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8. Health and Immortality
Some of the methods have already been described by which the critical ability of the Scientology followers are systematically dismantled to the point that even the impossible is regarded as reality.
The concepts of "technology" and "science" play just as large a role in that as the widely spread expectations in the area of health:
It is expected of doctors that they quickly, without any problems, remove any hindrance to bodily functions with the assistance of a medicine. The demand is made upon doctors that an examination of several minutes duration be crowned with the writing of a prescription. Very few doctors have doubts arise that their diagnosis is correct (for which there may be a very good reason).
This expectation is carried over into hindrances of mental functions, both real and imagined. It is expected of a psychiatrist or psychologist that he should remove these mental obstructions quickly and without any problem, however, this can only succeed in the rarest of cases without the active participation of the patient.
This expectation is used by all of the type of psychological healer who offers an allegedly patent recipe. For instance, there is Janov, who asserts that all defects are a result of pre-natal or infant "primary experiences" which give rise to "primal pain," which can be removed by "primal scream therapy."
(By the way, Janov - like Hubbard - has the opinion that the application of his theory can lead to a world without war or crime.)
In this context, the term "technology" is often used: Janov's technology to produce the "primal scream" is supposed to be so simple that a German author refrained from describing it on a radio show because of the potential for misuse.
"Technology" and "science" are also used by Hubbard to cast his spell. Naturally, the use of these terms bring connotations with them: "technology" has put man on the moon and bestowed a pocket calculator upon the student. Why should technology not be in the situation to remove flaws - imagined or real - in mental functions? Especially if
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 63
a technical device, the E-meter, is also used, along with a technical vocabulary such as a "study technology".
Technology is - very simply put - the application of scientific findings to practical exercises.
Findings are regarded as being scientific if they can be duplicated and proven. In the natural sciences, these scientific findings can be expressed in formulae which can be checked by anybody who has the required education.
That is somewhat more difficult in the subject of humanities: in this area one has to overwhelmingly rely upon experience. These are the "empirical sciences," in contrast to the "exact sciences." In these, something has been scientifically validated only if repeated tests under the same conditions bring the same results. For example, if one hits a loosely swinging knee with a rubber mallet, experience says the leg will jerk forward. This experience is then used to say that a defect exists if the leg does not jerk forward. Some of these type of experiences are centuries old, while others are older still.
In a very new experience, one can first assert that the experiment is set up according to scientific criteria. That means that the description of the experiment is such that the experiment can be repeated consistently. However, that does still not mean that the results obtained will be scientific. It is not until the results have been verified by other, independent, scientific experiences that a belief becomes a science or a hope becomes knowledge.
Experiences which are not able to be proved or whose proof relies upon the comprehension of the individual should not be regarded as non-existent, because they belong in the area of belief, and belief is the foundation of spiritual life for a large part of humanity.
Back to Hubbard's Scientology-Dianetics. Hubbard himself seems to be completely aware of these principles. He writes:
<"In order to be really deserving of this name, a science would have to be put on the same level as physics and chemistry in the sense of its experimental precision. Its laws need not make allowances for "special cases." It would not have to rely upon authority. The atom bomb explodes whether Einstein allows it or not. Natural law determines the explosion of this bomb.">
Sometime soon, the experiments which Hubbard had conducted would really have to be described, along with the conditions under
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which these experiments took place. Then a description of the results which had been obtained would have to ensue, and these experiments would be verified by other independent, scientific findings.
Nothing of the sort can be found with Hubbard. He further confuses the reader by introducing a familiar term and then incorrectly reassigning a new meaning to it:
"Simple though it is, Dianetics does and is these things:
1. It is an organized science of thought built on definite axioms: statements of natural laws on the order of those of the physical sciences.
2. It contains a therapeutic technique with which can be treated all non-organic mental ills and all organic psychosomatic ills, with assurance of complete cure in unselected cases.
6. The single source of mental derangement is discovered and demonstrated, on a clinical or laboratory basis, by Dianetics."
Dianetics: Modern Science of Mental Health, pp. 5-6
An axiom is - according to the contemporary definition - an indisputable principle. Based on principle, for example, apples fall from trees. One also recognizes the scientific fundamental for why they fall from trees. Hubbard says, however, that axioms are "statements of natural laws on the order of those of the physical sciences."
