Insight MONTH XX, 2008 NOVEMBER 29, 2009 Sunday SUNDAY INSIGHT 5 45 SUNDAY INSIGHT HERALD ON SUNDAY New Zealand’s Best Newspaper Section Qantas Media Awards 2009 Burning fervour Scientology cruises our schools Despite its animated support from the likes of Hollywood’s Tom Cruise and John Travolta, the Church of Scientology has always been seen as a fringe religion. But its influence is extending into our schools and television programming, an influence some regard as malign. Matt Nippert investigates. T ONY AND Aiga Cooper will never forget their time in Papakura. Eleven years ago, something happened there they will never forget — their son, Paul Odin Cooper, died of self-inflicted wounds on November 18, 1998,. While suicides are invariably complex and can be explained by no single reason; Tony’s anger is still raw and he questions the involvement his son had with the Church of Scientology. “He got so tangled up in it, and the day of his suicide he went back,” he says. He’s referring to the Church of Scientology on the Ellerslie-Panmure Highway, which Paul had visited in the two years leading to his death. Paul had been an infrequent visitor to the family home in the preceding years, and his parents say when he returned he tried to borrow money to visit Scientology headquarters in Florida or sell Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard books. After the suicide, words were exchanged. Mike Ferriss, the secretary of the Church of Scientology of New Zealand, says family members called the church office making violent threats. Ferriss says Paul was more a sporadic than regular parishioner. “Paul left us over a period of two years,” and he says Paul’s problems stemmed from substances rather than Scientology. “He came to us as very much a drug-addicted person.” Aiga sees her son’s end as less clear-cut. Paul’s partner leaving him and taking their two children to the South Island affected him the most, she says. After the funeral, in a box she found Paul’s personal effects. A birth certificate. Books by Hubbard. She also found a photo of the founder of Scientology. “That photo, I don’t know what came over me that day. I just got the lighter and lit it out there,” she says, crying. “I burned it. Because it really hurt me. It really hurt me.” F ERRISS STRONGLY disputes any claim that Scientology and suicide are in any way linked. “In fact, religions in general are noted to have fewer suicides than the population at large — so it is with us.” Ferriss is backed by Helen Smith, a doctor and Scientologist. “If someone was suicidal, a Scientologist’s friends would help them out, want themtobeokayandgetmedicalchecks.Scientologists want them to have proper medical care.” On behalf of the church in New Zealand, Smith also co-ordinated the Youth for Human Rights programme, part of a worldwide Scientology-backed campaign to educate schoolchildren about the United National Declaration of Human Rights. The church has supplied about 50 participating schools with its educational DVD, on the cover of which L Ron Hubbard is pictured with “famous human rights leaders” such as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King jnr. Smith is arranging to speak to one school’s assembly in support of the controversial education package. Earlier this year, she was a witness in a different forum when she gave evidence to the inquest of David Sampson, who killed himself last December. CONTINUED p44 46 SUNDAY INSIGHT NOVEMBER 29, 2009 HERALD ON SUNDAY FROM p43 A long-time member of the Church, in 1991 Sampson had won a half-share of Lotto’s first division prize — some $651,000, says a family member — but had become a depressed alcoholic by the end of last year. Sampson’s brother John says his brother had got into Scientology after cleaning up his drug habit through church-backed rehab service Narconon. “In one sense Narconon sorted out one problem, but opened the door to another,” says John. The new problem, says John, was mostly an estrangement from family. They were raised Catholics, and his brother’s new religious path caused tension: “About 10 years ago they came to a party one night, we had an argument and a couple of days later we got a disconnection letter.” Disconnection is a formal practice in which Scientologists disassociate themselves from someone else. The practice was criticised in a 1969 government inquiry that concluded that if this practice was reverted to “it may be necessary to consider legislation requiring a more substantial legal entity than is now in evidence”. Ferriss provides a statement from Sampson’s wife Jan saying: “Dave probably decided he would rather keep a distance from them. Scientology was not involved in the decision.” Another person who knew Sampson says that, in