Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 56
having sex with parishioners despite sect rules that prohibit drinking and enforce celibacy.
The decree has led to conflict over the sect‘s assets in both Canada and India.
Last year, Nanaksar dissidents petitioned the British Columbia Supreme Court to remove
Grewal, saying he used temple funds to build a large house for himself and a woman from
India, promoted the belief that free sex was a path to enlightenment, and gambled in Las
Vegas. The court ruled the dispute was a religious issue and refused to get involved. (Fabian
Dawson, CanWest News Service in National Post, Internet, 1/7/04)
Scientology
Members Release Group from Liability for Spiritual Healing
Scientology requires members who receive the church‘s ―spiritual assistance‖ to sign a
release form and contract consenting ―to participate in Scientology Religious Services and
receive Spiritual Assistance under the terms, conditions, covenants, waivers, and releases I
agree to by signing this contract.‖
The release was crafted in response to the wrongful death suit brought against Scientology
by the family of Lisa McPherson, who died after 17 days in Church care for psychiatric
problems [following her removal from a hospital to which she had been taken for
evaluation].
The signatory agrees that Scientology is exclusively religious in nature and ―unalterably
opposed, as a matter of religious belief, to the practice of psychiatry‖ and that mental
problems are spiritual and should not be treated in non-religious ways. The contractor also
agrees ―to memorialize my desire to be helped exclusively through religious, spiritual means
and not through any form of psychiatric treatment,‖ and not to be denied this no matter
what the government, doctors, or family members say. Moreover, if forced to undergo any
confinement or treatment, the signatory wants it understood that ―I fully desire and expect
that the Church or Scientologists will intercede on my behalf to oppose such efforts and/or
extricate me from that predicament.‖
The signatory also agrees that if it is determined he or she should need psychiatric
treatment, the treatment should be Scientology-based, which includes ―being isolated from
all sources of potential spiritual upset, including but not limited to family members, friends,
or others with whom I might normally interact.‖ The signatory also agrees to the 24-hour
presence of Scientologists during such treatment, which is indeterminate in length, and ―I
accept and assume all known and unknown risks of injury, loss, or damage resulting from
my decision to participate in the Introspection Rundown and specifically absolve all persons
and entities from all liabilities of any kind, without limitation, associated with my
participation or their participation in my Introspection Rundown.‖
Finally: ―I fully understand that by signing below, I am forever giving up my right to sue the
Church, its staff, and any of the releasees named in the General Release I signed, for any
injury or damage suffered in any way connected with Scientology religious services or
spiritual assistance.‖ (Harper’s Magazine, Internet, 11/1/03)
Scientology Declared Not Tax-Exempt
The Dutch High Court has ruled that the Church of Scientology is not ―an institution for the
common good‖ and is therefore not tax exempt, and payment to Scientology for courses or
donations is not tax deductible. ―Potential believers as well as full-fledged Scientologists
from now on [according to this report] will think twice before they pay tens of thousands of
Euros for Scientology courses.‖

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The revenue service considers Scientology a business, regardless of whether or not it is a
church, that the high rates charged for Scientology courses demonstrate a commercial
intent, and that the way it recruits students can also be considered commercial.
But the main reason revenue inspectors gave for the denial of exemption was that the
―intent‖ and ―content‖ of the courses aims mainly to solve ―personal problems.‖ This means
the goal is ―individual‖ and for ―personal benefit,‖ rather than the ―common good.‖
Scientology argued that, with 19,000 members in Holland, it served the common good. But
recent apostates say the number of active members is around 150.
The High Court said further that it was up to Scientology, not government authorities, to
prove that it serves the common good. Scientology is appealing the High Court decision to
the European Court in the Hague (which rejected a similar appeal in the mid-1980s).
(Sladjana Labovic and Bart Middelburg, Het Parool, Internet, 12/11/03)
Mongolia Using Hubbard-Inspired Program
Representatives of Applied Scholastics (AS), in response to a request from the Speaker of
the Mongolian Parliament, Tumor Ochi, have presented the learning methods developed by
Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard for use in the Asian country. S. Krishnan, the
executive director of AS in Malaysia, says his office will work closely with the Mongolian
Ministry of Education to develop an implementation strategy. (The Star, Malaysia, Internet,
10/19/03)
Exodus from Netherlands Group
Fifty of some 150 core members of the Church of Scientology in the Netherlands have left
the group, and high ranking Scientologists from overseas have flown in to deal with what
Scientology documents allegedly call a ―mutiny.‖
One cause of the recent exodus is reportedly a split between those who think only
Scientology as it is now constituted can properly convey the teachings of founder L. Ron
Hubbard, and those who think that Hubbard‘s way can be achieved better, more enjoyably,
and for less money, outside the church‘s constraints. The ―Independents‖ have started a
movement with a website named www.ronsorg.nl, which stands for ―Ron‘s Organization and
Network for Standard Tech.‖
A third group has left because Scientologists in commercial concerns in the Netherlands and
elsewhere have allegedly swindled hundreds of thousands of people.
Caspar de Rijk, a founder of the Netherlands branch of Scientology, says that Scientology
was for a long time able to keep members from communicating among themselves or with
family and friends by threat of heavy sanctions. But the Internet has helped change the
situation. ―What Hubbard one day started is now being reduced again to normal
proportions.‖ Former members who come to a meeting of the independent grouping ―realize
they can practice the principles but without all that indoctrination and intimidation,‖ says de
Rijk.
De Rijk reports that when he refused to take a lie detector test for suspected ―bad
intentions‖ — he told them he had none — he was transferred to a ―rehabilitation project,‖ a
kind of re-education camp, which he refused to attend. Because he was a ranking member,
higher officials saw de Rijk as a threat, so they threw him out of Scientology. Now, a
number of Dutch Scientology leavers have been declared ―suppressive persons,‖ which
means, according to Scientology protocol, that they can be ―tricked, prosecuted or lied to,
or destroyed according to internal ethics.‖ The number of those excommunicated in Holland
has been limited, says de Rijk, because it would be difficult to explain to remaining
members that more than a third of the active following has suddenly become ―suppressive.‖