L. Ron Hubbard: Difference between revisions
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{{Infobox Celebrity |
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| name = Lafayette Ronald Hubbard |
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| bgcolour = #f0de31 |
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| image = L Ron Hubbard.jpg |
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| image_size = 140px |
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| caption = L. Ron Hubbard |
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| birth_date = {{birth date|1911|3|13}} |
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| birth_place = [[Tilden, Nebraska]] |
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| death_date = {{death date and age|1986|1|24|1911|3|13}} |
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| death_place = [[San Luis Obispo County, California]] |
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| occupation = [[Science fiction]] Author<br>Founder, [[Scientology]] |
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| hair color = [[Red]] |
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| spouse = [[Margaret Grubb|Margaret "Polly" Grubb]]<br>[[Sara Northrup]]<br>[[Mary Sue Hubbard]] |
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| salary = Unknown |
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| networth = > $200,000,000 in 1982<ref name="200mil">{{cite news | first = Richard | last = Behar | authorlink = Richard Behar | title = The prophet and profits of Scientology | url = | work = [[Forbes 400]] | publisher = [[Forbes]] | date = [[1986-10-27]] | accessdate = | quote = Altogether, FORBES can total up at least $200 million gathered in Hubbard's name through 1982. There may well have been much more.}}</ref> |
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| spouse = [[Margaret Grubb|Margaret "Polly" Grubb]]<br>[[Sara Northrup]]<br>[[Mary Sue Hubbard]] |
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| children = 7 |
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| website = [http://www.lronhubbard.org/ lronhubbard.org] |
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| footnotes = |
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}} |
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'''Lafayette Ronald Hubbard''' ([[March 13]], [[1911]] – [[January 24]], [[1986]]), better known as '''L. Ron Hubbard''', was the author of [[Dianetics]], and founder of the [[Church of Scientology]]. He was also an [[United States|American]] author in numerous [[Pulp magazine|pulp]] [[fiction]] genres<ref name="Pulpateer">{{cite web||url=http://www.lronhubbard.org/eng/Literary/page76.htm |title=Twilight of the pulps |publisher=Church of Scientology International |accessdate=2006-07-26 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.battlefieldearth.com/index.htm ''Battlefield Earth'' L. Ron Hubbard science-fiction book, home page]</ref><ref>[http://www.chronicles-network.com/book-reviews/h/l-ron-hubbard/ L. Ron Hubbard Fiction books]</ref><ref>[http://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?l._ron_hubbard Summary Bibliography on fiction books]</ref> as well as a prolific writer of works on [[Scientology]].<ref>[http://web.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/mjr/frenschkowski.html Hubbard Bibliography, University of Marburg, Germany]</ref> |
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Hubbard was a highly controversial public figure during his lifetime. Many details of his life remain disputed, with official and unofficial biographies depicting Hubbard in radically different ways. Official Scientology biographies present him in [[Hagiography|hagiographic]] terms as "larger than life, attracted to people, liked by people, dynamic, charismatic and immensely capable in two dozen fields."<ref name="ltl">[http://www.scientology.org/html/en_US/l-ron-hubbard/professional-dozens-fields/index.html He was larger than life, attracted to people, liked by people, dynamic, charismatic and immensely capable in two dozen fields.] from www.scientology.org biography.</ref><ref name="LRHsite">[http://www.lronhubbard.org L. Ron Hubbard Site] (accessed 4/15/06)</ref> In contrast, unofficial biographies (some of which are by former Scientologists) as well as reports in the press paint a much less flattering picture which often contradicts official Church accounts.<ref>Corydon, Bent ''[http://www.clambake.org/archive/books/mom/Messiah_or_Madman.txt L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman]'' (free online version) also by Barricade Books; revised edition (25 July, 1992) ISBN 0-942637-57-7</ref><ref name="Blue Sky">{{cite book | last = Atack | first = Jon | authorlink = Jon Atack | year = 1990 | url = http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/atack/index.html | title = A Piece of Blue Sky | publisher = Carol Publishing Group | location = New York, NY|id = ISBN 0-8184-0499-X}}</ref> |
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==Parents and early life== |
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L. Ron Hubbard was born in 1911 in [[Tilden, Nebraska]] to Ledora May Hubbard (née Waterbury) and Harry Ross Hubbard. His father was born Henry August Wilson in [[Fayette, Iowa]], but was [[orphan]]ed as an infant and adopted by the Hubbards, a farming family from [[Fredericksburg, Iowa]]. Harry joined the [[United States Navy]] in [[1904]], leaving the service in [[1908]], then re-enlisted in [[1917]] when the United States [[World War I|declared war on Germany]]. He served in the Navy until 1946, reaching the rank of [[Lieutenant-Commander]] in [[1934]].<ref name="Bare-faced">Miller, Russell. ''[http://www.religio.de/books/bfm/bfmconte.html Bare-faced messiah: The true story of L. Ron Hubbard]'' (1987) ISBN 0-7181-2764-1</ref><!-- p. 70 --> Ledora was a [[feminist]] who had trained to become a [[high school]] teacher and married Harry in 1909. |
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The Hubbards moved first to [[Kalispell, Montana]] and then to [[Helena, Montana|Helena]], the state capital. Church biographies have stated that during this period Hubbard became the protegé of "Old Tom, a [[Blackfoot]] Indian medicine man ... [who] passe[d] on much of the tribal lore to his young friend" and that at the age of four, he was "honored with the status of blood brother of the Blackfeet in a ceremony that is still recalled by tribal elders."<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.scientology.org/html/en_US/l-ron-hubbard/chronicle/index.html | title = L. Ron Hubbard - A Chronicle - 1911-1917 | accessdate = 2007-05-12 | publisher = [[Church of Scientology]]}}</ref> Hubbard's interest in the Blackfeet took literary form in his 1937 novel, "Buckskin Brigades", a "novel of one man's courageous struggle to save the Blackfoot Nation from destruction by the Northwestern fur traders".<ref>L. Ron Hubbard, ''Buckskin Brigades'',1937 republished 1977, ISBN 0-91797201-5</ref> In 1985, members of Blackfeet Nation, Montana, commemorated "the seventieth anniversary of [L. Ron Hubbard] becoming a blood brother of the Blackfeet Nation. Tree Manyfeathers in a ceremony re-established L. Ron Hubbard as a blood brother to the Blackfeet Tribe."<ref name="LATstaking">{{cite web | url =http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/60090133.html?dids=60090133:60090133&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jun+24%2C+1990&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&edition=&startpage=38 | title = Staking a Claim to Blood Brotherhood | accessdate = 2007-05-12 | author = Joel Sappell | coauthors = Robert W. Welkos | date = [[1990-06-24]] | work = The Scientology Story | publisher = [[Los Angeles Times]] | pages = A38:5}}</ref> Contemporary records do not record the existence of "Old Tom". The white Blackfeet historian Hugh Dempsey has commented that the act of [[blood brother]]hood was "never done among the Blackfeet", and Blackfeet Nation officials have disavowed attempts to "re-establish" Hubbard as a "blood brother" of the Blackfeet. Former vice president of the tribe's executive committee, John Yellow Kidney has also said of the letter claiming to re-establish Hubbard as a blood brother, "You should not give [the document] very much credibility, I don't."<ref name="LATstaking"/> |
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Harry's naval career led to the family moving several more times, first to [[San Diego]], then to [[Oakland, California]] followed by [[Puget Sound]], [[Washington]] and finally to [[Washington, D.C.]]. During this period L. Ron Hubbard joined the [[Boy Scouts of America]] and became an [[Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)|Eagle Scout]] at the age of 13. Church biographies routinely state that he was "the nation's youngest Eagle Scout."<ref name="chronicle01">{{cite web | url = http://www.scientology.org/en_US/l-ron-hubbard/chronicle/pg001.html | title = L. Ron Hubbard - A Chronicle - 1918-1921 | accessdate = 2007-05-12 | publisher = [[Church of Scientology]]}}</ref> which is based on a March 25, 1930, report of the "Evening Star"<ref>Evening Star, 25 March 1930, title "Oratory Contest Winners in six schools chosen - Victor at Woodward is Ronald Hubbard", excerpt "Ronald Hubbard, 19 years old, at one time the youngest Eagle Scout in America, was the winner of the contest at the Woodward School for Boys..."</ref> and Hubbards Boy Scout Diary of 25 March 1924{{Fact|date=December 2007}} According to the Boy Scouts of America, their documents at the time were only kept in alphabetical order with no reference to their ages—thus there was no way of telling who was the youngest.<ref name="Bare-faced" /><!-- p. 25 --> |
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Between [[1927]] and [[1929]], Hubbard traveled twice to the [[Far East]] to visit his parents during his father's posting to the [[United States Navy]] base on [[Guam]]. Church biographies published from the [[1950s]] to the [[1970s]] stated that with "the financial support of his wealthy grandfather" Hubbard journeyed throughout [[Asia]], "studying with holy men" in northern [[China]], [[India]] and [[Tibet]].<ref name="certainty">"L. Ron Hubbard," Certainty, vol. 3 no. 2, Hubbard Association of Scientologists International, 1956</ref><ref name="mit">"L. Ron Hubbard - Explorer of Two Realms", in Hubbard, ''Mission into Time'', Advanced Organization Saint Hill Denmark, 1973</ref> Hubbard said that on several occasions he visited India.<ref>See ''inter alia'' Hubbard, "Case Analysis - Rock Hunting - Q&A Period", lecture of 4 August 1958: "I got over to Asia and India..."; Hubbard, "Universes," lecture of 6 April 1954: "But in the interim [as a boy] I was in India..."; Hubbard, "Mechanics of the Mind," lecture of 10 January 1953: "I struggled along in north China, India and was back in the States and then back out there again."</ref> However, the Church of Scientology's current official account makes no mention of India or Tibet,<ref>[http://www.scientology.org/en_US/l-ron-hubbard/chronicle/pg002.html L. Ron Hubbard - A Chronicle - 1926-1929]. Accessed 28 Jan 2007</ref> and according to [[Jon Atack]] "a flight change at [[Calcutta]] airport in 1959 seems to have been his only direct contact with the land of [[Veda]]ntic philosophy."<ref name="Blue Sky" /><!-- p. 57 --> |