In other words, Hubbard claims to have discovered natural laws which are so self-evident that they cannot be doubted and therefore do not need scientific proof, they can be regarded as already having been scientifically proven. Here are some of Hubbard's axioms:
"Successes raise the survival potential toward infinite survival."
op. cit., p. 42
Now it only remains to be found out what this infinite survival looks like. Infinite survival is the Thetan, about which Hubbard writes:
<"Usually the Thetan occupies the space inside the head, or it is located in the vicinity of the body . . . In the second state it finds itself in the vicinity of the body and controls it knowingly . . . From the viewpoint of people this state is optimal . . . The fact is that the Thetan>"
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 65
"<can separate itself from the body without the phenomenon of death coming about. . .
It is clearly proven that the Thetan is immortal and cannot really experience death. It feigns it through forgetting.>"
Since the Thetan survives ("clearly proven" in any case), it is interested in sex so that <"Enough bodies are available for the next life."> And:
<"One can actually demonstrate that a Thetan can go through walls, overcome large obstacles, make space disappear, appear in any form as well as do other amazing things.">
One absolutely need not dare to imagine that nobody would believe such nonsense. The existence of the Scientology sect proves the opposite.
A young baker was in the sect center in Copenhagen for months. He undertook several attempts to break away from the sect, was finally transferred from Denmark to Germany and delivered to the first psychiatric clinic from the border. His parents picked him up from there. The young man was under psychiatric care for months and incapable of work for years. At first he suffered primarily from nagging insomnia: he was afraid that sect founder Hubbard could personally take possession of his body and mind while he was asleep and would send his Thetan away.
We pointed out to him that Hubbard, if he had this kind of ability at his command, would prefer to take care of his real opponents first. This made sense to him the whole day long, said the young baker, just not at night.
It must once again be made clear here: Hubbard has proved or demonstrated nothing he has said. Governments of all countries expend huge amounts of money for research. The most remote claims are investigated, by the military if need be. A Thetan would be an incredible all-purpose weapon and Scientology would have been declared to be a state secret long ago if only the slightest bit of it could be proven. The Thetan is nothing other than a phantom of a fantasizer.
Sect founder Hubbard on poor eyesight and glasses:
"Glasses are seen on noses everywhere around, even on children. The majority of these spectacles are perched on the face in an effort to correct a condition which the body itself is fighting to uncorrect again. Eyesight, when the stage of glasses is entered (not because of glasses), is deteriorating on the psycho-somatic principle. And this observation is about as irresponsible as a statement that when apples fall out of trees they usually obey gravity.
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One of the incidental things which happen to a clear is that his eyesight, if it had been bad as an aberree, generally improves markedly, and with some slight attention will recover optimum perception in time. (Far from an optician's argument against dianetics, this assures rather good business, for clears have been known, at treatment's end, to have to buy, in rapid succession, five pairs of glasses to compensate adjusting eyesight; and many aberrees, cleared late in life, settle down ocularly at a maximum a little under optimum.)"
Dianetics: Modern Science of Mental Health, p. 10
It is occasionally claimed that this and similar nonsense stems from the formative years of the sect and no longer occurs today. That does not check out. This quote is taken from Hubbard's book "Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health," abbreviated DMSMH.
"DMSMH Birthday" runs the headline of a Scientology magazine from a more recent date. Year after year the "birthday" of this book is met with a celebration and events, with a colorful, gigantic birthday cake, and an ensuing party.
The summarized content of this book: by far the greatest portion of all illnesses are of psychosomatic origin, caused by "engrams." The removal of these engrams lead not only to mental and physical health, but also to immortality in the form of the Thetan.
This assertion is practiced daily in countless courses and auditing sessions.
A Scientology staff worker responded to the question of his health and retirement insurance:
"A Scientologist gets neither sick nor old."
Target groups: those out of touch, the lonely, the sick.
How Scientology uses tricks to approach target groups
The high price of the sect - now over 300 marks per hour - is also its best recruitment tool. Since the newer members are not in the position to come up with so much money, they become FSM's ("Field Staff Member" in the USA. In Germany, "Free Scientology Member.") The FSM receives a commission for every book sold and for every person he introduces who graduates a course. This commission is not paid in money however; the FSM may take certain courses, instead.
