UPDATE: 9/1/2014
When I wrote this article mid 2010, the CofM claimed 8,500 "Churches, Missions and affiliated groups" in 165 nations and Tommy Davis was its spokesperson. By my count at that time, their address list was inflated by over 7000.
But things change and not for the better, for Scientology, that is.
Tommy Davis left the Sea Org and David Miscavige keeps inflating the numbers to remain "upstat".
For a while now the website of Scientology (scientology.org) claims "some 11,000 Churches, Missions and affiliated groups across 167 nations."
That's 2 more nations and 2,500 more groups of whatever kind. If you do the math, that's 2 additional "churches, missions or affiliated groups" per day for the last three-and-a-half years straight.
They have given their Org Locator a different look but no more substance.
Obviously, even the addresses found for any kind of Scientology organisation is just smoke - as most of them are nothing more by now than ... well, an address (closed, merged, shrinking or just lifeless) - and that includes their "ideal" morgues (however, whatever is left fundraises like crazy).
I didn't bother to look up their address lists any more as I know the outcome already. I've written that article with a very different mindset - it was my first LOOK at the scene from outside, still wobbly as to my position with regards to Scientology after a membership of over 30 years (20 of those on staff or in the SO).
By now the address list is short by over 9,500 addresses and when David Miscavidge needs a "better stat" that difference will further increase.
And so it will continue until the entire card house will fall in and we'll have a correct address list: zero.
George
They only read the reports and listened to the brags and never looked... (from LRH in KSW 1)
or
C of M's own address list is short by 7,067 addresses
The Church of Miscavige claims that it has, under the leadership of the little man "achieved an unprecedented level of expansion in the twenty-first century, including some 8,500 Churches, Missions and affiliated groups across 165 nations." Ex-Int staff claim the C of M is shrinking since 20 years and that those at Int were aware of it.
I've never been at Int and though I am aware (first-hand knowledge) of a number of (formerly booming but now) struggling orgs and missions, I simply wanted to see what the C of M is counting for orgs, missions and groups.
I ended up searching for an address list because if one thing is difficult to find, it is an address list (and so it must be difficult to find an org, mission or group). Addresses seem to be a well-hidden secret.
The more I looked the worse it got.
Just to make it perfectly clear, I only looked at official Scientology websites (no "entheta", "anti", "SP", "disaffected" or "outside the Church" sites).
Everybody (including Scientologists in good standing) may and should visit these sites and look for themselves.
I have composed a file containing everything I found. Originally I planned to make this file available for download but decided against it as all you would look at was my report. However, I wish you to look at those sites for yourself. To make it simple and quick for you (and it was anything but quick for me) I'll give you a few hints on what to look for.
These are the websites included in my search:
scientology.org (official Scientology website)
rtc.org (RTC website)
http://www.locator.scientology.org/scn/ (Global Org and Mission Locator)
http://www.volunteerministers.org/locate/ui/ (Global VM Locator)
http://www.appliedscholastics.org/global_locator/ (Applied Scholastics Global Locator)
http://www.hubbardcollege.org/ (Hubbard College of Administration International)
http://www.wise.org/en_US/membership/about/pg004.html (WISE International)
http://www.able.org/contact/global-locator (ABLE International Global Locator)
http://www.criminon.org/ (Criminon)
http://www.thewaytohappiness.org/#/home (TWTH Foundation)
http://www.scientologytoday.org/around-the-world/index.htm (called "Scientology Today", an OSA Int website)
And here are the results:
Official Scientology Website
www.scientology.org
Every (latest version) book says at the end (on the page titled ADDRESSES):
To obtain more information or to locate the Church nearest you, visit the Scientology website: www.scientology.org
Please do! There is a search field - and search your heart out.
THERE IS NOT A SINGLE ADDRESS LISTED ANYWHERE.
A total ZERO when it comes to "finding an org". Not even Idle Orgs are included - just a total nothing.
