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A
Brief History of Scientology (continued)
By Jeff
Jacobsen
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Scientology
found itself under close scrutiny in the US and abroad. The
sixties would be a particularly troubling time for Hubbard
who moved his base of operations to England in 1963.
In 1965
the state of Victoria, Australia banned the practice of Scientology
entirely.
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Scientology is evil; its techniques are evil; its practice is
a serious threat to the community, medically, morally, and socially;
and its adherents are sadly deluded and often mentally ill...
(Scientology is) the world's largest organization of unqualified
persons engaged in the practice of dangerous techniques which
masquerade as mental therapy." -
Justice Anderson, Supreme Court of Victoria |
In 1967 Hubbard
wrote the famous "Fair Game" law, which allows that
anyone declared an enemy of Scientology "may be tricked,
sued, or lied to or destroyed."
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Also
that year Hubbard claimed to have resigned from his position
as head of Scientology. He purchased three ships and headed
for the high seas.
This
was the beginning of the Sea Organization, where Scientologists
sign a pledge to work in Scientology for one billion years
(Scientologists believe in reincarnation).
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In 1968 both
England and
Rhodesia passed restrictions on Scientology.
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After
years of running the organization from aboard his ship the
Apollo, Hubbard settled on a land base in Clearwater, Florida.
Hubbard and his crew moved there in 1975.
They
purchased the Ft.
Harrison Hotel and a former bank building in the downtown
area under the name United Churches of Florida to hide Scientology's
connection.
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Ft.
Harrison Hotel
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Also
that year Project Normandy was begun
to take over control of the city of Clearwater.
Gabe
Cazares
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While
Scientology expanded slowly, behind the scenes their Guardian
's Office was conducting incredible illegal cloak-and-dagger
operations against Clearwater's mayor, Gabe Cazares.
At the
same time the Guardian's Office was running operations against
the IRS, the Justice Department, and other governmental bodies
as well as anyone else perceived to be in their way.
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In
1977, based on information from a defector, the FBI raided Scientology
in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. The evidence from these raids
led to federal convictions of 11 high-ranking Scientologists, including
Hubbard's wife Mary Sue. L. Ron Hubbard himself was in hiding.
In
1978 Hubbard was convicted
in absentia of fraud in France for
having obtained money for the church under false pretenses.
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In 1982,
under the new leadership of David Miscavige while Hubbard
continued hiding out, an organizational shakeup occurred wherein
"mission holders" were severely pressured to relinquish
their independence to a powerful central organization.
This
was probably the most tumultuous internal time in Scientology's
history, with many people either leaving or splitting off
from the organization. It also firmly established the
authority of Miscavige and his entourage.
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David
Miscavige
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In
1983, the Ontario Provincial Police conducted the largest police
raid in Canadian history against the Church of Scientology of
Toronto and seized some 250,000 documents in about 900 boxes. This
led finally to Scientology being convicted of breach of the public
trust for conducting infiltration of Canadian government offices.
More History of Scientology
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