Ed Brayton is a freelance writer and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
L. Ron Brown at the Frame Problem reports on documents that show that the Cult Church of Scientology conspired to destroy the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), the group founded by James Randi and Paul Kurtz. The Scientology plan even went so far as to forge documents on CIA stationary. All of this came out in a court case that sent 9 Scientology leaders to jail, including the wife of L. Ron Hubbard. You can read about it in this old report in a Toronto newspaper.
Comments
This is great and all, but I was expecting someone (you or the link) to have some commentary on how this is relevant 30 years later. Isn't this all linked directly to the widely known "Operation Snow White" scientology case?
Posted by: kodiak | May 8, 2008 11:01 AM
Ed:
Welcome to the effort to expose the cult.
Posted by: Ron Brown | May 8, 2008 11:35 AM
Kodiak: It's relevant in that it is yet another incident in which they have attacked critics unethically and quite harshly. It is a part of Operation: Snow White. It shows one more layer to the breadth of this operation.
Is it still relevant today? Apparently. They're still accused and demonstrated (e.g., in the BBC "Scientology & Me" Documentary) of harassing those investigating anything they do.
Posted by: Ron Brown | May 8, 2008 11:39 AM
Ed -
It's "stationery".
Posted by: Mr. Spelling Person | May 8, 2008 12:46 PM
Nope the paper wasn't moving anywhere - :) DJ
Posted by: DingoJack | May 8, 2008 1:02 PM
Ron, I get that it was relevant at the time for establishing a pattern of operation. However, that pattern has been long established at this point and dredging it up to say they were bad guys way back when seems more than pointless to me when they are being bad guys right this second. If nothing else, this allows them to say "lookee they don't have anything on us that isn't 30 years old! That was all taken care of and old news now, why do they continue to persecute us?"
If there is a reason it's relevant today that I'm missing then please someone show me, but I don't see it. No new information is even being added here, it's all 30 year old news at this point... they didn't even manage to suceed with their goals CSICOP is still going strong and the Amazing Randi is hanging in there too...
Sorry I don't see how this information is worthwhile. And I'm speaking as someone who enjoys the great majority of Ed's writings (and can understand how people find the rest relevant even if I don't care about sports or comedians), I just don't get that this has any significance anywhere along the line. What information am I missing??
Posted by: kodiak | May 8, 2008 1:41 PM
The massed resources of the Church of Scientology vs. The Amazing Randi - I know where I'd put my money. He's still kicking butts and taking names.
Posted by: Tegumai Bopsulai, FCD | May 8, 2008 4:03 PM
This is an astonishing story - thanks for pointing it out, Ed. This really is a glimpse into just how evil and paranoid the Church of Scientology was (and is).
To the commenter who doesn't see how this is relevant: 30 years is not such a long time. How do you know Scientology has truly changed its ways? What assurance has the church given, what reason to believe they no longer engage in tactics like this? I haven't even seen an admission of wrongdoing from them, much less an apology.
Posted by: Ebonmuse | May 8, 2008 9:24 PM
This underscores what's been my major criticism of Randi and his methods - his choice of targets. Why do he and CSICOP waste their time debunking blue-haired fortune-telling old ladies and New Age muffin heads, when there are so many bigger fish to fry?
Scientologists and other "mainstream" faith-healer types, almost invariably (with the exception of Co$) fundamental Christianists, do far, far more damage to the minds, bodies and wallets of their followers than a thousand "New Age woo" practitioners. A Reiki healer or Homeopath only scams a few hundred bucks out of their "victims", at most. Co$ and their ilk destroy entire families and their fortunes, encourage lawlessness, and many of them are working to imposing their own theocracy on society. I don't see tarot readers or astrologers taking over major political parties to push their agendas.
Stop messing around with the easy targets, CSICOP. Take down a few megachurch miracle pushers and I'll be impressed.
Posted by: Joe Max | May 8, 2008 11:08 PM
You mean like Peter Popoff, whom Randi destroyed practically single-handedly back in the '80s?
