Free Zone (Scientology)
Encyclopedia
The Free Zone comprises a variety of groups and individuals who practice Scientology
beliefs and techniques
independently of the Church of Scientology
(CoS). Such practitioners range from those who closely adhere to the original teachings of Scientology's founder L. Ron Hubbard
, to those who have so far adapted their practices to be almost unrecognizable as Scientology.
The term Free Zone was originally only used by a single organization, but the term is now commonly applied to all non-CoS Scientologists, although many dispute the application of the term to themselves. However, the group whose name became adopted as a generic term for independent Scientology was not the first independent Scientologist group; the California Association of Dianetic Auditors, the oldest breakaway group still in existence, claims a founding date of December 1950, predating the Church of Scientology itself.
A November 2004 press release published by the International Freezone Association cited what it says was a command written by L. Ron Hubbard
himself: "... before you go, whisper this to your sons and their sons: 'THE WORK WAS FREE. KEEP IT SO.'"
Skeptic Magazine
described the Free Zone as: "..a group founded by ex-Scientologists to promote L. Ron Hubbard's ideas independent of the Church of Scientology
." A Miami Herald article wrote that ex-Scientologists joined the Free Zone because they felt that Church of Scientology leadership had: "..strayed from Hubbard's original teachings."
The name "Teegeeack" had already been established as a galactic name for Earth by Hubbard in the materials known as OT III, which tell the story of Xenu
.
Free Zone - an area not controlled by evil organizations or implanters, but free to expand spiritually (Sector 9 by Astar http://www.galac-patra.org/sector9.html)
in Hamburg has said that the Free Zone is a type of "methadone
program for Scientologists," and, in any case, "the lesser evil". The Free Zone group RON's Org says that the Verfassungsschutz Baden-Württemberg
(State Office for the Protection of the Constitution) has stated that there is no need to keep RON's Org under observation "as the RON’s Org has no anti-constitutional goals." RON's Org says that some of its members have in fact cooperated in the efforts of state authorities to observe and investigate the Church of Scientology.
The Church labels all practitioners of and believers in Scientology without its sanction "squirrels" — a term Hubbard coined to describe those who alter Scientology technology or practice it in a nonstandard fashion. Among Scientologists, the term is pejorative, and comparable in meaning to heretic
. In practice, the hierarchy of the Church of Scientology uses it to describe all of those who practice Scientology outside the Church.
The Church of Scientology has used copyright
and trademark
laws against various Free Zone groups. Accordingly, most of the Free Zone avoids the use of officially trademarked Scientology words, including Scientology itself. In 2000, the Religious Technology Center
unsuccessfully attempted to gain the Web domain www.scientologie.org from the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization
; one of the 16 specialized agencies of the United Nations), in a legal action against the Free Zone.
Many Free Zone advocates say that everyone has the right to freely practice the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard, whether sanctioned by the Church or not. In support of this they cite Hubbard himself:
Other Free Zoners assert basic human rights
protections in order to freely follow their chosen religion.
One Free Zone Scientologist identified as "Safe", was quoted in Salon
as saying: "The Church of Scientology does not want its control over its members to be found out by the public and it doesn't want its members to know that they can get scientology outside of the Church of Scientology".
A 2006 Channel 4
documentary, The Beginner's Guide to L Ron Hubbard, presented by Sikh
comedian Hardeep Singh Kohli
explored Free Zone Scientology after the Church of Scientology declined to take part.
Synergetics is a self-help system developed by Art Coulter
in 1954. Don Purcell, founder of an early Dianetics organization which had a tentative claim on the Dianetics trademark, joined Synergetics and returned the trademark to Hubbard. In 1976, Coulter published Synergetics: An Adventure in Human Development; he later founded the Synergetic Society, which published a journal through 1996.
Idenics is a personal counselling method not affiliated with any religion that was developed by John Galusha beginning in 1987, a researcher for L. Ron Hubbard
during the 1950s, and one of the founders of the first Church of Scientology in 1953. Galusha developed methods to handle what a person wants to improve in contrast to Hubbard, who favored a series of gradations, each having a number of processes that are targeted at certain disabilities Hubbard believed were common to all people.
Controversy over the origins of the word Scientology has given Free Zone a way to contest Scientology's trademarks. They note a German book, entitled Scientologie, Wissenschaft von der Beschaffenheit und der Tauglichkeit des Wissens (1934), by Dr. Anastasius Nordenholz
(as opposed to Hubbard's Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought, 1956), which they use as the basis of their challenge to Scientology's trademark claims. Because Scientologie was not written by Hubbard, they argue, the Church is exerting unfair control over its practice, and attempting to enforce a monopoly.
