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David Miscavige

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David Miscavige
Born (1960-04-30) April 30, 1960 (age 64)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
EmployerReligious Technology Center
TitleChairman of the Board
SpouseMichelle Miscavige
ChildrenNone
WebsiteReligious Technology Center, Bio

David Miscavige (born April 30, 1960) is Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center (RTC), a corporation that controls the trademarked names and symbols of Dianetics and Scientology, and "holds the ultimate ecclesiastical authority regarding the standard and pure application of L. Ron Hubbard’s religious technologies."[2] Although Religious Technology Center is a separate corporation from the Church of Scientology, Miscavige is officially described as "worldwide ecclesiastical leader of the Scientology religion."[3][4] Elliot Abelson, a general counsel for the Church of Scientology has stated that "The only person who runs the Church and makes policy decisions is David Miscavige."[5]

A second-generation Scientologist, Miscavige was an assistant to Hubbard while still a teenager, and rose to a leadership position within the organization by the early 1980s. He was named Chairman of the Board RTC in 1986, some months after Hubbard's death. He reportedly lives at Scientology's Gold Base, which is also the main RTC headquarters, near Hemet, California.[6][7][8]

Biography

David Miscavige was born in Philadelphia to Loretta and Ron Miscavige Sr.[9] and he was the youngest of their four children. The Polish-Italian family was Roman Catholic, but not very observant.[9] One sister is Denise Licciardi who in 2002 was hired by Bryan Zwan as a top executive for the Clearwater, Florida-based company Digital Lightwave.[10] His older brother is Ronnie Miscavige, who for a time was also in the Sea Organization[11] – but who is now in the real estate business as Managing Broker of the Williamsburg office of Long & Foster Real Estate [12], and left the Church of Scientology in 2000.[13]

Miscavige suffered from childhood ailments as well as allergies, which kept him from accomplishing athletic and academic goals. During this time his father, a trumpet player, became interested in Scientology. Ron Miscavige Sr.'s interest in Scientology led him to have the boy sent to a Scientologist. According to him and his son, the 45-minute Dianetics session cured his ailments. The family was impressed enough by Scientology to move to the world headquarters in Saint Hill Manor, England.[9]

Scientology career

File:Dm0.jpg
ABC News, David Miscavige in a video still by Tampa ABC News affiliate at a legal hearing

Miscavige left high school in 1976 and joined the Sea Organization and became a member of Commodore's Messenger Organization, where, while still a teenager, he became one of L. Ron Hubbard's assistants, first as the person in charge of video and then as Cameraman, in the production of Scientology training films. After this, in 1979, he became "Action Chief" of the Commodore's Messenger Organization a position "responsible for missionaire activities of the Church." He was later appointed to disband the Guardian's Office and took part in reworking the corporate structure of the Scientology network.

In 1981 Mary Sue Hubbard, at that time second only to L. Ron Hubbard himself in Scientology's hierarchy, was appealing her prison sentence for her part in Operation Snow White, and she began to face criticism from within the Scientology organization. The St. Petersburg Times, in the 1998 article "The Man Behind Scientology," states: "During two heated encounters, Miscavige persuaded Mary Sue Hubbard to resign. Together they composed a letter to Scientologists confirming her decision -- all without ever talking to L. Ron Hubbard." According to Miscavige, he and Mary Sue Hubbard remained friends thereafter.[9][14]

In the beginning of 1982, he became Chairman of the Board of Author Services, Incorporated (ASI).[15][9]

In October of 1982, Miscavige required that those operating Scientology Missions - called Mission Holders - sign trademark usage contracts, which established new fees and included newer strict policies on the proper use of Scientology materials[16][17][18]. These Scientology Mission Holders would lose their licenses if they did not sign these trademark agreements.

