L. Ron Hubbard Day scrapped 
Declaration to honor Scientology founder an "error" 
By Steve Metsch
L. Ron Hubbard, the controversial founder of the Church of Scientology, will not be honored on March 13 in Tinley Park — after Mayor Edward Zabrocki moved quickly Monday to avoid such an embarrassment. A clerical error resulted in a proclamation declaring March 13 as L. Ron Hubbard Day in the village making it onto the agenda for tonight's village board meeting.

Hubbard, who died in 1986, founded Scientology in 1954. The international church, based in Clearwater, Fla., is known for its aggressive recruitment tactics, which have caused many to view it as a cult.

The Internal Revenue Service in 1993 ruled that Scientology was a religion and entitled to tax-free status.

When a reporter questioned Zabrocki about the agenda item on Monday, Zabrocki said he knew nothing about it and would check into it.

Zabrocki called back a short time later and said the proposed proclamation was placed on the agenda in error when a clerk's office employee mistakenly thought Zabrocki had given his blessing to the item.

"It's off the agenda. There's a conflict of church and state. We don't want to get involved in that," the mayor said.

The proclamation had arrived at the village hall resembling an official proclamation. The Church of Scientology routinely sends such documents to communities nationwide, hoping they'll honor Hubbard on March 13, his birthday, church spokeswoman Sue Strozewski said.

"None to my knowledge have named a day for him," she said.

Orland Park has received such releases, but "we try to keep such days (of honor) village-oriented," said Kathy Zuro, secretary to Mayor Daniel McLaughlin.

Scientology counts celebrities such as John Travolta and Tom Cruise among its faithful, but it tends to find controversy, along with lots of money, worldwide, according to Paul Rutgers, executive director of the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago.

"One of the major things (followers) lose is money," Rutgers said. "It's one heck of a money-making scheme."

Village trustees said Zabrocki was right to pull the proposed proclamation from the agenda — even though it had no chance of being approved by the board.

"It's a cult," Trustee Mike Bettenhausen said of Scientology.

Strozewski has heard that before.

"The IRS said we were a religion after a long, drawn-out investigation," she said. "We are and always have been a bona fide religion."

Just one without a day in Tinley Park.

Der Bürgermeister strich die Proklamation von der Tagesordnung. Später sagte er, erwisse nicht, was diese bedeute.

"Wenn wir unseren Namen dafür hergeben, sollten wir mehr darüber wissen", sagte er.

Die Proklamation hätte den Mai als Dianetik-Monat etabliert und "alle Bürger" aufgefordert .....

........
.........

Die Kirche führt eine Öffentlichkeits-Kampagne, um negativer Publizität aus Deutschland entgegenzuwirken, wo die Regierung ihr regelmäßig entgegentritt.

Die Angestellte der Stadtverwaltung  Joyce Bryant sagte, jedermann könne eine Stadt um eine Proklamation bitten. Sie sagte, sie habe einene Brief aus New York bekommen in dem darum gebeten wurde, den Mai als Dianetik-Monat zu proklamieren.

"Wir machen das aus Höflichkeit", sagte sie und merkte an, daß sie nichts über Dianetik wußte. "Das bedeutet nicht, daß wir es unterstützen".

Der Jurist der Stadt Ed Rich sagte, eine Proklamation ist eine bloße Feierlichkeit und hat keine tatsächliche Bedeutung.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

ORANGE PARK -- The Orange Park Town Council yanked a proclamation honoring the 48th anniversary of Dianetics, the founding principles of the controversial Church of Scientology founded by L. Ron Hubbard.

Mayor Monty Crook pulled the proclamation from the consent agenda Tuesday night. Later, Crook said he didn't understand what it meant.

"If we're going to attach our name to it, then we ought to know more about it," he said.

The proclamation would have established May as Dianetics Month and urged "all citizens to join in acknowledging the humanitarian work of our Dianetists and congratulate them on this anniversary of the pioneering techniques which frees lives from `the shadows which darken' and builds a brighter future for ourselves, our children and generations of the future."

Hubbard, a one-time science fiction writer, founded the Church of Scientology in 1954. The church professes dozens of axioms or rules that read like a science fiction novel.

Scientologists pay thousands of dollars, or the equivalent in full-time labor, to attend courses and climb up the ladder of spiritual understanding until they cross what is known as the Bridge of Total Freedom, according to former church members and experts who have studied the church.

The process includes purification and auditing, which claim to detect and rid the church member of past emotional disturbances. Critics have likened to practice to exorcism and characterize the church as a cult. 

Many celebrities have joined the Church of Scientology, including John Travolta, Tom Cruise and his wife, Nicole Kidman, Kirstie Alley, Jenna Elfman and jazz pianist Chick Corea.

