5. Danger for Democracy
In our opinion the Scientology sect is a danger to democracy for more than one reason. For starters it is not just a new sect, but, by far, the largest of the new sects:
about 150,000 members. (All others together have only several thousand, with the exception of Transcendental Meditation.)
Compared to other extremist organizations that is, without doubt, a very large number. Others are also affected: members of the immediate family, relatives, friends and business acquaintances.
The sect does not give the outward appearance of being sect-like such as those who wear yellow robes, shave their heads and wear bells in order to let us know that are of a different society.
It is completely different with Scientology: they infiltrate society, they use its rules to excess in order to force their values onto society. And these values are anti-democratic.
Democracy is - very briefly - the government of the people. Government means making and enforcing the rules which regulate the coexistence of people in society.
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology-Sect ..." Page 38
However, Scientology means L. Ron Hubbard. Hubbard makes the rules. Hubbard believes that democracy has only produced inflation and income taxes. Hubbard hates taxes (many people do), but Hubbard himself levies taxes: 10% of gross income.
Danger for democracy: we know that this is a big concept, therefore we will try to fully explain it.
Our Basic Law regulates fundamental principles of living together which cannot be broken. These are the basic rights, which agree, for the most part, with the so-called human rights. Of these basic rights, none takes absolute priority over the other. And no basic right exempts a citizen from observing the law of the land. Whether a particular law violates the Basic Law can only be decided by the Federal Constitutional Court, not by the individual citizen.
Ritual murder based on religion is, of course, not covered by the Basic Law of religious freedom. Even Scientologists would agree with that. However, why should fraud based on religion be permissible? It is for exactly this reason that the courts have not grappled with whether the Scientology sect contains a religion or if it is (only) a gigantic advertising circus for Hubbard. Courts are not called upon to settle abstract cases in dispute. Courts are supposed to settle individual conflicts.
Misuse of Fundamental Law
According to article 18 of Basic Law, he who misuses fundamental law forfeits it. One will have to look at this regulation more closely.
In particular, it must be considered a misuse of basic rights for one basic right to be used to excess in order to prevent the application of other basic rights.
The following are two Basic Rights:
- Religious Freedom and
- Freedom of Expression.
Now here's an example, but first a word on democracy: according to the concept of liberal democracy, the state should only get involved if a conflict of interest could not be resolved in favor of the weaker of the two parties without state involvement. The foundation of such considerations is freedom of expression and freedom of the press: do not prohibit, it is better to convince. For that reason, sects or the Scientology sect should not be forbidden - probably nobody wants that. But one wants and needs to put them in the bright light of freedom of expression: freedom of speech replaces prohibitions.
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 39
One can say that the one freedom regulates the other: Scientology uses religious freedom to suspend public opinion and the opinions of others.
The courts decided one thing long ago: freedom of opinion does not only apply to the "right" opinion, it also applies to the "wrong" opinion.
The so-called classic sects accept this fact and tolerate it mutely. That is the way it is with the "Watchtower" people of the Jehova's Witnesses who mutely hold their pages sacrosanct no matter how they are affronted.
The Scientologists have a completely different point of view:
"We are not a turn-the-other-cheek religion."
Quite the opposite: Scientologists hit back, and are not timid about their choice of tools.
The Rotten Business of the False Christians
That is the title of an article which appeared in the magazine NEUEN REVUE on July 31, 1973, published by the Heinrich-Bauer Publishing company. This magazine is - as are all large publications these days - also sold out of country.
This article - the contents of which were in no way particularly sensational - probably led to the largest wave of legal proceedings which the world has ever seen. The Scientologists have already had practice in that area: they sued SPIEGEL magazine for two articles which appeared in Los Angeles, London and Hamburg and SPIEGEL finally brought the proceedings to a close by settling out of court. The settlement included SPIEGEL obligating itself not to use the term "profit-making" in connection with the Scientology sect. Besides that the SPIEGEL also agreed to publish an extensive counter-presentation, which is the only reason that the "Spiegel" published a comprehensive cover article on August 7, 1978 entitled "Youth Sects - the new Drug" which dealt with sects, but without making one mention of the largest of them - the Scientology sect.
Freedom of Press threatened
After this model had been tested, the Scientologists also went after the Heinrich-Bauer publishing company. Processes were filed in Washington, Los Angeles, New York, Copenhagen, London, Toronto, Frankfurt, Munich and Hamburg.
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 40
Different legal procedures apply in each of these countries, therefore each process had to be conducted according to different regulations and by different attorneys. In one country, documentation is the surest means of proof, in a different country, witnesses need to be produced instead. The Scientologists calculated that any publisher would try to avoid these expenses, not to mention the risk which was associated with each process.
These calculations proved not to be valid at the Heinrich-Bauer publishing company. Its legal department began, with tenacious diligence and a vivid imagination, to build an information network for the numerous stages of the legal processes, and to gather and distribute information. The Heinrich-Bauer publishing company has essentially not published anything more about the Scientology sect since that time. It was not completely subjugated, however. It did not have its freedom of the press severed by legal settlement.
In the legal proceedings in Washington, Los Angeles and New York, claims have been made by the Scientologists for damages in the millions. That publishing company was apparently not going to be worn down by guerilla tactics. Because of that the sect has pulled back for a larger strike.
The Billion Mark Suit
On October 4, 1973, something happened which had never happened before: the Dutch branch of the Scientology sect submitted a complaint for damages of an amount never before imagined. The accused: Dr. Horst Herold, Chief of the Federal Criminal Investigative Office, the Heinrich-Bauer publishing company, two journalists, and finally, the newspaper wholesaler. The stage for this monster proceeding was set in Amsterdam.
