From: "Ted White" <twhite8 at cox.net>
To: "WSFA members" <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Scientology as a business
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2002 18:38:02 -0400
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

----- Original Message -----
From: <ronkean at juno.com>
To: <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
Sent: Friday, August 23, 2002 3:56 PM
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Scientology as a business

>
> On Fri, 23 Aug 2002 11:50:40 -0700 (PDT) Samuel Lubell
> <samlubell at yahoo.com> writes:
> >
> > --- Steve Smith <sgs at aginc.net> wrote:
> > >
> > > Actually, the Scientologists in Germany pushed it
> > > even further.  They
> > > weren't just a tax scam -- they had gotten into out
> > > and out real estate
> > > fraud.  In the US, they're the only "religous"
> > > organization that has
> > > fixed-price "services" that are tax deductable.
> > > Thank you, George Bush
> > > the Elder.
> > >
> >
> > Don't churches charge a price for membership in the
> > church?  I know synagogues do.
> >
>
> Synagogues, I am told, customarily have fixed price memberships in
the
> form of a minimum set fee.  That is an entirely reasonable way to
cover
> the cost of operation, and the synagogue is essentially non-profit.
> Christian churches almost never have fixed membership fees.
Instead,
> members and visitors are asked to contribute as they see fit when
the
> collection plate is passed.  Those who formally join as members of a
> Christian congregation are expected to contribute on a regular basis
> according to their means, and the suggestion is reinforced by
> periodically sending members a packet of envelopes to use for
depositing
> money or checks in the plate, or to mail in, if they prefer.  In
Catholic
> churches, any Catholic is welcome at Mass, and (if they have not
been
> ex-communicated) at Communion, and there is a 'poor box' at the
entrance
> to the church where visitors may drop in money when they visit the
church
> at a time when services are not being held.
>
> Scientology, in contrast, is set up to extract enormous amounts of
money
> from the members.  One can easily spend tens of thousands of dollars
> going through the auditing programs.  Effectively, Scientology is a
> for-profit business, sort of like a pyramid scheme, where newcomers
pay
> and the elite prospers.  Scientolgy also operates business
enterprises
> apart from the practice of Scientology, and they may try to get
members
> to work in support of those enterprises, for minimal pay.
>
> I don't think Scientology was set up primarily as a tax scam.  They
> simply take advantage of the religious tax exemption, just as any
> business would take advantage of whatever tax reduction opportunites
are
> available.  For one thing, the tax-scam aspect does not operate to
> benefit the members, but rather to benefit the insiders.  No one
will
> save money on taxes by joining the Church of Scientology as a new
member.
>  It would better be called a religious scam.

No, it was a tax scam.  I was around at the beginning of The Founding
Church of Scientology (located just off Dupont Circle) in 1955,
because a good friend of mine (the recently deceased Jack Harness) was
in it.   Scientology was set up to make money off the suckers because
Dianetics was a free, do-it-yourself program and Hubard had realized
what the implications were for him: royalties on book sales and little
more.

Once that decision was made -- to operate Scientology for maximum
profit, in ways you outlined above (as well as others) -- Hubbard
looked for some way to shield these profits from the IRS.   And
running Scientology as a church, as a religion, was the best way to do
this.   The issue was openly discussed among The Faithful in 1955,
with all concurring.  They idolized "Ron" and supported him
wholeheartedly even as he victimized them.

--Ted White