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Is Narconon controlled by the Church of Scientology? This question has raised more controversy than almost any other concerning Narconon. There can be no real doubt that Narconon is a vigorous promoter of Scientology beliefs; its practices are so suffused by Scientology doctrines that they are better described as actually being Scientology, rather a derivation or adaptation. (See the Doctrines page for a detailed analysis.) But is Narconon actually a front for the Church of Scientology rather than merely being a fellow traveler?
The definitive answer is that Narconon is, in fact, an official Church programme. In 1993, the Church of Scientology International (CSI) and the United States Internal Revenue Service struck an agreement, under which the Church gained tax exemption for itself and its subsidiaries and in return paid $12.5m to cover the church's payroll, income and estate-tax bills for an undisclosed number of years prior to 1993, as well as discontinuing numerous lawsuits. The terms of the agreement did not become public until four years later, when they were leaked to the Wall Street Journal.
According to the Form 1023 Statement which CSI had to submit to the IRS prior to the agreement, Narconon forms part of CSI's "social betterment program":
Though Mr. Hubbard is best known for founding the religion of Scientology, he also authored very effective technologies for handling society's ills and bettering the lot of mankind as a whole. Over time these technologies have developed into four general social-betterment programs, each addressing a specific area of current social concern: Narconon, a drug rehabilitation program; ...
For many years CSI and other churches of Scientology have conducted highly-successful social reform programs based on Mr. Hubbard's technologies. They conducted these programs either directly or in close conjunction with charitable and educational organizations formed to help them bring Mr. Hubbard's technologies to the secular world.
The bulk of CSI's social betterment program is carried out under the supervision and direction of Association for Better Living and Education ... ABLE accomplishes its goals primarily by providing technical and financial assistance and general promotional support to the international social-betterment organizations that work in ABLE's four areas of concern: Narconon International (drug rehabilitation) ...
[Church of Scientology International Exemption Application Form 1023 Attached Statement, 1993]
When the agreement itself was drafted, CSI accepted responsibility for Narconon's tax status; the IRS and CSI defined it in the closing agreement as one of a number of "Scientology-related entities":
The social benefit and other public benefit entities discussed at pages 1-28 through 1-42 of the June [1992] submission [by CSI] along with all subsidiaries, subordinate chapters, subordinate organizations, or sublicensees thereof (e.g., organizations that are permitted to use particular names, copyrights, service marks, and/or technologies) are Scientology-related entities. Thus, for example, Citizens Commission on Human Rights, National Commission on Law Enforcement and Social Justice, Scientology Defense Fund Trust, Association for the Better Living and Education, Applied Scholastics Incorporated, Narconon International, The Way to Happiness Foundation, and the Foundation for Religious Freedom are Scientology-related entities.
["Closing agreement on final determination covering specific matters", U.S. Internal Revenue Service, 1 October 1993]
Shortly afterwards, CSI published a "Tax Compliance Manual" issued to Scientology missions and churches across the United States to instruct Scientologists on the requirements of the agreement with the IRS. It includes a passage on Narconon and the other "social betterment" organisations:
The SCIENTOLOGY charitable and educational institutions that the Internal Revenue Service has recognized as tax-exempt include Association for Better Living and Education, Narconon and Applied Scholastics and all Narconon centers and qualified schools that operate under the authority of Narconon and Applied Scholastics, The Way to Happiness Foundation, as well as the newly formed Hubbard College of Administration and its subordinate colleges. Narconon, Applied Scholastics and Hubbard College of Administration each have the authority to extend tax-exempt status to newly formed subordinate organizations.
[Tax Compliance Manual, Church of Scientology International, 1993]
Narconon and the Church of Scientology frequently play a verbal sleight of hand over the nature of this relationship: "Scientology" is often equated with "the Church of Scientology". Hence, Narconon insists that it is "corporately separate and distinct from the Church of Scientology" [Clark Carr, President of Narconon International, letter to Carroll Star News, 7 June 2002] and the Church says that "we don't have an organizational link [with Narconon]" [Graeme Wilson, Director of Special Affairs, Church of Scientology UK, quoted in Finchley Advertiser, 14 January 1993]. But the Church's own public documents demonstrate that "Scientology" means far more than just the Church. Scientology's trademarks are controlled and enforced by a separate corporation, the Religious Technology Center (RTC); its copyrights are held by another corporation, the Church of Spiritual Technology (CST); its publications are issued by yet another corporation, Bridge Publications - and so on. Few people, including the Scientologists, would deny that RTC and CST are part of Scientology. This classification was recognised in the 1993 agreement with the IRS, when the closing agreement stated that Narconon was one of a number of "Scientology-related entities" and the Tax Compliance Manual calls it a "Scientology charitable and educational institution". In short, Narconon is demonstrably part of the wider Scientology movement.
The "Bridge to the Bridge"
The whole agonized future of this planet, every man, woman and child on it, and your own destiny for the next endless trillions of years depend on what you do here and now with and in Scientology.
[Hubbard, "Keeping Scientology Working"]
The ideological relationship between Narconon and Scientology highlights the closeness of the relationship. The Church of Scientology sees itself as being responsible for nothing less than the future of the entire planet. As such, "taking responsibility" is a central theme of Scientology doctrine. L. Ron Hubbard came to the conclusion that Scientology's long-range goal - "clearing the planet", could not be achieved unless certain conditions were met first, such as ridding the world of such menaces as psychiatrists, drugs and income tax. As the Church puts it,
Reducing criminality and drug abuse, community cleanup and charitable contributions – when one considers the larger purpose of Scientology, it is no accident that members of the Church have chosen to focus their social betterment programs on these areas. For although the primary emphasis of Scientology remains on bettering the individual, on bringing him to greater heights of spiritual awareness, the long-range aim has always been the same – a civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war, where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights, and where man is free to rise to greater heights.
["Scientology in the Community - The Larger Purpose" - <http://www.scientologytoday.org/corp/pg0438.htm>]
This same long-range aim is shared, word for word, by Narconon. Hubbard saw drug abuse and toxic contamination as a particularly vexing problem, due to its combination of scale - just about everyone on the planet is now exposed to a variety of artificial toxins - and its supposedly harmful spiritual effects, whereby even an aspirin was capable of causing a form of psychosis. He wrote:
The planet has hit a barrier which prevents any widespread social progress — drugs and other biochemical substances.
These can put people into a condition which not only prohibits and destroys physical health but which can prevent any stable advancement in mental or spiritual well-being.