(After this article was published I was alerted to a link I had missed at the very bottom of each page of this site. This link is called "Locations." However, as it merely links to the Global Mission and Org Locator covered next it has no affect on any of the points made in this article. - George)
Global Mission and Org Locator
http://www.locator.scientology.org/scn/
Next came this OP (for those not fluent in Scientology abbreviations and terminology: an OP is an Overt Product and is a description of something "produced" that is useless or even damaging).
Check it out and search for a few locations.
Sorry folks, there is no "list all" button - you have to go by location! And this turned out to be a handy way to confuse - or to camouflage a hole.
- First thing you notice is that it always gives you a list from A to T (i.e. 20 names), regardless what you search for.
- Search for a city you know only has a single org - you still get 20 names, filled with whatever is handy.
- If you believe it simply provides a list of the 20 closest to farthest orgs and mission - click on what you find and watch the locations on the map - the listing is random.
- The listing is limited to 20 names, even if you search for "missions" or "orgs" (which is not linked to a specific location).
- Search for a large area (such as "USA", "Europe", "Russia") where more than 20 orgs, missions and groups exist. Again, the listing is complete random and arbitrary.
RTC
rtc.org
Surely, RTC would do better. After all, it seems to be a site exclusively dedicated to a little man.
Well, there is no address list as such. Although, wouldn't it be a fitting decoration for what the little man has achieved? At the end of some transcripts of speeches given (I didn't check each single one) there is a hint where to find out:
http://www.rtc.org/presentations/thisisscientology_pg005.html
A full audio-visual presentation of the entirety of this 48 minute address can be obtained from the Materials and Services Catalog or can be seen in the Church of Scientology nearest you.
Well, try it and you'll end up where we have started - scientology.org - and not a single address.
Back to an old book... Management Series published in 2001
Not giving up at that point I thought of a place where I knew addresses were still listed. The old books. I took the latest publication at hand and counted the orgs and missions listed. The result:
146 Orgs
289 Missions
That was a start and I was at a total of 435.
In my search I came across OSA Int's website "Scientology Today"
http://www.scientologytoday.org/around-the-world/index.htm
It sure is full of menus and sub-menus with sort of an "address list" hidden away in some sub-menu.
It is headed "Scientology Organizations Around the World" - great, I had it - I thought. The result of the tabulation:
90 Orgs
334 Missions
If that is Scientology today it means that between 2001 (the publication of the Management Series Volumes) and "today" we have lost 56 Orgs (bigger groups) and increased by 45 Missions (smaller groups), netting a loss of 11 groups. So what Marty Rathbun, Mike Rinder, Steve Hall, Amy Scobee, Jeff Hawkins etc.are saying about the decrease of the C of M is actually confirmed by "Scientology Today". It is understood that this is purely a statement on the number of orgs and missions without being a statement on how active each org or mission is.
A few hints on how to check out this listing.
- Click on any of the orgs and chances are (my guess is at least 90%) will say "News coming soon." Oddly enough that even applies to the Idle Orgs listed - sorry folks, the listing is not intuitive and you do have to do a little searching.
- You will notice a few RSS feeds - again, this is not very exciting as each one produces more or less the same (global) listings.
ABLE
http://www.able.org/contact/global-locator
Now the search began for groups of any kind and I discovered another "Locator", the ABLE Locator.
True to the design of the original, it does not have a "list all" button but is more sophisticated (confusing) by dividing up what you can search for by subject and country.
After tediously going through the listings here is what I got:
10 ABLE Continental and National Offices
492 Applied Scholastics Educational Groups, Schools and Programs
31 Criminon Criminal Rehabilitation and Reform Programs and Centers
46 Narconon Drug Rehabilitation and Prevention Centers and Programs
16 The Way to Happiness Groups and Programs
Now, the grand total was at 1019 orgs, missions and groups.
