History of Scientology on the Internet

A gentlemen named Tom Klemesrud, ran an ISP called Netcom, in Burbank California. Mr. Klemesrud’s ISP hosted the FIRST anti-cult BBS (dial-up Bulletin Board Service) in 1989. Meanwhile on America Online there was a busy anti-scn discussion area. Boxes of materials from Klemesrud’s BBS as well as from Cynthia Kisser’s anti-cult group went to Rich Behar the writer at Time Magazine to help create that huge cover story in TIME magazine.

 

The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power

Ruined lives. Lost fortunes. Federal crimes. Scientology poses as a religion but really is a ruthless global scam — and aiming for the mainstream.

timecover
Read the article
“Scientology is quite likely the most ruthless, the most classically terroristic, the most litigious and the most lucrative cult the country has ever seen. No cult extracts more money from its members.”

In 1991 after the time magazine article above, a guy started the newsgroup alt religion scientology on USENET.  The big breakthrough happened in the fall of 1993, when AOL and other Internet Service Providers,  opened their gateways to the internet in August. It was described as “The fall that never ended”

Documents from court cases involving scientology started appearing on the net. The archives of an anti-cult group called FACTNet were made available on the net. New documents were being scanned,  and turned into text, and uploaded from cases all over the world, as were newspaper articles. Ex-members started posting their stories to this newsgroup. Recovering members and those harmed by scientology began to realize that what happened to them was not unique, that they were not alone!

In 1993 Scientology sued a an ex-member I knew when I was one of them, named Enid Vein for copyright.  During that litigation her cat was shot. She told me that scientology, in their settlement proposal demanded she never mention the murder of her cat.
She was forced to settle with them.
This infuriated me.

lerma-1994-article-image-small
Index on A2 lists at top of C/OUTLOOK

ENFORCING “TRUTH”
How the Scientologists try to
impose their version of the truth
on members, defectors—and on
journalists. Page C1

Then on Christmas days of 1993 the Washington Post ran this article on the front page of Outlook section, after Scientology sent two goons to my front door of my home in Alrington Virginia. I mailed out several letters, explaining the circumstances and closed my letter with “This is America, isn’t it?”

Then all hell broke loose.

Im the guy holding the Scientology hates Free Speech sign.. 1995, before my hair turned white:

 

 

In 1995 Scientology raided four activists. Tom Klemesrud, Arnie Lerma, Dennis Erlich, and Lawrence Wollersheim and Bob Penny’s FACTNet.org in Colorado claiming  copyright infringement, and trade secret misappropriation.  Scientologist Lawyer Earle Cooley called it copyright terrorism.

Centerfold of December 1995 WIRED Magazine,
alt.scientology.war was the cover story!

altscientologywar

An activist in Holland, Karin Spainke posted the secret materials and was also sued.

Another named Zenon Parnusis, who was another sued, literally wall-papered the bridge between the Swedish Parliament and Swedish High Court with the once secret materials.

In December 1995, I got a call from Detective Thomas Miller CWPD, he told me to look at a web page on the Clearwater Police Department web page. I did, seems the police wanted information about a suspicious death of a scientologist named Lisa McPherson. Being on IRC relay chat at the time,  and  having my hands full with my own court case, ex-member consultations, and fighting back...so I messaged Jeff Jacobsen, who ran with the ball and started Lisamcpherson.org, and became the site for Lisa McPherson’s horrific tale.  He did an outstanding job, organized pickets and protests against scientology.

