Mass gathering in Los Angeles
While the "Scientology organization" would not be categorized as political extremism in the classic form, that is not required because the constitutional protection laws do not contain such classifications, nor are they a provision for surveillance by intelligence agencies. Instead, the sole deciding factor is whether actual indications of counter-constitutional activity are present - as they were primarily described in chapters 5 to 7 - regardless of whether the groups would be described as "rightwing," "left" or in some other way. With respect to the protective purpose of the constitutional security laws to recognize dangers to the basic liberal democratic order in a timely fashion [139], what sort of political flavor the counter-constitutional activities have is of no consequence.
Article 4 [the freedom of religion article. Ed.] of Basic Law is also part of this basic liberal democratic order. This special protection for religious and philosophical communities, and the freedoms of belief and of conscience, is only one of several elements of the basic liberal democratic order and therefore depends on its continued existence. As a consequence of this, those who, under the pretext of practice of religion or in even connection with religious activity, work towards the removal of the higher value-principles of the Constitution, cannot invoke the full scope of Article 4 of Basic Law. As a result of this, the constitutional protection authorities - as long as the legal provisions of surveillance are present - are not prevented by Article 4 of Basic Law from observing religious or belief communities if need be.
<Do they really believe that a society in this condition will grant Scientology public acknowledgment? Hell, no! And to hell with this society! We're making a new one.> [140]
The SO pursues the political goal of replacing our state and social system with a new one that functions strictly according to Scientology principles. The concepts of the Scientology program, though, are not bound to principles of a constitutional state such as the human rights actualized in Basic Law. They contain numerous actual indications of counter-constitutional endeavors and of the goal to establish a totalitarian state system and an arbitrary rule. In such a system, essential elements of basic liberal democratic order, such as the protection of human dignity, the equality principle and freedom of opinion would be in fact put out of commission. Scientology justice, sanctions and laws ("ethics codes") would not guarantee the independence of the courts and the legitimacy of the executive branch like Basic Law does. The Scientology organization's image of humans discriminates between alleged superhumans ("Uebermenschen") and the inferior opposition, propagates that might makes right, and is incompatible with the value system of the Basic Law. The uncritical "leader cult" around HUBBARD also appears significant.
The social and administrative techniques taught by the SO, which in their understanding represents the model for society, aim primarily at having orders uncompromisingly followed, having resistance cleared out of the way, and producing enemy pictures. Criticism and the ability to make compromises - basic conditions for the functioning of a democratic community present - are not undesirable.
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Mass gathering in Los Angeles |
The ideology and practice of Scientology also continue to show an aggressive basic stance and a radical implementation of will that sometimes uses merciless persecution of opposition. A crass example for this is the notorious "Fair Game" policy of HUBBARD's, which permits people who have been declared "Fair Game" to be injured or even destroyed by any means. [141] This "Policy Letter" was subsequently said to be cancelled by a further policy letter. This makes it clear that this sort of action is no longer fixed in writing. Former Scientologists have repeatedly claimed that the "Fair Game" policy has never really been cancelled.
Today's management operates in the HUBBARD sense in that it says the SO must act like a <piledriver> [142] when it wants members to be somewhat militantly involved. Some observers could remark that all this is really a manifestation of an organization that has overestimated itself, and which has also overestimated its chances in the past. It's indisputable that at the moment the SO does not have the membership potential required to carry out its infiltration intentions on a large scale in countries like Germany. Nevertheless the vehemence and seriousness with which the SO wants to pursue stated expansion goals and to implement HUBBARD teachings are noteworthy. The SO deals globally and with a long-term strategy. For that purpose it has its own intelligence service, which is supposed to clear its path of all resistance.
139. see sect. 7.
140. L. Ron HUBBARD, policy letter Nr. 2 of the series "Keeping Scientology Working" in "The Organization Executive Course Volume 0," Copenhagen, 1999, p. 90.
141. <Enemy (...) may be deprived of property or harmed by any means by any Scientologist with disciplinary action for the Scientologist. May be deceived, sued, lied to or destroyed.> (L. Ron HUBBARD, policy letter <Punishments for Lower Ethics Conditions> of 18 October 1967 Edition IV.
