Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Letter To Colorado State Board of Education

To Any and All Colorado Board of Education Staff Members:

It has come to my attention that the Colorado State Board of Education has certified Applied Scholastics Colorado, Inc. as a Supplemental Education Service (SES) provider.

The educational methods that Applied Scholastics employs are called in Scientology, their “Study Tech”. They claim that this and only this method of learning can cure people of their learning disabilities and improve their power to learn. Unfortunately, this method is being viewed by many as indoctrination into a very dangerous cult.

This may sound ridiculous to the uninformed person but I urge you to please read the following and understand how this is causing a lot of concern. Please take some time to visit the following links as well and do your own research, establish your own point of view regarding Applied Scholastics and Scientology.

Applied Scholastics as it relates to “Study Tech” and Scientology-

Source: www.studytech.org – connects the dots between Applied Scholastics Inc. and Scientology.

“Applied Scholastics Incorporated is, officially, a completely separate organization from the Church of Scientology. It is a separately incorporated body with its world headquarters at 7060 Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. Its central task is to promote the use of Study Tech to the non-Scientologist world, particularly in schools - public and private alike.”

“Applied Scholastics has also frequently suffered from its relationship with the Church of Scientology. In a 1992 lawsuit in Santa Clara, California, three persons who were placed on Applied Scholastics courses sued their employer, Applied Materials, for retaliating against them when they refused to continue participating in training that they felt amounted to Scientology indoctrination (Hemet (California) News, July 29, 1992.) The employer eventually settled the case for an estimated $600,000.”

“According to the Church itself, Applied Scholastics is a Church program and a "Scientology-related entity." 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 payroll, income and estate-tax bills for an undisclosed number of years prior to 1993, as well as discontinuing numerous lawsuits against the IRS. The terms of the agreement did not become public until four years later, when they were leaked to the Wall Street Journal in December 1997. It sparked an immediate controversy. Under the agreement (and, it was alleged, under improper pressure from Church lawyers and private investigators) the IRS had granted Scientology privileges denied to any other faith group. The disparity was highlighted in a subsequent court case involving a Jewish man who wished to claim tax exemption for his child's attendance at a Jewish school. He was denied but the court criticized the conduct of the IRS, pointing out the inconsistency of allowing Scientologists to claim tax deductions for religious schooling while denying it to everyone else. The situation has still not been resolved.”

“CSI had to submit a "Form 1023 Statement" to the IRS prior to the conclusion of the 1993 agreement. In it, CSI declared that Applied Scholastics forms part of its "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; Applied Scholastics, an educational 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), Applied Scholastics (education) ...(Church of Scientology International Exemption Application Form 1023 Attached Statement, 1993)”

“When the agreement itself was drafted, CSI accepted responsibility for Applied Scholastics' tax status despite not having any overt corporate responsibility for it. The fictional separation of the two organisations was, in secret, set aside. It was instead defined 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)”


Why is this connection to Scientology bad news?

While Scientologists leaders would say that the following is “religious intolerance”, “evil propaganda”, or just “completely untrue”; this website is full of written testimonies from adults and even some children who grew up in Scientology, have escaped and are speaking out about the child abuse that this cult gets away with under the guise that it is a “religion”.

Please take some time and read a couple stories. Scientology has a “Disconnection Policy” that destroys families, ripping children from their parents and even husbands from their wives. It is referenced in detail in a lot of the testimonies.

Source: www.exscientologykids.org “I was born. I grew up. I escaped.”-

“Who We Are: Ex-Scientology kids is designed, owned, and operated by three young women who grew up in Scientology, and later left the Church. We feel that growing up in the Scientology environment is a unique experience that's almost impossible to comprehend unless you've lived it yourself. For what it's worth, we offer non-judgmental support for those who are still in Scientology, discussion and debate for those who've already left, and a plethora of easy-to-understand references for the curious.
For the record, while the site admins make every effort to be non-judgemental, that doesn't mean we're unbiased. Most of the people that write for this site have had extremely negative experiences in Scientology. Some of us have lost our families due to Scientology's Disconnection Policy, some of us have experienced physical abuse, and some of us were denied a proper education.”