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Originally a select group was addressed and recruited. Now things have gotten more diverse because of the large number of FSM's. Almost every household in Stuttgart has had the invitation to take the "free ARC personality test," also described as the "Oxford Capacity Analysis," placed in its mailbox. This test contains 200 questions, for example:
"1. Do you make unconscious comments or accusations which you are later sorry for?
2. Do you remain relatively calm when others become nervous?
3. Do you often page through bus schedules, telephone books or dictionaries for fun?"
Anybody who is interested fills out the test and sends it in. Shortly thereafter he will hear a friendly voice on the telephone or - in case he does not have a telephone - receive a personal, often hand-written, letter. An attempt will be made, using exquisite politeness or very personal forms of address, to get him to agree to an appointment in the Scientology office; it will be happily done, even after hours.
At this appointment the applicant will routinely be shown a diagram and have explained to him where his strengths and where his weaknesses lie. Certain weaknesses will be regularly diagnosed as needing some work. The 200 questions give enough of a lead for this.
Then the communications course will be offered. Its completion is to remove all problems. Very early in the discussion personal problems will be brought up, including illnesses. The test has also given enough of a lead in this area.
This communications course will be perceived as completely pleasant to some people. That can be an incentive to participate in further courses. Others perceive staring into other's eyes for minutes at a time as being unpleasant. These people are told that this course has not brought about the desired result, but that the next one most certainly will.
So the sect has several members more, even if the members do not even know that they have entered a sect.
All these discussions are conducted in a remarkably friendly manner. The applicant feels as though he, personally, is being addressed and feels as if he is needed. When the discussion does not go well, but the person is suspected of having a large bank account, additional calls follow, sometimes daily, and more letters arrive.
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Miracle Healer
Only doctors and health practitioners may practice medicine. Practicing medicine without a license can be punished with up to one year imprisonment. The medical practice law defines practice of medicine as:
"This law pertains to practice of medicine as any professional or commercial activity undertaken for the determination, cure or alleviation of human illness, suffering or bodily harm."
In 1973, a miracle healer said that he had seen a religious apparition, after which he had been gifted with supernatural healing powers. As a result, he earned about 20,000 DM per month as "donations" through his laying on of hands. He was sentenced to 9 months imprisonment. 75,000 DM in "donations" were seized by the court. The federal appeals court confirmed the sentence (BGH NJW 78, 599).
The parallel to Scientology is very simple: Scientology also makes use of supernatural power. The trick to it is that one acts not only as if supernatural power were completely normal, but able to be proven.
An entire research project, long ago, was dedicated to investigating supernatural things: the para-normal research. There was telepathy, for example. Comprehensive card experiments were conducted to show the power of thought. Alleged successes were shown to be swindles. There was also psycho-kinesis, the movement of objects through mental power alone. The Scientologists are able to do all these things without any trouble, at least according to their own claims.
Wait, there's more. They track an invisible, spiritual presence which could be millions of years old at least. They claim also to be able to detect contemporary spiritual perceptions of this "Thetan" - highly supernatural. Scientology portrays this, however, as if it were an everyday event. There is a continuous stream of miracles described under the title of "OT Phenomenon," for instance, how someone prevented an automobile accident and saved a child. In our opinion, the Scientology sect has verified that it is the largest miracle healer of the Republic.
Wait, there's more. The miracle healer relies in general upon belief. Scientology, however, just refers to the E-meter.
The courts will have to look into that.
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9. Advertisement and Propaganda
The Scientology sect is the equivalent of an international agency for the marketing of Hubbard's spiritual products.
Advertisement takes up a very large part of this organization. By advertisement we mean not only the direct advertisement for the sale of a product but also self-promotion or public relations, "PR" for short. To that one must also add the extraordinarily large number of activities in regard to the press, be they for defense or for the promotion of newspaper articles or be they so that a newspaper will be bombarded with letters to the editor as a result of a certain article.
Even the largest retailer would go broke trying to finance the amount of advertisement which Scientology distributes under normal circumstances.