Again a hint on checking out this site:
- The global locator is incredible in how it breaks down address lists - the only country I know of that refers to locations by "states" is the USA. Well, play a bit with it and look how many choices you have. Ever heard of a state or province named "P.A.C.A." anywhere? Well, you probably didn't know it was in France. What about "Prest"? You flunked again! Supposedly it is located in Hungary (wrong - it's part of the City of Budapest - see Wikipedia). Could also be that this Locator-thingy is a (confusing and camouflaging) pest.
Applied Scholastics
http://www.appliedscholastics.org/global_locator/
There is yet another "Locator" available for Applied Scholastics only. I found these locators to be dis-locators and was a bit suspicious about another one yet again. Here is the result of a lot of locating which is what.
The locator is headed by this line:
Using this Global Locator, you can search our database of over 800 groups to find one which matches the criteria of your choice. First, please select a country:
Well, I went through so many countries, collecting addresses as I went along before I got tired of all the duplicates in it. I think I stopped after including Canada (have a look at the provinces you can choose from!), added a bunch of US groups and ended up with 975 names. After removing all obvious duplicates (the most I found was 4 entries for the same group) I ended up with 435. Please note - I did not go through all countries as I found it to be a pointless activity.
Assuming that Applied Scholastics actually does have a list of at least 800 groups I added another 400 names to the 492 names found for Applied Scholastics under the ABLE Locator.
With this, my grand total now increased to 1,419.
A few hints on checking out this site:
- Play around with the various countries and what you find under provinces and see the obvious duplicates for yourself.
- See how many individuals are listed as a "group". Personally, I know of a number of individuals listed that do absolutely nothing in the field of Applied Scholastics or Study Tech, including a teacher that is separately listed from the school that teacher works for. Doesn't that make 2 groups out of one? Please note: I have not deleted these questionable entries - I only have removed what was obviously a duplicate because the details were the same down to e-mail address and phone number.
- Note the contrary fact between the ABLE locator (on Study Tech groups - 492) and the Applied Scholastics locator (more than 800).
WISE
http://www.wise.org/en_US/membership/about/pg004.html
Not very exciting as all I got were 15 WISE offices.
I did try to find other addresses but don't know where to search further and what to include as a "WISE Group" (any "member"???)
Anyway, the total count now was 1,434
IHELP, CCHR, Volunteer Ministers
On this count I failed miserably. I couldn't find any address list anywhere.
National and international offices were amply included in other address lists found so far (orgs, missions).
And with this, I ended my search. It took long enough as it was.
Summary
The scientology.org site says (http://www.scientology.org/david-miscavige.html)
"In that capacity [as COB RTC] Mr. Miscavige has redefined the term “religious leader” to fit the tasks necessary to direct a truly unique, contemporary religion—a religion born in the twentieth century, which has achieved an unprecedented level of expansion in the twenty-first century, including some 8,500 Churches, Missions and affiliated groups across 165 nations"
By the as-exact-as-possible count described above we get:
8,500 orgs, missions and groups (according to the official claim)
1 well, you have to add at least "one" for "more than 8,500)
MINUS
1,434 actually found addresses on OFFICIAL SCIENTOLOGY WEBSITES
RESULT:
7,067 missing addresses for orgs, missions and groups
That is 83% bullshit; "a gross and blatant lie" (whopper).
To Tommy Davis
It is a certainty that OSA is monitoring this site. So, you or some OSA staff will certainly read it, check its validity (that would truly appreciated) and know. Please, take this as a Knowledge Report about something that needs to be corrected so that people can find an org, mission or group.
What will you do once you found this out? Or do you already know?
Say on TV that this count is totally and utterly false? A willful twist to smear the good name of the good church and its good leader. Bring on 100 signed affidavits saying that the C of M actually does have "more than 8,500 orgs, missions and groups"?
Or will you simply go down to Addresso Int (a unit within the C of M that keeps the addresses of every member, org, mission and group world wide), ask it to press the button and have the full listing of orgs, missions and groups in 10 seconds?
