• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Jerry McCarter of Richmond, Virginia,
is carrying out a one-man crusade to
ban Planet Aid. He says that the
international nonprofit, which
maintains collection boxes around
the city, is a “get-rich scheme” linked
to Amdi Peterson, a Dane, and his
Tvind organization. (Richmond Daily
News, 5/25/12)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
The Santa Clara County (California)
civil trial of William Lynch, 44, will
judge whether he is guilty of beating
Rev. Jerold Lindner, an aging Jesuit
Priest of the Roman Catholic Church,
whom Lynch accuses of sexually
abusing him and his brother during a
camping trip more than thirty-five
years ago. Lynch has refused a plea
bargain, saying he wants to try
Lindner in the court of public opinion.
I don’t want to go to jail [but] I’ve
come to realize that this whole
thing is really bigger than me and
the way that I’ve chosen to handle
this is to make a statement. I’m
prepared to take responsibility for
anything I’ve been involved in.... I
think it’s a small sacrifice to get
Father Jerry into court.... He still
comes into my dreams now.
It is not likely, although it is possible,
that jurors’ judgment of the assault
charge will be prejudiced in favor of
Lynch because of the original abuse
allegations. (The brothers settled with
the Jesuits of the California province
for $625,000 in 1998.) (Independent
Mail Associated Press, 6/20/12)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
The Bombay High Court has
dismissed charges of misappropriation
of funds against members of the
Shirdi-based Saibaba Sansthan Trust.
The trust’s management committee,
which runs the wealthy Sai Baba
temple in Ahmednager, represents a
political alliance in the coalition that
rules Maharashtra. The court ordered
the formation of a new management
committee, failing which the
government will take over
administration of the trust.
Committee members allegedly faked
travel expenses, exaggerated other
expenditures, and made
appointments as political favors.
(MSN, 3/14/12)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
British libraries have been warned by
the Museums, Libraries and Archives
Council to be wary after the discovery
that one quarter of the books on
religion in some British libraries are
about Scientology and are donated
by Scientology. (Daily Telegraph via
FAIR News, 12/20/11)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
A French appeals court imposed
suspended sentences and fines on
five Scientologists who had been
convicted of pressuring recruits to
pay a great deal of money for ques-
tionable [health] remedies. American
Scientology leaders said the ruling
was “a miscarriage of justice.” (The
Independent via FAIR News, 2/4/12)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
The daughter of the famous British
World War II-era singer Dame Vera
Lynn said neither she nor her 94-year-
old mother knew that Scientology
had organized the concert the elder
Lynn attended as an honored guest in
October 2011. The event, held at
Scientology’s Sussex establishment,
was hosted by Scientologist Kirstie
Alley, the American actress. (The Daily
Mail via FAIR News, 10/21/11)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Former long-time Scientology
administrator Marty Rathbun says he
believes church officials employed
Scientology doctrine to turn Nicole
Kidman’s children against her while
she was married to Tom Cruise.
Rathbun told Brian Williams on NBC’s
Rock Center (on the episode that was
scheduled to air July 17), “It was more
than implied ...[Kidman] was
somebody that they [the children]
shouldn’t open up to, they shouldn’t
communicate with, and they shouldn’t
spend much time with.” He says
officials suggested to the children, 6
and 9 years old, that their mother was
a “suppressive”person, the kind of
person whom Scientologists are
advised to shun. (Rock Center, 7/11/12)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Former high Scientology official
Debbie Cook, who greatly disturbed
the church earlier this year when she
sent an email to thousands of
members urging them to protest
certain Scientology practices, is set
to move with her husband to the
Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.
The couple took $50,000 each from
the church in 2007 when they left the
organization, in return for a promise
to say nothing about its operations.
Following the recent emails,
Scientology sued, asking for $300,000
in damages and for the nondisclosure
contracts to be enforced. But
following a hearing at which Cook
described being physically abused
and held against her will by church
staff—at Scientology leader David
Miscavige’s direction, and the threat
of additional damning testimony, the
parties agreed on a settlement that
includes the couple recommitting to
the 2007 nondisclosure contracts.
(Tampa Bay Times, 6/120/12)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
The [unnamed] presenter of a
financial empowerment seminar, who
now faces prosecution by the SEC for
defrauding investors of more than
$11 million in a Ponzi scheme,
highlights the problem of spiritual
abuse, a term that describes a person
in spiritual authority who mistreats
another person, manipulates religious
words or acts for personal gain, and
misuses Scripture to twist the truth.