The church is conducting a publicity campaign to counteract negative publicity from Germany, where it has run into staunch governmental opposition.

Town Clerk Joyce Bryant said anyone can ask the town for a proclamation. She said she received a letter from New York asking the town to proclaim May as Dianetics Month.

"We do it as a courtesy," she said, noting that she was unaware of what dianetics was about. "It doesn't mean we support it."

Town Attorney Ed Rich said a proclamation is purely ceremonial and has no real significance.

   And another monumental event was the victim of red tape. Did you know that Saturday was L. Ron Hubbard Day everywhere in the United States ... except in Lockport. On the initial agenda for Wednesday's City Council meeting was a proclamation that March 13 would be L. Ron Hubbard Day to honor the late founder of the Church of Scientology.

   Even though the agenda was fairly light Wednesday, Mayor Frank Mitchell proclaimed there would not be any consideration of a proclamation for the late L. Ron. "We have more important things to do than proclaim a day for L. Ron Hubbard," he said before whisking his wife off to Cancun as a surprise for her 40th birthday.

   What actually happened, said Deputy Clerk Donna Gura, is that all proclamations must first be considered at the council workshop. All of them have to be approved there before going officially to the council.

     MALIBU -- There's a different kind of surfer shredding the waves at Surfrider Beach. Armed with a surfboard and L. Ron Hubbard's book "The Way to Happiness," members of the Scientology Surf Club have just as much interest in riding swells as they do fulfilling the Scientology founder's environmental dreams.
     "The waters are so much worse than they once were," said surf club President Rob Hoover, 48, who remembers how environmentally sound the ocean was in the '60s and '70s.
     Nowadays, he worries about coming down with a heart infection caused by the coxsackievirus, which comes from human fecal matter and can be found in Malibu Creek and the surf zone. At least three surfers in Malibu have died of the infection known as pericarditis in the past 10 years, according to the Malibu chapter of the Surfrider Foundation.
     Despite his concerns, Hoover continues to surf. But he said, "We have to do something about it."
     Hoover was inspired to take action after reading "The Way to Happiness," where Hubbard writes about "the idea that one has a share in the planet and that one can and should help care for it ... Cut down too many forests, foul too many rivers and seas, mess up the atmosphere and we have had it."
     Over the years, the Church of Scientology has often been the subject of criticism by many who believe that it is a moneymaking venture working under the guise of spirituality.
     The Scientology Surf Club, founded in 1990, decided three years ago
to lend a helping hand to such organizations as Santa Monica Baykeeper, the Surfrider Foundation and Heal the Bay in cleaning up the coastline. Several times a year, the Surf Club picks up trash at Surfrider and other Malibu beaches, assisting other groups in fund-raisers and petition drives.
     The club, which has about 80 members ages 9 to 61, will be out at Surfrider Beach on Saturday for Earth Day, attacking the cigarette butts, plastic and Styrofoam that plague the sands.
     "We have to help in whatever way we can because Malibu is one of the best places to surf," said club member Kevin Burke, 49. "It's heart-wrenching to know that the wave is so beautiful, but you're essentially risking your life when you ride it."
     The Scientology Celebrity Centre in Hollywood, the umbrella under which the Surf Club falls, has officially adopted Surfrider Beach along with San Onofre Beach near San Diego. Duties include cleaning the beaches three times a year. The group also donates money and materials to the Surfrider Foundation."My first connection [with representatives from the Celebrity Centre and the surf club] was seeing them down there at the beach in numbers cleaning up the beach. That was a pretty positive introduction," said Jeff Duclos, co-chairman of the Malibu chapter of Surfrider Foundation. "I've been extremely impressed with their commitment to the environment. They don't just talk it; they do it. They have a genuine commitment.
     "I'm well aware that there is controversy with Scientologists and some people may have a problem," Duclos added. "But my experiences with them have been positive. They support us in tackling the serious issues Malibu is facing. We need all the help we can get."
     "I appreciate and respect what these guys are doing," said Baykeeper Chairman Steve Fleischli. "They work hard to educate the kids about the environment."
     To bring light to the teachings Hubbard instilled in the Surf Club, Hoover approached the Malibu City Council last month asking for a proclamation honoring Hubbard on March 13, his birthday. After distributing Hubbard's handbook to council members, Hoover explained to them that the book had encouraged members of the club to combat beach pollution.
     Hoover's desire, however, was never realized, because council members postponed any action on the proposal until their next meeting. Hoover then withdrew his request."I asked them to take it off the agenda because the date already passed," said Hoover. "I didn't want to waste my time on it."
     Prior to the April 6 council meeting, City Atty. Steven Amerikaner said he would have urged council members to exercise caution in their decision to accept the proclamation that cited Hubbard's guidelines on "safeguarding and improving the environment."
     "The perception could be that council is endorsing Scientology even though this proclamation is based on a nonreligious moral code," said Amerikaner. "Courts associate Scientology with Hubbard. It can be difficult to separate the leader from the religion."
     Malibu council member Walt Keller added that he probably would not have voted in favor of the proclamation.
     "If it comes down to religion," said Keller, "I don't think it should be on the agenda."
     Ten-year Malibu resident Ruby Fader expressed her staunch opposition to the proclamation in a letter to council stating, "Mr. Hubbard built an empire based on a religion, which, as far as I'm concerned, is a cult group."
     "When I saw this on the agenda, I became very irate," Fader said. "I don't think that church and state should mix. I don't really care what they've done for the beach. It's very nice of them, but we don't have a Heal the Bay Day."
     But Hoover said the group's mission is simple.
     "Who we are is a lot of surfers bound together by a common purpose: to protect the environment we live in," he said. "One can do as little as give one's opinion, and that could make a difference in educating future generations about cleaning up our waters."