[Hubbard, "The Purification Program" - <http://drugrehab.lronhubbard.org/page22.htm>]
By "widespread social progress" Hubbard meant Scientology, the "Bridge to Total Freedom"; and the only way to "stable advancement in mental or spiritual well-being", inevitably, was Scientology. Scientologists are deemed unable to achieve "case gain" (that is, spiritual improvement) unless they have first done the Purification Rundown, effectively making it a compulsory process for Scientologists. Likewise, for society as a whole, it is unable to make progress unless it relieves itself of the harmful spiritual effects of drugs and toxins. As a result, Scientology's goal of creating "a civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war" is unachievable without tackling the drugs problem. The establishment of Narconon is thus central to Scientology's goal of changing the world and "putting in standard tech across the planet". As one issue of the magazine of Scientology's Social Coordination bureau put it, Scientologists must "HELP SECURE A BETTER FUTURE FOR THE PLANET AND THE ONES YOU LOVE ... A society where LRH tech is accepted and widely used is safe, sane and easy to live in." ["LRH's Technology Used in Society", Inroads - The Social Coordination International Newsletter, issue 3, 1984]
The "social reform" groups have been described as "the bridge to the Bridge" the means by which Scientology's "technology" can be brought to society as a whole. Narconon's own newsletter coins this phrase and declares:
NARCONON is freeing people from crime and drug abuse with standard tech, and starting them up RON's bridge to total freedom. WHO CAN YOU START ACROSS THAT BRIDGE?
[Narconon News, vol 6 issue 3]
Narconon and the Guardian's Office
To see how the organisational relationship between Narconon and Scientology has developed, it is worth looking at how Narconon got started. It originated in Arizona State Prison in 1966 as the brainchild of a convict named William Benitez, who had been incarcerated in December 1964 on drugs charges. Benitez himself describes, on the website of Narconon International, how he got the idea:
After arriving at prison, a friend of mine gave me some reading material to keep me occupied while I was in the Orientation Cellblock pending transfer to general population. Among the material was an old, tattered book, Fundamentals of Thought, by L. Ron Hubbard. I had heard of his writings when I previously served a ten-year sentence at Arizona State Prison, but had never read them. I had always been an avid reader of books dealing with human behavior. Yet, this small book impressed me more than anything else I had ever read before. I read it over and over and then purchased additional books by Mr. Hubbard and studied them very carefully during the following year, even into the late hours of the night in my cell. ...
What impressed me the most about [Hubbard's] materials was that they concentrated not only on identifying abilities, but also on methods (practical exercises) by which to develop them. I realized that drug addiction was nothing more than a 'disability', resulting when a person ceases to use abilities essential to constructive survival.
I found that if a person rehabilitated and applied certain abilities, that person could persevere toward goals set, confront life, isolate problems and resolve them, communicate with life, be responsible and set ethical standards, and function within the band of certainty. ...
[After starting the program] I then wrote to Mr. Hubbard about Narconon. He and his organizations supported our program by donating books, tapes and course materials. We received hundreds of letters from throughout the world validating our efforts to make drug addiction and criminal or illegal behavior a thing of the past in our lives.
Mr. Benitez completed his prison term and was released in October 1967. He moved to California to expand the Narconon organization and to make it available to persons in need. Mr. Hubbard and his organizations supported the effort, resulting in worldwide expansion.
["About William Benitez" - <http://www.narconon.org/about_benitez.htm>]
Narconon and the Church of Scientology refer to Narconon being incorporated "by William Benitez on May 20, 1970." [Kate Wickstrom, letter to Battle Creek Enquirer, 26 July 2002] Its incorporation was supposedly performed "to formalize what was then a loose, grassroots movement" [Church of Scientology International Exemption Application Form 1023 Attached Statement, 1993]. In fact, there was rather more to its incorporation than is generally admitted. What neither the Church of Scientology nor Narconon mention in their literature is that two other individuals were co-incorporators: Henning Heldt and Arthur "Arte" Maren. Their involvement is highly significant, as they were senior members of the Guardian's Office of the Church of Scientology. A decade later, Heldt was in prison along with L. Ron Hubbard's wife and eleven other Guardian's Office staff, Maren and Hubbard himself were named as "unindicted co-conspirators" and the Guardian's Office was exposed as the instigator of a massive international campaign of espionage and intimidation aimed at anyone who Scientology saw as a threat: governments, newspapers, businesses, individuals. It was eventually disbanded in 1982 after losing a power struggle with the present management of the Church of Scientology.
The Guardian's Office had a wide range of responsibilities in dealing with the Church's external affairs. It had six Bureaus: Legal, Public Relations, Information (initially called Intelligence), Social Coordination, Service (for GO staff training and auditing), and Finance. Each was numbered, from 1 to 6. As far as Narconon was concerned, Social Coordination - also referred to as SoCo, Bureau 6 or B6 - was the most significant, as it was responsible for liaising with Narconon and other "social reform" organisations. One of its Presidents, Frank Zurn (whose wife Laurie is a Narconon International corporate officer and Vice President of ABLE, SoCo's present-day equivalent), explained SoCo's purpose:
The dissemination and delivery of Ron's technology divides into broad sectors. Social Coordination International is the organization that has been entrusted with reversing the decay of society and using Ron's technology to revitalize the fields of education, drug rehabilitation, criminal rehabilitation, and society's morals through The Way to Happiness campaign.
[Impact magazine issue 10 (1987) p.22]
Zurn specifically named Narconon and two educational programmes as being part of the campaign to "disseminate and deliver" Hubbard's doctrines. In a 1975 policy letter, Hubbard described the responsibilities of the Social Coordination Bureau in some detail:
[F]requently PR [i.e. Guardian's Office Bureau 3] gets into a situation whereby it creates an entity or group or organization to bring about some change of value within the community or to handle some outstanding social injustice. In many cases the reform or action is brought to a successful conclusion; however, in many instances, the action to be effected is one which will require more time and effort. In expending such time and effort, PR to keep ahead finds itself in the situation of having and running a group or organization within its own bureau; therefore, PR must, when this occurs, realize that it is now in the situation of managing and administrating an established entity which is likely to continue and, therefore, should fully turn over the terminals [staff], lines and organization of same to the Social Coordination Bureau which is the Guardian Bureau which properly acts as a management unit for such entities, activities, groups and organizations.
[Hubbard, "PR and Social Coordination Bureau - Separation of Functions", Board Policy Letter of 22 July 1975]
When the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the Guardian's Office in 1977, in pursuit of the crimes which led eventually to the conviction of the GO's senior staff, it seized a huge quantity of confidential documents which revealed how the GO saw its relationship with Narconon. The papers show that Narconon was, in Scientology's own words, a "front group". Even within the confines of the Church of Scientology, this knowledge was closely guarded although it was reportedly fairly common informal knowledge amongst the rank and file. To maintain operational security, the GO used a variety of codes to obscure potentially damaging information. This included a variety of incriminating information that could be legally or publicly damaging. A "Coding Hat" was produced to instruct staff in the areas of sensitivity that were to be subjected to coding. As well as a general GO-wide instruction, each individual bureau of the GO was required to encode information in its own specific area of responsibility. Hence Bureau 6, also known as B6 or Social Coordination, which was responsible for "social reform groups" such as Narconon, was given a list of "SC general headings for data needing coding". This included the names of "B6 groups" - that is, organisations covertly run by the Church of Scientology:
1. Incriminating activities such as lobbying where this is prohibited in non profit corporations.
2. Anything that we do not want connected to LRH [L. Ron Hubbard] or CSG [Controller Staff Guardian - i.e. Mary Sue Hubbard]. This would include #1 above, and is handled by coding their names.
3. Words or actions that would tend to dispute the fact that the C of S's motives are humanitarian; i.e. harass, eradicate, destroy, cave in, third party.
