Scientology controversies


Since its inception in 1954, the Church of Scientology has been involved in a number of controversies, including its stance on psychiatry, Scientology's legitimacy as a religion, the Church's aggressive attitude in dealing with its perceived enemies and critics, allegations of mistreatment of members, and predatory financial practices; for example, the high cost of religious training:191 and perceived exploitative practices. When mainstream media outlets have reported alleged abuses, representatives of the Church have tended to deny such allegations.

Secrecy

The Church of Scientology maintains strict control over the use of its symbols, names and religious texts. Although U.S. intellectual property law allows for "fair use" of material for commentary, parody, educational purposes, etc., critics of the Church such as Gerry Armstrong have argued the Church unfairly and illegally uses the legal system to suppress "fair" uses, including suppressing any mention of the space opera aspects of the religion, including the story of Xenu.:371-383
One example critics cited is a 1995 lawsuit against the Washington Post. The Religious Technology Center, the corporation controlling L. Ron Hubbard's copyrighted materials, sued to prevent a Post reporter from describing church teachings at the center of another lawsuit, claiming copyright infringement, trade secret misappropriation, and the circulation of their "advanced technology" teachings would cause "devastating, cataclysmic spiritual harm" to those not prepared. In her judgment in favor of the Post, Judge Leonie Brinkema noted:

Public absence of Shelly Miscavige

, wife of Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige, has not been seen publicly since 2007.
In 2013, actress Leah Remini, a former Scientologist and vocal critic of the organization, filed a missing person report with the Los Angeles Police Department concerned about her disappearance. The LAPD allegedly contacted Miscavige and closed the case within hours. Despite assurances from Church of Scientology spokespeople that Shelly Miscavige is alive and well, many continue to express skepticism.
In 2022, after hearing about an investigation into now-retired LAPD Captain Cory Palka about alerting others of confidential police investigations, Remini revealed photographs of Palka accepting a $20,000 check from Scientology for LAPD charities, and one of a Scientology information kiosk located in the LAPD Hollywood Division. While speaking with Palka in his office, Remini noticed a letter of thanks to him from Scientology with an invitation to lunch at their Celebrity Centre.
As of 2024, Shelly Miscavige's whereabouts remain unknown.

Scientology and psychiatry

There have been a number of controversies between Scientology and psychiatry since the founding of the Church of Scientology in 1952. Scientology is publicly, and often vehemently, opposed to both psychiatry and psychology. Scientologists view psychiatry as a barbaric and corrupt profession and encourage alternative care based on spiritual healing. According to the Church of Scientology, psychiatry has a long history of improper and abusive care. The group's views have been disputed, criticized and condemned by experts in the medical and scientific community and been a source of public controversy.
The Church of Scientology's objection to secular ideas about mental health are religious in nature, based on the conviction that humans are essentially divine beings who have been marred by negative experiences acquired over several lifetimes. Scientology also purports that the secular perception of what is mentally normal is not based on science, a contradiction to the claims of psychiatry and psychology.
The Church founded an anti-psychiatry organization called Citizens Commission on Human Rights, which operates a public exhibit in Los Angeles, California, called Psychiatry: An Industry of Death.

"Attack the Attacker" policy

Scientology has a reputation for hostile action toward anyone who criticizes it in a public forum; executives within the organization have proclaimed Scientology is "not a turn-the-other-cheek religion". Journalists, politicians, former Scientologists and various anti-cult groups have made accusations of wrongdoing against Scientology since the 1960s, and Scientology has targeted these critics—almost without exception—for retaliation, in the form of lawsuits and public counter-accusations of personal wrongdoing. Many of Scientology's critics have also reported they were subjected to threats and harassment in their private lives.
The organization's actions reflect a formal policy for dealing with criticism instituted by L. Ron Hubbard, called "attack the attacker". Hubbard codified this policy in the latter half of the 1960s in response to government investigations into the organization. In 1966, Hubbard wrote a criticism of the organization's behavior and noted the "correct procedure" for attacking enemies of Scientology:

Litigation against critics

In the past, many critics of Scientology have claimed they were harassed by frivolous and vexatious lawsuits, including journalists Paulette Cooper and Richard Behar; free-speech advocates Karin Spaink, David S. Touretzky, Keith Henson and Grady Ward; and former Scientology members Cyril Vosper, Lawrence Wollersheim, Jon Atack, Gerry Armstrong, Steven Fishman, Dennis Erlich, Arnie Lerma, and Bonnie Woods.
Paulette Cooper was falsely accused of felony charges as she had been framed by the Church of Scientology's Guardian's Office. Furthermore, her personal life had been intruded upon by Scientologists who had attempted to kill her and/or draw her to suicide in a covert plan known as Operation Freakout brought to light after FBI investigations into other matters.
A prominent example of litigation of its critics is the Church of Scientology's $416 million libel lawsuit s:Church of Scientology v. Behar against Time Warner as a result of their publication of a highly critical magazine article "The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power" by Richard Behar. A public campaign by the Church of Scientology accordingly ensued in an attempt to defame this Time Magazine publication.
Gareth Alan Cales was harassed by the Church of Scientology, including false charges against him and his friends.
Similarly, the Church of Scientology's legal battle with Gerry Armstrong in Church of Scientology v. Gerald Armstrong spanned two decades and involved a $10 million claim against Armstrong.

