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Japan Wars on U.S. and Britain; Makes Sudden Attack On Hawaii; Heavy Fighting At Sea Reportedhttp://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1207.htmlGuam Bombed; Army Ship Is Sunk By FRANK L. KLUCKHOHN Special to THE NEW YORK TIMESWashington, Monday, Dec. 8.--Sudden and unexpected attacks on Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, and other United States possessions in the Pacific early yesterday by the Japanese air force and navy plunged the United States and Japan into active war.
The initial attack in Hawaii, apparently launched by torpedo-carrying bombers and submarines, caused widespread damage and death. It was quickly followed by others. There were unconfirmed reports that German raiders participated in the attacks.
initial ：最初の
torpedo：魚雷
raider：襲撃機
Guam also was assaulted from the air, as were Davao, on the island of Mindanao, and Camp John Hay, in Northern Luzon, both in the Philippines. Lieut. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, commanding the United States Army of the Far East, reported there was little damage, however.
[Japanese parachute troops had been landed in the Philippines and native Japanese had seized some communities, Royal Arch Gunnison said in a broadcast from Manila today to WOR- Mutual. He reported without detail that "in the naval war the ABCD fleets under American command appeared to be successful" against Japanese invasions.]
Japanese submarines, ranging out over the Pacific, sank an American transport carrying lumber 1,300 miles from San Francisco, and distress signals were heard from a freighter 700 miles from that city.
The War Department reported that 104 soldiers died and 300 were wounded as a result of the attack on Hickam Field, Hawaii. The National Broadcasting Company reported from Honolulu that the battleship Oklahoma was afire. [Domei, Japanese news agency, reported the Oklahoma sunk.]
Nation Placed on Full War Basis
The news of these surprise attacks fell like a bombshell on Washington. President Roosevelt immediately ordered the country and the Army and Navy onto a full war footing. He arranged at a White House conference last night to address a joint session of Congress at noon today, presumably to ask for declaration of a formal state of war.
This was disclosed after a long special Cabinet meeting, which was joined later by Congressional leaders. These leaders predicted "action" within a day.
After leaving the White House conference Attorney General Francis Biddle said that "a resolution" would be introduced in Congress tomorrow. He would not amplify or affirm that it would be for a declaration of war.
Congress probably will "act" within the day, and he will call the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for this purpose, Chairman Tom Connally announced.
[A United Press dispatch from London this morning said that Prime Minister Churchill had notified Japan that a state of war existed.]
As the reports of heavy fighting flashed into the White House, London reported semi-officially that the British Empire would carry out Prime Minister Winston Churchill's pledge to give the United States full support in case of hostilities with Japan. The President and Mr. Churchill talked by transatlantic telephone.
This was followed by a statement in London from the Netherland Government in Exile that it considered a state of war to exist between the Netherlands and Japan. Canada, Australia and Costa Rica took similar action.
Landing Made in Malaya
A Singapore communique disclosed that Japanese troops had landed in Northern Malaya and that Singapore had been bombed.
The President told those at last night's White House meeting that "doubtless very heavy losses" were sustained by the Navy and also by the Army on the island of Oahu [Honolulu]. It was impossible to obtain confirmation or denial of reports that the battleships Oklahoma and West Virginia had been damaged or sunk at Pearl Harbor, together with six or seven destroyers, and that 350 United States airplanes had been caught on the ground.
The White House took over control of the bulletins, and the Navy Department, therefore, said it could not discuss the matter or answer any questions how the Japanese were able to penetrate the Hawaiian defenses or appear without previous knowledge of their presence in those waters.
Administration circles forecast that the United States soon might be involved in a world-wide war, with Germany supporting Japan, an Axis partner. The German official radio tonight attacked the United States and supported Japan.
Axis diplomats have expressed complete surprise that the Japanese had attacked. But the impression gained from their attitude was that they believed it represented a victory for the Nazi attempt to divert lease-lend aid from Britain, which has been a Berlin objective ever since the legislation was passed and began to be implemented.
Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau Jr. announced that his department had invoked the Trading With the Enemy Act, placing an absolute United States embargo on Japan.
Robert P. Patterson, Under-Secretary of War, called on the nation to put production on a twenty- four-hour basis.
A nation-wide round-up of Japanese nationals was ordered by Attorney General Biddle through cooperation by the FBI and local police forces.
