RELIGION & ITS ALTERNATIVES

BRITISH JOURNALIST PENETRATES SCIENTOLOGY CULT

SARA LAWRENCE, INDEPENDENT, UK Sitting on a red velvet chair in the
middle of a majestic, oak-paneled hall in East Grinstead, I have rarely
felt more fearful for my sanity. On the wall in front of me, a creepy,
larger-than-life-sized portrait of an old man seems to be staring
straight at me. In front of the portrait, Laura, a middle-aged woman
wearing a high-necked blouse and ostentatious gold cross, stands behind
a lectern reading aloud from a huge leather-bound tome.

None of the worshippers take their eyes off Laura as they repeat her
words back to her. Phrases such as: "All men have inalienable rights to
think freely, to talk freely, to write freely their own opinions and to
counter or utter or write upon the opinions of others" are made
ridiculous by the followers repeating them in a monotonous drone. . .

Part of my tour takes in converted outbuildings that comprise a sauna,
showers and a gym area. Three teenage boys and a girl wearing swimsuits
are sitting eating a spartan meal of rice and beans. "These people are
undergoing a period of purging," Ron tells me. After taking a variety of
vitamins and minerals designed to cure addiction, they spend the day
alternately sweating in the sauna and running full tilt on the machines.
When I ask what the purpose of the exercise is, Ron is unable to tell me
whether these youngsters are addicted to alcohol or drugs - they're just
"addicts". None of them look up when I say hello. They do not even look
at each other. . .

Quite what Scientology does for the individual has been a matter of
debate since Hubbard set it up in 1954. Tellingly, four years earlier,
he had announced at an authors' convention: "Writing for a penny a word
is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars he should
start his own religion.". . .

As I'm led inside another room by Ron, I see at least 100 people - most
of them elderly - poring over huge leather-bound books. It reminds me of
one of the large reading room in the British Library - but these people
are not browsing for free. Although Ron will not give me an exact
figure, he says that recruits pay "thousands" to study Scientology.

Elsewhere, there are hundreds of machines stacked up in readiness for a
possible sales event that afternoon. Called E-meters (short for
electropsychometer) they look like two tin cans attached by thin wires
to a navy blue control panel. . . Although the Scientologists' own
prayer book states they can only be used by Scientology ministers, I - a
definite non-minister - am offered the chance to purchase one, a snip at
L3,000. . .

The cult has attempted to intimidate news organisations who expose it.
Last year, it threatened court action against Google, which had to
remove websites that criticised the group. After a day witnessing what
goes on on the inside, I realise it's little wonder the "church" needs
to resort to such tactics.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article358437.ece/