.
• Another thing you can do is go to a Church of Scientology (Scientology Church Locator) for a free introductory lecture or a low priced introductory service. That way you get to see what the subject is, use the practical methods of the subject to see if they work and meet real-life Scientologists so you can observe people who use the subject daily in their lives. Then you can make up your own mind based on personal, first-hand experience.

Is it a deal?

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Scientology in France - Some Facts

At last some facts about the case in France:

Church Of Scientology Defeats Attempt To Curtail Freedom To Practice The Religion In France

Here is the article for those who don't want to click the link (I've highlighted some interesting bits):

The Paris Correctional Court has rejected the recommendations of prosecutors in a case against a Paris Scientology Church, a Scientology bookstore and six individual Church members. The Court cited the absence of any complainants coming forward despite the intense media surrounding the trial and that the defendants had acted out of sincere religious conviction as reasons for refusing the draconian sanctions sought by the government. The Court imposed no restrictions on the Church’s activities.

Throughout the month-long trial held in May and June 2009, the Church decried the case as a heresy trial and an example of the discriminatory treatment to which new religious movements are treated in France—treatment that has been condemned by international human rights bodies. In its annual International Religious Freedom Report issued on October 26, 2009 the United States State Department said that “discriminatory treatment” of Scientologists in France “remained a concern.”

The case arose out of the five-month participation in Scientology religious practices in 1998 by the main civil party. This included studying Scientology Scriptures and receiving spiritual counseling. The donations made by the plaintiffs were returned to them in full well before any case was heard. In 2006, the prosecutor recommended the case be dismissed because there was no evidence of any wrongdoing and because all donations had been returned.

Instead, the court succumbed to pressure from anti-religious extremists in government and turned it into a heresy trial in violation of the rights of the Scientologists under French law and under the European Convention on Human Rights.

This is in marked contrast to the treatment of Scientology in other countries where Scientology is formally recognized as a religion. The European Court of Human Rights has on two recent occasions found that Churches of Scientology in Russia are entitled to the protection of religious freedom guaranteed by Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Today’s decision means that Scientologists remain free to practice their religion in France, despite the best efforts to the contrary by anti-religious extremists. While the fines and suspended sentences issued by the Court will be appealed, they will have no effect on Church activities and the rapid expansion the Church is experiencing will continue.

The Church of Scientology has grown from one Church in 1954 to more than 8,000 Churches, Missions and groups in 165 countries today. The Church sponsors an international human rights education initiative as well as the world’s largest non-governmental drug education program. Four new Churches have opened in 2009, most recently the Church of Scientology of Rome on October 24, with a new Church opening in Washington, DC, on October 31. In April, three new Churches were dedicated: in Malmo, Sweden; Dallas, Texas; and Nashville, Tennessee. The Scientology religion has expanded more in the past year than in the past five years combined and more in the past five years than in the past five decades combined.

Scientology In France

Here is the "Official statement of the Church of Scientology" in France regarding the recent court decision that you may have heard about in the media.

If you can read French then the original is here: Pour le tribunal, la Scientologie doit continuer ses activités

Here is a translation that I ran through Babel Fish. Not the best English, but understandable:

For the court, Scientology must continue its activities

First of all, and it is perhaps most important, the Court recognized today that the Church of Scientology was to continue its religious activities in France.

It could not escape the reality which there exists a broad community of happy Scientologists to practice their religion. It also noted that in spite of the extraordinary media pressure around this lawsuit, no new complaint had been deposited in 10 months since the beginning of the lawsuit.

The UNADFI was declared inadmissible once again as a civil part, which proves again that it does not have any legitimacy to be involved in the businesses concerning the religious minorities, and that the million subsidies which it received from the State are not enough to make it credible in front of Justice.

Concurrently to that, the Church denounces a lawsuit in heresy, an enquiry of modern times and this since the beginning. The judgments pronounced in total contradiction with the requisitions of withdrawal of case of origin are the result of carefully orchestrated political pressures which seem to have weighed on the court.

“We will not give up. The religion of Scientology develops more than ever and its recognition in France is inescapable, as in the other countries. We believe that nobody has the right to say to the French what they must think and what they must believe as regards religion”, declares the spokesperson of the Church Celebrity Centre.

We support the French Constitution and the European Convention of the Human rights, whereas the campaigns of Georges Fenech and Miviludes are criticized within certain international organizations because of the threat which they carry against freedom of worship. The international report/ratio of the American State Department on the religious liberty which has just left recalls once again that “the discriminatory treatment towards the Witnesses of Jéhovah and the Scientologists continues to lend to concern”.

The Church of Scientology was founded in 1954. Today there exists more than 8000 Churches of Scientology, missions and groups in 165 countries. The Church sponsored the most important initiative of education to the human rights in the world as well as the greatest nongovernmental programme of prevention against drug.

The Scientology makes great strides without precedent, with a more significant development during the last twelve months than during the five previous years, that the five last years being higher than the 50 previous years combined.

Last weekend, the inauguration of the new Church of Scientology of Rome gathered 6000 people. The next week, the Church of Scientology of Washington DC will settle in its new buildings in the middle of the city.

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Oh, no. Despite the best laid plans of mice, the Church of Scientology continues to expand at an exponential rate. Too bad :)