The subject of this suit by the Scientologists was also the article "The Rotten Business of the False Christians." The sect and its bosses felt as though they had been impugned by this article. The court was to not only decide that the article was libelous and slanderous. It was also supposed to sentence the accused to pay damages in the amount of 1,000,000,000.00 (one billion guilders). That is approximately 1 billion marks. In addition to that each of the sect bosses wanted to receive 10,000 DM [Deutschmarks] apiece.
1 billion marks: such a huge amount has probably never been claimed before. The Heinrich-Bauer publishing company employs one of the best paid managers of the world: he is said to receive 2 million marks per year. In order to be able to pay the billion marks to the Scientologists, he would have to forego his salary for 500 years. 1 billion is a thousand millions. Presumably all the Scientology management staff would become instant millionaires.
1 billion marks: of course the Heinrich-Bauer publishing company would not be able to pay such a sum. Probably no German company could.
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 41
The entire Heinrich-Bauer publishing company might not be worth a billion marks. 1 billion marks. Try it once on your pocket calculator; it won't hold a number that big.
The Scientologists, nevertheless, had prepared for the eventuality that the HB company would not be able to come up with this amount: Dr. Horst Herold, the Chief of the BKA [German FBI], would have to pay. He undoubtedly makes a good salary, but he would still have to make payments for the next few thousand years. That could mean that the Scientologists are not holding Dr. Herold responsible, but his "Thetan," who, in the opinion of the Scientologists will live forever, which is how some staff contracts of the Scientologists are signed off for one billion years. Dr. Herold's "Thetan" could use something like that.
Another possibility: if Dr. Herold can not pay, then his employer, the state, the Federal Republic of Germany, the taxpayers could come up with this amount.
Inquiry into Financial Ability
The sect was not satisfied with taking out a monster lawsuit against the Heinrich-Bauer publishing company. It reached deeper down into its box of tricks which sect founder Hubbard had built and filled for the purpose of dealing with critics:
On November 4, 1974, Attorney Kirch from Wiesbaden wrote a letter to the home bank of the publishing company. He verbosely and partly incorrectly described the course of events of the legal proceeding and asserted (untruthfully) that the publishing company had suggested "settlement talks." Since it was dealing with a sum in the millions, an inquiry was being made into the ability of the Heinrich-Bauer company to pay off its debts. Four days later this attorney wrote another letter in the same tone to the Germany headquarters of the German Better Business Bureau in Hamburg. Information about financial ability was also asked of them.
The Heinrich-Bauer publishing company rightly concluded from this that the sect only wanted to spread uncertainty [about its ability to pay its bills] and lodged a complaint. The State Court of Hamburg (case 1 0 629/74) practically prohibited the text of the letter from being used.
The court stated that "both letters were intended to cast doubt upon the creditworthiness of the publishing company, however these "doubts" would be evidenced to a certain degree in the awareness of the receivers of the inquiry in that special difficulties could arise for the publishers, that doubt had arisen with even the home bank on one side and on the other side with an institution such as the headquarters of the German Better Business Bureau, whose business it is to fight rip-off companies.
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 42
Muzzling Procedure
Another variant is much more likely to happen, once again demonstrated in a procedure which the Munich sect center conducted against the ABI.
It must first be described what the BKA [Bundeskriminalamt: German FBI] and Mr. Herold have to do with the Scientology sect. The BKA filed a report about the Scientology sect on March 8, 1973 in a folder marked EA III 1/ 4 - B 196 649. Somehow, that report made its way to the public, and groups including the ABI were accused multiple times of purportedly distributing this (mostly harmless) report. The Scientologists lost the first suit of this type in the State Superior Court of Stuttgart (case 4 U 132/75). The second complaint was initiated in Munich. Scientology wanted the State Court to prohibit ABI from making a number of statements.
In this procedure the Scientology sect applied to have the value of damages set at 100,000 DM. The costs are calculated according to the value of damages and whoever loses has to pay everything; in this case there were three specifications of over 50,000 DM apiece. A community service organization cannot come up with this kind of money. The Scientologists calculated that the ABI, instead of risking ruin, would agree not to repeat their claims. Their calculation did not pay off.
The ABI did not agree to settle and the Munich State Court dismissed the suit on April 26, 1977 under case number 9 0 7372/77. It had been determined - as requested by the Scientologists - that the value of damages was 100,000 DM. What next happened was incredible, but may be checked out any time in the court files: the Scientologists filed a complaint against the determination of the value of damages which they had applied for (now they were dealing with their money). Naturally, this complaint was dismissed. This proves one thing: the sect applied for a value of damages which they themselves viewed as too high.
There is not enough room in this book to report all the legal processes which have been initiated by the Scientologists (and known to the ABI): the federal government has already been sued on numerous occasions, as has the Federal Ministry for Youth, Family and Health. In one of these suits, a half million marks in damages was demanded. The damages were supposed to have arisen from the passing on of the BKA report by the Ministry, whereupon it landed in the hands of the ABI which further distributed it, on which account the Scientology sect (fruitlessly) had to sue the ABI: damages were estimated at about 25,000 marks. The sect will also lose this process.
