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Scientology Finance are the policies employed in Church of Scientology organizations related to financial management, the purpose of which is defined by L. Ron Hubbard in HCOPL [note 1] 1 May 1958 Issue II, titled "Financial Management": "Purpose: Makes certain the org makes money and continues in good credit."
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From HCOPL 28 January 1965 "How to Maintain Credit Standing and Solvency" on page 5, Hubbard states: "Only pay by this system: PAY EVERYTHING UP TO A DATE ALWAYS and no further."
Hubbard states in this policy that collection actions by creditors accompanied by threat are only paid when threats are made in the future: "Government tax bills, water bills, occasionally rent or phone are sometimes accompanied by threats of vast action unless the whole bill is paid instantly. Still try to use the above system. But if you can't, pay it and retard other bills accordingly. And thereafter, don't pay that outfit's bill on any other terms than threatened trouble."[ citation needed ]
In situations of dealing with a contractor, Hubbard gives special advice: "If a tradesman, despite the use of the above system, demands further payment or threatens suit, caution him that if he carries on this way you'll deal elsewhere. And carry out the threat. Never continue to use a private business firm after they become obnoxious about bills. Trade elsewhere. And say why."[ citation needed ]
Hubbard asserts that if a creditor gets upset with non-payment by a Scientology organization, then the creditor is "gypping" the organization or is unwilling to do financing: "If you're using the above dateline system and a tradesman gets upset, then he is gypping you or he has too little finance to handle your account, so stop trading with him. Always make that an ironbound policy. Be very proud and haughty about bills. Never propitiate."[ citation needed ]
Use of this policy has resulted in lawsuits brought against Scientology organizations for non-payment of bills. [1]
In contrast to Hubbard's policy on creditors, his policy on payment for services mandates prepayment. [2] From HCOPL 27 November 1971 Issue III, "FREE SERVICES = FREE FALL" (all text in this policy letter is in capital letters): "An Auditor or Course Supervisor delivering a service to an individual without having to hand a fully paid invoice for that service and who does not send the person back to the registrar to be signed up for that service is: A. Covertly robbing his fellow staff members of their pay, and B. In a condition of Treason to his org, and is so assigned."[ citation needed ]
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard was an American author and the founder of Scientology. A prolific writer of pulp science fiction and fantasy novels in his early career, in 1950 he authored Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health and established organizations to promote and practice Dianetics techniques. Hubbard created Scientology in 1952 after losing the rights to his Dianetics book in bankruptcy. He would manage the Church of Scientology until his death in 1986.
Writers and Illustrators of the Future is a science fiction and fantasy story and art contest that was established by L. Ron Hubbard in 1983 as Writers of the Future. A sister contest, Illustrators of the Future, was launched in 1988 and presents awards for science fiction art. Hubbard characterized the contest as a way of "giving back" to the field that had defined his professional writing life. The contest has no entry fee and is the highest-paying contest for amateur science-fiction and fantasy writers.
Disconnection is the severance of all ties between a Scientologist and a friend, colleague, or family member deemed to be antagonistic towards Scientology. The practice of disconnection is a form of shunning. Among Scientologists, disconnection is viewed as an important method of removing obstacles to one's spiritual growth. In some circumstances, disconnection has ended marriages and separated children from their parents.
Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money borrowed or otherwise withheld from another party, the creditor. Debt may be owed by sovereign state or country, local government, company, or an individual. Commercial debt is generally subject to contractual terms regarding the amount and timing of repayments of principal and interest. Loans, bonds, notes, and mortgages are all types of debt. In financial accounting, debt is a type of financial transaction, as distinct from equity.
Since its inception in 1954, the Church of Scientology has been involved in a number of controversies, including its stance on psychiatry, Scientology's legitimacy as a religion, the Church's aggressive attitude in dealing with its perceived enemies and critics, allegations of mistreatment of members, and predatory financial practices; for example, the high cost of religious training:191 and perceived exploitative practices. When mainstream media outlets have reported alleged abuses, representatives of the church have tended to deny such allegations.
The Sea Organization is a core group of Church of Scientology staff members who have signed a billion-year pledge of service to Scientology. All Scientology management organizations are controlled exclusively by members of the Sea Org. David Miscavige, the de facto leader of Scientology, is the highest-ranking Sea Org officer, holding the rank of captain.
A Volunteer Minister (VM) is a member of Scientology sent to a disaster zone to spread the doctrine of Scientology and provide disaster relief. The program was created in the 1970s by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.