Two of the founders of the Website:

“Jenna Miscavige Hill- Jenna is the niece of David Miscavige, current leader of Scientology. She grew up as a member of the Sea Organization, and was disconnected from her parents at a young age. She left in 2005, and is now happily married, living a fulfilling life outside the church.
Jenna first spoke out in response to Scientology spokeswoman Karin Pouw's denial that disconnection exists within Scientology. Jenna wrote a moving public letter refuting these claims. Since then, Jenna has been an active opponent of Scientology abuses, and hopes that her work can help educate others about the dangers of Scientology and the Sea Org. Jenna was recently featured on Inside Edition, and other scheduled media appearances are currently in the works.”

AstraWoodcraft- Astra spent her young life in the Sea Org, and left Scientology for good when the church tried to pressure her to have an abortion. She has raised her lovely daughter outside the church, and she now has an excellent relationship with her father and sister, both of whom have left Scientology. Astra has personal experience with disconnection, and hopes to help save other families from the heartache of Scientology's disconnection policy.
Astra's articles and interviews have been published in numerous media outlets, including Glamour Magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, St. Petersburg Times, and the London Daily Mail. She has also given several video testimonials, and appeared on popular television talk show Rich & Judy. “

The following information is from www.exscientologykids.org, written by Jenna Miscavige and Astra Woodcraft (being that they are the moderators):

“Not to get all conspiracy theory on you, but we've got it on damn good authority that the following sites are owned and operated by OSA, Scientology's Office of Special Affairs, or other Scientologists who falsely portray themselves as neutral parties. They're not. They exist to promote Scientology and slander Scientology critics on behalf of the Church. You have been warned.”
Religious Freedom Watch - RFW: Perverting the Word 'Freedom' Since Basically Forever. While we'd love to go on a huge rant about how many bold-faced lies are on this site, we're just going to let you do your own research. Hint: Wikipedia is your friend.
Scientology Myths - Another supposedly neutral site. Funny, though, the contact email is "scientologyworks@gmail.com". I imagine that'll get changed shortly. Nice try, guys.
Freezone Survivors Association - If you can read between the blindingly awful site design, vaguely accusatory language and petty insults, you'll notice that someone has put up a page accusing Freezoners of being controlled by psychiatrists.
The New Cult Awareness Network - After Scientology sued them and then bought them in bankruptcy court, CAN became a Scientology mouthpiece organization. “

Othersources:www.xenu.net,www.xenutv.com, http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Narconon/...l_orgchart.gif
Article by Dr. David S. Touretzky and Chris Owen MBE- http://www.studytech.org/study_tech.php
To read about the real beliefs of Scientologists and view actual documents that prove the things that Scientologist’s call lies, visit www.xenu.net.
To watch many informative videos on the dangers and abuses of Scientology I suggest you visit www.xenutv.com.


These sources cover all of the important topics. Including:
Disconnection
Fair Game
– “Fair game. (Suppressive persons) May be deprived of property or injured by any Scientologist without the discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed.” –L. Ron Hubbard- HCO Policy Letter of 18 October, 1967
Mysterious Deaths of Scientology Followers
Brainwashing and Mind Control Techniques Scientology Uses
How Scientology Tricks their Followers out of all of their Money
Scientology’s Tax-Exempt Status that no other Religion Receives

Scientology’s Plan to Destroy the Psychiatry/Psychology Industry- They believe that all human rights violations are the cause/effect of psychiatrists/psychologists. One of their missions is to abolish any and all practices.
Scientology’s Plans to Control the World (not a joke)

Thank you for taking your time to read this. I hope that you, as a member of the Colorado State Board of Education, care enough about the children in these schools to prevent them from being exposed to this dangerous cult, in any way.

As long as the Colorado State Board of Education employs, gives money to, or supports the Cult of Scientology in any way, I will do everything in my power to educate people on the dangers of Scientology. I will encourage everyone I come in contact with that have children in your schools to find out if their school employes Applied Scholastics, informing them of Scientology’s relationship with the Colorado State Board of Education, and asking them to contact their schools and demand that this company's relationship with their schools be terminated.

Thanks for your time,

Anonymous Girl
Anonymougirl86@hotmail.com