Skeptical Inquirer, Vol. 25, No. 2, March/April 2001
8 Mar 2001
Skeptical Inquirer

Scientology, Inc. had more light thrown on its unseemly behavior in the March/April 2001 edition of Skeptical Inquirer, Vol. 25, No. 2.

In Robert Sheaffer's Psychic Vibrations column, page 19, we see about 16 column inches devoted to recent devlopments:

"Just because not much has been written about the ongoing war on the part of Scientology against its critics does not mean that they have suddenly reverted to civilized norms.... If anything, it means that such harassment has become so commonplace that it is no longer newsworthy."

He first covers Scientology's battle in Clearwater against protesters and picketers, mentioning the Lisa McPherson Trust (with URL http://www.xenu.net/archive/events/lisa_mcpherson/the_trust), why it is so named, the Scientology-paid police, the videotapes of Scientology hooliganism, and the infamous hammer attack (with URL http://www.lisatrust.net/Media/barnard.htm). The last half of the section visits Keith Henson's story: his free speech advocacy, his posting of the law-breaking secret scriptures, and his subsequent crushing by the Scientology legal behemoth (with "bizarre rulings...by the judge"). The last paragraph describes Scientology's trumped up charges of Keith's alleged terrorism via unpossessed nuclear-tipped cruise missles (providing URL http://www.xenu.net/archive/WIR/wir5-25.html).

"Such persecution is clearly intended not to protect Scientology's legitimate interests but to serve as a warning to other would-be activists of the fate awaiting them if they should follow Henson's examples."

Committee for the Scientific Investigation of the Paranormal is at http://www.csicop.org.

--
Hud Nordin <hud@pobox.com Silicon Valley