The trick is that the members do not even notice that they are part of an advertisement campaign. As is known, the first Scientology course and, at the same time, the icebreaker for further courses is the communications course. In it the participants learn how to mutually stare into each other's eyes, and for practice, so to speak, they are sent out onto the street to talk to people. Hubbard's magical word is "communications." Communications is good, therefore any type of communication is good, especially if it results, coincidentally, in a commission or in free courses. Each customer is thoroughly tended to personally. Since the customers are mainly either lonely or are new in the area, this personal care is perceived as "finally, somebody is worrying about me." Naturally, it pays to worry about the customer if one wants to talk him out of tens of thousands of dollars.
Telephone calls and personal letters are not often recognized as advertisement by this group, but sensed as personal concern.
This is not a surprise. Scientologists are subjected to an intensive sales training program, it is just that it is called something else.
Illicit Street Recruiting
In the first five years, the most contacts, by far, occur as a result of addressing pedestrians on the street.
At the moment the same simple trick is used by which school boys talk to girls on the street: surprise them and make them laugh.
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For example" "Do you know how many shoes you have on?" Naturally, the person answers. That provides the opportunity to ask whether one has a few minutes of time: "I belong to an organization which wants to promote contact among people." Another Scientologist starts the conversation with the question, "Do you work?"
Addressing pedestrians on the street for advertisement purposes is prohibited in two ways.
1. It is a matter of a so-called special use of public right of way. The City of Munich has stopped the Scientology sect from selling books on the street because of this in an order of May 29, 1979 - case AZ: B 32 - 064122 A-38/74-155/72.
In spite of this order, books continued to be sold, by Georg Stoffel, for instance. He also appeared as speaker for the "Commission for Violations of Psychiatry against Human Rights" and recently reported on the activities of the "Commission" as the author of the article entitled "Repeat of the Psychiatric Holocaust" in the medical magazine "Diagnoses."
On January 9, 1975, Georg Stoffel was served with a restraining order. It was to take effect immediately (AZ: B 32 - 0~22 A-6/74). Mr. Stoffel filed an objection to this order. The Administrative Court of Munich dismissed this objection, the same as it did in four other cases.
2. Addressing passers-by for the purpose of initiating a contract agreement is a violation of the law against unfair competition. This process has already been pointed out in the forward of this book.
Scientologists continue to advertise on the street as they always have. In Stuttgart the Dianetics association has especially distinguished itself in maintaining a "studio with gallery" in one of the more expensive shop locations in Stuttgart on 10 König Street, right by the train station. There the Scientologists continue to address passers-by, as they have been, show them the test evaluation graphs and steer them into their offices. Almost exclusively young people. The Dianetics association feels that it is in a special position: it has won the only lawsuit against the ABI. At that time the Dianetic association had its headquarters at some distance from König Street, where passers-by were being addressed. The court had the opinion that accosting people on the street did not amount to unfair competition because the people being addressed had a relatively long way along which they could reconsider. Now, however, the Dianetics association has its office right on König Street, and the Scientologists address pedestrians directly in front of it. Material for a new lawsuit.
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Meanwhile the Scientologists have been keeping up with the market: they have developed a new way of advertising. An example of this is that a flyer for the "Dianetics" book has been mass distributed in mailboxes, not by the postal service, but by Scientologists. A Scientologist combines a Scientology flyer with his own business advertising, then presumably deducts the entire cost of distribution as an operating expense.
The "personality test" is also distributed in this manner: occasionally piles of them are found in the trash baskets provided near the mail boxes in some large apartments for the disposal of undesired advertisement.
Marriage Ads and Work at Home
The Scientologists are, without a doubt, advertising professionals. Some of them know the ins and outs of the slickest advertising gimmicks. There is the one who put in a small ad for work at home at 9 DM per hour and is said to have gotten, as a result, over 1,000 addresses, because work at home is usually paid by the piece, not by the hour. Perhaps this Scientologist offered those who replied Hubbard's book, "Problems of Work."
Another Scientologist sought out contact through a marriage ad. The woman who had put the ad out lost her inheritance to the Scientologists, survived the Scientology contact only with mental injury, had to spend months in a psychiatric clinic, and was unable to work for years.
Another distinguished himself by throwing noisy parties which largely attracted recent widows and bored young housewives.
Virtually all of this was meant to obtain addresses. The real work upon the potential customers then followed: telephone calls, letters, flyers, and all that to a previously unknown extent.
