Free Zone (Scientology)
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Free Zone, Freezone, and Independent Scientology are
The International Freezone Association, the group whose name became adopted as a generic term for independent Scientology, was not the first independent Scientologist group; the California Association of Dianetic Auditors, the oldest breakaway group still in existence,[2] claims a founding date of December 1950, predating the Church of Scientology itself.[3]
Introduction
The term "Free Zone" or "Freezone" is used for the loose grouping of Scientologists who are not members of the Church of Scientology.[6]: 141 [7]: 262 Often called "freezoners",[7]: 267 [8]: 1 some prefer to describe their practices as "Independent Scientology" because of the associations that the term "Free Zone" has with Ron's Org;[7]: 265
Key to the Free Zone is what scholar of religion Aled Thomas called its "largely unregulated and non-hierarchical environment".[8]: 2 Within the Free Zone there are many different interpretations of Scientology;[8]: ix Thomas suggested Free Zone Scientologists were divided between "purists" who emphasize loyalty to Hubbard's teachings and those more open to innovation.[8]: 165 Free Zoners typically stress that Scientology as a religion is different from the Church of Scientology as an organization, criticizing the latter's actions rather than their beliefs.[8]: 29 They often claim to be the true inheritors of Hubbard's teachings,[9]: 248 maintaining that Scientology's primary focus is on individual development and that that does not require a leader or membership of an organization.[8]: 29 Some Free Zoners argue that auditing should be more affordable than it is as performed by the Church,[8]: 29 and criticise the Church's lavish expenditure on buildings.[8]: 144
The Church has remained hostile to the Free Zone,[7]: 269–270 regarding it as heretical.[8]: 4 It refers to non-members who either practice Scientology or simply adopt elements of its technology as "squirrels",[10]: 451 [7]: 264 and their activities as "squirreling".[11]: 158 The term "squirrels" was coined by Hubbard and originally referred only to non-Scientologists using its technology.[8]: 29 [verification needed] The Church also maintains that any use of its technology by non-Church members is dangerous as they may not be used correctly.[10]: 451 Free Zoners have also accused the Church of "squirrelling",[8]: 121 maintaining that it has changed Hubbard's words in various posthumous publications.[8]: 114 Lewis has suggested that the Free Zone has been fueled by some of the Church's policies, including Hubbard's tendency to eject senior members whom he thought could rival him and the Church's "suppressive persons" policy which discouraged rapprochement with ex-members.[6]: 141 [7]: 263
Free Zone groups
Ron's Org
Bill Robertson had been a
Advanced Ability Center
Marty Rathbun
Marty Rathbun rose in the Church of Scientology to the post of Inspector General of the Religious Technology Center,[14] He defected in 2004 and disappeared for several years before reappearing and offering to provide Scientology auditing services.[15] Reitman called Rathbun's activities a "virtual church" because of the sermonizing on his website.[11]: 361-3 He audited people in his home in Texas, and coined the term "Independent Scientology".[16] But then years of fair game harassment followed. In 2013, Rathbun stated he was "no longer a Scientologist, independent or otherwise", and Rathbun's wife filed a suit against the Church of Scientology in 2013.[16] After winning several legal bouts, the case was dropped in 2016.[17] Rathbun then started to criticize other prominent former Scientologists, including making videos against them which appeared in Church of Scientology advertisements, leading strongly to the conclusion that Rathbun had made some agreement with the Church.[16]
Haifa, Israel
In 2012, a Scientology center in Haifa, Israel, defected from the Church.[7]: 264
Others
As well as these organizations, there are also small groups of Scientologists outside the Church who meet informally.[7]: 265 Some avoid establishing public centers and communities for fear of legal retribution from the Church.[8]: 11 There are also Free Zone practitioners who practice what Thomas calls a "very individualized form of Scientology",[8]: 96 encouraging innovation with Hubbard's technology.[8]: 107
Perception by German government authorities
Scientology Commissioner
The Church of Scientology and the Free Zone
The
