Cienciología

Asprem y Granholm (eds.) — Contemporary Esotericism (2013)

DuQuette y Shoemaker (eds.) — Llewellyn's Complete Book of Ceremonial Magick (2020)

Bogdan y Snoek (eds.) — Handbook of Freemasonry (2014)

Hanegraaff (ed.) — Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism

«Scientology is a religious philosophy and a set of ritual practices partly based on Dianetics, a “doit-yourself-therapy” developed by the American adventurer, philosopher and science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard» — Dorthe Refslund Christensen abre la entrada del diccionario definiendo la Cienciología como filosofía religiosa y conjunto de prácticas rituales apoyado en parte en la Dianética de L. Ron Hubbard.

«Dianetics > Scientology» — entre entradas, el diccionario despacha la dianética con un reenvío sin autor a la entrada de la cienciología.

«The basic idea of Scientology is that man is a composite being of body, mind and spirit.» — Christensen da por idea básica que el hombre es un compuesto de cuerpo, mente y espíritu.

«According to the extensive hagiographical tradition of Scientology, from his very early years he was brave and outstanding for his age, and eagerly interested in different cultures, people and customs, including various Indian traditions;» — Christensen califica de hagiográfica la tradición sobre la infancia del fundador y su interés temprano por otras culturas, entre ellas varias tradiciones indias.

«Because of the nature of its worldview, Scientology can be seen as belonging within the domain of Western esotericism. However, Scientology can also be called “esoteric” in the sense of “secret religious tradition”, for at least three interrelated reasons.» — la doble adscripción que sostiene: al esoterismo occidental por su cosmovisión y a lo esotérico como tradición religiosa secreta, por tres razones que enlaza.

«Although it is known in Scientology circles that the truths revealed in several of the OT levels are obtainable in Hubbard’s publications available to all scientologists, for instance Scientology: A History of Man (1952), discipline and selfdiscipline are supposed to prevent scientologists from trying to obtain the gnosis outside the context of the ritual initiations.» — el matiz que añade: en esos círculos se sabe que las verdades de varios niveles OT están en publicaciones accesibles, y lo que las guarda es la disciplina.

«Esotericism in the sense of > secrecy is therefore an important tool of power not only inside the religious organization but also in Scientology’s relations to the surrounding world.» — Christensen describe el secreto como instrumento de poder hacia dentro de la organización y también en su relación con el mundo.

«This lack of transparency and its distinctive secretiveness is one cause for the accusations Scientology has faced in the public sphere over the years.» — y adjudica a esa falta de transparencia una de las causas de las acusaciones públicas que la organización ha recibido.

«Still, it is clear that it is an important element in Scientology’s self-perception that Scientology is protecting the truths, gnosis and the road to freedom discovered and systematized by Hubbard while, at the same time, protecting individuals from seeking this knowledge without being properly prepared.» — el contrapeso que consigna desde la autopercepción: la Iglesia se ve protegiendo las verdades y el camino a la libertad descubiertos por Hubbard, y protegiendo a la vez a quien no está preparado.

«Today Scientology is present on all continents, in more than 145 countries. The Church estimates that 8 million people worldwide are using Hubbard’s religious and therapeutic techniques one way or the other.» — las cifras que Christensen consigna como estimación de la propia Iglesia: presencia en más de 145 países y ocho millones de personas usando sus técnicas de algún modo.

«Urban shows how the new forms of communication associated with the Internet has influenced the practice of secrecy in Scientology, particularly complicating its enforcements of information control» — así presentan los editores el capítulo 9 de Hugh B. Urban, sobre lo que internet le hizo a la práctica del secreto en la cienciología.

«Analysing Scientology from the 1950s to the 1980s as a “Cold War religion”, preoccupied with, and implicated in, the anxieties and paranoias concerning security, surveillance, and politically motivated deception that characterized the era, Urban pays attention to the espionage war which erupted between the Church and various US government agencies, including the FBI» — y el marco con que dicen que Urban lee las décadas de 1950 a 1980: una religión de la Guerra Fría, atravesada por las ansiedades de vigilancia y engaño de la época.