     I applaud Marcela Rojas and the Westside Weekly for their unbiased coverage of the Scientology Surf Club's hard work cleaning beaches, donating money and raising public awareness of environmental causes.
     The booklet the club distributes on beaches, L. Ron Hubbard's "The Way to Happiness," contains 21 common-sense precepts, e.g., Don't Be Promiscuous; Be Temperate; Be Competent; Fulfill Your Obligations; Be Worthy of Trust; Don't Do Anything Illegal; and Honor and Help Your Parents. So universal and unassailable is its advice that 54 million copies are used by families, corporations, public and private schools and court systems in 22 languages in 60 countries.
     It is unfortunate the Malibu council failed to add its name to the more than 2,800 municipalities and service organizations that publicly recognize Mr. Hubbard's humanitarian works. Particularly today, those precepts deserve every possible support.
     JON VON GUNTEN
     Seven Hills

Admirers of L. Ron Hubbard have launched a major environmental and morality offensive in Southern California's beach cities, rankling critics who say the proselytizers have been less than forthcoming about their ties to the Church of Scientology. The controversy first flared when Scientology Surf Club president Rob Hoover asked the city of Malibu to proclaim March 13 L. Ron Hubbard Day, in honor of Scientology's founder. The request made the City Council agenda, but was withdrawn by Hoover when March 13 came and went with no action. "I was shocked when I saw [the proclamation request] on the agenda," said longtime Malibu resident Ruby Fader. "I don't see any reason to promote the Church of Scientology. To me, it is a cult." Both the ACLU and the Malibu city attorney said the proclamation would have violated the constitutional separation of church and state. That didn't stop the San Diego County city of Encinitas, however, which in March issued a Hubbard Day proclamation - without realizing that Hubbard was Scientology's founder, according to Encinitas Mayor James Bond. Bond said Hoover told him only that Hubbard was a writer and surfer who lived in Encinitas in 1934. "I think that, in truth, he should have let us know that [Hubbard] was a founder of Scientology so we at least had that knowledge," Bond said.
"What his motive was for not sharing it with me only he knows." (Hoover, who used Scientology letterhead to make his request, said he had assumed Bond knew who Hubbard was.)
Adding clout to Hoover's requests for proclamations was his beach cleanup work with Heal the Bay and the Surfrider Foundation, two well-respected groups dedicated to saving California's coastline. Maria Ferrara, vice president of public affairs for the Church of Scientology's Celebrity Center, is on the Surfrider foundation`s executive committee.
In pitching the Hubbard Day idea to Malibu, Hoover presented the City Council with a copy of Hubbard's 1981 "Way to Happiness" moral code. The code is disseminated worldwide by the Way to Happiness Foundation. The foundation claims to be separate from the Church of Scientology. But executive director Joni Ginsberg and celebrity spokeswoman Nancy Cartwright (the voice of Bart Simpson) are both Scientologists. Bridge Publications prints both the "Happiness" code and Hubbard's religious and science-fiction writings.
"We use [the "Happiness" code] as an inspiration," said Ferrara. "It is separate from the church. We employ the book because it is so universal."
In April, foundation members took part in the Church of Scientology Celebrity Center International's Adopt-a-Beach cleanup at Zuma Creek.
Ferrara got a photo credit for a picture of the cleanup that appeared on the front page of the April 27 issue of the Malibu Times. The newspaper did not disclose Ferrara's connection to the church or the cleanup event. Copies of the 95-page "Happiness" handbook, with 21 moral precepts, including "Don't be promiscuous," "Do not murder" and "Safeguard and improve your environment," were passed out to surfers and contestants during a Malibu surf competition last month, put on by the Way to Happiness Foundation.
Ferrara, however, insisted church members are trying to clean up the beaches, not recruit new members. "It is the most unglamorous thing you can do in your life," said Ferrara. "We're out there in a social capacity, not a religious one." 

