World news
Dangerous Cults
No. 27
December 13, 2002
SPECIAL EDITION
SCANDAL AT THE INTERNATIONAL ANTI-CULT CONFERENCE IN
YEKATERINBURG
SCIENTOLOGIST STATED THAT THE SCIENTOLOGY CENTER WAS
OPEN ONLY FOR MEMBERS OF THIS TOTALITARIAN CULT
At 12 noon Thursday, 12 December 2002, in Yekaterinburg, Gerald
Armstrong made an attempt to visit the local Ural Dianetics Center.
Gerald Armstrong, former personal archivist for the founder of the
Scientology totalitarian cult who spent twelve and a half years of his
life in the cult,visited Yekaterinburg in the capacity of guest of honor
at the international science-practical conference "Totalitarian
Cults - Threat of Religious Extremism. The conference was put on by the
Yekaterinburg diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church under the aegis of
the authority of representative of RF president in the Ural Federal
district, P. M. Latysheva.
Upon the conference's completion, Gerald Armstrong, who exactly
twenty-one years ago left the cult and since that time is declared its
worst enemy, decided to celebrate this anniversay by visiting the Ural
Dianetics Center. Armstrong wanted to tell Scientologists why each
member of the cult was instructed to hate him, what the true reasons
were that they conducted the hunt for him all over the world and to let
them know that Scientology, in spite of all its promises, did not work.
On this visit Gerald Armstrong was accomanied by a representative of
the Berlin-Brandenburg Evangelical-Lutheran Church, Pastor Thomas
Gandow, chairman of the missionary department of the Yekaterinburg
Diocese clergyman Vladimir Zaitsev and several department employees,
along with cultology professor Alexandr Dvorkin (Moscow), Deacon Mikhael
Plotnikov (Moscow), vice president of the "Dialog" Eastern
European legal center for families and individuals Pavel Broide
(Zaporoshe, Ukraine) and chairman of the Missionary Department of the
Ufimski diocese Maksim Stepanenko.
At the door of the Dianetics Center, access was blocked by a thug
with a broken nose, who told them that they could not enter the
premises. This in spite of the fact that it was indicated on sign hung
by the door that the Center was open for all, and that access to it was
free. After much questioning, the thug was called by Center staff
member Aleksi Mogilni. Also in attendance were several television
journalists who asked Mogilni why he did not let anyone, not even
members of the press, into a social organization, in whose charter it is
written that it is open for service to all people and that anyone can
enter the premises. In answer to this Mogilni stated loudly that the
organization was open only for its members.
Then Mogilni grabbed Professor Dvorkin and began to roughly shove him
toward the stairs area. If the professor had not called loudly for
help, it all could have ended in the physical beating of the elderly
scholar by the husky youngster. The presence of the television cameras
compelled Mogilni to put down his fists and move aside. Someone among
those present in the Center handed a thick sheaf of documents that had
been lying on the table in the anteroom to Father Vladimir Zaitsev.
Those present were amazed once they understood that all these documents
were black propaganda against Professor Dvorkin and Gerald Armstrong
which a member of the cult distributed in elegant files. As Magilni
said afterwards, cultists intended to send these files to the political
elite of the city and region. Interesting, that in the middle of the
documents distributed by Scientologist was some fantastic "
expertise" on A. Dvorkin's Cultology book, signed by someone who
through his own ignorance called himself an orthodox advocate, M. N.
Kuznetsov. Strange finding an ally, Kuznetsov, an "orthodox"
advocate!
Scientologists poured out of all the rooms, shouting and cursing at
Gerald Armstrong and other visitors. Finally the police were called to
the site of the incident and those present wrote statements for them.
Those present left the cult's premises several minutes before 2 o'clock.
In connection with all the events, several questions arise:
1. If the Dianetics Center is an organization that served the
general public, why did they not allow people onto their premises? And
this in spite of the fact of widespread advertisements written by the
cult that anyone may by admitted. Thus the practice of the cult does not
correspond to its charter nor to its own advertisements. If that
organization really was closed and esoteric and Magilni could be
believed when he said it was open only for members, then that brings up
the question about the need to change its charter and, correspondingly,
its legal status.
2. Why does an organization that declares itself to be social and
helpful to people engage in collecting dossiers on private citizens and
spreading black propaganda about them?
All this is rather characteristic of an intelligence service.
Nevertheless, today marking twenty-one years out, Gerald Armstrong
says that the cult is not a religious organization either, but an
international mafia-like group of haters.
Today all present in the Ural Dianetics Center obtained one more
verification of his opinion.