142. Magazine "Impact" Nr. 98/2001, pp 39.
<We plan to remove everything out of the way that is necessary, regardless of how big, to create a culture that can really survive. (...) We mean it seriously.> [143]
143. Church of Scientology EU (publ.), special issue "Only an Auditor can do something about it," Copenhagen, 2001, p. 2.
In the 1960s the SO built its
own intelligence service, the "Guardian Office" (GO). Because the GO
in the 1970 committed felonious crimes such as burglarizing government agencies
and theft, the SO saw fit, after this was discovered, to dissolve it. The
successor organization was founded as the "Office of Special Affairs"
(OSA).
The primary mission of the OSA is combatting critics and their clarifications with covert means. OSA directives and documents, as well as previously obtained findings of basic testimony on the actions of OSA yield the profile of a covert intelligence agency which is in the position to have its actions taken seriously and whose staff are involved at a militant level. [144]
144. For instance, the training program for "Investigation Officer" contains segments from the standard work "On War" by the Prussian general and military theorist Carl Philipp Gottfried von Clausewitz, along with various HUBBARD instructions with titles like "Battle Tactics" and "Enemy Action" (The Office of Special Affairs Investigations Section, 1991).
<INTELLIGENCE SERVICE (...) One day the random data yields a usable summary. (...) If an attack on Scientology begins somewhere, we look at the people who are taking part in it and render them useless.> [145]
The OSA differentiates between overt and covert information gathering. The former includes inquiries from association and trade register documents and a systematic media review. In 1998, documents from the first half of the 1990s came to light in which minutes of radio interviews were being noted down and press articles assessed, followed by a list and a review of the people and institutions named therein. Multiple copies were made of the lists and, together with associated reports, were filed in the folders of the corresponding person and/or institutions. The cross-reference lists ("x-filing sheets") allow one to form the conclusion that the OSA as assembled a considerable amount of information about critics and opponents. It could be read from one "x-filing sheet" that discourse gleaned from one SO critic had been filed in 22 different personnel and institution files. The tradition of using the abbreviations "E-Germ" (for Enemy Germany) and "T" for "apostate" Scientologists ("Traitors") appears no longer to be the preferred method. Nevertheless, nothing has changed in the hostile attitude of OSA against critics. For instance, a cross-reference list with the notation of "Enemy media" was available.
Over data collection also includes planned visits to critical institutions. Part of the detailed instructions describe the behavior expected of individual Scientologists in doing so. Afterwards, records of the course of events are to be prepared.
Since the year 2000, open government information sources have served OSA members in various German states [146] through the freedom of information laws, which grant considerable access of third parties to view government files. The same purpose is served by an "Aktion Transparente Verwaltung" (ATV), with operating areas in Munich and Hamburg. Allegedly to fight corruption, the ATV seeks support of a nationwide law for more access to government records at state locations. From experiences in other German states, however, this endeavor is an effective tool to help state agencies in find out exactly what the SO is looking for.
OSA members are prepared to operate in not only a stubborn manner, but in a brazen and aggressive manner as well. In 2001 a document came to light in which an OSA reported how in specific cases, intimidation was used and unauthorized access to state agencies was gained, in the scope of doing research for an investigation.
145. L. Ron HUBBARD, <The Handbook of Rights>, Copenhagen, 1979 (copyright 1989), pp. 2.
146. Since 1998 in Brandenburg, 2000 in Schleswig-Holstein and 2002 in Nordrhein-Westfalen.
<We know our enemies, before they strike, we keep them away from important positions. (...) Intelligence agency alertness, even if we do not have any folders, is reckoned in the form of calm, watchfulness and progress. (...) If we deem it necessary to snare someone, then we make inquiries.> [147]
147 L. Ron HUBBARD, <The Handbook of Rights>, Copenhagen, 1979 (copyright 1989), pp. 2.
Covert data collection includes a suitable guise. OSA adherents repeatedly make appearances as "journalists." One OSA staff member tried to pass himself off to state as well as to private agencies as a "concerned citizen," who supposedly wanted to act as an informant against the SO. In the first half of the 1990s an order was issued in which a survey was to be taken of SO critics. It was supposed to reveal whether the survey subject was a former student of the target person. This same order required expansion of the scope of research by making inquiries of uninvolved family members. This order was actually carried out. In the scope of intensive research, laid out in advance in writing, into the life of a critic of Scientology, phone calls were made under apparently false pretenses to family members and inquiries were made into the sphere of the target person.