«in addition we find a strong tendency to misattribute central texts, be it through the creation of pseudepigraphic texts, the attribution of anonymous material to a founding figure (e.g. Siddhartha, L. Ron Hubbard), a revered historical authority (e.g. Aristotle), or even non-existing or mythical persons» — Asprem y Granholm cuentan a L. Ron Hubbard entre las figuras fundadoras a las que se atribuye material anónimo, dentro de su tipología de la mala atribución.

«The founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, was a prolific science fiction author, and many of the elements permeating his fictional work seem to have influenced the doctrines of Scientology as well» — lo que sostienen sobre el oficio anterior del fundador: autor prolífico de ciencia ficción, con elementos de su obra de ficción que parecen haber pasado a la doctrina.

«The only sites with some popularity are the Church of Satan and (somewhat paradoxically) Joy of Satan’s page base on the angelfire network, and they are still very far from Scientology or YouTube. Most of these sites are decidedly “fringe”» — Jesper Aagaard Petersen la usa como término de comparación al medir el alcance de los sitios satánicos en línea.

«Scientology International www.scientology.org For comparison – website and forum 32,760 1228 34,432» — y la fila de comparación que añade a su tabla, con el sitio oficial de la organización y sus cifras.

«Secrets, secrets SECRETS! Ah, the endless quest, the far, far search, the codes, the vias, the symbols, the complications, the compilations, the mathematicity and abstracticity of secrets, secrets» — el primer epígrafe del capítulo 9, tomado de L. Ron Hubbard, con que Urban abre.

«The secret operates as an adorning possession … This involves the contradiction that what recedes before the consciousness of others and is hidden from them is emphasized in their consciousness; that one should appear as a noteworthy person through what one conceals» — el segundo epígrafe del capítulo, tomado de Georg Simmel, sobre el secreto como posesión que adorna.

«From its origins in the 1950s, the Church of Scientology has been one of the most controversial, contested, and yet also poorly understood new religions in the world» — cómo sitúa Urban a la cienciología: entre las religiones nuevas más controvertidas y peor entendidas del mundo.

«And yet despite its infamous reputation in popular culture, Scientology has – with a few notable exceptions4 – rarely been subjected to serious critical analysis by historians of religions» — el hueco académico que señala: pese a su fama, rara vez ha recibido análisis crítico serio de los historiadores de las religiones.

«By the late 1960s, moreover, Scientology had also created elaborate mechanisms of surveillance to monitor both its own members and its critics in the surrounding society, including its own intelligence agency, which many have likened to the FBI and the CIA» — el aparato de vigilancia que data a fines de los sesenta, con una agencia de inteligencia propia que muchos han comparado con el FBI y la CIA.

«What makes the Church of Scientology controversial is not so much Hubbard’s teachings, but the Church’s tenacious secrecy and the extremes to which it is willing to go to protect itself» — la formulación de Ann Brill y Ashley Packard que Urban recoge: lo controvertido no son tanto las enseñanzas de Hubbard como el secreto tenaz de la Iglesia.

«From the outset, we should note that Scientology is not exactly an esoteric organization in the traditional sense, comparable with fraternal orders such as Freemasonry or magical groups such as the Golden Dawn» — la salvedad con que Urban acota su propio objeto: no es exactamente una organización esotérica en el sentido tradicional, comparable a la masonería o a la Golden Dawn.

«Many of Scientology’s secrets, we will see, have had less to do with transmitting esoteric gnosis than with preserving the Church, its wealth and its power, often in hostile social and political contexts» — a qué sirven sus secretos, según él: menos a transmitir una gnosis esotérica que a preservar la Iglesia, su riqueza y su poder.

«However, Scientology did develop an elaborate esoteric hierarchy of training levels, a complex esoteric cosmology and a very tight system of information control that rivals (if not surpasses) that of any other Western esoteric tradition» — y lo que sí le reconoce en materia esotérica: una jerarquía elaborada de niveles de entrenamiento, una cosmología compleja y un control de la información muy estrecho.