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 43
Legal Costs Lottery
Of course, these kind of processes are a blessing for the attorneys. The fees for the lawyers comprise the greatest block of the costs by far since the state makes the courts available practically for free. The Scientologists must have put millions into lost processes such as these. In the meantime it appears as if the sect itself does not have enough money to finance its processes. Therefore they have started a new money-making scheme with a large advertisement campaign:
"Help stop the the efforts against spiritual freedom
safer environment - funds"The tickets for this raffle are not exactly cheap: 20 DM apiece. But there are quantity discounts: 100 for 180 DM and 100 for 1,650. However, the prize is not money, the prize only consists of Scientology courses. However, that could not have been meant entirely seriously. Only 8 prizes were set aside in the Stuttgart area, in Hamburg only 6.
What is really making the environment so unsafe for Scientologists? The dangers which Scientologists all over the world have been and continue to be exposed to were described page after page. Finally, the point is gotten to:
"The goal is to provide support for those people whose human rights or civil rights, or whose religious freedom is in danger or being violated, no matter in what nation or what creed they belong to. Some of the most important actions which SEF has currently assumed are the court processes of the 11 Scientologists, including Mary Sue Hubbard and Jane Kember, who were charged after an illegal FBI raid was carried out in the Scientology churches in Washington and Los Angeles in 1977.
SEF bears the costs for the legal defense and also provides other necessary support. The estimated total costs which need to be raised are estimated to be about $3.5 million (about 7 million DM).
The Scientology bosses got their punishment reduced, as everybody knows, in that they stated that they were guilty as charged. The German Scientologists could also be needing some SEF help soon. On one of their handouts - on which the alleged Scientologist persecution is presented and compared to the fate of the Jews in the Third Reich - it says:
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 44
"On November 5, 1976, about 50 police invaded the premises of the Scientology Church in order to search for documents which they could have received if they would have asked or if they had paid for them. Nothing was found, since there was nothing there which somehow could have been objected to.
"The harassing character of this "cloak and dagger operation" was made evident by the fact that now - 2 1/2 years later - no further action has been taken by the authorities."
"This kind of intentional harassment on the basis of insignificant or unjustified accusations or denunciatory information was part of the daily routine of the Third Reich against Jewish citizens."
A criminal charge is not a denunciation. The Scientologists should be well aware of that, since they have filed plenty of charges. A charge automatically starts an investigative procedure. For instance, investigations against the writer of this book have already been conducted on suspicion of fraud, incitement, etc. That is what is endlessly relayed by the Scientologists to the public. What is not mentioned is the fact that all the investigations initiated at the behest of the Scientologists have been called off. The Scientologists practice exactly that what they accuse their critics of doing. Moreover, an investigative process of a duration of two and a half years is nothing unusual. Let's see what happens.
Persecution Mania
The Scientologists love to present themselves as a persecuted religious minority. They are not even afraid of making comparisons to the fate of the Jews in the Third Reich. "Holocaust to 1984" is the name of one of their newer pamphlets. "Holocaust" is the name of a US film series which depicts individual examples of the extermination of the Jews, and "1984" is the title of a visionary novel of the future.
It is especially typical of the Scientologist style that they employ the suffering of the Jews for their own advertisement purposes and want to have people believe that they, too, must suffer and be afraid of being murdered.
That is not some kind of accident. Behind this is more of the Scientology system than behind anything else the Scientologists do. "Final Solution Conference" is the title of a pamphlet which was distributed in November, 1979, to the participants of an event, probably in allusion to the notorious Wannsee Conference, in which the "final solution", the definitive extermination of the Jewish population, was decided upon.
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 45
6. Religious Freedom vs. Freedom of Speech
Scientologists have always called upon religious freedom, a basic right which provides for tolerance. The sect adherents themselves, however, are intolerant to an unusually large degree. Here is an example:
Church of Scientology Germany
HUBBARD SCIENTOLOGY ORGANIZATION MUNICH
During today's meeting in Dietzenbach city hall, the following letter written by the Scientology Church was submitted to Dr. Keller, the mayor of the city. 20.11.1978
Dear Mr. Mayor,
We have just gotten the unbelievable report that a vigilante style Inquisitional court will be held on our church in Dietzenbach city hall tomorrow evening at 8 p.m.
We would like to explicitly point out that we see nothing in this disparagement of our religious community other than the advancement of an immoral inclusion of a minority in the internal conflicts of interest of Dietzenbach.
We are aware that several pastors of your area, whose doubtful actions and questionable modes of life cannot possibly be of use to the main body of Evangelical Churches, will be participating in kind in the dramatization of this religious tirade of agitation.
We are not, however, aware of why these gentlemen believe that something has to fall outside the realm of Christian conduct and standards of tolerance.
The intention of tomorrow's "public whipping and crucifixion" of a religious community, which has been acknowledged by competent theologians, clearly results from the choice of the "inquisitor." Ingo Heinemann, from the Stuttgart ABI, is known for his ability to whip people into a frenzy. That he would rather put the intimate, religious areas of our congregation on public display in a criminal manner rather than take a position on the accusations recently made against his organization at a press conference in Frankfurt, which have since then been viewed as justifiable consequences by a court decision, is, on the basis of the severity of these accusations, only all too understandable."
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 46
(This was followed by lengthier accounts about alleged offenses by the ABI - cited from the Scientology cover company ALV - which culminated in the accusation that the ABI was backed by "shady financiers.")
To all appearances your ignorance of these facts has been shamefully abused, which explains how such a "crystal night" type of meeting could have taken place in your city hall. However, now we ask you to truly consider how such an insult campaign came into existence: several churches and offices played around with an abstruse obsession for minority religions, and, meantime, the youth of Germany stride unhindered along a path in the direction of criminality and violence.
