"... according to LAPD Cmdr. Mike Downing, the Church of Scientology forged his endorsement on The Way To Happiness Web site, prompting the LAPD to disavow any endorsement of Scientology and The Way To Happiness."
An a.r.s. poster commented
"And yet the LAPD endorsement forged by Scientology remains on the site:
http://www.twth.org/Proclamations_and_Recognitions-150.html
http://www.twth.org/images/LAPD-Letter.jpg (location of image file)"
The article continued:
"'We cannot endorse the Church of Scientology or any religion as the LAPD, and we very specifically said they could not use the LAPD name as it related to their book. They know they are clearly overstepping their bounds' in linking to the LAPD as an organization that works with The Way To Happiness Foundation (TWTH).
TWTH, Downing told the Pasadena Weekly, also apparently fraudulently posted on the Web a letter of commendation from the LAPD that was not signed by alleged writer Chief William Bratton, and also forged Downing’s approval by rubber-stamping his signature to the image on the site, www.twth.org
But that isn’t the only time TWTH, which has distributed booklets to more than 12 million American schoolchildren in 12,600 public schools since its inception in 1984, allegedly fabricated information to promote its product.
In the case of the LAPD, the booklets were distributed by the department, but only after TWTH representatives approached police officials repeatedly and only succeeded in disseminating through the Hollywood Division. Even then, when TWTH attempted to distribute the booklets with the LAPD’s name on them and depict a book-cover drawing of a policeman wearing an LAPD badge, they were ordered by police to remove the badge image and remove the department’s name from the back cover.
'We sent them back and said they could not distribute the literature with the LAPD Hollywood Division on the text. I’ve seen the program work, and I don’t mind programs that try to raise the stature of communities and clean them up, but we as the LAPD cannot endorse the Church of Scientology,' said Downing. 'I did not authorize the letter displayed on their site nor its display, and they used a stamped-font signature instead of my actual one.'
In response, TWTH President Lance Miller, a high-level Scientologist, denied any wrongdoing on the part of the foundation and said Downing is, at best, mistaken.
'That’s the first I’ve heard of it. Michael Downing has appeared at events for us and spoken very highly of the work we do,' said Miller. 'As far as I know, the letter was generated and sent by him and I have the original hanging on my wall here. It looks like a real signature to me. But if it’s a situation where we need to remove it, we certainly want to comply.'
[...]
Church leaders have responded to some of these criticisms by softening some of the organization’s more blatant recruitment tactics while claiming the church’s more extreme aspects are aberrations of the past.
[...]"
http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/cityBeat/citybeat1.html
Message-IDs:
4309e5de$1@news2.lightlink.com
W1IZFI7U38585.416099537@anonymous.poster
4309985c$0$12401$626a14ce@news.free.fr
"Everyone in Gaborone has by now either seen or heard of the big yellow tent at the Gaborone Secondary School sports grounds. Yes, the Scientologists are here in Botswana. [...] I was invited to debate the subject with the Scientologists themselves recently on Gabz FM. I was there in my role as a sceptic who has no personal complaint with them but who has heard a little about them elsewhere. The experience was fascinating!
[...]
So what exactly is it that Scientologists believe? Ask a Christian, a Muslim, a Hindu or indeed followers of any normal religion what they believe and they will tell you honestly and with pride. Ask a Scientologist and they simply won't tell you. They make claims about what they do, but not what they believe. Why are they so shy about their beliefs? The answer is simple. What they believe is ridiculous. The secret is that once Scientologists reach a level of study called 'Operating Thetan Level 3' they are finally told one of the core discoveries of the founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard. This is that 75 million years ago, Xemu, the head of the Galactic Federation, decided to cure his over-population problems by murdering excess aliens by bringing them to Earth and killing them with hydrogen bombs. The souls of these people now haunt us all and cause us all our mental health problems.
[...]
The Church seems occasionally to have a curious grasp on truth. For instance, they repeatedly refer to a famous article in Time magazine in 1991. This was the first really influential expose about the Church and some of their activities. Needless to say, the Scientologists were appalled at their secrets being exposed and sued Time for libel and claim that a retraction was published. This is widely repeated by the Church to anyone who will listen. However, they seem to forget to tell the complete story. When I contacted Time in New York to ask their opinion of this suggestion I was told that, 'TIME won the lawsuit brought against it by the Church of Scientology. The court granted our summary judgment motion, and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the decision. We did not retract the story or any part of the story'.
That's not quite what the Scientologists would lead us to believe is it?
Curiously, the Scientologists neglect to refer to this loss.