his view, the church policy on psychotropic drugs may have contributed to his death. “He was suffering from depression, but he wasn’t seeing a psychiatrist because they’re against that.” Smith, who twice treated Sampson, says she didn’t recommend psychiatry because she knew he would decline. “I definitely recommended he see a counsellor, get some extra help, and get sorted out. But I know from his ideas he wouldn’t have wanted to see a psychiatrist anyway, because he didn’t want to take medication for anything.” Smith says the suspicion of suicide had never come up. “It came out of the blue, really.” Ferriss, who also knew Sampson, says his problems with alcohol predated the church, and he did take his own life. “It’s a very unfortunate thing and absolutely tragic, but we cannot be held responsible for a person’s prior condition.” A TV3 documentary, How to Spot a Cult, which airs its second and final part this Wednesday, covers allegations that Scientology in New Zealand and Australia had attempted to cover-up or defect attention from cases where members have had psychotic breaks or committed suicide, although these claims are denied by Scientology. Aaron Tweddell has also been close to suicide. Born into a Scientology family, his parents Robin and Eva ran Ricky’s Restaurant on Auckland’s FOUNDER: Church leader L Ron Hubbard. Karangahape Rd until Aaron was around 10 years old. The restaurant folded, Eva was declared insolvent in 1984, and Robin was forced into bluecollar work, says their son. Then, a month before Aaron’s 14th birthday, Robin had a word with his son. Says Aaron: “He told me he was going to kill himself. He told me that he hadn’t achieved what he wanted to achieve as a thetan — in other words a spirit — in this life. He was going to go and he was going to come back and try again. There was no suicide note, the note was me.” OnJuly4,1989,RobinClyveTweddell died of self-inflicted injuries. A ARON TWEDDELL, who later changed his name to Saxton as part of a failed attempt to create a new life, was a key player in international headlines this month after his story formed a large part of a blistering attack on Scientology by Australian Senator Nick Xenophon. On the floor of the Australian Senate in an adjournment speech given on November 17, the GETTY “He told me he was going to kill himself . . . there was no suicide note, the note was me.” AaronTweddell , now Aaron Saxton senator referred to a letter from Saxton: “When he was a child his mother was coerced into signing over guardianship of him to a Scientology official so he could be moved to Australia.” Xenophon went on to describe how Saxton rose through the ranks and used his power in the nautically themed Scientologist group, the Sea Organisation. “He says he issued socalled non-communication orders on no less than half a dozen families, including his own.” The senator outlined Saxton’s part in blackmailing church followers using personalinformationobtainedthrough auditing, and “Aaron says he was also involved in deleting files of a member who had [committed suicide].” And, in what became perhaps the most-quoted part of the speech, SPEAKING UP: Former Scientologist Aaron Saxton knows his statements may come Xenophon referred to Saxton’s claims about Scientology’s policy on abortions: “He says while under the control of Scientology he was involved in coercing female followers to have abortions. He says this was in line with apolicydesignedtokeepfollowersloyal to the organisation and to allow them to keep working for the organisation.” Immediately after the speech the Church of Scientology in Australia issued a statement accusing Xenophon of “an outrageous abuse of privilege”. In a more detailed response later, the church responded directly to Saxton. The statement said the claim about abortions was a lie. “The Church of Scientology does not mandate a position on birth control or abortion.” The other allegations made here were not detailed directly, and instead were described as “the wild embellishment of a chronic liar”. Going further,thestatementdescribedSaxton as a “mean, hateful young man”. Saxton, chain-smoking Dunhill Blues and mainlining instant coffee, is nothing if not blunt in response to this description: “‘A mean, hateful young man?’ That’s how they made me.” Now 35, this man entered the strange world of the Sea Organisation a year after losing his father. He went to Chaucer School in New Lynn and attended Kelston Boys’ High before he left for Australia and Scientology and left traditional education behind him, aged barely 15. Saxton says in hindsight, the appeal oftheSeaOrganisationtoayoungboyis obvious: “I was in awe, surrounded my militaryuniforms,power,”hesays.