It appears as if those in office want to create an unsolicited religious dispute in order to prevent a realistic analysis of the situation of youth in today's society.
We would like to bring it to your attention that just last Sunday, one of the "Fathers of Basic Law," the former Federal Vice President Carlo Schmid, on the occasion of the national day of mourning [Volkstrauertag], stated to the Federal Assembly: "Peace is more than just the absence of anger and fighting and freedom is not a natural state. They are much more equal rights for which the world makes mankind ready. Memory should be in the deeper shame of disgrace, so that the name of our people would be stained by inhumanity without moral conscience."
It is this moral consciousness to which we are appealing here. A sentiment which corresponds to Carlo Schmid's ideal was also stated by the parliamentary speaker of the Social Democratic party of the Hessian State Assembly, Volker Berger, in a letter to our church. He confirmed that the freedom of religious denomination (article 4 of Basic Law, Art. 9 of the Hessian constitution) was definitely one of the most important basic rights there are. The SPD party has always supported the protection of religious minorities.
We seek that you definitively, in the sense of the safeguarding of our constitution, maintaining humanitarian and religious values, and thereby the liberal democratic basic order, comply with the following understandable requests:
1. The meeting must be moved out of the city hall of the Dietzenbach citizens into a private locality.
2. Any participation by party members of one or more publicly entrusted officials be denied through emergency decree as a precautionary measure.
3. In the event that in the course of such meetings the customary pogrom should result in actual outcry or in unethical or fascistoid name-calling against
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 47
members of our religious congregation, we ask that the appropriate police protection be at the ready.
In the knowledge of addressing, in you, a defender of constitutional and human rights, we ask for a conclusive decision to our request in the course of the afternoon of November 21, 1978.
With highest esteem
Bernhard Schmitt (i.A. H. Berrang)
Director of the Office of Justice, acting
SCIENTOLOGY CHURCH GERMANY(Emphasis by the publisher).
To this highly peculiar composition on religious freedom we add a comment from a position of competence:
"The basic right of freedom of religion does not only protect the individual from the intolerance of his fellow man, it also obligates him to show the same tolerance for others that he claims for his own denomination."
(Federal Constitutional Court)
The writing style of the letter of 11-20-1979 is completely typical for the Scientology sect. It does not bother them that critics also have a right to freedom of speech, neither does it bother them that they transgress the basic rights of religious freedom for other religious congregations in that they compare criticism of the Scientology sect with the destruction of Jewish property ("conduct similar to that of 'crystal night'"), and would probably like to imply that the next step is to put Scientologists into concentration camps and kill them.
For the most part, the meeting ran almost normally: Scientologists sat in the front rows and loudly tried to turn the evening's events into a recruitment event. The "Frankfurter Rundschau" of January 22, 1978 described it as follows:
"The Scientologist men sat across from Ingo Heinemann, the second chairman of the Aktion Bildungsinformation (ABI) from Stuttgart and Reverend Keller from Dietzenbach, and would not leave them alone; ill humor also came from the ranks of the public. . . After Heinemann's presentation a lively discussion developed in which he was initially asked "how much money" he was receiving for this event."
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 48
"At that point in time the ABI man did not know anything about an honorarium - it wasn't until the end of the presentation that the arrangers told him that his expenses would be paid for him."
As far as is known, a Scientologist has never been hit, kicked or turned away from the hall. The fear "that in the course of such meetings the customary (!) pogrom (!) should result in an actual outcry" is really stretching things. As of now, the only thing the Scientology sect can complain about is a stinkbomb which is supposed to have been set off in their rooms by an opponent.
The Scientologist who - according to his own statement - had completed "five introductory evenings of Scientology with practical exercises" in the VHS [continuing education], made a complaint to higher authority: he sent a three-page, typed, single-spaced letter to the Federal Assembly's Committee for Youth, Family and Health, with copies to the Petition Committee, the Committee for Education and Science and to Health Minister Antje Huber. The original stated, "Try to stop people from being persecuted who are doing nothing more than exercising their right granted by Basic Law to freedom of speech and to the free development of their personality." The story behind this statement was that the press had made use of their right to freedom of speech and expressed the opinion that this Scientologist did not need to express his opinion in a municipal establishment and could probably develop his personality outside of the VHS. A postscript punctuated the end of the three page Scientology propaganda letter: "Because of possible reprisals I ask that this letter be treated confidentially." Here is the reprisal: the man's name is Winfried Mannecke and calls himself a technical graduate and business advisor. Besides that he is a founding member of the Scientology cover company called, "Commission for the Protection of Citizens against Data Misuse."
Excessive Exaggeration
Presumably the Scientologists hardly notice in their abundant correspondence that they often exaggerate in a manner which exceeds any bounds. In the letter of November 20, 1979 quoted above, it says, "Ingo Heinemann, from the Stuttgart ABI, is known for his ability to whip people into a frenzy."
Actually, Heinemann had taken part in only one of this type of informational meeting before, at the invitation of the Ulm VHS. As evidenced by a tape recording, that meeting ran very calmly. During that meeting, the thesis was introduced that the Scientology organization could only maintain itself through the politics of TARGETED DISINFORMATION.
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 49
An example, it was mentioned that the new press representative of the sect, Kurt Weiland, did not receive his information from the German sect central in Munich, but - duly filtered - from the English sect central ("WORLD WIDE") by mail.