4. Anything that gives specific and actual evidence that Scientology is in legal control of B6 type groups. These are groups that are separate legal entities to the C of S.
a. This will include a situation where a flap has occurred due to mishandling of management causing a situation where it appears we are in legal control of a group.
4 addition: I have listed below the present time B6 groups tha [sic] fall into this category.
These groups are:
1. Applied Scholastics
2. Narconon
3. Apple Schools
4. Expansion Consultants
5. Childbirth Education Center (new one)
6. Association for Scientologists for Reform
Hubbard himself also referred to Narconon being controlled by the GO. In an August 1972 minute, he praised the "very remarkable results" that Narconon was achieving:
The incomparable Guardians Office has been running the Narconon (Drugs-no!) Program over the world.
This program has a steady gradual increase of International support and is going very smoothly in the competent hands of Guardian personnel.
The GO should not hide its light under a basket - if it could.
Narconon is the ONLY successful drug rehabilitation program on the planet. It is being recognized as such.
[Hubbard, "Narconon", Flag Bureaux Data Letter 220, 29 August 1972]
Remarkably, the GO's activities appear to have included attacking other drug rehab groups. One of the documents seized by the FBI in 1977 defines the end products of "B1 activities" (B1 being the Intelligence bureau of the GO), including the neutralisation or destruction of "enemy groups" including "rival drug rehab group[s]" as well as newspaper and publishing companies and dissident Scientologists. ["Enemy File", date unknown]
This documentary evidence is also strongly borne out by the testimony of individuals who were involved with Narconon during the 1970s. After Narconon was formally incorporated by Benitez, Maren and Heldt in May 1970, additional programmes were set up in the central Californian towns of Vacaville and Watsonville. The one in Vacaville was originally established in 1969 in the California Medical Facility (a prison) as a Scientology group, which had been set up after a prisoner had written to the Scientology Mission in the nearby town of Davis requested lessons in Scientology. It was supervised by a local staff member, Robert Vaughn Young. In 1971, Young, by now a member of the San Francisco Guardian's Office, was instructed by Arte Maren - at the time the Deputy Guardian for Public Relations - that the Vacaville Scientology group was to be relabeled a Narconon group. Young was well aware of Narconon's status as a "B6 group" and saw no point in replacing an overt Scientology presence with a covert one:
I was very familiar with Narconon. In my training in Los Angeles at the national offices of the Guardian's Office, I had read about Narconon and how it had started in an Arizona prison and how we had taken it over to run it from the Guardian's Office and were trying to get other Narconon groups started. We had instructions to not make the link to the Church of Scientology known even though we were given [sic - should be giving] them orders on what to do. In short, the Narconon groups were fully controlled by the Church of Scientology as a means of entering the prisons under a guise.
I told Maren that it didn't make sense to convert a Scientology program to a Narconon program since the purpose of the Narconon program was to secretly be Scientology and I already had Scientology in the prison. Maren said he needed to be able to name more Narconon programs and, besides, he insisted, it was in name only. He wanted my group to have the Narconon name and I could do with it whatever I wanted to do. Nothing else had to change, he said.
[Affidavit of Robert Vaughn Young, 7 February 1995]
At about the same time, a retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel named Mark Jones, who had become a Scientologist, was selected as Narconon International's first Director. He was something of a minor celebrity in the Church's eyes, having had a distinguished military career and having the major advantage of managerial experience in challenging environments. He described later how his involvement came about:
I was approached by Arthur Maren who was the Assistant Guardian for Public Relations in the United States branch of the Guardian's Office of the Church of Scientology. Maren asked if I was willing to set up a Narconon office and establish programs under the direction of the Guardian Office. At this time, one Narconon program existed in the Arizona State Penitentiary and one was being established in the Cal. State Penitentiary at Vacaville by a member of the San Francisco Scientology Guardian Office [i.e. Robert Vaughn Young]. I agreed to do this and undertook to make Narconon an international drug rehabilitation agency on behalf of the Church of Scientology.
[Declaration of Mark Jones, 10 February 1995]
At the end of 1970, the Deputy Guardian U.S. sent a memorandum on "U.S. Guardian Office Wins in 1970" to L. Ron and Mary Sue Hubbard, describing it as having been "a year of expansion in scope and operation for our office". There was no attempt to pretend that Narconon activities in California were separate from those of the Church of Scientology. Narconon appeared in four separate "wins":
BUREAU 3 - LEGAL
53. Segment of news cast on KABC TV on Narconon broadcast as a retraction for mention of Scientology in a program on witchcraft.
BUREAU 7 - PUBLIC RELATIONS
128. Narconon expanded greatly this year. In addition to the group at Arizona State Prison, two new programs were established, one at California Rehabilitation Center [in Watsonville] and the other at Vacaville Medical Facility.
129. A successful Narconon "To the Walls" Congress was held inside Arizona State Prison in March.
160. KABC TV [in Los Angeles] did entheta [critical] mention of Scientology on their Witchcraft series. PRO [Public Relations Officer] went down immediately and caved them in and Legal and PRO went to work. The result was equal time on their station for Narconon.
["US Guardian Office Wins in 1970", 30 December 1970. Something similar to item 160 still occurs today; criticism of Scientology is often met by official rebuttals citing the "250,000 lives saved" by the Church's drug rehabilitation programmes.]
This pattern of direct management by the Church continued at least for the rest of the 1970s, although it was (and is still) denied by the Church and Narconon. Many of the other documents seized by the FBI include references to Narconon. In a Guardian Office logbook for early 1976, Barbara Cole asked another office: "Has Narconon U.S. established itself as an admin unit functioning w/out bypass [direct management] from your bureau?" The same logbook also included criticism of a church official who visited a Narconon operation in Palo Alto, CA without settling its debt problems. Col Jones testified to the close involvement of Church officials:
Throughout my period as director of Narconon, I reported to the Guardian's Office. Meetings were held at regular intervals at which the executives of the Guardian's Office determined the affairs of Narconon. All Narconon activities including the disposition of Narconon finances were approved by the Church of Scientology Assistant Guardian for Public Relations and the Assistant Guardian for Finance, Henning Heldt. From the time I became involved until I ultimately resigned, the Guardian Office controlled all directorships of Narconon, although Narconon was held out to be independent of the Church of Scientology.
In or about 1973, I was requested to travel to England by the Guardian's Office to assist the Deputy Guardian for Public Relations WW [World Wide], David Gaiman, for the Church of Scientology, in recruiting and training personnel to help establish Narconon programs in Europe. I went to Europe and assisted in promoting and establishing programs in Europe.
[Declaration of Mark Jones, 10 February 1995]
Maren's controlling role is illustrated by his title during the 1970s of "Narconon Co-Ordinator" [letter from David Gaiman to Paulette Cooper, reproduced in Cooper, The Scandal of Scientology, 1976]. For his part, Col Jones also retained a close connection with the Church; he was repeatedly given commendations and rewards by the Church for his work on Narconon. In June 1972, L. Ron Hubbard himself publicly honoured Col Jones in an "LRH Executive Directive", to which David Gaiman added his own annotated congratulations, which declared that "Mark Jones is awarded his next training level, Class IX, for the excellent work he has done on the Narconon Programme" [Hubbard, LRH ED 8 Int, 2 June 1972]. This promoted Col Jones to the rank of "Hubbard Advanced Technical Specialist". Just over ten years later, Col. Jones was given another public commendation for his Narconon work by the Church of Scientology of California's United States Guardian Office (USGO):
FOR OUTSTANDING SUPPORT OF THE GUARDIAN OFFICE AND VALUABLE BACK UP OF ORG DELIVERY ON AN INTERNATIONAL BASIS.