“And you’re inspired. There’s the promise to travel the world. You’re promised you’ll bring down psychiatry and the drug lords. You will defy governments, you will bring an end to corruption and no one can withstand the sheer might and power of the truth.” Scientology’s much-lampooned belief in extraterrestrials and reincarnation has a firm root in the Sea Organisation,hesays.“Beforeyouknow it you’re sitting there going, ‘Right, now I’m part of a group that used to exist a million years ago to again fight the evil tyranny that brought down 26 planets and an entire confederation’.” In reality, says Saxton, his duties — at least in Sydney where he began his service — were more enforcer than starship trooper. He says he often tracked and forcibly returned escapees back to Sea Organisation headquarters. Link between church ALLEY AND TRAVOLTA FOR A man who has seen the inner working of Scientology and now crusades against the religion, Aaron Saxton has as surprisingly high regard for John Travolta. He contrasts the star of Saturday Night Fever with Tom Cruise, the man Andrew Morton described as the “second in command in all but name” of Scientology in his Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography. No prizes for guessing who’s who: “One clearly has his head on his shoulders and looks at this as a business. Then you’ve got the fantastic dick that actually believes the Xenu stuff — he’s deadly serious,” says Saxton. The link between Scientology and celebrity is well-publicised — with Kirstie Alley, Juliette Lewis, and Lisa Marie-Presley among well-known adherents — and Saxton says such recruits are jealously guarded and fastidiously cultivated. He even goes so far as to opine that the membership of celebrities is maintained through blackmail, and their children are targeted as potential long-term recruits . “Do you think Travolta wants to be there?” says Saxton. “They’ve got something on him, from his wild days after Saturday Night Fever.” In 1992, at Scientology’s sprawling headquarters in Florida known as Flag Land Base, MONTH XX, 2008 NOVEMBER 29, 2009 at a cost; but feels he owes it to people unable to speak out. How many times? “Ten, minimum. Sometimes they got violent.” He says his childhood was spent assimilating this sort of role into his personality. At the age of 16, he says, after being blamed for a bloodless altercation with a man with a knife, “I made the decision to be a monster”, to prosper in the organisation. Saxton worked in the Hubbard Communications Office, a position that allowed him to read numerous files considered confidential and also serve as a judge on the Sea Organisation equivalent of court martials. He worked at Scientology compounds in Los Angeles and Florida, and says he saw the extremes of wealth flowing into upper management — polar-bear-skin rugs, Spanish marble and hamburgers cooked by five-star chefs. After growing up in an environment cut off from the outside world (“I didn’t even know the GulfWar happened until after it happened”), it is not surprising that Saxton has accumulated some disconnection and anger. He left the Sea Organisation in 1996, developingasenseofsuspiciontowards the church that can be described only as paranoia. When Saxton talks about DOUG SHERRING trying to move on, his fist pounds the table repeatedly. “I haven’t escaped, I’ve escaped nothing. I’m just a bungee cord and they’ve got me right at the base of my brain. I’ve got to heal this, and I’m going to get even — I’m going to confess.” And confess he has. He’s had a star turn during Xenophon’s speech, an appearance on Today Tonight, and a fantastic self-made seven-part series of interviews on YouTube that deal with his version of the bewildering acronyms that define Scientologic life, have made him a rock star of sorts in the online realm of ex-Scientologists. S AXTON, with far-flung and farout postings, is hardly a typical member of Scientology. According to the 2006 census, 357 Kiwis identify with Scientology as their religion. Ferriss says membership of the Auckland church is closer to “four or five thousand, and this doesn’t include a smaller church in Christchurch”. (In January, Ferriss told the Christchurch Press the church had probably 3500 members nationwide). IvetteSalamemovedtoNewZealand from Ecuador three-and-a-half years ago, and has been a Scientologist for and celebs Saxton says he was in charge of maintaining the executive apartments — used by visiting Scientology officials and celebrities. He said the contrasts between the high-flying visitors and mere staff workers like himself was stark: “While we ate chicken and beans, they ate steaks,crackersfromSwitzerland and drank coffee from France.” SUNDAY INSIGHT 5 47 SUNDAY INSIGHT HERALD ON SUNDAY Accommodation was similarlylavish.