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<!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: [[Image:China text hubbard.gif|thumb|One of Hubbard's controversial journal entries during his visit to China in 1928]] --> |
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Hubbard sometimes displayed attitudes that were at odds with the picture his followers try to present of him. For instance, during his visit to China at the age of seventeen, he made diary entries such as: "As a [[Chinaman]] can not live up to a thing, he always drags it down."<ref name="Bare-faced" /><!-- p. 41 --> and "They smell of all the baths they didnt {{sic}} take. The trouble with China is, there are too many [[chink]]s here."<ref name="Bare-faced" /><!--p. 42--><ref>[http://www.spaink.net/cos/LRH-bio/chinamen.htm The problem with Chinamen], 17-year old L. Ron Hubbard, Journal entries in 1928</ref> Similarly, Hubbard described the Tibetan Buddhist temples as "miserably cold and very shabby . . . The people worshiping have voices like bull-frogs and beat a drum and play a brass horn to accompany their singing (?)"<ref name="Bare-faced"/><!--p. 42--> and called them "very odd and heathenish".<ref name="MBTR"/> He also wrote about [[colored]] people in ''Scientology: Fundamentals of Thought'' : "Unlike the yellow and brown people, the white does not usually believe he can get attention from matter or objects. The yellow and brown believe for the most part ... that rocks, trees, walls, etc., can give them attention"<ref>Hubbard, L. Ron, ''Scientology: Fundamentals of Thought''. Copenhagen: New Era Publications, 1997. ISBN 1900944979, p. 24</ref> and "...so we see the African tribesman, with his complete contempt for the truth, and his emphasis on brutality and savagery..."<ref>Hubbard, L. Ron, ''Scientology: Fundamentals of Thought''. Copenhagen: New Era Publications, 1997. ISBN 1900944979, p. 77</ref> In the 2007 edition of the book, "primitive" is substituted for "African" in the passage just mentioned. |
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While such attitudes might not be especially surprising for a white teenager born in [[1911]], they are vastly at odds with the stories he would later tell and his followers would repeat: |
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:Among other wonders, Ron told of watching monks meditate for weeks on end, contemplating higher truths ... he took advantage of this unique opportunity to study Far Eastern culture. ... he befriended and learned ... a thoroughly insightful Beijing magician who represented the last of the line of Chinese magicians from the court of [[Kublai Khan]]. ... Old Mayo was also well versed in China’s ancient wisdom that had been handed down from generation to generation. Ron passed many evenings in the company of such wise men, eagerly absorbing their words ... he closely examined the surrounding culture. In addition to the local Tartar tribes, he spent time with nomadic bandits originally from [[Mongolia]] ... [t]hese sojourns in Asia and the Pacific islands had a profound effect, giving Ron a subjective understanding of [[Eastern philosophy]] ... the world itself was his classroom, and he studied in it voraciously, recording what he saw and learned in his ever-present diaries, which he carefully preserved for future reference.<ref name="WiS98">{{cite book | author = Compiled by staff of the Church of Scientology International | year = 1998 | title = What is Scientology? | edition=1998 | publisher = Bridge Publications, Inc. | location = Los Angeles, California | id = ISBN 1-57318-122-6}}</ref><!--p.30-32--><ref>{{cite web| url=http://lron.hubbard.org/pg003.html |title=1923-1929: On the road to discovery |work=L. Ron Hubbard: Shaping the 21st Century with Solutions for a Better World |pages=1-2 |publisher=Church of Scientology International |accessdate=2006-06-18 }}</ref> |
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Hubbard said that he was made a lama priest himself by Old Mayo.<ref name="MBTR"/> Hubbard's "ever-present diaries" were introduced into evidence in [[Church of Scientology v. Gerald Armstrong|the Armstrong trial]]; they make no mention of Old Mayo the Beijing magician or nomad bandits and no reflection on Eastern philosophy.<ref name="Blue Sky"/><!--Part 2, Ch. 2: Hubbard in the East--> Similarly, L. Ron Hubbard expressed support for creating [[township (South Africa)|townships in South Africa]]: "Having viewed slum clearance projects in most major cities of the world may I state that you have conceived and created in the Johannesburg townships what is probably the most impressive and adequate resettlement activity in existence."<ref>L. Ron Hubbard in a letter to [[Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd]] dated [[November 7]], [[1960]], in reference to the "Promotion of Black Self-Government Act" of (1958), reprinted in K.T.C. Kotzé, ''Inquiry Into the Effects and Practices of Scientology'', p. 59, Pretoria 1973; online copy of the Kotzé report available as [http://www.solitarytrees.net/pubs/kotze/html/03-05.htm html] and [http://www.solitarytrees.net/pubs/kotze/kotze1.pdf PDF]</ref> |
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While in Guam,<ref name="aapsa" /> Hubbard was befriended by Commander [[Joseph Cressman Thompson|Joseph "Snake" Thompson]] (1874-1943), who had recently returned from Vienna and studies with [[Sigmund Freud]], and was stationed as a member of the Naval Medical Corps.<ref name="aapsa">[http://www.aapsa.org/forum/forum43_1.html#4312 The American Academy of Psychoanalysis], ''The Psychoanalytic Roots of Scientology'' by Silas L. Warner, M.D. Lightly edited by Ann-Louise S. Silver, M.D. The American Academy of Psychoanalysis, Presented at the winter meeting, New York City December 12, 1993</ref> Through the course of their friendship, the commander spent many an afternoon teaching Ron what he knew of the human mind.<ref name="chronicle01" /> Thompson is an important figure in official Church accounts of Hubbard's life and was referred to in many of Hubbard's works in support of his assertions of possessing expertise in Freudian [[psychoanalysis]].<ref>See ''inter alia'' Hubbard, "Special Effect Cases, Anatomy Of - Q&A period", lecture of 23 July 1958: "I have made people feel better by using straight Freudian analysis the way I got it from Commander Thompson who imported it to the US Navy"; Hubbard, "Universes," lecture of 6 April 1954: "I was fortunate enough to be trained to some degree by Commander Thompson, who had himself studied with Sigmund Freud"; Hubbard, "The Story of Dianetics and Scientology," lecture of 18 October 1958: "When I was about twelve years old ... I met one of the great men of Freudian analysis - a Commander Thompson ... he started shoving my nose into an education in the field of the mind."</ref> |
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==Education== |
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After studies at Swavely Preparatory School in Manassas, Virginia, and graduating from Woodward School for Boys in 1930, Hubbard enrolled at [[The George Washington University]] in September of 1930, where he began studying a major in [[civil engineering]]. There he became one of eight assistant editors of the University newspaper ''"The University Hatchet"''<ref>"The University Hatchet" of George Washington University, Vol. 28 , No. 33, May 24, 1932, lists L. Ron Hubbard as "Assistant Editor"</ref><ref>[http://www.gwhatchet.com/ "The Hatchet"]</ref> and was a member of several of the university's clubs and societies, including the Twentieth Marine Corps Reserve and the George Washington College Company.<ref name=bio77>SO ED 879 INT, "LRH Biography", 7 April 1977 by Liz Gablehouse, Church of Scientology</ref> His grades were poor, and university records show that he attended for only two semesters after which he was placed on academic probation "for deficiency in scholarship" in September of 1931, leaving the university without a degree and "entitled to a statement of honorable dismissal." |
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Observers have questioned assertions that Hubbard and the Church of Scientology later made about his study at The George Washington University. In the preface for his 1951 book ''[[Science of Survival]]'', Hubbard thanks "my instructors in atomic and molecular phenomena, mathematics and the humanities at George Washington University and at [[Princeton University|Princeton]]" (Hubbard attended a four-month course in military government at the Naval Training School, located at Princeton during the [[Second World War]]).<ref name="Bare-faced" /> According to the Church's official account, {{cquote|Here he studies engineering and atomic and molecular physics and embarks upon a personal search for answers to the human dilemma. His first experiment concerning the structure and function of the mind is carried out while at the university.<ref name="chronicle1930-1933" />}} One of his classes was indeed among the nation's first schools offering curriculum in molecular and atomic physics, however he failed the course. Critics<ref name="SoS">[http://www.religio.de/books/cooper/sos-20.html The Scandal of Scientology] by Paulette Cooper: Actually his grades were appallingly low.{16} Although he did do well in his engineering and English courses, the man who frequently calls himself a nuclear physicist got a D in one physics course, an E in another, and in the atomic and molecular physics courses that he most often emphasizes (to the degree of thanking his instructors for it), he received an F.{17} With those grades, along with similar ones in mathematics, it is not surprising that Hubbard was placed on probation after his first year in college and didn't return for his second -- and of course never received the degrees that he claims he has.{18} </ref> and government reports<ref name="ARnuc">[http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Cowen/audit/ar07.html#hub-nuc Hubbard as a Nuclear Physicist] BOARD OF INQUIRY INTO SCIENTOLOGY, The Anderson Report, 1963. One of the many claims made by Hubbard about himself, and oft repeated by his followers, is that he is a nuclear physicist, and his boast is that he was even one of the first nuclear physicists who, in 1932, were studying on lines which finally led to the atomic bomb.</ref> cite his poor performance when evaluating claims to have been a "nuclear physicist". The Church denies that he ever made that claim,<ref name="BIO77P3">SO ED 879 INT Hubbard's Scientology Biography, circa 1977 Page 3 "Altogether he spent nearly a year at Oak Knoll, during which time he synthesized what he had learned of Eastern philosophy, his understanding of nuclear physics and his experiences among men. He says, 'I set out to find from nuclear physics and a knowledge of the physical universe, things entirely lacking in Asian philosophy.'"</ref><ref name="MBTR">{{cite news | first=Joel | last=Sappell | coauthors= Welkos, Robert W. | url=http://www.latimes.com/la-scientology062490,0,7104164,full.story | title=The Mind Behind The Religion | work=[[Los Angeles Times]] | page=A1:1|date=[[1990-06-24]] | accessdate=2006-07-30}}</ref> however Hubbard asserted expertise in dealing with the problems posed by the effects of [[radiation exposure]] on the [[human body]] in the book "All About Radiation" (co-authored by Hubbard in 1957).<ref>Hubbard, ''All About Radiation''. Bridge Publications, 1990. ISBN 0884040623</ref> |
