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I am also an ordained priest of the Order of Vedantan Monists. If you consult rudimentary reference materials, you will find that Vedanta has been the voice of religious freedom for about the last seven to ten thousand years.
I am also a Scientologist and proud of it. As such, I am taking this opportunity to point out what a utterly laughable piece of painfully obvious trash you ran on Scientology ("BU's Scientology Connection," News, April 19). Scientology is not a cult and has nothing to do with mind control. I personally have used Scientology to communicate better; give more powerful, slamming performances; and to help colleagues get off of bullshit like Prozac.
The fact is that it takes balls to be a Scientologist. Why? Because Scientology deals with confronting the Truth.
The Reverend Edward A. Broms, OVM
Jamaica Plain
I applaud Dan Kennedy and the Phoenix for writing a very significant story about Earle Cooley. It just proves the point that intelligent, educated people can be deceived and mind-controlled.
How else could one explain Cooley's involvement with L. Ron Hubbard, a second-rate science-fiction writer who was a stage hypnotist and follower of Aleister Crowley? All one needs to do is read John Atack's A Piece of Blue Sky, Russell Miller's Barefaced Messiah, or Corydon and Hubbard Jr.'s L. Ron Hubbard, Messiah or Madman? to see that the writer of Dianetics and founder of Scientology was anything but the "Savior of Humankind."
How Cooley could head the board of Boston University and support Scientology's beliefs that psychology exclusively uses drugs and electroshocks, and that only through Hubbard's processes can people ever be truly "free," boggles my mind. His use of the law to stifle freedom of speech and promote known falsehoods violates the spirit of our country.
Scientology has continued to spread lies about me in an attempt at character assassination. The problem is that the only people who believe this stuff have already been indoctrinated by the cult. The general public is getting hep to this group. They have a long history of illegal and unethical activities, documented at a variety of Web sites. They are losing major lawsuits and courageous former officials are speaking out.
With regard to the letter from Beth Akiyama ("BU and Scientology: The Backlash," Letters, May 3), the truth is that I am against forcible deprogramming and have never kidnapped or tortured anyone. Yes, when I first was deprogrammed from the Moonies in 1976, I was involved for one year with about a dozen involuntary interventions with people in the Moonies. Most left. As far as Angela Chandler goes, I have never met the woman. This is a total fabrication -- fact is, there has never been a single charge or indictment against me for anything.
I am a civil libertarian who is committed to promoting human rights and consumer awareness; I very much value spirituality and pray and meditate regularly. I support freedom of religion fully and believe that this freedom includes having access to information that the Scientology organization keeps secret. People deserve to hear both sides; then, and only then, can they make up their own minds.
Steve Hassan, M.Ed., LMHC
The response by Beth Akiyama on behalf of Scientology to Dan Kennedy's article "BU's Scientology Connection" unfairly injures the Cult Awareness Network (CAN).
As your readers know, the Chicago-based CAN has been a nonprofit since 1978, and handles thousands of inquiries and complaints each year concerning cult-related issues. Each month, CAN receives calls and letters about Scientology, much to Scientology's chagrin. Scientology has long engaged in a propaganda campaign against CAN, and Ms. Akiyama's letter is just one example of Scientology's dishonest tactics.
Ms. Akiyama falsely writes, "More than a dozen of CAN's principals and high-ranking members have been criminally charged, indicted, or jailed over the past few years for a variety of crimes." According to the Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, a "principal" is a person who has controlling authority, a head man or woman. CAN does have officers, directors, and authorized agents who can act for the nonprofit, which would constitute CAN's "principals." CAN has no "high-ranking members." We only have ordinary members, who have no right to act on behalf of CAN unless they hold a position as an officer , director, or authorized agent. No one has ever been criminally charged, indicted, or jailed for actions carried out in his or her capacity as an agent for CAN. Nor has CAN as a corporation ever been charged or found guilty of any criminal act.
Scientology's history is a different matter. Eleven Scientologists, all clearly acting as agents for the Church of Scientology (which would make them "principals"), received felony convictions in the 1970s for their part in a break-in of government offices, known by Scientology leaders as Operation Snow White, and the repeated theft of government documents. Additionally, in 1991, the Church of Scientology and three of its agents received criminal convictions for similar conduct against Canadian government agencies. That was the first time in Canadian history a church had been found guilty of criminal acts.
Ms. Akiyama's comments about CAN are not innocent errors. Scientologists have unsuccessfully sued CAN approximately 50 times since 1991. Scientology has spent probably millions in legal discovery against CAN and has never found any evidence of anyone committing a crime in his or her capacity as an agent for CAN. The attorney most active in conducting that discovery against CAN has been Kendrick Moxon, a member of Scientology for over two decades. It was Mr. Moxon, serving as Assistant Guardian for the Legal Bureau of Scientology in Washington during Operation Snow White, who was found to have worked with other Scientology officials in supplying false evidence to the FBI.
Ms. Akiyama did not write her letter without approval from higher authorities in the church. Her letter is unethical, and she should be ashamed to put her name on Scientology's propaganda.
Cynthia S. Kisser
Executive Director
Cult Awareness Network