As we look forward to a new year, we at the Lisa McPherson Trust are thankful for what we were able to accomplish in 2000, our first year of existence:

1. We have continued to expose the abusive and deceptive practices of Scientology to a large and growing audience throughout the world.

2. We have helped many hundreds of people who have been victimized by Scientology.

3. We continue to keep Lisa McPherson's memory alive as an example of the callous brutality and evil that Scientology tries to hide.

4. We are the conscience that Scientology is incapable of having. Our mere presence in Clearwater lets the organization's spiteful, hateful and bigoted behavior exemplify the true nature of Scientology.

5. We have made it clear to many people that Scientology is an aspiring totalitarian, political movement that must be stopped.

6. We have joined and expanded the information war against Scientology on the Internet, so that no one with access to the Internet can remain uninformed about the core beliefs of Scientology and of L. Ron Hubbard's disdain of both the individual and society's moral codes.

7. We have helped put Scientology into a defensive posture that is totally anathema to their tattered philosophy. The Lisa McPherson Trust and thousands of others on the Internet are now wagging the Scientology dog!

8. We will continue in our second year, to accomplish the mission statement set forth below by the Board of Directors of the Lisa McPherson Trust:

The mission of The Lisa McPherson Trust is to expose the abusive and deceptive practices of the Church of Scientology and to help those who have been victimized by it.

To accomplish our mission, we will demystify and thereby make transparent the coercive processes and practices of the Church of Scientology. In this way, informed consumers can make an educated decision about whether Scientology can meet their psychological or spiritual needs.

We will expose the Church of Scientology's abuse of the human, civil and privacy rights of its members and critics. We will reveal its deceptive advertising practices that border on consumer fraud. We will bring to light those "religious practices" that violate civil or criminal law. At the same time, we will respect the right of all Scientologists to embrace any religious belief they may choose.

We will assist Scientologists in recovering from their unique personal experience with the abusive and deceptive practices of the Church of Scientology. We will offer counsel to Scientologists who choose to hear the truth about how the Church of Scientology uses deceptive mind control techniques. Our dedicated staff will provide the information, love and support to Scientologists that will enable them to release the bonds of cult mind control.

Finally, all of the people involved in the Lisa McPherson Trust will respect the dignity and innate human goodness of all current, former and recovering Scientologists.

Our Philosophy

The Board of Directors, Advisory Committee and staff of the Lisa McPherson Trust include a number of former Scientologists who have had firsthand experience with the Church of Scientology's abuse, and they are all in some way still recovering from it. They are decent, caring and compassionate human beings who have chosen to help others that have made similar uninformed decisions about the Church of Scientology. Moreover, they are willing and able to share their innermost personal experiences in the Sea Organization or as public Scientologists in order to educate and immunize others against the abuses and deceptions of the Church of Scientology.

The Church of Scientology draws its members from a broad cross-section of society, and, like other destructive cults, uses a sophisticated combination of deceptive recruiting methods, false promises, hypnosis, behavior modification, sleep deprivation, dietary manipulation, information control, phobia indoctrination and other mind control techniques to entice and control its members. There is no shame in having been seduced into a group like the Church of Scientology. Likewise, there need be no reluctance to leave after discovering that the organization is not capable of delivering on its promise of a "Road to Total Freedom."

Real freedom begins and ends with the never-ending quest of the human spirit to be free. This perpetual quest is the single most important factor that keeps mind control from being irreversible. During 2000, organized Scientology's has abandoned its claim of eight million members and acknowledged that there are at most 45,000 active members of the Church of Scientology in the United States today. What is clear is that the vast majority of people who have tried the Church of Scientology reject it, because the organization is incapable of delivering on its promises.

The Board of Directors, Advisory Committee and staff of the Lisa McPherson Trust will do our part to see that the human spirit of all Scientologists will always have a pathway to real freedom.

The Reform of the Church of Scientology

The Lisa McPherson Trust started operations in Clearwater, Florida on January 6, 2000. It was formed after decades of exhaustive investigation by Media and government agencies as well as firsthand accounts from hundreds of former Scientologists. For more than twenty-five years there have been outcries that the Church of Scientology abandon its abusive and deceptive practices. But until now, there has been no formal organization committed to stopping these abuses. The Lisa McPherson Trust was established for that purpose, and we continue to demand that the Church of Scientology make the following reforms:

 Tell their members and the public the truth about the life of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

 Tell their members and the public the truth about the history of Dianetics and Scientology.

 Cease all illegal, unethical and harassing activities against their own members and those who criticize or disagree with Scientology.

 Revoke the policies and practices that violate the civil and human rights of Scientologists and those who criticize or disagree with Scientology.

 Revoke the policy of practicing medicine without a license and preventing people from receiving proper medical treatment.

 Stop using and abusing the legal system as a means of harassment.

 Stop keeping the technology of Scientology secret if it truly has the power to help the human race.

 Encourage Scientologists to speak freely among themselves. Urge them to communicate with family and friends, even those who may disagree with Scientology. End the practice of "disconnection."

 Revoke the policy and practice of using private and personal material from confidential counseling sessions to blackmail, harass and intimidate.

 Stop using duress to extract exorbitant sums of money from their members.

The Lisa McPherson Trust firmly believes in religious freedom for all. But we do not believe that anyone has the right to engage in behavior that violates other people's rights or the laws of the land. Scientologists have every right to participate in the world's religious community in practicing their sincerely held religious beliefs. However, Scientology needs to cease its abusive and deceptive practices.

We at the Lisa McPherson Trust look forward to assisting many more victims of Scientology all over the world in the coming year, despite the ever more desperate efforts of Scientology to keep us from doing so. The more we can help people find the courage to speak out publicly about their appalling experiences at the hands of Scientology, the closer we will come to ending the abuse and deception of this organization.

With courage and God's help, 2001 will truly be a year to remember in resolving the Scientology problem.

More about Bob Minton