A Hubbard Legacy: Scientology's Punitive Policies

Scientology leaders today try to dismiss the church's "bad-boy behavior" as something done without Hubbard's knowledge by rogue Scientologists, and as a thing of the past. It was Hubbard, however, who wrote the policies on which Scientologists, past and present, base their behavior and activities. Regarded as "Scripture," these policies are still in force and continue to perpetuate and govern Scientology's heinous and terroristic activities.

The following is a partial list of these totalistic mandatory policies or "doctrines" of Scientology (all emphasis is in originals except where noted):

1. "A POTENTIAL TROUBLE SOURCE [PTS] is defined as a person who while active in Scientology or a pc [pre-clear] yet remains connected to a person or group that is a Suppressive Person or Group.

"A SUPPRESSIVE PERSON [SP] or GROUP is one that actively seeks to suppress or damage Scientology or a Scientologist by Suppressive Acts" [i.e. those which are "calculated to impede or destroy Scientology"].

"A Suppressive Person or Group becomes 'fair game.'"

"Any PTS who fails to either handle or disconnect from the SP.is.guilty of a Suppressive Act" (HCO Policy Letter of 23 December 1965). In other words, if a spouse, relative, church, or friend remains antagonistic toward Scientology, the Scientologist must "disconnect," which includes divorce, or risk being declared a "Suppressive Person," and therefore becoming "Fair Game."

2. Fair Game - A person who is "suppressive" is considered an "enemy" and "may be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed" (HCO Policy Letter of 18 October, 1967).

The Church of Scientology continues to claim that the fair game policy was canceled, but repeatedly this claim has proven to be specious. Only the public declaration that someone is "fair game" was stopped because of the bad public relations the policy generated. Scientologists understand that a "Suppressive Person" need not be declared fair game to be fair game.

3. "Make enough threat or clamor to cause the enemy to quail. always find or manufacture enough threat against them to cause them to sue for peace.Don't ever defend. Always attack." (HCO Policy Letter of 15 August 1960; emphasis added).

4. "Never treat a war like a skirmish. Treat all skirmishes like wars" (HCO Policy Letter of 16 February 1969).

5. "Never fear to hurt another in a just cause" (Code of Honor; The Creation of Human Ability, p. 5).

6. "NEVER agree to an investigation of Scientology. ONLY agree to an investigation of the attackers.Start Investigating them promptly for FELONIES or worse using our own professionals.Start feeding lurid, blood, sex, crime actual evidence on the attacker to the press" (HCO Policy Letter of 25 February 1966).

7. ".It is totally hopeless and fatal not to be a Scientologist.. We do not find critics of Scientology who do not have criminal pasts. Over and over we prove this.. If you. are savage enough and insistent enough in your demand for the crime, you'll get the text [the evidence]. Never discuss Scientology with the critic. Just discuss his or her crimes, known and unknown." (HCO Bulletin of 27 August, 1987).

8. "People attack Scientology; I never forget it, always even the score" (HCO Manual of Justice excerpted in Jon Atack, A Piece of Blue Sky, p. 143).

9. One special Scientology training routine "coached" a Scientology student "until he/she can lie facily [sic]" (Intelligence Specialist Training Routine - TR L). The routine's purpose statement euphemized such lying as the ability "to outflow false data effectively." Remember that a totalistic group justifies anything if winning is everything.

10. A Washington Post article cited additional "scripture" policies: "Harass these persons in any possible way.They [so-called Suppressive Persons] are declared Enemies of mankind, the planet and all life. They are fair game. The only safe public opinion to head for is they love us and are in a frenzy of hate against the enemy, this means standard wartime propaganda is what we are doing." (December 25, 1994, p. C4).

11. "The DEFENSE of anything is UNTENABLE. The only way to defend anything is to ATTACK. whether it is in terms of personal conversation, public debate, or a court of law.. The purpose of the suit is to harass and discourage rather than to win. The law can be used very easily to harass, and enough harassment on somebody who is simply on the thin edge anyway,. will generally be sufficient to cause his professional decease. If possible, of course, ruin him utterly" (Hubbard, "The Scientologist: A Manual on Dissemination of Material," Ability, March 1955, pp. 54-55).