Description of video is in [brackets]. VO=VOICEOVER
====================================
[opening credits]
ANNOUNCER: From ABC News, around the world and into your home, the
stories that touch your life. This is "20/20 Sunday" with Barbara
Walters, Diane Sawyer, Sam Donaldson, Connie Chung, Charles Gibson,
and Hugh Downs--
[clips from Scn event at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles; picture
of L. Ron Hubbard]
ANNOUNCER: Tonight--a ground-breaking investigation. "20/20" goes
deep inside the Church of Scientology to show you the raging
controversy.
[video segment from German film crew documentary footage at Castile
Canyon School]
INA BROEKMANN (from video): What's so secret of this organization?
What's so secret of this area?
[aerial shot of Scn church]
ANNOUNCER: You'll meet the critics.
HANA WHITFIELD: As the door was closing behind me, I didn't know it
was a trap.
[footage of Scienos walking; footage of doors opening to reveal a big
picture of LRH]
ANNOUNCER: And the converted.
JOHN TRAVOLTA: I took a course and my life has never been the same.
[montage of footage of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, Jenna Elfman, and
John Travolta; footage of Stacy Young crying]
ANNOUNCER: A movement that's attracted some of the biggest stars in
Hollywood but left some people devastated.
STACY YOUNG (crying): I felt that my husband should have rescued me.
[Scn footage from auditing session]
ANNOUNCER: For the first time you'll see how disciples reach a higher
state with a device called an e-meter.
WOMAN AUDITOR (from video): Thank you very much. Your needle is
floating.
MAN PC: Thank you.
[footage of Scn gala party]
SCIENTOLOGIST CARTHY WEINAN (voice of and on camera): What if we have
found something that works? Isn't that worth a look?
[aerial footage of Castile Canyon School; diagram of the Fort Harrison
hotel; outside Scn church; Larry Wollersheim]
ANNOUNCER: But you'll hear what some say happens to those who stray.
Claims of being locked away in prison camps.
LARRY WOLLERSHEIM: There was no way for anyone to reach me.
[Frank Oliver; outside of Hana Whitfield’s house; Scn HCOPL with the
phrase "The purpose of a (law)suit is to harass and discourage rather
than win." enlarged]
ANNOUNCER: And listen to what this man says about the dirty tricks
campaign he waged against defectors.
[Scn HCOPL with the phrase "A church enemy ‘May be tricked, sued or
lied to or destroyed.’" enlarged]
FRANK OLIVER (voice of and on camera): These were enemies of the
church. You find their weak spot and you expose it. You literally
destroy them.
[video footage of Lisa McPherson dancing; picture of Lisa McPherson]
ANNOUNCER: Plus, disturbing accusations about the mysterious death of
a young believer.
KEN DANDAR: They chose to keep her inside the hotel and watch her
die.
[footage of Big Blue Scn building in Los Angeles, split screen with
bust of LRH and the title L. RON HUBBARD]
ANNOUNCER: Scientology. One of the most controversial religions of
our times.
JOHN TRAVOLTA: You can look at the origins of almost every religion
and the first so many years are, they’re attacked.
TOM JARRIEL: Do you feel the need to defend Scientology?
JOHN TRAVOLTA AND KIRSTIE ALLEY (in unison): No.
[Tom Jarriel walking down steps outside with John Travolta and Kirstie
Alley; picketers--some of the signs include "(top of sign clipped off)
Camps in L.A.! Close the RPF!!", "Scientology vs. The Internet:
www.xenu.net ", "Scientology: First Amendment Enemy", sign with
picture of Lisa McPherson; cover of Time magazine "Scientology: The
cult of greed" issue; aerial footage outside church compound; "20/20:
logo]
ANNOUNCER: Tom Jarriel with a rare, inside look at Scientology.
Persecuted religion or paranoid, secretive cult? You decide. The
Church of Scientology. That story tonight, Sunday, December 20th, 1998
after this brief message.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
["20/20" logo]
ANNOUNCER: From ABC News in New York, Barbara Walters and Diane
Sawyer.
DIANE SAWYER: Good evening and welcome to "20/20 Sunday." Tonight, in
a special hour, we pull back the veil on the Church of Scientology.
It is certainly one of the most controversial religions in this
country, and perhaps the world. Few people outside the church
know what goes on within its walls. It's a secret, carefully protected
by those who believe fervently in its work.
BARBARA WALTERS: And it is unlike almost any other church. There is
no worship of God. There is no bible of God's words. But those who
believe say that it has changed their lives forever, for the better.
Tonight, you'll hear from John Travolta and others who credit the
church with helping them achieve happiness. But critics claim that
Scientology is not a religion. They say it's a dangerous and paranoid
cult.
DIANE SAWYER: And what exactly do they believe? It’s always a
question. Well, one thing, that you're born with the memory of painful
experiences from past lives. Erase them and you can be happy. Tom
Jarriel has finished a year-long investigation into the Church of
Scientology. Is it a misunderstood religion or a predatory cult?
[aerial footage of Scn compound in New Mexico (opening credits listing
names of people who worked on the segment; metal titanium storage
containers; metal recording disks; closeup of record player and needle
playing a segment of LRH reading one of his works]
VO: Buried deep in these New Mexico hills in steel-lined tunnels,
said to be able to survive a nuclear blast, is what Scientology
considers the future of mankind. Seen here for the first time,
thousands of metal records, stored in heat-resistant titanium boxes
and playable on a solar-powered turntable, all containing the beliefs
of Scientology’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard.
L. RON HUBBARD (voice of, from a recorded disk): And man can achieve
these goals today of freedom for himself, for his people, through
Scientology.
[another aerial shot of Scn compound in New Mexico]
VO: Clearly Scientology believes it’s here to stay.
DAVID MISCAVIGE (from Scn event, caption, "Church of Scientology
video"): Never before have we embarked on such massive expansion, and
yet it will soon be reality. And we will be moving into the new
millennium with authority. (crowd cheers)
[more footage from the Scn event; footage of Tom Cruise and Nicole
Kidman; Lisa Marie and Priscilla Presley; Kirstie Alley and James
Wilder; Jenna Elfman and her husband Bodhi;; footage from Barbara
Walters special from 5/20/98 with Jenna Elfman]
VO: Scientology is on the march. It has powerful political friends
and a group of glittering celebrities: Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman,
Lisa Marie Presley, Kirstie Alley, Jenna Elfman. These celebrities
have become Scientology’s best salespeople.
