Four corners

Scientology: The Ex-Files
Reporter: Quentin McDermott
Broadcast: 08/03/2010


Reporter Quentin McDermott talks to men and women who were members of an elite unit inside the Church in Australia and the United States. They explain why they joined, how they worked tirelessly for Scientology, and how, in some cases, they were pressured, and pressured others, to hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Church.

Some of them describe the separation from relatives that occurs when they were expelled from the Church. They also describe how they worked long hours, for little pay. Others claim they were pressured into having abortions, because of a policy that forbids the raising of children within the unit. Some of these men and women are now taking the church to court in the United States over claims involving this type of treatment. The Church is contesting the court actions.

The Church of Scientology was set up in the United States in 1953 by former science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. It claims to have millions of followers worldwide. High profile supporters include actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta. Scientologists believe in past and future lives, and in "clearing the planet" of evil influences.

"Man is basically good and the individual's a spiritual being, you've lived before and you'll live again, and your capabilities are infinite if not yet fully realised."

The Church says its influence around the world is growing. But it is also gathering powerful critics. In Australia Independent Senator Nick Xenophon has called for a parliamentary inquiry. In doing so he told the Senate:

"What we are seeing is a worldwide pattern of abuse and criminality. On the body of evidence this is not happening by accident; it is happening by design. Scientology is not a religious organisation. It is a criminal organisation that hides behind its so-called religious beliefs."

The Church of Scientology denied the charges and was given leave to respond in Hansard to Senator Xenophon's comments.

In Monday night's program, an early member of the Church's internal religious unit tells Four Corners that in her experience, members of the unit were treated "abominably" when they were punished. She claims that when Scientology's founder L. Ron Hubbard was in self-imposed exile on the high seas, captaining vessels crewed by his own elite band of followers, he ordered extreme forms of punishment to be meted out to anyone who broke the rules.

"People were thrown overboard, hands bound and feet bound and blindfolded. You know, women of 55 years old." (Note: later they were retrieved from the water alive.)

This culture of cruelty still seems to be a major feature of the organisation. Four Corners talks to former Scientologists who were consigned to a unit they regarded as a punishment camp - but which the church regards as a religious retreat.

"It's a slave camp, there's no question about it 'cause people are definitely abused."

A spokesman for the Church describes the unit quite differently:

"Members who burn out on their jobs or are failing or incapable of or not performing well in their functions, can be given the voluntary opportunity to have a period of reflection, rehabilitation, redemption."

Two young women told Four Corners how they were forced to clean out garbage skips with a small brush. The reason? Both were being disciplined for not doing their jobs properly. A Church spokesman has told the program he doesn't believe such claims:

"It sounds ridiculous and extreme. I question its credibility. I question its veracity."

Several women tell reporter Quentin McDermott of the anguish they suffered when superior officers pressured them into having abortions. The women claim they were told that having a child would interfere with the work they were doing for the Church.

"They sat down with me and prepared me saying good, we're going to take you to the Planned Parenthood. They're going to ask you do you want an abortion, you're to say yes. I was going to be driven there by a staff member who would be waiting for me outside in the waiting room."

In the United States the Church is facing a range of allegations that are expected to be tested in court. Among them are claims by members of the Church that they were not paid adequately for long hours of work. Such claims are being contested by the Church.

As further details of these allegations come to light, Senators may be asked to consider whether the Church of Scientology deserves to retain its status as a religion and as a tax-free entity in Australia. The program will feature a senior member of the Church responding to the claims being made by former followers.

"Scientology: The Ex-Files" goes to air on Monday 8th March at 8.30pm on ABC1. It is repeated on Tuesday 9th March at 11.35pm. It is also available online.

Fresh evidence implicating the Church of Scientology in the mistreatment and exploitation of some of its most loyal adherents will be aired on Four Corners tonight.

The allegations come just days before an expected Senate vote on whether to launch a Parliamentary inquiry into the church.

Tonight's program, Scientology: The Ex-Files, focuses on the stories of Australians and Americans who have left the church and are now speaking out. Some are taking legal action against the church.

The men and women featured in the program belonged to Scientology's elite unit of full-time staffers, the Sea Organisation - or Sea Org.

The allegations in tonight's program include first hand accounts that some women have been coerced into having abortions because the Sea Org does not allow its members to have children while they work in the organisation; that children as young as 15 are interrogated about their sex lives, asked to work excessive hours, and punished severely if they fail to meet targets for recruiting members of the public; and that 'public' Scientologists - Scientologists who live and work in the broader community - are pressured over long periods of time into donating their life savings to the church.

The church itself denies the allegations, and is vigorously defending the legal actions which are underway in the United States.

As a religion, the Church of Scientology is tax-exempt in Australia and the United States. In other countries - for example, the United Kingdom - it does not have charitable status.

The UK Charity Commission has determined that the Church of Scientology was not established for the public benefit.

Over the past year, the Church has opened a number of new churches around the world, largely it is believed, funded by tax-free donations from ordinary parishioners.

...continued in article link...

Don't miss the video.