THE MATERIAL THIS CELEBRITY PROVIDED IS GREATLY ASSISTING IN BRINGING ABOUT WIDESPREAD ACCEPTANCES OF SCIENTOLOGY AND OVERWHELMING PUBLIC POPULARITY OF THE TECHNOLOGY OF L. RON HUBBARD.
THE SUPPORT IS APPRECIATED VERY MUCH. THANK YOU,
TOM WHITTLE,
USGO MISSIONAIRE[Commendation issued by Church of Scientology of California, 18 August 1982]
This must have been one of the last commendations issued by the United States Guardian Office, as the whole organisation was wound up shortly afterwards. In the wake of the 1977 FBI raids and subsequent criminal convictions of the GO's leadership, a power struggle for control of the Church of Scientology had broken out between the discredited GO high command and the Sea Organisation (Sea Org for short), an élite subgroup of fanatically committed Scientologists. The Sea Org was, in effect, Hubbard's personal praetorian guard: drawn from the most loyal and ideologically "pure" Scientologists, often young second-generation Scientologists, it eventually became the only part of the Church which Hubbard trusted. Its leadership used that trust and support to destroy the Guardian's Office and exile its senior staff, including Mary Sue Hubbard, although most were quietly let back into the Church after a suitable period of disgrace. The only part of the Guardian's Office to survive its demise more or less intact was the Social Coordination Bureau, split off into a separate unit called Social Coordination International. This survived into the late 1980s and, in a revised form, is a crucial part of today's Scientology management structure.
Narconon and the Scientology Management Structure
"Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?"
"To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time."
"The dog did nothing in the night-time."
"That was the curious incident," remarked Sherlock Holmes.[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Silver Blaze, 1894]
In Scientology's equivalent of the curious incident of the dog in the night-time, the curious incident was that the dog did something it wasn't supposed to do. In the secret agreement in 1993 between the Church of Scientology International (CSI) and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, CSI negotiated tax exemption for itself and a variety of other "Scientology-related entities", including Narconon and the Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE), the body which licenses Narconon. It also committed itself to policing and implementing the terms of the agreement under the aegis of the "Church Tax Compliance Committee". Yet CSI is supposedly organisationally separate from ABLE and Narconon, with no management responsibilities for either corporation. It does not take the likes of Sherlock Holmes to spot that there is something wrong here, when an organisation claimed to be separate in public is revealed in secret negotiations as actually been a subordinate.
According to the public statements of Narconon, ABLE and CSI, the relationship is something like this:
The four "social betterment" organisations - Narconon, Criminon, Applied Scholastics and The Way To Happiness Foundation - are subordinate to ABLE, which licenses trademarks and copyrighted material and supervises the correct implementation of the social reform "technologies". Off to each side, but separately incorporated and outside of the management and licensing structure, are the Church of Scientology International (and its subordinate churches) and the International Association of Scientologists. Each provide support and funding to ABLE and its subordinates. The relationship is presented as being strictly charitable, not managerial.
However, a close examination of the IRS agreement and the internal documents of both ABLE and CSI show a radically different picture. From these, it is possible to piece together a flowchart showing the organisational relationships between Narconon, ABLE and the rest of Scientology's byzantine corporate structure. Narconon is revealed as being very definitely a part of the Scientology corporate empire:
This is, necessarily, a heavily simplified version of a much bigger whole. Lines of management are represented as solid black lines, with dashed yellow lines indicating the known and probable contractual relationships. The colours of the different elements indicate distinct corporations, with the Church of Scientology itself being the yellow component. Note that this bears out the carefully-worded disclaimer that Narconon is "corporately separate and distinct from the Church of Scientology" [Clark Carr, letter to Carroll Star News, 7 June 2002]. Likewise, it also supports the statement by the Religious Technology Center that "we have never had a licensing agreement with [Narconon] or any secular group". [Warren L. McShane, quoted in "Scientology reaches into schools through Narconon", Boston Herald, 3 March 1998] Nor would it, since the RTC licenses the Scientology trademarks, not "secular" ones. The key to the puzzle is that Narconon is independent of the Church of Scientology, but is nonetheless still a part of the Scientology conglomerate.
Taking the organisation chart above stage by stage from the ground up, the bottom level is the various "social reform" organisations and their sub-units. In the case of Narconon, individual Narconon organisations are at the bottom level; they are effectively franchises (in fact, one can buy "Narconon Program Starter Kits" with all that is necessary to get a Narconon programme off the ground [ABLE Bookstore - <http://www.able.org/bookstore.html#narconon>]). The Church of Scientology International's Form 1023 "Application for Recognition of Exemption", submitted to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service in 1993, explains the relationship between Narconon International and local Narconons:
Narconon International was formed in 1970 to formalize what was then a loose, grassroots movement, to help establish Narconon programs throughout the world, and to provide local centers the same sort of guidance and technical assistance and support that ABLE provides it. Narconon International also permits local centers to use the name Narconon. In exchange, local centers support Narconon International's program by providing it with ten percent of the funds they receive in connection with their Narconon activities.
[Church of Scientology International Exemption Application Form 1023 Attached Statement, 1993]
Each organisation pays licensing fees to its parent, Narconon International, based in Los Angeles, from which it purchases the various books and literature used in the programme (and also, according to some reports, the vitamin supplements used in the "detoxification" stage of the programme). It also provides training via the international training centre at Narconon Arrowhead [ABLE Bookstore - <http://www.able.org/book_oasnc.html>]. In addition, 10% of income from each local Narconon organisation is remitted to Narconon International. This is a standard Scientology franchise arrangement, each element of which is precisely replicated in the relationship between Narconon International and its franchises:
The Church derived income from four sources: (1) auditing and training; (2) sales of Scientology literature, recordings and E-meters; (3) franchise operations; and (4) management services. Franchise operators were required to remit ten percent of gross income to the Church.
[Church of Scientology of California v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, US Court of Appeals 9th Circuit, case no. 85-7324, decided 28 July 1987 - <http://www.xenu.net/archive/CourtFiles/occf113.html>]
Above Narconon is the Association for Better Living and Education. According to ABLE's website, it is a purely secular organisation. However, it is in fact none other than the old Guardian's Office Social Coordination Bureau, converted into a separate corporation in 1988. As the first issue of its newsletter told Scientologists,
You may have heard some news about ABLE INTERNATIONAL. Formerly our name was Social Coordination.
ABLE's purpose is "TO CREATE A TOTAL REVOLUTION IN THE FIELDS OF DRUGS, CRIME AND EDUCATION BY PUSHING LRH™ TECH INTO WIDE, WIDE USE."