Action was taken to protect defense plants, especially in California, where Japanese are particularly numerous. Orders were issued by the Civil Aeronautics Authority to ground most private aircraft except those on scheduled lines.
Fleet Puts Out to Sea From Hawaii
The Navy last night swept out to sea from its bombed base at Pearl Harbor after Secretary of State Cordell Hull, following a final conference with Japanese "peace envoys" here, asserted that Japan's had been a "treacherous" attack. Neither the War nor the Navy Department had been able to communicate with its commanders in Manila.
Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson ordered the entire United States Army to be in uniform by today. Secretary Frank Knox followed suit for the Navy. They did so after President Roosevelt had instructed the Navy and Army to expect all previously prepared orders for defense immediately.
United States naval craft are expected to operate out of Singapore as soon as possible in protecting the vital rubber and tin shipments necessary to our national defense program.
Despite these preliminary defense moves, however, it was clear that further detailed discussions would soon take place between officials of the United States, Great Britain, China, the Netherlands and Australia to devise a total scheme of limiting the activities of the Japanese Fleet.
Immediate steps will be taken also to meet the increased menace to China's lifeline, the Burma Road. Reliable information indicates that the Japanese are preparing a large-scale assault on the road in the hope of cutting off American supplies before the Allies can transport sufficient forces into defensive positions.
Censorship was established on all messages leaving the United States by cable and radio.
In Tokyo United States Ambassador Joseph C. Grew obtained a reply to Secretary Hull's early message, according to dispatches from the Japanese capital.
The attack on Pearl Harbor and Honolulu began "at dawn," according to Stephen Early, Presidential secretary. Because of time difference, the first news of the bombing was released in Washington at 2:22 P. M. Subsequently it was announced at the White House that another wave of bombers and dive bombers had come over Oahu Island, on which Honolulu is situated, to be met by anti-aircraft fire again.
An attack on Guam, tiny island outpost, subsequently was announced. The White House at first said that Manila also had been attacked but, after failure to reach Army and Navy commanders there, President Roosevelt expressed the "hope" that no such attack had occurred. Broadcasts from Manila bore out this hope.
The Japanese took over the Shanghai Bund. Japanese airplanes patrolling over the city dropped some bombs, reportedly sinking the British gunboat Peterel.
Hawaii Attacked Without Warning
Reports from Hawaii indicated that Honolulu had no warning of the attack. Japanese bombers, with the red circle of the Rising Sun of Japan on their wings, suddenly appeared, escorting by fighters. Flying high, they suddenly dive-bombed, attacking Pearl Harbor, the great Navy base, the Army's Hickam Field and Ford Island. At least one torpedo plane was seen to launch a torpedo at warships in Pearl Harbor.
A report from Admiral C. C. Bloch, commander of the naval district at Hawaii, expressed the belief that "there has been heavy damage done in Hawaii and there has been heavy loss of life."
This was subsequently confirmed by Governor Joseph B. Poindexter of Hawaii in a telephone conversation with President Roosevelt. The Governor also said that there were heavy casualties in the city of Honolulu.
At the White House it was officially said that the sinking of the Army transport carrying lumber and the distress signal from another Army ship "indicate Japanese submarines are strung out over that area." Heavy smoke was seen from Ford Island near Honolulu.
In the raids on Hawaii Japanese planes were shot down, one bomber hitting and bursting into flames just behind a post-office on the Island of Oahu. It was reported without confirmation that six Japanese planes and four submarines were destroyed.
The second attack on Honolulu and its surrounding bases occurred just as President Roosevelt was talking to Governor Poindexter at 6 o'clock last evening.
There was no official confirmation of Untied Press reports from Honolulu that parachute troops had been sighted off Pearl Harbor.
Many Japanese and former Japanese who are now American citizens are in residence in Hawaii.
Saburo Kurusu, special Japanese envoy who has been conducting "peace" negotiations while Japan was preparing for this attack, and Ambassador Kichisaburo Nomura called at the State Department at 2:05 P. M. after asking for the appointment at 1 P. M. They arrived shortly before Secretary Hull had received news Japan had started a war without warning. Mrs. Roosevelt revealed in her broadcast last night that the Japanese Ambassador was with the President when word of the attacks was received.
The two envoys handed a document to Mr. Hull, who kept them waiting about fifteen minutes. Upon reading it, he turned to his visitors to exclaim that it was "crowded with infamous falsehoods and distortions."