4 Corners will include:

• James and Liz Anderson, who post on ESMB as OutEthicsOfficer and Happy Days, but have not spoken to the media before now. Liz's daughter (James's step-daughter) is Fiona Peachey, who is still in the SO at Flag.
  James
  Davey's Necktie Party - Davey's Necktie Party - Ex Scientologist Message Board
  Breaking the SO Member - Breaking the S.O. member. - Ex Scientologist Message Board (Query if this was posted on behalf of Jordan)
  Breaking the SO Member ... cont'd - Breaking The S.O. Member...cont'd - Ex Scientologist Message Board
  Guy attempts to burn the AOSH ANZO - Guy attempts to burn the AOSH ANZO. - Ex Scientologist Message Board
  Liz
  Happy Days are here again - Ex Scientologist Message Board - View Single Post - Happy Days Are Here Again
  Happy Days Sad Days Part 1 - Happy Days - Sad Days Part 1 - Ex Scientologist Message Board
  SO External Influences - SO - External Influences - Ex Scientologist Message Board
  Fiona
  Happy Days Fire when Ready - Happy Days - Fire When Ready - Ex Scientologist Message Board
  Fiona is loved - Fiona is loved. - Ex Scientologist Message Board
• Their daughter Jordan, who left the Sea Org in February 2009. This will be the first time Jordan has spoken publicly about Scientology
• Joe Reaiche - a former Professional Rugby League Player from Sydney Australia. Joe's children are all celebrity scientologists and actors. His son is Jordan Reaiche Masterson (40 Year old Virgin); and his daughter Alanna Reaiche Masterson (Alanna's Guide to Greek) and has 2 step sons, Danny Masterson (That 70's Show ) and Chris Masterson (Malcolm in the Middle). He was an Olympic trainer to the Switzerland 100M 200M and 400M Track athletes for the Barcelona and Atlanta Olympics. (credit: www.jonesbeachusa.com - Dan Lurie and Steve Michalik PresentThe 2nd Annual Mr. & Ms. Jones Beach USA)
• Claire and Marc Headley
• Laura DeCrescenzo
• Hana Whitfield
• Possibly Nancy Many (unconfirmed)

Should the Church of Scientology have charitable status?
Yes 3%
No 97%

2456 votes counted

As a religion, the Church of Scientology is tax-exempt in Australia and the United States. In other countries - for example, the United Kingdom - it does not have charitable status.

The UK Charity Commission has determined that the Church of Scientology was not established for the public benefit.

Over the past year, the Church has opened a number of new churches around the world, largely it is believed, funded by tax-free donations from ordinary parishioners.

9News. A Currrent Affair.
Scientology under Siege.
Transcript of the interview with Scientology spokesperson.
Scientology under siege on MSN Video
Interviewer: Tracy Grimshaw. 9 News, A Current Affair.
Interviewee: Julia Hargrave, Church of Scientology.

(note: JH starts fidgeting with her fingers when she begins answering those questions which she knows she has to lie about ...which is most of them, and she blinks far too much).

-------

Late today I spoke with Julia Hargrave, a councilor and senior member of the church of scientology who was an assistant to church founder L.Ron Hubbard. She was also a member of the elite unit known as Sea Org within the church.

Julia thank you for your time. Your church stands accused of alarming, damning allegations of bullying, abuse, human trafficking among others. What is your response to those allegations.

JH: Well, I have been a member of the Church of scientology for over 40 years. I have personally worked with L.Ron Hubbard and many of the current management...people and those are absolutely not my experience[sic].

One of the accusations last night was a woman who was paid so little that she could not afford birth control pills and consequently got pregnant and was compelled to have an abortion.

JH: I don't know that woman and I no instance of that type of thing occurring. I can only speak of the organization I work in here in Australia that the staff members are very well cared for. They have all their medical and dental expenses, anything that they need and I know of no occasion where that has been a problem.

Let me get this straight. Are you qualified only to speak from your personal experience because we did ask for a spokesperson who could speak about the church as a whole and we understood that you would be that spokesperson.

JH: Ok, er I just don't know of that instance that you are discussing now with regard to birth control pills.

What is it about the Sea Org that would be repellant to children?

JH: It isn't that it's repellant, it's just they need to attend schools, erm.. we don't all the facilities for large numbers of children and so it's just more practical. But er.. it's an individual choice, if they wish to have children then they can do so.

And yet a 14 year old, Jordan Anderson, was recruited at that age to Sea Org and as part of her recruitment process was asked whether she'd ever watched porn.... a 14 year old... whether she had ever had sex with animals.

JH: That.. is something I.. find very hard t-to believe....absolutely it...I know of no precedence on that. I don't not believe that is the truth, quite frankly. It is.. it's not part of our..erm... recruitment procedure. At all.

The scientology spokesman last night also admitted that members are not allowed to stay in touch with other members of the church after they have left the church. Do you not concede that that tears families apart.

JH: That's actually not a true ..er..statement and I don't believe it is what Mr.Davis said exactly. Many people... many people decide to leave the church and they're very free to do so and stay in communication with other family members who are in the church. Er.. It's only if the person begins to attack the church. That's a different matter entirely.

