$cientology says its franchise network is patterned after financial supporter of virulent anti-semiticism

armstrong@dowco.com (Gerry Armstrong)
22 Jan 2000

Yes, it's true.

$cientology agents say that the Spotlight newspaper is virulently anti-semitic.

$cientology agents say that Spotlight publisher Willis Carto is sponsoring a particularly repulsive form of anti-semitism.

But $cientology doesn't tell you that L. Ron Hubbard had a subscription to Spotlight.

And more importantly, $cientology doesn't tell you that Hubbard wanted his network of $cientology franchises patterned after the scam of one of Spotlight's and Carto's advertisers and financial supporters.

As insane as that sounds, it's true.

Here's what Hubbard wrote to Sue Mithoff September 10, 1979:

[Quote]

The point of "selling" a franchise area has been misunderstood by Legal WW. One cannot sell a territory. But one can sell a very posh package of setup materials for thousands and thousands of dollars which is a starter package. One sells the starter package and what goes along with it is a district and SMI contract. The money which is received is from the starter package and the money which will be received is from the percentage which will be paid to SMI. There is not the least bit of legal difficulty at this if one takes a look at it. This idea has not been put on the lines previously. But it is very easy to resolve it and no reason to block the sale of franchise districts just because you can't say "Chicago southend is now sold for $25,000." You can say "The district Chicago southend is granted between block number so and so and block number so and so to the (corporate name of the franchise acquirer) who must now buy a starter package for his franchise of so many books, so many this, so many that, so many meters, so many this, so many that etc., at such and such a price and in return for signing the SMI contract which requires the payment of so many percent tithe to SMI." What is added to the contract is up to the GO as a series of protective clauses which are advantageous and otherwise. Do you realize that when this organization is put together as a Church from SMI, it will have all manner of tax benefits and everything else. It can trade, buy property etc., etc. and all of these things are tax exempt. There is one hell of a sales pitch that can be launched back of this. In the last issue of "Spotlight" newspaper there was an ad from a Henshal or Benshal about the United Church league, or some such thing, who laid out the benefits of being a church under the heading of the "fastest growing religion in the world." This guy sells ordinations, and is getting away with it. What he says is true. It has terrific, terrific advantages from a tax point of view to run a church. A copy of this should be acquired, or I can get it back and send it through, but the point is this can be a highly advantageous thing that the guy is buying. What he pays for is the starter package and the promise to give a certain tithe to the basic organization and he also is therefore and thereby disconnected from the C of S of California, and from liability to the C of S of California, and this is what we're trying to do and this is the only reason we're organizing SMI. I have added to it the additional reason that it can make a fortune. It also gets this franchise scene under control. What has been overlooked here is the reasons why this organization is being created. We have just lost now the Kristofferson suit, a 2 million dollar suit, because of the sloppy contracts and relationship of the franchise network to C of S of California. Therefore, it has got to be handled and it is behind times already. One has to sort out the sales pitch, how one will get money from it, the advantages, and get this fully understood by anybody along the line, or nobody will be able to sell a damn thing. This is actually not a very bright conclusion at Legal WW, but then they are concerned with the law and not with promotion and Marketing. These new franchises have to be marketed, marketed, marketed. It's a piece of cake. You can sell a dozen of them in every major city in the world. They gain in this enormous tax advantages, a good business that pays money, ways and means to invest money and hold money without tax ripoff and it's actually like selling warm mittens to a frozen eskimo.

[End Quote]

Legal WW was the Legal Bureau in the Guardians Office World Wide, then headed by Charles Parselle. Hubbard was, at the time he wrote this "scripture," taking the franchises out from under GO control and putting them under his direct control through the Commodore's Messenger Org (CMO).

[$]MI is, of course, $cientology Mi$$ion$ International, the cult organization which still today sells franchises to rich $cientologists.

The "Henshal or Benshal" Hubbard mkentions as source for his franchising of "churches" is "Rev." Kirby J. Hensley.

The "United Church league, or some such thing" is actually the "Universal Life Church. (Hubbard didn't have a very good memory, and couldn't duplicate as well as any common, garden variety wog (R).)

"Spotlight," of course, is the newspaper that $cientology itself calls virulently anti-semitic, and to which Hubbard was a long time subscriber and financial supporter.

Hubbard called this idea of $elling $cientology franchi$e$ hi$ "billion dollar caper."

So, whenever you see a $cientology franchise or group or office, anywhere in the world, realize that it is patterned after a money-grubbing scammer and supporter of virulent anti-semiticism.

(c) Gerry Armstrong