«More than one observer has thus compared Scientology to a modern version of a “mystery religion”, not unlike the Greek mysteries or various other secret societies and esoteric orders (including modern esoteric orders, such as Parsons’s and Crowley’s OTO» — la comparación con las religiones de misterio que recoge de otros observadores; la frase sigue en la plana siguiente.

«Perhaps most important, Scientology offers profound insight into what I call the dual nature of secrecy – its role both as a source of symbolic power and a potential liability for its owner» — la tesis del capítulo, que Urban llama la doble naturaleza del secreto: fuente de poder simbólico y a la vez pasivo para quien lo guarda.

«As the sociologist Georg Simmel famously observed, secrecy can serve as a kind of “adorning possession” for its owner;7 like fine clothing or jewellery, esoteric knowledge can ironically enhance the status of its owner precisely by virtue of what it conceals» — de dónde toma esa noción: la observación de Georg Simmel de que el secreto obra como posesión que adorna a su dueño.

«On the one hand, the increasingly esoteric levels of Hubbard’s OT “advanced tech” clearly served as a kind of “adorning possession”, in Simmel’s sense – that is, a source of status, prestige and power that enhances one’s character precisely by virtue of what it conceals» — el primer lado de esa doble naturaleza aplicado a los niveles OT, en el sentido de Simmel.

«However, it also seems clear that the advanced technology materials of the OT grades also play the role of “adorning possessions” in Simmel’s sense – that is, as sources of prestige and honour that enhance the individual’s status precisely by virtue of what they conceal» — la misma lectura dicha antes en el capítulo, con los materiales de los grados OT por fuente de prestigio y honor.

«According to official narratives promoted by the Church to this day, Hubbard was a unique combination of rugged explorer, world traveller and engineer, equally accomplished as “a daredevil barnstormer, a master mariner, [and] a Far East explorer”, as well as the founder of a revolutionary new religious philosophy» — la biografía oficial que Urban consigna como relato de la Iglesia: explorador, viajero, ingeniero y fundador de una filosofía religiosa nueva.

«Born in Nebraska in 1911, Hubbard claims to have been initiated by Blackfoot shamans in Montana, then to have travelled widely in Asia and learned the secrets of Eastern sages, Buddhist priests and “the last remaining magician from the line of Kublai Khan’s court» — lo que ese relato le atribuye, con el verbo de reclamo dentro: iniciación por chamanes pies negros en Montana y aprendizaje de secretos en Asia.

«Virtually every detail of Hubbard’s life narrative, however, has been the subject of debate, and many critics have argued that most, if not all, of his official biography is a fabrication» — la disputa sobre esa biografía, consignada sin arbitrar: prácticamente cada detalle ha sido debatido y muchos críticos la tienen por fabricación.

«As Dorthe Refslund Christensen suggests, however, Hubbard’s biography is perhaps best understood not as a factual account at all, but rather as a kind of “hagiographic mythology”;12 as such, it is not dissimilar to the hagiographic biographies of founders of other esoteric traditions and new religions, such as Madame Blavatsky or Joseph Smith» — la lectura alternativa que Urban recoge de Dorthe Refslund Christensen: no un relato factual sino una mitología hagiográfica, como las de Blavatsky o Joseph Smith.

«Regardless of the exact nature of his involvement in occultism, the theme of occultation is one that runs throughout his entire life and hagiographic mythology» — el hilo que Urban sí sostiene sobre ese punto: el tema de la ocultación recorre entera su vida y su mitología hagiográfica.

«After leaving the Navy following World War II, Hubbard moved to Pasadena, California, where he befriended one of the most enigmatic occultists of twentieth-century America, John (Jack) Whiteside Parsons» — el episodio californiano que reconstruye: tras dejar la Marina, Hubbard se mudó a Pasadena y trabó amistad con John Whiteside Parsons.

