300 INDEPENDENCE AVENUE S.E. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20003 (202) 544-1794
Feb 20 1994
Dear Mr. G[xxx]:
Thank you for your letter of Jan. 23 regarding the story
about the Swiss prosecution of some Scientologists.
You are totally correct
in that we always correct any errors of fact. We have been contacted by a number
of Scientologists in regard to the article you protest about, including some of
your staff people in Washington. In fact, late last month we conferred with
them.
We are in the process of checking this story out right now. Our
European correspondent is working on it and hopefully we'll be able to follow up
on it in the next issue.
As you must know, we have strongly supported
Scientology in the past with stories in The SPOTLIGHT and interviews by Tom
Valentine over Radio Free America.
We are also doing a story on Interpol. A
reporter has been working on it for a month. We certainly have no quarrel
with the good members of your church. Many hundreds of them are subscribers to
this newspaper. But because of some extremely bad experience with an individual
Scientologist who apparently is supported by other high-up Scientologists, we
must wonder about some of your leaders. Apparently the members have no way to
control the leadership.
Sincerely, Willis A. Carto Treasurer
[handwritten: no match on file]
Costa Mesa, Ca. 92627
23 January, 1994
Paul J. Croke, Editor
The SPOTLIGHT
300 Independence Avenue, SE
Washington D.C. 20003
Dear Sir,
My mother is a reader of your newspaper and her subscription is
running out. We need our assistance if she is to continue to be a subscriber.
Let me quote two things from your second page column:
"THE SPOTLIGHT
The paper you can trust."
"OUR GUARANTEE The SPOTLIGHT will
always correct any meaningful error of fact."
The assistance we need
is for you to correct a grievous error on your front page story of 29 November
1993 which told of Swiss prosecutors indicting members of the Church of
Scientology. The story portrayed Scientology as a fraudulent group which
manipulated unwitting victims out of huge sums of money.
I have been a
Scientologist since 1966 and have many friends in the Church. I have had
tremendously wonderful experiences and gains as a result of my association and
found the story to be filled with the same hackneyed criticisms and half-truths
which have of ten been forwarded by a sensationalist press many times before.
The truth is that Scientology is a bonafide religion practiced by millions
all over the world including many professionals and celebrities such as Tom
Cruise, John Travolta, and Kirstie Alley. On October 6th of 1993, after 40
years of investigation, involving hundreds of litigations and 10s of thousands
of man hours, the IRS granted full tax-exemption to all donations to
Scientology, and declared all its organizations to be fully tax-exempt.
Interpol has a habit of spreading false information on Scientology and has been
antagonistic since the 70s when Scientology revealed that the top brass of
Interpol was mostly former Nazi SS officers. It is possible you were the
recipient of some of this nonsensical data.
Let me know if I can be of
assistance in furnishing you with any documentation on Scientology, the IRS vs.
Scientology, or the Nazi connection to Interpol which is a fascinating story in
itself. But whether you request my help or not, I do expect you to be true to
your guarantee; "The SPOTLIGHT will always correct any meaningful error of
fact."
As the editor of an important newspaper I believe you have a duty to
objectively and honestly inform yourself of the truth of Scientology and not be
misled by biased stories from Interpol or any other group. My mother and I
could not be continue to be readers of your paper if we did not see a sincere
effort on your part to discover this truth and print a correction.
Let me
know your response to this request.
Respectfully,
R[xxx] V. G[xxx]
300 INDEPENDENCE AVENUE S.E. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20003 (202) 544-1744
FEB 20 1994
Dear Mr. L[xxx]
Thanks very much for your letter of Jan. 25 regarding the
story of the Swiss prosecution of some members of your church.
We are
checking it out in Europe at this time and hopefully will be able to run a
followup article very shortly. If our investigation shows any inaccuracies in
the story, we will surely run a correction, as is our firm policy.
You must
know that up until recently, when we have personally had some extremely bad
experiences with influential Scientologists we have supported your church with
articles and Tom Valentine, over Radio Free America, has interviewed many of
your spokespeople.