This is image is from one of those, which I turned into a postcard.
picket2

In 1996 a retired investment banker named Robert Minton, who told me he had been confined in a closet as a child, and was touched by the story of Lisa McPherson, read a story I had posted to the newsgroup about a strange encounter I had two decades prior, and decided to pick up his checkbook and made a donation of $10,000 to FACTnet.org

At this time Scientology was harassing activists all over the world in its quest for silence.

offmanhitsbob

Mr Minton went on to fund litigation,  help activists, started a corporation, The Lisa McPherson Trust and against my advice, opened an office in Clearwater across the street from their headquarters. He helped hundreds escape scientology.   Won several awards both here and overseas.  After a valiant effort, spending millions, having his children followed to school, and being litigated into a state of shell shock, he retired from the war, exhausted. But only after scientology admitted spending 30 million dollars trying to get rid of him. He passed away in 2009 from a heart attack, and is buried in Ireland.

bobsign
15 sec clip from NBC Dateline, Bob and Arnie:
http://www.lermanet.com/audio/bob-arnie2.wmv from 1997

 

Anonymous arrived on the scene in 2008, and this writer, with serious stenosis of several areas of my spine, had to try to walk away, at least for a while, meanwhile, Mr Ortega moved into high gear with his blog pages and current scientology news.

Sometimes perspective is everything.
Google search results for:

“Leah Remini” + scientology 557,000
“David Miscavige” + scientology 280,000
“Robert Minton” + scientology 112,000
“Tony Ortega” +scientology 91,300 results (0.51 seconds)
“Mike Rinder” + scientology 74,000
“Marty Rathbun” + scientology 66,900
“Gerry Armstrong” + scientology 36,700 results
“Nancy Many” + scientology 26,200 results
“Arnie Lerma” + scientology 25,500
“Karen de la Carriere” scientology 23,300
“Pete Griffiths” + scientology 9850
“Gabe Cazares” + scientology 3280
“Karen Pressley” + scientology 2,150 results
“Tom Padgett” + scientology 1080

“asthmatic dwarf” + scientology 900

End notes: From the department of forensic history at Lermanet, Tom Padgett wrote:
THE SCIENTOLOGY WARS! When did they begin? Paulette Cooper’s original “The Scandal Of Scientology” book. David Mayo’s public defection. L Ron’s death. Richard Behar‘s poignant 1991 Time Magazine cover story The Cult Of Greed. The IRS victory in 1993. Long before social media and the current crop of bloggers, there were a few around with some letters after their names leading the charge. In addition to Dr. Singer, Dr. Lifton, etc., and there was Dr. Jolly West. He addressed the nature of the warfare environment from a forensic science approach.

truth does not pay well
Get notified when THE BOOK is finished, stay in balance,  and allow yourself to feel good because you threw a little something in the tip jar.    THE TIP JAR

Tales of The Fat Man


UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
M E M O R A N D U M
FROM: Chief Judge Kovachevich

TO: United States Attorney Charles Wilson
DATE: May 22, 1996

RE: CRIMINAL ACTIVITY COMPLAINT

I received the enclosed letter from Mr. Lerma on May 6, 1996. Upon a review of the letter, I have concluded that Mr. Lerma’s complaints are in the nature of criminal activity for which he appears to desire investigation. Since the requested action is not within the purview of my judicial authority, I am forwarding the letter to you for whatsoever processing and proceedings which you may determine to be appropriate.

I appreciate your consideration of the matter.

EAK/nsn
cc: Mr. Lerma
initials, & court stamp not shown…

__________________________________________

menkenonscientology

“The function of a scam is always to sway present action toward future hopes” Detective Sergeant Dennis Marlock

“Sit down and think over that last spellbinder you heard on the platform, over the radio or on television…..Were you listening to a man of reason or to a hypnotist who aimed to limit your field of consciousness? You say you cannot be hypnotized against your will. Perhaps you were hypnotized last night as you listened to that political address over your TV…..The most dangerous hypnotist may be the man you listened to last week over the radio. You were his subject….As a matter of fact, you were a very excellent subject. Think it over…..” George Estabrooks

Hypnosis is not inexplicable, uncanny or occult, and it is not abnormal. Hypnosis is a natural consequence of a specific application of definite and understandable laws. The laws hypnosis follows are not laws of hypnotism, but are the laws of thought. Hypnosis is the logical result of thinking when, under a particular set of circumstances, there is no other way to think.”  Hugh Lacy 1952

If one goes to the Eastern Federal Judicial District court house, and asks the Clerk of the Court to see the Docket for Civil Action No. 95-1107-A
RELIGIOUS TECHNOLOGY CENTER )