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10. The Usurious Rates of the Sect
Usury is a harsh accusation. It will be founded. The Stuttgart Superior State Court has recently determined in a startling decision that profit is usurious when it reaches 100% of market price. According to this margin - and there is no reason to believe that it does not apply here - one would have to designate the Scientology rates as a gigantic super usury.
The E-Meter
At the end of 1976 the E-meter cost about 500 DM. At that time the ABI asserted, with no contradiction, that the cost of producing an E-meter was about 50 DM. A similar device was being sold by a Stuttgart degreed engineer for about 125 DM. Let's take this price as the market price. At a 100% mark up the device would cost 250 DM. Actually, it has now gone up to over 1,500 DM.
The price is more than 1,000% over the market price.
Consider that, for some time, every "auditor" is supposed to own 2 E-meters. Along with the growing number of Scientology adherents, that has probably increased sales considerably, and higher production results in lower production costs.
It gets better: a short time ago Scientology started offering, with considerable fanfare, a new E-meter (the previous one has since then been described as the work horse). This new E-meter differs significantly from its predecessor: until now there was a brown wooden case with a scale under glass and adjustment knobs.
The new E-meter is oval and made out of plastic. The scale is also oval. Instead of a mechanical gauge with a numbered scale, there is today's customary electronic digital read-out. In other words, the old magic box was fashionably re-packaged, not particularly tastefully and not technically improved. The promotion made mention of the inner works being altered, which cannot be verified, and the inner workings of the old box were meager enough: the new box is probably mostly empty, as well. And how much does this E-meter, which is apparently meant for special occasions, cost?
About 3,200 DM for a simple electronic device!
(December 79, a price increase of 10% monthly!)
As a comparison, for that, today, you could get a photocopier or
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 73
a typewriter with the ball typing element or a color television console of the absolute highest quality or a first class reflex camera with motor and an assortment of lenses.
The state attorney's office may prosecute the writers of this text for slander because we are calling the seller a fraud and a usurer, or they may accuse the seller of these offenses.
Rates for courses and "auditing"
The prices for courses have always been described in the most misleading way as "contributions" and "donations."
Contributions, in customary speech, are regularly occurring works which cover the basic necessities of an association.
Contributions can be tax free for the member if the association is non-profit. Scientology associations, in general, are not acknowledged as non-profit, although this may hardly be known to its members.
Membership fees for an association are also tax free. This is also true for those associations which are not non-profit.
These associations have to set aside 56% of their profits for corporation taxes. Under certain conditions, membership fees are not considered as part of the profit.
For donations, the same principle applies: the donor can deduct them from his taxes and the benefactor need not count them as taxable income.
We do not know if the different Scientology associations pay taxes. We do know, however, that the Dianetic Stuttgart association has been denied non-profit status. Naturally we do not know this from the revenue office. The Dianetic association itself has broadcast this report, along with a request to its members to write letters in order to motivate the revenue office to reconsider. We also know that the Scientology sect has the kind of great interest in tax reduction where the sect bosses, who label all their critics as criminals, are apparently themselves guilty: they are standing before the court in Washington. They are said to have burglarized, planted bugs, and stolen government documents.
Back to the rates, which, in services of this sort, are, by law, called compensation:
In 1976 the rate for "auditing" was, at most 64 DM per hour. At that time the ABI had compared this rate to that of an academically trained psychologist and found the hourly rate to be too high. At the time, the point could be disputed. Now any dispute is superfluous:
about 350 DM per hour!!
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This hourly rate has increased 5 or 10% per month! - it is seldom or almost never identified and can be calculated only with difficulty.
350 DM per hour! This rate is not comparable to anything else. Even the income of lead surgeons - as much as criticism may be justified for that - is not the same thing: lead surgeons receive their gigantic income because they have made a name for themselves in their area (and probably for other reasons). Scientology "auditors" have no name at all, and are, as a rule, without technical education. The money falls victim to the trademarks of Scientology, as a journalist wrote: "altars for the money of the anxious."
The sect had to have figured out that someone would add this up and come to the same conclusion, that these courses, first of all, are too expensive for the participants and secondly, that they must be making a fabulous profit.
Shortly after the automatic price increases went into effect, "Ron's Journal 30," with a date of December 17, 1978, was published:
<"Ron, 5 Journal 30
Hello!
I have a couple of exciting new things about services. Auditing has become so fast that clearing the entire region is in sight.
1978 was the year of the technical breakthrough!