During an investigation of a German critic in the early 1990s, an order was issued to carry out a "DBC." This abbreviation stands for "Dust Bin Collection," which means a search through the trash of the target person to find written documents. An compliance report was written on a "DBC" of a critic's organization. The operators appeared under the guise of trash collectors.
<(...) we took the trash can between us and rolled it back across the street, (...) The whole operation looked as if two street sweepers worked down in the garage and were simply using the trash can to carry out some trash, (...) We went back into the garage to the parked car, put our normal clothes on and left the site calmly.> [148]
148. Original was in English. These segments were back-translated, i.e., translated from English to German back to English.
<Use the state agencies if
nothing else will work, such as in the case of embezzlement or bodily injury,
but try to operate without involving the local constabulary. We are always
better off when we do it ourselves or with private detectives.> [149]
High-ranking OSA functionary Kurt WEILAND remarked in an interview that the SO usually hired their private detectives in the USA through attorneys to disable accusations against themselves or to support their own case. As far as he knew though, this did not happen in Germany, as he said. [150] A document came to light in 2001, however, according to which OSA in Germany had also sought contact with a "PI" or private investigator. In 1998, the Swiss Justice and Police Department reported that in May 1996, a private detective, which had been sent into Switzerland from the USA, was attempting to find out who within the Geneva Justice and Police Departments had anything to do with the SO. [151]
149. L. Ron HUBBARD, <The Handbook of Rights>, Copenhagen, 1979 (copyright 1989), pp. 10.
150. Thomas Kruchem, "Staatsfeind Scientology?", Munich, 1999, p. 150.
151. Swiss Federal Justice and Police Department (publ.) "Scientology in der Schweiz. Bericht zuhanden der Konsultativen Staatsschutzkommission," July 1998, p. 117. [An online English version does not refer to an incident in Geneva, but in Greece. Ed.]
When one prominent Scientology critic visited Germany in Fall 2000, according to findings of the Hamburg constitutional protection agency, he was followed by an observer from the USA. The professionally operating observer worked together with German Scientologists on site. The operative methods used included an extremely conspirative method of operation, covert eavesdropping on conversations, and use of technical means, such as photo and video technology.
In January 2003, in the Brandenburg area, a Scientologist followed the vehicle of a church sect commissioner in which a high-ranking ex-Scientologist was riding. According to the sect commissioner, his vehicle's occupants were photographed and badgered by the Scientologists on the autobahn. During this, the Scientologist braked in front of them and swerved toward the vehicle from the side. The sect commissioner called the police for assistance and filed a charge. The police escorted the vehicle to Berlin. The divine service held by the sect commission in the Luisen Church took place under police protection. Members of OSA were there taking notes. The SO conceded having the ex-Scientologist under observation and under investigation. Their purpose was to take legal steps against the ex-Scientologist. The SO alleged that the Scientologist would be held accountable in accordance with the church's internal discipline for his conduct. The whole operation may have been connected with a tactic that OSA calls "harassment," and which serves to wear down critics.
In the past, through the systematic collection of information on German SO critics, the SO has succeeded in coming into the possession of personal mail and documents from the workplace, hospital documents, letters to government agencies, records of meetings, and much else. In one case photographic intelligence on the residence and vehicle was obtained, in another case the critic's place of employment. The OSA lays high worth on obtaining material which is as compromising as possible on a target person. Thus there are orders to look for "scandal." Surveillance of one female SO critic in the early 1990s involved visits with men. The OSA pursues a goal of collecting as much as possible about the target person, no matter how apparently irrelevant or relevant the information is, for the purpose of putting together a "mosaic of findings," if needed, to lay the foundation for a campaign of defamation.
In the article mentioned in section 3.1 by the Belgian "Le Soir" newspaper, it also reports that these court proceedings in Brussels revealed more about the data collection of the SO. The files of the organizations there included reports on officers in the security forces there as well as on political persons and journalist, all of which were classified according to the degree of their danger to the SO.