JENNA ELFMAN (from Barbara Walters special from 5/20/98): What’s
great about Scientology is, there’s you, right? And you’re always
you. But as you go through life, you know, you have the [mock-stern,
serious voice] betrayals and the losses [normal voice] and the things
that start clouding up. And what Scientology does is it helps take
away all that stuff so that you can just be you.
[scene from "Pulp Fiction"--John Travolta and Uma Thurman in dance
contest at nightclub; scene from "Welcome Back, Kotter"; Tom Jarriel
walking down steps outside with John Travolta and Kirstie Alley]
VO: Superstar John Travolta credits the church with his success in
films like "Pulp Fiction". He joined the church around the time he
made his first television appearance in "Welcome Back, Kotter". He and
actress Kirstie Alley agreed to sit down with "20/20" for a rare
interview about their religion.
TOM JARRIEL: Why did you turn to Scientology? Why have you chosen
Scientology?
JOHN TRAVOLTA: I was 21 when, um, I first heard about it, and, um,
someone introduced it to me, and they were so certain and happy. And I
wasn’t used to be--people being certain and happy, I was used to
(chuckles) people being insecure and unhappy. Um, I took a course, and
my life has never been the same.
[TV clip of Kirstie Alley on "Cheers"]
VO: Years before Kirstie Alley joined the cast of "Cheers", she was a
struggling actress hooked on drugs
KIRSTIE ALLEY: I didn’t want to do drugs anymore; but I didn’t want
to live life without doing drugs. And the life was just being
squelched out of me; it was a slow death. I had one auditing session ,
uh, in Scientology, and I never did drugs again and never had the urge
to do drugs again.
TOM JARRIEL: Is there any stigma to it professionally for you?
JOHN TRAVOLTA: I think it’s a--it’s, it’s been, you know, not only an
asset but most of the reason I’m still here.
[outside Big Blue building in Los Angeles; front page of New York
Times with article about Lisa McPherson titled, "Death of a
Scientologist Heightens Suspicions in a Florida Town"; aerial shot of
Castile Canyon School from German film crew video ]
VO: But there is another side to the Scientology story: Front-page
reports of the mysterious death of a Scientologist in Florida;
allegations of virtual prison camps.
INA BROEKMANN (from video footage): What’s so secret of this
organization? What’s so secret of this area?
[picketers--some of the signs include "(top of sign clipped off) Camps
in L.A.! Close the RPF!!", "Scientology vs. The Internet:
www.xenu.net", "Scientology: First Amendment Enemy", sign with
picture of Lisa McPherson]
VO: And charges by former members of mistreatment and abuse.
STACY YOUNG (crying): All I know is that the things you hope for and
the--the group that you invested your life in is a fraud, and--and a
dangerous, horrifying, terrifying fraud, a nightmare.
TOM JARRIEL (outside Big Blue church building in Los Angeles): Again
and again while reporting this story, we were confronted by
Scientology’s split personality. On one hand, we were introduced to
numbers of devoted followers who told us the church had turned their
lives around. On the other hand, we met many former members who
described Scientology as a dangerous and deeply paranoid organization.
The root of this contradiction, many told us, lies in the peculiar
personality of Scientology’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard.
(footage from "The Shrinking World of L. Ron Hubbard" documentary):
INTERVIEWER: Do you ever think that you might be quite mad?
L. RON HUBBARD: Oh, yes. The one man in the world who never believes
he’s mad is the madman.
TOM JARRIEL: L. Ron Hubbard has been described by his supporters as a
genius, by his critics as a madman.
MIKE RINDER: If I took one word to describe L. Ron Hubbard, it would
be "friend".
[Tom Jarriel and Mike Rinder walking around outside church]
VO: Mike Rinder is one of Scientology’s top leaders.
MIKE RINDER (voice of and on camera): Every few thousand years, a man
comes along who is so extraordinary that he changes the course of
history. And L. Ron Hubbard is one of those men.
[doors pulling open to reveal a big picture of LRH; photographs of
LRH]
VO: Where did this prophet of Scientology come from? L. Ron Hubbard
was a modestly successful pulp-fiction writer from the 1930’s and
‘40’s. In a letter to his wife, he predicted, "I will smash my name
into history so violently, it will take a legendary form."
[picture of first edition of "Dianetics]
VO: In 1950, at age 39, he published a book that would make him
famous: "Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health". In it, he
claimed to have found nothing less than the secret to the human mind.
[video footage of L. Ron Hubbard giving a lecture]
L. RON HUBBARD (from video): There was a chasm between this existence
where we are now and a higher plateau of existence.
[photograph of LRH giving a demonstration of auditing]
VO: Hubbard promised that he could make a person into a kind of
superman, raise IQ’s, cure sicknesses, and enable people to leave
their bodies and travel through time and space. Tens of thousands of
Hubbard’s followers take this as the gospel truth.
CARTHY WEINAN: What if we have found something that does work? Just
that. What if that’s true? Isn’t that worth a look?
[Carthy Weinan playing soccer; Carthy Weinan at his computer]
VO: Carthy Weinan joined the church at age 14. Today he’s a
scriptwriter in Los Angeles. He credits Scientology with his success.
CARTHY WEINAN (on cell phone at his home): OK, that’s kind of the
payoff that we wanted to get at the, at the end.
CARTHY WEINAN (on camera): This is real. It works. The effect that
it’s gonna have in a broad way on every thing in your life--you know,
you can’t calculate the work of that.
[Ralph Hilton and woman PC in an auditing session]
VO: What Weinan and others say has transformed their lives is the
mysterious practice Scientologists call auditing. At the center of an
auditing session is a device called an E-meter. It sends a small
electrical current through a person’s body, registering minute
physical changes in the skin. Scientologists believe it can also
literally measure thoughts.
[Church of Scientology video of an auditing session]
WOMAN AUDITOR (from video): Any reason not to begin session?
MAN PC (from video): None at all
VO: The church would not allow "20/20" to videotape auditing. But for
the first time, they released these pictures of what they say is an
actual auditing session.