If the auditing has to get more expensive because of inflation, it will have to be done faster and better. Actually the cost of auditing today is lower than ever before and it will stay that way since the improvements have been so magnificent. ">
That's how simple it happens... The same car repair that used to take an hour and cost 50 DM, now lasts only a half hour and costs a couple hundred DM. Scientologists would also swallow that logic.
The fact remains that Scientology has never been producing so many "clears" before as it is today. In February, 1979, 6,300 people people world wide were in this superhuman state.
One year later, several "celebrity" German Scientologists also succeeded in becoming clear ("clears" are numbered):
Helfried Riess 7807
Kurt Weiland 7811
Birgit Schmieder 7824
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 75
Paula Preisinger 7825
Jörg Stettler 7890
One month later the numbers shot upward and several German celebrities were once again among those included:
Hubert Berrang 11609
Sigi Raitz v. Frentz 11610
Gerd Tjarks 14596
Peter Blum 17283
Martin Ostertag 17309
Dörte Girschkowski 17956
All Scientologists for many years. Ostertag was press speaker for the center in Munich for many years, before he was relieved by Weiland.
By the way, until now the legendary abilities of "clears" could bloom in secret, because there were so few of them.
Clears allegedly do not get colds, they don't need glasses, they rarely, if ever, have accidents. According to Hubbard 70% of all illnesses have a psychosomatic cause, and are therefore not present in a clear.
Back to "Ron's Journal 30" and its legendary progress:
<"As incredible as it sounds, we occasionally run into Dianetic clears who went clear in their past lives, had gone clear in 1949 and 1950 . . . We're not just making new clears, we're also finding old ones.">
Completely aside from that, this contradicts Hubbard's earlier assertions about the nature of clear: in 1950, Hubbard presented the first "clear" to an amazed public for the first time: Sonia Bianca was a pretty college student whose abilities turned up missing on stage, and was not even able to recall the color of Hubbard's tie when she had her back turned to him.
The second clear was not discovered until 1952. If Sonia Bianca was reincarnated, then one would have to determine whether she had died at all. "Ron's Journal 30" gets even more unbelievable if one gives any credence to the Hubbard biography of the Frankfurt CFAP. In there it literally says, "In August, 1965, he declared that the condition of "clear" had been attained for the first time."
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But - as already mentioned - the Frankfurt people have apparently put together their own [Hubbard] biography.
<"The "technical breakthroughs" of 1978 also include the "New Drug Rundown." That is the answer to the the drug user's dream. Without withdrawal symptoms he returns directly back to life in a rocket journey without pain or bother.
With a well-trained NED auditor the costs of a final, definitive, conclusive drug rundown have been shrunk far under what they were at one time and what they tend to be.">
So that nobody would get the idea that "drugs" could perhaps mean those of the prescriptive sort:
<"The Mafia, drug agents and other criminals hate that, since it does away with their work. Informed, foreign governments liked Narconon, but boy! Now they love it.
In fact, the dead will walk again.">
Hopefully this will be made clear once and for all: NARCONON (see cover companies) offers nothing other than the "drug rundown" of the sect.
Book Prices
In one point one may safely believe the statement of the sect: sect founder Hubbard's Scientology books may have had a very large number of copies printed. A high number of copies means lower productions costs. In a printing of several hundred thousand, even a thick, bound book hardly costs more than two or three marks apiece to produce.
DIANETICS: THE MODERN SCIENCE OF MENTAL HEALTH is such a book. Price: 44 DM.
Different price lists, however, are distributed by different Scientology organizations. The Scientology Center in Munich distributes a price list which lists this book at 33 DM. It even has written on it:
"Note: All prices are subject to a monthly price increase of 10%."
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At the same time the sect center in Copenhagen distributed a price list in which the same book costs 44 DM.
Whether it is 33 DM or 44 DM, it is still usury. Even if production costs of the book were 5 DM and one were to add a fat markup of 100%, the price would still only be 10 DM. Instead of that inflated price, the prices for books are increased 10% per month. That means:
314% markup in price a year!