We will be doing this by promoting the incredible services and results of NARCONON™, APPLIED SCHOLASTICS™, CRIMINON™ and THE WAY TO HAPPINESS FOUNDATION.
[ABLE WINS, issue 1, 1988]
Scientology's relationship with ABLE is explained in the CSI Form 1023:
For many years CSI and other churches of Scientology have conducted highly-successful social reform programs based on Mr. Hubbard's technologies... The bulk of CSI's social betterment program is carried out under the supervision and direction of Association for Better Living and Education ("ABLE"), a California nonprofit public benefit corporation formed in November 1988. ABLE's sole purpose is to improve society through the application of Mr. Hubbard's social betterment technologies. In general, ABLE promotes, funds and provides assistance to organizations that use L. Ron Hubbard's technologies in education, in rehabilitating drug abusers and criminals, and in raising public morality in general.
ABLE accomplishes its goals primarily by providing technical and financial assistance and general promotional support to the international social-betterment organizations that work in ABLE's four areas of concern: Narconon International (drug rehabilitation), Applied Scholastics (education), The Way To Happiness Foundation (public morality) and, though not yet incorporated, Criminon (criminal rehabilitation). These four international organizations, in turn, assist organizations that work in their respective fields at the local level.
ABLE is responsible for ensuring that the programs that use the names referring to Mr. Hubbard's social-betterment technologies -- Narconon, Applied Scholastics, The Way To Happiness and Criminon -- meet the high standards of quality with which they have come to be associated. ABLE discharges this responsibility by permitting the international social-betterment organizations and local organizations to use the names subject to ABLE's ultimate supervision.
ABLE assists social-betterment organizations in other ways. It provides technical assistance when necessary to help them better achieve their program goals. It helps raise funding to support their charitable programs. It promotes their programs throughout society through the printed media as well as radio and television. It also will provide social-betterment organizations the physical facilities necessary to house their charitable and educational programs.
[Church of Scientology International Exemption Application Form 1023 Attached Statement, 1993]
Note that the Form 1023 states explicitly that ABLE is, in effect, acting as the agent for the implementation of Church of Scientology International programmes. It is worth pointing out that the Church's websites, and ABLE's, are much more circumspect about the nature of the relationship. What is Scientology? - both the book and the website - states only that "[ABLE's] activities, while secular in nature, are supported by churches of Scientology and individual Scientologists around the world who volunteer their time and talents." ["Solutions to a Troubled Society" - <http://www.whatisscientology.org/html/part10/chp31/pg0503.html>] ABLE's own website only mentions Scientology once, mentioning the fact that L. Ron Hubbard founded it. (Amusingly, ABLE's website designers do not appear to be aware that ABLE supposedly is independent of Scientology; the main graphic on its survey page, at http://www.able.org.uk/yourview.htm, is tagged "Your view on this Scientology Website" - the entire page has been lifted straight from the official Scientology website at http://www.scientology.org/p_jpg/yourview.htm).
As the IRS was well aware, ABLE is undeniably a part of Scientology. In a booklet issued to Scientologists, "The Command Channels of Scientology" - of which the IRS was clearly aware - ABLE is shown as one of the "various sectors of Scientology". ABLE is defined as being "the organization responsible for assisting the expansion of the different social reform activities which use the technology of L. Ron Hubbard to handle the major social woes affecting the society", including drug abuse. The reason that it supports Narconon exclusively is that "the NARCONON Centers headed by NARCONON INTERNATIONAL, dedicated to the eradication of this social disaster with the-application of L. Ron Hubbard's technology, are the ONLY social reform groups on Earth with a workable technology for terminatedly handling this problem." ["The Command Channels of Scientology", Church of Scientology International, 1988, p. 21] ABLE works to
... assist these social reform groups in accomplishing their purposes. It does this through consultation services as well as promotional and public relations campaigns to individuals and organized groups (such as companies, corporations, institutions, departments of local and national governments, etc.) so they realize that the actual solutions to the problems of today's society exist with the social reform groups and avail themselves of their services. ABLE INTERNATIONAL also provides the social groups with the books and materials they need for their various programs.
["The Command Channels of Scientology", Church of Scientology International, 1988, p. 22]
Immediately above ABLE are the Church of Scientology's Continental Liaison Offices. From here on upwards, every link in the management chain is part of the Church of Scientology. ABLE's relationship with the CLOs is virtually symbiotic; as many others have noted, ABLE's offices are almost always located within Continental Liaison Offices. Compare, for instance, the lists of Scientology Continental Liaison Offices at http://italian.whatisscientology.org/Html/part14/chp42/pg0977.html and ABLE offices at http://community.volunteerministers.org/able.htm - of the 13 ABLE offices listed, 10 are located on Church premises. (ABLE International has its own suite of offices on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles). Sub-offices of the CLO network are known for historical reasons as OTLs (Operation Transport Liaison Offices):
| Association for Better Living and Education Expansion Office 118 North Fort Harrison Clearwater, Florida 33755 |
Church of Scientology Flag Ship Service organization c/o Freewinds Relay Office 118 North Fort Harrison Avenue Clearwater, FL 33755 |
| Association for Better Living and Education Western United States Office 1308 L. Ron Hubbard Way Los Angeles, California 90027 |
Continental Liaison Office Western United States 1308 L. Ron Hubbard Way Los Angeles, California 90027 |
| Association for Better Living and Education Eastern United States Office 349 West 48th Street New York, New York 10036 |
Continental Liaison Office Eastern United States 349 W. 48th Street New York, New York 10036 |
| Association for Better Living and Education United Kingdom Office Saint Hill Manor East Grinstead, West Sussex England RH19 4JY |
Continental Liaison Office United Kingdom Saint Hill Manor East Grinstead, West Sussex England RH19 4JY |
| Association for Better Living and Education Hungary Office PO BOX 351. H-1438 Hungary |
Operations and Transport Liaison Office Hungary 1438 Budapest PO Box 351 Hungary |
| Association for Better Living and Education European Office Store Kongensgade 55 1264 Copenhagen K Denmark |
Continental Liaison Office Europe Store Kongensgade 55 1264 Copenhagen K Denmark |
| Association for Better Living and Education African Office 130 Main Street 6th Floor Budget House Johannesburg 2001 Republic of South Africa |
Continental Liaison Office Africa 6th Floor, Budget House 130 Main Street Johannesburg 2001 South Africa |
| Association for Better Living and Education Australia, New Zealand and Oceania Office 201 Castlereagh Street Sydney, New South Wales 2000 Australia |
Continental Liaison Office ANZO 201 Castlereagh Street 3rd Floor Sydney, New South Wales 2000 Australia |
| Association for Better Living and Education Latin American Office Federacion Mexicana de Dianetica, A.C. Pomona # 53 Colonia Roma C.P. 03100 Mexico, D.F. |
Federacion Mexicana de Dianetica, A.C. [i.e. Mexican Dianetics Federation] Pomona # 53 Colonia Roma C.P. 03100 Mexico, D.F |
| Association for Better Living and Education Canada Office 696 Yonge Street Toronto, Ontario Canada M4Y 2A7 |
Continental Liaison Office Canada 696 Yonge Street Toronto, Ontario Canada M4Y 2A7 |
This close match is not accidental. "The Command Channels of Scientology" explains that "In order to perform its duties in the different areas of the world, ABLE INT has continental offices located in CLOs [Continental Liaison Offices], as well as state and regional offices where needed". This highlights the fictitious nature of the supposed separation between the two organisations. ABLE's staff are all Scientologists (in fact, members of the elite Sea Organization, as are the staffs of the CLOs); they work in Scientology offices; they implement the plans of Scientology's International Management; they are in every respect part of Scientology, save for the fact that they are employed by a separate corporation.
