Inside Scientology

Declaration of Stacy Brooks Young

I, Stacy Brooks Young, declare as follows:

1. I am over the age of 18 years.

2. I have been retained as an expert consultant and
expert witness by Dr. Uwe Geertz's counsel in the case
captioned Church of Scientology International v. Steven
Fishman and Uwe Geertz #CV-6426-HLH (Tx) currently pending
in the United States District Court, Central District of
California. The statements herein are of my own personal
knowledge or reasonably based upon information and belief,
and if called upon as a witness, I can testify competently
thereto.

3. This declaration is submitted in support of
Defendant Dr. Geertz's Opposition to CSI's Motion for
Continuation of Confidentiality Order Entered September 22,
1993, Opposition to CSI's Motion to Seal Re-Created Versions
of Plaintiff's Confidential Upper Level Scriptures, and
Opposition to CSI's Motion for Attorney's Fees, Costs and
Sanctions Under 29 U.S.C. S 1927, Etc.

4. I was a Scientologist for nearly 15 years, from
January 1975 until July 1989. I was in the Guardian Office
("GO") and its successor (a name change only), the Office of
Special Affairs ("OSA"), for most of that time. I also
worked in another part of Scientology called Author
Services, Inc. ("ASI").

SCIENTOLOGY'S UPPER LEVEL MATERIALS ARE ALREADY
EASILY ACCESSIBLE TO THE PUBLIC

5. It is incredible that plaintiff CSI is still
concerned about maintaining any degree of confidentiality of
Scientology's so-called "upper level materials." The
information contained in these documents has been available
any large public or university library for many years.
attached as Exhibit 1 is a sampling of the many books and
newspaper and magazine articles in which these materials
have been published. The fact is that these materials are no
longer confidential. They are already broadly publicly
available. For the Court to continue to maintain their
confidentiality" is somewhat like closing the barn door
after the cows have already escaped.

Dr. GEERTZ'S COUNSEL HAS NOT BEEN HARASSIVE IN HIS DEFENSE

  6.  CSI's counsel accuses Mr. Berry of being harrasive in
his defense of his client. This is ludicrous. I have
personal knowledge that Mr. Berry has not intended to be
harassive nor has he acted in a harassive manner. I have
been advising him in this case as an expert on Scientology
practices, policies and language. CSI cites Mr. Berry's use
of certain Scientology words and phrases as an example of
his harassive tactics. In fact, I advised Mr. Berry that he
would be much more successful in communicating with
Scientologists if he learned the Scientology language and
spoke it as much as possible when dealing with
Scientologists. In addition, that he learned the Scientology
definition of words that are in common English usage but
are defined differently by L. Ron Hubbard. In the past,
communications between Scientology and opposing counsel
would have been like two ships passing in the night. How can
it be harassive when someone goes to the trouble to learn an
extremely complex language just so that he can better
communicate? Or has Scientology now decided that non-
-Scientologists are not allowed to use Scientology words?

7. CSI cites two words used by Mr. Berry in a letter
as examples of his abuse of the Scientology religion. Yet
the two words he used are strictly administrative terms
having nothing to do with religious beliefs whatsoever.
"Dev-T" is a word that means "Developed Traffic," an
administrative term for unnecessary or duplicative work.
"CSWP" stands for "Completed Staff Work, please" This term
is simply a request for a full proposal. There is nothing
religious in either of these phrases.

THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENTOLOGY EXPERTS
IS IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST AND SHOULD NOT BE SEALED

8. Mr. Lubell, an attorney for CSI, stated in his
original motion to strike or seal my expert declarations in
this case that "If there were such a thing as an 'expert' on
Scientology scripture, such a designation could only be made
by the Church"; yet the truth is just the opposite. It is
only someone who has been directly involved with Scientology
management and then leaves the cult, as I did, who can be
trusted to provide the Court with straightforward
information about the inner workings and practices of
Scientology. It is utterly impossible for anyone who is
still a Scientologist (and who therefore still believes that
their entire future depends upon remaining a Scientologist)
to tell the truth about Scientology. The organization would
immediately punish anyone who did so. In short, one can only
tell the truth after having made the decision no longer to
adhere to the policies of Scientology, which include
protecting it at all costs and never uttering a word of
criticism or adverse testimony.

9. Contrary to the representations that have been
made about my motives in numerous declarations and motions
filed in this litigation, I agreed to assist Mr. Berry in
his defense of Dr. Geertz because I think it is crucial for
outsiders to begin to understand what Scientology really is,
what motivates its members, how the leadership views non-
Scientologists and critics of Scientology (particularly
psychiatrists and psychologists such as Defendant Dr. Uwe
Geertz), how Scientologists manipulate the courts for their
own ends, and the cold-bloodedness with which people like
Steven Fishman are coerced into parting with huge sums of
money.

10. The Scientology attorneys claim that I am putting
the "religious beliefs" of Scientology on trial. That is
nonsense. This is the United States of America; people have
the right to believe whatever they want to and I have no
desire to convince anyone to stop believing in the
Scientology philosophy. It is the practices of this
organization that concern me, not the belief system.
Violations of civil and human rights, to say nothing of
common decency, are so rampant in this organization that it
is extremely difficult for an outsider to comprehend why
anyone would remain in such a group.