President Roosevelt ordered war bulletins released at the White House as rapidly as they were received. A sentence or two was added to the story of the surprise attack every few minutes for several hours.
Cabinet members arrived promptly at 8:30 last evening for their meeting in the White House Oval Room. President Roosevelt had been closeted with Harry L. Hopkins in the Oval Room since receiving the first news. He had conferred with Secretaries Stimson and Knox by telephone and also with General George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff. Admiral Harold R. Stark, Chief of Naval Operations, was too busy to talk to the President even by telephone.
The first to arrive was Secretary of Commerce Jesse H. Jones. Secretary Knox came last. Secretary Hull was accompanied by two bodyguards.
Congressional leaders joining the Cabinet in the Oval Room at 9 P. M. included Senator Hiram Johnson of California, hitherto an isolationist and for long the ranking minority member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Others present were Speaker Rayburn, Representative Jere Cooper of Tennessee, representing Representative John W. McCormack, the House Majority Leader, who was not able to reach Washington in time for the conference; Chairman Sol Bloom of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Representative Charles A. Eaton, ranking minority member; Vice President Wallace, who flew here from New York; Senator Allen W. Barkley, majority leader; Senator McNary and Senator Warren R. Austin, ranking minority member of the Foreign Relations Committee.
Cheering crowds lined Pennsylvania Avenue to see them arrive, another evidence of the national determination to defeat Japan and her Axis allies which every official is confident will dominate the country from this moment forth.
Senator W. Lee O'Daniel of Texas, of hillbilly band and hot biscuits fame, added a touch of inadvertent comedy to the scene when he arrived uninvited. He said he had come to "try to learn a few things" and "to make sure Texas is represented at this conference," thus ignoring the presence of Senator Connally.
Senator Barkley, who arrived in Washington by automobile about 7 P. M., said he did not find out about the Japanese attack until nearly 6 o'clock.
The formal positions of the United States and Japanese Governments toward the war were officially set forth by the release at the White House of the text of President Roosevelt's message of yesterday to Emperor Hirohito and by the Japanese document handed Ambassador Grew in Tokyo.
President Voiced Hope for Peace
The President's message expressed a "fervent hope for peace" and outlined the dangers of the situation.
"We have hoped that a peace of the Pacific could be consummated in such a way that the nationalities of many diverse peoples may exist side by side without fear of invasion," the President told the Emperor.
The President, recalling that the United States had been directly responsible for bringing Japan into contact with the outside world, said that in seeking peace in the Pacific "I am certain that it will be clear to Your Majesty, as it is to me, that * * * both Japan and the United States should agree to eliminate any form of military threat."
The Japanese document, despite the obviously carefully prepared attack on American bases, insisted that:
"On the other hand, the American Government, always holding fast to theories in disregard of realities and refusing to yield an inch on its impractical principles, caused undue delay in the [peace] negotiations."
Late last night, the United States Government announced that all American republics had been informed of the "treacherous attack" by Japan. It was stated that "very heartening messages of support" were being received in return.
The State Department statement on this matter said:
"All the American republics have been informed by the Government of the United States of the treacherous attack by Japan upon the United States. Immediately upon receipt of word of the attacks on Hawaii and other American territory, wires were dispatched to the American diplomatic missions, instructing them to inform the Foreign Offices at once. This government is receiving very heartening messages of support from the other American republics."
Senator Connally, as head of the powerful Foreign Relations Committee, predicted that world- wide war involving this nation probably depended on European developments within the next few days, according to The United Press.
Connally Promises Reply to "Treachery"
As Roland Young, committee clerk, took to Senator Connally's apartment drafts of the war declaration of April 2, 1917, Mr. Connally said:
"Professing a desire for peace and under the pretext that she coveted amicable relations with us, Japan stealthily concealed under her robe a dagger of assassination and villainy. She attacked us when the two nations were legally at peace.
"With rare and tolerant patience our government has striven to adjust our differences with Japan.
"Japan has now declared war upon the United States and on Great Britain. We shall resist this cruel and unjustifiable assault with naval power and all the resources of our country. We shall wreak the vengeance of justice on these violators of peace, these assassins who attack without warning and these betrayers of treaty obligations and responsibilities of international law.