''Scientology and Me''

In 2007 a BBC documentary on Scientology by reporter John Sweeney came under scrutiny by Scientologists. Sweeney alleged "While making our BBC Panorama film Scientology and Me I have been shouted at, spied on, had my hotel invaded at midnight, denounced as a 'bigot' by star Scientologists, brain-washed—that is how it felt to me—in a mock up of a Nazi-style torture chamber and chased round the streets of Los Angeles by sinister strangers". This resulted in a video being distributed by Scientologists of a shouting match between Sweeney and Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis. The Church has reportedly released a DVD accusing the BBC of organising a demonstration outside a Scientology office in London, during which "terrorist death threats" were made against Scientologists. The BBC described the allegations as "clearly laughable and utter nonsense". Sandy Smith, the BBC programme's producer, commented the Church of Scientology has "no way of dealing with any kind of criticism at all".

Fair Game

Hubbard detailed his rules for attacking critics in a number of policy letters, including one often quoted by critics as "the fair game policy". This allowed those who had been declared enemies of the Church, called "suppressive persons", "May be deprived of property or injured by any means...May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed".
The aforementioned policy was canceled and replaced by HCOPL July 21, 1968, Penalties for Lower Conditions. The wordings "May be deprived of property or injured by any means... May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed", are not found in this reference. Scientology critics argue only the term but not the practice was removed. To support this contention, they refer to "HCO Policy Letter of October 21, 1968" which says, "The practice of declaring people FAIR GAME will cease. FAIR GAME may not appear on any Ethics Order. It causes bad public relations. This P/L does not cancel any policy on the treatment or handling of a SP."
According to a book by Omar Garrison, HCOPL March 7, 1969, was created under pressure from the government of New Zealand. Garrison quotes from the HCOPL, "We are going in the direction of mild ethics and involvement with the Society". Garrison then states, "It was partly on the basis of these policy reforms that the New Zealand Commission of Inquiry recommended that no legislative action be taken against Scientology". The source of Omar Garrison for this is most likely the Dumbleton-Powles Report, additional data and quotations are found in this report.
In 1977, top officials of Scientology's "Guardian's Office", an internal security force run by Hubbard's wife, Mary Sue Hubbard, admitted that fair game was policy in the GO..
In separate cases in 1979 and 1984, attorneys for Scientology argued the Fair Game policy was in fact a core belief of Scientology and as such deserved protection as religious expression.

Dead agenting

Dead agenting means to provide negative information or propaganda about an enemy or critic. A dead agent pack or package is a compilation of documents designed to defame or ruin the reputation of an opponent. It is used to discredit someone who has spoken out against Scientology, or is held as "insurance" to deter someone from speaking out.
In the 1970s, Hubbard continued to codify the policy of "attacking the attacker" and assigned a term to be used frequently within Scientology: "dead agenting". Used as a verb, "dead agenting" is described by Hubbard as a technique for countering negative accusations against Scientology by diverting the critical statements and making counter-accusations against the accuser; in other words, to "attack the attacker". Hubbard defined the PR policy on "dead agenting" in a 1974 bulletin:
The phrase comes from a misunderstanding of the chapter on espionage in The Art of War.
The now-defunct Scientology-sponsored website Religious Freedom Watch was often cited by alt.religion.scientology users as a contemporary example of "dead agenting". It contained false discreditable information about critics of the Church. According to the New York Press, the website was "almost universally regarded as a Scientology front group designed to attack the Church's critics." After one person pressured NYP to check the website for information on a particular person, NYP was unable to verify the information with any credible source.
Dead agenting has also been carried out by flier campaigns against some critics—using so-called "DA fliers". Bonnie Woods, an ex-member who began counseling people involved with Scientology and their families, became a target along with her husband in 1993 when the Church of Scientology started a leaflet operation denouncing her as a "hate campaigner" with demonstrators outside their home and around East Grinstead. After a long battle of libel suits, in 1999, the Church agreed to issue an apology and to pay £55,000 damages and £100,000 in legal costs to the Woods.