«Parsons was an initiate in Crowley’s highly esoteric group, the Ordo Templi Orientis, and immersed in its most secret and dangerous rituals. Sharing his interest in science fiction and magic, Hubbard became Parsons’s close friend and a partner in his esoteric magical rites» — la posición de Parsons en la Ordo Templi Orientis y la entrada de Hubbard en sus ritos, según Urban.

«Impressed by Hubbard’s natural magical abilities, despite his lack of any formal training, Parsons made Hubbard an intimate participant in the Babalon Working, and even his “Scribe”, who served as the voice for Babalon herself during the rites» — el papel que Parsons le dio en el Babalon Working, hasta hacerlo escriba y voz de Babalon durante los ritos.

«Ironically, however, Crowley himself was by no means approving when he learned of the ritual activities of Parsons and Hubbard. On the contrary, he seems to have been quite upset, writing in April 1946: “Apparently Parsons or Hubbard or somebody is producing a Moonchild. I get fairly frantic when I contemplate the idiocy of these goats» — la reacción de Aleister Crowley al enterarse, en carta de abril de 1946 que Urban cita.

«In 1946, Hubbard, Parsons and Parsons’s former girlfriend, Betty, formed a partnership called Allied Enterprises. Their scheme was to purchase yachts on the US East Coast, sail them to California and then sell them for a profit. Parsons put up $20,970.80, almost the entirety of his life’s savings, while Hubbard put up a mere $1,183.91» — el negocio de yates entre Parsons y Hubbard, con las cifras que Urban da de lo que puso cada uno.

«Perhaps the most remarkable part of this whole story about Hubbard, Parsons and secret sexual rites is that the Church of Scientology admits that all of this did happen» — lo que Urban subraya del episodio: la propia Iglesia de la Cienciología admite que todo aquello ocurrió.

«Hubbard broke up black magic in America … [H]e was sent in to handle the situation. He went to live at the house and investigated the black magic rites and the general situation and found them very bad … Hubbard’s mission was successful far beyond anyone’s expectations … Hubbard rescued a girl they were using. The black magic group was dispersed and destroyed» — la versión que la Iglesia publicó en el Times, reproducida por Urban: Hubbard enviado a desbaratar la magia negra en América.

«It is worth noting, however, that neither the Church of Scientology nor any independent researcher has ever produced any evidence for this claim» — y la acotación con que Urban la deja: ni la Iglesia ni ningún investigador independiente ha presentado prueba de ese relato.

«While Hubbard only refers to Crowley by name in one series of lectures from 1952 – calling him “my very good friend” – there has been much speculation as to whether any occult or magical ideas carried over into the early Scientology movement» — el estado documental de la relación con Crowley, a quien Hubbard nombra en una sola serie de conferencias de 1952.

«On one side, critics of the Church (such as Hubbard’s own son, L. Ron Jr) have suggested that Hubbard was “deeply involved in the occult” and that he even saw himself as the modern successor to the Great Beast» — la primera posición de la disputa, consignada sin arbitrar: la de los críticos, entre ellos el propio hijo del fundador.

«On the other side, the Church of Scientology itself has adamantly denied any connection between Crowley’s magic and Hubbard’s religious ideas; indeed, it forced the Sunday Times to pay a settlement for suggesting that there might be such a connection» — la segunda: la Iglesia niega de plano toda conexión, y llevó al Sunday Times a pagar un arreglo por sugerirla.

«Meanwhile, many scholars such as Roy Wallis and J. Gordon Melton have largely dismissed Hubbard’s connection to Crowley, arguing that “there is no evidence that Hubbard’s system of Scientology owes any great debt to that of Crowley» — la tercera, académica: Roy Wallis y J. Gordon Melton descartan esa deuda.

«Here I will not attempt to resolve this complex debate, which has been argued fiercely by scholars, Scientologists and ex-Scientologists alike» — y la abstención que Urban declara ante la disputa: no intenta resolverla.

