Editing L. Ron Hubbard (section)

===In the Church of Scientology era===
{{main|Life of L. Ron Hubbard from 1953 to 1967}}
{{seealso|Scientology controversies#"Attack the Attacker" policy|Scientology and psychiatry#Psychiatry as evil}}
By 1954, the IRS recognized the Church of Scientology of California as a tax-exempt organization and by 1966, the Washington, D.C. [[Founding Church of Scientology]] received tax-exempt status nationwide. The Church of Scientology became a highly profitable enterprise for Hubbard,{{sfn|Atack|1990|p=142}} as he was paid a percentage of the Church's gross income. By 1957 he was being paid about $250,000 ({{Inflation|US|250000|1957|fmt=eq|cursign=US$ }}).{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=227}} His family grew, too, with Mary Sue giving birth to three more children—[[Quentin Hubbard|Quentin]] on January 6, 1954;{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=214}} Suzette on February 13, 1955;{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=221}} and Arthur on June 6, 1958.{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=230}}

{{Quote box
|quote="The purpose of the suit is to harass and discourage rather than to win. The law can be used very easily to harass"
|source=L. Ron Hubbard<ref>quoted in [[#CITEREFAtack1990|Atack 1990]], p. 139</ref>
|width=30%
}}
Hubbard was notorious for his policies of attacking his perceived enemies. Nibs recalled that Hubbard "only knew how to do one thing and that was to destroy people."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elFdBCldOz4&t=2070s |title=1982 CW Scientology Hearings – Ron DeWolf – Day 1 |at=2070 seconds |via=YouTube |date=May 5, 1982}}</ref> Hubbard told Scientologists to "Don't ever defend, always attack", encouraging them to find or manufacture evidence and to file harassing lawsuits against enemies.{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=239}} Any individual breaking away from Scientology and setting up his own group was to be shut down.{{sfn|Atack|1990|p=139}} Most of the formerly independent Scientology and Dianetics groups were either driven out of business or were absorbed into Hubbard's organizations. Hubbard finally achieved victory over Don Purcell in 1954 when the latter, worn out by constant litigation, handed the copyrights of Dianetics back to Hubbard.{{sfn|Atack|1990|p=138}}

After dealing with Purcell, Hubbard turned his attention to attacking psychiatrists, who he blamed for the backlash against Dianetics and Scientology.<ref name="ortega20160221">{{Cite web|url=http://tonyortega.org/2016/02/21/when-scientology-was-in-trouble-in-1955-l-ron-hubbard-told-prosecutor-he-was-a-psychologist/|title=When Scientology was in trouble in 1955, L. Ron Hubbard told prosecutor he was a 'psychologist' |date=February 21, 2016 |website=tonyortega.org}}</ref> In 1955, Hubbard authored a text titled: ''[[Brain-Washing (book)|Brain-Washing: A Synthesis of the Russian Textbook on Psychopolitics]]'' which purported to be a secret manual linking Psychiatry and Communism written by a [[NKVD|Soviet secret police]] chief.<ref name="they-never-said-it">{{Cite book |title=They Never Said It : A Book of Fake Quotes, Misquotes, and Misleading Attributions |author=Paul F. Boller |publisher=Oxford University Press, US |year=1989 |page=5 |isbn=978-0-19-505541-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/theyneversaiditb00boll |url-access=registration |quote=brain washing hubbard 1936.}}</ref><ref>The purported author is [[Lavrentiy Beria]]</ref> Hubbard founded the "National Academy of American Psychology" which sought to issue a "loyalty oath" to psychologists and psychiatrists. Those who opposed the oath were to be labeled "Subversive psychiatrists", while those who merely refused to sign the oath would be labeled "Potentially Subversive".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Cowen/audit/ar28.html|title=THE ANDERSON REPORT: CHAPTER 28|website=www.cs.cmu.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://tonyortega.org/2017/04/18/dox-scientology-founder-l-ron-hubbards-nutty-scheme-to-strong-arm-americas-psychologists/#more-39348|title=DOX: Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's nutty scheme to strong-arm America's psychologists « The Underground Bunker |website=tonyortega.org}}</ref> Hubbard denounced psychiatric abuses, writing that psychoanalysis had been "superseded by tyrannous sadism, practiced by unprincipled men". Wrote Hubbard:
<blockquote>
Today men who call themselves analysts are merrily [[Lobotomy#American leucotomy|sawing out patients' brains]], [[Insulin shock therapy|shocking them with murderous drugs]], [[History of electroconvulsive therapy in the United States#Controversy|striking them with high voltages]], burying them underneath mounds of ice, [[Medical restraint#Criticism|placing them in restraints]], [[Compulsory sterilization#United States|'sterilizing' them sexually]] and generally conducting themselves much as their patients would were they given the chance.
</blockquote>

In 1956, Hubbard released ''[[Fundamentals of Thought]]'', which teaches that life is a game and divides people into pieces, players, and game-makers. <!-- {{see also|The Pawns of Null-A}}-->
The following year, Hubbard published ''[[All About Radiation]]'', which falsely claimed that radiation poisoning and even cancer can be cured by vitamins. In 1958, amid widespread interest in the [[Bridey Murphy]] case, Hubbard authored ''[[Have You Lived Before This Life?]]'', a collection of [[past life regression]]s.<ref>The LRH Study Tapes 1972</ref>

In 1958, the U.S. [[Internal Revenue Service]] withdrew the Washington, D.C., Church of Scientology's [[tax exemption]] after it found that Hubbard and his family were profiting unreasonably from Scientology's ostensibly non-profit income.{{sfn|Atack|1990|p=142}} In the spring of 1959, Hubbard purchased [[Saint Hill Manor]], an 18th-century [[English country houses|English country house]] formerly owned by the [[Maharaja of Jaipur]]. The house became Hubbard's permanent residence and an international training center for Scientologists.{{Sfn|Streissguth|1995|p=74}}

