“…the African tribesman, with his complete contempt for truth and his emphasis on brutality and savagery for others but not for himself, is a no-civilization”. –L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought, Bridge Publications: Los Angeles, 1997

29 October 2009 - The Church of Scientology, recently fined for fraud in France, is making inroads in Africa. It has already infiltrated South Africa, Zimbabwe, Nairobi, Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria and, in February this year, set up a school in Ghana.

It seems to have arrived in Africa without controversy, unlike its establishment in European countries where it has been beset by legal problems, bans and, as in France, not accepted as a genuine religion.

Scientology was established in 1953 by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard and later rebranded as a religion. Many define it as a money-making cult that uses hypnotic techniques to control its members. Unusually, for a religion, members have to sign lengthy contracts and waivers before joining. It also has a vast security and intelligence network which it uses to infiltrate government agencies and foreign embassies and to persecute anyone critical of its practices.

Scientology policy, as written by Hubbard, is to use seemingly innocuous front organisations to gain approval. They are vehemently against psychiatry and see many evils in the world as attributable to psychiatrists. As an alternative they offer their own ‘auditing’ methods and quack cures, some of which have led to the death of its members.

The four main Scientology "front groups" are:

Citizens' Commission for Human Rights (CCHR)
Education Alive (to promote their ‘study technology’ and ideas)
Narconon (a controversial drug rehabilitation program)
WISE (to promote their ideas in the business community)
Youth for Human Rights International (to recruit young people)
Scientology uses lies and deception employing the language of free speech in order to hide its true nature. The founder Hubbard said that “truth is what is true for you”. According to Hubbard, when dealing with the "raw public" one must be careful to give them an "acceptable truth" (both are Hubbard's terms).

For example, publicly they claim to respect all religious beliefs and claim their organisation is compatible with all religions. Yet once inside the organisation, members are taught that all other religions are lies implanted into people’s heads by an evil ruler of the universe over 75 million years ago.

Reports of child abuse, deaths through lack of genuine medical care (Lisa McPherson being the most publicised), the destruction of families through its ‘disconnect’ policy, dubious medical practises and its obsessive dislike of psychiatry have plagued the organisation.

Scientology’s ‘fair game’ policy states that any methods can be used to attack critics. Operation Freakout was a plan to get journalist Paulette Cooper imprisoned or committed to a mental institution by attacking her “in as many ways as possible” and to undertake “wide-scale exposure of PC’s sex life”. The plan was uncovered by the FBI.

It is a cause for concern that they are training Africans in their techniques and setting up schools which using highly dubious teaching methods.

It is time for African governments to look carefully at the history of this organisation to protect its children and citizens. We need to look beneath the veneer of this organisation and question whether Africa really needs this kind of help.

For more information contact: Leo Igwe, Center for Inquiry/Nigeria

Email: nskepticleo@yahoo.com

Steve Tel: +233 262 458521

Email: steveghana@ymail.com

Web Links:

The Inner Secrets of Scientology

http://www.xenu.net/

Scientology fact sheet

http://youfoundthecard.com/scientology-fact-sheet.php

Africa Clear Continent

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Cowen/essays/southafrica.html