Alt.religion.scientology Week in Review
Volume 2, Issue 26
10/12/97
by Rod Keller [rkeller@voicenet.com]
copyright 1997

Contents

1. Xenu Leaflet
2. AOL
3. Deutsche Bank
4. Factnet
5. Germany
6. Keith Henson
7. Memphis Mission
8. Bob Minton
9. Michael Pattinson
10. Poole Protest

Alt.religion.scientology Week in Review summarizes the most significant
postings from the Usenet group Alt.religion.scientology for the preceding
week for the benefit of those who can't follow the group as closely as
they'd like. Out of thousands of postings, I attempt to include news of
significant events, new affidavits, court rulings, new contributors,
whatever. I hope you find it useful. Like many readers of a.r.s, I have a
kill file. So please take into consideration that I may not have seen some
of the most significant postings. 

The articles in A.r.s Week in Review are brief summaries of articles
posted to the newsgroup. They include message IDs for the original
articles, and many have a URL to get more informtion. You may be able to
find the original article, depending on how long your site stores articles
in the newsgroup before expiring them. 

Free A.r.s Week in Review subscriptions are available, just email me
at rkeller@voicenet.com
It is archived at:

http://wpxx02.toxi.uni-wuerzburg.de/~krasel/CoS/ars-summary.html
        http://www.thur.de/religio/publik/arsfaq.html
        http://home.sol.no/heldal/CoS/archive/WIR/
        http://www.i1.net/~mallen/scn/arswr/ars-summary.html

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Xenu Leaflet

"The cult lawyers have attached a print-out from the front page of Operation Clambake. They have erased the name 'XENU' from the printout, now it says 'The ____ Leaflet'. Then it's the rest of the letter from my lawyer.

"'And I don't understand how a highly respected law firm like Haavind & Haga can take on a job for such a shabby organisation like this 'church'. Has it gone totally unnoticed by the law firm what kind of tragedies this 'church' has given people? I will do my part to make it as hard as possible for this 'church'. My goal is to close down this con man organisation in Norway once and for all.'"

Roland Rashleigh-Berry plans to load the Xenu Leaflet on other Internet providers to keep it available.

"I am in the process of setting up an XS4ALL account. Let's see you bully *them* into removing the Xemu flyers, the Pope flyers and my RealAudio files. You upset me when you lied to the force9 people. You upset me when you insisted they remove even the Pope flyer - and they did. All my stuff will fall within the Dutch equivalent of fair use."

http://home.sol.no/~spirous/CoS/news/
Message-ID: <343bf058.3571298826@news.sol.no>
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AOL

"AOL message board Church of Scientology has been rolled back to allow for more message posts. The CoS II Mboard was created when the first MB got full 500 posts in <5 days. CoSII mysteriously disappeared last night 10/5 - 10/6."

"Oct 11, 1997, a new Message board was formed on AOL (This makes for 3 concurrent boards, plus Former scientologists.

"Find it at Life, styles, & interests; Religion; Religion & Ethics Board; Other Religions; Other religions 1; Scientology in Action"

Message-ID: <19971006201000.QAA18631@ladder02.news.aol.com>
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Deutsche Bank

"A member of the Church of Scientology is suing the German conglomerate Deutsche Bank AG (DBKG.F) alleging she was dismissed by the company because of her affiliation with the group, her lawyer said on Monday. Josie Romero, an administrative assistant at the bank's New York branch for almost eight years, filed the lawsuit on Oct. 1 in Manhattan federal court under federal anti-discrimination laws and New York state and city human rights laws. The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages from Deutsche Bank and its North American division.

"A spokeswoman in Deutsche Bank's New York office said the company would not comment on pending legal disputes. 'It is the bank's policy not to comment on matters in litigation,' she said, adding that the company has a 'strong commitment' to a workplace free of racial, sexual or religious discrimination.

"Richard said Romero's complaint must be seen in the context of widespread charges of discrimination against Scientologists in Germany."