As of 2016, many of the major courses and publications in the Church have been altered or deleted altogether. This is a main protest and action point for Free Zone Scientologists. Major courses, such as the Class VI and Class VIII auditor training courses, which had very high enrollment in the 1970s, have been shut down. Additionally, Scientology critics in the Free Zone movement have claimed that alterations have been made to Hubbard's original writings in Church policies and even more so in technical bulletins, with parishioners never made aware of the changes to these writings.[citation needed]
The Church of Scientology has used copyright and trademark laws against various Free Zone groups. Accordingly, most of the Free Zone avoids the use of officially trademarked Scientology words, including Scientology itself. In 2000, the Religious Technology Center unsuccessfully attempted to gain the Internet domain name scientologie.org from the World Intellectual Property Organization (one of the 16 specialized agencies of the United Nations) in a legal action against the Free Zone.[20]
The "Ron's Org Committee" (ROC) and the "True Source Scientology Foundation" (STSS, "Stichting True Source Scientology") have documented the argument that Scientology materials written by L. Ron Hubbard are in the public domain if certain assumptions are made.[21][22] In addition the ROC has documented a legal battle over the trademark "Ron's Org".[21]
One Free Zone Scientologist, identified as "Safe", was quoted in Salon as saying: "The Church of Scientology does not want its control over its members to be found out by the public and it doesn't want its members to know that they can get Scientology outside of the Church of Scientology".[23]
Portrayal in media
A 2006
A 2017 episode of the docuseries Believer hosted by religious scholar
Alternative auditing practices
Several alternatives to Dianetics were developed in the early years of the Free Zone.
Synergetics is a self-help system developed by Art Coulter in 1954.[27] American businessman, Don A. Purcell, Jr., joined Synergetics in 1954 after he had financially bailed out Hubbard and his Dianetics foundations and was later sued by Hubbard.[28]: 138 In 1976, Coulter published Synergetics: An Adventure in Human Development; he later founded the Synergetic Society, which published a journal through 1996.[29]
Idenics is a personal counseling method not affiliated with any religion, that was developed by John Galusha beginning in 1987. Galusha researched for Hubbard during the 1950s, and was one of the founders of the first Church of Scientology in 1953.[30][31][32] Galusha claimed that all personal issues can be addressed by thoroughly looking over the problem at hand, without judgment. The counselor asks a series of questions until the solution is considered found, by the client. Mike Goldstein, the owner of Idenics methodology and author of the book, Idenics: An Alternative to Therapy, claims that the method is as effective over the telephone as in person.
The word "Scientology"
Disagreement over the origins of the word Scientology has been used by Free Zone groups to contest Scientology's trademarks. A German book entitled Scientologie, Wissenschaft von der Beschaffenheit und der Tauglichkeit des Wissens was published in 1934 by Anastasius Nordenholz.[33] The groups have argued that because Scientologie was not written by L. Ron Hubbard, the Church is unfairly monopolizing control over its practice.[34] The trademark rights to the use of Dianetics and the E-meter (invented and created by Volney Mathison[35]: 49–52 ) was allowed to lapse into the public domain in 1976 by Hubbard.[citation needed]
See also
- Erhard Seminars Training (est)
- Free Zone Association
- Process Church of the Final Judgment
References
- Wired News. Archived from the originalon November 11, 1999. Retrieved April 14, 2007.
One of the first steps toward open warfare was the emergence, in about 1990, of a group that wanted to separate the church and its scriptures. Calling itself the Free Zone, this group consists of people who have left the church but still want to practice its teachings - use the tech, as Free Zoners say. Ex Scientologist Homer Smith is one of these (ex meaning "expanded," not "former" Scientologist, says Smith). Wanting to encourage serious discussion of the tech away from the noisy brawl next door in alt.religion.scientology, Smith set up a second newsgroup, alt.clearing.technology, for this purpose.
- ^ a b Sappell, Joel; Welkos, Robert W. (June 29, 1990). "When the Doctrine Leaves the Church". Los Angeles Times. p. A49:1. Archived from the original on March 25, 2015. Retrieved April 12, 2007.
- ^ "California Association of Dianetic Auditors -- Who We Are". Retrieved April 14, 2007.
- Skeptic Magazine. Vol. 3, no. 3. pp. 35–41.