«From its origins until the death of its founder in 1986, Scientology was very much a Cold War religion, deeply influenced by and preoccupied with the central anxieties of these decades – and perhaps above all by the Cold War obsession with secrecy, surveillance and information control» — la tesis histórica del capítulo: desde sus orígenes hasta la muerte del fundador en 1986 fue una religión de la Guerra Fría, atravesada por la obsesión con el secreto y el control de la información.

«With man now equipped with weapons sufficient to destroy all mankind on earth, the emergence of a new science capable of handling man is vital. Scientology is such a science. It was born in the same crucible as the atomic bomb» — la formulación de Hubbard con que Urban la sostiene: una ciencia nacida en el mismo crisol que la bomba atómica.

«Not only did he identify various individuals (including his own ex-wife) as Communist sympathizers, but he also offered his techniques as a means to combat the Soviet menace» — lo que Hubbard escribía al FBI, según Urban: señalamientos de simpatizantes comunistas y el ofrecimiento de sus técnicas contra la amenaza soviética.

«Hubbard’s early Dianetics movement had focused on the goal of achieving the state of “Clear” – a kind of optimal mental and physical wellbeing; yet, by the late 1960s, Hubbard added a series of increasingly esoteric levels beyond the Clear state called Operating Thetan (OT), in which one gains deeper knowledge about one’s true spiritual nature (Thetan) and the history of the universe» — el paso del estado de Clear a los niveles Operating Thetan, que Urban data a fines de los sesenta.

«After the Grades … matters become more complicated because the pre-clear proceeds to the Confidential levels of auditing … Hubbard decided to cordon off all processes and techniques beyond Grade IV so that the uninitiated would have no prior knowledge … of the special theories explaining the significance of each level» — la explicación de Harriet Whitehead sobre el corte tras el grado IV, citada por Urban.

«Scientologists’ progress, the “Bridge to Total Freedom”, lists fifteen OT levels, only seven or eight of these appear to have been completed before Hubbard’s death, or at least are currently available to Church members» — el desajuste entre los quince niveles que anuncia el Puente a la Libertad Total y los siete u ocho disponibles.

«According to Hubbard’s audio journal of 1967, this level is “so occluded that if anyone tried to penetrate it … they have died» — lo que Hubbard decía del nivel OT III en su diario grabado de 1967, citado por Urban.

«Yet Hubbard risked his own life and health in order to achieve the dramatic breakthrough to OT III, passing through the “Wall of Fire” to uncover the secret history of our galaxy and the means to recover our ultimate potential as spiritual beings» — el relato del avance de Hubbard a ese nivel en los términos de la Iglesia, con el paso por el Muro de Fuego.

«According to price lists from 2009, the OT levels range from $2800 to $8400, which is on top of the thousands of dollars required to reach the preliminary state of Clear and the preparatory training required to begin the OT levels, not to mention the various additional costs such as books, videos, the latest E-meter41 ($4600) and the cost of staying at facilities offering the OT courses, such as the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater, Florida (rooms ranging from $150 to $15,000 a night). As such, conservative estimates suggest that a Scientologist hoping to reach Clear would spend a minimum of $128,000, while those attaining level OT VIII would invest a minimum of somewhere between $300,000 and $400,000 in the Church of Scientology» — las tarifas que Urban da, con los estimados de lo que cuesta llegar a Clear y a OT VIII; tramo largo releído entero en el crudo.

«As early as 1963, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had begun to investigate the Church of Scientology, and finally raided its centre in Washington, DC, on the grounds that Scientology was making false claims about the benefits of its counselling device, the E-meter. Moving in with unmarked vans, a squad of FDA agents and US marshals confiscated more than three tonnes of materials, books, paper and E-meters» — la redada de la Food and Drug Administration de 1963 en el centro de Washington, con lo que se confiscó.

«In 1967, the IRS also began to investigate Scientology, stripping it of its tax-exempt status and claiming that it owed several million dollars in unpaid taxes. This in turn launched a massive legal war between the IRS and the Church that involved literally thousands of lawsuits and dragged on until the Church’s victory in 1993» — el expediente del Internal Revenue Service abierto en 1967 y la guerra legal que siguió hasta 1993.