Tax exemption

In 1993 after lengthy negotiations an agreement with the Internal Revenue Service was reached on its treatment of the Church of Scientology. In 1991 Miscavige, with Mark Rathbun, had gone to IRS headquarters to meet with the Commissioner Fred Goldberg, which led to a two year review process (in which IRS tax analysts were ordered to ignore the substantive issues because the issues had been resolved prior to review),[19] and ultimately, tax exemption for the Church of Scientology International and its organizations in the US and partially abroad.[citation needed] Later, in 1997, the church issued a statement denying the "impromptu meeting" version of events, which the IRS and Goldberg declined to comment on.[20]

In 1990, Miscavige founded Citizens for an Alternative Tax System, a national tax reform interest group. [21]

Public contact

Miscavige was interviewed at length by Ted Koppel of ABC News in 1992 and described what he considered were misconceptions about Scientology. Miscavige said that extraterrestrial beliefs (see Space opera in Scientology doctrine) are not as important as people believe or not important at all.[22] In 1998, he was interviewed by the St. Petersburg Times.[23] Aside from those interviews, he has rarely spoken to the press. However, he is often a speaker at major Scientology openings, award ceremonies and related events.[24]

Among Scientologists, Miscavige is often referred to simply as "DM"[17] or "C.O.B." (Chairman of the Board).

Personal life

According to his official Scientology biography, David Miscavige's hobbies are riding motorcycles, fishing, snorkeling and underwater photography.[citation needed]

Miscavige has been married since 1981 to Shelly (Michelle) Miscavige, née Barnett, who also serves as his official assistant. They have no children.

Miscavige served as best man in his friend Tom Cruise's 2006 wedding to Katie Holmes.[25]

Criticism and controversies

The Nightline interview

In Miscavige's 1992 Nightline interview, Miscavige made several strong and controversial claims, amongst them the claim that in 1955 a bill had been presented in Congress to set aside "a million acres [4000 km²; 400,000 ha] in Alaska" to set up a "Siberia, USA" for the housing of mental patients. When host Ted Koppel asked for evidence of this, such as the sponsor of the bill, or the bill number, Miscavige said that he had already given all that information to Koppel's colleague Forrest Sawyer.[22] It is generally assumed that Miscavige was referring to the Alaska Mental Health Bill, (H.R. 6376, 84th Congress, 2nd Session) dated January 19 1956. The purpose of the bill was to establish a land trust to allow the Alaska Territorial government to fund its own mental health facilities as opposed to its practice in that time of sending its patients for treatment in Oregon. L. Ron Hubbard also mentioned a "Siberia bill" in his tape Ron's Journal 67.

Miscavige also said that the "APA [presumably the American Psychological Association or American Psychiatric Association], AMA, Food and Drug Administration ... were all coordinated" in a five-year campaign against Scientology that included the murder of one of Scientology's executive directors (unnamed): "They literally murdered- the Food and Drug Administration hired an informant to go into our organization in Seattle, Washington, his wife was there [...] Several weeks later, murdered the head of our organization." [22]

Another of Miscavige's claims was: "Look at the studies that brought about the Holocaust of the Jews, that the Nazis justified killing the Jews, they were done at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Leipzig, Germany." However, the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry has only existed since 1966 (in Munich and not Leipzig); it was the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Psychiatrie that joined the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Psychiatry in 1924, [26] that was later incorporated into the Max Planck Society in 1954. [27] This association of psychiatry with Nazism remains prominent in the church's activism, and is the basis for its exhibit Psychiatry: An Industry of Death.

Miscavige made accusations against specific individuals as well, saying that Time magazine reporter Richard Behar (author of several articles highly critical of Scientology, such as "The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power") had advocated the kidnapping and deprogramming of Scientologists, and that Vicki Aznaran (Chairman of the Board of the Religious Technology Center, previous to Miscavige) had been "kicked out for trying to bring criminals into the church". [22]

Other matters

  • In 1982 in an attempted probate case, Ronald DeWolf, Hubbard's estranged son, accused Miscavige of embezzling from and manipulating his father. Hubbard denied this in a written statement, saying that his business affairs were being well managed by Author Services Inc., over which Miscavige was Chairman of the Board at that time. Judge J. David Hennigan found against DeWolf, dismissing the case on 27 June 1983.[28]
  • In 1983, former Scientologist Jesse Prince testified that Miscavige had ordered that various materials authored by L. Ron Hubbard be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office though the materials in question might have fallen into the public domain.[29].
  • Starting in September of 2005 all references to Mark Rathbun and Warren McShane, the two other publicly known members of the RTC board of directors, were removed from all Scientology web sites leaving David Miscavige as the only member of RTC Board listed on the RTC website.[30][31]
  • On January 25, 2008, a niece of David Miscavige, Jenna Miscavige Hill, wrote a letter to Church of Scientology spokesperson Karin Pouw, stating that disconnection was a current practice within the Church of Scientology, as a rebuttal to the Church's official statement that was made in response to Andrew Morton's unauthorized biography on Tom Cruise.[13]