<Black Propaganda is a covert distribution of false data which intends to harm, impeded or destroy the activities or the life of another person, group or nation, (...) It is heavily used in 'waging psychological warfare.' (...) Our propaganda is dirty, but it is not black, because it is true. Black Propaganda is fundamentally false. (...) We will not carry out a black campaign, because we are dealing with the truth. (...) We are carrying out a simply propaganda campaign.> [152]
So the OSA justifies "dirty" actions by saying that the SO, in opposition to its opponents, is always in possession of the truth, and is therefore right. The defamation campaigns against critics and opponents are consistently spiced with great harshness. In this way the SO demeans its opponents in the way they are pictures in the "Freiheit" propaganda publication as alleged criminals or mentally ill people. The purpose of this tactic, which is called "dead agenting" by the SO, is to destroy the credibility of an opponent.
152. L. Ron HUBBARD, "Black Propaganda," OSA Network Order 15 (originally released 12 January 1972, published as an OSA Network Order on 18 February 1988), contained in "The Office of Special Affairs Investigations Section," 1991.
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<OSA
staff prepare for the newest battle |
The "Scientology Organization uses various means to design a distorted image of Germany and to present it as an rogue state. For years it's been deliberately carrying out a devaluation of attitude towards the Federal Republic of Germany and its representatives. For instance, the "German Office for Human Rights" in Munich, which is counted as OSA, continues to publish statements on the Internet that disparage legal measures, such as the development of a school schedule as "religious apartheid" or as "ethnic cleansing in Germany." [153] With this the SO desires to give the impression that there is no freedom of press in Germany, and even accuses the media of "instigating" the public. [154]
The immoderateness of the accusations peak in the "Scientology Organization" comparing its situation in Germany with that of the Jews persecuted during the National Socialist dictatorship. In the past, this comparison has led to sharp protests against the SO both at home and overseas. Nevertheless they still continue to hold this position on the Internet. To this end, the SO also uses a selection of pictures that are supposed to subtly suggest that the Scientologist's situation is comparable to that of the Jews being deported to extermination camps during the Third Reich era. [155] In regards to this, the SO propagates:
<In Canada and Germany malicious raids were perpetrated upon our churches that are reminiscent of the genocidal attacks on religions in 'less informed' times and societies of history.> [156]
153. Home page of the "Deutschen Bueros fuer Menschenrecte," as of October 2001.
154. <Fifteen years success in the association, the promotion, the support and the protection of the Scientology religion and of Scientologists,> special annual report by the International Association of Scientologist (IAS) to its members on its fifteen year anniversary, 1999, p. 92.
155. Web site of the "Church of Scientology," as of June 2002.
156. <Fifteen years success in the association, the promotion, the support and the protection of the Scientology religion and of Scientologists,> special annual report by the International Association of Scientologist (IAS) to its members on its fifteen year anniversary, 1999, p. 92.
In November 1997, the report that a German Scientologist had sought for and received political asylum in the USA caused some concern. Grounds for asylum was listed by the Scientologist woman, who came from Baden-Wurttemberg, as <fear of persecution of her belief>. In Summer of 2000, research by journalists [157] revealed that the case was apparently staged for the media by the SO for the purpose of making an example out of Germany at the international level. Several corporation that belonged to the SO had authored letters that purported to refuse employment to the woman, and which referred to her membership in Scientology in a negative manner. These letters were said to be the "proof" provided to the US immigration judge to show that many Scientologists were unemployed in Germany and that it was almost impossible for a Scientologist to lead a normal life. After the woman was granted asylum in the USA, she was said to have sent a "commendation" to a fellow German SO member for his collaboration in the matter.
157. "Stern" Nr. 27/2000. In English, see http://cisar.org/survey/hd.htm#000629c and http://cisar.org/survey/ba.htm#000622a.
The SO uses various security measures to prevent the disclosure of certain operations, especially that of intelligence operations:
- Since there is extensive reporting done from OSA organizational units, the production of regular situation reports for instance, sensitive information is supposed to be encrypted before sending. [158]
[image of segments of OSA INT Executive Directive 1420 of 26 June 1995]
EXECUTIVE DIRECTIVE
OSA INT ED 1420
26 June 1995
OSA INT
OSA
CONTS
DSAs
[...]