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After leaving George Washington University, Hubbard worked as a writer and aviator.<ref>The Pilot, July 1934 issue, about Hubbard</ref><ref>The Sportsman Pilot, articles of L. Ron Hubbard, Issue January 1932, Issue May 1933, Issue October 1933</ref> |
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In June 1932 Hubbard headed the "Caribbean Motion Picture Expedition", a two-and-a-half-month, 5,000-mile voyage aboard a chartered 200-foot, four-masted schooner called "Doris Hamlin" with over fifty fellow college students. Its purpose was to collect floral and reptilian specimens for the University of Michigan and to film recreations of pirate activity and haunts. The voyage was a disappointment, with only three of the sixteen planned ports of call visited. Hubbard later called it "a two-bit expedition and a financial bust".<ref name="Blue Sky" /><ref name="chronicle1930-1933">"[http://www.scientology.org/en_US/l-ron-hubbard/chronicle/pg003.html L. Ron Hubbard: A Chronicle 1930-1933]", Church of Scientology International. Accessed 18 April 2007</ref> |
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Hubbard's first wife was [[Margaret Grubb|Margaret "Polly" Grubb]] whom he married in 1933, and fathered two children; [[Ronald DeWolf|L. Ron, Jr.]], known as Ronald DeWolf, (1934 – 1991) and Katherine May (born in [[1936]]). They lived in [[Los Angeles, California]] and, during the late [[1930s]], in [[Bremerton, Washington]]. In a [[1983]] interview for [[Penthouse (magazine)|Penthouse magazine]] that he later retracted, DeWolf said, "according to him and my mother", he was the result of a failed abortion and recalls at six years old seeing his father performing an abortion on his mother with a coat hanger. In the same interview, he said "Scientology is a power-and-money-and-intelligence-gathering game" and described his father as "only interested in money, sex, booze, and drugs."<ref>{{cite journal |
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| year = 1983 |
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| month = June |
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| title = '''Inside The Church of Scientology: An Exclusive Interview with L. Ron Hubbard, Jr.''' |
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| journal = Penthouse |
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| accessdate = 2007-06-26 |
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}}</ref> Later, in a sworn affidavit, DeWolf stated that he had |
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"weaved" stories about his father's harassment of others, that the charge he had made about drugs was false, and that the Penthouse story was an example of statements that he deeply regretted and that had caused his father and himself much pain.<ref name="retractn">[http://www.freewebtown.com/luana/rondewolf-july87.pdf United States District Court, District of New Jersey, page 4 and 5 of affidavit of Ronald E. DeWolf of July 1, 1987, submitted in: Ronald E. DeWolf v. Lyle Stuart Inc.]</ref> |
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Hubbard was accepted as a member of the [[Explorers Club]] on 19 February 1940.<ref>[http://www.explorers.org/res_col/collections/deceased.pdf Official Explorers Club Member list, "Deceased Members of The Explorers Club, 1904 to 23 May 2007"]</ref> In December of that year Hubbard was licensed by the [[United States Department of Commerce]] to legally operate steam and motor vessels. |
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In 1961 Hubbard carried the Explorers Club flag for his 'Ocean Archaeological Expedition' and in 1966 was awarded custody of the Explorers Club flag for the 'Hubbard Geological Survey Expedition'.<ref>[http://www.scientology.org/en_US/l-ron-hubbard/chronicle/pg014.html Official Biography, Church of Scientology International</ref> |
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==Early fiction career== |
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Hubbard published stories, novellas in aviation, sports, [[pulp magazine]]s and even a screenplay "The Secret of Treasure Island".<ref name=bio77 /><ref name"IMDB">[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030725/] Internet Movie Database</ref><ref name="Pulpateer"/> Literature critics have cited ''Final Blackout'', set in a war-ravaged future Europe, and ''Fear'', a psychological horror story, as the best examples of Hubbard's pulp fiction.<ref>N G Christakos, "Three By Thirteen: The Karl Edward Wagner Lists" in ''Black Prometheus: A Critical Study of Karl Edward Wagner'', ed. Benjamin Szumskyj, Gothic Press 2007</ref> Among his published stories were ''Sea Fangs'', ''The Carnival of Death'', ''Man-Killers of the Air'', and ''The Squad that Never Came Back''; using pseudonyms like Rene Lafayette, Legionnaire 148, Lieutenant Scott Morgan, Morgan de Wolf, Michael de Wolf, Michael Keith, Kurt von Rachen, Captain Charles Gordon, Legionnaire 14830, Elron, Bernard Hubbel, Captain B.A. Northrup, Joe Blitz and [[Winchester rifle|Winchester]] [[Remington Arms|Remington]] [[Colt's Manufacturing Company|Colt]].<ref name="Blue Sky">{{cite book | last = Atack | first = Jon | authorlink = Jon Atack | year = 1990 | title = A Piece of Blue Sky | publisher = Carol Publishing Group | location = New York, NY | id = ISBN 0-8184-0499-X}}</ref><!--page 63-65--> He became a well-known author in the [[science fiction]] and [[fantasy fiction|fantasy]] genres; he also published [[westerns]] and adventure stories. His agent was well known science fiction agent and guru [[Forrest Ackerman]]. |
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Hubbard's [[metafiction]] novel ''Typewriter in the Sky'', published in 1940 in two installments in [[John W. Campbell]]'s ''[[Unknown (magazine)|Unknown]]'' magazine, provides an amusing insight into the New York writing scene within which Hubbard worked. The novel is centered around a character named Horace Hackett, who is a hyper-productive, multi-genre [[hack writer]] desperately trying to finish his latest [[potboiler]] to an ever-approaching deadline while (unknown to him) his friend Mike de Wolf is trapped inside the potboiler's action. Two of Horace's author friends, in Hubbard's novel, are named Winchester Remington Colt and Rene Lafayette after Hubbard's own pseudonyms. |
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== World War II == |
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{{main|L. Ron Hubbard and the military}} |
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From the summer of 1941 to late 1945, during [[World War II]], Hubbard served in the United States Navy. Based on the representations of his experience overseas and as a writer,<ref>[http://www.xs4all.nl/~kspaink/cos/warhero/1941/410604.gif Recommendation] of interviewing officer that Hubbard be commissioned a Lt. Jg.</ref> he was able to skip the initial officer rank of [[Ensign (rank)#United States|Ensign]] and was commissioned a [[Lieutenant, Junior Grade]] for service in the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]]. He was unsuccessful there, and after some difficulty with other assignments found himself in charge of a 173-foot submarine chaser.<ref name="navsource">[http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/01idx.htm 173' subchasers] from [http://www.navsource.org/ Navsource]</ref> In May 1943, while taking the [[USS PC-815|USS ''PC-815'']] on her [[shakedown cruise]] to San Diego, Hubbard attacked what he believed to be two enemy submarines, ten miles off the coast of Oregon. The "battle" took two days and involved at least four other US vessels plus two blimps, summoned for reinforcements and resupply.<ref name="Bare-faced" /><!-- p. 102-105 --> After reviewing instrument data, battle reports, interviews with the various captains and taking into account the fact that Japanese submarines didn't regularly operate there, Admiral [[Frank Jack Fletcher]], Commander Northwest Sea Frontier concluded; "An analysis of all reports convinces me that there was no submarine in the area. ... The Commanding Officers of all ships except the ''PC-815'' state they had no evidence of a submarine and do not think a submarine was in the area."<ref>"Battle Report - Submission of.", A16-3(3)/PC815, Vice Adm. Frank Jack Fletcher, Commander NW Sea Frontier, 8 June 1943; [[:Image:Batconcl.gif|Image of document]]</ref><ref name="Bare-faced" /><!-- p. 105 --> In June 1943, Hubbard was relieved of command after anchoring ''PC-815'' off the [[Coronado Islands]], which is Mexican territory. He further erred by conducting gunnery practice there. An official complaint from Mexican authorities, coupled with his failure to return to base as ordered, led to a Board of Investigation. It determined that Hubbard had disregarded orders, admonished him by letter to include in his records and transferred him to other duties. Having been the third leadership position lost in his tenure, the following assignment was one where he was not given command authority.<ref name="Bare-faced" /><!-- p. 106-107 --> His service ended with an honorable discharge after resigning his commission in 1950. In all he had one promotion and six decorations to show for his service, however he would claim to have accomplished much more than that in the decades which followed. It would also come out that he was relieved of command twice, and was also the subject of negative reports from his superiors on several occasions.<ref name="Bare-faced" /><!-- p. 98-99 --><ref name="Blue Sky" /><!--p. 74--><ref name="MBTR" /> |
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== Post war activities == |
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[[Image:MastersOfSleep.jpg|left|thumb|200 px|Hubbard's post war writing career: Cover of October, 1950 edition of ''[[Fantastic Adventures]]'' featuring Hubbard's "The Masters of Sleep".]] |
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After the war, Hubbard met [[Jack Parsons]], an aeronautics professor at [[Caltech]] and an associate of the British [[occultist]] [[Aleister Crowley]].<ref name="strange"/> Hubbard and Parsons were allegedly engaged in the practice of ritual [[magick]] in 1946, including an extended set of sex magic rituals called the [[Babalon Working]], intended to summon a goddess or "moonchild." The Church says Hubbard was working as an [[ONI]] agent on a mission to end Parsons' supposed magical activities and to "rescue" a girl Parsons was "using" for supposedly magical purposes. In a 1952 lecture series, Hubbard recommended a book of Crowley's and referred to him as "Mad Old Boy"<ref>Philadelphia Doctorate Lectures, '''Lecture #40 titled "Games/Goals"''', 12 December 1952: About "Limitations on self and others"</ref><ref>'''Lecture #45 titled "Development of Scientology: Characteristics of a Living Science"''', 13 December 1952: About "Life Science"</ref> and as "my very good friend".<ref>L. Ron Hubbard, "Conditions of Space/Time/Energy" Philadelphia Doctorate Course cassette tape #18 5212C05</ref> Hubbard later married the girl he said that he rescued from Parsons, [[Sara Northrup]].<ref>[http://www.xenu-directory.org/share/19691228-uk-sundaytimes.gif Scientology: A new light on Crowley], Sunday Times, December 28, 1969 (Article starts with "Scientology has sent us the following information:")</ref> Hubbard also described Parsons as his friend in his Scientology lectures rather than a person he was investigating. Crowley recorded in his notes that he considered Hubbard a "lout" who made off with Parsons' money and girlfriend in an "ordinary confidence trick."<ref name="Bare-faced" /><!-- p. 126 --><ref name="Blue Sky" /><!-- p. 98-99 --> |