AUDITOR (from video): Locate an incident when you took the emotion of
sorrow.
PC (from video): I believe it was 1949.
VO: According to Hubbard, the mind is an archive of physical and
emotional traumas. During auditing, a person is asked to re-experience
these painful events, sometimes from previous lives, hundreds or even
thousands of years ago
AUDITOR (from video): Is there an earlier incident when you took the
emotion of sorrow?
PC (from video): 1814.
AUDITOR (from video): What happened?
PC (from video): I was just walking out across this battlefield after
the firings had ceased. There were just dead and mutilated bodies
VO: Once relived, Scientologists believe, the painful memory is
erased and replaced by understanding and a blissful feeling of relief.
AUDITOR (from video): Thank you very much. Your needle is floating.
PC (from video)(smiling): Thank you.
KIRSTIE ALLEY (voice of and on camera): I know the way I feel when I
come out of a session. I feel happy and, and outgoing and exuberant.
That’s how it makes me feel, because I solved something.
[Grade chart of "The Bridge"]
VO: Auditing is arranged in a progression of levels that Hubbard
called "The Bridge to Total Freedom". The first significant goal on
the Bridge, Hubbard told his followers, is the State of Clear.
[Scn event, with picture of LRH hanging up on stage]
SCIENO MAN ON STAGE: Hi, everybody.
AUDIENCE (in unison): Hi!
VO: Once this goal is reached, Scientologists declare themselves
problem-free.
MAN ON STAGE: And I’ve never, ever, felt so wonderful , I’ve never
been so aware, and that nothing is gonna hold me back
[audience gives standing ovation]
[inside lobby of Scn church with people waiting to get into sessions]
VO: But some critics have called auditing a money-making scheme.
RECEPTIONIST (talking to PC): As soon as your auditor comes out,
you’ll go in session
[more footage of lobby of Scn church; woman reading "Dianetics" while
she’s waiting; Sea Org member escorting PC]
VO: Sessions start at less than $100 an hour, but can rise steeply to
more than $600 an hour. To reach the State of Clear can cost tens of
thousands
SCIENO MAN (not identified): If it wasn’t worth its money I wouldn’t
be paying for it. If it was 10 times the amount that I had to pay for
it, I’d find the money to do it; and if it was a hundred times more,
then I’d pay that, too.
[close-up of e-meter and hands holding the cans; footage of LRH from
"The Shrinking World of L. Ron Hubbard"; Scienos in church lobby
walking by a bronze bust of LRH; close-up of bronze bust of LRH under
title L. RON HUBBARD]
VO: In fact, the most dedicated Scientologist will spend tens of
thousands more to follow Hubbard’s bridge to its mysterious upper
levels. This is where Hubbard reveals his final secret. Scientologists
are now told only one thing stands between them and absolute spiritual
freedom. It involves an intergalactic incident that took place 75
million years ago. Only through more auditing, Hubbard says, can they
be liberated at last.
[shot through window of a Scn classroom]
VO: The church considers these secret levels sacred. We agreed not to
divulge their precise contents in return for access to the church and
its members.
[video footage of the raid on Dennis Erlich’s house]
DENNIS ERLICH (from video)(talking to official): Please don’t let
them take that stuff out.
[more footage from the video of the Erlich raid, showing close-up of
computer disks, officials carrying out boxes]
VO: This is what happened when former church member Dennis Erlich
posted the secret levels on the Internet back in 1995. Armed with a
court order obtained under copyright laws, Scientology officials
staged a surprise raid on Erlich’s home. Accompanied by local police,
church officials carted away computers, disk drives, and, Erlich says,
personal files.
DENNIS ERLICH (from video)(talking to official): I have not yet seen
anything and I haven’t got a--I haven’t got an inventory of anything--
[more footage from the video of the Erlich raid]
DENNIS ERLICH (voice of and on camera): The idea that any court would
open up my house to my enemies in that manner to go through my
personal belongings in that way for seven hours and, and--it was just
beyond belief.
[older picture of Dennis; recruitment poster for the Sea Org with
picture of a Sea Org member and the message "You can dream of a
cleared planet or you can go through hell and high water to make
one—The Sea Org"; footage of Sea Org members]
VO: Before becoming a leading church critic, Dennis Erlich was a
member of its elite priesthood, the so-called Sea Organization.
Today’s Sea Org members dress in naval style uniforms, live and eat
communally, and sign billion year contracts with the organization to
achieve a goal they describe as "freeing the planet".
[footage from "The Shrinking World of L. Ron Hubbard" of Sea Org
members on the Apollo; picture of LRH aboard the Apollo; more footage
from "The Shrinking World of L. Ron Hubbard"]
VO: The Sea Organization is named for a group of zealous
Scientologists who took to the seas with L. Ron Hubbard aboard a ship
he named the Apollo. The year was 1967. Scientology was under
investigation from Africa to the United States. In Australia it was
outlawed as a threat to the community, medically, morally and
socially. With nowhere else to go, Hubbard began to wander the
Mediterranean, like Moses in the desert, searching for a Promised Land
for Scientology.
HANA WHITFIELD: I became willing to follow him through hell and high
water
[older picture of Hana Whitfield; picture of LRH]
VO: A young nurse named Hana Whitfield was one of Hubbard’s original
Sea Org members. But instead of a magnanimous leader, Whitfield says
she found in Hubbard a man increasingly prone to violent fits of
temper.
HANA WHITFIELD: He would whine and cry out and, and express outrage
at this or that or the other. Um, that would go on for days.
[footage from "The Shrinking World of L. Ron Hubbard"; picture from
Scn magazine of Sea Org member being lifted up by other members and
held over the railing of the ship, close-up of caption saying,
"Students are thrown overboard for gross out tech and bequeathed in
the deep!"]
VO: According to Whitfield and others, Hubbard ordered rule-breakers
confined to the ship’s chain locker for days at a time, including once
a 4-year-old boy. On another occasion, witnesses say, Hubbard ordered
wayward crew members to be shoved overboard while the Apollo was
docked in port. A Scientology magazine at the time depicted the
ceremony.
HANA WHITFIELD: And those who were wailing or prostrate with fear
were just grabbed and shoved over the ship into the harbor.