Security of data is of vital importance. DSA and
Cont reports must all be sent in their own envelopes and are never sent open in
the Org's mail. Security must be maintained to preserve the attorney-client
relationship as covered in OSA Network Order 5 Legal Matters and False
Impressions. Confidential data must never be faxed or otherwise sent
on open communication lines but is handled per OSA Network Order 47, Preparing
Confidential Mail or must be encrypted using an approved encryption method.
(Contact Comm Chf OSA Int for further details on the subject of OSA comm
security.)
[end image]
- Regarding the confidentiality of information, one known liability form provides for a penalty of 30,000 DM for non-compliance.
- The OSA headquarters in the USA can send out its own "sec checker" to give "security checks" to OSA personal on site.
- Besides that, the OSA tries to react tactically in situations that are perceived as threatening. In 2001 a document came to light that described how the "Investfiles" [159] were to be brought at a certain time of night to the private spaces of another OSA member because a police search and seizure operation was anticipated.
158. OSA INT Executive Directive ED 1420 "DSA and OSA Cont Reports" of 26 June 1995.
159. "Investfiles" mean investigation files, which apparently refer to the folders that OSA maintains on critics and opponents.
The membership figures
published by the SO are greatly exaggerated. The organization has neither seven
million adherents worldwide nor 30,000 members in Germany. Actually it has
about five or six thousand people at its disposal in Germany, of them about
1,200 in Baden-Wurttemberg. According to current findings, worldwide membership
is about 100,000.
Contrary to the official reports by the SO, the organization and its adherents to not form a completely homogenous group, nor is the SO the allegedly perfectly functioning organization that is likes to portray itself as. Apparently there are quite a few Scientologists who are dissatisfied with conditions in the organizations, most of all with the international management. There is the opinion that today the management no longer represents what HUBBARD once supposedly wanted. Up to this point this dissatisfaction has not turned into a disruptive force for the SO. Splinter groups like the "Free Zone" have developed, however, against with it has taken steps with measures like the copyright law.
There is a "hard core" in the SO, which is formed from the "Sea Org." It's obvious, though, that only a portion of the membership can be counted as part of this core of activists. Elements of fanaticism are evident in these adherents, who are greatly, if not totally, dedicated to the SO, to the point of sacrificing their own material existence. This group is buffered with a diverse layer of more or less inactive members who could not longer continue the Scientology course system, for reasons including financial. Nevertheless, these members also stand behind HUBBARD's teachings, as a rule, and feel as though they continue to be part of the Scientology milieu.
Many Scientologists regard HUBBARD's teaching primarily as self-development ideology, and are not politically oriented in the narrow sense, but uncritically orient themselves, as a rule, to the dogmatic teachings and dictates of management. Numerous Scientologists on the ground level are in the dark, not only as to the activities of OSA, but also regarding the strategic goals of management, only fragments of which they may be aware of. However, the "Sea Org" functionaries at the command level of the SO operate from a different perspective than the base level. One former member from Germany who was employed as an officer in the SO and left the organization in the second half of the 1990s gave the following summary:
"Scientology wants to govern the whole world according to its maxims. The organization's claim to world domination is constantly stressed by all functionaries. Staff are under obligation to keep this goal in mind."
160. "Was ist Scientology?" Hamburg, 1990, p. 5.
161. See sect. 11.2
<But the Scientology Churches spread the same teachings in Germany, the work according to the same policies and follow the same financial system as in America. Their staff have committed themselves to the same goals. (...)> [163]
162. The yearly report of the state Verfassungsschutz is available at http://baden-wuerttemberg.de/verfassungsschutz. It gives a current look at the structures and auxiliary organizations in Baden-Wurttemberg.
