Refund and Reparation

Lipstick On the Pig—Scientology’s Front Groups

Article submitted by Number 6

The greatest trick the devil pulled off was convincing the world he didn’t exist. If the devil doesn’t exist, then no one will focus attention on him and his ugliness. And that seems to be par for the course for many cults and criminal organizations. The best PR for rotten organizations like the Church of Scientology is the set up of benevolent groups that offer services to help mankind. It’s the best way to sneak in and infiltrate all levels of society, and people should be alerted to this kind of subversive activity.

Full article on Glosslip

Original broadcast 30 June 2008
Enhanced audio file (Thanks scientrology.org)

How The Church of Scientology Has Used, AND Still Uses The American Legal System To Destroy Critics

Article submitted by Number 6

What is lawfare and how does this relate to the cult?

In the post 9/11 era, new terms and new ideas to describe how war is currently being fought today have popped up in the media, in the press, in the think tanks and on blogs on all sides of the spectrum. One such term is lawfare. On page 55 of the book Unrestricted Warfare, it calls for the use of “international law warfare (seizing the earliest opportunity to set up regulations)” along with a set of other types of warfare that an enemy with more firepower cannot withstand for long. Since 2001, the term has been used to describe how individual supporters of terrorism have tried to silence people who expose them. More...

Bruce Livesey On the 30-Year Vendetta Against Gerry Armstrong

The first time I met Gerry Armstrong, I thought he was paranoid. I’d driven down from Vancouver, summer 2007, into the verdant Fraser Valley to Chilliwack, BC, a somnolent, wind-blown town surrounded by jagged mountain ranges. A place as far removed from Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Scientology’s loopiness as one can possibly get. Armstrong and his third wife Caroline live in a walk-up, one-bedroom apartment above a tiny strip mall that’s seen better days.

When I arrived, Armstrong suggested we drive to a nearby park, rather than talk in their apartment. It was a beautiful July day and, except for a couple of stoners milling about out of earshot, the three of us were alone on the manicured grass beside a pond. Now sixty-one, Armstrong is an alarmingly small man, with elfin features, a beaky nose, sallow skin and large limpid blue eyes. The baseball cap he wore to ward off the hot sun made him look even more vulnerable. Amiable, soft-spoken with no trace of aggression, he chose his words with deliberation. Caroline seemed protective of him.

Full article online at Maisonneuve

Images included in the hard copy magazine article.

by Janet Steffenhagen
Wednesday, June 11, 2008

A Vancouver principal said his school was uninformed when it invited a group affiliated with the Church of Scientology to speak to a student assembly last month about human rights.

John Bevacqua, of St. Patrick regional secondary school, said he hadn't been aware that Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) is part of the Scientology movement until it was brought to his attention by a staff member shortly after the group finished its presentation.

"It was very unfortunate that they were not as forthcoming as they needed to be," he said of YHRI. "It was a lesson learned." The group was invited into the school on the recommendation of students who had heard representatives speak at a conference and were impressed with the message. The students gained the support of teacher sponsors, who vouched for the group and extended the invitation, Bevacqua said.

Asked if the school conducts background checks before inviting organizations to speak to students, the principal said "there's always a process we go through" and added that the sponsoring teachers had assured him the group was fine.

Susan Kerr, a Scientologist and Vancouver spokeswoman for YHRI, said the group was formed several years ago to educate young people about human rights, and its connection to the Church of Scientology is irrelevant.

"This has nothing to do with the church proselytizing," Kerr said in an interview."It's just about human rights." [...]

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