Scientologists recognize illiteracy as the root of poverty, crime and lost productivity, and are taking effective action to remedy it.
Seven years ago, volunteers from the Church of Scientology in Washington, D.C., formed the Community Service Guild, a tutoring project to assist the public school system in the nation’s capital. Through the years, they have trained hundreds of tutors, who in turn have trained thousands of students. Tests have shown remarkable improvements in the students” academic performance.
The mother of one child stated, “It’s a great program! They have hands-on teaching methods which are very good. The tutors take a great personal interest in the children and are very concerned. They consider their backgrounds and take a lot of time to prepare how they are going to approach each child. It has helped my son immensely.”
Similar projects to eradicate illiteracy have been established in many cities throughout the United States, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Boston, New Haven, Atlanta, Memphis and Orlando, as well as in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other countries.
Scientologists also generously support Applied Scholastics International, a broad-based educational organization utilizing Mr. Hubbard’s technology of study. Since the 1970s, more than 3 million students, parents, teachers and staff members of educational organizations and businesses have participated in its programs, delivered today by 156 groups in 31 countries.
Drug abuse touches virtually all of our lives, ruining the quality of life in ever-widening spheres as the closely related problems of crime and violence follow the rising tide of drugs.
The Church of Scientology International’s “Lead the Way to a Drug-Free USA” campaign works with many other community anti-drug organizations, united by the purpose of eradicating drug abuse.
The Church also created the “Drug-Free Marshals” program to educate children on the dangers of drugs and to challenge them to remain drug-free. They show their commitment by taking the pledge as Drug-Free Marshals to remain drug-free and to encourage their friends and family to do the same. The campaign has rapidly spread internationally, with more than 12,000 youngsters and 1,000 adults sworn in as Drug-Free Marshals in communities all over the world.
In many nations, including Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Norway, Denmark, Belgium and Holland, the Church has for years conducted a “Say No to Drugs” program, a broad drug-abuse awareness and prevention effort.
Scientologists also support Narconon, an international drug education and rehabilitation program operating in 34 locations in the United States, Canada, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Denmark, England, New Zealand and Russia. The Narconon program has freed more than 25,000 people from the shackles of drug addiction utilizing drug-free withdrawal, detoxification and rehabilitation procedures developed by Mr. Hubbard.
Another organization, Criminon, grew out of the Narconon prison programs, and addresses the underlying causes of criminality, using portions of the Narconon program to handle the individual’s drug problems and a common sense moral code, The Way to Happiness, written by Mr. Hubbard, to restore self-esteem. Today inmates in more than 300 U.S. prisons and jails participate in the Criminon program.
An independent study of juvenile offenders enrolled in the Criminon program showed that only two percent returned to crime; in a comparable control group, 80 percent reverted to crime.
e of the Church believe:
That all men of whatever race, color or creed were created with equal rights;
That all men have inalienable rights to their own religious practices and their performance;
That all men have inalienable rights to their own lives;
That all men have inalienable rights to their sanity;
That all men have inalienable rights to their own defense;
That all men have inalienable rights to conceive, choose, assist or support their own organizations, churches and governments;
That all men have inalienable rights to think freely, to talk freely, to write freely their own opinions and to counter or utter or write upon the opinions of others;
That all men have inalienable rights to the creation of their own kind;
That the souls of men have the rights of men;
That the study of the mind and the healing of mentally caused ills should not be alienated from religion or condoned in nonreligious fields;
And that no agency less than God has the power to suspend or set aside these rights, overtly or covertly;
And we of the Church believe;
That man is basically good;
That he is seeking to survive;
That his survival depends on himself and upon his fellows and his attainment of brotherhood with the universe.
And we of the Church believe that the laws of God forbid man;
To destroy his own kind;
To destroy the sanity of another;
To destroy or enslave another’s soul;
To destroy or reduce the survival of one’s companions or one’s group.
And we of the Church believe:
That the spirit can be saved and
That the spirit alone may save or heal the body.
| The Church of Scientology created the “Drug-Free Marshals” program to educate children on the dangers of drugs and to challenge them to remain drug-free. The Drug-Free Marshals have reached young people and adults in many countries, creating a drug-free generation. |
In 1950, Mr. Hubbard exposed the barbaric abuses taking place in the name of mental healing, where psychiatrists used electric shock, lobotomy and mind-altering drugs to destroy human native abilities. Scientologists have long been critics of psychiatric abuse of the helpless. In 1969, seeing the need for an organized effort to eradicate these abuses, they formed the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, a powerful group which today is active in major cities all over the globe.
Nearly 10 years ago, a United Nations report paid tribute to CCHR’s work: “CCHR has been responsible for many great reforms. At least 30 bills throughout the world, which would otherwise have inhibited even more the rights of mental patients, or would have given psychiatry the power to commit minority groups and individuals against their will, have been defeated by CCHR actions.” The total of such bills to date stands at 90, and the list is growing.
In recognition of the human rights work of CCHR, noted author Thomas Szasz publicly applauded the group: “We should all honor CCHR because it is really the organization that for the first time in human history has organized a politically, socially, internationally significant voice to combat psychiatry. This has never been done in human history before.”
o mark its 40th anniversary,
the Church of Scientology has published a comprehensive report on the Church and its activities.
This informative booklet, entitled The Church of Scientology 40th Anniversary, is designed to provide accurate information about the structure, leadership, and functions of the Church.
It answers commonly asked questions about the Scientology religion, its members and activities, and lets readers know about the workable solutions the church has to offer for the serious societal problems of crime, drug abuse, illiteracy and moral decay.
The publication is available in English, Spanish, French, Italian, and German.
For a copy of this special booklet, write to:
Church of Scientology International
6331 Hollywood Boulevard
Suite 1200
Los Angeles, California
90028-6329