«In response to this increasingly aggressive government surveillance, Scientology began to undertake its own elaborate tactics of counter-espionage and covert operations that almost rivalled those of the FBI» — la respuesta de la organización a esa vigilancia, según Urban: contraespionaje y operaciones encubiertas propias.

«Formed in 1966 under the directorship of Hubbard’s wife, Mary Sue, this agency became known as the Guardian’s Office (GO) and operated in a variety of intelligence capacities until 1983 (currently, a new agency operates under the title of the Office of Special Affairs» — la ficha de la Guardian's Office que da: formada en 1966 bajo la dirección de Mary Sue Hubbard y activa hasta 1983.

«Someone who was labelled fair game was an individual identified as a threat to the Church of Scientology, and who could therefore be harassed, threatened or punished using any and all means possible – indeed, “tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed» — en qué consistía el principio de fair game, según Urban.

«At the same time, Hubbard also began using a process known as “Security Checks” on members of the Church itself in order to weed out any potential subversives within the organization. Members were hooked up to the E-meter and asked a series of sensitive questions about their loyalty to the Church, any secrets they might be keeping, and any possible connections they might have to Communism» — y los Security Checks hacia dentro de la organización, con el E-meter y preguntas sobre lealtad y secretos.

«The most remarkable of these began in 1975, when the GO planted hidden microphones and undercover agents within the offices of the IRS itself in order to obtain and photocopy all of the service’s vast files on Scientology» — la infiltración de la Guardian's Office en las oficinas del IRS, que Urban data en 1975.

«Eleven Scientologists, including the GO head Jane Kember and Mary Sue Hubbard, were apprehended, tried, convicted and imprisoned; L. Ron himself was named as an unindicted co-conspirator, and then spent most of his remaining years in hiding until his death in 1986» — el desenlace judicial de ese episodio, con once condenados y el fundador nombrado coconspirador sin acusación formal.

«the ultimate ecclesiastical authority regarding the standard and pure application of L. Ron Hubbard’s religious technologies» — cómo se define a sí mismo el Religious Technology Center, en cita de Urban.

«Despite the fact that Scientology’s attorneys argued that “disclosure of the materials is a violation of the group’s religious freedom”, the Los Angeles Superior Court judge ordered the documents to be made public at the clerk’s office» — la resolución judicial en el caso Wollersheim, con el argumento de libertad religiosa que la Iglesia opuso.

«In response, some 1500 Scientologists crammed into the court buildings, swamping workers with hundreds of requests to photocopy the documents in an attempt to ensure that the materials were not made public» — la maniobra con que respondieron los cienciólogos, llenando el juzgado con peticiones de fotocopia.

«In 1990, Fishman was convicted of mail fraud, a crime that he claimed he had been brainwashed into committing in order to pay for his Scientology auditing» — el caso Fishman, condenado en 1990 por fraude postal y alegando lavado de cerebro para pagar su auditación.

«Among others, it dismisses Jesus as a “lover of young boys” who was “given to uncontrollable bursts of temper and hatred”; more surprising still, it identifies Hubbard both as the future Buddha Maitreya and as Lucifer, the light-bringer and anti-Christ» — lo que contiene el texto atribuido al nivel OT VIII, según Urban, con la identificación de Hubbard como Maitreya y como Lucifer.

«Regardless of their authenticity, however, the presence of these documents in cyberspace has encouraged the belief among many critics that Hubbard was in fact still immersed in the works of Aleister Crowley and continued to see himself in the lineage of the “Great Beast 666”» — y el efecto que ese material tiene entre los críticos, según Urban.

«translated, encrypted, and hid just about anywhere you can imagine around the world … [Scientology] tried to put out a fire with matches and gasoline» — la fórmula de Lawrence Wollersheim que Urban cita sobre el resultado de intentar contener la filtración.