That year Hubbard learned his son Nibs had resigned from the organization, citing financial difficulties. Hubbard regarded the departure as a betrayal.{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=236}} Hubbard introduced "[[List of Scientology security checks|security checking]]",{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=239}} a structured interrogation using the e-meter, to identify those he termed "[[Scientology ethics and justice#Potential trouble source|potential trouble sources]]" and "[[suppressive person]]s". Members of the Church of Scientology were interrogated with the aid of E-meters and were asked questions such as "Have you ever practiced homosexuality?" and "Have you ever had unkind thoughts about L. Ron Hubbard?"{{sfn|Atack|1990|p=150}}

Since its inception, Hubbard marketed Dianetics and Scientology through [[Medical claims in Scientology doctrine|false medical claims]]. On January 4, 1963, US [[Food and Drug Administration]] agents raided American offices of the Church of Scientology, seizing over a hundred E-meters as illegal [[medical device]]s, thousands of pills being marketed as "radiation cures", and tons of literature that they accused of making false medical claims.{{sfnm|1a1=Barrett|1y=2001|1p=461|2a1=Lewis|2y=2009a|2pp=6–7|3a1=Melton|3y=2009|3p=24|4a1=Urban|4y=2011|4p=63|5a1=Bigliardi|5y=2016|5pp=667–668|6a1=Thomas|6y=2021|6p=47}}{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=228}}{{sfn|Wright|2013|p=90}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://tonyortega.org/2019/07/11/scientology-and-the-fda-the-conspiracy-that-never-was/ |title=Scientology and the FDA: The conspiracy that never was |first=Chris |last=Owen |date=July 11, 2019 |website=The Underground Bunker}}</ref>
In November 1963 [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria, Australia]], the government opened an inquiry into the Church, which was accused of [[brainwashing]], blackmail, extortion and damaging the mental health of its members.{{Sfn|Wallis|1977|p=215}}{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=250}} [[Anderson Report|Its report]], published in October 1965, condemned every aspect of Scientology and Hubbard himself.{{sfn|Miller|1987|pp=252–253}} The report led to Scientology being banned in Victoria,{{Sfn|Wallis|1977|p=193}} [[Western Australia]] and [[South Australia]],{{Sfn|Wallis|1977|p=196}} and led to more negative publicity around the world. Public perceptions of Scientology changed from "relatively harmless, if cranky" to an "evil, dangerous" group that performs hypnosis and brainwashing.{{Sfn|Wallis|1977|p=215}} Scientology attracted increasingly unfavorable publicity across the English-speaking world.{{Sfn|Wallis|1977|p=192}}

Hubbard took major new initiatives in the face of these challenges. By 1965, "Ethics Technology" was introduced to tighten internal discipline within Scientology. It required Scientologists to "[[Disconnection (Scientology)|disconnect]]" from any organization or individual—including family members—deemed to be disruptive or "suppressive".{{sfn|Atack|1990|p=155}} Scientologists were also required to write "Knowledge Reports" on each other, reporting transgressions or misapplications of Scientology methods. Hubbard promulgated a long list of punishable "Misdemeanors", "Crimes", and "High Crimes".{{sfn|Atack|1990|p=156}} At the start of March 1966, Hubbard created the [[Guardian's Office]] (GO), a new agency within the Church of Scientology that was headed by his wife Mary Sue.{{sfn|Atack|1990|p=161}} It dealt with Scientology's external affairs, including public relations, legal actions and the gathering of intelligence on perceived threats.{{sfn|Atack|1990|p=165}}
As Scientology faced increasingly negative media attention, the GO retaliated with hundreds of writs for libel and slander; it issued more than forty on a single day.{{sfn|Atack|1990|p=189}} Hubbard ordered his staff to find "lurid, blood sex crime actual evidence {{sic}} on [Scientology's] attackers".{{sfn|Atack|1990|p=160}} The "[[Fair game (Scientology)|fair game]]" policy was codified in 1967, which was applicable to anyone deemed an "enemy" of Scientology: "May be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed."<ref>Hubbard, L. Ron. "Penalties for Lower Conditions". HCO Policy Letter of October 18, 1967, Issue IV. Quoted in [[#CITEREFAtack1990|Atack 1990]], pp. 175–176</ref>{{Sfn|Wallis|1977|p=144–145}}

{{External media|video1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mueSLbxFKQ L. Ron Hubbard Interview in Rhodesia], May 1966}}
Newspapers and politicians in the UK pressed the British government for action against Scientology. In April 1966, hoping to form a remote "safe haven" for Scientology, Hubbard traveled to the southern African country [[Rhodesia]] (now [[Zimbabwe]]). Despite his attempts to curry favor with the local government, Rhodesia promptly refused to renew Hubbard's visa, compelling him to leave the country.{{r|reitman|pages=80–81}} Finally, at the end of 1966, Hubbard acquired his own fleet of three ships.<ref name="Wright2011" /> In July 1968, the British [[Secretary of State for Health|Minister of Health]] announced that foreign Scientologists would no longer be permitted to enter the UK and Hubbard himself was excluded from the country as an "[[undesirable alien]]".{{sfn|Atack|1990|p=183}}<ref>[[Kenneth Robinson (British politician)|Kenneth Robinson]]</ref> Further inquiries were launched in Canada, New Zealand and South Africa.{{Sfn|Wallis|1977|p=196}}