                                 )
         Plaintiff,              )
                                 )
  V.                             )  Civil Action No. 95-1107-A
                                 )
  ARNALDO PAGLIARINI LERMA,      )
  DIGITAL GATEWAY SYSTEMS,       )
  THE WASHINGTON POST,           )
  MARC FISHER, and               )
  RICHARD LEIBY,

You will be handed a 3” thick  brown legal file. When you sit down at the desk in the little office provided,  and open the file, the right side is the docket. This lists every filing, hearing, deposition, and every judgment entered in the case. The docket index listing is almost 1” thick by itself.

On the left side you see “everything else” that was filed regarding this case. On the top of the left hand pile of “everything else” is a letter from Patrick Jost, PhD Linguistics regarding Dianetics and its relation to this case.

Dr. Jost explains in cold logical format in two pages that if Scientology claims that Dianetics is its core religious scripture, like the Bible, then the fact that Dianetics is demonstrably nothing more than a FRAUD, and because the instant case, regarding my releasing the story of XENU on the Internet in July and August of 1995 as being claimed as a copyright infringment as well as a trade secret misappropriation, then the act of bringing of this case against Mr Lerma is logically a continuation of this fraud, now seeking color of law to use The Judiciary to conceal and protect evidence of this fraud.

That Dianetics is really hypnosis was noted by the old hypnotists, who described it succinctly this way:

“The same old sofa, with new upholstery” (1)

The first official government inquiry into Scientology concluded the same thing, pointing out that Hubbard changed the names of hypnotic phenomena to hide this fact. Please read the embedded links if you doubt any of this.

Many scientology techniques are in fact hypnotic techniques, and Hubbard has not changed their nature by changing their names. “(2)

Now, let us take a close look at one word that Hubbard never uses in his introductory books, one word that in fact describes Dianetics, that properly characterizes this amazing claim by Hubbard:

“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.” Page 5 of Dianetics

Now with the above claim in mind, read the Legal definition of the FRAUD from Black’s Law Dictionary:

Fraud: An intentional perversion of the truth for the purpose of inducing another in reliance upon it to part with some valuable thing or to surrender a legal right; a false representation of a matter of fact, whether by words ot conduct, by false or misleading allegations, or by concealment of that which should have been disclosed, which deceives and is intended to deceive another so that he shall act upon it to his legal injury; anything calculated to deceive, whether by a single act or combination, or by suppression of truth, or suggestion of what is false, whether it be by direct falsehood or innuendo, by speech or silence, word of mouth, or look or gesture; fraud comprises all acts, omissions, and concealments involving a branch of legal or equitable duty and resulting in damage to another.

That Scientology hides the core fraud behind dozens of lovely, politically correct sounding front groups with catchy names is itself a lesson - It does so for the same reason that a stage magician has a pretty girl with lovely legs.  So that the casual observer will look at her legs and not at how the trick is being done.

Scientology takes stage magic show techniques to a whole new level. The core FRAUD being cloaked by all these front groups, Narconon, WISE, Applied Scholastics, The Way to Happiness, and many more,  created to lure the unsuspecting into the learned dependence induced by authority hypnosis. It is the very fact that the use of authority suggestion creates dependence is the reason it is never used in clinical therapy!

Scientology and Dianetics, being the core fraud behind the operations of these front groups is, itself, very effectively shielded from recourse because scientology itself has  intentionally draped itself in religious trappings. Religious trappings that were crafted with intent to fool the authorities and  implemented by written policies. All this was done purely as a legal maneuver in the 1966 FDA Article and Device case which went on for several years. This  device serves several essential functions for the continued success of the fraud of scientology. After the first guilty verdict, which would have prevented scientology from using their E-meter device, that verdict was overturned on appeal due to a technicality,  Then a new trial was ordered. This time Hubbard invoked religiosity, and claimed, falsely, that this device was “A religious artifact”.

My God, this should be the definition of chutzpah!

And the FDA lawyers were confounded by the religious artifact argument.