11. Indeed, this is precisely why the Scientologists
continue to get away with such abuse. Former members have
such bizarre, outrageous tales to tell that outsiders find
their stories very difficult to believe, and the
Scientologists do everything they can to discredit the
former members as mercenaries, liars, thieves, lunatics and
worse (as evidenced by the language that has been used by
Scientoloqy leaders and their attorneys to describe me
during the course of this litigation). The result is that
while declaration after declaration has been filed detailing
horror stories of sleep deprivation, starvation, involuntary
incarceration, loss of consortium, child abuse, suicide,
financial crimes and more, Scientology has successfully
convinced many courts that the authors of such statements
were nothing more than "embittered apostates," as they have
now described me.

12. The truth is much simpler: I am no longer under
the influence of the coercive and manipulative methods of
Scientology and I can now see how abusive the practices of
this group are. There are many people who are still its
psychological and emotional captives, and these people are
not only being victimized by the Scientology Sea
Organization command structure but are also perpetrating
abuse on others, Including children who cannot speak for
themselves. People are being held under guard; people are
being interrogated on the E-Meter for the slightest
infraction. or the slightest hint of disaffection, women are
being coerced into aborting their unborn children; parents
are being kept from their children for weeks and even months
at a time. Scientology registrars are coercing people to
part with their life savings; they are convincing people to
turn over their credit cards; Sclentology leaders are
pouring money into the Sea Org coffers while staff in the
local organizations live in abject poverty.

13.  In his declaration of February 28, 1994, Heber
Jentzsch objected to my reference to the dangerous methods
of Black Dianetics; yet methods of "reverse processing" are
employed as control tactics against Scientology staff
members on a regular basis. I have no doubt that he himself
has been the target of such methods. Such methods include
brutal interrogations in which two or more people gang up on
someone (who has usually been deprived of sleep for days) in
locked room and scream abuses until the person confesses
to anything they want him or her to confess to;
"overt/withhold" writeups in which the person is forced to
continue writing up "crimes," whether real or imagined,
until someone decides he or she has "come clean" and is
allowed to stop; "ethics conditions" in which one is not
"upgraded" to the next condition until one has satisfied the
ethics officer or senior that one has "fully confronted"
one's criminality; group "musters" at which staff members
are publicly condemned for their "crimes" (this is
reportedly a favorite pastime of Miscavige at the high-
security Hemet compound), denounced to their peers and
ordered to jump into a freezing lake as punishment.

14. Mr. Jentzsch stated that both my husband and I
have been on the Rehabilitation Project Force, or RPF. This
is very true, and it is where the most horrifying of the
abuses takes place, out of sight of anyone else, where staff
members are stunned to discover that they themselves are

Fair Game for whatever punishment or coercive tactics those
in control of Scientology think should be meted out to them.
There is no recourse short of leaving Scientology; there is
no way off the RPF except to finish the program, and the
product of the program is a person who will be utterly,
uncritically compliant with his or her seniors without
question. Until that is achieved the person is not a
product" and must remain on the RPF. I know that this is
true. I experienced it, and so did my husband. So have many
other people who have already spoken out about this. 
I note that there are many things I stated in my
declarations which have not been challenged by Mr. Moxon,
Mr. Jentzsch, Mr. Miscavige, Mr. Starkey or any of the other
Scientology leaders in their declarations. This is because
what I have said is true, and they would be perjuring
themselves to state otherwise. They malign my character;
they call me many names; but they do not dispute the facts
contained in my declarations. I am "vile" and "scurrilous"
not because I am lying, but because I am telling the truth
to people outside of Scientology.

15. I note that there are many things I stated in my
declarations which have not been challenged by Mr. Moxon,
Mr. Jentzsch, Mr. Miscavige, Mr. Starkey or any of the other
Scientology leaders in their declarations. This is because
what I have said is true, and they would be perjuring
themselves to state otherwise. They malign my character;
they call me many names; but they do not dispute the facts
contained in my declarations. I am "vile" and "scurrilous"
not because I am lying, but because I am telling the truth
to people outside of Scientology.

16 Reference is made to the declarations filed by Mr.
Moxon, Mr. Jentzsch, Mr. Miscavige, Mr. Starkey and the
other Scientology leaders. They are telling what L. Ron
Hubbard called "acceptable truths," and Mr. Jentzsch and Mr.
Moxon are both veterans of this tactic. So am I; I used to
write much of the material that was used to discredit
people. Accordingly, I am very familiar with the process by
which these declarations were written. These people would
have been intently searching through my declarations,
looking for statements that could easily be discredited.
Obviously they were not able to find very many, based on
what they have written.