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[[Sara Northrup]] became Hubbard's second wife in August 1946.<ref> L.A. Times Article, 2 May 1951</ref> It was an act of [[bigamy]], as Hubbard had abandoned, but not divorced, his first wife and children as soon as he left the Navy (he divorced his first wife more than a year after he had remarried).<ref name="Blue Sky" /><!-- p. 101 --> Both women allege Hubbard [[domestic violence|physically abused]] them. He is also alleged to have once kidnapped Sara's infant, Alexis, taking her to [[Cuba]]. Later, he disowned Alexis, claiming he was not her father and that she was actually [[Jack Parsons]]' child.<ref>{{cite book | author=Miller, Russell | authorlink=Russell Miller| title=Bare-faced Messiah, The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard | publisher=Henry Holt & Co | location=New York | edition=First American Edition | year=1987 | id=ISBN 0-8050-0654-0 | pages = 305-306 | url = http://www.religio.de/books/bfm/bfmconte.html |chapter=18. Messengers of God | chapterurl=http://www.religio.de/books/bfm/bfm18.html}}</ref> Sara filed for divorce in late 1950, citing that Hubbard was, unknown to her, still legally bound to his first wife at the time of their marriage. Her divorce papers also accused Hubbard of kidnapping their baby daughter Alexis, and of conducting "systematic torture, beatings, strangulations and scientific torture experiments."<ref name="SFGate01">Lattin, Don. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/02/12/MN115109.DTL "Scientology Founder's Family Life Far From What He Preached"], ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'', [[February 12]] [[2001]]</ref> |
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Hubbard returned to writing fiction briefly for a few years, his best-remembered work from this period being the ''[[Ole Doc Methuselah]]'' series for Campbell's ''[[Astounding Science Fiction]]'' magazine. It was in the pages of this magazine that the first article on Dianetics appeared; while some fiction works appeared after that (including "Masters of Sleep," which promotes Dianetics and features as a villain "a mad psychiatrist, Doctor Dyhard, who persists in rejecting Dianetics after all his abler colleagues have accepted it {{interp|and}} believes in prefrontal lobotomies for everyone")<ref>{{cite journal | last = Frenschkowski | first = Marco | year = 1999 | month = July | title = L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology: An annotated bibliographical survey of primary and selected secondary literature | journal = Marburg Journal of Religion | volume = 4 | issue = 1 | url = http://web.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/mjr/frenschkowski.html | accessdate = 2007-02-22 }}</ref><ref>[[L. Sprague de Camp|de Camp, L. Sprague]]. "[http://www.xenu.net/archive/oca/elron.html El-Ron Of The City Of Brass]".</ref> most of Hubbard's output thereafter was related to Dianetics or Scientology. Hubbard did not make a major return to non-Dianetics fiction until the 1980s. |
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In 1948 Hubbard was working as a "Special Officer" for the Metropolitan Detective Agency, licensed by the Los Angeles Police Department. According to Scientology, he performed the duties of an armed security guard:<ref>[http://humanitarian.lronhubbard.org/human/respect5.htm Hubbard in Los Angeles], lronhubbard.org</ref> "The guarding of particular properties, e.g., banks and warehouses, and the patrolling of a general neighborhood on behalf of local merchants. In the latter, the Special Officer’s duties were virtually the same as those of a regular officer, although the former had no powers of arrest beyond the "citizen’s arrest."<ref>[http://humanitarian.lronhubbard.org/human/respect4.htm Hubbard in Los Angeles], lronhubbard.org</ref> |
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==Dianetics== |
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[[Image:Asf 1950 dianetics.jpg|left|thumb|200 px|Introducing Dianetics: Cover of May, 1950 edition of ''[[Astounding Science Fiction]]'' featuring "Dianetics: a new science of the mind".]] |
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{{main|Dianetics}} |
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Beginning in late 1949, Hubbard sought to publicize [[Dianetics]], the [[self-help|self-improvement]] technique. Unable to elicit interest from mainstream publishers or medical professionals,<ref>http://www.ronthephilosopher.org/phlspher/page14.htm</ref> Hubbard turned to the legendary |
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science fiction editor [[John W. Campbell]], who had for years published Hubbard's science fiction. The first article on Dianetics was published in ''[[Astounding Science Fiction]]''. The science fiction community was divided about the merits of Hubbard's offering. Campbell's star author [[Isaac Asimov]] criticized Dianetics' unscientific aspects, and veteran author [[Jack Williamson]] described Dianetics as "a lunatic revision of [[Freudian]] psychology" that "had the look of a wonderfully rewarding scam." But Campbell and novelist [[A. E. van Vogt]] enthusiastically embraced Dianetics: Campbell became Hubbard's treasurer, and van Vogt—convinced his wife's health had been transformed for the better by [[auditing (Scientology)|auditing]]—interrupted his writing career to run the first Los Angeles Dianetics center.<ref name="Bare-faced"/> <!--p.153-166--> |
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In April 1950, Hubbard and several others established the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation in [[Elizabeth, New Jersey]] to coordinate work related for the forthcoming publication of a book on Dianetics. The book, entitled ''[[Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health]]'', was published in May 1950 by [[Hermitage House]], whose head was also on the Board of Directors of the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation.<ref name="Blue Sky" /><!--p. 107-9 --> With ''Dianetics,'' Hubbard introduced the concept of "[[auditing (Scientology)|auditing]]," a two-person question-and-answer therapy that focused on painful memories. According to Hubbard, dianetic auditing could eliminate emotional problems, cure physical illnesses, and increase intelligence. In his introduction to ''Dianetics'', Hubbard declared that "the creation of dianetics is a milestone for man comparable to his discovery of fire and superior to his inventions of the wheel and arch." |
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''Dianetics'' sold 150,000 copies within a year of publication.<ref name="Blue Sky"/><!-- p. 113 --> Upon becoming more widely available, Dianetics became an object of critical scrutiny by the press and the medical establishment. In September 1950, ''[[The New York Times]]'' published a cautionary statement on the topic by the [[American Psychological Association]] that read in part, "the association calls attention to the fact that these claims are not supported by empirical evidence," and went on to recommend against use of "the techniques peculiar to Dianetics" until such time it had been validated by scientific testing. ''[[Consumer Reports]],'' in an August 1951 assessment of Dianetics,<ref>[http://www.xenutv.com/print/consumer-review-0851.htm Dianetics Review]</ref> dryly noted "one looks in vain in ''Dianetics'' for the modesty usually associated with announcement of a medical or scientific discovery," and stated that the book had become "the basis for a new cult." The article observed "in a study of L. Ron Hubbard's text, one is impressed from the very beginning by a tendency to generalization and authoritative declarations unsupported by evidence or facts." ''Consumer Reports'' warned its readers against the "possibility of serious harm resulting from the abuse of intimacies and confidences associated with the relationship between auditor and patient," an especially serious risk, they concluded, "in a cult without professional traditions." |
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The Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation was incorporated in [[Elizabeth, New Jersey]]. Branch offices were opened in five other US cities before the end of 1950 (though most folded within a year). Hubbard soon abandoned the Foundation, denouncing a number of his former associates as [[communism|communists]] to the [[FBI]].<ref>{{cite web | first = Jamie | last = Doward | title = Lure of the celebrity sect | url = http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1217884,00.html | work = Special reports | publisher = [[The Observer]] | date = [[2004-05-16]] | accessdate = 2007-10-19 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | author=Miller, Russell | authorlink=Russell Miller| title=Bare-faced Messiah, The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard | publisher=Henry Holt & Co | location=New York | edition=First American Edition | year=1987 | id=ISBN 0-8050-0654-0 | url = http://www.religio.de/books/bfm/bfmconte.html |chapter=10. Commies, Kidnaps and Chaos | chapterurl=http://www.religio.de/books/bfm/bfm10.html}}</ref> |
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==Scientology== |
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[[Image:Notesonthelectures.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Hubbard's book, "Notes on the Lectures".{{deletable image-caption}}]] |
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{{main|Scientology}} |
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In mid-1952, Hubbard expanded Dianetics into an "applied religious philosophy" which he called [[Scientology]]. That year, Hubbard also married his third wife, [[Mary Sue Whipp]], to whom he remained married until his death (though separated by the early 70s). With Mary Sue, Hubbard fathered four more children—Diana, [[Quentin Hubbard|Quentin]], Suzette and Arthur—over the next six years. |
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[[Quentin Hubbard]], born in 1954, was groomed to one day replace him as head of the Scientology organization.<ref name="Blue Sky">pp. 213-214</ref> Quentin was uninterested in his father's plans and had preferred to become a pilot. He was also deeply depressed, allegedly because he was homosexual.<ref>{{cite news | title = Secret Lives: L. Ron Hubbard | publisher = Channel 4 (England) | date= 1997-11-19 | url = http://www.xenutv.com/int/secretlives.htm | accessdate = 2007-02-22}}</ref> Quentin attempted suicide in 1974, then in 1976 died under circumstances that might have been a suicide or murder.<ref>[http://www.holysmoke.org/cos/quentin-coronor.htm Quentin Hubbard Coroners Report]</ref><ref>[http://www.whyaretheydead.net/Quentin_Hubbard_22/ Life and death of Quentin Hubbard]</ref><ref>[http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/pignotti/ My Nine Lives in Scientology], by Monica Pignotti</ref> |