Kurt Weiland responded with a letter dated October 22, 1978:
"Meantime, on two occasions you have mentioned the alleged existence of a letter which - originating from the Mother Church in England - is supposed to have contained some kind of instructions or statements about my work. Dear Mr. Heinemann, I am really beginning to wonder about you. What in heaven's name are you thinking of in making such an out-and-out groundless claim. You, of all people, should know best that nothing like this is possible.
Naturally I receive letters now and then from friends and acquaintances in England, but how you get five pages of ominous written instructions from that is a mystery to me. Have you gotten a letter from a burglary or something, or has the privacy of my mail been violated in that you have received a letter which was addressed to me?
I most emphatically ask that you share the content of this letter with me within 48 hours, along with what manner and to what degree my sphere of privacy has been invaded. Keeping silent - as you are frequently and certainly known to do - will unquestionably speak for itself.
Kurt Weiland, Press and Information Office."
Mr. Weiland renewed his 48 hour time limit in a letter of October 30, 1979 because it was a matter "of the protection of my private sphere . . ., of my constitutionally guaranteed right to mail confidentiality, as well as the rights of my person in general." In a letter of November 13, 1979, Weiland again renewed his 48 hour time limit, in vain.
This time the constitutionally protected mail confidentiality had to rubber-stamp a Scientology critic as a criminal. Completely in accordance with sect founder Hubbard:
"Each time we have investigated the background of a Scientology critic, we have found crimes for which this person or group could be imprisoned under existing law. We have not found Scientology critics without a criminal past. We have proved this time and time again."
Weiland's letter proves that Hubbard's followers take this bold claim completely seriously.
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 50
In order to refresh Weiland's memory: the letter in question ("WORLD WIDE"), dated January 5, 1976, has not just five, but nine pages, and is signed by "R.E.B. Boulding Legal Department WORLD WIDE." Weiland himself passed this letter along with a supplement of the same data and translations to a third party. The sect bosses presumably held this against him, which would have brought about an engram, which could further explain his loss of memory.
The assertion of targeted disinformation is based partially upon the fact that the WORLD WIDE letter does not even give a hint that Scientology Germany has lost no less than ten law suits against the ABI. That clears up why, inside the sect center, the assertion will be made that the ABI has lost all suits.
One more thing about Mr. Weiland's message: according to his version of what happened, the publishing of this letter was a violation of the privacy of mail because the letter was transported by mail. In his private sphere which was invaded, it appears that privacy plays a role in his profession.
A particularly curious rendition of religious freedom was presented by Luise Buhl, secretary of the Scientology cover company "Society for the Advancement of Religious Tolerance and Inter-Personal Relations, reg." In a letter to the FDP party in Bonn, she complained about a press conference held by two FDP members of the Hessian State Assembly, in which the disparagement of psychiatry by Scientology was mentioned, among other things. Mrs. Buhl depicted this as the battle between sect experts and psychiatrists, and concluded:
"I would like to add to this letter the urgent request to do everything to keep politicians out of this conflict. We are not reproaching either of the two politicians for their behavior, since they surely were acting on false information."
The basic right of religious freedom, of course, also includes the right to critically discuss a religion. This right - which applies to everybody - is what Mrs. Buhl wanted to have been denied to the elected representatives of the people, and she trimmed her request with veiled threats. This is an absolutely grotesque perversion of the reality of rights in a democratic state.
Similar demands were carefully, yet clearly, expressed to Federal Assembly Representative Klaus Immer from Altenkirchen in a letter dated July 3, 1978:
"Every German still has the right to recognize his own religious opinion
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 51
while disputing that of another. The same thing goes for the parties in their political discussions. It would be a violation of Basic Law if one wanted to create a law which could be used to prevent such a discussion. (comment: this was apparently expected from the representative.) Tolerance cannot mean unconcern or indifference. Those groups which you have designated as threatened clearly differentiate themselves from the large churches to a large degree. They have led a long, hard battle against the churches. That is their guaranteed right. However, they cannot complain if these churches then take critical, or sometimes polemic, issue with them.
Presumably this advice about the essence of a democratic constitutional state was not a labor of love. For Scientologists, basic rights are used as an all-purpose weapon against the opinions of others. Sect founder Hubbard's feelings about it are:
<"The only things Democracy has given us are income tax and inflation.">
Popular opinion is occasionally similarly simple-minded: everyday one hears the demand that these kind of sects simply be prohibited.
That, however, is prohibited by the basic right of religious freedom.
Misuse of Basic Rights
Basic rights can also be misused. The Federal Constitutional Court has confirmed that fact many times. Is such a misuse at issue here?
The Scientologists make use of the basic right of religious freedom to an extraordinarily excessive extent: critics are supposed to be kept from freely expressing their opinion with the help of this basic right. To this end the Scientology sect has not only numerous reprisals at the ready, but they also use another basic right to excess: the basic right of freedom of opinion. As disliked as the freedom of the critics' opinion is to the Scientologists, that is how much they value their own freedom of opinion: they ascribe questionable lifestyles to pastors, make claims of pogrom-like instigations, call critics "inquisitors", etc.
The coordinated effect of these different measures, in our opinion, adds up to a planned, constant misuse of basic rights.
Misuse of basic rights is not punishable. Nevertheless, anybody who misuses basic rights to battle against basic liberal democratic order forfeits these rights (Article 18 of Basic Law).
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 52
Association Prohibition?
Associations which misuse association freedom can be prohibited under the association law.
However, that does not apply to religious congregations and "associations whose purpose is the common maintenance of a weltanschauung." Associations of this type are protected by the basic right of religious freedom.