As for AIDS, there are so many theories about it that
one does not know whom to believe. Again, Tom Valentine has devoted many hours
to interviews with these who claim to be expert. The SPOTLIGHT is not devoted to
health and alternative medicine although we do cover these areas as much as we
can fit in the paper. If you have any specific articles in mind, you should
write to Fred Blahut, who puts together the health supplements we have every
other month.
Sincerely,
Willis A. Carto Treasurer
[handwritten note] [stamped Feb 7 1994]
January
25, 1994
Dear Spotlight,
I thought you had more sense than to write
such an inconsiderate account of Scientology. Your liberal media friends must
have viewed it as a piccadilly. I will admit the ideology is going by the way
of commercialism and not its intended route as proposed by its author Ron
Hubbard. However, its posulates are right on target particularly in its expose
of the field of psychiatry - "the greatest curse ever perpetrated on
mankind." I'm still waiting for you to expose the so-called "AIDS
epidemic", another medical hallowed inner sanctum by revered myth makers.
It won't be long with Clinton's reign of terror health scheme when anyone
caught sneezing will be diagnosed as HIV positive and the fast-track authority
will force AZT down your throat until death do us part. I rather choose
Scientology. It's as valid as man has come up with - its phrases are
inspiring, harmonious and in keeping with the laws ruled, in nature and not by
those ruling class 'MEDICAL' freaks at C DC A[xxx] L[xxx], Pleasantville, NY
300 INDEPENDENCE AVENUE S.E. WASHINGTON. D.C. 20003 (202) 544-1794
FEB 2 0
1994
Dear Mr. B[xxx]:
you for your letter of Jan. 21. I want to assure you that
the article you refer to is being checked and hopefully we will be able to
correct any errors, if there are some, in the next issue. We've been in touch
with Scientology people about this, two of whom visited our office late last
month.
I'm sure you know that we have always been supporters of
Scientology. We've ran numerous stories supporting some of the ad hoc committees
your church has set up and Ton Valentine, over Radio Free America, has
interviewed your spokespeople numerous times. So we obviously have no intent to
attack Scientology.
The problem is that at least one of your long-time members who is of your
clergy has perpetrated a grossly immoral "coup d' etat," to quote his
lawyer, and is in the process of destroying the Institute for Historical Review.
We have no real reason to disbelieve that he is in cahoots of top Scientology
people. No doubt you will be reading more about this in The SPOTLIGHT, as
well.
As you know, we have a firm policy of correcting our errors and you can bank on it.
Sincerely,
Willis A. Carto
Treasurer
The Spotlight
300 Independence Avenue S.E. Washington, D. C. 2003
Dear Editor:
Concerning your article of January 17, 1994 on Scientology,
wherein your Peter Wilcox says "A U.S. Federal Court convicted and jailed
nine top Scientology operators for criminal racketeering." That is an
interesting story. In fact the Scientologists had sued the government twice
under the "Freedom of Information Act" to get some documents which the
IRS was disseminating. The Scientologists felt the documents contained
falsehoods. In both cases brought by the Scientologists the government swore
under oath that the documents did not exist. Then the Scientologists covertly
located and copied the documents which the government swore under oath did not
exist.
Unwisely the Scientologists did not bring their own copy paper. What
they were actually found guilty of was stealing the copy paper, as the
government continued to maintain that the documents the Scientologists had
copied, did not exist. Curious indeed.
I suggest that if you inspected the
other charges made by Mr. Wilcox you would find them equally divorced from what
actually occurred.
I wonder, if it is the intent of The Spotlight to
misinform its readers on the subject of Scientology, or if you have simply been
the recipient of misinformation. Re-read the article with the same critical eye
with which you would read an establishment publication. Then get and publish the
truth.
Sincerely,
R[xxx] A. B[xxx]
Publisher of THE JOURNAL OF HISTORICAL REVIEW
1822'h Newport Boulevard - Suite 191 • Costa Mesa, CA 92627 • U.S.A.