One can see the archetype of such
abuse in the biblical serpent’s
36 ICSA TODAY
Jerry McCarter of Richmond, Virginia,
is carrying out a one-man crusade to
ban Planet Aid. He says that the
international nonprofit, which
maintains collection boxes around
the city, is a “get-rich scheme” linked
to Amdi Peterson, a Dane, and his
Tvind organization. (Richmond Daily
News, 5/25/12)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
The Santa Clara County (California)
civil trial of William Lynch, 44, will
judge whether he is guilty of beating
Rev. Jerold Lindner, an aging Jesuit
Priest of the Roman Catholic Church,
whom Lynch accuses of sexually
abusing him and his brother during a
camping trip more than thirty-five
years ago. Lynch has refused a plea
bargain, saying he wants to try
Lindner in the court of public opinion.
I don’t want to go to jail [but] I’ve
come to realize that this whole
thing is really bigger than me and
the way that I’ve chosen to handle
this is to make a statement. I’m
prepared to take responsibility for
anything I’ve been involved in.... I
think it’s a small sacrifice to get
Father Jerry into court.... He still
comes into my dreams now.
It is not likely, although it is possible,
that jurors’ judgment of the assault
charge will be prejudiced in favor of
Lynch because of the original abuse
allegations. (The brothers settled with
the Jesuits of the California province
for $625,000 in 1998.) (Independent
Mail Associated Press, 6/20/12)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
The Bombay High Court has
dismissed charges of misappropriation
of funds against members of the
Shirdi-based Saibaba Sansthan Trust.
The trust’s management committee,
which runs the wealthy Sai Baba
temple in Ahmednager, represents a
political alliance in the coalition that
rules Maharashtra. The court ordered
the formation of a new management
committee, failing which the
government will take over
administration of the trust.
Committee members allegedly faked
travel expenses, exaggerated other
expenditures, and made
appointments as political favors.
(MSN, 3/14/12)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
British libraries have been warned by
the Museums, Libraries and Archives
Council to be wary after the discovery
that one quarter of the books on
religion in some British libraries are
about Scientology and are donated
by Scientology. (Daily Telegraph via
FAIR News, 12/20/11)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
A French appeals court imposed
suspended sentences and fines on
five Scientologists who had been
convicted of pressuring recruits to
pay a great deal of money for ques-
tionable [health] remedies. American
Scientology leaders said the ruling
was “a miscarriage of justice.” (The
Independent via FAIR News, 2/4/12)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
The daughter of the famous British
World War II-era singer Dame Vera
Lynn said neither she nor her 94-year-
old mother knew that Scientology
had organized the concert the elder
Lynn attended as an honored guest in
October 2011. The event, held at
Scientology’s Sussex establishment,
was hosted by Scientologist Kirstie
Alley, the American actress. (The Daily
Mail via FAIR News, 10/21/11)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Former long-time Scientology
administrator Marty Rathbun says he
believes church officials employed
Scientology doctrine to turn Nicole
Kidman’s children against her while
she was married to Tom Cruise.
Rathbun told Brian Williams on NBC’s
Rock Center (on the episode that was
scheduled to air July 17), “It was more
than implied ...[Kidman] was
somebody that they [the children]
shouldn’t open up to, they shouldn’t
communicate with, and they shouldn’t
spend much time with.” He says
officials suggested to the children, 6
and 9 years old, that their mother was
a “suppressive”person, the kind of
person whom Scientologists are
advised to shun. (Rock Center, 7/11/12)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Former high Scientology official
Debbie Cook, who greatly disturbed
the church earlier this year when she
sent an email to thousands of
members urging them to protest
certain Scientology practices, is set
to move with her husband to the
Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.
The couple took $50,000 each from
the church in 2007 when they left the
organization, in return for a promise
to say nothing about its operations.
Following the recent emails,
Scientology sued, asking for $300,000
in damages and for the nondisclosure
contracts to be enforced. But
following a hearing at which Cook
described being physically abused
and held against her will by church
staff—at Scientology leader David
Miscavige’s direction, and the threat
of additional damning testimony, the
parties agreed on a settlement that
includes the couple recommitting to
the 2007 nondisclosure contracts.
(Tampa Bay Times, 6/120/12)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
The [unnamed] presenter of a
financial empowerment seminar, who
now faces prosecution by the SEC for
defrauding investors of more than
$11 million in a Ponzi scheme,
highlights the problem of spiritual
abuse, a term that describes a person
in spiritual authority who mistreats
another person, manipulates religious
words or acts for personal gain, and
misuses Scripture to twist the truth.
One can see the archetype of such
abuse in the biblical serpent’s
36 ICSA TODAY