Given that some of the other allegations, that your church is facing, is of brainwashing is it not open to us that young Fiona Peachy was brainwashed by the church?

JH: That would be completely a false statement. Fiona is a very determined young lady, and she...erm... does what she wishes to do. She's a very free individual, and she does what she chooses.

We heard last night that when young Jordan Anderson finally wanted to leave the church and go to her mother who was parked outside, she was kept inside the church building for four day and was interrogated before she was finally allowed to leave.

JH: Mmm, I know that's absolutely to be non-factual. Erm.. she was not outside the church for 4 days. She was in communication with ..erm.. her ex-husband and it was known very well, when Jordan had finished her routing out procedure... it was not interrogation but it was erm.. church policy to complete cycles of action before she left and then she did so freely.

Why would these families lie? Why would these people lie? What is their incentive?

JH: Well, I can only give my opinion on that and I would say that some of those people who made those allegations are themselves suing the church and I could imagine that they my think the TV exposure will aid their case and help them to win. They're a very small minority probably less than two and a half percent of the whole church population so it is a really very small minority group and er.. I think they <shrugs> are possibly doing it for their own vested interests. That's my opinion.

These days, accusations against the Church of Scientology are rolling in faster than Xenu's spaceship strapped to a jet pack. The latest accusations are coming out of Australia, where former church members have accused the organization of using slave labor as a punishment, exploiting children in their offices, and forcing some members to have abortions against their will. These are by no means the first accusations that the Church of Scientology is guilty of human trafficking and related crimes. The question is, how many more former church members will need to step forward before someone launches an investigation?

Liz and James Anderson recently came forward with their storyof how Scientology tore apart and abused their family. Their daughter, Jordan, worked as an administrator for the church when she was 15. While she worked there, she was once forced to work for 72 hours straight with no sleep. And for a minor on-the-job error, this young girl was forced to scrub a Sydney dumpster as a punishment. Such inhumane hours and dangerous and degrading punishment for a 15-year-old worker is hardly the treatment you'd expect from a religious organization. The Andersons and Jordan left the church, and have now been severed from their one daughter who remains a member.

Others in Australia have recently come forward to accuse the Church of operating slave labor camps. The camps, they claim, are set up as a punishment for members. They are allegedly run by the church and sanctioned by church officials. Also, individual members have complained of being imprisoned and enslaved in their own homes due to rule-breaking within the church. Several female church staff have also reported being forced or coerced into having abortions against their will. They claim that upon their pregnancy being discovered, they were taken into an office and threatened with expulsion from the church and being alienated from their families if they didn't end their pregnancies. One woman was so frightened of the church she reportedly used a coat hanger to give herself the abortion the church required. The paperwork from that incident was apparently destroyed.

Church officials, obviously, deny all these charges and claim they are just attempts by former members to discredit the church. Spokesmen for Scientology have said that ex-members are about as reliable in their accusations of the church as ex-spouses are of their former partner. The Australian government is considering launching an investigation into these charges, which the Church of Scientology claims it will cooperate with.

The burning question behind these reports is not just whether or not the incidences reported are true (which would be serious enough hot water for a religious group), but how many reports take this behavior from a few isolated incidences of abuse to an organization-wide pattern of exploitation and slavery. At a minimum, the Church should take responsibility for the coercion and abuse against its members and former members in its name, but some of the reports against Scientology suggest that these human trafficking-like practices go deeper than just a few bad apples.

The Independent Complaints Review Panel (ICRP) has not upheld a series of complaints made against a Four Corners program, broadcast on 8 March 2010, titled “Scientology: The Ex-Files”.

The program investigated aspects of the activities of the Church of Scientology, following the call for a government inquiry into the Church by Senator Nick Xenophon in 2009.

The complaint about the Four Corners program included three elements: the way in which the Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF) was described; disclosure of information about the Andersons’ familial relationships and the circumstances of their departure from the Church; and a broader complaint that “the show and its producers intended to leave the viewer with a negative imprint of the Church and its beliefs, without ever balancing the show with any of the good works that the Church undertakes”.

On the issue of the Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF), the Panel was satisfied that the ABC had presented the interviewees’ views accurately and concluded that no absence of impartiality or balance had been demonstrated.

In relation to the accuracy and detail of Four Corners’ references to the Andersons, the Panel noted that “what was said in the program by Mr and Mrs Anderson and their daughter amounted to statements of their respective views and perspectives.” The Panel was therefore satisfied that no breach of editorial standards for accuracy, balance or impartiality had been made.

In relation to the broader complaint of the program having a lack of impartiality. The Panel concluded that the Four Corners program had a limited scope, being focused on “the specific complaints made by the participants relating to their personal experiences with the Church” and accordingly, “[t]he wider considerations referred to by the Complainant were not involved.” Therefore, none of the complaints were upheld.

To read the full ICRP Report click here.

Background: The ICRP is an independent body established by the ABC Board to investigate allegations of 'serious cases of factual inaccuracy, bias, and lack of balance or unfair treatment arising from an ABC broadcast or broadcasts, or publication of material on ABC Online.