The much-cited fathers of the Constitution either did not take the misuse of religious freedom into account, or they consciously accepted it as part of the deal.
7. The E-Meter
The Scientologists' Magic Box
The E-meter is both the most important device in Scientology and the means by which Hubbard's curious thought structure is proved. It is by using the E-meter that Hubbard says he discovered that Thetans have existed since time immemorial, that they are today being held captive in the undoubtedly imperfect human shell, and it is with the E-meter that he wants to remove "engrams", thereby turning people back into all-knowing, all-capable and immortal super-beings. The Psychological Institute of the University of Tübingen investigated this device. The technical part:
1. The E-meter is a device which can indicate electrical resistance and changes in resistance.
At a given external resistance the indicator needle can be brought up to the point labelled "set needle here" by means of the so-called "tone arm." The plotting of the needle from this point is then somewhat proportional to the change in resistance divided by the resistance. Devices of this type have been used since the beginning of this century to indicate the degree of and changes in resistance in a person's skin.
2. The E-meter does not come close to the technology used in today's scientific devices which measure skin resistance.
a) The adjustment and tuning potential of the "tone arm" is too imprecise.
b) In the scientific devices of today, either the current sent through the person or the voltage being applied is held constant so that the indicator is proportional to either the resistance or to the conductivity. Neither of these possibilities is realized in the "E-meter."
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 53
c) Scientifically perceived findings require documentation of the data by a suitable register device. The "E-meter" does not have a connection for such a device. Therefore the readings of the changes in resistance cannot be checked by the user.
The kind of resistance measure used by the E-meter does not meet current scientific criteria:
In science, the skin's resistance is measured between two particular points by connection of electrodes of a definite size and by application of a well-defined electrode paste. The electrode paste provides a definite and even resistance between skin and the electrodes.
With an E-meter, the electrodes correspond to two tin cans which the subject holds in his hands. The transient resistance between skin and "electrodes" is very dependent upon how tightly the subject holds the cans. In this way, many changes of resistance can be indicated which have nothing to do with changes in the skins resistance: while science avoids the appearance of such "artifacts" as much as possible, the "E-meter measurements" seem to favor them!
4. The E-meter does not pass safety checks:
The device is powered by batteries, and the voltages which result are to be regarded as approximate, as they also are in cases of defect, nevertheless the mechanism contradicts recharging the batteries (at least in the evaluation of the device being tested). In regards to safety checks for electrical devices:
a) There is no protection against the appearance of higher contact voltage in cases of defect by use of a ground wire (§ 5 VBG 4).
b) The capacitor does not contain a transformer which separates the main circuit supply from the electrode connector cans; in an unfavorable placement of the supply prong, the electrode connector cans would set next to a rectifying diode of 220 V direct, in which the diode would let a current of of 10 mA flow, which amounts to a life-threatening current. Furthermore there is no check of the main circuit. When the electrode wire is not plugged in the readings contradict protection from parts under charge against accidental contact (§ 5 VBG 4; VDE 0100), use of the device with connected charge wires could be life-threatening for the subject.
The ABI took these facts into account in describing the E-meter as life-threatening, since the usage instructions gave no indication that the device needs to be used without charge wires connected.
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 54
The Scientology sect claimed that the device had passed all safety checks. That may be. However, the ABI has not found any allusion in the Scientology writings to the dangerousness of the old devices which are still in use. Since the addresses of all buyers are known, these would have to be written to individually and warned. Nothing of the sort is known to have happened either.
The evaluation of the University of Tübingen contained the following about the use of the device:
As recorded in the evaluation by Dr. Lutzenberger, the Hubbard electrometer at our disposal is a technically defective device for the shunting of changes in skin resistance.
Changes in the state of skin resistance is effected physiologically by electrochemical stimulation of the peripheral sweat glands. These stimulations are directed by various, not completely localized regions of the brain, primarily by the so-called limbic system and parts of the brain major. Changes in the degree of activity (in the direction of an increase in the activity) of these brain parts can cause a change in the skin resistance in the body's periphery, if they have crossed a certain threshold (primarily in the inside of the hands or the soles of the feet, where relatively many sweat pores are located.)
Such changes could result, based on the non-specific organization of the participating regions of the brain, from many external or internal bodily irritations: primarily movement (e.g. deep breathing, weak, barely visible movements of the fingers and hands, or non-visible muscular tensions) leads to the changes in skin resistance without having any psychological factors taken into effect. Changes in metabolism also have considerable effect upon skin resistance without any psychological changes having taken place. Any external (e.g. a light signal, a question, time of day, a noise, diet, etc.) or internal irritation (e.g. a frightening concept, as well as a joyful concept or thought) could result in a change of skin resistance. Nothing can be concluded from the changes in skin resistance in a question-answer situation (such as a Scientology "auditing session") about specific thoughts or specific emotional changes. It is completely possible, however, by use of cleverly formulated questions, to bring an informed or wrongly informed person to yield a wealth of information which this person would not have wanted to give at the beginning of the interrogation.
Only in psycho-physiological experimentation - and "auditing" does not amount to a psycho-physiological experiment - under controlled
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 55
stimulus conditions, could conclusions be made about changes in the central nervous stimulation milieu from changes in skin resistance. Sensible usage of skin resistance devices for diagnostic purposes could only be expected from a duly trained psychologist, doctor or scientist with approved higher level education. A therapeutic effect of the usage of this device or other devices for the measurement of skin resistance is not scientifically verifiable.