MIKE RINDER: There was a, like a, a little ceremony that grew up that
was like a, um,--I dunno, a joke, like a fun thing--"OK, I commit my
sins to the deep and I arise a better man!" and he would jump off the
side.
[footage of Mike Rinder sitting at a desk]
VO: Mike Rinder, now a senior church official, joined the Sea
Organization when he was just a teenager. He remembers life aboard the
Apollo very differently.
TOM JARRIEL: Did you ever see him punish anyone, for example, by
putting them in solitary confinement in a chain locker?
MIKE RINDER: No, never, never (shakes his head). So it--how do you
now prove that never took place? All I can do is tell you, "No, it
didn’t happen".
TOM JARRIEL: You were caught in a huge contradiction, then. A man you
admired, a man you had serious doubts about.
[older picture of Hana Whitfield]
HANA WHITFIELD (voice of and on camera): It was a very unique trap.
As the door was closing behind me, I didn’t know it was a trap. A
small percentage of people left; the rest of us stayed
BARBARA WALTERS: And wait until you see what Hana Whitfield says
happened next. Tom Jarriel will be back with more in a moment.
[aerial footage of the Castile Canyon School]
ANNOUNCER: The so-called rehabilitation camps where the Church of
Scientology sends those who stray.
HANA WHITFIELD: I was locked in this room in the dark for however
long it was.
[Fort Harrison Hotel including the garage; outside Big Blue building;
"20/20" logo]
ANNOUNCER: Accusations of being held captive, mistreated,
interrogated for disloyalty to the church when "20/20 Sunday"
continues.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
[Barbara Walters, in front of screen showing picture of Big Blue
building; picture of LRH]
BARBARA WALTERS: Tom Jarriel continues now with his investigation
into the Church of Scientology. Is it a religion like other mainstream
religions? Or is it, as critics charge, a secretive and destructive
cult? We go back now to 1975. Scientology and its founder, L. Ron
Hubbard, are already being investigated around the world. And after
years of self-imposed exile aboard his ship the Apollo, Hubbard has
decided to drop anchor in the United States.
TOM JARRIEL (on the shore of beach at Clearwater, FL): After
wandering the seas for more than five years, Hubbard finally came
ashore here, in the sleepy retirement town of Clearwater, Florida. His
goal was to establish an international mecca for Scientology. But
according to many insiders, Hubbard was growing more and more
vindictive toward those who stood in his way. He created what he
called "The Rehabilitation Project Force."
HANA WHITFIELD: The people who are assigned to this camp are the
worst of the worst. They're the--they’re criminals in Scientology.
[older picture of Hana Whitfield]
VO: Hana Whitfield says the RPF was, in effect, a work camp to
rehabilitate Sea Organization members accused of insubordination. In
May 1978, she says, it was her turn.
HANA WHITFIELD: I had two big men on either side of me who pretty
much manhandled me into this room with no windows. And there was just
a mattress on the floor. And I was locked in this room in the dark for
however long it was.
[Fort Harrison Hotel including garage; older picture of Hana
Whitfield]
VO: Whitfield says that while she was in the RPF, she lived in the
garage of the church-owned Fort Harrison Hotel, ate scraps and worked
at hard labor up to 12 hours a day.
TOM JARRIEL (voice of): What was your crime to have been put into
this, this harsh program to begin with?
HANA WHITFIELD: My crime was, in a Scientology sense, a very serious
one. I was accused of having negative thoughts about Mr. Hubbard.
MIKE RINDER: The Rehabilitation Project Force is a part within the
Sea Organization where people who have, you know, been goofing up,
they can go to rehabilitate themselves.
TOM JARRIEL (on camera, sitting at desk holding copies of letters):
After our interview, the church apparently launched a letter-writing
campaign. Rinder sent us scores of letters from current and former Sea
Org members, all addressed to ABC and all extolling the benefits of
the RPF. (reading from first letter) "While on the RPF, I learned how
to work hard and be a productive person." (reading from second
letter)"I came out of it extroverted, ethical and more willing to
confront life." (reading from third letter) "What I handled was
getting to the root of why i was so bad in my transgressions against
others."
[Dennis Erlich walking down sidewalk]
VO: But some former members we talked to describe their experience as
physically and psychologically punishing, and anything but voluntary.
DENNIS ERLICH: I was certainly completely at their mercy.
[older picture of Dennis Erlich; diagram of Fort Harrison Hotel]
VO: Dennis Erlich claims that for one 10-day period, he was actually
put under lock and key in the boiler room of the Fort Harrison Hotel.
DENNIS ERLICH: In the middle of one of the rooms was a chicken wire
enclosure with a door that, that had a lock on it. And I was placed in
there and the lock was put on the door.
[Vaughn and Stacy Young walking outside their home with their dogs]
VO: At the time, Vaughn and Stacy Young were high-level public
relations officials in the church.
STACY YOUNG: At 4:00 in the morning one night, Vaughn and I were
asleep and there was a knock on the door. And two security guards were
there, and they took me away into the prison camp.
[older picture of Stacy Young; outside Big Blue building]
VO: Stacy Young says she was assigned to the RPF for disobeying an
order to interrogate a fellow staff member. For part of the time,
Young says she was in a room on the seventh floor of the Los Angeles
church. Her husband admits he stood by and did nothing to try to get
her out.
VAUGHN YOUNG: You're being challenged that, you know, "What are you?
Are you disloyal? "Do you," you know, "you love your wife more than
freedom for the planet? You're going to let people suffer." You know,
all this, all this crap is dumped on you. And what are you supposed to
say?
STACY YOUNG: I didn't see Vaughn for several months. I didn't hear
from him. I didn't have any correspondence with him whatsoever. He did
nothing to try and rescue me. (starts crying) I felt that my husband
should have rescued me.
VAUGHN YOUNG: I didn't take her out. I look back at that--that’s--I
should have just picked her up. I should have just picked her up. And
I should have just said, "If anybody touches me, you're dead."
[close-up of Scientology sign; older picture of Vaughn Young]
VO: Even after Stacy's release from the RPF, the Youngs remained
loyal. But in 1988, Vaughn Young says, the church turned on him, too,
and he began his own 13-month stint in the RPF.
VAUGHN YOUNG: You go through interrogations hour after hour, day
after day, week after week, month after month. Breaking you down,
breaking you down, breaking you down.