Wallets? Probably. Minds? Maybe. But bodies? I doubt it. If people go to reiki practitioners and homeopaths and miracle healers instead of getting actual medical treatment, I think that's going to harm them physically a lot more than Scientology. Unless Tom Cruise goes around knee-capping people now, and it just doesn't make the news.
Maybe. Or maybe they can scam you out of $200,000.
Wait, are you asking for CSICOP to go after Scientologists or Rev. Moon? I don't see Scientology taking over any political parties either.
Posted by: Skemono | May 8, 2008 11:40 PM
Both.
I see the Christianist Right taking over one major political party - people like Popoff, who is back in business, by the way. I guess he didn't stay destroyed.
http://www.peterpopoff.org/
But as far as the Co$ goes, I don't see gigantic "tarot centers" around the world and in every middle sized city in the USA, grabbing people off the streets and bilking them for hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of "treatments." You've offered an example of one "psychic" scam artist who ripped off one old person, which is tragic. Multiply that by several hundred thousand, and you've got Co$, and every Christianist "faith healer" operation on late night TV, which is a unmitigated catastrophe.
I think a little triage is called for here. Who's doing more damage, both to individuals and society - reikis, fortune tellers and astrologers, or Scientologists, Christianist mega-churches and Moonies?
Do the math.
Posted by: Joe Max | May 8, 2008 11:58 PM
I'm with Joe Max here. CSICOP needs to go after the big targets. As for "medical," how'bout this for starters:
Keyword search "jesus camps" and "joel's army" and a few similar items, or go to Talk2Action and look around for the stuff on those "camps" for troubled juveniles, drug abusers, and suchlike. In a number of jurisdictions, when a kid is busted for drugs, or when a grownup is busted for drugs, the judge gives them two options: prison (implied: ass rape by big guys with HIV) or "alternative sentencing" in the form of "treatment" from one of those groups on the list. And the list is usually stuffed full of these extremist Christian "treatment programs" and virtually devoid of other types of programs.
Most of these camps are subsidiaries of extremist churches & similar organizations. There is saturation indoctrination with religion, doubters and those who won't convert don't pass the program (and can thereby be sent to prison anyway), there is hardcore pressure to turn over lists of family member contact info for "evangelizing" including fundraising, and there is hardcore pressure in some cases to become an "evangelist" for the orgnaization.
In some cases there is interference with medical treatments: inmates including juveniles sent in on non-drug charges are told they cannot take prescription medications including meds prescribed for depression, bipolar disorder, and so on. Families have to sign medical waivers. In Missouri there is a specific exemption from medical regulations for religious-based "treatment programs" and camps. In other states, regs are not enforced.
In many cases, physical abuse and violence are used against minors as part of the disciplinary routine. For example a teenage girl was forced to lick her vomit off the floor and swallow it. For example, kids are often beaten for refusing to comply.
When kids are taken off their prescribed meds (even if they are not in there for drug abuse), they are at risk for suicide and for psychotic episodes.
And this is supposed to qualify as "treatment," duly enforced by judges' orders.
If CSICOP wants an absolutely enormous scam to investigate, they ought to start there.
After all, how many judges do you see who order teenagers to go see fortune-tellers and woo-woo healers under threat of imprisonment?
Posted by: g347 | May 9, 2008 6:51 AM
"To the commenter who doesn't see how this is relevant: 30 years is not such a long time. How do you know Scientology has truly changed its ways? What assurance has the church given, what reason to believe they no longer engage in tactics like this? I haven't even seen an admission of wrongdoing from them, much less an apology."
Er, you totally missed my point. They are doing WORSE things today than they were 30 years ago. And all I'm saying is let's highlight that instead of this. Let's focus on the deaths caused by this dangerous cult instead of a failed scheme that was exposed 30 years ago.
And no, they aren't going to apologize, neither have they admitted guilt, however, nine high-profile members were arrested for the crime and all the documents became public record... so while we don't have a "sorry, we confess" there's damning evidence of guilt in that case. that 30 year old case.
Meh, that'll be my last word on the subject. If you don't know much about their criminal past then maybe this post will help you research it. For those who have been paying attention this seems strangely out of place.
Posted by: kodiak | May 9, 2008 11:25 AM