17. Mr. Jentzsch provides a good example of a
Scientology tactic, which is to divert attention off the
actual point. I stated in my January 4 declaration that what
found most shocking about Steven Fishman's treatment by
Scientology was that he was sold E-Meters even though he
could never qualify for auditing. Mr. Jentzsch never
explains why someone who would never be eligible for
training or processing would have been sold E-Meters.
Instead, he skirts the issue, saying that "the various uses
of E-meters by Scientology ministers is hardly relevant to
this Court"; yet in fact the uses of the E-Meter are
extremely relevant. I repeat what I stated in my earlier
declaration: only people who are eligible for auditor
training or solo auditing (indeed, only people who are
ministers or ministers-in-training) are supposed to be sold
E-Meters. Fishman was eligible for neither; he should never
have been sold an E-Meter.

18. Mr. Jentzsch then mischaracterizes what I wrote ln
paragraph 62 of my January 4 declaration. I never said, as
he claims, that Fishman was driven mad by reading
Scientology materials. On the contrary, I stated, "There is
little doubt that Fishman used his E-Meters to 'audit'
himself, an action that could easily drive him into a
psychotic break." Self auditing is known in Scientology as
the sign of a borderline psychotic. To sell someone with a
known history of hypnotherapy an E-Meter so that they can
self-audit is tantamount to driving them into a psychotic
break. Any technically trained Scientologist can confirm
this (although no one who is still inside would be allowed
to do so).

19. Mr. Jentzsch states that the plaintiff "can
produce 1,500 staff members of plaintiff [CSI] who are more
competent than the Youngs and could testify that they are
wrong...." Of course all 1,500 staff members of CSI will
testify that I am wrong. If they are ordered to do so, they
have no choice It doesn't matter what they personally
believe; if they do otherwise than denounce me for what I am
revealing about Scientology, they will be declared
Suppressive and expelled, or sent to the RPF to be made more
compliant. Indeed, it has been my experience that the
current Scientology leaders will stop at nothing to protect
Scientology from anyone they perceive as a threat.
20. I am still recovering from my experience in
Scientology. I am still learning about how groups like
Scientology use coercive methods to control people like
myself, my husband and many other individuals who are still
under its spell. I believe that all Scientologists, even the
current leadership, are the victims of Hubbard's version of
mind control, just as I was. These people, including the
Scientology attorneys and paralegals who deal with the
courts, have no idea how much they are under the coercive
influence of Scientology and its leaders. They are utterly
fanatical about their dedication, and determined to protect
Scientology from "enemies" like my husband and me.

21. I have no wish to turn this litigation into a
personal "war" with Scientology, as Mr. Jentzsch suggested
in his declaration. It is Scientology, by its refusal to
admit the truth of its actions, that invariably turns any
litigation into a war.

22. There have been a number of people before me who
have pulicaly told the truth about Scientology. and nearly
every one of them has been threatened, frightened, coerced
or bought off into silence. I have spoken to many of these
people, and many others who are too frightened to come
forward publicly, and I can assure you that the information
I have been providing to this Court can, be corroborated by
many other former Scientologists. These people are not
"embittered apostates." They are decent human beings who
regret having wasted years of their lives in an organization
which they now realize was coercive and destructive of thelr
civil and human rights. They have friends who are still
captive, as do I. They want to do whatever they can to help
those who are still in this group, as do I. I feel it is my
duty to provide the truth to the Court as long as the Court
finds it relevant.

23. I also feel it is imperative upon the Court not to
seal what I and other Scientology experts like me have to
say. There are citizens of the United States, right now,
whose civil rights are being trampled upon and who have no
recourse to the laws of this country. This is happening
right in Los Angeles and many other cities. There is a
compound (called "the base" or "Int") near Hemet,
California, in Riverside County, where security guards keep
watch on the staff members to make sure they do not leave
the compound. If these people violate the Scientology rules
they risk being refused food and shelter. Others are being
involuntarily imprisoned. The women at this compound are not
allowed to get pregnant and if they do, they are coerced
into getting abortions at the Riverside Planned Parenthood
Clinic. Church funds are being spent to build exercise rooms
and sports fields for the exclusive use of celebrities like
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, using slave labor from the RPF
at $5.00 a week. These laborers are kept up for days at a
time at the whim of Scientology leaders like David
Miscavige. Children are being kept at camps, away from their
parents for weeks at a time. Parents who ask to see their
children more than this are frowned upon; children are
considered "distractions" to production. Mr. Jentzsch knows
this: he and his wife Karen were coerced by David Miscavige
into being divorced because Karen wanted Heber to spend more
time with their son, Alexander. Miscavige viewed Alexander
as a distraction to Heber's production.

24. My expert declarations have nothing to do with
religious beliefs. They have to do with serious violations
of civil rights of U.S. citizens. This is not the view of
an "embittered apostate; this is the view of a citizen of
this country who feels that all Americans have the right to
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, no matter what
their religious beliefs. If the Court were to silence voices
like mine, as the Scientologists would like the Court to do,
there would be no one to speak for the people who are being
victimized and destroyed by this group, people like Fishman
and Dr.Geertz whose only crime has been to tell the truth
to the best of their knowledge.

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of
the United States of America and the State of California
that the foregoing is true and correct.
Executed in Los Angeles, California, this
 day of
March, 1994.

(Signed -Signature) Stacy Brooks Young





Mail Comments |
Scientology Criticism |
Martin Poulter |
Karin Spaink