MAR -1 1994
Dear B[xxx] [handwritten: Smith]:
one of the most personally distressing
things to me about the mess at the IHR is that so few so-called "revisionists"
have asked me for my side of what has happened. I understand the essence of
revisionism to be the mature understanding that there are at last two sides to
every question. And now I understand that your name is to be used to attempt
to justify their immoral conspiracy.
I'm not sure if the facts are
important to you, but if your mind is not totally closed and perhaps even have
some questions, why don't you ask me?
Best,
Willis Carto
300 INDEPENDENCE AVENUE S.E. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20003 (202) 544-1794
March 1,
1994
Mr. Bill G[xxx], Victor, CO 80860-0012
Dear Bill:
I agree that is high time that we do something about this
paranormal stuff and if you'd like to do about 700-900 words on Groom Lake,
please send it in.
Do you have any invoices? Enclosed is one which you
should fill out and send out with your copy. If used the editor will fill in the
amount and send you a check.
Best,
Willis A. Carto Treasurer
January 16, 1994
Liberty Lobby
Willis O. Carto
Treasurer
Dear Mr. Carto
Thank you for your letter in response to my letter on the
Church of Scientology.
Yes, there is a very workable system of checks and balances to keep corruption
amongst church officials from developing. Some of the system is contained in
the book "Introduction to Scientology Ethics." Once in a while, as in
any organization, someone will come on the scene with less than virtuous
intentions. Those types have been consistently discovered quickly and not
allowed to continue in a position of responsibility.
I understand that
you are extremely upset with this individual who you have known for 14 years.
Won't he discuss this situation with you? If so, what does he say about it? It
sounds as if you and he got along quite well at some time. Seems it should be
possible to establish some kind of communication with him.
By the way, not
one Scientologist I have ever met supports the income tax, not before and not
now, either.
L[xxx] S[xxx]
Glendale, CA
[handwritten notes on back of SPOTLIGHT invoice form,
stamped JAN 22 1994]
1. For years we have supported them.
2. Sylvia
Stannard , Alex Jones
3. Controls or leaders?
4. Knowledge of leaders
plans?
5. ADL/SC tax work together.
6. Senior staff in LA
7. Vow
of poverty?
8. TM/clergy.
9. Ethics officers.
10. Brainwashing?
11. Why you have so many deserters?
8M members
15 k staff
DEC 22 1993
Dear Mr. R[xxx]:
I am delaying
canceling your subscription until I hear from you again. Your letter used the
right word: bizarre. The underhanded and vicious attack by a high-up
Scientologist, which could not possibly have happened without the complicity of
your highest level, has turned this generous friend of Scientology into a very
bitter and curious victim. I hope the enclosed copy of a letter to another
Scientologist will explain in more detail. Being a subscriber to The SPOTLIGHT
you are a fair-minded person who wants to know the facts, right?
Sincerely,
Willis Carto
Treasurer
[NM ("no match on file")]
Dec 30, 1993
LIBERTY LOBBY
300 Independence Avenue,S.E.
Washington, D.C.20003
Attention
Willis A. Carto Treasurer
Dear Mr.Carto:
Thank you for your letter of Dec 20th. I appreciate your
honesty. I also note you have been a good friend and have been considerably
upset. I also felt betrayed when you switched to a complete enemy line in your
newspaper. I could only conclude you were all the time a covert operation for
who knows!
One important thing to note is that organisations are composed of
individuals; it is this certainty that enabled us to expose the psychiatrists
mole in the I.R.S. and also to locate the decent people. Please note that I
write as an individual and not as a representative of the Church. In the same
way there are Israelis in the Church of Scientology as there are representatives
of about every nation on Earth. In general they are all good people, however
while Scientology raises individual responsibility, it has to be applied and
understood and this takes time and dedication. It is not impossible that an
Israeli steeped in a lifetime of "education" on the Holacaust may
consider the Dept of Historical Review as an anathema and one has to recall that
a Nation under extreme stress can develop some funny attitudes: I recall the
Israeli T shirt that says "I'm Israeli" on the front and "You're
wrong" on the back. Also our national educations create widely different
viewpoints of history which as an ex Englishman I find enlightening. This latter
has little to do with Scientology or the Organisation that supports it.