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Factnet

"FACTNet would like to clarify the question of Stacy Young and FACTNet's Board of Directors. During the time the mailing was sent out three months ago (in July), Stacy had agreed to be a provisional director of FACTNet. However, due to Scientology harassment and lack of time to be a working director, it was decided that she would not become a full director, and her provisional directorship elapsed.

"Stacy has not been listed as a director on the numerous mailings sent out since then, and will not be so listed in the future. (In any case, by law, nonprofit board director positions are never paid positions)."

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Germany

"I really want to stress that our Crusade is not only an extremely important step to expanding Scientology in Europe, but in simply keeping it there. It's pretty common knowledge that some German government officials are bent on banning Scientology in Germany. It's obvious from the various Freedom Magazines and the special magazines the IAS has published on suppression in Germany.

"The way I see it: If Scientology is banned in Germany, Europe is at serious risk. Of course, if Europe is at risk, the US is at risk as well. And so is the rest of the world. It's a horrible thought, I know, and I don't like saying it. But the fact is that we have some SPs on this planet. They are well financed, well connected, and well publicized. A much more important fact is that we have proven time and again that truth wins. Of course, this takes some work.

"If we do not handle this situation NOW, then we will have to do it later, and our job will be much harder. So if we consider that a trip to Berlin is too expensive or too time consuming or too much of a hassle, we should consider that if the suppression is allowed to spread, handling it will be much more time consuming, much more expensive, and much more of a hassle down the road."

"Andrik Sharpers was at the Graduation last Friday in the Hamburg Org and briefed us on the game you and many other US orgs are playing to send as many people as possible (or impossible!) to the demo. This demo may well be the make-break point of ending the religious suppression here in Germany and surrounding countries. It will for sure be a VERY big public event which will make history and can not be overseen or ignored! Our game in Hamburg is to send 1000 just from this Org!

"Here are some data from a press release about FRG Freedom for Religions in Germany, the official organizer of the big Demonstration in Berlin 27th of October.

"FRG-Adress: 1701, 20th St.NW Washington, D.C. 20009 Phone: 202-6677-6404, Fax 202-667-6314 Rev. Susan Taylor, FRG Coordinator

"FRG Coalition members: (Coalition to protect the rights of Religious minorities in Germany) * American Muslim council * Buddhist council of New York * Christians Concerned for Racial Equality * Federation of Turkish American Associations, Inc. * Ga Adangbe Traditional Council of USA, Inc. * Human Rights Committee Church of Scientology International * Jewish Coalition for Religious Freedom * Lift Every Voice, Inc. * National Task Force on Religious Freedom Litigation & Legislation * Protestant Conference on Churches and Clergy * Dr. George Robertson, Professor of Religion Maryland Bible College * Unity-and-Diversity World Council * Andrew Viddich, hindu, Chairman, New York Interfaith council * voice of Freedom

"And from a later paper additional members: * International/Interracial Religious Freedom Council of Christian Minorities * Interfaith Committee of Church of Scientology International * Council for Human Rights and Religious Freedom"

"The Berliner are looked at as open, free and easy, comfortable to talk to. They are not servile and authority bonded, but quite self conscious and want to build their own opinion, but are mainly lacking data about our religion. As Berlin wouldn't be Berlin if there are a lot of guys who are just the other way around. Get in Comm and see! And again, thank you very much for going to Berlin and create an impact on the public and in the media. We need this foreign support very much."

"I have been appointed by the Germany Task Force I/C as the choir director for the candlelight vigil service at the demonstration in Berlin on October 27th. Thus I need to hear from anyone who is going to Berlin who could sing in the choir. I'd like to have a 100-voice choir! We will be rehearsing all day on Sunday, the 26th."

Tilman Hausherr reported that Scientology will have to change the planned location of the rally following the march.

"I just read in the paper 'taz' that scientology won't be able to have its concert in the 'Deutschlandhalle'. Contract negotiations with the owner of the hall were unsuccessful. The scientology representative is one 'Reverend Leonhard Jackson'."

