The Church of Scientology's Planetary Social Betterment Campaigns

The global devastation and human misery wrought by drug abuse, human rights violations, moral decay and natural and manmade disasters is unmistakable. They threaten to rip the social fabric to shreds and in many parts of the world these societal ills have already caused seemingly irreparable damage.

What is conspicuously lacking in combating these virtually apocalyptic scenarios are readily available, easily assimilated and rapidly distributable tools—tools to raise awareness, tools to educate and tools to activate.

In recognition of the fact that mass communication in the modern world would hinge largely on audiovisual delivery capability, Mr. David Miscavige moved the Scientology religion into the multimedia age with the establishment of state-of-the-art studio facilities at Golden Era Productions.

Under Mr. Miscavige’s direction, that multimedia capacity has now been brought to bear on the global problems attendant to drug abuse, human rights violations and moral decay.

The Church of Scientology’s revolutionary social betterment programs in the fields of drug education, human rights awareness, moral resurgence and disaster relief now stand in testament of that focus. They are utterly unique, indisputably cutting edge and most importantly—effective.

The pattern is wholly consistent:

• Create aesthetically powerful public service announcements that communicate the core issues in direct terms that anyone can understand so as to raise public awareness.
• Freely distribute these announcements both for broadcast on the Internet and television as well as to like-minded organizations.
• Follow up with longer-form video properties that can be used to educate.
• Create educational material and curriculums that can be used to further enlighten and empower those in need.
• Make all of it freely accessible on the World Wide Web.
• Allow all interested individuals, groups and governments to make the campaign their own.
• And in this way create a global force for common good, uniting all in overcoming societal ills that plague this planet.

This is the fundamental pattern, and it was both conceived and inspired by Mr. Miscavige himself—right down to the finest details of scripting, production, post production, sound mixing and manufacture on DVD for mass distribution. What follows here are the statistics and accomplishments of the global social betterment campaigns of the Scientology religion.

This is what can be done when one man, driven to achieve the vision the religious Founder entrusted to him, with the full support of the religious movement he leads, extends the hand of indiscriminate help to others.

More at: http://www.freedommag.org

Church of Scientology Decision Protecting Religious Freedom in European Court of Human Rights

Today, the European Court of Human Rights ruled unanimously in favor of two Scientology religious groups in Russia, finding that they have the right to be registered as religious organizations under Russian law. This decision determines that members of the Church of Scientology of Surgut and the Church of Scientology of Nizhnekamsk have the right to religious freedom and freedom of association pursuant to Articles 9 and 11 of the European Human Rights Convention.

The Church’s human rights counsel, Bill Walsh, stated: “The judgment of the European Court of Human Rights today is a great victory for religious freedom in Russia and in all 47 member countries of the Council of Europe. The case is given the highest rating of importance by the Court itself as it effectively kills the repressive 15 Year Rule, denying religious organizations rights until they have existed in the country for 15 years. Moreover, the ruling will have great impact on countries throughout the European Community that have passed similar restrictions to repress religious freedom. So it is not only a victory for religious freedom in Russia, but for religious freedom everywhere in the Council of Europe.”

In 1997, the Russian government passed laws preventing religious organizations from forming legally unless they could prove they had been in existence in their respective state(s) for 15 years. Such a law obviously discriminates against religions not established in a state for 15 years and has now been ruled as unlawful by the European Court of Human Rights.

In reaching this decision, the Court “established that the applicants were unable to obtain recognition and effective enjoyment of their rights to freedom of religion and association in any organisational form. The first applicant could not obtain registration of the Scientology group as a non-religious legal entity because it was considered to be a religious community by the Russian authorities. The applications for registration as a religious organisation submitted by the first and second applicants as founders of their respective groups… were denied by reference to the insufficient period of the groups’ existence. Finally, the restricted status of a religious group for which they qualified… conveyed no practical or effective benefits to them as such a group was deprived of legal personality, property rights and the legal capacity to protect the interests of its members and was also severely hampered in the fundamental aspects of its religious functions.¨ Accordingly, the Court finds that there has been an interference with the applicants’ rights under Article 9 interpreted in the light of Article 11.”

Along with the recent decision of the Court in favor of the right of the Moscow Church of Scientology to be registered as a religious organization under the Religion law, these cases represent precedent-setting rulings that guarantee the freedom of religion and right of association for Scientologists and people of all faiths throughout the 47 nations that comprise the Council of Europe.

The Court concluded that “In the light of the foregoing considerations, the Court finds that the interference with the applicants’ rights to freedom of religion and association cannot be said to have been “necessary in a democratic society.” There has therefore been a violation of Article 9 of the Convention, interpreted in the light of Article 11.”

The Russian Scientology Church in St. Petersburg also has cases pending in the European Court of Human Rights for similar discriminatory harassment concerning their registration.

The Scientology religion was founded by L. Ron Hubbard. The first church was established in the United States in 1954. It has grown to more than 8,000 churches, missions and groups and millions of members in 165 nations. The Russian Federation has more than 70 Scientology Churches and missions from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok.

For more information about Scientology, see www.scientology-moscow.ru or www.scientology.org.