TOM JARRIEL: Travel between buildings is accompanied by a security
guard. An RPF member may not speak unless spoken to. If dismissed,
must sign a confession of his crimes. These are acceptable, I take it?
MIKE RINDER: If a, a priest or a monk or a nun was to leave one of
those religious orders and come out and say, "Wow, you know, I had to
sleep on straw and I lived in a cell and I couldn't talk to anybody
and I had to be celibate." And people would go, "But, you walked in
there knowing that and you were a part of it." So, fine that you
leave. Don't complain about it.
[Vaughn and Stacy Young outside their home with their dogs]
VO: A year after Vaughn's release from the RPF, the Youngs say they
had had enough. They threw some clothes in the back of their car and
fled.
VAUGHN YOUNG: Hubbard's policy was, "As long as you're with us, we'll
leave you alone. But if you speak out against us, we're gonna dog you
and ruin you and destroy you." And that's exactly what they keep
trying to do.
[picture of Scn church and title "Hubbard Dianetics Foundation";
typewritten copy of Stacy Young’s "Success Story" with her name and
"Action Completed: RPF Auditing"; handwritten copy of Vaughn Young’s
"Success Story" of 12/10/88 with his name and title "RPF Auditing
Completion"; close-up of signature.]
VO: The church denies having mistreated the Youngs. They provided
"20/20" with these documents in which both of the Youngs writes fondly
of their experience in the RPF. Vaughn Young says they were coerced.
VAUGHN YOUNG: They want it in your own handwriting. So that when,
when your handwriting's done, they say, "See, we have it in his
handwriting. He confessed to this. He did this."
TOM JARRIEL: Vaughn Young says he was forced to sign a statement he
did not believe in, and it was a prerequisite to get out of what he
wanted to get away from.
MIKE RINDER: Well, you know, what do you want to believe? Do you want
to believe what Vaughn young wrote at the time and signed, or do you
want to believe him now saying, "Well, I didn't mean to write that."
TOM JARRIEL: Many of their stories, though, about RPF are
corroborated in sworn court testimony by up to a dozen other people.
Are they all lying?
MIKE RINDER: They sat in a room. They figured out what they were
gonna say. They wrote their bits. They passed them around. They made
sure that they were consistent. And yes, they were paid for that.
[court document from "Church of Scientology, International vs. Steven
Fishman and Uwe Geertz" with section "Bill of Costs" and list of
witness names, including Vaughn and Stacy Young’s names, with list of
dollar amounts for the witnesses’ services; Vaughn Young at his
computer, with cat jumping up on the desk; older picture of Larry
Wollersheim, with magazine article title "Wollersheim wins another
round against Scientology" superimposed over the picture on bottom of
screen; court papers with phrases "forced to undergo a strenuous
regime--" "Several Scientology members seized Wollersheim and held him
captive." enlarged]
VO: Rinder provided "20/20" with this court document which shows that
the Youngs since 1993 had been paid some $50,000 as expert witnesses
in civil suits against the church. But the Youngs, who have separated
since our interview, vehemently deny that they are fabricating their
stories. In fact, they point out, similar accounts have been credited
by judges and juries in a number of court cases. In one example former
Sea Org member Lawrence Wollersheim won a multimillion-dollar judgment
against the church. An appeals court judge wrote that while in the RPF
Wollersheim had -- "been forced to undergo a strenuous regime" that
lasted 19 hours a day. When he tried to escape the RPF, the judge
wrote -- "Several Scientology members seized Wollersheim and held him
captive.
LARRY WOLLERSHEIM: They censor the phone calls. You're not allowed to
speak to anyone who's critical. There was no way for anyone to reach
me.
[footage of Scienos at party; aerial footage of Castile Canyon School]
VO: Scientology has projected a kinder, gentler, more understanding
image in recent years. But critics insist that RPF camps continue to
exist today. Sworn affidavits point to one at this site, a multi-acre
spread near Palm Springs, which the church calls the Castile Canyon
School.
TOM JARRIOL (voice of): What is the Castile Canyon School?
MIKE RINDER: It's a school for the children of Sea Org members
.
TOM JARRIOL: We have seen sworn statements this is also an RPF camp.
Is that true?
MIKE RINDER: There are RPF people there, yeah.
[aerial footage of Castile Canyon School
VO: ABC asked Mike Rinder if we could take our cameras and go to the
school to talk to those inside, but he refused.
[video footage of German film crew at Castile Canyon School]
KEN HODEN (from video): See the helicopter?
[more video footage of German film crew at Castile Canyon School, with
Hoden standing in front of the car the crew was driving so they
couldn’t get through]
VO: Earlier, when German film maker Peter Reichelt and his crew set
out to see what they could find, this is what happened.
VOICE OF GERMAN FILM CREW MEMBER: You are blocking us. You are
harassing us. You are not allowed to do that.
[more footage from the video of the German film crew at Castile Canyon
School, with Scienos with video camera and driver of the German crew’s
car with video camera]
VO: A mile from the school, the Germans’ way was blocked by carloads
of Scientologists. According to the German film makers, senior church
official Ken Hoden detained them for more than two hours.
KEN HODEN (from video): I'm giving you one last warning. Are you
going to leave? Yes or no? Fine! I am placing you under citizen's
arrest right now!
INA BROEKMANN (from video): What's so secret with this organization?
What's so secret with this area? What happened here?
DIANE SAWYER: What is all the secrecy about? What else goes on behind
the walls of church compounds? Tom Jarriel will have more in a moment.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
[Big Blue building; picket sign saying "Scientology: First Amendment
Enemy"; clip from the Erlich raid video with close-up of computer
disks; Richard Behar walking down street; outside of Hana Whitfield’s
house; HCOPL with picture of LRH transposed and the phrase "A church
enemy ‘May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed." enlarged]
ANNOUNCER: The Church of Scientology takes on its critics, fighting
the IRS, investigating journalists and going after former followers.
FRANK OLIVER: You find your weak spot and you expose it. You
literally destroy them.
[John Travolta and Kirstie Alley; aerial shot of Scn church; 20/20
logo]
ANNOUNCER: But John Travolta and Kirstie Alley speak out for the
religion that changed their lives.