If so, two scenarios are possible:
- You do have more than 8,500 addresses. In this case, I am sure, you will run back up to OSA Int, go to the Internet Unit (which is a part of OSA Int) and have that list put online in 5 minutes. Well done and thanks.
- Well, now the worst-case scenario: you are short a "few" names. What will you do? Be honest and post what you have and correct that figure (yikes, it is right in the middle of a most flowery description of dear leader; ... and .... he did say the ... "big" .... figure at international events too, ... didn't he? Well ... hm ... I feel for you). In this case you may ask him (you do have a direct line to Him (capitalization intended), don't you?) - well, ask him to please send you the addresses of the missing orgs, missions and groups that you (meaning "everybody below Him") missed to record during that "explosive and unprecedented expansion". Or would this be "presenting a real problem?"
Read Mission Earth again... I mean that part (at the end) where Soltan Gris contemplated on how his entire life could have been different if he simply had been honest when Jettero Heller asked him (at the beginning of the book) what he really was up to (yes, it was in a prison).
Regardless what you do, at least fix up these Dis-Locators. They are anything but a promotion to Scientology. And have the lists coordinated between the different sites, please. It's all handled within the Internet Unit in OSA Int anyway, isn't it (I'm asking because I am merely assuming here).
To help you get honest, here's also something intended
For Scientologists ("in good standing")
Please LOOK for yourself. The data is right in front of your eyes and all on official Scientology websites. You definitely are allowed to look at these sites!
And please write some Knowledge Reports to get it fixed. If it doesn't get fixed quickly, let other Scientologists know and have them demand on whatever lines that this gets corrected. Keep up the pressure until you have a correct (and not a blatantly false) international statistic. That "pressure" could also be a very polite: "Please have the fully updated address list online before you come for the next reg interview or before I confirm attending the next local / fundraising / IAS event!
If it doesn't get corrected ... well, you either can spot an outpoint when you see one and act accordingly or you wait for the rubble to fall in on you once the card house no longer holds.
And a little comment intended...
For the Media, Anderson and the likes
Will you please ask Tommy for the missing address list the next time you interview him? Would be much appreciated.
Best,
George
PS:
A little addition addressed to Tommy Davis and everybody else who likes to check it out. I assume that not too many people actually read the scientology.org site. That is my assumption after tiring of repeatedly and repeatedly seeing, hearing and reading the same thing over and over ("unprecedented", "explosive", "Chairman of the Board Religious Technology Center Mr. David Miscavige" etc. The copy needs tightening up (e.g. COB instead of 10 words - a lot of words just don't make him any bigger). But that is really an aside.
One point is a "must correct" as its grammar sucks.
Here's the actual copy from that site: http://www.scientology.org/david-miscavige.html
"In 1983, L. Ron Hubbard described a heroic Church executive who cleaned the ranks of rogue staff attempting to seize control of Scientology while Mr. Hubbard was engaged in intensive research and absent from the Church. As Mr. Hubbard himself phrased it: 'So forgive me for not managing the Church when it almost fell into hostile hands. It all came out all right. Why? Because real Scientologists made sure it did. My faith was justified.' That real Scientologist L. Ron Hubbard spoke of was David Miscavige."
Tommy, did you spot the outpoint?
No? Or did you spot it the very first time you saw it but didn't dare to speak up?
Let me help you. It's the grammar, the Plural and Singular, it is the answer to the question "How many people is that little man?".
The intro says that LRH described "a heroic" staff (that is singular, we agree on that, right?) The LRH quote speaks of "real Scientologists" (that is plural, correct?) The next line says "That real Scientologist" was the little man (that is again singular).
So, how do you solve that one, Tommy. Ignore it, as you most likely have been doing, assuming you did read all of it before it went online?
The LRH quote should be correct, considering the Golden Age of Knowledge has been pronounced complete. So, no mistake on that one.
Would you please ask Him (or anybody else who might know) for the names of the real Scientologists? ((Correct, its plural!!! You are catching on!) Who knows, maybe the little man's name was never one of them?
Best, George