I
do understand your attitude towards the ADL. Burning down buildings and covert
spying are both illegal in this country and we do not knowingly consort with
criminals. The leadership in our Organisation has certain very definite
responsibilities, none of which consists of supporting criminal groups.
Regarding responsibility for our leaders, we are not sheep and our ethics
policies apply to all; we handle an out ethics situation with accurate knowledge
reports. In this respect I need you to tell me exactly what occurred with
specific names so we can start to communicate through this. Churchill once said
jaw jaw jaw was better than war war war.
One thing we do know is that some
one is stirring up trouble for both of us as groups and that someone wants both
of us weaker. Incidentaly I have been involved with Scientology for some 20
years and I am not without contacts. Thank you for your past help, we have a lot
further to go.
Sincerely
R[xxx] M.D[xxx]
Los Angeles CA
[M "match on file",
ack 2/22]
February 10, 1994
The Spotlight
300 Independence ave. SE
Washington, DC 20003
Dear Sirs:
I have just received your Renewal Invoice. I do not intend to
renew my subscription.
Your scurrilous campaign of false slanders against
the Church of Scientology has turned me off. You have destroyed your
credibility. As justification for these smears, you state that members of the
Church have no knowledge of or control over their leadership, and that this
leadership "seems to be involved in schemes kept secret from the
membership."
It may be true that we have no control over the leadership, any more than
does the average Catholic over the Pope. We also have no knowledge of any secret
schemes in which they may be involved. However, this is no excuse for printing
false smears against the Church. If you have knowledge of said "secret
'schemes," you should state those in detail, giving your supporting
evidence, instead of indulging in a campaign of lies and slander.
In Scientology, whenever someone is unjustly and compulsively critical of
another, we know that he has "missed withholds." That is, he has done
something to that person or organization that he doesn't want them to find out
about, but he has reason to think his dirty 'secret may have been discovered.
What have you done to Scientology that you are afraid they may have discovered?
What did they do that made you think they knew about it?
Sincerely,
J[xxx] G. M[xxx]
Tampa, FL
[NM "no match on file"]
18 February,
1994
Letters Editor
The SPOTLIGHT
300 Independence Ave SE
Washington,
D.C. 20003
Dear Editor,
In your February 7 1994 issue of spotlight, you complain
that no Scientologists have come forth with "knowledge of or control over
their leadership".
Well the parameters of your question are pretty
broad. Scientologists generally have a modicum of control over their leadership.
They are also all completely welcome to join staff and become one of the
leaders; we are broadly promoted to as parishioners to do this. I think you have
received no response to your question because your motive for asking it is
unclear.
One thing I can answer very easily, however: your insinuation
that Scientology leadership is involved in a scheme kept secret from the members
is ludicrous. Church management holds major events upwards of seven times a
year, attended by tens of thousands of Scientologists internationally. It is at
these events where EVERY aspect of church planning and goals (or "schemes"
if you want to make it sound sexy for the sake of journalistic interest) is made
very clear to the entire body of Church parishioners. These events are a
time of great enthusiasm for Scientologists, as they like to stay informed and
enjoy hearing about progress and plans made along our purpose.
Has someone
been saying disparaging things to you about Scientology? It sounds like it,
furthermore, it sounds like whoever is saying such has no idea what Scientology
is or the quality of its leaders. The leaders of Scientology are regarded by
Scientologists world-wide as fond friends and people we can approach directly
about any concern, origination or comment. Look again, please, and this time
come look directly at my religion. There is an entire book on the subject
which my Church published, called "What is Scientology". It includes
every single goal, plan and purpose we seek to obtain as a group. Thank you for
your time.
Respectfully,
M[xxx]G[xxx]
Los Angeles, CA