Vol. 6, No. 9, 1989

Articles on Scientology

John Whaley

In 1982, Margery Wakefield sued the Church of Scientology. Four years later, the church settled Wakefield's case out of court and Wakefield agreed never again to talk about her time in Scientology.

In May, U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Kovachevich reinforced the settlement, forbidding Wakefield to break the gag rule. However, according to a front page article in the August 2, 1989, Orlando Sentinel, Wakefield has defied the gag order calling radio talk shows, local newspapers, and television stations offering interviews. In doing so, she is risking a jail sentence and numerous fines.

Paul Johnson, a Tampa lawyer for Scientology, has asked the judge to "find Wakefield in criminal contempt 10 times, punishing her for each offense with six months in jail or a $500 fine. He also asked that Wakefield be held in civil contempt and fined $240,000 for damages against the church," (The Orlando Sentinel, 8/2/89, Sec. A, pp. 1, 9).

According to Wakefield, Scientology is "a dangerous cult, based on occult practices and mind control. It stole 12 years of her life and pulled her away from the psychiatric help she really needed," (Ibid, p. 9).

According to the article, Wakefield got involved in Scientology in 1968 while a freshman at the University of Michigan. She was recovering from a nervous breakdown when the Scientologists offered her their help. Her "auditor" told her that her problems were severe and she needed to go to California for treatment so she packed up and headed West.

Eventually, she became an "auditor" herself and by 1980 had begun taking the advanced "auditing" sessions in Clearwater, Florida that would introduce her to the secret "thetan" levels producing a new awareness and a sense of freedom.

However, she began suffering intense headaches, paranoia and nightmares. Wakefield states that they thought she was a suicide risk and feared bad publicity so they locked her in a room for two weeks then put her on a plane to the destination of her choice. She says that in 1981, three Scientologists tracked her down and held her in a motel room for three days forcing her to sign an agreement promising not to sue the church in exchange for $16,000.

All of these allegations were made in the 1982 suit which was settled out of court in 1986. Wakefield states that she received $200,000 and by accepting the money, agreed never to speak against the church. However, she now says that the money was for damages, not for silence.

The article further states that since leaving the church, Wakefield has been in and out of mental institutions 14 times in four years, mainly for depression. However, Wakefield says this is due to the false promises of Scientology which kept her from the psychiatric care she really needed.

The article concluded by pointing out that Wakefield works for the Cult Awareness Network, a national not-for-profit group which uses her to warn potential Scientologists and that none of her charges against the church are new for she is one of numerous critics. However, Wakefield thinks that the church considers her a threat that must be silenced because one of her desires is to contact former Scientologists so as to compile sworn statements to be used by local, state, or federal authorities to investigate the Church of Scientology. She has already started a support group for ex-members.

In closing, Wakefield stated that her biggest hope was "that something can be done about Scientology so that other people don't have to go through what I've gone through. It's been a horrible experience."