CHURCH CLAIMS U.S. CAMPAIGN OF HARASSMENT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01315R000400410028-6
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 1, 2004
• Sequence Number: 28
• Publication Date: August 29, 1978
• Content Type: NSPR

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Approved For Release 2005/01/13: CIA-RDP88-013158000400 '400 I>
LOS ANGELES TIMES - e~A_
ARTICLE APPEARED
ON PA93 1.3
rhm irch. Claims
Cam i
p a g
U.S.
Harassment
Scientologists Advance
Charge as Rationale
for Aggressive Policies
BY ROBERT GILLETTE. .? ?
and ROBERT RAWITCH
Tlm.a Staff WH a
The Church of Scientology con-
tends that for more than 20 years it
has been the target of a systematic
campaign by the United . States
government, together with "vested-
interest pressure groups" such as thel
medical professions, to "suppress the
church's spiritual practice and expan-
sion."
The church advances this accusa-
tion as the fundamental rationale for
its aggrressive policies of defense-by-
attack against individual critics, pri-
vate groups and government agencies
perceived as "harassing" Scientology.
Church spokesmen, moreoever, ex-
pand upon the allegation of systemat-
ic persecution to suggest that the
church's chronic state of conflict with
the U.S. government.. among others,
symptomizes an erosion of democracy
of the kind that presaged the rise of
Fascism in Germany in the 1930s. '
"Genocide didn't begin with gas
chambers, it began with the suppres-
sion of a single organization," Jeffrey
A. Dubron; a spokesman for Scientol-
ogy's principal United States church
in Los Angeles,. said- repeatedly dur-
ing interviews with two Times repor-
ters..-. ..
chief West. Coast spokesman,. adds:
"Religion is under attack-We're not
alone ;-.,..It could result in.vast de-
vastation of an entire society if al-
Iowed to proliferate.
,.-In an effort to substantiate its
charges of persecution,, the church
says it has filed more than 1,000 for-, 1~
mat requests with federal agencies!'
and nearly two dozen lawsuits under
the Freedom of Information Act since
1973-.and. that by this means has
amassed some 200,000 pages of inter-
nal'government papers and
corres-pondence fromAg y etl l m
government ageddcclles that refer to
Scientology.
29 August 1978 P ._ R &, -F c:l ) f2.
,Yet a close examination of the pa-
pers the church has culled from this
mass of material and made available
to Times reporters as evidence fails to
reveal any explicit or unambiguous
expression of interest on the part of
any federal agency to "suppress" or
"harass" Scientology, alone or in col-
laboration with any other agency or
private group.
The documents do contain, as the
church contends, abundant specula-
tion and rumor about Scientology's
motivations and activities, although
the gossip in the government's files
was usually labeled for what it was.
.;.Overall, the papers reflect wide-
spread skepticism that Scientology
was a bona fide religion. But at the
same time, government agencies ap-
peared disinclined to regard it as sub-
versive or dangerous.
As one informational memo circu-
Iated,wi;thin the Central Intelligence `,
Agency put it, L. Ron Hubbard,
Scientology's founder, "appears to be
a shrewd businessman who has par-
layed his Scientology 'religion' into a
multimillion-dollar business by tak-
ing advantage of that portion of so-
ciety prone to fall for such gimmicks."
The church considers this typical of
the damaging false information that it
says has plagued Scientology from its
inception.
Another CIA memo says, however,
that the agency "has had no relation-
ship with Hubbard or with the move-
ment, nor is there any evidence,
available that would suggest political
or subversive overtones."
During 11 hours of interviews, Du-
bron and Jentzsch began with the po-
sition that the government agencies
such as the FBI and CIA had engaged
"We feel we will be able to prove .
Intent (to harass)," Dubron said, add-
ing in reference to the material ob-
tained under the Freedom of Infor-
mation Act, ""we feel certain it is. in
there."
if such evidence does not emerge,
Dubron said, it may be that it is hid-
den in additional files the government
has refused to surrender under ex-
emption clauses in the act. Or, he
said, federal officials may have de-
stroyed such evidence to avoid em-
barrassment or never committed.
their intentions to paper in the, first
place.
This hypothesis is not implausible.
but it does run counter to the success
that other controversial organizations
have had in prying deeply embar-
rassing documents from federal agen-
cies by means of the Freedom of In-
formation Act. .
This is the last in a series of arti?
cles on the Church of Scientology.
"systematic harassment" of the
church, in large part by circulating
false information about the church's
beliefs and practices to other;
gencies
and to foreign governments.
As the evidence of intent was dis-
cussed, the two spokesmen shifted toll
a position that "individuals" in the:
FBI, the Internal Revenue Service;
and other agencies had acted on their.
own volition to suppress the church.
Still later, Dubron asserted that pa-
pers obtained under the Freedom of
Information Act "at the very least'
demonstrate gross incompetence" on,
.
the part of agencies handling matters,
relating to Scientology-ranging from
the church's requests for tax exemp-
tion to visa applications from foreign
Scicntollogists.