[signed] Dr. N. Birbaumer
Professor of Psychology
University of TübingenThe Scientologists have a completely different opinion. Here are a few examples from the book of E-meter exercises:
< E-METER EXERCISE NR. 22
Number: EM-22.
Name: Find hidden dates from this life with the help of the E-meter.
Purpose: To train the student auditor to find a date on the time track with the help of the E-meter, to increase the reality of the student auditor about the actual existence of the time track and about the effective functioning of the E-meter, and to give the the student auditor a high degree of familiarity with the E-meter and its use.
Position: Student auditor and Coach sit across from each other at a table. The student auditor operates the E-meter. The coach holds the cans in his hands.
Instructions: No hard and fast instructions. "over and under" questions are used to isolate the correct date.
Important in Training: The coach selects a date, preferably his birthday or some other known day of the year. When the student auditor gets better, the coach selects some favored date (month, day and year) from his first living years (from this life). Of course he does not tell the student auditor the date. The student auditor must then find the date selected by the coach with the help of the E-meter. During this time, the coach may not answer or say anything outside of his instructions as coach.>
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 56
The date is to be found out by the process of elimination. The questions of the student auditor are of the following nature: "Is the date before 1940 A.D.? After 1940 A.D.?" If the needle reacts, the answer is yes. If the needle does not react, the answer is no. If the needle reacts to the first question, the second question is not asked. If the needle reacts to neither of the two questions, then the year that the student auditor has questioned is either not close enough or the TR-1 of the student auditor was not good enough when he asked the question. When the year is found, the student auditor checks the month of the year: "Is is before June, 1945 A.D.? . . . After June 1945 A.D.?" Then the date is found: "Is it before the 15th of March 1945 A.D.? . . . After the 15th of March 1945 A.D.?"
<As soon as the student auditor can do the exercise better, the coach should increase the degree of difficulty of the exercise in that he has the student auditor find out the month, year, day and even minute and second. The student auditor can use "before" or "after", but for the dates from this lifetime "more than" and "less than" should not be used. The coach should give the student auditor a flunk for bad TR0 to 2, for unclear or indirect "Q and A" type questions or for bad interpretation of the E-meter read; in any case if the student auditor takes overly long in asking questions.
The student auditor passes this exercise when he can date with the E-meter easily, correctly and exactly.
Historical: Developed by L. Ron Hubbard as "E-Meter Hidden Body Part" in November, 1958 in London and revised in December, 1963.
E-METER EXERCISE NR. 25
Number: EM-25.
Name: Date the time track.
Purpose: To train the student auditor to determine dates on the time track exactly and quickly, to help achieve a reality about the time track, and to demonstrate that one can find out something with the E-meter without having the Preclear answer something with words.
Position: Coach and student auditor sit across from each other at a table. An operable E-meter sits on the table. The coach holds the cans in his hands.
Instructions: No hard and fast instructions.
Important in Training:
Step 1. The student auditor is first trained to determine the correct>
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 57
<order of magnitude of a date on the time track. In this exercise the coach picks out any length of time and writes it on a sheet of paper. For example, the coach picks "decades" and writes it down. The student auditor must then determine, by using the E-meter, what the order of magnitude is.
The student auditor then asks the following questions: "Does it have an order of magnitude of seconds, minutes, hours, days, years, decades, centuries, millennia, tens of thousands of years, hundreds of thousands of years?" etc., until he gets a clear read. Then the student auditor states the indicated order of magnitude to the coach. If this is not correct, the coach gives the student auditor a "flunk," and the student auditor begins at the top until he has found the correct order of magnitude. When the student auditor has found the correct order of magnitude, the coach shows him the piece of paper on which the order of magnitude is written. This part of the exercise will be done until the student auditor can deal well with large time frames.
Step 2. As the next step, the coach writes a fixed number of years on a sheet of paper. For this he uses a round number, such as, for example, "75 billion billion years ago," "150 trillion billion years ago," "89 trillion years ago," or something of the sort. The student auditor finds the date for which he is seeking an order of magnitude. Let's take, for example, an order of magnitude of ten thousands of billions of years. Then the student auditor fixes the date more exactly, in that he uses "more than" or "less than." "Is the date more than 50,000 billion years back, less than 50,000 billion years back?" The student auditor will get a read on one of the two questions. He takes what reads as an answer. If neither of the two questions results in a read, then either the TR-1 of the student auditor was inadequate or the date in question is too far off of the actual date. In our example, the needle reacts on "less than 50,000 billion years." Now one continues in the following manner:
"Is this date more than 25,000 billion years back? That reads." "Is this date more than 35,000 billion years back, less than 35,000 billion years back? Less than reads."
"Is this date more than 30,000 billion years back? That indicates."
"Is this date 30,000 billion years back, 31, 32? That reads. 32,000 billion years back. Is this a correct date? Is this a wrong date? It reads as correct."
Be careful that the second question is not added if the first question reads on "greater than.">
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 58
<If the student auditor has performed his work well in reading the meter, has used good TR-1, and does not, himself, become confused, the date will be correct, and will agree with the date which was written by the coach on the slip. If the student auditor has gotten the wrong date, he gets a "flunk." If the student auditor finds the right date, the coach shows him that the date found is exactly what he had written down.
Step 3. As the last step of this exercise the coach writes down an entire date, as, for example: 56,276,345,829,100 years back, 315 days, 42 hours, 15 minutes and 10 seconds.
The student auditor must ascertain this date exactly by proceeding as in the second step of this exercise. The coach should not write down a date which dates back more than hundreds of billions years. The student auditor gets a "flunk," if he does not get the correct date, and he passes when he finds it.