In fact, as "Command Channels" demonstrates, ABLE is explicitly part of the CLOs and therefore part of Scientology in managerial if not corporate terms. "Command Channels" states that
The CLOs ... include: the FLAG OPERATIONS LIAISON OFFICES (FOLOs), which duplicate the Flag Bureaux and are in charge of Class 4 orgs and Sea Org orgs; the CONTINENTAL OFFICES for SCIENTOLOGY MISSIONS INTERNATIONAL, WORLD INSTITUTE OF SCIENTOLOGY ENTERPRISES, ASSOCIATION FOR BETTER LIVING AND EDUCATION and THE CONTINENTAL PUBS LIAISON OFFICES (which are the Publications Organizations' representatives in the different continental areas).
[The Command Channels of Scientology, 1988, p. 26]
It goes on to state that:
The CONTINENTAL LIAISON OFFICES (CLOs) coordinate all the Scientology activities in their continental areas. They are ultimately responsible for the expansion of all the Scientology activities and organizations within their geographical area.
[The Command Channels of Scientology, 1988, p. 26]
This coordination takes place through the "Continental Network Coordination Committee headed by CO [Commanding Officer] Continental Liaison Office", the organisation chart of which features ABLE alongside core parts of Scientology.
The purposes of ABLE are also complementary to those of the CLOs. Compare, for instance, the following:
| CLO purposes (from Hubbard, "Purpose of CLOs", HCO Policy Letter of 22 July 1971) |
ABLE purposes (inferred from "Command Channels" and Form 1023 statement) |
| A. To observe. | A. "ABLE ... permit[s] the international social-betterment organizations and local organizations to use the names [Narconon, Applied Scholastics, The Way To Happiness and Criminon] subject to ABLE's ultimate supervision". [Form 1023 Statement, Church of Scientology International, 1993] |
| B. To send observations by users, orgs and the publics to Flag [Command Bureau]. | B. ABLE International is one of six Scientology entities on the Flag Network Coordination Committee and reports via that body to the Flag Command Bureaux. ["Command Channels"] |
| C. To push in Flag Programmes and Projects. | C. "[The CLOs'] function is to get programs and orders executed for the Flag Command Bureaux in their individual orgs and units and to debug where programs and Flag orders won't go in. CLOs are execution arms for the Flag Command Bureaux." ["Command Channels"] |
| D. To FIND the WHY (reasons) that any Flag Programme or Project is not going in in an org or franchise or public and REMEDY THAT WHY so the Flag Programme or Project DOES go in. | D. "This function includes the responsibility of finding why a program is not going in, in a specific org and getting this remedied by taking the necessary actions in accordance with policy." ["Command Channels"] |
| E. Keep itself set up and operating on the pattern planned for its establishment by Flag. | E. "The Commanding Officer ... ensures the different parts of the CLO [including ABLE] are tactically forwarding strategic planning , executing Flag Command Bureaux orders into the individual orgs and units so as to build up the orgs to and beyond the size of old Saint Hill as well as expand the different sectors and boom Scientology in the continent." ["Command Channels"] |
| F. Handle sudden emergencies. | F. (See D.) |
Above the CLOs lies the Flag Command Bureaux, "below the echelon of International Management":
The Flag Command Bureaux, so named from its origination aboard the Flag Ship Apollo, is the central point of tactical management for all the individual orgs and units of all the sectors of Scientology.
The Flag Command Bureaux is the tactical level of management. It gets International Management plans, evaluations and programs DONE in all the individual orgs and units.
Due to the vast number of orgs, missions and units throughout the world, the Flag Command Bureaux is assisted by Continental Liaison Offices (CLOs) located in the different Continental areas, which it uses to relay and forward actions for each continent.
The Flag Command Bureaux is made up of all the management organizations in charge of the different sectors of Scientology. Each of these is headed by its own Commanding Officer, or an international network head in the case of the international networks. The heads of these different management organizations are answerable to the Commanding Officer of the Flag Command Bureaux, who coordinates their activities and is overall responsible for this echelon of management.
["The Command Channels of Scientology", Church of Scientology International, 1988, p. 17]
Here, too, ABLE is an integral part of the management structure, as "Command Channels" and an accompanying organisation chart of the "Flag Network Coordination Committee headed by CO Flag Command Bureaux":
The Flag Command Bureaux is [sic] headed by a Commanding Officer. He is the senior to the Commanding Officers of each of the management units which make up the Flag Command Bureaux (the Flag Bureaux, SMI International, WISE International, ABLE International, BRIDGE Publications and NEW ERA Publications).
["The Command Channels of Scientology", Church of Scientology International, 1988, p. 25]
At the top of the management tree is International Management,
the top echelon of the Church. It has the responsibility of providing strategies and tactical plans for each sector of Scientology. It is where the directions for the different sectors are coordinated so as to forward the overall expansion of Scientology.
International Management comprises several units, each with its specific responsibility and duties. The top level of this echelon is the WATCHDOG COMMITTEE.
The purpose of the Watchdog Committee is to establish competent and functioning management units which direct the various sectors of Scientology and which get these sectors to accomplish their individual purposes, to the result of the continuous expansion of Scientology.
["The Command Channels of Scientology", Church of Scientology International, 1988, pp. 8, 10]
The Watchdog Committee is described as "the highest ecclesiastical authority in the Church". It is also extremely secretive; very little is known about its membership, except that is "is composed of veteran Scientology executives who have proven their competence in handling lower organizations and who are highly trained in L. Ron Hubbard administrative technology". According to "Command Channels", "different types of organizations in Scientology are grouped into sectors and each of those sectors has management organizations to give them direction." One of these sectors is "the Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE) sector (covers the social reform activities which are promoted and supported by the Association for Better Living and Education)", as the following diagram illustrates:
Each sector has a Watchdog Committee member assigned to it - hence there is a senior Scientologist with the title of "WDC ABLE", who is ultimately responsible for the management of that organisation. Just who that individual might be is unknown outside of the top management of the Church of Scientology. The Church does not seem to have publicly named any of the Committee's members, and the only one named in the leaked IRS documents is Marc Yager, Chairman of the Committee and Commanding Officer of the Commodore's Messenger Organization International.