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Keith Henson

"A report has our favorite wanted-in-Florida felon actively dead agenting me to the other Alcor board members today. Most of them have known about this SP hobby of mine for a long time because I briefed them about it, and various things they should expect over a year ago. But Gene managed to get to one who had been out of the country at that time, and laid the usual DA material on him, making the slightly amusing claim that I had made one of my daughters pregnant. The funniest thing about all of this is that the guy Gene talked to is a board certified psychologist."

Message-ID: <hkhensonEHvHHo.6HL@netcom.com>

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Memphis Mission

"Celebrity devotees Lisa Marie Presley and Isaac Hayes told a crowd at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Church of Scientology's Memphis mission to ignore media criticism of the religion also followed by John Travolta and Tom Cruise. 'For me, it saved my life and my sanity many times,' Presley said Saturday of the religion founded by the late L. Ron Hubbard in 1954. Hayes and the daughter of Elvis Presley financed the renovation of the church building.

"Before he became a Scientologist, Hayes was skeptical of the group described by critics as a cult, but joined after visiting one of the church's celebrity centers in Los Angeles and asking a lot of 'hard questions.' 'The most important thing is to find out for yourself,' Hayes said."

Message-ID: <61c9fa$51e@basement.replay.com>

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Bob Minton

"I got a call tonight from the daughter of my deceased step-mother (who had died about 7 years ago) which was the last time I had contact with this relative. Now for background, my impression is that my father basically screwed my step-mothers' relatives from any of her estate; and, a rather nasty court fight took place while the estate was being settled. Well, I have the same name as my father - except I am a 'Junior' but never use it - but live 1000 plus mile away from him. In any case, a court record exists about this suit and guess who was staying at a Motel 6 in Nashville, Tennessee at least yesterday and last night trying to find out some 'dirt' no doubt about Robert S. Minton. It was someone who was directly traced to the church of $cientology Boston named Mary Newey.

"When asked why she was checking, I'm told that Mary stated she was doing a 'background check.' Next question was 'For who?' Well it seems that Mary was evasive but when pressed said 'for a friend who is an attorney in Los Angeles'. For some reason, Mary called back my distant relative in Nashville tonight from Boston and left a message for my relative to call her back at (617) 266-9504 - you guessed it - the church of $cientology in Boston.

"I called there about 10:00 PM and asked for Mary Newey and the lady who answered the phone said you mean Mary Frances and I said yes. When she answered I asked her if she was the church of $cientology bloodhound who stayed at the Motel 6 in Nashville last night and was calling around the country looking for information on me? I asked if she was going to be at the Boston org tomorrow and if so I would be happy to come by and let her ask me directly what she wanted to know instead of going around the country digging up DA material."

"Just this week I sent off a few checks to help critics of $cientology--total $150,000. That was since Ableson's warning but before last nights call. This morning I drove to co$ Boston on Beacon St. after returning from my kids' school where I spent 2 pleasant hours early this morning. I asked the friendly receptionist at 10:05am for Mary Frances Newey and she said she was not there today. 'Can I tell her who was looking for her?', the receptionist said and I gave her my particulars and WHY I was there--to let Mary get some first hand information from me so she would have to spend less time traveling to Nashville, staying in a Motel 6 and slinking around for information on me.

"The receptionist became noticeably less friendly from the moment I mentioned my name (maybe they do read ars). In any case, I stood there and helped her with the details as she wrote down all the information I was requesting she pass along to Mary including where and when Mary could most easily reach me."

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Michael Pattinson

"I strongly feel that it is my civic duty to bring to the attention of the competent authorities of the United States and other concerned countries a matter of severe abuses and destructive activities by the 'Church' of Scientology. I was shocked at the use of top celebrities by Scientology to try and give an impression of it which, per my own experiences, is a false impression. When I compare the ridiculous charges made by Scientology against the German government with what I know Scientology (underlined) has been doing itself I find a very strong similarity indeed.

"I was, until earlier this year, one of Scientology's 'celebrities'. I am a professional artist, having a 25 year career internationally with over 99% sales. I was in Scientology for 23 years, did very many courses, and reached the highest available level of 'New O.T. 8'.

