Mass Mail Effect

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Mass Mailing Campaign

Contents

Step 1

Find out who your local Member of Parliament is.

Federal Members of Parliament

You can find out who your local Federal Member of Parliament is on the Australian Electoral Commission website:

State Members of Parliament

You can find your local State member of Parliament from your local government websites:

Step 2

Template Letter

This letter is to be copied, modified to suit and then mailed to your local politician. 

Anonymous
Anonymous's Street
Anontown, SA 5000

Politician
Politicians Address
Pollytown, SA 5000

 
 
Dear Politician,

I am contacting you in regards to some serious concerns I have about the Church of Scientology (CoS)
in Australia. My understanding is that the CoS enjoys a tax exempt status on the basis that it is a 
religious organisation. The Australian Tax Office defines a tax exempt religion as 1 - belief in a 
supernatural Being, Thing or Principle; and 2 - acceptance and observance of canons of conduct in 
order to give effect to that belief.

My main concern is that these qualifiers of a tax exempt status for religious institutions are too 
broad and are easily taken advantage of. I understand that defining a religion too finely can have 
an adverse effect; however, I would like to see additional ongoing oversight in the practices that 
exempt religious institutions from tax. My view is that the CoS has taken advantage of the broad 
definition of a religious organisation for the sole purpose of their own financial benefit.

In Chapter 20 of the Report of the Inquiry into the Definition of Charities and Related Organisations 
of 2001, the Committee's conclusions say: "Organisations that have as their dominant purpose the 
advancement of religion are for the public benefit because they aim to satisfy the spiritual needs 
of the community". My understanding is that the CoS requires donations from members before they are 
able to read the teachings and advance past the initial meetings. The payments required for their 
spiritual guidance are in addition to the tax benefits the CoS receives from the community. My concern 
is that this double dipping is to the detriment of the public.

Moreover, if the community provides the CoS with a tax exempt status, the CoS should be accountable 
to the community. I believe that all of the financial records of the CoS should be available for public 
scrutiny to gauge the benefit the CoS provides. It is near impossible to find reliable information on 
where and how the CoS spends the tax exempt funds it raises. The CoS appears to have large sums of 
money to wage legal battles against information that may portray them in a negative way. The many
court cases against the publication of Andrew Morton's book and the attempts to remove a Tom Cruise
video from youtube.com are both against the spirit of free speech and appear extremely wasteful of funds
when the CoS should be benefiting the community.

I would like to point your attention to the Anderson Report of 1965 by Kevin Victor Anderson, Q.C., 
which was the basis for the prohibition of the CoS in the states of Victoria, South Australia and
Western Australia in the late 1960's. The enquiry was presented with documents revealing "a most 
alarming feature of Scientology, namely, the tremendous power which the HASI (Hubbard Association 
of Scientologists International) is in a position to exercise over its preclears, for they contain 
the record of intimate disclosures made by thousands of preclears at a time when normal inhibitions 
and restraints were suspended and they were revealing their most secret hopes and fears, their shame
and grief and guilt." These disclosures are carefully archived by the CoS and used for harassment,
blackmail and character assassination against members of the CoS that may want to leave the
organisation and speak out against them. Numerous personal accounts to this effect can be
found on www.xenu.net.

The Anderson report also says: "One of the great dangers of Scientology is that it poisons the minds
of its followers against the medical profession and generates an abhorrence of medical treatment
generally, and psychiatric and psychological treatment in particular." and "Thinly disguised as
something of quality and value, Scientology has insidiously infiltrated the community. In reality
it is a dangerous medical cult, with special though not exclusive interest in mental health, and
it is concerned primarily to discredit orthodox medicine and psychology and in lieu thereof offer
its deluded victims dangerous hypnotic and other techniques which falsely masquerade as scientific."
The detriment that the CoS causes to the community can be clearly seen in the double murder in
Revesby, NSW on the 5th of July, 2007, which was caused by the denial of professional psychiatric
help by the teachings of the CoS.

The prohibition on the CoS was lifted only after a long and expensive legal battle, specifically
the cases Hubbard Association of Scientologists -v- Anderson (1971) VR 788; Hubbard Association
of Scientologists v. Anderson (1972) VR 340 [appeal of 1971 VR 740]; and Hubbard Association of
Scientologists International v Anderson and Just (No 2) (1972) VR 577. I am very surprised that
the Anderson Report was put aside at the time, because it is very critical of the practices of
the CoS. It would be interesting to read the judgement in these cases, but the court documents
for these cases are not widely available. Paulette Cooper outlines some of the arguments used by
the CoS to overturn the Anderson report in her book, The Scandal of Scientology. The reaction to
the publication of this book by the CoS is most disturbing. Operation Freakout was mounted by the
CoS with the sole purpose of discrediting Paulette Cooper by any means possible, including many
illegal means. These are certainly not qualities of a religious organisation that is to the
benefit of the community.

Many countries in Europe are reviewing the status of the CoS and Germany has classified it as a
business, even going so far as to considering a ban. Also, the decision (1999) of the Commissioners
of the Charity Commission in the United Kingdom to the application by the CoS for registration
as a charity found "that CoS was not established for charitable purposes or for the public benefit
and was therefore not registrable as a charity" If other countries are deciding that the CoS was
not founded for the public benefit, it is time for Australia to review the status we have given it.

In conclusion, I am seriously disturbed by the honesty and ethics of the CoS and it's conduct around
the world. The CoS is raising tax exempt funds and using them for mysterious and unknown purposes.
Whilst I believe that the tax exempt status awarded to most religious organisations are to the public
benefit, I feel the faith we put into the CoS is misplaced. I implore you to seek more information on
this issue and take action on the tax benefits the CoS receives. In addition, I urge you to seek more
information and take action on the medical practices used and recommended by the CoS.

L Ron Hubbard, the founder of the CoS, admitted himself in 1948: "You don't get rich writing science
fiction. If you want to get rich, you start a religion."

I eagerly await hearing your opinion on these issues.



 
Thank you,


 
Signed
Anonymous
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