“Thoseprivateapartments, you walked in, Spanish marble throughout, drapery from South America. But, oddly enough, no pictures of L Ron Hubbard with slogans like they had in all the barracks.” He’d left Scientology by the time Battlefield Earth, the epic flop based on an L Ron Hubbard LOST SON: Tony and Aiga Cooper still mourn Paul’s death. “I’ve got to heal this, and I’m going to get even – I’m going to confess.” Aaron Saxton six years. Asked why she took up the religion she says: “I was just interested in philosophy, and looking for enlightenment.” She says the religion is practical, and she’s found it has improved her communication skills, relationships with family members and productivity at her job as an account manager. The costs of doing Scientology courses are not an issue for her, she says. “I look at it as a donation, and you start to experience the way you get yourself, it’s quite unbelievable, it’s quite fantastic.” And Smith says she finds her medical background gels well with Scientology. “As a doctor, I’m kind novel, came out. But Saxton forced himself to watch what is widely considered as one of the worst films in modern history. “I watched it and thought, ‘f***ing hell, I’m only still sitting here to see how bad it gets. I’m a sci-fi fan, obviously, and I love my spaceships, but that film? I often wonder if John Travolta did such a bad job just to spite them.” VISION MEDIA of interested in the more scientific, practical approach, because Ron Hubbard’s an engineer and he writes things so you can observe it for yourself. I just feel a lot happier for having studied it, and I’m happy to call myself a Scientologist,” she says. That study has made her happy to co-ordinate the distribution of the Youth for Human Rights programme. Smith says the programme is not related to Scientology. “It’s a free copy so teachers can show the kids how human rights work, which is pretty cool.” Ferriss says the programme has official backing here: “Our Youth for Human Rights is registered with the Diversity Action Programme with the Human Rights Commission, who have endorsed it, as well.” After queries to the Human Rights Commission from the Herald on Sunday, the listing forYouth for Human Rights was removed this week from the government o r g a n i s a t i o n’s web-site. Spokesman for the commission, Gilbert Wong, denies that the listing amountedtoanendorsement,andsays while the Scientologist organisation was involved with it in 2006, this was in the past. “TheYouthforHumanRightsproject was a Diversity Action Participant, but is no longer. And yes, the link was taken down, but along with all historic links,” Wong says. While the New South Wales Government has damned the project, and the Human Rights Commission is backing away from it, New Zealand’s Minister of Education, Anne Tolley says: “No concerns have been brought to my attention. If parents have any concerns they should contact their school’s board of trustees.” Not only is the church getting its resources in New Zealand schools, but it is getting its view on New Zealand television. The Scientology-backed Citizen’sCommissiononHumanRights celebrated last month when Maori Television played its documentary Making a Killing. The film is a polemic linking psychiatric medicine to the rise of Hitler and the proliferation of terrorism. “This blows the lid on the massive psychiatric drug marketing campaigns and provides the inside dope,” enthused the CCHR director Steve Green. The broadcaster, however, was less than impressed. “At the time of purchase, Maori Television was not made aware that this documentary had been produced by the Church of Scientology,” says the channel’s general manager of sales and marketing, Sonya Haggie. “Given what we now know about how this documentary was produced wewouldcertainlytakeamorecautious approach to a decision to broadcast.” Haggie adds that steps have now been taken to avoid being blind-sided in the future. Documentaries and educational DVDs are the least of Saxton’s worries in his crusade against the religion that raised him. Hesays,sinceXenophon’sspeech,he has been inundated with emails from people who have been disconnected from family members, desperate for information about loved ones. He has been moved to tears, knowing he’s been responsible for some of these separations. Saxton doesn’t hold much hope for his own future. He doubts he’ll be able to put Scientology behind him. He knows his self-incriminating statements may come at a cost — but he says he owes it to people who are unable or unwilling to speak out. “For every horror story out there are 10 that won’t be told, because you get ridiculed, because you get told you’re an idiot for believing it in the first place.” FROM LEFT: LEWIS, PRESLEY AND ELFMAN