Scientology
Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard , starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics...
beliefs and techniques
Scientology beliefs and practices
Scientology is defined as a set of beliefs written by founder L. Ron Hubbard. Scientology describes itself as the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, others, and all of life...
independently of the Church of Scientology
Church of Scientology
The Church of Scientology is an organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology belief system. The Church of Scientology International is the Church of Scientology's parent organization, and is responsible for the overall ecclesiastical management, dissemination and...
(CoS). Such practitioners range from those who closely adhere to the original teachings of Scientology's founder L. Ron Hubbard
L. Ron Hubbard
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard , better known as L. Ron Hubbard , was an American pulp fiction author and religious leader who founded the Church of Scientology...
, to those who have so far adapted their practices to be almost unrecognizable as Scientology.
The term Free Zone was originally only used by a single organization, but the term is now commonly applied to all non-CoS Scientologists, although many dispute the application of the term to themselves. However, the group whose name became adopted as a generic term for independent Scientology was not the first independent Scientologist group; the California Association of Dianetic Auditors, the oldest breakaway group still in existence, claims a founding date of December 1950, predating the Church of Scientology itself.
A November 2004 press release published by the International Freezone Association cited what it says was a command written by L. Ron Hubbard
L. Ron Hubbard
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard , better known as L. Ron Hubbard , was an American pulp fiction author and religious leader who founded the Church of Scientology...
himself: "... before you go, whisper this to your sons and their sons: 'THE WORK WAS FREE. KEEP IT SO.'"
Skeptic Magazine
Skeptic (U.S. magazine)
Skeptic is a quarterly science education and science advocacy magazine published internationally by The Skeptics Society, a nonprofit organization devoted to promoting scientific skepticism and resisting the spread of pseudoscience, superstition, and irrational beliefs...
described the Free Zone as: "..a group founded by ex-Scientologists to promote L. Ron Hubbard's ideas independent of the Church of Scientology
Church of Scientology
The Church of Scientology is an organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology belief system. The Church of Scientology International is the Church of Scientology's parent organization, and is responsible for the overall ecclesiastical management, dissemination and...
." A Miami Herald article wrote that ex-Scientologists joined the Free Zone because they felt that Church of Scientology leadership had: "..strayed from Hubbard's original teachings."
Origin of the term Free Zone
The first group to use the term Free Zone was the organization founded by "Captain" Bill Robertson in 1982, now known as Ron's Org. The name came from the "space opera" beliefs Robertson expressed in the "Free Zone Decree", which he said was an Official Decree of the "Galactic Grand Council" which was "relayed from Mainship, Sector 9":
1. The planet known as Teegeeack - local dialect "Earth" or Terra - Sun 12, Sector 9, is hereby declared a Free Zone.
2. No political interference in its affairs from any other part of the Sector or Galaxy will be tolerated.
3. No economic interference in its affairs will be tolerated from any non-planetary agency or power.
4. All of its inhabitants are hereby declared Free Zone Citizens and free of external political or economic interference.
The name "Teegeeack" had already been established as a galactic name for Earth by Hubbard in the materials known as OT III, which tell the story of Xenu
Xenu
Xenu ,also spelled Xemu, was, according to the founder of Scientology L. Ron Hubbard, the dictator of the "Galactic Confederacy" who, 75 million years ago, brought billions of his people to Earth in a DC-8-like spacecraft, stacked them around volcanoes and killed them using hydrogen bombs...
.
Free Zone - an area not controlled by evil organizations or implanters, but free to expand spiritually (Sector 9 by Astar http://www.galac-patra.org/sector9.html)
Germany
Scientology Commissioner Ursula CabertaUrsula Caberta
Ursula Caberta y Diaz is a German politician, State of Hamburg government official and was the Commissioner for the Scientology Task Force of the Hamburg Interior Authority. She graduated in political economy. According to Deutsche Welle she was considered an expert on the subject of Scientology,...
in Hamburg has said that the Free Zone is a type of "methadone
Methadone
Methadone is a synthetic opioid, used medically as an analgesic and a maintenance anti-addictive for use in patients with opioid dependency. It was developed in Germany in 1937...
program for Scientologists," and, in any case, "the lesser evil". The Free Zone group RON's Org says that the Verfassungsschutz Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
(State Office for the Protection of the Constitution) has stated that there is no need to keep RON's Org under observation "as the RON’s Org has no anti-constitutional goals." RON's Org says that some of its members have in fact cooperated in the efforts of state authorities to observe and investigate the Church of Scientology.
The Church of Scientology and the Free Zone
The Church labels all practitioners of and believers in Scientology without its sanction "squirrels" — a term Hubbard coined to describe those who alter Scientology technology or practice it in a nonstandard fashion. Among Scientologists, the term is pejorative, and comparable in meaning to heretic
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
. In practice, the hierarchy of the Church of Scientology uses it to describe all of those who practice Scientology outside the Church.
