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Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard exposed as a 'fraud' by British diplomats 30 years ago
Daily Mail (U.K.) ^ | August 6, 2009 | Graham Smith

Posted on 08/06/2009 7:02:55 AM PDT by Schnucki

British diplomats investigating the qualifications of L Ron Hubbard exposed the Scientology founder as a fraud 30 years ago.

The science-fiction writer, who invented the religion now followed by celebrities including Tom Cruise and John Travolta, awarded himself a PhD from a sham 'diploma mill' college he had acquired in California.

British consulate workers in Los Angeles secretly gathered information on behalf of the government.

Whitehall officials launched the covert investigation after Scientologists threatened to sue over the government's 1968 decision to ban followers from entering the UK to visit the sect's headquarters in East Grinstead, West Sussex.

Britain needed to establish whether Hubbard was a charalatan to defend itself against any libel action.

The evidence was gathered during the 1970s and included the claim by a US official that the sect had sent bogus doctors to hypnotise a legal investigator, forcing him to retire 'due to his mental health'.

The Department of Health files, many of which were classified until 2019, were released to The Times by the National Archive following a Freedom of Information request.

The dossier includes a signed statement by former senior Scientologist John McMaster, who said Hubbard and others faked ‘qualifications’ in Dianetics, the spiritual ‘science’ founded by Hubbard to provide spiritual healing.

He said: 'I understand it is asserted that L Ron Hubbard was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Sequoia University on February 10 1953, in recognition of his outstanding work in the fields of Dianetics and Scientology and that the said degree was recorded with the Department of Education of the State of California.

'The position is L Ron Hubbard [and others] acquired premises somewhere in Los Angeles which they had registered as a university called Sequoia and immediately awarded each other doctorates.'

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: britain; fraud; hubbard; losangeles; scientology
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To: allmendream
Battlefield Earth was a huge book.

"Invasion: Earth" was a series of about a dozen or so.

41 posted on 08/06/2009 8:45:08 AM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: allmendream
I think it's his "MISSION EARTH" Series that you're thinking about ... 12 or 13 books, pretty much unreadable.

Now, BATTLEFIELD EARTH, although a fairly long book, was, I thought, a pretty good read in a post-Armageddon Alien Invasion Campbellesque-SciFi Swashbucker kind of way: outnumbered, innovative Earthlings battle against all kinds of alien invaders and, because of their pluck and daring, succeed in overthrowing the inter-galactic status quo.

42 posted on 08/06/2009 8:45:12 AM PDT by BlueLancer (I'm getting a fine tootsy-frootsying right here...)
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To: mnehring

43 posted on 08/06/2009 8:46:15 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: BlueLancer
Ahhh. Didn't realize there was a difference.

I only made it one and a half book into “Mission Earth”, and yes, unreadable.

I thought “Battlefield Earth” was somewhere within those 12-13 books.

44 posted on 08/06/2009 8:53:41 AM PDT by allmendream (Income is EARNED not distributed, so how could it be redistributed?)
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To: Schnucki

Who uses a quill pen? A fraud, that’s who.


45 posted on 08/06/2009 9:00:32 AM PDT by Cheburashka (Stephen Decatur: you want barrels of gunpowder as tribute, you must expect cannonballs with it.)
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To: DM1
PhD FreeRepublic University, 2002 “

i love it

ok i have a PhD from good ole FREEPER U 2001


Priorities. We'll get to the degrees we issue later. First we need a football team and a fight song. Any suggestions for the mascot? The team colors?
46 posted on 08/06/2009 9:09:24 AM PDT by Cheburashka (Stephen Decatur: you want barrels of gunpowder as tribute, you must expect cannonballs with it.)
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To: Cheburashka

team colors = red white and blue :)
mascot = a minuteman? eagle? elephant? tank? dont know lets work on that one.
fight song = hearts on fire (rocky 4 ) ;)
just floating some balloons out there


47 posted on 08/06/2009 10:33:19 AM PDT by DM1
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To: DM1
mascot = a minuteman? eagle? elephant? tank? dont know lets work on that one.

Mascot = Keyboard Assault Trooper. Military uniform (perhaps several different mascots from several different eras in American history) carrying a standard weapon that matches the era, and a a big (but not too big) keyboard strapped over the back instead of a backpack.
48 posted on 08/06/2009 11:05:48 AM PDT by Cheburashka (Stephen Decatur: you want barrels of gunpowder as tribute, you must expect cannonballs with it.)
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To: Cheburashka

“Mascot = Keyboard Assault Trooper. Military uniform (perhaps several different mascots from several different eras in American history) carrying a standard weapon that matches the era, and a a big (but not too big) keyboard strapped over the back instead of a backpack. “

PERFECT
i knew we could come up with the Freeper essence


49 posted on 08/06/2009 11:37:06 AM PDT by DM1
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