"From 1991 to 1996 I was the subject of viscous machinations by several 'churches' of Scientology to destroy my name and repute, and to involve me in expensive 'justice handlings' within the organization. Apart from the horrific emotional stress over five years it cost me well over $120,000 to clear my name of accusations of things I had never done in the first place! I have full documentation of all these multiple abuses.

"In June of 1996 I was held against my will in the Scientology, Clearwater, Florida facility and 'ordered' to pay $7,400 before they would let me out of the room. I did not want to pay for what the two staff members insisted I must have, and what ensued was a verbal battle, emotional trauma and an attempt at financial extortion. After a time I managed to escape the physical detention, but two 'Sea Org' members chased me right out into the streets of Clearwater to try to recapture me. I did not pay the money. This incident is on file with the Clearwater Police Department.

"In June of 1991 I was forced to pay, despite vehement protestations, the sum of $7,400 to Scientology on the 'Freewinds' ship. The ruse used on that Wednesday was that if I did not pay then they would withhold my passport from me until I did pay. They did so and I had to pay the money to get it back.

"At the end of 1996 I was subjected to [a] horrible kind of 'religious deprogramming' in the Scientology 'Fort Harrisson Hotel'. This was done, using an 'E-meter', by a top official of the 'Religious technology Centre' (RTC) namely Mr Marty Rathbun. I was interrogated for several hours on the most intimate personal religious beliefs (Christian) and his actions were designed clearly to get me to give up my Christian religious beliefs in exchange for RTC's 'eligibility authorization' to read a confidential publication about a defective 'OT level' I had previously completed (OT 7). His utter contempt for my religious beliefs were all to apparent. He felt that all other religions apart from Scientology should be destroyed and probably would be in time by Scientology, using RTC's programmes of 'eligibilities' as the means of forcing people to give up other faiths. I also had to undergo many hours of 'false data removal' to try to 'get me to realize' that the ONLY valid religion was Scientology. It did not work. My considered, personal opinion is that Scientology is definitely NOT A RELIGION.

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Poole Protest

"A highly successful picket took place this afternoon, Saturday 11 Oct against the Scientology cult in the South Coast town of Poole. Although it rained heavily up to the start of the picket, the rain stopped (Xenu be praised) when we reached the normal place in the middle of the High Street where the body-routers hang out, to find ... no body-routers with clipboards asking people if they wanted to take part in a survey. A quick check down a side street revealed that their book shop, where the marks were taken for their 'Personality Test' leading to a series of expensive courses was closed down and had a 'To Let' sign.

"Further checking revealed that the Scientologists' most productive site in the UK had been reduced to just one office over a restaurant, further down the High Street, away from most of the foot traffic. We had sufficient numbers including local supporters, to split our forces in two, with leafleting and the water-winged dog 'Duke' at the centre of the shopping area, and countering the few disheartened body-routers outside their remaining 'org'.

"Having persuaded polite but uneasy members of the public to come across the road to complete the 'survey' it must be pretty galling to watch somebody give them Xemu leaflets and then see the intended victims take the opportunity to scoot off. But at least the hapless body-router could diagnose the problem and brilliantly identified his opponents as Suppressives, demanding to know what 'rapes and murders' they had committed."

"We have been looking at their accounts and I have been using my knowledge of the way they work to work out what is going on. The Poole org owes about $2,000,000 to some body. I have worked out that this is the central Co$ and is no doubt for the training of their staff. It is obvious that they are not getting any ~real~ money in. You can tell when you look at their trade creditors. One year they owed them about $100,000 and the accounts sort of invented stock and loans to cover it. In other words they were not making enough money to pay their bills.

"I believe their accounts are late for filing because they want to hide what is going on or the auditors and trying to find some way to make their accounts look acceptable. I believe they are finished and will not be able to pay their debts unless the central Co$ bails them out. Rumour has it that they have been given an ultimatum. Get more people in off the street or close. Now the are placed where there is less foot traffic then they will surely close. Perhaps one more picket is needed to finish them off."

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