If any book or supposed authority states that “the scientology religion, founded in 1954…” then THEY are part of the problem. In 1954 the first corporation was formed with the word church in it, NOTHING ELSE. It was not until 1969 that I saw a cross on a pedestal dragged in the front door, and then the lecture hall became “the chapel”.

Details about this E-Meter case and statements by several witnesses who were there at the time who contrived this ‘evidence’ of religiosity, which was then used to fool the the lawyers at the FDA can be found on Lermanet.com Exposing the CON - HERE and HERE

Why is the E-Meter device so important?

1) The device serves a similar purpose as the hypnotist’s swinging gold watch.  In psychological jargon it is also described as an IDEOMOTOR. The concepts surrounding an ideomotor are tough to explain in simple terms and beyond this overview, requiring considerable reading and contemplation. The Wiki page for ideomotor is an excellent introduction to this additional method as used in Scientology,  to en-trance its victims to facilitate easily picking their wallets.

2) This device is analogous in function to the GSR function (Galvanic Skin Response) of a standard Lie-Detector. Neither ‘detect lies’, but both are capable of detecting, to some degree, the human body’s physiological stress response to wrongdoing.(note3)

3) The magical effect of mysterious technology. The presence of this device with dials, knobs, and electrodes that you are asked to hold in your hands implies that ‘there must be something there’, there must be something to it…(note4)
The presence of the E-meter triggers the previous covert suggestion by repetition and implication contained in the word scientology.. that it has something to do with science in the same way the emergency number 911 triggers the emotional trauma of the attack on the twin towers, which is why it was chosen to be done on that date.

The word chosen to describe this fraud, “Scientology”, contains the word “science”, implying there is science behind its use. Indeed there is, but not for the reasons you are told, which are a shore story, to direct your attention elsewhere, away from the real science of hypnotism.

4) That this device is used intentionally in a manner to collect in great detail a person’s deepest and darkest personal secrets, which, of course,  are “never divulged” - except when used to give a private investigator the targeting information to find the evidence of that person’s crimes when they need to bring pressure to bear to silence a person who has started to figure out that the whole thing is just a great big fraud to steal their money.

5) The peculiar construction of the meter movement used in this device makes it a trance detector. When a person has entered a hypnotic state, has entered trance,  this is when the session or action is normally ended and the person is then sent on a “routing form” to see a salesman who then asks the entranced person for money, A request which is difficult to say to “no” to due to prior subliminal suggestions in Dianetics that they simply must get rid of their Reactive mind or Bank.. and you keep money in your bank… You simply must get rid of it! Learning this fact caused one of the early associates of Hubbard in Pheonix in 1952 to leave the organization forever.

6) The morphine effect. When I first broached this idea back in 1997, it was dismissed and depopularized, with great vigor as “kooky stuff” by the same persons who destroyed Mr. Robert Minton. In 1997 there was not so much science as there is today. The fact is, today there is nothing to debate about the fact that electrical stimulation induces an endorphin response by the human body. The only question remaining is what exactly is the equivalent dose of morphine created by 2 hours of 100 uAmps direct current applied to the skin of the hands. It is certainly a sub-clinical dose, but it is a dose. Endorphins bind to the same receptors that morphine binds to. This was the subject of lawyers letters to Star Tabloid magazine over an article about Katie Holmes. The lawyer chose not to debate my claim above, only taking issue with Star Magazine’s characterization of it. MORE on this

6)  “lower voltage for the induction of implanted suggestions” the 90 uAmps from through the body from the E-meter qualifies!electric-hypnosis
Above from “Operation Mind Control” about MkUltra page 170  LINK
Contact me for additional information regarding effect of the electrodes used by Hubbard to apply this current to the body, based upon readings of Dr Bjorn Nordenstrom.  Rather difficult to explain, just know there is more.

The information on this page should be sent to any lawyer litigating with scientology, now, rather than later.