163. Church of Scientology International (publ.) Magazine "Freedom", June 1994 edition, p. 3.
SO institutions are not self-sufficient, but are part of an international hierarchical organization, which is strictly led from the USA. The center of power is the "Religious Technology Center" (RTC) in Los Angeles. The RTC is the owner of the copyrights and trademarks of the works of L. Ron HUBBARD and oversees their proper usage. Also in Los Angeles is located the top management headquarters of the "Church of Scientology International," (CSI), which has more than 1,000 members and through whose management the entire organization is directed. The chain of command runs from there to the appropriate "Continental Liaison Offices," which for Europe is located in Copenhagen. It is from there that national institutions are directed and controlled. In public, most SO activities run over "church lines."
"Missions" are entry-level organizations that offer introductory services. In contrast to them, "Class V Orgs," which appear as "Scientology Churches," offer a broader variety of courses and "auditing." "Celebrity Centers" are to care exclusively for prominent personalities who can be used to polish the SO's image. "Field auditors" offer their own services in a "practice" outside the "orgs."
The SO also makes an appearance in alleged social reform groups. Auxiliary organizations like "Narconon" and "Criminon," for example, claim to be able to use HUBBARD's techniques successfully for drug rehabilitation or resocialization of convicts. The "Kommission fuer Verstoesse der Psychiatrie gegen Menschenrechte" (KVPM [the German equivalent of "CCHR". Ed.]) uses incendiary publications to propagate an alleged intention to fight grievances in psychiatry. It appears, however, that a major part of KVPM's activities are dedicated to spreading portions of HUBBARD's conspiracy theories throughout society.
The "International Association of Scientologists" (IAS) member organization officially has its headquarters in East Grinstead, Great Britain. The IAS is responsible for collecting donations for the so-called "war chest," which is used to finance the "war" against opponents and which is supposed to assure the organization's ability to campaign. The financial reserves of the "Scientology organization" are said to be located in various "trusts." There is no doubt that the SO has enormous financial power at its disposal. At the "continental" level, i.e., Copenhagen, Scientology has a so-called "Advanced Organizations Saint Hill" (AOSH), that offers advanced courses, among other things. The worldwide services center is the "Flag Service Organization" (FSO) in Clearwater, Florida, which is said to employ 800 staff. The FSO and the "Freewinds" passenger ship conduct "auditing" up through the highest levels. Managerial and staff positions at the "continental" level, as a rule, are manned by "Sea Org" members. In public, the SO characterizes the "Sea Org" as a "religious fraternity." A look behind the scenes, however, reveals something different.
The "Sea Organization" ("Sea Org") was founded by L. Ron HUBBARD in 1967 and, according to testimony from former members, is a paramilitary outfit that de facto exercises power and control over the "Scientology organization." A former high-ranking Scientologist testified as follows:
<The personnel of the Sea
Organization are authorized to supervise and take over other Scientology
organizations and to demote their personnel ...> [164]
According to its own presentation, the "Sea Org" has about 5,000 members. The self-understanding of this uniformed unit is based on the principle of order and unconditional obedience. The "Sea Org," which understands itself to be an elite unit, idealizes strictness, harsh discipline" and readiness <to go through hell>. Its members are supposed to <destroy>, <exterminate> and <eradicate> any obstacles to the "global expansion" of Scientology. [165] Former members report that the "Sea Org" runs its own penal camp, called the "Rehabilitation Project Forces" (RPF). In public the SO both disputes the existence of the RPF and presents it as an institution to <purify> individuals.
The "Commodore Messengers Org" (CMO) is a sort of cadet institution in the USA that prepares children and teenagers for future management positions. The "Sea Org" operates recruitment offices in international units, which also send "Sea Org recruiters" to national SO establishments. Therefore there are even Scientologists from Baden-Wurttemberg in the "Sea Org," including in management positions. Evidence indicates that the "Sea Org recruiters" have been operating in Baden-Wurttemberg to recruit young Scientologists.
164. Source: Internet http://www.access.ch/pwidmer/SCI/jesseaff.html as of October 2000.
165. "Sea Org" yearly magazines "High Winds" 1996-1998.