The Church of Scientology has used copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
and trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
laws against various Free Zone groups. Accordingly, most of the Free Zone avoids the use of officially trademarked Scientology words, including Scientology itself. In 2000, the Religious Technology Center
Religious Technology Center
The Religious Technology Center is a Californian non-profit corporation. RTC was founded in 1982 by the Church of Scientology in order to control and oversee the use of all of the trademarks, symbols and texts of Scientology and Dianetics, including the copyrighted works of Scientology founder and...
unsuccessfully attempted to gain the Web domain www.scientologie.org from the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization
World Intellectual Property Organization
The World Intellectual Property Organization is one of the 17 specialized agencies of the United Nations. WIPO was created in 1967 "to encourage creative activity, to promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world"....
; one of the 16 specialized agencies of the United Nations), in a legal action against the Free Zone.
Many Free Zone advocates say that everyone has the right to freely practice the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard, whether sanctioned by the Church or not. In support of this they cite Hubbard himself:
Dianetics is not in any way covered by legislation anywhere, for no law can prevent one man sitting down and telling another man his troubles, and if anyone wants a monopolyMonopolyA monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
on dianetics, be assured that he wants it for reasons which have to do not with dianetics but with profit.
If I have fought for a quarter of a century, most of it alone, to keep this work from serving to uphold the enslavers of Man, to keep it free from some destructive "pitch" or slant, then you certainly can carry that motif a little further. [...] But before you go, whisper this to your sons, and their sons – "The work was free. Keep it so."
Other Free Zoners assert basic human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
protections in order to freely follow their chosen religion.
One Free Zone Scientologist identified as "Safe", was quoted in Salon
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
as saying: "The Church of Scientology does not want its control over its members to be found out by the public and it doesn't want its members to know that they can get scientology outside of the Church of Scientology".
A 2006 Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
documentary, The Beginner's Guide to L Ron Hubbard, presented by Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
comedian Hardeep Singh Kohli
Hardeep Singh Kohli
Hardeep Singh Kohli is a British writer and radio and television presenter.-Background:Kohli was born in London and moved to Glasgow in Scotland when he was four. His parents came to the UK from India in the 1960s. The family's roots lie in the Punjab. His mother was a social worker, and his...
explored Free Zone Scientology after the Church of Scientology declined to take part.
Alternative auditing practices
Several alternatives to Dianetics were developed in the early years of the Free Zone.Synergetics is a self-help system developed by Art Coulter
Art Coulter
Arthur Edmund Coulter was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played for the New York Rangers and Chicago Black Hawks in the National Hockey League....
in 1954. Don Purcell, founder of an early Dianetics organization which had a tentative claim on the Dianetics trademark, joined Synergetics and returned the trademark to Hubbard. In 1976, Coulter published Synergetics: An Adventure in Human Development; he later founded the Synergetic Society, which published a journal through 1996.
Idenics is a personal counselling method not affiliated with any religion that was developed by John Galusha beginning in 1987, a researcher for L. Ron Hubbard
L. Ron Hubbard
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard , better known as L. Ron Hubbard , was an American pulp fiction author and religious leader who founded the Church of Scientology...
during the 1950s, and one of the founders of the first Church of Scientology in 1953. Galusha developed methods to handle what a person wants to improve in contrast to Hubbard, who favored a series of gradations, each having a number of processes that are targeted at certain disabilities Hubbard believed were common to all people.
The word "Scientology"
Controversy over the origins of the word Scientology has given Free Zone a way to contest Scientology's trademarks. They note a German book, entitled Scientologie, Wissenschaft von der Beschaffenheit und der Tauglichkeit des Wissens (1934), by Dr. Anastasius Nordenholz
Anastasius Nordenholz
Anastasius Nordenholz is the author of Scientologie, Wissenschaft von der Beschaffenheit und der Tauglichkeit des Wissens written in 1933.-His life:...
(as opposed to Hubbard's Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought, 1956), which they use as the basis of their challenge to Scientology's trademark claims. Because Scientologie was not written by Hubbard, they argue, the Church is exerting unfair control over its practice, and attempting to enforce a monopoly.
See also
- Advanced Ability CenterAdvanced Ability CenterThe Advanced Ability Center was a breakaway organization from the Church of Scientology established by former Scientologist David Mayo after the latter left the Church in February 1983 – a time when most of Scientology's upper and middle management was removed following the formation of the...
- The Secrets of ScientologyThe Secrets of ScientologyThe Secrets of Scientology is a documentary which was broadcast on 28 September 2010 as part of the BBC's Panorama documentary strand. Presented by John Sweeney it is a follow up of his 2007 investigation into the Church of Scientology and features interviews with former high-ranking members of the...
Organizations
- Belfast Dianetic Org
- FreeZone Earth
- Freezone AO International
- Idenics
- Ron's Org Committee
- International Freezone Association
- Galactic Patrol
- Freezone Auditors
- Free Scientologists
- Friends of LRH
- Free Zone Alliance
- http://community.freezone-tech.info/elma