Thank you for reading.
Arnie Lerma

trance

After I’m dead and gone, this will be common knowledge, if you
ASK A HYPNOTIST What is Dianetics? from March 1952, the classic answer

“The same old sofa, with new upholstery”

“every method of auditing advocated therein is fundamentally one used in hypnosis”

hypnosishypnosis1hypnosis2

“The author’s (Hubbard’s) biography for his novel Triton (1949) , says that
“his leisure hours are devoted to the study and practice of hypnotism.”
Atack, Jon (2014-12-10). Scientology: the Cult of Greed (Kindle Locations 366-367).. Kindle Edition.

(1) Journal of Hypnotism March 1952
http://www.lermanet.com/exit/journal-of-hypnotism.htm

(2) Page 115, The Anderson Report - Chapter 18 - Scientology and Hypnosis -  Report of the Board of Enquiry into Scientology by Kevin Victor Anderson, Q.C.
Published 1965 by the State of Victoria, Australia

(Teaser for link above) The Anderson Report - Scientology and Hypnosis

Report of the Board of Enquiry into Scientology
by Kevin Victor Anderson, Q.C.
Published 1965 by the State of Victoria, Australia

“Hubbard’s followers seem generally to be unaware. The common practice of Hubbard is to change the names of hypnotic phenomena to names of his own invention, purporting thereby to change the nature and significance of such phenomena. Thus, a form of unconsciousness experienced in hypnosis he has renamed variously ” anaten “, ” boil-off”, and ” dope-off ” ; hypnotic hallucinations he has called ” mental image pictures” ; and ” dissociation ” he has called ” exteriorization “”

A few paragraphs down is this gem:

“If command hypnosis is unskilfully practised, hallucinations which have been created during hypnosis persist later as reality. In scientology, “mental image pictures” experienced during an auditing session persist thereafter as reality and the preclear comes to believe that the past experiences and activities conjured up during these hallucinatory periods really took place, and so there is engendered a readiness to subscribe to the various scientology theories about past lives, the thetan and similar beliefs.”

(3)  Make sure you grasp the phrase “shore story”.   That there is stress response to wrongdoing is why Lie-Detectors are of any value at all, however there is  something further to grasp.  A large wall street firm was recruiting a new CFO, Chief Financial Officer, and a guy that applied, described that they wanted someone with a prior federal conviction!  They wanted a CFO who was willing to LIE!!  This got me thinking, as Robert Hare and others who have been researching psychopathy have noted that psychopaths have no stress response to wrong doing. If no stress response, the psychopath would fly through a lie-detector examination effortlessly! (And fly through a scientology “security check”) Thus, if you grasp “shore story”, it makes more sense if those organization  using such devices, whether lie-detectors or E-meters for  “Security” - that this itself may be a shore story!  That organizations such as scientology or the CIA, might want the psychopaths at the top! Then using security checks or lie detector examinations would accomplish this - because psychopaths have no stress response to wrongdoing! See A Tremor In The Blood: Uses And Abuses Of The Lie Detector by David T. Lykken

(4) Scientology filed 6″ of paper in their first ex-parte motion to fool a federal judge into granting the raid on my home. That much paper, implies “there simply must be something to it” - when in fact, in all that paper they omitted telling Judge Brinkema that the document I posted was itself a copy of an unsealed court filing from the Central Judicial District of California!  When a person walks into a scientology bookstore they see all those books by Hubbard! All those tapes! Videos! Pamphlets! All those course materials! Piles and piles of the stuff..and much of it expensive. which also implies that it has worth, all of this screams that there simply must be something to it!  Having read this page, now you know what that ‘it’ is.. and it is the one word that Hubbard does not mention in Dianetics.. the word is FRAUD.

The first use of the word scientology traces to a 1908 book titled “The New Word”, where it is used to mean fraud or scam, fake science, charlatanism.


The following words come from a publication called Pseudodoxia Epidemica, written by Sir Thomas Browne in 1646. In between paragraphs ridiculing urine therapy and astrology (both unfortunately still with us), he had this to say about “Saltimbancoes, Quacksalvers, and Charlatans”:

For their Impostures are full of cruelty, and worse than any other; deluding not only unto pecuniary defraudations, but the irreparable deceit of death.

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