The term fair game is used to describe policies and practices carried out by the Church of Scientology towards people and groups it perceives as its enemies. Founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, established the policy in the 1950s, in response to criticism both from within and outside his organization. Individuals or groups who are "fair game" are judged to be a threat to the Church and, according to the policy, can be punished and harassed using any and all means possible. In 1968, Hubbard officially canceled use of the term "fair game" because of negative public relations it caused, although the Church's aggressive response to criticism continued.
Suppressive person, often abbreviated SP, is a term used in Scientology to describe the "antisocial personalities" who, according to Scientology's founder L. Ron Hubbard, make up about 2.5% of the population. A statement on a Church of Scientology website describes this group as including notorious historic figures such as Adolf Hitler.
The Oxford Capacity Analysis (OCA), also known as the American Personality Analysis, is a list of questions which is advertised as being a personality test and that is administered for free by the Church of Scientology as part of its recruitment process. The organization offers the test online, at its local sites, and sometimes at local fairs, carnivals, and in other public settings. It has no relation to the University of Oxford, although the name may have been chosen to imply a link.
The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religious movement. The movement has been the subject of a number of controversies, and the Church of Scientology has been described by government inquiries, international parliamentary bodies, scholars, law lords, and numerous superior court judgements as both a dangerous cult and a manipulative profit-making business. In 1979, several executives of the organization were convicted and imprisoned for multiple offenses by a U.S. Federal Court. The Church of Scientology itself was convicted of fraud by a French court in 2009, a decision upheld by the supreme Court of Cassation in 2013. The German government classifies Scientology as an unconstitutional sect. In France, it has been classified as a dangerous cult. In some countries, it has attained legal recognition as a religion.
Scientology ethics and justice are a collection of policies and procedures by L. Ron Hubbard and used by the Church of Scientology. Scientology defines ethics as "the actions an individual takes on himself", and justice as "the action taken on the individual by the group when he fails to take these actions himself". The body of writings include techniques and policies of moral choices, and the rules of conduct to be followed by scientologists.
When the individual fails to put in his own ethics, the group takes action against him and this is called justice.
Debt settlement is a settlement negotiated with a debtor's unsecured creditor. Commonly, creditors agree to forgive a large part of the debt: perhaps around half, though results can vary widely. When settlements are finalized, the terms are put in writing. It is common that the debtor makes one lump-sum payment in exchange for the creditor agreeing that the debt is now cancelled and the matter closed. Some settlements are paid out over a number of months. In either case, as long as the debtor does what is agreed in the negotiation, no outstanding debt will appear on the former debtor's credit report.
History of Dianetics and Scientology begins around 1950. During the late 1940s, L. Ron Hubbard began developing a mental therapy system which he called Dianetics. Hubbard had tried to interest the medical profession in his techniques, including the Gerontological Society, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and the American Journal of Psychiatry, but his work was rejected for not containing sufficient evidence of efficacy to be acceptable.
The Church of Scientology publicly classifies itself as a religion, but scholars and other observers regard it as a business, because the organization operates more like a for-profit business than a religious institution. Some scholars of sociology working in religious studies consider it a new religious movement. Overall, as stated by Stephen A. Kent, Scientology can be seen as a "multi-faceted transnational corporation that has religion as only one of its many components. Other components include political aspirations, business ventures, cultural productions, pseudo-medical practices, pseudo-psychiatric claims, and, an alternative family structure."
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Various planets united into a very vast civilization which has come forward up through the last 200,000 years, formed out of the fragments of earlier civilizations. In the last 10,000 years they have gone on with a sort of decadent kicked-in-the-head civilization that contains automobiles, business suits, fedora hats, telephones, spaceships — a civilization which looks almost an exact duplicate but is worse off than the current US civilization.
A sovereign default is the failure or refusal of the government of a sovereign state to pay back its debt in full when due. Cessation of due payments may either be accompanied by that government's formal declaration that it will not pay its debts (repudiation), or it may be unannounced. A credit rating agency will take into account in its gradings capital, interest, extraneous and procedural defaults, and failures to abide by the terms of bonds or other debt instruments.
The tax status of the Church of Scientology in the United States has been the subject of decades of controversy and litigation. Although the Church of Scientology was initially partially exempted by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from paying federal income tax, its two principal entities in the United States lost this exemption in 1957 and 1968. This action was taken because of concerns that church funds were being used for the private gain of its founder L. Ron Hubbard or due to an international psychiatric conspiracy against Scientology.