The following list as clarification:
1 - 9 years.
10 - 99, decades
100 - 999, centuries.
1000 - 9,999, millennia.
10,000 - 99,999, ten thousands of years.
100,000 - 999,999, hundred thousands of years.
1,000,000 - 9,999,999, millions of years.
10,000,000 - 99,999,999, ten millions of years.
100,000,000 - 999,999,999, hundreds of millions of years.
1,000,000,000 - 9,999,999,999, billions of years.
10,000,000,000 - 99,999,999,999, ten billions of years.
100,000,000,000 - 999,999,999,999, hundreds of billions of years.
1,000,000,000,000 - 9,999,999,999,999, trillions of years.
10,000,000,000,000 - 99,999,999,999,999, ten trillions of years.
100,000,000,000,000 - 999,999,999,999,999, hundreds of trillions of years.
1,000,000,000,000,000 - 9,999,999,999,999,999, thousands of trillions of years.
10,000,000,000,000,000 - 99,999,999,999,999,999, ten thousands of trillions of years.
100,000,000,000,000,000 - 999,999,999,999,999,999, hundred thousands of trillions of years.
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 59
And so forth, in that it goes as follows:
Millions of trillions of years.
Ten millions of trillions of years.
Hundreds of millions of trillions of years.
Billions of trillions of years.
Ten billions of trillions of years.
Hundreds of billions of trillions of years.
Trillions of trillions of years
Ten trillions of trillions of years.
Hundreds of trillions of trillions of years.
Thousands of trillions of trillions of years.
Ten thousands of trillions of trillions of years.
Hundred thousand of trillion of trillion of years.
Millions of trillions of trillions of years.
Ten millions of trillions of trillions of years.
Hundred millions of trillions of trillions of years.
Billions of trillions of trillions of years.
Ten billions of trillions of trillions of years.
Hundred billions of trillions of trillions of years.
Trillions of trillions of trillions of years.
This exercise has been passed when the student auditor can exactly and quickly determine a date on the time track. For a preliminary exercise, the student auditor will be given a pink slip if the course supervisor notices that this is not being mastered. The student auditor should then do this exercise once again.
Historical: Investigation of dates on the time track was first carried out by L. Ron Hubbard in 1951 when he showed that Preclears could remember events which dated further back than their present lives went.
Since then, dating has been taught in Scientology courses. This exercise was revised in 1963.>
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 60
In his "History of Man," Hubbard was being a little bit modest:
"This is a cold-blooded and factual account of your last sixty trillion years."
reads the first sentence of this book. As a comparison in time: scientists estimate the age of our planetary system at about 5 billion years. Scientists have dated "the Big Bang", to which our universe supposedly owes it existence, at 13 billions years in the past.
One sees that Hubbard has gone even further into the past. The Thetans must have gone through the Big Bang ("brighter than a thousand suns") many times.
In the newest edition of the "Book of E-meter Exercises", one finds - printed in red - the following Hubbard bulletin:
HUBBARD COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE
Saint Hill Manor, East Grinstead, SussexHCO BULLETIN of 2 JANUARY 1967
Qualification Department Personnel
Technical Department Personnel
Clearing Course Students
SHSBC StudentsDATING - FORBIDDEN WORDS
THE WORDS "MORE"-"LESS" OCCUR IN THE BANK AND THEIR USE IN DATING IS FORBIDDEN.
In The Book of E-Meter Drills the patter for Track Dating, E-Meter Drill 25, containing the words "more"-"less", has to be changed to "GREATER THAN" - "LESSER THAN". E-Meter Drill 22, E-Meter Hidden Date, This Life, remains unchanged.
Anyone who is using the words "earlier"-"later" in dating, words which are not to be found in any E-Meter Drill, is not only guilty of alter-ising Tech, but will grind his student or preclear into the Bank,
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 61
since these words also occur in the Bank and are therefore forbidden.
L. RON HUBBARD
FounderWe will make no attempt whatsoever to explain what the Scientologists mean when they say "bank." That would involve delving into "word clearing," to which over half of their training is dedicated. In that, one works his way from one Scientology made-up word to the next. Here is yet another example of the monstrous claim to authority made by the sect leadership, also out of the latest edition of the "E-meter Exercises," also printed in red, and - a rarity - without Hubbard's signature:
<TECHNICAL BULLETIN OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS of 18 January 1977 R
Revised on 12 February 1977Re-distribute to all course which contain the book "Book of E-meter Exercises."
CANCELLATION IN "BOOK OF E-METER EXERCISES"
Step 5 of E-meter exercise Nr. 16, by which the student must produce a rockslam needle read is, with the permission of L. Ron Hubbard, hereby cancelled
Jule Gillespie, Training & Services Aide. With permission from Midshipman John Eastment, Staff Adjutant to the Commodore 4/5 (CS-4/5). Authorized by the Personal Communicator of L.R.H. Licensed through the Authorization and Verification Unit (AVU) for the
BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE SCIENTOLOGY CHURCHESBDCS: RG: KU: JE: JG: Iflnt šbers.: CK/EJ: bj.rd English Original Copyright 1977, German translation 1977 by L. Ron Hubbard ALL RIGHTS RESERVED>
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 62
E-meter exercise Nr. 16 concerns "Generating Needle Behavior." The deleted paragraph reads:
<5. A Rockslam: the consideration of committing an overt. This works best when one plugs in items from the R2-12 List One (see appendix) into the sentence "think of committing an overt against . . ." >