<When today's businesses and governments understood and could apply the underlying principles of organization and administration, they would provide functioning solutions to end social and economical chaos, rather than maintaining it. And if one regards this along with (...) unstable social and political structures, then the urgency of the situation becomes even more apparent. WISE offers hope and improvement. (...) His [HUBBARD's] philosophy with respect to organizational know-how and his clear explanation for its realization have a direct claim on general application in industry, in business and in the government.> [166]
Although the "church" appears open as a rule, in the SO background, licensees of the "World Institute of Scientology Enterprises" (WISE) business association, who are relatively frequently employed as management trainers for the fields of real estate or information technology, are often not at first recognizable. WISE trainers market as management training seminars which are almost identical with introductory Scientology courses but whose contents is not recognizable to newcomers as Scientology material. WISE, whose stated goal it is to introduce HUBBARD's administrative policies <in broad measure in every society, every organization and nation> [167], has at its disposal for this purpose a worldwide network of "Hubbard Colleges of Administration" (HCA). According to the Internet web site of the center in the USA, the purpose of this network is the spread of Scientology "ethics" and "administration technology" in business, state agencies, in associations and the media. According to a confidential directive, WISE pursues a strategy of making a leadership power out of the SO for politics and business. It's planned, for instance, <to catch management in key position in leading businesses worldwide, who in return will become WISE members and sponsors for LRH's administrative technology.> [168]
A WISE newsletter came to light in 1999, which was directed to the EDP area, which made clear the typical manner of procedure. Outsiders who were expecting only a communications course, were to become more steadily involved with the SO:
"People from your circle of friends, family and workplace will get acquainted with LRH here and his Tech in a businesslike atmosphere they can feel comfortable in. In this way they can take that decisive step that's going to change their lives fully relaxed. After the seminar we also want to help you get your people on the right path for them, be it in the Org, a group of field auditors, WISE or wherever they would like." [169]
Despite their problems in Germany, the SO demonstrates the unbroken intention here at home to put HUBBARD's ideology into the executive branch of government. They continue to publish alleged success reports in which activists have done something to bring the public administration of a foreign city of a million inhabitant to re-organize on the basis of HUBBARD's administrative policies. Even if the truthfulness of such assertions is questionable, these greatly overdone announcements of success recognizable serve the goal of more strongly activating German Scientologists toward expansion attempts of this sort.
166. New Era Publications International ApS (publ.), "Was ist Scientology?, Copenhagen, 1998, p. 395.
167. "WISE International Business Directory 2001," p. 3.
168. Board of Directors WISE International, "Confidential WISE Strategic Planning," (WISE Executive Directive 258 of 13 February 1993).
169. Original was in German.
The SO's public presentation of itself draws the picture of a patriotic, selfless religion of salvation that is dedicated to charity. A look into the organization, however, results in a completely different picture. The crass contrast between claims and reality justifies the accusation of deliberately misleading the public, and even of using the most bare-faced maneuvers of deception. For instance, the SO possesses two completely different sets of Scientology codes. The one which is pleasing to the ear is placed on "press lines," apparently primarily for the purpose of creating a pretense.
After an initial boom in the
early 1990s, the SO has had to accept backsliding and membership loss in
Germany. Since that time a plateau of stagnation had been reached in Germany,
which varies by area. The alarm cannot be called off, though. The organization
is Europe can rely completely on the logistics and the enormous financial
strength of the mother organization in the USA. Experience shows that the more
freedom the SO has, the more openly and boldly it tries to enforce its claim to
power. In the USA, for instance, it takes greater action against against
critics than it does in Germany. In an increasingly globalized world, the
organization can win enough influence in business and politics to be concerned
about during the great social upheavals and crises in eastern Europe,
particularly in Russia. The media have reported repeatedly on SO expansion in
eastern Europe. Among the most spectacular reports were the articles about the
contacts of former Russian prime minister Sergey Kiriyenko with the SO, and the
influence that the SO were allegedly able to gain in the Perm region and the
western Urals. According to reports, in 1995, the mayor of Perm even gave a SO
representative from the USA a symbolic key to the city. The influence is said
to have reached into areas of strategic armament. [170]
The "Scientology Organization" deliberately aims to implement a totalitarian "parallel system" and program in a society in which it is preparing for that purpose. To day it has succeeded in Germany only within its organizations or in companies that are managed in accordance with HUBBARD's teachings. The claim to change state and society in Germany in accordance with HUBBARD's teachings continues unaltered.
170. "Nesavissima Gazietta" of July 4, 2001.