Since this number is absolutely incredible, Hubbard's pertinent executive directive is quoted here:
L. Ron Hubbard
EXECUTIVE DIRECTIVE
8 May 1979
LRH ED 284-5 INTTo: Commanding Officers
Executive Directors
Dissemination Secretaries
Distribution Secretaries
Publications organizations
Missions
Book stores
Book sellers
FSMs
Edition for general public distributionFrom: Ron
Subject: INCREASE IN BOOK PRICES
Reference LRH ED 284, The Solution to Inflation
Revises LRH ED 284-1 and supplements LRH ED 284-4.From 1 June 1979 on the prices of all Dianetics and Scientology books, course packs and other materials, including E-meters, will rise by 10%, effective for the month on midnight of the last day of the preceding month.
Printing and paper costs have risen rapidly and continue to rise. Books and material run the danger of being delivered only with a loss, and this could interrupt dissemination lines.
Individual book sellers and individual book stores are recommended to buy in advance for as long as existing stocks are available and until the
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 78
higher prices make new stocks possible. The date the order was placed to Pubs or to the book stores, accompanied by a number, determines under which price increase the sale takes place, not the delivery date. Every effort will be made and will continue to be made to keep all titles and materials in supply.
Let it be mentioned that "Dianetics, the Modern Science of Mental Health" is coming upon its 29th year as a continual best seller and that collections of LRH books and stories are now bringing in up to 70,000 US dollars, according to statements by authoritative collectors. The demand continues to stay very high, and everything possible must be undertaken to keep pace with it.
L. RON HUBBARD FOUNDER
at the request of the Board of Directors of the SCIENTOLOGY CHURCHESThis is yet more proof of the deceitful handling of the facts by the Scientology sect.
The yearly inflation rate in the German Federal Republic is about 5%. In any case that would be 300% less than the Scientology rates.
"Printing and paper costs have risen rapidly" is the justification given for this rate hike. In that respect, this claim is false. It is doubtful whether printing and paper costs are rising at all. In those kind of large quantities the increase would hardly have been noticed, and certainly would not come out to more than the ordinary 5% per year.
The Scientology sect has discovered a new variant of the so-called psychological hard sell. It consciously produces an inflation mentality in order to force the buyer into making a fast order.
The actual reasons for this kind of rate hike together with a strong psychological buying impulse can only be speculated upon. A reorganization of the sect, which would have justified a great necessity of this type for money, has not occurred as far as is known. From the view of salesmanship, such price politics is neither logical nor rational.
Therefore either the sect or Hubbard, the copyright holder and sect founder, must have an increased need for money on other grounds. One plausible answer would be that there is something to the rumors that Hubbard is either lame or dead, and disputes of inheritance are looming, or already in process.
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The copyright - and the compensatory entitlements which go with it - are transferrable and, in Germany, last for 70 years after the death of the originator.
Supertrick 1: Pre-payments
The super usurious rates are not enough: Scientology adherents are fleeced both coming and going. An example is the courses:
The Civil Law Book [Bürgerliche Gesetzbuch] (BGB) states: § 614 BGB: The compensation will be paid according to the performance of the service. If the compensation is measured in intervals of time, then it is to be paid at the end of each individual time interval.
That is not the way it is with the Scientology sect. It requires compensation in advance on principle.
Case in point: a Stuttgart man filled out the 200 question test. The evaluation turned out, as usual, extremely negative. Because of this the Stuttgart Scientology "Minister" showed the utmost personal concern for the man. He would need at least 200 hours "spiritual counseling" at a cost, at that time, of 48 DM per hour, at a total cost of 9,600 DM.
The Stuttgart man did not have any money, but had a temporary position at a social relief company. Therefore Helmut Kohl, the Stuttgart Scientology Minister, personally took him down to see the nearest loan shark. A loan was taken out using the usual innocent form, on which the true cost of the loan is artfully hidden.
1% interest a month is to be paid according to the form, and the average citizen calculates 12% per year from that. Off by far. 10% rate increase is not 120% per year, but 314%. Actually an interest rate of 1% per month of that sort works out to 23.41% per year. Besides that there are costs for labor, insurance, etc. which need to be added in, so that one quickly comes up to an interest rate of about 40%.
The Scientology Center took the money, and the Stuttgart participant announced that he was going to leave shortly thereafter. After some shuffling back and forth, he was given the usual form for payment return.
Supertrick 2:
Payment Return Prevention Application
It is no doubt easier to get money back from the revenue office than it is from the Scientology sect if one uses this form.
