Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 58
The rebel Ronsorg group warns the many ex-members now seeking refunds of money spent
on Scientology courses that Scientology ―will try to make you change your mind by pushing
all of your buttons.‖ This allegedly includes the threat to use against them personal
information — about spousal infidelity or drug use, for example — gleaned in years of
Scientology counseling (auditing). (Sladjana Labovic and Bart Middleburg, Het Parool,
Internet, 10/25/03)
Michael Jackson Raising Money for Group
Michael Jackson has designated Scientology‘s HELP program as one of the recipients of
money he planned to raise in October through a worldwide download of his charity single,
―What More Can I Give?‖ HELP, which is connected to the Scientology offshoot Applied
Scholastics, uses techniques developed by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard. Many well
known performers were to have joined in the recording with Jackson, who was married
briefly to Scientologist Lisa Marie Presley in the late 1990s. (Roger Friedman, Fox News,
Internet, 10/27/03)
Anti-Psychiatry Exhibit Controversy
The City of Chicago ordered removed from the Loop‘s Thompson Center in early December
an anti-psychiatry exhibit when it learned it was mounted by Scientology’s Citizens
Commission on Human Rights. The exhibit, up for only a day, called psychiatry a wicked
profession with ties to Nazi Germany, a view rejected by a representative of the American
Psychiatric Association as a religious belief with no scientific basis. [Scientology, which
employs a unique form of counseling, has carried on a campaign against psychiatry and
therapeutic drug use for decades.] (John Chase, Chicago Tribune, Internet, 12/3/03)
However, less than a week later the Blagojevich administration reversed after conferring
with state lawyers about an appeal by the national headquarters of the Citizens
Commission. The administration said it no longer thought a controversial Scientology-linked
exhibit blasting psychiatry promoted a religious philosophy and would therefore allow the
exhibit to be displayed next month in the Thompson Center. The exhibit was entitled,
"Destroying Lives: Psychiatry Exposed."
State rules forbid religious groups from renting display space in state buildings to promote
their beliefs.
The exhibit is expected to return to the Thompson Center for a week, beginning Jan. 5,
Central Management spokeswoman Pam Davies said.
The same display has been located outside the state Capitol in New Hampshire, inside
Georgia's Capitol and in a state office building in New York, said Marla Filidei, international
vice president of the Citizens Commission.
Davies said the state plans to change procedures for future applicants who wish to rent
space in state buildings by asking them to disclose any connections to religious
organizations. Had that requirement been in place, she said, the Citizens Commission
exhibit would have been allowed but the state would have known about the group's ties to
Scientology and been able to study the display before it was erected. (John Chase, Chicago
Tribune, Internet, Dec. 9, 2003)
Loses Copyright Case
The Dutch Court of Appeal has rejected Scientology’s claim that writer Karen Spaink,
Internet service provider Xs4ALL, and ten other ISPs acted illegally in publishing the
church‘s copyrighted materials on the web. The material had actually become public in the
course of a court case against Scientology in 1994. The Court also denied the contention
The rebel Ronsorg group warns the many ex-members now seeking refunds of money spent
on Scientology courses that Scientology ―will try to make you change your mind by pushing
all of your buttons.‖ This allegedly includes the threat to use against them personal
information — about spousal infidelity or drug use, for example — gleaned in years of
Scientology counseling (auditing). (Sladjana Labovic and Bart Middleburg, Het Parool,
Internet, 10/25/03)
Michael Jackson Raising Money for Group
Michael Jackson has designated Scientology‘s HELP program as one of the recipients of
money he planned to raise in October through a worldwide download of his charity single,
―What More Can I Give?‖ HELP, which is connected to the Scientology offshoot Applied
Scholastics, uses techniques developed by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard. Many well
known performers were to have joined in the recording with Jackson, who was married
briefly to Scientologist Lisa Marie Presley in the late 1990s. (Roger Friedman, Fox News,
Internet, 10/27/03)
Anti-Psychiatry Exhibit Controversy
The City of Chicago ordered removed from the Loop‘s Thompson Center in early December
an anti-psychiatry exhibit when it learned it was mounted by Scientology’s Citizens
Commission on Human Rights. The exhibit, up for only a day, called psychiatry a wicked
profession with ties to Nazi Germany, a view rejected by a representative of the American
Psychiatric Association as a religious belief with no scientific basis. [Scientology, which
employs a unique form of counseling, has carried on a campaign against psychiatry and
therapeutic drug use for decades.] (John Chase, Chicago Tribune, Internet, 12/3/03)
However, less than a week later the Blagojevich administration reversed after conferring
with state lawyers about an appeal by the national headquarters of the Citizens
Commission. The administration said it no longer thought a controversial Scientology-linked
exhibit blasting psychiatry promoted a religious philosophy and would therefore allow the
exhibit to be displayed next month in the Thompson Center. The exhibit was entitled,
"Destroying Lives: Psychiatry Exposed."
State rules forbid religious groups from renting display space in state buildings to promote
their beliefs.
The exhibit is expected to return to the Thompson Center for a week, beginning Jan. 5,
Central Management spokeswoman Pam Davies said.
The same display has been located outside the state Capitol in New Hampshire, inside
Georgia's Capitol and in a state office building in New York, said Marla Filidei, international
vice president of the Citizens Commission.
Davies said the state plans to change procedures for future applicants who wish to rent
space in state buildings by asking them to disclose any connections to religious
organizations. Had that requirement been in place, she said, the Citizens Commission
exhibit would have been allowed but the state would have known about the group's ties to
Scientology and been able to study the display before it was erected. (John Chase, Chicago
Tribune, Internet, Dec. 9, 2003)
Loses Copyright Case
The Dutch Court of Appeal has rejected Scientology’s claim that writer Karen Spaink,
Internet service provider Xs4ALL, and ten other ISPs acted illegally in publishing the
church‘s copyrighted materials on the web. The material had actually become public in the
course of a court case against Scientology in 1994. The Court also denied the contention
