WHO WAS L. RON HUBBARD?

 

"To be free, a man must be honest with himself and with his fellows."

- L.  Ron Hubbard, HONEST PEOPLE HAVE RIGHTS TOO, 1960

 

"The organization [the Church of Scientology] clearly is schizophrenic and paranoid, and the bizarre combination seems to be a reflection of its founder LRH. The evidence portrays a man who has been virtually a pathological liar when it comes to his history, background, and achievements."

- Judge Paul G. Breckenridge, Jr., in his October 16, 1994 ruling against the Church of Scientology in the case of the Church of Scientology of California vs. Gerald Armstrong, Los Angeles Superior Court case no. C 420153.  The full text of Judge Breckenridge’s decision can be found at:  http://tinyurl.com/2xk6t

____________________

 

Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, founder of Scientology, was born in Tilden, Nebraska on March 10, 1911. The son of a US Navy officer, Hubbard was educated in public schools in Montana, California, Washington and Virginia. From 1930 to 1932 he attended George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Although Hubbard would later claim advanced degrees in the sciences and in civil engineering, his first year grade average was a D (below average). His second and final year was no better; he received a D in calculus and electrical and magnetic physics, and an F (failing) for molecular and atomic physics. He had no further formal education.

 

He embarked on a successful career as a pulp fiction writer, best known for his science fiction stories.  From 1942 to 1945 he served in the US Navy; at no time was he engaged in combat action. In 1950 he published DIANETICS: THE MODERN SCIENCE OF MENTAL HEALTH. The book became a best seller and within a few months Hubbard had established the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation to teach the healing techniques he claimed to have discovered. Following the foundation's collapse in bankruptcy, he founded the Hubbard College.

 

In 1952 he renamed his organization the Hubbard Association of Scientologists International. In 1954 Hubbard created the Church of Scientology, which subsequently absorbed the earlier organization. The church bought several ocean-going craft and from 1967 to 1975 Hubbard, styling himself as the "Commodore," lived largely at sea. Theoretically having given up his role as leader of the church in 1966, he in fact controlled it tightly until his reclusive death in Creston, California on January 24, 1986.

 

NOTE:

The above biography is as close to the facts as can be verified by available documentation. This is not, however, the biography of Hubbard as promulgated by the Church of Scientology. The church has published many biographical summaries over the years. These have contained a large number of claims that do not survive fact checking. Often these are quoted statements by Hubbard or are based on comments attributed to him. Among them are:

 

      He was trained as a nuclear physicist.

 

      At the age of six, he was honored with the status of blood brother of the Blackfeet in a ceremony that is still recalled by tribal elders.

 

      He was up and down the China coast several times in his teens from Ching Wong Tow to Hong Kong and inland to Peking and Manchuria.

 

      He was the youngest Eagle Scout in the history of the Boy Scouts.

 

      The following years, from 1925 to 1929, saw the young Mr Hubbard, between the ages of 14 and 18, as a budding and enthusiastic world traveller and adventurer. His father was sent to the Far East and having the financial support of his wealthy grandfather, L. Ron Hubbard, spent these years journeying through Asia.

 

      With virtually no training time, he takes up powered flight and barnstorms throughout the Midwest.

 

      His family owned a ranch 1/3 the size of Montana.

 

      His first action on leaving college was to blow off steam by leading an expedition into Central America. In the next few years he headed three, all of them undertaken to study savage peoples and cultures to provide fodder for his articles and stories. Between 1933 and 1941 he visited many barbaric cultures and yet found time to write seven million words of published fact and fiction.

 

      He has published some fourteen movies.

 

      He served in the South Pacific, and in 1942 was relieved by fifteen officers of rank and was rushed home to take part in the 1942 battle against German submarines as Commanding Officer of a Corvette serving in the North Atlantic. In 1943 he was made Commodore of Corvette Squadrons, and in 1944 he worked with amphibious forces. After serving in all five theaters of World War II and receiving 21 medals and palms, in 1944 he was severely wounded and was taken crippled and blinded to Oak Knoll Naval Hospital.

 

      He spent 11 years researching Dianetics

 

Not one of these statements is true.

 

ONLINE REFERENCES:

A PIECE OF BLUE SKY: SCIENTOLOGY, DIANETICS AND L. RON HUBBARD EXPOSED, by Jon Atack  http://tinyurl.com/25rov

 

BARE-FACED MESSIAH: THE TRUE STORY OF L. RON HUBBARD, by Russell Miller.  http://tinyurl.com/3d2sk

 

L. RON HUBBARD: A CHRONICLE (Church of Scientology official Hubbard biography)  http://tinyurl.com/yq3tu

 

L. RON HUBBARD: MESSIAH OR MADMAN?, by Bent Corydon and L. Ron Hubbard, Jr. a.k.a. Ronald DeWolf.  http://tinyurl.com/2jh3g

 

RECOMMENDED WEBSITES:

The official Church of Scientology website:

www.scientology.org

 

Websites for the Freezone, practicing Scientology outside the CoS:

www.fzaoint.net    

www.fza.org    

www.freezone.org

 

Alternate views:

www.xenu.net

www.factnet.org

www.scientologywatch.org

www.suppressiveperson.org/

www.spaink.net

www.snafu.de/~tilman/

www.narconon-exposed.org

www.studytech.org

www.modemac.com

www.truthaboutscientology.com

www.scientology-lies.com

www.lermanet.com

www.freedomofmind.com

www.altreligionscientology.org

www.xenutv.com

 

 

All quotations of copyrighted material herein fall within Fair Use guidelines.

Note: The Scientology organization is commonly referred to as the Church of Scientology.  The reader should be aware that, in reality, global Scientology is a complex international legal structure of multiple corporations, some of which are nonprofit and some of which are not.

 

The terms "Scientology" and "Dianetics" are trademarks and service marks owned by Religious Technology Center (RTC), Los Angeles, California, USA. For a detailed explanation of Scientology's copyrights, trademarks, and other legal issues involving the names and symbols used by the organizations collectively known as "Scientology" and "Dianetics," see the Trademark Section of the Official Scientology Web Site.