- ^ Alter, Alexandra (July 2, 2005). "Scientology: What's behind the Hollywood hype?". Miami Herald. pp. 8E – via newspapers.com.
Some followers of Scientology say the church leadership has strayed from Hubbard's original teachings. Many belong to the Free Zone, a group of Scientologists who believe in the religion's practices but not the organization.
- ^ OL 25323554M.
- ^ hdl:10037/25718.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-350-18254-7.
- OL 16943235M.
- ^ OL 3999281M.
- ^ OL 24881847M.
- ^ "The Free Zone Decree". Archived from the original on April 16, 2007.
- ^ "Captain Bill Robertson a.k.a. "Captain Bill" and "CBR"". ronsorg.com. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
- ^ "Mark Rathbun Inspector General Religious Technology Center". Religious Technology Center. Archived from the original on September 4, 2005.
- ^ "Tom Cruise's confessions mocked at Scientology parties". MSN NZ. MSN New Zealand Ltd. May 9, 2010. Archived from the original on May 26, 2010.
Since defecting from the Church in 2004, Marty has made a career out of providing counselling and auditing services to other former Scientology members.
- ^ a b c Ortega, Tony (March 14, 2017). "Memories of a Scientology warrior: Marty Rathbun's curious career as church rebel". The Underground Bunker.
- ^ Wray, Dianna (May 25, 2016). "Another Scientology Lawsuit Meets a Strange, Abrupt End in Texas". Houston Press. Archived from the original on June 10, 2016.
- ^ Kintzinger, Axel (December 11, 1998). "The sect is broke". Die Woche.
- ^ "Maybe it makes you feel more confident, for example, if you learn that the office for safeguarding the constitution (Verfassungsschutz) of the German state of Baden-Württemberg has stated years ago that the RON’s Org is not a part of the Church of Scientology and that there is no need to observe them as the RON’s Org has no anti-constitutional goals. Indeed, there is some cooperation between members of the RON’s Org and state authorities who observe the Church of Scientology and investigate their activities, English FAQ on German Ron's Org site with some similar cooperation taking place among other respective Freezone groups and affiliates. Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Meyer-Hauser, Bernard F. (June 23, 2000). "Religious Technology Center v. Freie Zone E. V - Case No. D2000-0410". WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013.
- ^ a b "Legal – Ron's Org Committee". October 23, 2017. Archived from the original on October 23, 2017. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
- ^ "Who owns Scientology – or who owns the copyrights of the works of L.Ron Hubbard? – True Source Scientology Foundation". September 21, 2017. Archived from the original on September 21, 2017. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
- ^ Brown, Janelle (July 22, 1999). "Copyright -- or wrong? : The Church of Scientology takes up a new weapon -- the Digital Millennium Copyright Act -- in its ongoing battle with critics". Salon. Archived from the original on June 26, 2009.
- ^ Jim Jesus (May 27, 2011). "The Beginner's Guide To L. Ron Hubbard". Archived from the original on January 18, 2014 – via YouTube.[dead link]
- ^ "A steep price for leaving Scientology : Believer with Reza Aslan". CNN. March 20, 2017.
- ^ Emami, Gazelle (March 3, 2017). "Reza Aslan on Believer and Why Scientology Gets a Bad Rap". Vulture. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
- ^ "Synergetics - The Compleat Aberree". www.aberree.com.
- OL 9429654M.
- ^ "CommUnity of Minds » 2002 » February » 12". solutions.synearth.net.
- ^ "Successor Organization Is Religious Fellowship (continued) - The Compleat Aberree". www.aberree.com.
- ^ "John Galusha - The Compleat Aberree". www.aberree.com.
- ^ "John Galusha and the Book One Course". www.freezoneplanet.org.
- ^ "Scientology 1934, Nordenholz, Preface". scientologie.org. 1999. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007.
- ^ "Administrative Panel Decision : Religious Technology Center v. Freie Zone E. V (Free Zone Association, Germany)" (PDF). June 23, 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 19, 2005. Retrieved November 30, 2005.
- ISBN 9780691146089.
Further reading
- ISBN 978-0-521-86479-4.