References

  1. ^ Tobin, Thomas C. (1998-10-25). "The man behind Scientology". part 4. St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 2007-08-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Religious Technology Center David Miscavige Biography (accessed 2007-05-08)
  3. ^ Religious Technology Center David Miscavige Biography, page 2 (accessed 2007-05-08)
  4. ^ Behar, Richard The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power Time Magazine May 6, 1991 page 50
  5. ^ Tapper,James http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=506359&in_page_id=1773&ct=5 Diana author names Tom Cruise as 'World Number Two in Scientology'
  6. ^ Reitman, Janet Inside Scientology Rolling Stone, Issue 995. March 9, 2006. Page 57.
  7. ^ Young, Robert Vaughn Scientology from inside out, Quill magazine, Volume 81, Number 9, Nov/Dec 1993.
  8. ^ Hoffman, Claire Tom Cruise and Scientology, Los Angeles Times, December 18, 2005
  9. ^ a b c d e Tobin, Thomas C. (1998-10-25). "The man behind Scientology". part 2. St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 2007-08-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ O'Neil, Deborah (June 2, 2002). "The CEO and his church: Months of interviews and thousands of pages of court papers show the effect that influential church members had on a Clearwater company that was a darling of the dot-com boom". St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg Times. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ Atack, Jon (1990). "Chapter Four—The Young Rulers". [[A Piece of Blue Sky]]. Lyle Stuart. p. 448. ISBN 0-8184-0499-X. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); URL–wikilink conflict (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ http://ronmiscavige.lnfre.com/falcon/webui/lnfwelcomepage.aspx
  13. ^ a b Jacobsen, Jonny (2008-01-28). "Niece of Scientology's leader backs Cruise biography". AFP. Yahoo! News. Retrieved 2008-01-28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ Miller, Russell (1987). "22. Missing, Presumed Dead". Bare-faced Messiah, The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard (First American Edition ed.). New York: Henry Holt & Co. pp. 305–306. ISBN 0-8050-0654-0. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ David Miscavige affidavit, 17 February 1994
  16. ^ SO ED 2104 INT "The Flow Up The Bridge, The US Mission Holders Conference, San Francisco 1982," transcript, page 1
  17. ^ a b Sappell, Joel (1990-06-24). "The Man In Control". Los Angeles Times. p. A41:4. Retrieved 2006-06-06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help) Additional convenience link at [1].
  18. ^ "Mystery of the Vanished Ruler". TIME. 1983-01-31. Retrieved 2007-08-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ Frantz, Douglas (1997-03-09). "Scientology's Puzzling Journey From Tax Rebel to Tax Exempt". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-01-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ Frantz, Douglas (1997-03-19). "Scientology Denies an Account Of an Impromptu I.R.S. Meeting". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-01-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ Wall Street Journal, Oct 23, 1997
  22. ^ a b c d Koppel, Ted, Nightline, David Miscavige interview of February 14, 1992; Official ABC News Transcripts TV Broadcast, hosted on YouTube
  23. ^ Tobin, Thomas C. (1998-10-25). "The Man Behind Scientology". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 2008-01-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  24. ^ Inauguración de la Iglesia Nacional de Scientology de España, Keynote Address at the Grand Opening of the Church of Scientology New York (accessed August 3, 2006)
  25. ^ "Cruise and Holmes go on honeymoon". BBC News. 2006-11-19. Retrieved 2007-02-10.
  26. ^ The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, By William E. Seidelman, MD
  27. ^ A brief history of the Institute, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry
  28. ^ Miller, Russell (1987). [[Bare-faced Messiah]], The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard. Henry Holt & Co. ISBN 0-8050-0654-0. {{cite book}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help) Page 369.
  29. ^ Jesse Prince affidavit, United States District Court for the District of Colorado, Bridge Publications Inc v. Factnet Inc; Lawrence Wollersheim; Robert Penny, Civil Action No. 95-K-2143, 1998
  30. ^ "David Miscavige Chairman of the Board Religious Technology Center". Religious Technology Center. Archived from the original on 2005-09-04. Retrieved 2007-02-26.
  31. ^ "David Miscavige Chairman of the Board Religious Technology Center". Religious Technology Center. Archived from the original on 2005-10-29. Retrieved 2007-02-26.
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