«In 2002, lawyers representing the Church targeted Google, the web’s most powerful search engine, demanding the removal of confidential Scientology materials – most notably, the secret OT materials – along with a list of allegedly infringing URLs (these demands have been only minimally successful» — la ofensiva legal contra Google en 2002, con el resultado que Urban le pone entre paréntesis.

«In May 2009 Wikipedia’s arbitration council voted 10–0 to ban any users coming from any IP addresses owned by the Church of Scientology or its associates. The landmark action was taken because the Church was found to have repeatedly and deceptively edited hundreds of articles related to the controversial religion, thus damaging Wikipedia’s reputation for neutrality» — el bloqueo de Wikipedia en mayo de 2009, con el motivo que Urban consigna.

«Anonymous first began to target the Church of Scientology in January 2008 after the leak of a confidential video featuring Tom Cruise» — cómo empieza el conflicto con Anonymous en enero de 2008, tras la filtración de un video.

«Scientology’s threats against YouTube became a powerful catalyst for the Anonymous collective, which saw this as a dangerous attack on free speech and the open flow of information online» — lo que ese episodio desató, según Urban: la lectura de las amenazas contra YouTube como ataque a la libertad de expresión.

«should be destroyed. For the good of your followers, for the good of mankind, and for our own enjoyment, we shall proceed to expel you from the internet and systematically dismantle the Church of Scientology in its present form» — la declaración de Anonymous que Urban reproduce.

«Shortly after the conflict began in 2008, a distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack was launched against Scientology websites, temporarily shutting them down with high volumes of traffic» — las tácticas virtuales que documenta, con el ataque de denegación de servicio de 2008.

«Anonymous protestors typically carry an array of signs bearing slogans such as “Religion is free: Scientology is neither”, “$cientology kills” and “Google ‘Fair Game’» — las consignas que Urban transcribe de esas protestas.

«As author and former Scientologist William S. Burroughs noted in 1978, well before the dawn of the Internet» — la advertencia de William S. Burroughs de 1978 que Urban cita; la cita sigue en la plana siguiente.

«Indeed, various observers have noted that the Internet may well prove to be “Scientology’s Waterloo” – that is, a battle of information that it cannot realistically win» — el pronóstico que recoge de otros observadores: internet podría ser el Waterloo de la organización.

«As ex-Scientologist Gerry Armstrong commented in an interview with me in August 2009, he believes that this could well be “the last generation of Scientologists”, since young people today grow up on the Internet, live increasingly in cyberspace and get all of their information online» — lo que Gerry Armstrong le dice en entrevista de agosto de 2009 sobre la última generación de cienciólogos.

«you cannot unveil the SECRET and have it ever be quite so secret again» — y la frase de Hubbard con que Urban remata.

«Scientology is a particularly striking example of the fact that religious secrecy is rarely simply a matter of esoteric gnosis transmitted through isolated groups of initiates far removed from the messy social and political realm; on the contrary, religious secrecy is very often intimately entwined with larger cultural and historical forces, with struggles over power, and with very real material (as well as spiritual) interests» — la conclusión general de Urban sobre el secreto religioso, dicha de la categoría y no solo de este caso.

«Hubbard, L. Ron. “The Only Valid Security Check”. HCO Policy Letter, 22 May 1961» — muestra de la bibliografía del capítulo: una de las circulares internas de Hubbard.

«Rothstein, Mikael. “‘His Name was Xenu. He Used Renegades …’: Aspects of Scientology’s» — muestra de la bibliografía: el estudio de Mikael Rothstein sobre el relato de Xenu.

«One of his Parsons’s documented rituals, known as the Babalon Working, was conducted with the assistance of a young pre-Scientology L. Ron Hubbard.» — Lon Milo DuQuette nombra la Cienciología solo para fechar al personaje: el Babalon Working se hizo con la ayuda de un joven Hubbard anterior a ella.

«Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Church of Scientology have no common doctrinal or organizational features— except perhaps that they are often the targets of the same critics.» — Massimo Introvigne la usa como término de comparación entre dos grupos que solo comparten enemigos.