The Church of Scientology: Copyright vs. Free Speech
Abstract: In 1995, the Church of Scientology sued a number of parties, including the Washington Post, in an attempt to prevent the circulation of secret documents about the “religion.” This paper examines both sides of this issue, explores the implications to copyright law and the First Amendment, and describes the actual results of the case.
The Church of Scientology is a global organization with over 270 churches or missions worldwide. For decades, it has possessed followers with an almost fanatical devotion to their leader, L. Ron Hubbard. Since the advent of the Internet, the Church has begun to resort to various legal actions to maintain the secrecy of their “scriptures.”
On August 4, 1995, Arnaldo Lerma received a fax from a lawyer representing the Church of Scientology. This letter demanded that he remove from his webpage certain “Advanced Technology materials” from the Church. In the letter, the Church claimed both copyright and trade secret protection for the materials [1]. The next day, Lerma received an unannounced visit from two members of the Church who wanted to express their “concern” over the materials he posted. In response to this, Lerma sent a reply to the Scientologists’ lawyer and claimed that the materials he posted were affidavits taken from the public record, and so were not subject to copyright or trade secret protection. He also informed the law firm that he had sent a copy of the disputed materials along with a tape recording of the Scientologists’ visit to a reporter from the Washington Post [2].
On the morning of August 12, 1995, Arnie Lerma’s house was raided by lawyers of the Church of Scientology two armed Federal Marshals. A...
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...mputer Seized in Internet Lawsuit.” Washington Post, 13 Aug 1995.
5. http://www.xs4all.nl/~kspaink/cos/rnewman/lerma/cos-sues-washpost-8.22.95: A press released issued by the Church of Scientology on August 22, 1995.
6. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.text.html: Title 17, Section 107 of the U.S. Code
7. http://www.xs4all.nl/~kspaink/cos/rnewman/media/bj-8.25.95: A posting to the Usenet group alt.religion.scientology regarding the 25 Aug 1995 hearing before Judge Leonie Brinkema.
8. http://www.xs4all.nl/~kspaink/cos/rnewman/lerma/brinkema-post-11.28.95: An opinion issued by Judge Leonie Brinkema on 28 Nov 1995.
9. Hall, Charles W. “Church of Scientology Wins Cyberspace Copyright Fight.” Washington Post, 20 Jan 1996.
10. http://www.xs4all.nl/~kspaink/cos/rnewman/media/bj-10.8.96: An opinion issued by Judge Leonie Brinkema on 8 Oct 1996.
Feesh calmly replied, “Listen to me. That new president has just announced that the government has been completely taken over by the Church of Scientology. That could mean the end of the world as we know it.”
In explaining Hume’s critique of the belief in miracles, we must first understand the definition of a miracle. The Webster Dictionary defines a miracle as: a supernatural event regarded as to define action, one of the acts worked by Christ which revealed his divinity an extremely remarkable achievement or event, an unexpected piece of luck. Therefore, a miracle is based on one’s perception of past experiences, what everyone sees. It is based on an individuals own reality, and the faith in which he/she believes in, it is based on interior events such as what we are taught, and exterior events, such as what we hear or see first hand. When studying Hume’s view of a miracle, he interprets or defines a miracle as such; a miracle is a violation of the laws of nature, an event which is not normal to most of mankind. Hume explains this point brilliantly when he states, “Nothing is esteemed a miracle, if it has ever happened in the common course of nature. It is no miracle that a man seemingly in good health should die on a sudden.” (Hume p.888) Hume states that this death is quite unusual, however it seemed to happen naturally. He could only define it as a true miracle if this dead man were to come back to life. This would be a miraculous event because such an experience has not yet been commonly observed. In which case, his philosophical view of a miracle would be true. Hume critiques and discredits the belief in a miracle merely because it goes against the laws of nature.
Reitman, Janet. Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013. Print.
Scientology is rather young. Beginning in 1953, during a coincidentally timed slump in Layfaette Ronald Hubbard's book sales. Originally a few "help centers" sprung up, taking the places of bookstores where for a nominal fee and the purchase of a copy of Dianetics, you could soon be feeling the effects of a new way to look at religion. Of course the timing is all coincidental right? BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ Wrong-O-Laserbrain!
B: What fundamentally comprises a religion, and does Scientology in fact merit this Constitutionally-protected label?
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is an education policy originally proposed by President George Bush in 2001. Since then President Barrack Obama has added modifications in order to better educate the students of our Nation. The purpose of the NCLB is to enable all children to the same rights for education. Each child, regardless of race, gender or location should be able to obtain equal education. The policy requires highly educated teachers and annual state testing that is submitted to the government.
Within the past twenty years scientology has dominated celebrity culture. The religion has increased its celebrity following, and as a consequence has been put in the spotlight. Scientology is a fairly new religion that was founded in the 1950s by L. Ron Hubbard. Hubbard started his career as a science fiction writer, but one day when he was under anesthesia at the dentist he had an epiphany that inspired Scientology. He believed he knew all the answers to the universe, and he wrote Dianetics, which has become a guide book for the religion (Christian Century). Scientology focuses on the soul and clarity of the mind. In scientology the soul is called a thetan, and followers are required to “undertake the path of mental liberation with the help of another person, a spiritual counselor called an auditor” (Molloy). Auditing how scientologists free and overcome problems from past lives that their thetan inhabited. Molloy says, that scientology has roots in Buddhism and Hinduism because of the connection to past lives and liberation of the soul. L. Ron Hubbard set out to make a thriving religion that would grow and prosper.