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On [[1953-02-10]] Hubbard was awarded an [[honoris causa|honorary]] [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] by [[Sequoia University]], California, "in recognition of his outstanding work and contributions in the fields of Dianetics and Scientology."<ref name="Now Religion">{{cite book | last = Malko | first = George | origyear = 1970 | edition = First Delta printing | year = 1971 | month = October | title = [[Scientology: The Now Religion]] | publisher = Dell Publishing | location = New York }}</ref> (This non-accredited body was closed by the California state courts some 30 years later <ref>"[http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/credentials.html Some Questionable Creationist Credentials]", talkorigins.org, May 31, 2002. Retrieved January 7, 2007. Sequoia University was issued a permanent injunction in 1984 by a Los Angeles judge and ordered to "cease operation until the school could comply with state education laws." The school offered degrees in osteopathic medicine, religious studies, hydrotherapy and physical sciences</ref> after it was investigated by California authorities on the grounds of being a mail-order "[[degree mill]]."<ref>) John B. Bear and Mariah P. Bear, ''Bears' Guide to Earning College Degrees Nontraditionally'', p.331. Ten Speed Press, 2003.</ref>) In December of that year, Hubbard declared Scientology a religion and the first [[Church of Scientology]] was founded in [[Camden, New Jersey]]. He moved to [[England]] at about the same time, and during the remainder of the 1950s he supervised the growing organization from an office in [[London]]. In 1959, he bought [[Saint Hill Manor]] near the [[Sussex, England|Sussex]] town of [[East Grinstead]], a [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] manor house owned by the [[Maharajah]] of [[Jaipur]]. This became the world headquarters of Scientology. Hubbard says he conducted years of intensive research into the nature of human existence; to describe his findings, he developed an elaborate vocabulary with many newly coined terms.<ref name="glossary">[http://www.scientology.org/gloss.htm The Official Scientology and Dianetics Glossary]</ref> He codified a set of [[Scientology 0-8: The Book of Basics|Scientology axioms]] and an "applied religious philosophy" that promised to improve the condition of the human [[spirit]], which he called the "[[Thetan]]."<ref>[http://www.scientology.org/wis/WISENG/34/34-scax.htm Scientology Axioms]</ref> The bulk of Scientology focuses on the "rehabilitation" of the thetan. |
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Hubbard's followers believed his "technology" gave them access to their past lives, the traumas of which led to failures in the present unless they were audited. By this time, Hubbard had introduced a biofeedback device to the auditing process, which he called a "Hubbard Electropsychometer" or "[[E-meter]]." It was invented in the 1940s by a [[chiropractor]] and Dianetics enthusiast named [[Volney Mathison]]. This machine is used by Scientologists in auditing to evaluate "mental masses" surrounding the thetan. These "masses" are said to impede the thetan from realizing its full potential. |
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Hubbard also said a good deal of physical disease was [[psychosomatic]], and one who, like himself, had attained the enlightened state of "clear" and become an "[[Operating Thetan]]" would be relatively disease free. According to biographers, Hubbard went to great lengths to suppress his recourse to modern medicine, attributing symptoms to attacks by malicious forces, both spiritual and earthly. Hubbard insisted humanity was imperiled by such forces, which were the result of negative memories (or "engrams") stored in the unconscious or "reactive" mind, some carried by the immortal thetans for billions of years. Thus, Hubbard asserts, the only possibility for spiritual salvation was a concerted effort to "clear the planet," that is, to bring the benefits of Scientology to all people everywhere, and attack all forces, social and spiritual, hostile to the interests of the movement. |
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Church members were expected to pay fixed donation rates for courses, auditing, books and E-meters, all of which proved very lucrative for the Church, which paid [[emolument]]s directly to Hubbard and his family.<ref name="Blue Sky"/><!--p. 142--> In a case fought by the Founding Church of Scientology of Washington, D.C. over its tax-exempt status (revoked in 1958 because of these emoluments) the findings of fact in the case included that Hubbard had personally received over $108,000 from the Church and affiliates over a four-year period, over and above the percentage of [[gross income]] (usually 10%) he received from Church-affiliated organizations.<ref name="Foster Report">''Enquiry into the Practice and Effects of Scientology'', Report by Sir John Foster, K.B.E., Q.C., M.P., Published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London December 1971. Cited at http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Cowen/audit/fosthome.html .</ref><!--para 118--> However, Hubbard denied such emoluments many times in writing, proclaiming he never received any money from the Church.<ref name="Blue Sky"/><!--p. 204--> |
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L. Ron Hubbard's philosophy, Scientology, and the Church of Scientology that he founded are controversial. Some documents written by Hubbard himself suggest he regarded Scientology as a business, not a religion. In one letter dated [[April 10]] [[1953]], he says calling Scientology a religion solves "a problem of practical business," and status as a religion achieves something "more equitable...with what we've got to sell." In a 1962 official policy letter, he said "Scientology 1970 is being planned on a religious organization basis throughout the world. This will not upset in any way the usual activities of any organization. It is entirely a matter for accountants and solicitors."<ref>Hubbard Communications Office Policy Letter, HCOPL, 29 October 1962, as cited in {{cite journal | last = Beit-Hallahmi | first = Benjamin | authorlink = Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi | year = 2003 | month = September | title = Scientology: Religion or racket? | journal = Marburg Journal of Religion | volume = 8 | issue = 1 | url = http://web.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/mjr/beit.html | accessdate = 2007-01-07}}</ref> A Reader's Digest article of May 1980 quoted Hubbard as saying in the 1940s "Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion."<ref>[http://www.skeptictank.org/readdig.htm Anatomy of a Frightening Cult]</ref> |
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According to ''The Visual Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'', ed. Brian Ash, Harmony Books, 1977: "... [Hubbard] began making statements to the effect that any writer who really wished to make money should stop writing and develop [a] religion, or devise a new psychiatric method. [[Harlan Ellison]]'s version (''Time Out'', UK, No 332) is that Hubbard is reputed to have told [[John W. Campbell|{{interpolation|John W.}} Campbell]], 'I'm going to invent a religion that's going to make me a fortune. I'm tired of writing for a penny a word.' [[Sam Moskowitz]], a chronicler of science fiction, has reported that he himself heard Hubbard make a similar statement, but there is no first-hand evidence." Though Hubbard himself was also quoted driving his people toward financial results. For example, in one of his bulletins to officials Hubbard implored:{{quotation|"Make money. Make more money. Make others produce so as to make money . . . However you get them in or why, just do it." and "Make sure that lots of bodies move through the shop,"|L. Ron Hubbard<ref name="TIME3-2">[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,972865-3,00.html The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power] 1991 Page 3, Time Magazine. Psychiatrists say these sessions can produce a drugged-like, mind-controlled euphoria that keeps customers coming back for more. To pay their fees, newcomers can earn commissions by recruiting new members, become auditors themselves (Miscavige did so at age 12), or join the church staff and receive free counseling in exchange for what their written contracts describe as a "billion years" of labor. "Make sure that lots of bodies move through the shop," implored Hubbard in one of his bulletins to officials. "Make money. Make more money. Make others produce so as to make money . . . However you get them in or why, just do it."</ref>}} |
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{{see also|Scientology controversy}} |
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==Legal difficulties and life on the high seas== |
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[[Scientology controversy|Scientology became a focus of controversy]] across the English-speaking world during the mid-1960s, with the [[United Kingdom]], [[New Zealand]], [[South Africa]], the [[Australia]]n state of [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] and the [[Canada|Canadian]] province of [[Ontario]] all holding public inquiries into Scientology's activities.<ref>[http://whyaretheydead.net/Cowen/audit/ofpapers.html Official Papers on Scientology]</ref> Hubbard left this unwanted attention behind in 1966, when he moved to [[Rhodesia]], following [[Ian Smith]]'s [[Unilateral Declaration of Independence (Rhodesia)|Unilateral Declaration of Independence]]. Attempting to ingratiate himself with the white minority government, he offered to invest large sums in Rhodesia's economy, then hit by UN sanctions, but was asked to leave the country. In 1967, L. Ron Hubbard further distanced himself from the controversy attached to Scientology by resigning as executive director of the church and appointing himself "[[Commodore (rank)|Commodore]]" of a small fleet of Scientologist-crewed ships that spent the next eight years cruising the [[Mediterranean Sea]]. Here, Hubbard formed the religious order known as the "Sea Organization" or "[[Sea Org]]," with titles and uniforms. The Sea Org subsequently became the management group within Hubbard's Scientology empire. |
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He was attended by "Commodore's Messengers," teenage girls dressed in white [[hot pants]] who waited on him hand and foot, fixing his shower and dressing him and even catching the ash from his cigarettes.<ref name="Blue Sky"/><!-- p.245 --> He had frequent screaming tantrums and instituted brutal punishments such as incarceration in the ship's filthy chain-locker for days or weeks at a time and "overboarding," in which errant crew members were blindfolded, bound and thrown overboard, dropping up to 40 ft. into the cold sea,<ref name="Blue Sky"/><!-- p.180-1 --> hoping not to hit the side of the ship with its sharp [[barnacles]] on the way down.<ref name="Blue Sky"/><!-- p.187 --><ref>Wakefield, Margery. ''Understanding Scientology'', Chapter 9. [http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/wakefield/us-09.html Reproduced] at [[David S. Touretzky]]'s [[Carnegie Mellon]] site.</ref> Some of these punishments, such as imprisonment in the chain-locker, were applied to children as well as to adults.<ref name="Blue Sky"/><!-- p.180-1 --> |