[...]
In 1989 Everett R. Rhoades, M.D., the US Assistant Surgeon General, said of Narconon that it 'cannot be considered medically sound'. In 1991 the Board of Mental Health of the State of Oklahoma declared that Narconon 'is not medically safe'.
Despite this, the Scientologists continue to suggest that their schemes are incredibly successful.
The list of claims made by the Church doesn't end there. Hubbard himself stated that their techniques can cure leukaemia, arthritis and radiation burns. In 1975, he said that 'Scientology is used to increase spiritual freedom, intelligence, ability and to produce immortality'.
[...]
Hubbard and his successors (he died in 1986) are notoriously sensitive to criticism.
[...]
If you want to believe in Scientology, then good luck to you. But at least be open with us about what your belief. Allow critics to criticise. And don't think you can come to Botswana and solve all our problems with a distinctly dubious set of beliefs and techniques. We're not that naive.
One last quote from Hubbard. In an internal policy letter written on 18 October 1967 he instructed his followers to deal with opponents as follows:
'May be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed.'"
http://www.mmegi.bw/2005/August/Friday5/4199544721949.html
Message-ID: 1124985914.496718.91700@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com
"This Saturday, August 27th, Vince Daniels, host of 'The Many Moods of Vince Daniels' on KPMD in Cerritos, California, will devote an hour of his Internet radio show to the topic of cults, with a special focus on our favorite nut UFO doomsday quack psychotherapy cult, Scientology. The guests will be: me, Tory Christman, and Steve Hassan.
You can see their promo for this segment, and listen to the show online, here:
http://web.cerritos.edu/cm/browse/template.asp?WebsiteID=20040047
Below is a copy of the email promo they're sending out:
When you get down to it, is there much of a difference between these 2 organizations?
[picture of Scientology Org] [picture of Amway logo]
For the past ten years this man [picture of Dave Touretzky] has perhaps been the Church of Scientology's most vocal critic. From approx 5:00 - 5:25pm (PST)
David Touretzky is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He has studied and criticized Scientology along with other worldwide organizations that are cultish in nature; including some that masquerade as 'Management Training Seminars.' We'll take a long hard look at how even those who think they're less prone to gullability soon find themselves eliminating old friends, believing themselves to be on a higher plane than everyone else, and buying in to a set of beliefs that have more emotional rather than intellectual or true spiritual value.
Then, from 5:30 to 5:55:
We'll also meet a lady named Tory Christman, who used to be part of Scientology. She'll tell us about the tactics used to suck her in, what they appealed to, plus what we need to watch out for. She also explains how it came to pass that she is no longer a member of this Church.
Just added ... Steven Alan Hassan
From approx 6:00-6:25pm (PST)
Steven Hassan has been involved in educating the public about mind control and destructive cults since 1976. He is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC). He holds a Masters degree in counseling psychology from Cambridge College. Combatting Cult Mind Control: The #1 Best-selling Guide to Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults (1988) and Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves (2000). Both books has been praised by former cult members, families of former members, clergy, and psychologists; people from all walks of life interested in the problems that destructive cults pose for the world today.
[...]
Message-ID: 430e59f9$1@news2.lightlink.com
"...During the trial in the Bashkir court, prosecutor Florid Baikov said that the organization practices unlicensed educational and medical activities that 'negatively affect the thinking and psychology of trainees' and 'threatens public health.' ..."
and a url to the Bashkortostan ruling that liquidated the Dianetics Center - http://www.lermanet.com/cisar/russia/20050704.htm
Message-ID: vauhg1hv6dkpok5r3mkb8cqekuudq9tfcf@4ax.com
"Al Qaeda in the Big House, Part 1
Jonathan King
August 22, 2005
[...]
Roderick Hickman, California's corrections chief, announced that an investigation of the New Folsom Islamists was in progress. He was tight lipped otherwise.
CDCR has opened the flood gates to all manner of odd balls since Arnold Schwarzenegger set about 'reforming' the prison system on the cheap. Nation of Islam racists have been invited in by Hickman and the Church of Scientology cult has been allowed to establish 'programs' without meaningful CDCR supervision. Wardens throughout the state --- under extreme pressure from Hickman --- have welcomed unscreened community activists offering free programs of dubious value.
[...]"
Message-ID: 1124728487.589502.304090@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com
A.r.s. Week in Review is put together for your benefit.
This collection is organised for WWW by Andreas Heldal-Lund.
Only edits done by me is replacing word encapsuled in * or _ with bold and underscore, and made links into HTML.