["20/20" logo}
ANNOUNCER: From ABC News, "20/20 Sunday" continues after this from
our ABC stations.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
["20/20" logo]
ANNOUNCER: from ABC News, "20/20 Sunday" continues. And now Diane
Sawyer.
DIANE SAWYER: And now, Tom Jarriel picks up his report at a turning
point for the Church of Scientology. For 25 years, the church has been
at war with the Internal Revenue Service over its tax status as a
religious organization. In the mid-'70s, 11 top leaders were sent to
prison for breaking into the IRS, stealing documents, bugging offices.
But after the death of L. Ron Hubbard, the new church leaders
renounced the illegal tactics and instead brought scores of lawsuits
against the IRS, apparently in an effort to bring the agency to its
knees.
[video footage of Scn event at Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles with
people on stage carrying flags and banners]
VO: October 1993. You are watching scenes of an extraordinary event.
More than 10,000 Scientologists gather at the Shrine Auditorium in Los
Angeles for what’s promised to be the most significant announcement in
Scientology's history.
DAVID MISCAVIGE (from video, on stage): On October 1st, 1993, the IRS
issued letters recognizing Scientology and every one of its
organizations as fully tax exempt.
[more footage of event with audience cheering and laser lights and
spotlights circling throughout the auditorium; footage of different
Scn churches; Scieno walking up steps of Celebrity Centre in Los
Angeles; outside of Celebrity Centre; in lobby of Celebrity Centre
with person playing a piano; footage of Celebrity Centre restaurant,
theater and sauna; outside Celebrity Centre; classroom inside
Celebrity Centre]
VO: The war with the IRS was over and Scientology had won. The IRS
decision was a financial boon for a group that already claimed to be
worth in excess of $1 billion. With the tax advantages enjoyed by the
other mainstream religions, Scientology has gone on an international
expansion. They own valuable properties around the world and claim a
membership of 8 million, though others outside the church put the
number as low as 150,000. Their religious practices are
unconventional. No worship services take place inside the buildings
they call churches. In fact, some resemble resorts more than places of
worship. In Los Angeles, this church contains a first-class
restaurant, a private theater and saunas. Scientologists stay in
luxury hotel rooms upstairs while attending auditing and other courses
downstairs.
[video footage at Scn event]
TOM DAVIS (from video, on stage): Hello.
AUDIENCE (in unison): Hi!
[more video footage from Scn event of Tom Davis speaking]
VO: The so-called Celebrity Centre is run by Tom Davis. He's the son
of actress Anne Archer, herself a devoted Scientologist for some 20
years. Davis is the face of the new church.
TOM DAVIS: My involvement in Scientology is for my life. This is my
life's devotion.
[close-up of LRH bronze bust, camera panning to Tom Davis and his wife
Nadine sitting at table outside church]
VO: Davis dropped out of Columbia University as a freshman to join
the Sea Organization, where he met his Belgian wife, Nadine.
NADINE DAVIS: For us, it's a crusade. We're like crusaders. We're
like knights in knighthood. (laughs) You know, we're like, um, yeah,
and it's fun. I mean, it's a fun activity to set men free.
[video footage of Tom and Nadine Davis at literacy class walking down
hall with other members; close-up of young child reading book, Nadine
and another teacher at table with young child]
VO: The Davises, who work an average of 15 hours a day for around $50
a week, spend much of their time disseminating L. Ron Hubbard's
teachings, on this day, at a literacy project in the inner-city
neighborhood of Compton.
NADINE DAVIS: I made the decision to forward the aims of Scientology.
I actually compare it a little bit like Mother Teresa, you know, who
just kind of gives her life to the dedication of setting, you know,
helping people, helping the poor and the weak.
[Tom Jarriel walking down steps outside with John Travolta and Kirstie
Alley]
VO: Scientologists believe this and not scandal is the real essence
of their religion.
JOHN TRAVOLTA: You can look at the beg—origins of almost every
religion and the first so many years are, they're attacked. Take a
look at every program we've instilled in either local communities,
prisons, drug rehabs, I mean, our statistics are through the roof.
TOM JARRIEL (outside AOLA building in Los Angeles): But critics say
the church may never be able to gain the mainstream acceptance it
seeks as long as it remains tethered to the words and ideas of its
controversial founder. L. Ron Hubbard left Scientology not only his
religious writings, but a series of controversial directives that
appear to advocate threats, intimidation, and even attacks against
those he regarded as enemies.
[HCOPL with picture of LRH transposed, with the phrases "Don’t ever
defend. Always attack." "The purpose of a (law)suit is to harass and
discourage rather than to win." "A church enemy ‘May be tricked, sued
or lied to or destroyed."]
VO: Some of Hubbard's writings: "Don't ever defend. Always attack."
"The purpose of the lawsuit is to harass and discourage rather than
win." A church enemy "may be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed."
FRANK OLIVER: They can send private investigators out to your home or
to your place of work, talk to your neighbors. They will illicitly try
and obtain copies of your phone bills or credit rating. They will try
and create problems for you at your place of employment.They will try
and sue you. They'll do everything they can try and do to stop you or
to silence you.
TOM JARRIEL: How do you know?
FRANK OLIVER: I know because that's what I used to do.
[Frank Oliver at his business]
VO: Frank Oliver runs a digital graphics firm in Miami, but for four
years, he says, he was a member of the church's internal security
apparatus.
[picture of Frank Oliver International Association of Scientologists
membership card]
FRANK OLIVER (voice of and on camera): I remember having to make the
phone calls to all the phone numbers on someone's phone bill to find
out where they had called. These were enemies of the church. You shut
them down. You find out what you can about them. You find their weak
spot and you expose it. You make it so that they cannot survive or
exist. You literally destroy them.
[Hana Whitfield and Tom Jarriel walking outside]
VO: Hana Whitfield says that since she became a paid consultant to
families trying to get loved ones to leave Scientology, she has been
the target of intense harassment.
[Scn DA flyer about Hana Whitfield with the title "Hana Whitfield: A
Threat to Family Unity" and picture of her with the caption "Hana
Whitfield has a long history of mental problems for which she has
received psychological" (rest cut off screen)]
HANA WHITFIELD (voice of and on camera): We've had
demonstrate--people demonstrate outside our home. We've had leaflets
with terrible accusations in them, you know, distributed around our
neighborhood, that I'm a murderer, that we're deprogrammers,
we torture people, we kidnap them. None of this is true, but it's
beside the point.