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A letter<ref name="expanded92">In ''L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman?'' Corydon, expanded 1992 paperback edition, page 59</ref> Hubbard wrote to his third wife, Mary Sue, when he was in Las Palmas around 1967: "I’m drinking lots of rum and popping pinks and greys..."{{Fact|date=December 2007}}. The author of an unauthorized Hubbard biography also says that "John McMasters told me that on the flagship ''Apollo'' in the late sixties he witnessed Hubbard's drug supply. 'It was the largest drug chest I had ever seen. He had everything!'". This was confirmed by Gerald Armstrong through Virginia Downsborough who said in 1967 he returned to Las Palmas totally debilitated from drugs.<ref>in "Bare-Faced Messiah" copyright (c) 1987 by Russell Miller, p. 266</ref> {{cquote|''We found him a hotel in Las Palmas and the next day I went back to see if he was all right, because he did not seem to be too well. When I went in to his room, there were drugs of all kinds everywhere. He seemed to be taking about sixty thousand different pills. I was appalled, particularly after listening to all his tirades against drugs and the medical profession. There was something very wrong with him... My main concern was to try and get him off all the pills he was on and persuade him that there was still plenty for him to do.''|Virginia Downsborough}} "He was existing almost totally on a diet of drugs. For three weeks Hubbard was bedridden, while she weaned him off his habit."<ref name="Blue Sky">Interview with Virginia Downsborough, Santa Barbara, October 1986,[http://www.religio.de/books/atack/contents.htm ''A Piece of Blue Sky''] copyright (c) 1990 by [[Jon Atack]], p. 171</ref> His drug use appears to pre-date the [[1967]] accounts.<ref> "Messiah or Madman" copyright (c) 1987, 1992 by Bent Corydon p. 59</ref> A letter written by Hubbard to his ex wife was given special attention in the Church of Scientology v. Armstrong case,{{quotation|''I do love you, even if I used to be an opium addict.''|L. Ron Hubbard}} |
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In 1977, Scientology offices on both coasts of the United States were raided by [[FBI]] agents seeking evidence of [[Operation Snow White]], a church-run espionage network. Hubbard's wife [[Mary Sue Hubbard|Mary Sue]] and a dozen other senior Scientology officials were convicted in 1979 of conspiracy against the [[United States federal government]], while Hubbard himself was named by federal prosecutors as an "unindicted co-conspirator."<ref name="Burglaries and Lies">{{cite news|author=Robert W. Welkos|coauthors=Joel Sappell|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-scientologysidec062490,0,7034344.story |title=Burglaries and Lies Paved a Path to Prison |work=Los Angeles Times |date= 24 June, 1990|accessdate=2006-05-22}}</ref> At this time the [[IRS]] also had evidence that he had skimmed millions of dollars from Church accounts and secreted the funds to destinations overseas.<ref name="TIME3">[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,972865-3,00.html The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power] 1991 Page 3, Time Magazine. During the early 1970s, the IRS conducted its own auditing sessions and proved that Hubbard was skimming millions of dollars from the church, laundering the money through dummy corporations in Panama and stashing it in Swiss bank accounts.</ref> Facing intense media interest and many subpoenas, he secretly retired to a ranch in tiny Creston, California, north of [[San Luis Obispo, California|San Luis Obispo]]. |
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In 1978, as part of a case against three French Scientologists, Hubbard was convicted of "making fraudulent promises" and given a four year prison sentence and a 35,000₣ fine by a French court.<ref>{{cite web | first = Lucy | last = Morgan | title = Abroad: Critics public and private keep pressure on Scientology | url = http://www.sptimes.com/News/32999/Worldandnation/Abroad__Critics_publi.html | work = | publisher = [[St. Petersburg Times]] | date = [[1999-03-29]] | accessdate = 2007-10-30 }}</ref> Hubbard was not in the country at the time of the trial, and didn't retain legal assistance. The case was subsequently appealed by one of the other convicts in 1980. Fraud charges against the appellant were dropped, and Scientology was recognized as a religion by the court.{{Fact|date=December 2007}} During this appeal, the court indicated that all those who had been convicted could be pardoned, if they filed their own appeals against the original ruling. A second defendant did in 1981, and the fraud charges were canceled by judgment on November 9, 1981. Hubbard himself never took any action, and the fine was never enforced.<ref>Reuters wire service, printed in Sunday Star (Toronto), 2 March 1980, also in International Herald Tribune, 3 March 1980:"The Paris Court of Appeal has recognized the U.S.-based Church of Scientology as a religion and cleared a former leader of the movement's French branch of fraud. ... The court's president indicated that the three others, who were sentenced in their absence, might be acquitted if they appealed."</ref><ref>Judgment of 9 Nov 1981, 13eme Chambre Correctionnelle du TGI de Paris, p. 171, "...l'intention de tromper pour obtenir la remise n'etant alors pas etablie. Auusi bien sa relaxe s'impose." - ".. the intention to deceive being not then established. Therefore her discharge is imperative." (typo in original French)</ref> |
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Hubbard's refusal to speak with British immigration officials about this conviction is said to have later caused the British [[Home Office]] to re-affirm an earlier decision to bar him from the UK.<ref>{{cite news |title= Scientology leader is ordered: Stay away|work= [[Daily Mail]]|date= [[1984-07-29]]}}</ref> In 1989 however the then Home Office Minister of State, [[Tim Renton, Baron Renton of Mount Harry|Tim Renton]], confirmed in writing that from 1980 until the date of his death, Hubbard had been free to apply for entry to the United Kingdom under the ordinary immigration rules and that any ban had been lifted on 16 July 1980.<ref>Home Office, Letter of Tim Renton, 24 Feb 1989: "I can indeed confirm that the ban on Scientologists entering this country ... was removed on 16 July 1980."</ref><ref>The Sunday Times, 13 July 1980 "Ministers to lift ban on Scientology," by Michael Jones and John Whale</ref> |
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The accuracy of Hubbard's self-representations were challenged in court during a 1984 custody case of a Scientologist and his former wife about two of their children. The judgment of the [[High Court of Justice|High court]] of London (Family Division) quotes the single judge, Latey, that Scientology is "dangerous, immoral, sinister and corrupt" and "has its real objective money and power for Mr. Hubbard."<ref name="Blue Sky" /><!-- p. 342 --> |
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The 1965 [[Anderson Report]], an inquiry on Hubbard and Scientology held in Australia, presented Hubbard as a man who made "pretentious and completely misleading pronouncements on scientific matters of which he is ignorant" based on knowledge that was "fragmentary and inaccurate and sometimes positively incorrect." |
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<blockquote>All that he writes and says is either accepted by his followers or, at the very least, it is not rejected. They are taught that they are entitled to question his pronouncements, but they are conditioned to the belief that whatever he says is right.<ref> [http://www.xenu.net/archive/audit/ar06.html] 1965 Anderson Report biography of Hubbard</ref></blockquote> A later finding in the report addresses his assertion of medical knowledge and ability by saying:<blockquote>Hubbard's claims to have found the only known cure for atomic radiation effects is not only unsubstantiated, but, in view of its obvious military value, hardly likely to have been left uninvestigated by military authorities if it was of any value whatever.<ref>[http://www.xenu.net/archive/audit/lee.html#evaluation] 1965 Anderson Report evaluation of Hubbard as a physician </ref></blockquote> |
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"[[Fair Game (Scientology)|Fair Game]]" was introduced by Hubbard as a policy against people or groups that "actively seeks to suppress or damage Scientology or a Scientologist by Suppressive Acts." He defined it as: ''ENEMY — SP Order. Fair game. 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''.<ref>HCO POLICY LETTER OF 18 OCTOBER 1967, Issue IV (canceled)</ref> |
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In July 1968, Hubbard revised this definition to a somewhat milder wording: ''ENEMY — Suppressive Person order. May not be communicated with by anyone except an Ethics Officer, Master at Arms, a Hearing Officer or a Board or Committee. May be restrained or imprisoned. May not be protected by any rules or laws of the group he sought to injure as he sought to destroy or bar fair practices for others. May not be trained or processed or admitted to any org.''<ref>[http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Cowen/audit/foster07.html HCO POLICY LETTER OF 21 JULY 1968], quoted in the [[Foster Report]], cancels the earlier HCO POLICY LETTER OF 18 OCTOBER 1967, Issue IV</ref> The use of the expression "Fair Game" was canceled altogether in October 1968, with Hubbard stating that {{quotation|The practice of declaring people FAIR GAME will cease. FAIR GAME may not appear on any Ethics Order. It causes bad public relations. This P/L does not cancel any policy on the treatment or handling of an SP.|L. Ron Hubbard<ref>Hubbard, HCOPL 21 October 1968, Cancellation of Fair Game</ref>}} Hubbard later explained that: {{quotation|There was never any attempt or intent on my part by the writing of these policies (or any others for that fact), to authorize illegal or harassment type acts against anyone. As soon as it became apparent to me that the concept of 'Fair Game' as described above was being misinterpreted by the uninformed, to mean the granting of a license to Scientologists for acts in violation of the law and/or other standards of decency, these policies were canceled."|L. Ron Hubbard<ref>Hubbard, affidavit of 22 March 1976, quoted in David V Barrett, The New Believers: A Survey of Sects, Cults and Alternative Religions, p. 464 (Octopus Publishing Group, 2003)</ref>}}While the number of incidents involving so-called dirty tricks or unethical actions dropped in the years that followed,<ref name="JGM36">J. Gordon Melton, ''The Church of Scientology'', Studies in Contemporary Religion, Signature Books, Salt Lake City 2000, p. 36</ref> several judges and juries have through their decisions or comments asserted that the tactics continued beyond Hubbard's order canceling use of the term Fair Game in 1968. <ref name="Offensive5">[http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-scientology062990x,0,5646473.story?page=5On the Offensive Against an Array of Suspected Foes] The Los Angeles Times, June 29 1990 by By JOEL SAPPELL and ROBERT W. WELKOS, Times Staff Writers Page 5 ''Church spokesmen maintain that Hubbard rescinded the policy three years after it was written...But various judges and juries have concluded that while the actual labeling of persons as "fair game" was abandoned, the harassment continued unabated.''</ref> |