Corporately separate from the Church of Scientology but nonetheless part of the overall Scientology corporate empire - "Scientology-related entities" in the jargon of the CSI/IRS tax-exemption agreement - are two bodies which are not formally part of the management chain but are nonetheless the most important elements of the whole conglomerate. The Church of Spiritual Technology (CST) holds all of the copyrights to L. Ron Hubbard's works, including his Scientology works, his pulp fiction stories, his novels and - most importantly from our point of view - all of the Narconon courses. [See a list of CST's Narconon copyrights.] The Library of Congress has no records of copyrights currently being held by Narconon; indeed, Narconon has actually transferred ownership to CST of several items. This means that CST can (and does) extract royalties from any part of the Scientology conglomerate for the use of Hubbard's works. In the case of Narconon, this relationship appears to be through ABLE, from which Narconon sub-licences copyright material. It is clearly extremely lucrative; documents released in the course of CST's litigation against the IRS showed that the corporation held some $503 million in its accounts. CST often does business under the name of "L. Ron Hubbard Library", which appears on some of Narconon's materials.
The Religious Technology Center is likewise not shown in the formal management chain - it does not even appear in the "Sectors of Scientology" diagram - but is nonetheless the key organisation, at the apex of the pyramid. It controls all of the Scientology trademarks (except those of the "secular" organisations, held by ABLE). Its formal role is to authorise and supervise the use of all L. Ron Hubbard materials and Scientology trademarks. Unlike the comparatively passive CST, it has the authority to "police the exact application of the standard ethics and justice policies and see that effective measures are taken to thwart those who may intentionally attempt to misuse the trademarks of Dianetics and Scientology." It is, so to speak, the biggest stick held by Scientology management - it can put Scientology organisations out of business, discipline executives and otherwise intervene intrusively in any part of the Scientology management structure, as "the organization which polices the command channels of Scientology". ["Command Channels", pp. 6-7] This gives a tremendous amount of power to its chairman, David Miscavige. As a result, he generally recognised by the courts, media and not least Scientology's own publications as the leader of Scientology. (There is also a "President of the Church of Scientology International", Heber Jentzsch, but this is principally a PR rather than management post.)
Narconon and the Sea Organization
Although it is hardly ever mentioned publicly, ABLE is in fact entirely manned by members of Scientology's Sea Organization; some of Narconon's staff, including corporate officers, are also Sea Organization members. A survey on ABLE distributed with the magazine of the International Association of Scientologists included the following:
ABLE INTERNATIONAL AND THE SEA ORG
ABLE International is the International headquarters of all ABLE activities on the planet and acts as the umbrella organisation for Criminon Int, Narconon Int, The Way to Happiness Foundation and Applied Scholastics Inc.
It is a unique organisation in that it is staffed exclusively by members of the Sea Org.
["How is your knowledge of ABLE?", in Impact magazine, issue 79, 1997]
The Sea Org, as it is known known colloquially, was founded
in 1967 as an elite group of Scientologists - in fact, "the most elite
and powerful group in the history of this planet", according to the Sea
Org magazine High Winds - who
accompanied L. Ron Hubbard aboard his mini-fleet of ships in the Mediterranean
Sea. Although the ships are no more, its members are still distinguished by
their quasi-naval uniforms, military ranks and the famous "billion year
contract" which they are required to sign, pledging themselves to the
Sea Org for the next billion years. There are some 5,000 members of the Sea
Org worldwide, with all advanced Churches and management-level Church organisations
employing only Sea Org members.
From the start, the Sea Org was designed to be the spearhead of ideological purity in Scientology, driving out "incorrect" applications of Hubbard's principles. Hubbard declared its purpose to be "to get [Scientology] ethics in on this planet and the universe". Sea Org members sign up to a code of conduct which includes the promise "to do my part to achieve the Sea Org's humanitarian objective which is to make a safe environment where the Fourth Dynamic Engram can be audited out", following Hubbard's declaration that:
All the Sea Org is interested in is getting tech in on the planet. It may sound like we're trying to get ethics in, but that's inevitable. We're trying to get tech in on the planet. We're trying to audit out the Fourth Dynamic Engram and furnish an environment in which it can be done. And that is the general overall objective of the Sea Org. And naturally we have to make sure that it also gets audited. Otherwise, there would be no point in putting any ethics in.
[Hubbard, "Ethics and Case Supervision", lecture of 13 October 1969]
In Hubbard's own words, what he meant by "the Fourth Dynamic Engram" was:
By engram we mean the mental block that prevents peace and tolerance. By fourth dynamic we mean that impulse to survive as mankind instead of just individuals.
[Hubbard, "Ron's Journal 68", 1968]
The means of tackling the "Fourth Dynamic Engram" is, of course, through Scientology. The Sea Org is "an organization of expansion", as Hubbard put it, and ABLE and the other "social betterment" organisations under ABLE are a crucial element of that drive for expansion. The drive to "boom" Scientology was redoubled in the mid-1990s with a campaign to "lead the planet to OT" [Operating Thetan, the highest level of spiritual advancement in Scientology]:
[T]he Sea Org launched an inexorable drive to get the planet to OT - the most massive and far-reaching campaign ever undertaken in Sea Org history.
At the foundations of this campaign were major projects to get LRH books and technical materials into the hands of people the world-over, in numerous languages ... We released new LRH lecture series and we broadly forwarded LRH's image into society at levels never attained before. With unsurpassed quality publications such as Images of a Lifetime and the new RON Series, we reached out to new publics - from judges to kings - bringing enlightenment.
["Leading the Planet to OT", Freewinds magazine, 1996]
In recent years, the Church of Scientology has attempted to portray the Sea Org as a "fraternal order" denoting religious loyalty, rather than a formal military-style chain of command:
The Sea Org is a descriptive name for individuals who have pledged themselves to eternal service of the Scientology faith. The Sea Organization is a religious fraternal order, like the Catholic priesthood, with its own rituals and traditions that exemplify and foster members' shared and deeply-held commitment to the religion. It confers no corporate or ecclesiastic authority. Sea Org members are staff in many churches of Scientology across the globe. Any authority they have in the church entity that employs them derives from their position in that church structure and not their honorary status in the Sea Organization.
[Declaration of David Miscavige, Chairman of the Board, Religious Technology Center, 24 September 1999 - http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=9077N4yKo8hq7lUdvyURvu2Pcjjg%404ax.com&oe=UTF-8&output=gplain]
This view follows Hubbard's statement in March 1974 that the Sea Org is "a fraternal organization existing within the formalized structure of the Churches of Scientology. It consists of highly dedicated members of the Church. These members take vows of eternal service. The Sea Organization life style of community living is traditional to religious orders." [Hubbard, "Understanding Corporate Integrity", Board Policy Letter of 9 March 1974] In practice, however, Scientology's policies and publications show that the Sea Org plays far more than a merely symbolic role. Hubbard defined its specific function as being
to recruit, train, organize and send out to locations complete org or program units to establish high level functioning Dn [Dianetics] and Scn [Scientology] units, activities or courses so that they can attain the best possible results and effectiveness in their areas and to operate AOs [Advanced Organizations].