"Let the Japanese Ambassador go back to his masters and tell them that the United States answers Japan's challenge with steel-throated cannon and a sharp sword of retribution. We shall repay this dastardly treachery with multiplied bombs from the air and heaviest and accurate shells from the sea."
Late last night American officers at the Mexican border were detaining all Japanese attempting to enter or leave the United States, according to a United Press dispatch from San Diego.
New York City, Chicago and other police forces acted to control Japanese nationals and with regard to consulates.
James L. Fly, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and the Defense Communications Board, said further activity by amateur radio stations would be permitted only upon special governmental authorization.
He said he has been in constant touch with heads of all important communications companies with relation to execution of preexisting plans for cooperation during any emergency.
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COOPER: Swift and furious is a fair way to describe the church of scientology's response to a new book by author Lawrence Wright. The book is called, "Going Clear Scientology Hollywood & the Prison of Belief." As the title suggests, it focuses on scientology's founder and its interest in recruiting celebrities. It also explores allegations of abuse. It's already in its second printing. This isn't, of course, the first time an author, journalist or former scientologist has turned a lens on the church. And it's also not the first time the scientology has tried to discredit the results and threatened legal action. We have felt those tactics first hand here on this program when we've reported on the church of scientology. In a moment, you will hear from author, Lawrence Wright, the author of "Going Clear." But first, some background on how he got here. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) COOPER (voice-over): The Church of Scientology was founded by a science fiction writer named L. Ron Hubbard in 1954. Its stated goals to help people, quote, "live in a civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights." Members paid to take courses designed to help them work through issues of their past and reach a higher state of consciousness. To understand what's holding them back, church members are tested with a device called an e-meter that is used to monitor their feelings and reactions. Elron Hubbard died in 1986 and since then this man, David Miscavage, has been the leader. He, like Hubbard before him, oversees a religious order inside the church. An order that is responsible for church management called the "Sea Organization." Members of "Sea Org" sometimes wear naval style uniforms and dedicate their life to the church promises to remain in the church for reincarnated lives to come. The Church of Scientology says it's opened some 170 churches around the globe and claims 10 million members worldwide, 6 million. In the U.S. in 2009, then church Spokesman Tommy Davis put it this way. TOMMY DAVIS, SCIENTOLOGY SPOKESMAN: David Miscavage is responsible for the current renaissance that the church is experiencing and the fact the church has doubled in size in the last five years and has flourished under his leadership. COOPER: The American religious identification survey, however, cites much lower numbers. According to its survey, the number of self described practicing scientologist in the U.S. actually dropped from 55,000 to 25,000 in the years from 2001 to 2008. The church is a famously vocal critic of psychiatry opposing what it calls brutal and inhumane psychiatric treatments. But for most this is how the public identifies with scientology through high profile believers. The church reaches out to well known performers and caters to their need with a celebrity center in Hollywood. Percy Ali, John Travolta are long time scientologists as is Tom Cruise. TOM CRUISE, ACTOR: When you drive past an accident, it's not like anyone else. As you drive past you know you have to do something about it because you're the only one that can help. COOPER: Cruise is so close to the church leader that he asked him to be best man at his wedding. Here's Cruise praising David Miscavage at scientology event in 2007. CRUISE: We are lucky to have you. Thank you very much. COOPER: In 2010, we met with many former members including Tom Cruise's former counselor or auditor who says that everything is not as it seems within the church leadership. Marty Rathbun who used to work directly under David Miscavage says there's been a culture of violence within the leadership of the church. A culture encouraged by Miscavage himself. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He treats his subordinates in all of international management like slaves in a slave camp and beats them down. COOPER: It's a claim the church vigorously denies. They say that Rathbun is a liar and out to destroy the church. The church spokesman in 2009, Tommy Davis says, yes, there was violence in the church, but he blames Marty Rathbun for it and others making allegations against David Miscavage. DAVIS: The allegations are untrue. There is nothing of the sort as they are describing. COOPER (on camera): David has never kicked somebody? Never punched somebody? DAVIS: Never, never, never, absolutely not. COOPER (voice-over): As CNN was preparing our 2010 report, the church provided us with large stacks of affidavits from current and former church members even ex-wives that remain in the leadership of the church. Some interviewed with us to defend the church saying former husbands and co-workers are liars. JENNY LINSON, SEA ORGANIZATION MEMBER: I never saw one scratch. I never saw one bruise. I never saw one black eye, nothing. Nor did he complain about anything personally. COOPER: Now Pulitzer Prize winning author Lawrence Wright has written a book titled "Going Clear Scientology Hollywood & the Prison of Belief." He details the church's creation by its founder L. Ron Hubbard and explores these allegations of abuse. Allegations the church continues to strongly deny and they created a web site to refute the book chapter by chapter. (END VIDEOTAPE) COOPER: We're making the Church of Scientology's response available on cnn.com. To find it, put the words scientology in the search field in the upper right hand corner. "Going Clear" is based on extensive interviews with former and current church members. Lawrence Wright talked to hundreds of people. I spoke to him earlier. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) COOPER: So why did you decide to write about scientology? LAWRENCE WRIGHT, AUTHOR, "GOING CLEAR SCIENTOLOGY, HOLLYWOOD & THE PRISON OF BELIEF": I was interested in why people believe one thing and do another especially in this country where you can believe anything you want. That's not true in a lot of places in the world. We have a supermarket of religious beliefs. So why would you choose scientology? Perhaps the most stigmatized religion in this country. COOPER: What do you think it does for people? That's the thing I can't get to the bottom of. What does it give people? WRIGHT: At the beginning level when you go in and get auditing, which is their form of therapy, a lot of people feel like they are helped. That's what draws people in. They ask what is ruing your life? What is your ruin? If you say, well, it's my relationship or my profession or something. They say we have something that can help you. And sometimes that's true. COOPER: Is recruiting celebrities -- they have this celebrity center in Hollywood. Was that a conscious effort by the church and is that for PR reasons? WRIGHT: Absolutely. These are product endorsements. The Church of Scientology was created in Los Angeles. The celebrity center in Hollywood, all of it with the design to take over the entertainment industry, you know, there were people that they were actively recruiting. They were always looking for that figure that would be a prominent member of the entertainment industry. COOPER: A lot of people focus on the origin myth of scientology or the origin story and people make fun of it. My belief is every religion has an origin story. I never focused too much on that. I find the structure of the church interesting though. Is there any other church that you know of that is structured like it in terms of paying to kind of move up through the hierarchy of the church. WRIGHT: Nothing like that comes to mind. It's very expensive. If you want to climb -- if you walk into the door of scientology today and you go all of the way to the top of the pyramid, half a million dollars or more just for -- you get the course work but then you're continually asked for money. COOPER: The church is obviously very upset about the book. They say Mr. Wright showed the church he has no interest in the facts only lies and exaggerations being fed to him by angry, bitter sources with agendas based on hatred and revenge. The result is a biased work more fiction than fact. I should say they basically said the same thing about our reporting. They published an entire magazine devoted kind of attacking us and CNN and myself. WRIGHT: I got one in the "New Yorker" as well. I want to just say about that disclaimer from the church. First of all, you can only talk to the people that will talk to you. I asked repeatedly to talk to upper level executives and the opportunity was foreclosed to me. I spoke to more than 250 people, the majority of them current or former scientologists. It's not just a small group of people. We're talking about more than 150 people. Their stories are very damning, very similar in nature. COOPER: There are a lot of people who were formerly in upper echelons of the church that talk about a culture of violence that they participated in. Some admit they engaged in violent acts, but also point to the leader of the church as someone that would leap across desks and hit people. WRIGHT: It sounds bizarre. I had 12 people tell me that they had personally been beaten up by David and more than 20 witnesses to such events and these accounts are very similar, the hair trigger response. A sudden jumping up and strangling people, beating people out of the blue, no idea what they've done and often times after that they are sent off to one of the re-education camps, sometimes for years. COOPER: We heard Tom Cruise saying that he drives by an accident and he knows that he's the only one or scientologists are the only one that can really help. What is that idea that somehow a scientologist can help with a road accident? WRIGHT: It's a laying on of hands. There's a contact assist. I was talking to josh about this. He once witnessed John Travolta helping Marlon Brando who had stopped to help a motorist on the side of the road and cut his leg. They all show up at a dinner party and he's telling this story and using this dead-on Brando accident. Travolta said I have gone up to a higher level in the church and I