FRANK OLIVER: I think that when we were chasing around Hana Whitfield
that she was very intimidated by this, very disturbed by it.
[outside Hana Whitfield’s house]
VO: Frank Oliver says he spent three days on a stakeout of the
Whitfields in Los Angeles.
FRANK OLIVER: We followed this woman out of her house. We chased her
around. We followed her to the airport.
TOM JARRIEL: Do you know Frank Oliver?
MIKE RINDER: No. I don't know Frank Oliver.
TOM JARRIEL: He's told us that while working for the church, he
personally went through phone records of church people, critics,
without their knowledge. He searched their garbage. He followed them.
MIKE RINDER: Well, if Frank Oliver claims that, then Frank Oliver was
operating completely outside of directives and policies of the church
and that's probably why he left.
[Frank Oliver driving in his car]
VO: But Frank Oliver says that he left the church in 1992 after six
years for very different reasons.
FRANK OLIVER (voice of and on camera): The lies just permeated
everything. At that point, it was just lies upon lies upon lies. They
might feel I betrayed them, but the truth is they betrayed me.
[Frank Oliver at his business; Cult Awareness Network newsletter]
VO: Oliver says what finally drove him out of Scientology was the
church's request that he participate in a campaign to bring down one
of the church's most bitter enemies. The Cult Awareness Network, CAN,
issued warnings about Scientology and other groups calling them
"dangerous cults." Beginning in 1991, CAN faced a barrage of more than
50 lawsuits brought by Scientologists
.
TOM JARRIEL: did Scientology, through a large number of lawsuits, set
out to destroy the Cult Awareness Network as an organization?
MIKE RINDER: No. There were a number of Scientologists who decided to
join the Cult Awareness Network to bring some balance to the
information that they were providing to people. They were denied
membership.
[legal papers involving CAN with Kendrick Moxon’s’ name; newspaper
article with title "Lawyer Buys Rights to Anti-Cult Organization"]
VO: The Scientologists sued. Nearly all of them were represented by
an attorney named Kendrick Moxon, also a Scientologist. Eventually,
CAN was forced into bankruptcy and another Scientologist bought up its
name and telephone numbers.
SCIENO AT CAN, ANSWERING PHONE: Good afternoon, Cult Awareness
Network.
[newspaper article titled, "Anti-Cult Group Dismembered As Former Foes
Buy Its Assets"]
VO: Today, when you call the Cult Awareness Network, a Scientologist
answers the phone.
[outside Scn church; cover of Time magazine "Scientology: The Cult of
Greed" issue; first page of Time magazine Scn article; Richard Behar
walking outside Time-Life building]
VO: CAN is not the only outside institution that has taken on the
church only to face its wrath. In 1991 Time magazine published this
cover story written by Richard Behar, which remains one of the most
scathing pieces ever published about Scientology. In the aftermath,
the church brought a $415 million libel suit, and, according to Behar,
dispatched as many as ten private investigators to follow him, contact
his family and friends and illegally obtain his credit report.
RICHARD BEHAR: It's been a chilling effect for the media. I know that
when reporters and media companies consider writing about this
subject, they're often afraid to do it in an in-depth way.
[Richard Behar walking down street]
VO: Scientology's lawsuit against Time was dismissed. While the
church denies most of Behar's allegations, they do not deny
investigating him.
MIKE RINDER: There were certainly investigators looking into what was
it that motivated his--um, what was it that motivated his campaign.
TOM JARRIEL: Were the investigators authorized to trail him, to phone
him, to spread literature in the building where he worked, to dig
through his garbage and that type of thing?
MIKE RINDER: The investigators were authorized to do whatever was
within the law to investigate and find the motives behind Richard
Behar.
TOM JARRIEL (outside Fort Harrison Hotel): But no amount of effort by
the church has been able to slow a torrent of sensational news stories
about the recent mysterious death of a young Scientologist. She spent
the last 17 days of her life here at the Fort Harrison Hotel. And once
again, the church's strict adherence to Hubbard's teachings may have
played into the hands of the church's harshest critics.
[video footage of Lisa McPherson dancing; picture of Lisa; footage of
hospital emergency room; picture of LRH; footage of hallway at
hospital]
VO: Lisa McPherson was a vibrant and devout Scientologist for 18
years. In the last year of her life, she turned over nearly $60,000 of
her income to the church. But in 1996*, friends say, McPherson began
to display odd behavior. On November 11th*, after a minor traffic
accident in Clearwater, Florida, she stripped off her clothes and
began to walk naked down the street. McPherson was taken to a local
hospital for a psychiatric exam, but she refused treatment. In this
she was following the dictates of L. Ron Hubbard, who despised
psychiatrists and believed he knew best how to treat mental illness.
Hours later, she was released to a group of Scientologists who had
come for her.
[outside Fort Harrison Hotel, camera slowly doing close-up of window
of one of the rooms; babywatch logs]
VO: In the final weeks of her life, while she lived in a room in the
church-owned Fort Harrison Hotel, McPherson's Scientologist caretakers
took detailed handwritten notes which describe her mental and physical
decline. November 19th--"If she starts talking, she talks and talks,
then she stares at a spot." November 22nd--"She refused to eat and
spit out everything she took. Her breath was foul. She went violent
and hit me a few times, telling me in a rage she was to kill me. I
called in the guard."
KEN DANDAR: She's spitting. She's yelling. She's screaming, and
they're restraining her.
[Ken Dandar]
VO: Ken Dandar is representing the McPherson family in a lawsuit
against the church.
[picture of Lisa]
KEN DANDAR (voice of): The notes show she was so weak from
malnutrition and dehydration that she couldn't even walk anymore.
MIKE RINDER: Those people loved Lisa McPherson. Those people did
everything that they possibly could to assist her when she needed
help. She came to them for assistance and they provided it.
[babywatch logs]
VO: Rinder points out that some of the notes seem to reflect a
genuine concern on the part of McPherson's Scientology caretakers.
December 2nd--"She is resting now. She originated that she knows we
are trying to help her, although she doesn't know our names.
