The Battle with the "Squirrels": When the Doctrine Leaves the Church

Los Angeles Times, June 29, 1990
by Joel Sappell and Robert W. Welkos

About the Series The Making of L. Ron Hubbard Chapter 1: The Mind Behind the Religion Chapter 2: Creating the Mystique Chapter 3: Life with L. Ron Hubbard Chapter 4: The Final Days Defining the Theology Burglaries and Lies Paved a Path to Prison The Man in Control Staking a Claim to Blood Brotherhood Church Scriptures Get High-Tech Protection The Selling of a Church Church Markets Its Gospel with High-Pressure Sales Shoring Up Its Religious Profile The Courting of Celebrities Inside the Church Defectors Recount Lives of Hard Work, Punishment

Reaching into Society Church Seeks Influence in Schools, Business, Science Courting the Power Brokers The Org Board Foundation Funds Provide Assist to Celebrated Teacher Escalante The Making of a Best-selling Author Costly Strategy Continues to Turn Out Bestsellers Attack the Attacker On the Offensive Against an Array of Suspected Foes Suits, Protests Fuel a Campaign Against Psychiatry A Lawyer Learns What It's Like to Fight the Church The Battle with the I.R.S. The Battle with the "Squirrels"


The Church of Scientology hates "squirrels."

That is the scornful word L. Ron Hubbard used to describe non-church members who offer his teachings, sometimes at cut-rate prices. Most are ex-Scientologists who say they believe in Hubbard's gospel but left the church because its hierarchy was too oppressive.

"We call them squirrels," Hubbard once wrote, "because they are so nutty."

Hubbard contended that only church members are qualified to administer his self-improvement-type courses. Outsiders, he said, inevitably misapply the teachings, wreaking spiritual harm on their subjects.

But those who have launched "independent" Scientology-style centers say Hubbard concocted this as an excuse to eliminate competition so he could charge exorbitant prices for his courses.

As far back as 1965, Hubbard demonstrated his disdain for breakaway groups, ordering his followers to "tear up" the meetings of one such organization and "harass these persons in any possible way."

The intolerance still exists.

 

In 1988, the California Association of Dianetic Auditors -- the oldest Scientology splinter group in existence -- said it uncovered a scheme by more than 100 Scientologists to secretly infiltrate the association and seize control of its board of directors.

The association's then-vice president, Jana Moreillon, said she discovered the infiltration after scanning some Scientology publications. There, she found the names of many of her group's newest members listed among Scientologists who had just completed church training.

Moreillon said the association eventually purged or denied membership to 116 suspected Scientologists.

In recent years, a shadowy group of church members dubbed the "Minutemen" crashed meetings of independent Scientologists. They heckled speakers, screamed obscenities and threw eggs. Los Angeles police officers had to be summoned by the owner of a Chinatown restaurant to evict militant Scientologists who disrupted a fund-raising dinner held there by breakaway church members.

The church has denied any direct involvement in the raids. But a former top Scientology official said in a recent court declaration that the harassment campaign was ordered by church executives.