think I can help you. If you have powers, John so he reached over and put his hand on Brando's leg and he said it was eerie almost a physical charge between the two of them and Brando said, you know what? I do feel better. Who is to say? In Brando's mind, maybe he was making Travolta feel OK about himself or maybe there was some sort of effect. Essentially it's a mystical idea that you can lay on hands and you can make someone feel better. COOPER: The church cites huge membership, millions and millions of people. Other sources say that the number is actually much smaller in the tens of thousands, 25,000, 35,000, 45,000. Is membership in decline? WRIGHT: Yes. It's hemorrhaging members. COOPER: Why? WRIGHT: Part of is people are becoming aware of what's going on inside the church. Moreover, the secret doctrines of the church it kept secret for years are now all over the internet. They are ridiculed on South Park. Everyone kind of knows what the secrets are inside scientology and you don't have to pay a half million dollars to learn them. COOPER: Fascinating book. Thank you so much, Lawrence. WRIGHT: Always a pleasure. UFO groups sometimes couch traditional religious themes such as apocalypticism and heavenly intervention in the language of modern technology and biological evolutionary theory. Other groups, including the Church of Scientology, fashion spiritual teachings and mythology in the language of modern psychology. Founded by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard (1911–86), Scientology began as Dianetics, which was Hubbard’s term for a kind of therapy that claimed to eliminate destructive imprints of past experiences, called “engrams,” that had accumulated in one’s unconscious. Hubbard devised a method—employing both discussion with an “auditor” and the use of an electrical device called an “E-meter”—to dissipate such engrams and produce (over a long period of treatment in which one attains and passes through a variety of hierarchical levels) a state of liberation he termed “being Clear.” Over time Hubbard also developed a whole cosmology in which human beings were said to be originally divine beings, called “thetans,” who had fallen into and been entrapped by material existence. The freedom of “being Clear” was equated with regaining one’s status as an eternal, omniscient, omnipotent thetan.
engram, in Scientology, a mental image of a past experience that produces a negative emotional effect in an individual’s life.
L. Ron Hubbard (1911–86), the founder of Scientology, believed that the basic principle of human existence is survival. He argued that actions that support survival are good and yield pleasure, while actions that are destructive, which he called “countersurvival actions,” perpetuate negative states. Each individual, he believed, possesses a mind that under normal conditions operates analytically to make survival-oriented judgments. However, when the mind is not fully functioning, a part of it that Hubbard called the reactive mind takes over, storing images of experiences, or engrams, which contain not only strong negative emotional content but also unrelated elements of the experience. A later encounter with these unrelated elements may bring forth negative emotional reactions from the stored engram and lead to countersurvival actions. thetan, in Scientology, the authentic spiritual identity of an individual. It is similar to the soul, whose existence is taught by many religious traditions.
L. Ron Hubbard (1911–86), Scientology’s founder, spoke of the experience of “exteriorization,” the separation of individual consciousness from the body. His own experience of exteriorization led him to posit the spiritual self, the thetan, as the true self that could exist apart from the body. He also taught that thetans had inhabited other bodies before their present one, a concept not unlike that of reincarnation in Eastern religions. The idea of the thetan led Hubbard to postulate a comprehensive vision of the cosmos that had much in common with Eastern faiths and closely resembled the Western gnostic tradition. Hubbard suggested that thetans had originated billions of years ago with the original Cause, whose entire purpose was the creation of effect. Thetans emerged early in the process of creation, and their interaction led to the creation of MEST (matter, energy, space, and time), thus making the visible universe possible. Over time, the thetans fell into MEST and were trapped. They experienced events that stripped them of their creative abilities. Engrams, or images of these past events, exerted a negative emotional influence on the thetans’ minds, causing them to lose the memories of who they were. Eventually, the thetans’ movements through the MEST universe brought them to Earth as humans.
The Church of Scientology asserts that through training its members come to understand both themselves as spiritual beings and engrams as energy clusters that inhibit the thetan from functioning freely. Hubbard believed that the fundamental purpose of religion is to provide a process of freeing the individual. Consequently, Scientology is concerned with assisting the individual in becoming “clear,” or free from the destructive influence of engrams. An operating thetan (OT) is one who not only is free from engrams but also operates as a fully conscious and functioning thetan according to the church’s most sacred teachings. |
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AMANPOUR: Welcome back to the program.
