The Anderson Report

CHAPTER 26
FAMlLY DISCORD

It is clear from the evidence that scientology has been the cause of grave strain and tension in families, both in respect of relations within the family amongst its members and in respect of financial stringency resulting from excessive spending on scientology. The Board heard evidence from a number of non-scientologists whose spouses were in scientology. The number of such witnesses who came forward to give evidence of friction and dissension in existing marriages was understandably small, and it is obvious that many persons refrained from volunteering evidence adverse to scientology because they feared that the giving of evidence would cause further exacerbation of the already strained martial situation. Others, it is believed, refrained from coming forward to give evidence because of the fear that the other spouse might be victimized by the HASI on account of his or her inability to handle and control the non-scientologist.

Dalliance with scientology processing and training is not a cheap experience; oral evidence before the Board and the contents of files showed that sometimes grave financial embarrassment attended the squandering on scientology of large sums of money needed for the maintenance of the family. Quite apart from oral evidence, the contents of many files showed that serious family discord was frequently caused by a preclear's activities in scientology, which he or she pursued notwithstanding the dissension and unhappiness caused by such conduct.

Such harassed witnesses as gave evidence still had affection for their spouses and were genuinely distressed by the effects which scientology practices were having. They sought to adopt a tolerant and persuasive attitude towards their scientology partners, but such evidence as the Board heard rather suggested that in all but one of these cases such measures were attended with little success. The known exception was the case of a married couple, one of whom gave evidence, who confronted each other in the Board room and are believed to have become reconciled. They were the more fortunate ones. The Board heard evidence of broken marriages in which one partner was a scientologist and in which scientology was at least a contributing factor. This was not because scientology has as a goal the breaking up of marriages where one party is not a scientologist, but rather because, as one witness put it, if a person who was scientology-orientated had a spouse who was not scientology-orientated and was anti-scientology, and on that account there was no chance of reconciliation and no prospect of getting the non-conforming spouse into scientology, then the scientology spouse would be advised to consider giving up the marriage.

An article by Hubbard, distributed as a free pamphlet and reprinted in the Melbourne HASI Communication Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 19, is a vicious document, and is calculated to cause trouble, dissension, suspicion and distrust between husband and wife, where one is a scientologist. In part, this article, which is entitled "Why some fight scientology", reads -

"Unfortunately the person who does not want you to study scientology is your enemy as well as ours.

When he harangues against us to you as a 'cult' as a 'hoax' as a very bad thing done by very bad people he or she is only saying 'Please, please, please don't try to find me out'. Thousands of such protesting people carefully investigated by us have been found to have unsavory pasts and sordid motives they did not dare (they felt) permit to come to light. The wife or mother who rails against a family member who takes up scientology is, we regret to have to say, guided by very impure motives, generated in the morass of dread secrets long withheld. The father, husband or friend who frowns upon one knowing more about the mind is hiding something he feels would damage him.

'You had better leave scientology alone!' is an instinctive defence, prompted in all cases investigated by a guilty conscience.

Once they hear a few truths from scientology such people become afraid. They know we know. And if we know this much and if you are further informed, they feel you will find them out, The wife, protesting is hiding such things as infidelity or an unsavoury circumstance, one or many. The husband, protesting, is hiding a past with many blots upon it.

".... Beware the person or group who fights Scientology, for that person fights Truth - not the truth of natural laws but the truth about himself."

The Board is disturbed by the effect which this article could have on a scientology-indoctrinated person who, accepting without question the truth of Hubbard's dangerous assertions, would read into any opposition to scientology an admission of guilt in respect of shameful conduct and sordid secrets.

The prospect of the break-up of a marriage is enhanced if one spouse is imbued with Hubbardian teaching that sexual relations are "a low tone activity" and that such relations between a person high on the tone scale and a person lower on the tone scale is an aberrative act on the part of the higher toned scientology-conditioned person. The Board heard evidence from the wife of a broken marriage who said that her husband declined to have sexual relations with her because he was on a higher level on the tone scale and she was "of too low tone activity", and "he had reached a higher tone where such physical activity was no longer necessary."

Where members of the family other than the parents have espoused scientology, unhappiness has frequently been caused. Some children have given up study and careers, dissipated their savings, left home and generally adopted towards their parents attitudes which have been variously aggressive, superior, provocative and condescending. In one instance, where violence occurred between parents and their scientologist son, the son went berserk, had to be restrained and was not pacified until Williams and another scientologist arrived.