Most educators and parents would desire an educational system where all students receive a balanced education that will afford all students the ability to compete in our ever changing society. This desire is great among students who live in economically challenged environments and those who attend poor schools. These students are at most risk of receiving a a proper education. This is partly due to lack of funding, and the inability for those poor schools to afford highly qualified teachers. Much controversy stems from this issue, poor schools not being able to afford highly trained teachers, students not having access to improved curriculums and extraordinary dropout rates. In an effort to combat these issues, the Bush administration implemented an act that purported to help schools to receive necessary funding for qualified teachers and to close the racial and ethnic gaps, known as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA). However, the NCLBA failed to deliver on its promises and left already struggling schools and children in disarray attempting to reach government mandates rather than ensuring a balanced education for every student.
In the United States, education plays a vital role for the government. It was a major interest of our Founding Fathers in writing the Constitution because our democracy relies on an educated society. John Adams once stated, “Education for every class and rank of people down to the lowest and poorest.” Our Founding Fathers did not want education only for the upper class, but also for the lower class as well. Education is essential for the development and prosperity of our country. It has enhanced American financial and administrative leadership. In acknowledging the importance of education, the federal government took upon a grander role of financing public schools with the passage of Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in 1965, which along the years was subjected to various reauthorizations. In 2001, the reauthorizations included No Child Left behind Act (NCLB), which required the states to set the standards for student performance as well as teacher quality. This act helps the educational advancement in schools because it improves the comprehensiveness and fairness of the American education.
Scientology is a religion that is becoming more and more popular and known. One of the reasons for this is the amount of press it gets. One of the biggest churches for scientology is located in LA this could result in the amount of celebrities involved in this religon. There is also a great amount of controversy concerning this religion. After taking this world religions class I have come to learn that this controversy is true with all religions.
Scientology, founded in 1950 (Hubbard. What is. 3), "is an applied religious philosophy" (Hubbard. What is. 4), which is a branch of psychology (Fundamentals. 7). Developed by Lafayette Ron Hubbard, Scientology was created "from discoveries resulting from Hubbard's research into the mind and life" (Fundamentals. 11). Hubbard claimed that "Scientology is for the betterment of man" (Fundamentals. 117), and that Scientology can be used by an average person to bring better order to their life (Fundamentals. 8). Hubbard claimed that Scientology "improves the health, intelligence, ability, behavior, skill and appearance of the average person" (Fundamentals. 8). One of the most fundamental ideas in Scientology is the belief that the individual man is divisible into three parts (Hubbard. What is. 5-6): The Mind, the Body and the Thetan. Hubbard believed that the Thetan, or personality of a person, "is separable from the rest of the mind at will, and without causing bodily death or mental derangement" (Fundamentals. 5-6).
Anatole France said, “An education isn’t how much you have committed to memory or even how much you know. It’s being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don’t.” Through the No Child Left Behind program students are being tested in a manner that does not accurately measure learning. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB or The Act) Act was proposed in 2001, an addition to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, to assist students who have a disadvantage or are a minority. Through this Act students were required to take standardized tests. One main reason of implementing the standardized testing as a part of NCLB was to raise schools AYP, adequate yearly progress; this measures a schools progress in reaching certain standards set by the Federal Government. The Federal Government should eradicate the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 because it is creating substantial problems, limiting learning, and has proven to be ineffective.
Many books have been written that discredit the religion of Scientology including Paulette Cooper's book titled The Scandal of Scientology which outlines all of what she believes to be faults in the Scientology religion. Being a biased source I turned from that book to an article printed four years after the death of the founder of Scientology Lafayette Ronald Hubbard. Titled "The Scientology Story "it was a series in The Los Angeles Times that was written to walk through Scientology from the beginning and simply explain the facts. In this unbiased account of Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard, there are many discrediting facts and ideas about the religion that were found. It is these very facts that I will be listing that many of Scientology's greatest critics use to defend themselves (in the case of those in the medical professions ), or to explain why the religions ideas are simply not valid or untrue.
... but one about reason, that it is not this, but habit, which forms the basis of our beliefs. While it may be the case that denying an empirical fact may not result in a contradiction, Hume seems to be suggesting that it would still be irrational to do so. That abstracting from events to laws is a rational, though inductive, act seems hard to deny. Thus, at best, Hume can only show that it is experience which first provides the matter for reason.
Scientology was founded in 1952 by L. Ron Hubbard. The Church of Scientology has been known to use manipulations such as isolation and lawsuit to keep members in line. Many consider the Church of Scientology to be a church and not a cult because it is recognized by the IRS, but numerous countries refuse to recognize it as a church including, the United Kingdom, Greece, Canada, Germany, and France. Reverend Sun Myung Moon founded the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity in 1954. After 7 years in the church his followers were told they could choose their marriage partners and he became famous for his mass marriage ceremonies. In 1970s, Moon renamed the cult the Unification Church and relocated it to New York City. The cult still exists even though Moon died in 2010.