The Church of Scientology is the famous or infamous American-born religion created by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard and best known for its celebrity followers, like Tom Cruise and John Travolta. The church claims millions of members here in the United States and around the world, in virtually every major city -- London, Berlin, Tel Aviv, Johannesburg and more. Scientology is famously litigious, with a phalanx of lawyers keeping an eye on journalists, writers and media companies who set out to cover the church. But now that a number of high-profile and highly placed members have left and are beginning to tell their stories, we're getting rare insight into the inner workings of the church, from Pulitzer prize-winning author Lawrence Wright. His new book is called, "Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and he Prison of Belief." His last book, "The Looming Tower," is considered the seminal work on the rise of Al Qaeda and that's the work for which he won that Pulitzer Prize. But before I ask him about "Going Clear," here's what the Church of Scientology has to say about it. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) AMANPOUR (voice-over): "Lawrence Wright's book is so ludicrous it belongs in a supermarket tabloid. The book is an error-filled, unsubstantiated, bigoted anti-Scientology book." (END VIDEO CLIP) AMANPOUR: Lawrence Wright, welcome to the studio. LAWRENCE WRIGHT, AUTHOR: Thank you, Christiane. AMANPOUR: How does it feel to be introduced with that very clear denunciation, bigoted, unsubstantiated, unfair? WRIGHT: Well, I, first of all, I sure hope we sell it in supermarkets. That would be great. I have tried to be as fair to the church as I can. And I've interviewed more than 260 people, most of them Scientologists or former Scientologists. Many of them have been at the highest levels of the church and at the highest level of their spiritual ladder. So I think I've spoken to the experts. AMANPOUR: You called your book "Going Clear." WRIGHT: Right. AMANPOUR: What does that mean? Is that the heart of the faith? WRIGHT: It's the essential idea and it started in "Dianetics," a book that Hubbard published in 1950, in which he stated that there are two minds in our bodies. One is the rational, thinking mind that is a perfect computer. It remembers things flawlessly. And then there's another mind called the reactive mind. And it's full of the fears and neuroses that control our behavior and cause us to do things wrongly. And those things come from experiences we've had in the past, even in past lives. And if we can bring those things to the surface, those memories, and purge them of the power they have over our behavior, then we eliminate the reactive mind and we go clear. AMANPOUR: Your subtitle is, "The Prison of Belief." WRIGHT: Right. AMANPOUR: What do you mean? What is Scientology? Is it a prison? Is it a religion? WRIGHT: You know, you and I can talk about religion. But there's only one organization that makes the distinction, and that's the IRS. And they determined in 1993 that Scientology was a religious community. AMANPOUR: That obviously came after a huge amount of effort by the Scientologists -- and indeed we have some video that shows the current leader celebrating many years ago when the IRS made this announcement and this decision about Scientology. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DAVID MISCAVIGE, SCIENTOLOGY CHURCH LEADER: The IRS issued letters recognizing Scientology and every one of its organizations as fully tax exempt! The war is over! (APPLAUSE) (END VIDEO CLIP) AMANPOUR: The war is over. I mean, it really is an us-against-them sort of attitude. WRIGHT: Yes. You know, when that happened, the church owed a billion dollars in back taxes. It had decided not to pay its taxes. And it didn't have a billion dollars. This was an existential moment for the church. And so in order to save Scientology, David Miscavige, the figure you just saw, the leader of the church, launched 2,300 lawsuits against the IRS, individual agents; they hired private investigators, according to my sources, to follow individual agents around. At conventions, they would see who drank too much, who was fooling around on the road. And all of that is part of the deal that the IRS made. Those lawsuits were dropped. The private investigators were dropped and the religious exemption was granted, on whatever merits. That was the circumstance (inaudible). (CROSSTALK) AMANPOUR: And why was religious exemption important to the church? WRIGHT: It could not exist without it. You know, they -- instead of owing a billion dollars, they paid $12 million. And since then, the unbelievably great protections of the 1st Amendment of religious freedoms surround the church and all of its practices. I'm not questioning the beliefs of the church. It's the behavior inside the organization. AMANPOUR: Did you talk to husbands and wives, parents and children, who had been separated? WRIGHT: Oh, yes, and it's -- I mean, there were a lot of tears in this story. The number of people that have told me about family members that have turned against them, they will never speak to them again. The fear that I've detected in my sources about whether they should talk to me because what's at risk is their relationship with people they loved the most. And they want to talk about it. And many people did talk about, placing those very relationships at risk. AMANPOUR: This is the response about the separation from family members. "The church encourages and