[outside New Fort Richey Hospital; doors outside an emergency room;
autopsy photos of Lisa McPherson]
VO: Three days later, Scientologists drove McPherson to a hospital 45
minutes away to see a Scientologist physician bypassing four closer
hospitals. She was dead on arrival. An autopsy revealed she was
covered in bruises and insect bites and, at 5'11", weighed only 108
pounds. The medical examiner concluded her death at age 34 had been
caused by prolonged dehydration, but experts retained by the church
say her death was purely accidental.
MIKE RINDER: She died unfortunately of a pulmonary embolism,
something that is both sudden, unpredictable, and in many cases it is
untreatable.
TOM JARRIEL: Why, when it appeared she was physically deteriorating,
wasn't she taken to a hospital?
MIKE RINDER: I don't know what happened, Tom, I wasn't there. I just
know what it was that she died of, and I know what a pulmonary
embolism is.
TOM JARRIEL: And do you know the church had no complicity in her
death?
MIKE RINDER: Sure, sure.
[video footage of Lisa McPherson dancing]
KEN DANDAR (voice of and on camera): All they had to do was take her
to the local emergency room where all the Scientologists go, but they
chose to keep her inside the hotel and watch her die. Is that an
accident? That's not an accident. That's intentional.
BARBARA WALTERS: Last month in Florida, criminal charges were brought
against the Church of Scientology in the death of Lisa McPherson. The
church is accused of abusing or neglecting a disabled adult. it has
pleaded not guilty. Tom Jarriel will be back in a moment.
[Tom Jarriel walking down steps outside with John Travolta and Kirstie
Alley; bust of LRH with title L. RON HUBBARD; Frank Oliver driving in
his car, split screen with Vaughn and Stacy Young walking outside]
ANNOUNCER: John Travolta and Kirstie Alley step up to defend their
beliefs, claiming a handful of defectors are the source of
Scientology’s troubles.
KIRSTIE ALLEY: If you divorce a woman, and you, she gives me her
version of why she left you, how valid do you think it is?
["20/20" logo]
ANNOUNCER: When "20/20 Sunday" continues.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
[Barbara Walters in front of screen with picture of John Travolta and
Kirstie Alley]
BARBARA WALTERS: John Travolta and Kirstie Alley in defense of
Scientology. It is partly because of stars like them that the church
has made such great inroads in the United States. But as Tom Jarriel
tells us, that's not the case everywhere.
[on street in Munich, Germany; Gunther Beckstein walking out of
building and getting into a car]
VO: Munich, Germany. Nowhere have the attacks on Scientology been
stronger than here. Gunther Beckstein is the Interior Minister of the
state of Bavaria.
GUNTHER BECKSTEIN: Scientology is a danger. They want to have a
Scientology society. They want to clear the planet, and all the others
have to obey.
[Gunther Beckstein giving speech; German document about Scientology
with "Yes/No" boxes to check off]
VO: In their zeal to contain Scientology, the German government has
raided churches, banned Scientologists from political parties and
openly discriminated against Scientologists who might apply for
government jobs.
JOHN TRAVOLTA (at Congressional hearing about Religious Persecution in
Germany): --for no other reason than he is a member of the Church of
Scientology--
[video footage of Congressional hearing about Religious Persecution in
Germany]
VO: Typically, Scientology is fighting back. Recently, John Travolta
testified before a congressional committee on Germany.
TOM JARRIEL: Make your blood boil a little bit?
JOHN TRAVOLTA: Well, I mean--it’s, uh, there's, there’s no -- it's
beyond blood boiling. We're talking about, you know, worldwide
survival here, you know.
TOM JARRIEL: I sat across from a German minister, a high official in
their government, and he deplored Scientology in the strongest of
terms. He equated it with the fear of the rise of Nazism, that this
could be another fascist movement.
JOHN TRAVOLTA: Well, that's a shame because Scientology wants a world
without war, without criminality, and without insanity, and I want to
be part of any group that wants those things.
TOM JARRIEL: There's no question that Scientology--that's a part of
Scientology. There also is little question that there have been people
in Scientology who have run into major problems in their lives as the
result of wanting to leave Scientology.
KIRSTIE ALLEY: If you divorce a woman, and you, she gives me her
version of why she left you, how valid do you think it is? If you’ve
got a group standing over here of millions of Scientologists telling
you daily the successes that they have, the wins that they have, the
way they're helping people, and you can examine the statistics for
yourself, and you have a handful of dissatisfied customers over here,
then that's life. You're never going to have a group of anyone without
some dissatisfied customers. So say, fine, you don't want to be a
Scientologist, go.
[Scienos outside a poster saying "Declaration of War"]
VO: And about the alleged harassment of those who criticize,
including the media --
KIRSTIE ALLEY: You know the best way to fight somebody is to just
expose their crimes. If somebody's attacking me, I'm not going to,
like, pop them in the nose. If somebody's attacking me, I’m just gonna
expose their crimes. That's good enough.
TOM JARRIEL: Do you feel that, that you need to defend Scientology?
JOHN TRAVOLTA AND KIRSTIE ALLEY (in unison): No.
KIRSTIE ALLEY: I’ve never felt the need to defend anything that was
good. I have felt the need to fight for it. But I would fight for
anything that I believed in.
JOHN TRAVOLTA: If you feel there's been an injustice, um, you fight
back. That's just the law of nature. That's not anything we made up.
That's something you do in order to survive.
If we didn't do that, we wouldn't be here.
DIANE SAWYER: We’ll be right back.
.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
(Barbara Walters then goes on to promote her upcoming special on ABC
and an upcoming edition of "20/20")
DIANE SAWYER: And that's it for "20/20 Sunday" tonight. Thank you for
being with us. I'm Diane Sawyer.
BARBARA WALTERS: And you are fascinating.
DIANE SAWYER: Oh, how you talk.
BARBARA WALTERS: And I'm Barbara Walters. For all of us here at
"20/20 Sunday," "20/20 Wednesday" and "20/20 Friday," have a great
week. Good night.
[END]
* -- sic.
=============================================
Sue, SP4(:), listed on the Scieno Sitter list 5 times!
--
http://www.primenet.com/~xenubat
"It will take a *long* time to find another enemy
with the combination of evil and incompetence
you see in Scientology."--Keith Henson
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