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In the mid-1970s Hubbard decided to end his life at sea and covertly returned to the United States, living for a while in [[Florida]].<ref name="Blue Sky"/><!-- p.209-13 --> |
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==Later life== |
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During the 1980s, Hubbard returned to science fiction, publishing |
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''[[Battlefield Earth (novel)|Battlefield Earth]]'' and ''[[Mission Earth (novel)|Mission Earth]]'', the latter being an enormous book, published as a ten volume series. He also wrote an unpublished [[screenplay]] called ''Revolt in the Stars'', which dramatizes Scientology's [[OT III]] teachings.<ref>[Bare-Faced-Messiah, "Making Movies" http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/atack/bs6-1.htm]</ref>Hubbard's later [[science fiction]] sold well and received mixed reviews, but some press reports describe how sales of Hubbard's books were inflated by Scientologists purchasing large numbers of copies in order to manipulate the bestseller charts.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-scientology062890,1,737186,full.story?coll=la-news-comment&ctrack=5&cset=true |title = Costly Strategy Continues to Turn Out Bestsellers |accessdate = 2007-07-30 |last = Welkos |first = Robert W. |coauthors = Sappell, Joel |date = [[1990-06-28]] |work = The Scientology Story |publisher = [[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref><ref>McIntyre, Mike ([[April 15]], [[1990]]). [http://www.ex-cult.org/Groups/Scientology/sandiego.txt Hubbard Hot-Author Status Called Illusion]. ''San Diego Union'', p. 1.</ref> While claiming to be entirely divorced from the Scientology management, Hubbard continued to draw income from the Scientology enterprises; ''[[Forbes]]'' magazine estimated "at least $200 million gathered in Hubbard's name through 1982".<ref name="200mil"/> |
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Hubbard died at his ranch on [[24 January]] [[1986]], aged 74, reportedly from a [[stroke]].<ref>{{cite web | title = L. Ron Hubbard, Church of Scientology founder, dies | url = http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/archives/1986/8601020951.asp | work = | publisher = [[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]] | date = [[1986-01-28]] | accessdate = 2007-12-27 }}</ref> Scientology attorneys arrived to claim his body, which they sought to have [[cremation|cremated]] immediately per his will. They were blocked by the [[San Luis Obispo County, California|San Luis Obispo County]] [[medical examiner]], who ordered a drug toxicology test of a blood sample from Hubbard's corpse. The examination revealed a trace amount of the drug [[hydroxyzine]] (brand name Vistaril).<ref>[http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Toxicology_Report_Hubbard.gif] Image of Hubbard's toxicology report</ref><ref>Supplementary Coroner Report, 30 Jan 1986</ref><ref>Letter of Sheriff-Coroner E. Williams, 4 Nov 1987</ref> [[Vistaril]] is an [[antihistamine]] and mild sedative sometimes used for symptomatic treatment of anxiety, [[neurosis]] or as an adjunct in non-related diseases in which anxiety is apparent. It is also useful as an anti-emetic (to prevent nausea), and in treating allergic [[itch|pruritus]] such as chronic [[urticaria]] and [[Atopy|atopic]] and contact [[Dermatosis|dermatoses]].<ref>http://www.pfizer.com/pfizer/download/uspi_vistaril.pdf; VISTARIL® (hydroxyzine pamoate) Capsules and Oral Suspension; Pfizer; accessed 2007-04-11</ref> After the blood was taken, Hubbard's remains were cremated. |
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The Church of Scientology announced Hubbard had deliberately [[Scientology and sex#MEST and meat|discarded his body]] to do "higher level spiritual research," unencumbered by mortal confines, and was now living "on a planet a galaxy away."<ref>"The Making of L. Ron Hubbard," ''Los Angeles Times'', June 24, 1990, pg. A40</ref> In May 1987, [[David Miscavige]], one of Hubbard's former personal assistants, assumed the position of Chairman of the [[Religious Technology Center]] (RTC), a corporation that owns the trademarked names and symbols of Dianetics and Scientology. Although Religious Technology Center is a separate corporation from the Church of Scientology International, Miscavige is also the [[ecclesiology|ecclesiastical]] leader of the religion.<ref>Religious Technology Center [http://www.rtc.org/david-miscavige.htm David Miscavige Biography] (accessed [[2007-05-08]])</ref> [[Heber Jentzsch]] is the President of Church of Scientology International.<ref>[http://www.scientology.org/scnnews/jentzsch.htm Heber C. Jentzsch]</ref> |
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==Personality== |
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Publicly, Hubbard was sociable and charming.<ref name="SHRINKING">{{cite video | people = World in Action | title = The Shrinking World of L. Ron Hubbard | medium = Television Interview | publisher = Granada Television (England) | location = North Africa | date= 1968 }}</ref> Privately, he wrote entries in his notebook like "All men are your slaves," and "You can be merciless whenever your will is crossed and you have the right to be merciless."<ref name="MBTR"/> After a 1940 sailing trip that ended with engine trouble on his yacht, he began a three-month stay in [[Ketchikan, Alaska]]. Hubbard worked as the host of a popular maritime radio show where he was known as a "charismatic storyteller". He also incurred a debt from First National Bank in the amount of $350 which was not repaid.<ref name="ketchikan">{{cite web |url = http://www.sitnews.us/JuneAllen/Hubbard/011905_hubbard.html |publisher = Stories in the News |title = L. Ron Hubbard's Alaska Adventure | accessdate = 2007-11-07}}</ref>. Hubbard was also apparently interested in and talented at [[hypnosis]]<ref name="MBTR"/><ref name="ketchikan"/>. In a 1948 demonstration for a gathering of science fiction buffs in Los Angeles, Hubbard successfully convinced one person he was cradling a baby kangaroo<ref name="MBTR"/>. |
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But during this same period, Hubbard was financially destitute<ref name="MBTR"/>, and suffered from feelings of depression as well as suicidal thoughts, according to a letter he wrote in 1947 requesting assistance from Veterans Affairs<ref name="Time2">[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,972865-2,00.html The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power] Page 2, Time Magazine. The founder of this enterprise was part storyteller, part flimflam man. Born in Nebraska in 1911, Hubbard served in the Navy during World War II and soon afterward complained to the Veterans Administration about his "suicidal inclinations" and his "seriously affected" mind.</ref>. {{quotation|Toward the end of my (military) service, I avoided out of pride any mental examinations, hoping that time would balance a mind which I had every reason to suppose was seriously affected....I cannot account for nor rise above long periods of moroseness and suicidal inclinations, and have newly come to realize that I must first triumph above this before I can hope to rehabilitate myself at all.|L. Ron Hubbard<ref name="MBTR"/>}} |
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Hubbard was prone to self-aggrandizement and exaggeration<ref name="ketchikan"/>, and in 1938, he wrote a letter to then-wife Margaret "Polly" Grubb reading, "I have high hopes of smashing my name into history so violently that it will take a legendary form, even if all the books are destroyed. That goal is the real goal as far as I am concerned."<ref name="MBTR"/> In 1984, during the Church of Scientology's lawsuit against [[Gerry Armstrong]], Judge Paul G. Breckenridge Jr. described Hubbard as "charismatic and highly capable of motivating, organizing, controlling, manipulating and inspiring his adherents." However, the judge ruled against the Church, and in so doing said, "The evidence portrays a man who has been virtually a pathological liar when it comes to his history, background and achievements."<ref name="MBTR"/> |
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Hubbard was regarded as abusive by some family members and former associates. He married his second wife, Sara Northrup, on Aug. 10, 1946, without revealing his existing marriage and children.<ref name="MBTR"/><ref name="SFGate01"/> This was one reason for her later divorce from Hubbard. During those legal proceedings, Northrup alleged abuse by Hubbard, and produced a letter she received from Margaret "Polly" Grubb during the proceedings recounting her treatment by him.<ref name="MBTR"/> It reads, in part, {{cquote|Ron is not normal... I had hoped you could straighten him out. Your charges probably sound fantastic to the average person – but I've been through it – the beatings, threats on my life, all the sadistic traits which you charge – 12 years of it.<ref name="MBTR"/>}} |
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And several of those trusted to be near him say Hubbard was prone to emotional fits when he became upset, using insults and obscenities. Former Scientologist Adelle Hartwell once described such an outburst: "I actually saw him take his hat off one day and stomp on it and cry like a baby."<ref name="MBTR"/> |
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But the financial windfall that came with the success of Scientology allowed Hubbard to hide this and other aspects of his personality that contrasted with the image of himself currently celebrated by Scientologists,<ref name="MBTR"/> who regard Hubbard as "mankind's greatest friend".<ref>[http://www.lronhubbardprofile.org/profile/cont.htm "L. Ron Hubbard, A Profile"] - Church of Scientology-produced profile of Hubbard</ref> The few who worked at his side saw personality flaws and quirks not reflected in the staged photographs or in Hubbard's Church-produced biographies.<ref name="MBTR"/> |
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== Writing career == |
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{{main|L. Ron Hubbard bibliography|Scientology bibliography}} |