[Hubbard, Flag Order 1992, "Purpose of Sea Org Revised (Confidential)", 14 May 1969]
These "orgs" or "units" are referred to as "Sea Org Missions" and, under a 1969 directive from Hubbard, have "unlimited powers" to target failing Scientology organisations and "get ethics in". This can result in major changes of policy and personnel in the targeted organisations; for instance, at the Stevens Creek Scientology organisation, "Two execs who refused to get the show on the road were removed and replaced" while in Zurich, Switzerland, "One executive who was not executing the program had to be removed". ["The Sea Org Removes All Stops to Expansion," High Winds: The Magazine of the Sea Organization, issue 10, 1990]
As we have already seen, ABLE and the Church of Scientology's Continental Liaison Offices are almost always physically co-located on Scientology premises. Both entities - ABLE and the CLOs - are also run and entirely staffed by the Sea Org.
As might be expected, the period of the power struggle (roughly 1981-82) proved to be an extremely turbulent period for the Church of Scientology, which shed a sizable number of its members as a result. However, it had a number of very important effects for Narconon. The first was that the Guardian's Office was replaced by the euphemistically-named Office of Special Affairs (OSA), which has almost all of the responsibilities of its predecessor, engages in many of the same activities (including some of the disreputable ones) and is organised in much the same way. The big difference is that the OSA is subordinate to the Sea Org; its senior staff are all Sea Org members. In pre-OSA days, the Sea Org and the Guardian's Office were two separate poles of power within the Church, and the rivalry was considerable; with the creation of the OSA, the functions of the GO have been wholly taken over by the Sea Org. Like the GO, the OSA has a "social liaison" section which interfaces with "social betterment groups" such as Narconon.
Narconon and individual Scientologists
The organisational relationships described above were developed principally for legal, taxation and presentational reasons - it gives Narconon a degree of "plausible deniability" in matters involving its relationship with Scientology. But at the same time, Narconon depends on the support and active involvement of individual Scientologists. The link is provided by the Clear Expansion Committees, unincorporated bodies established under a 1994 programme to provide a direct link with the "social reform" groups.
The ultimate aim of all Scientologists is to "clear the planet", in other words to ensure that everyone in the world becomes a Scientology "Clear". According to Advance magazine issue 153 (April 2001), "Your Clear Expansion Committee is not only a vital group for anyone going Clear, it's disseminating and using LRH tech to take your community to Clear." As a Scientology source explains,
The Clear Expansion Committee is a new program that was launched in 1994 as a major new reach-out program.
To really clear one's community, one must have field activities of all types. Of course these include Missions, Field Auditor Groups, Auditors Associations, Volunteer Ministers, Dianetics Counseling Groups and OT committees.
They must also include Gung-Ho Groups and the use of LRH's Social Betterment tech such as study groups and schools that apply LRH Study Tech, Narconon, Criminon, The Way to Happiness Groups, WISE, Citizen's Commission on Human Rights, and other scientology community reform groups.
While each of these field activites has it's own purpose, all exist to get LRH tech used in the world, and bring us closer to a "Cleared Planet".
A Clear Expansion Committee is an umbrella which coordinates all individual scientologists and groups involved in these activities so as to dramatically expand scientology in your area. Under the control of the Clear Expansion Committee all of these groups become an unstoppable force to clear the community.
[http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=3591BAAE.61AA%40iag.net&oe=UTF-8&output=gplain]Each Scientology organisation has an attached CEC, whose volunteers aim to "create a New Civilization." [http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=6es6pt4r462oj5drbigtc960oltnh9b1q6%40ARSCC.Sweden.Dep.OSA.Surveillance&oe=UTF-8&output=gplain]
An illustration of what CECs do in practice is provided by the one in Hawaii, whose President described its activities in a 1998 e-mail to a Scientology e-mail list:
HAWAII EXPANSION NEWS!!!
We have some exciting things occuring in Hawaii. Our Clear Expansion Committee is factually starting to do exactly that (Clearing Hawaii). We started in February with a handful of people with the purpose to do whatever it takes to help our orgs (Hawaii Day and Foundation) to go Saint Hill Size. We are are working hard to acheive this goal. We now have over 40 active members on the CEC and are breathing life into an earlier dormant Scientology field ...We also have the ABLE area coming alive. Our ABLE In Charge is getting Criminon going here and at last count we have 38 prisoners on the Way to Happiness Extension Course. We believe there are many more than that on the course. There are much bigger plans in this area.
[Myron Thompson, e-mail of 1 May 1998]
Some of the CECs have their fingers in a great many pies; it was reported in 1998 that the Flag Clear Expansion Committee in Clearwater, FL had expanded to include 76 active community groups. However, Scientologist involvement in the community is not always done openly, as the example of Narconon illustrates. This appears to be a deliberate practice. A 1960 bulletin by Hubbard, "Special Zone Plan", has been reprinted in CEC publications such as the Flag Clear Expansion Committee Newsletter ["Spinoffs spread group's message", St. Petersburg Times, 7 Aug 1995]; in it, Hubbard advises Scientologists to "just enter" wider society and introduce the principles of Scientology:
A housewife, already successfully employing Scientology in her own home, trained to professional level, takes over a woman's club as secretary or some key position.
She straightens up the club affairs by applying comm [sic] practice and making peace, and then, incidental to the club's main function, pushes Scientology into a zone of special interest in the club - children, straightening up marriages, whatever comes to hand, and even taking fees for it - meanwhile, of course, going on being a successful and contributing wife.
The cue in all this is don't seek the cooperation of groups. Don't ask for permission. Just enter them and start functioning to make the group win through effectiveness and sanity.
[Hubbard, "Special Zone Plan", HCO Bulletin of 23 June 1960]
Narconon and the International Association of Scientologists
The International Association of Scientologists (IAS) plays an important role in funding and supporting Narconon. Formed in England in 1984, it has become the main conduit by which money is channelled from ordinary Scientologists - for whom membership of the IAS is virtually mandatory - to the "social reform" organisations. Its declared aim is "To unite, advance, support and protect the Scientology religion and Scientologists in all parts of the world so as to achieve the aims of Scientology as originated by L. Ron Hubbard". This involves "providing the wherewithal to get ethics in on this planet so the tech can go in". [Quotes from Impact magazine, issue 69, 1996] In practice, this means
In a distillation of Scientology's "salvation for cash" approach to spiritual advancement, IAS members are encouraged to donate huge sums of money and are awarded ranks and badges or plaques of merit in recognition of their contributions (denominated in US dollars). These are, respectively:
Sponsor - $5,000
Crusader - $10,000
Honor Roll - $20,000, or signing up 20 people to be IAS members
Patron - $40,000
Patron with Honors - $100,000
Patron Meritorious - $250,000
Gold Meritorious - $1,000,000
Senior Honor Roll - signing up 100 people to be IAS members, or contributing to IAS expansion "in some stellar fashion".
Considerable amounts of money have thereby been channeled to Narconon. According to Narconon International,
From time to time, Narconon centers and Narconon International itself have requested grants from the International Association of Scientologists (IAS) for specific Narconon needs. The IAS has provided grants to the Narconon organization for such important projects as the pilot installation of the Narconon program inside Ensenada State Prison in Baja California, Mexico, and the purchase by Narconon International of the beautiful quarters of Narconon Mediterraneo outside of Seville, Spain.
["Support For the Narconon® Program" - <http://www.narconon.org/narconon_support.htm>]
Not surprisingly, numerous Narconon executives are listed in Church magazines as "patrons" of the IAS, meaning that they have each donated at least $40,000.