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 80
Having to have the payment receipt is understandable, at least, although it may indicate poorly managed bookkeeping. But then it gets bad:
"2. The applicant must attach a notarized statement that he has not yet received a payment return for this situation.
Pure chicanery, since the notary public can only certify the signature.
"3. When 1. and 2. above have been checked off, the applicant must receive an attestation from the Technical Department that the service which has been paid for has not yet been received. This attestation will be attached together with the papers from 1. and 2. above to this form.
4. Now the applicant gets a verification from the director of the Qualification Department of which kind of corrective service he has received, or whether he has refused such a service. This attestation will be attached to this form.
5. The applicant now goes to the Ethics Officer of the Church, where he signs the following statement as well as a statement of relinquishment in accordance with HCOPL of 5 February 1970, Revision 11.
6. I, the applicant, understand that a handling fee will be charged for the handling of a return payment. The fee will be determined after my application has been inspected by C.B.V., since the collected statements which result from the handling of this application must be calculated into the total.
7. The applicant must also understand that this application can be rejected if:
D) If he/she has falsified his statement of relinquishment, has given up because of a psychiatric past, or has deceived the Church in another way.
G) If any threat, compulsion, or intimidation has been attempted on the part of the applicant.
K) If there is any other violation of the original contract."
That is not the end of this little stroll by any means. The applicant must sign for the third time and walk around another loop through the prescribed Scientology bureaucracy.
While the "applicant" pays interest and Scientology has deposited his money in the bank and collects interest, the applicant is to embark upon
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 81
a boring march without knowing how much of a "handling fee" will be deducted at the end of it.
Legal Judgment
The entire process is complete nonsense and nothing but chicanery. In reality things are quite simple:
The contract with the Scientology sect is a SERVICE CONTRACT. Any service contract can be terminated without notice. When services of a higher kind are being dealt with, the contract can be ended at any time and without giving a reason, according to § 627 BGB. These are the kind of services being dealt with here, even if they are worthless.
Return of payment can be requested upon notice of termination. A time limit should be given for that. At the same time a warning should be given that in the event the payment is not returned within the time limit, suit will be filed.
In the case described above, the ABI corresponded with the Scientology sect for over 10 months on behalf of the Stuttgart man before they complied with the demand for repayment. In addition to that the ABI charged the sect 24% interest and handling, calculated in accordance with the fee schedule for legal conditions. The sect refused to pay, and the ABI filed suit in the Municipal Court of Munich.
The Municipal Court of Munich (9 C 836/77) found for the complainant. From the decision grounds:
"The application for return of payment contains, for the party who was entitled to the return of payment of the paid fees, nothing other than a series of hindrances which are not covered by justified interests of the accused (Scientology Association). If the accused (Scientology Association) indicates that the form for the return of payment is to be justified by the determining that no more rights of any kind arise after the termination of the membership relationship, this statement is not called for. The result desired by the accused (Scientology Association) cannot be achieved simply and solely by having a statement signed by the person who wants to leave saying that he should relinquish all rights of membership. As prescribed in the form for return of payment, first to the receptionist, then to the Director for Corrections, finally to Qual, then to the Director for Technical Services, finally the Case Supervisor must be approached,
Heinemann 1979 : "The Scientology Sect ..." Page 82
why this is simply undiscoverable unless the person who wants to depart would continually be held off from further departure at all the stations.
The accused (Scientology Association) cannot invoke Article 137 of the Weimar State Constitution. The freedom regulated by this article for religious congregations has provisions of faith and belief.
Finally, the accused (Scientology Association) cannot relate to the complainant having acknowledged the described regulation for the return of payment by the signing of the rules of the accused (Scientology Association). On the one hand an effective agreement cannot be reached as to an unethical regulation, on the other hand, though, the complicity of the path to departure from this rule cannot be foreseen."
Courts have not just perceived the advertisement as unethical, but also the methods with which the sect wants to tie former members and especially their money to themselves.
Moreover, the sect has also paid for the costs of this process for the ABI and both attorneys. And, barely conceivable, it did not appeal this decision. Could the judgment in any way have convinced the sect? Unfortunately no, since the unethical form continues to be used.
IMPORTANT TIP: Always write the letter with a return receipt. That is the only way one can prove that the letter has arrived.