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Hubbard was an unusually prolific author and lecturer. Because the majority of Hubbard's writings of the 1950s through to the 1970s were aimed exclusively at Scientologists, the Church of Scientology founded its own companies to publish his works - [[Bridge Publications]] for the US and Canadian market and [[New Era Publications]], based in [[Denmark]], for the rest of the world. New volumes of his transcribed lectures continue to be produced; that series alone will ultimately total a projected 110 large volumes. Hubbard also wrote a number of works of fiction during the 1930s and 1980s, which are published by the Scientology-owned [[Galaxy Press]]. All three of these publishing companies are subordinate to [[Author Services Inc.]], another Scientology corporation. |
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Hubbard was awarded the 1994 [[Ig Nobel Prize]] in Literature (a parody of the Nobel -- the name derives from the word "ignoble") for "his crackling Good Book, ''Dianetics,'' which is highly profitable to mankind—or to a portion thereof."<ref>http://improbable.com/ig/ig-pastwinners.html#ig1994</ref> |
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In 2006, [[Guinness World Records]] declared Hubbard the world's most published and most translated author, having published 1,084 fiction and non-fiction works that have been translated into 71 languages.<ref>http://www.voxmagazine.com/stories/2006/12/07/guinness-gracious/ Guinness Gracious; Vox - Columbia Missourian; Sean Ludwig; |
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December 7, 2006; accessed 2007-02-11 |
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</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.thebookstandard.com/bookstandard/news/author/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001476331 | title = Guinness World Records: L. Ron Hubbard Is the Most Translated Author | accessdate = 2007-02-12 | last = Maul | first = Kimberly | date = [[2005-11-09]] | work = [[Nielsen Company|The Book Standard]]}}</ref> |
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A selection of Hubbard's best-known titles are below; [[L. Ron Hubbard bibliography|a bibliography of Hubbard's more popular work]] is available in a separate article. |
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===Fiction=== |
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*''Buckskin Brigades'' (1937), ISBN 0-88404-280-4 |
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*''Final Blackout'' (1940), ISBN 0-88404-340-1 |
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*''[[Fear (novel)|Fear]]'' (1951), ISBN 0-88404-599-4 |
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*''Typewriter in the Sky'' (1951), ISBN 0-88404-933-7 |
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*''Ole Doc Methuselah'' (1953), ISBN 0-88404-653-2 |
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*''[[Battlefield Earth (novel)|Battlefield Earth]]'' (1982), ISBN 0-312-06978-2 |
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*''[[Mission Earth (novel)|Mission Earth]]'' (1985-87), 10 vols. |
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*''[[Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health]],'' New York 1950, ISBN 0-88404-416-5 |
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*''Child Dianetics. Dianetic Processing for Children,'' Wichita, Kansas 1951, ISBN 0-88404-421-1 |
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*''[[Notes on the Lectures]]'' Parts of transcripts and notes from a series of lectures given in Los Angeles, California in November 1950, ISBN 088404-422-X |
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*''Scientology 8-80,'' Phoenix, Arizona 1952, ISBN 0-88404-428-9 |
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*''[[Dianetics 55!]],'' Phoenix, Arizona 1954, ISBN 0-88404-417-3 |
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*''[[Dianetics: The Evolution of a Science]]'' Phoenix, Arizona 1955, ISBN 1-4031-0538-3 |
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*''Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought'' Washington, DC 1956, ISBN 0-88404-503-X |
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*''The Problems of Work'' Washington, DC 1956, ISBN 0-88404-377-0 |
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*''Have You Lived Before This Life?,'' East Grinstead, Sussex 1960, ISBN 0-88404-447-5 |
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*''Scientology: A New Slant on Life,'' East Grinstead, Sussex 1965, ISBN 1-57318-037-8 |
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*''[http://www.scientologyhandbook.org/ The Volunteer Minister's Handbook]'' Los Angeles 1976, ISBN 0-88404-039-9 |
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*''Research and Discovery Series,'' a chronological series collecting Hubbard's lectures. Vol 1, Copenhagen 1980, ISBN 0-88404-073-9 |
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*''The Way to Happiness,'' Los Angeles 1981, ISBN 0-88404-411-4 |
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== Fictionalized depictions in media == |
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Fictional versions and parodies of L. Ron Hubbard have appeared in novels, motion pictures, television cartoons, video games and other media. |
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*Hubbard turns up in a fellow pulp author's fiction as early as [[Anthony Boucher]]'s 1942 murder mystery ''Rocket to the Morgue'' which features cameos by members and friends of the "Mañana Literary Society of Southern California," in which Hubbard makes a dual appearance as D. Vance Wimpole and Rene Lafayette (one of his pen names)<ref name="strange">{{cite book | last = Pendle | first = George | authorlink = George Pendle | title = Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons | year = 2005 | publisher = [[Harcourt Trade Publishers|Harcourt]] | isbn = 978-0-15-100997-8 | pages = pg.253 | chapter = }}</ref>. In [[Keith Giffen]]'s [[Justice League]] International, a robot appeared named [[L-Ron]]. In later issues, L-Ron's full programming code was revealed as "L-Ron H*bb*rd".<ref name="DC">[http://www.brokenfrontier.com/lowdown/details.php?id=469 Justice League Broken Frontier] JLA members</ref> L-Ron is still a minor character in the [[DC Universe]]. |
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*One of the Pets in [[Chuck Rosenthal]]'s 2007 novel, ''The Heart of Mars'', is called ElronHubbard.<ref name="Tc">[http://thethunderchild.com/Interviews/Books/ChuckRosenthal.html Interview] with Chuck Rosenthal from The Thunder Child: ''Those Pets. Yes, I got the el-word out of them, and of course El herself. I didn’t really have a good reason for the El names: '''Elronhubbard''', Elmoleonard, I just tried them and thought they were funny, though by the time I got to the whalemaster Pet, Ermanmelville just sat up and barked. Besides, there’s no writing in this solar system anymore, ha! As well, the Pets communicate by smell and I was born without the sense of smell; never smelled a thing in my life. I thought it would be really interesting to see how I’d do that.''</ref> |
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*The rock band Tool mentions L. Ron Hubbard in their song "Ænema" with the lyrics "fuck L. Ron Hubbard and fuck all his clones." |
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*In [[Steven Soderbergh]]'s film "[[Schizopolis]]", the main character works for "T. Azimuth Schwitters," founder of "Eventualism," a clear reference to Hubbard and Scientology. |
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*Hubbard and Scientology were parodied in an episode of the animated television series ''[[South Park]]'' entitled "[[Trapped in the Closet (South Park)|Trapped in the Closet]]". Through a series of events, Scientologists erroneously believed that series protagonist [[Stan Marsh]] was the reincarnation/second coming of Hubbard. |
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==Notes== |
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{{reflist|2}} |
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==External links== |
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{{Portal|Scientology|Scientology e meter blue.jpg}} |
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{{wikiquote}} |
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{{commons}} |
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===Official Biographical sites=== |
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* [http://www.lronhubbard.org/search/indxlrh.htm Index of L. Ron Hubbard Site] |
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* [http://www.lronhubbardprofile.org A profile of L. Ron Hubbard] |
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* [http://www.scientologytoday.org/Common/question/pg79.htm ScientologyToday: Who is L. Ron Hubbard?] 6 commonly asked questions by the media |
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* [http://www.authorservicesinc.com Author Services Inc.] Various fictional genres by L. Ron Hubbard |
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* [http://www.writersofthefuture.com Writers of the Future] A contest founded by L. Ron Hubbard to encourage upcoming fiction and fantasy writers |
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===Unofficial Biographies (Online)=== |
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*[http://www.clambake.org/archive/books/mom/Messiah_or_Madman.txt ''L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman?''] by [[Bent Corydon]] <!--not "Brent"--> |
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*[http://www.religio.de/books/atack/contents.htm ''A Piece of Blue Sky''] by [[Jon Atack]] Contains biographical material in addition to other topics. |
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*[http://www.religio.de/books/bfm/bfmconte.html ''Bare Faced Messiah''] by [[Russell Miller]] |
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===Further mention of Hubbard=== |
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*[[Operation Clambake]] [http://www.xenu.net site]. (critical material on Hubbard and Scientology) |
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*[http://www.thesmokinggun.com/scientology/scientology.html U.S. Government FBI Files] for Hubbard via The Smoking Gun |
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*[http://slate.msn.com/id/2122835/?nav=ais "L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology's esteemed founder," by Michael Crowley] (''Slate'' magazine, [[July 15]], [[2005]]) |
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*[http://www.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/mjr/frenschkowski.html Annotated bibliography of literature by and about L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology, by Marco Frenschkowski] |
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*{{imdb name|id=0399196|name=L. Ron Hubbard}} |
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* {{isfdb name|id=L._Ron_Hubbard|name=L. Ron Hubbard}} |
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*[http://www.thebookstandard.com/bookstandard/news/author/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001476331 Guinness World Records: L. Ron Hubbard Is the Most Translated Author] |
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*[http://www.iblist.com/author896.htm L. Ron Hubbard] at the [[Internet Book List]] [http://www.iblist.com] |
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