In other Scientology news, OffBeat was amazed to read in US weekly earlier this month that Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman had begun severing their ties to the Church of Scientology. US also reported that Cruise, while filming the Warner Bros. film Eyes Wide Shut, had "hinted" to the studio that releasing the John Travolta project Battlefield Earth would be a mistake. A week later, however, US Weekly ran a "For the Record" notice declaring that the magazine had subsequently "found" that Cruise remains an "active and committed member of the Church of Scientology" and that the actor had never said, much less "hinted," anything negative about Battlefield. Nevertheless, the widely panned sci-fi groaner, based on Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's novel, appears to be going down as a colossal box-office failure. OffBeat, which has been the object of Scientology's none-too-tender PR ministrations, would love to know what went on behind the scenes of the correction...

With regards to my withdrawing the Malibu proclamation, Christine omitted facts to create a false impression. During my interview with her, I specifically told her that my proposal was made to the City Council on March 13. Being unfamiliar with City Council procedures, I requested that they vote on it then and there, as the proclamation was to celebrate L. Ron Hubbard's birthday on March 13. I was informed that it could not be put to a vote until after it was added to the agenda for the next council meeting, two weeks hence - according to regular City Council procedures. I opted to try for the next meeting anyway, but that ended up being canceled due to the death of a councilman. Finally I just withdrew the proposal altogether, as a month had gone by since his birthday and it was no longer appropriate. 

Christine then tops off her offensive piece by insinuating that Maria Ferrara, who was given a photo credit for her picture of our kids cleaning up Zuma Creek in the April 27 Malibu Times, was doing something underhanded because the photo credit did not say "photo by Maria Ferrara, Scientologist." (The photo caption provided by Maria did say "Church of Scientology.") Give me a break! When and where - with the possible exception of Nazi Germany - have newspaper photo credits required one to include one's religious affiliation? 

Rob Hoover 
President,  Church of Scientology Celebrity Center International Surf Club Los Angeles 

Christine was shown these documents, yet she still printed false information in her article. All the environmental groups we work with know who we are and don't discriminate against minority religions. It seems that the L.A. Weekly does. 

Maria Ferrara 
Vice President, Public Affairs,  Church of Scientology Celebrity Center  Los Angeles 

Thomas Burpee Los Angeles 

Bruce Pyle Encino

   I came across a Cincinatti Enquirer article dated August 9, 1983 titled "Officials Feel Tricked: L. Ron Hubbard Month Not Support of Church" by John Erardi.  It says Gov. Richard Celeste felt tricked after he signed on to a proclamation for Hubbard.  His press secretary wrote Ken Kramer of the local church "You deceptively failed to indicate Hubbard's membership or involvement with the Church of Scientology in the background information... You are therefore not to interpret the proclamation in any way an endorsement of the Church of Scientology, its founder, its policies and practices by the governor of the state of Ohio."
   So I'm wondering about all those proclamations to Hubbard you see at the end of the LRH Life Exhibit in Los Angeles.  Is the Ohio proclamation there?  If so does it have a notice attached "obtained by deception"? And what about all those other proclamations?  Were some of them obtained by deceit, and were some of them revoked?
--
//////
Jeff Jacobsen         SP4, Scientology critic
PO Box 3541           http://www.primenet.com/~cultxpt/index.htm
Scottsdale AZ  85271  cultxpt@primenet.com
USA 

   In his original proclamation, issued Feb. 28, Edgar said Hubbard's "writings on the mind and human spirit have helped millions of people lead better lives. His literary works have enriched the lives of many readers."

   But Tuesday, Edgar issued only a one-sentence proclamation, stating that his original proclamation was rescinded.

City attorney Gary Rebensdorf explained that cities can enact ordinances that are more stringent than state laws, but they do not have the authority to lessen their impact.

Tentatively approved an ordinance that will increase penalties for taverns and lounges cited for repeated noise violations.

Heard from the directors of several social-service programs who are seeking money through the city's $4 million Community Development Block Grant Program.

City staff members next week will propose which requests should and should not be approved.

Passed a resolution proclaiming Monday as L. Ron Hubbard Day, in commemoration of the birthday of the founder of the Church of Scientology. Hubbard, who died in 1986, lived in Wichita in 1951-52.

Actress and Wichita native Kirstie Alley was on hand to accept the proclamation.

Later, council member Greg Ferris objected to the proclamation, which he did not sign. He said he felt it was inappropriate and cited concerns that the center would attract controversy.