helps its members to have excellent family relationships, whether they're relatives of Scientologists or not. Family members of Scientologists are always welcome to visit the church, to meet other Scientologists and to have their questions about Scientology answered." WRIGHT: I've -- I would like to introduce them to the hundreds of family members that are unable to contact the people that were closest to them, we're talking children and -- who have been separated from their parents, husbands from spouses. It's a broad and terrible program. AMANPOUR: The niece of David Miscavige has left the church after many, many years. And she's been talking publicly; she's written about it. Has that affected the church at all? WRIGHT: Jenna Miscavige Hill and others founded a website, called exscientologykids.com, to talk about this phenomenon of family members being forcibly separated and also of children, the exploitation of children. I think it's been a disaster in terms of public relations for the church to have people that are close in to the founders and also to David Miscavige, actually publicly turn their backs on the church, not so much against Scientology, but the way the church is being run now. AMANPOUR: Well, let's talk about the powerful adherents and the very famous ones, Tom Cruise, John Travolta, I mean, you can ask for hours why this is attractive to them. But beyond that, do you think they have a responsibility to -- I don't know; what is their responsibility? WRIGHT: Christiane, I've thought about how Scientology might be able to reform itself, how it might be able to change. It's obviously in a critical moment. Some of these celebrity members, in particular Tom Cruise, who is the most notable Scientologist, could call for change. He, I think, has a moral responsibility. I'm not criticizing his personality or his acting or anything about it. But I'm just saying that the product that he sells -- and he's a most visible spokesperson for the church -- has some problems. And I think it's up to him, since he's representing it to so many people around the world, he's got a moral responsibility to look at what's going on and, in his name, is being sold to people around the world. AMANPOUR: When you decided to write the story for your magazine, "The New Yorker," what was the editors' reaction? What was Scientology's reaction? Did they try to stop you? Did they try to sue you? What happened? WRIGHT: Well, we went into this with our eyes open, because many previous reporters have had difficult experiences with the church. "Time" magazine, for instance, published an expose in 1991, and the church sued "Time," losing at every step of the way, all the way to the Supreme Court. But it was the most expensive suit "Time" ever defended. Other reporters had been tracked down by private investigators, framed for crimes they didn't commit. You know, these are well-established facts. And so we looked at that. On the other hand, this was a great story. This was a really interesting phenomenon. And we wanted to do it. But we do it very carefully. AMANPOUR: Have they come after you? Have they tried to sue you since the book has been out? WRIGHT: No, I -- you know, we've had a number of stern letters from attorneys, from the church and some of the prominent people mentioned in the book. But in this country, you know, we're protected by the 1st Amendment, as is the church. AMANPOUR: But you just said, they lodge many, many lawsuits. WRIGHT: Yes. Well, I think that in order to sue me in this country, they have to prove actual malice, which means that I deliberately misrepresented the facts in order to smear the church. And I have not done that. AMANPOUR: So now you've written the article; you've written the book. After doing all this work on Scientology, after really immersing yourself in it for so long, what is your conclusion? WRIGHT: I think Scientology is having -- at a reckoning point. It reminds me of the Church of Latter-Day Saints in the 19th century, which was the most persecuted sect in our history. AMANPOUR: That's the Mormon Church. WRIGHT: That's the Mormon Church. And in fact, there was a bill in Congress to exterminate the Mormons. It was a very hated organization. And it turned. It evolved into an organization that now can have two Mormons running for president. The -- Scientology might have a future like that. But it won't if it continues on its current path. It's got lots of money and it's got lots of lawyers. But it appears to be hemorrhaging members. And if it doesn't have a change, if it doesn't have a reformation inside it, then no matter how much money and how many lawyers they have, it's going to die. AMANPOUR: Lawrence Wright, thank you very much indeed. WRIGHT: It's been a pleasure. Thank you, Christiane. (END VIDEO CLIP) AMANPOUR: On the question of how Scientology won its religious exemption from the IRS, the church has denied reports that aggressive tactics had any effect on the agency's decision, saying the ruling was based on a two-year inquiry that showed the church was qualified for the exemption. As for the reports that journalists have been harassed, the church has said that this dark chapter in its history was the work of renegade members who broke the law and that it's today's church leaders who are responsible for shutting down the activity. The Church of Scientology's response is available in full at CNN.com. To find it, put the word "Scientology" in the search field in the upper right-hand corner. |
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