Editing L. Ron Hubbard (section)

===In the Sea Org era===
{{main|Life of L. Ron Hubbard from 1967 to 1975}}
{{seealso|Xenu|Space opera in Scientology}}
[[File:Fuego Eruption, March 30, .2013.jpg|thumb|right|Enroute to the volcanic island of Las Palmas, Hubbard wrote "OT III: The Wall of Fire", about the evil lord Xenu who uses hydrogen bombs and volcanoes to murder his enemies and imprison their souls on Earth. Beginning in 1967, new editions of Dianetics featured a volcano on the cover.]]
Hubbard purchased a ship in [[Las Palmas]] and founded the "[[Sea Org]]", a private navy of elite Scientologists. Hubbard set out to take command of the ship. Enroute, he wrote OT III, the esoteric story of Xenu.<ref name="miller266">{{Harvnb|Miller|1987|p=266}}</ref><ref>OT III says "In December 1967 I&nbsp;knew someone had to take the plunge", but the material was publicized well before this.</ref> In a letter to his wife [[Mary Sue Hubbard|Mary Sue]],<ref name="corydon"/>{{rp|58–59, 332–333}} Hubbard said that, in order to assist his research, he was drinking alcohol and taking [[stimulant]]s and [[depressant]]s.<ref>"I'm drinking lots of rum and popping pinks and greys"  -Correspondence to Mary Sue Hubbard as quoted in Corydon p. 59</ref> In OT III, Hubbard wrote of alleged secrets of an immense disaster that had occurred "on this planet, and on the other seventy-five planets which form this Confederacy, seventy-five million years ago".<ref>Hubbard, L. Ron. "Ron's Journal '67", quoted in [[#CITEREFAtack1990|Atack 1990]], p. 173.</ref> It teaches that Xenu, the leader of the Galactic Confederacy, had shipped billions of people to Earth and blown them up with [[hydrogen bomb]]s, following which their traumatized spirits were stuck together at "implant stations", brainwashed with false memories and eventually became contained within human beings.{{sfn|Atack|1990|p=32}}

When Hubbard established the Sea Org he publicly declared that he had relinquished his management responsibilities over the Church of Scientology. In fact, he received daily [[telex]] messages from Scientology organizations around the world reporting their statistics and income. The Church of Scientology sent him $15,000 a week along with millions of dollars that were transferred to bank accounts.{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=299}} Church of Scientology couriers arrived regularly, conveying luxury food for Hubbard and his family or cash that had been smuggled from England to avoid currency export restrictions.{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=290}}{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=300}} Hubbard's fleet began sailing from port to port in the Mediterranean Sea and eastern North Atlantic, rarely staying anywhere for longer than six weeks, as Hubbard claimed he was being pursued by enemies whose interference could lead to global chaos or nuclear war.<ref name="Miller-297">Quoted in [[#CITEREFMiller1987|Miller 1987]], p. 297</ref>
{{External media|video1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_w-YWwC1lI "The Shrinking World of L. Ron Hubbard"], 1967 interview with Hubbard}}
Though Scientologists around the world were presented with a glamorous picture of life in the Sea Org and many applied to join Hubbard aboard the fleet, the reality was rather different.{{sfn|Atack|1990|p=177}} Most of those joining had no nautical experience at all.{{sfn|Atack|1990|p=177}} Mechanical difficulties and blunders by the crews led to a series of embarrassing incidents and near-disasters. Following one incident in which the rudder of the ''Royal Scotman'' was damaged during a storm, Hubbard ordered the ship's entire crew to be reduced to a "condition of liability" and wear gray rags tied to their arms.{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=285}} The ship itself was treated the same way, with dirty tarpaulins tied around its funnel to symbolize its lower status. According to those aboard, conditions were appalling; the crew was worked to the point of exhaustion, given meager rations and forbidden to wash or change their clothes for several weeks.{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=286}} Hubbard maintained a harsh disciplinary regime aboard the fleet, punishing mistakes by confining people in the ''Royal Scotman''{{'s}} bilge tanks without toilet facilities and with food provided in buckets.{{sfn|Atack|1990|p=180}} At other times erring crew members or students were [[Scientology ethics and justice#Overboarding|thrown overboard]] with Hubbard looking on and, occasionally, filming.{{sfn|Atack|1990|p=186}} One member of the Sea Org recalled Hubbard punishing a little boy by confining him to the ship's chain locker.<ref>[https://www.xenu.net/entheta/entheta/media/tv/secret/secret3.html Secret Lives]
"He put this 4-and-a-half year old little boy – Derek Greene – into the chain locker for two days and two nights. It's a closed metal container, it's wet, it's full of water and seaweed, it smells bad. But Derek was sitting up, on the chain, in this place, on his own, in the dark, for two days and two nights. He was not allowed to go to the potty. I mean he had to go in the chain locker on his own, soil himself. He was given food. And I never went near it, the chain locker while he was in there, but people heard him crying. That is sheer, total brutality. That is child abuse."</ref>

Aboard ship, Hubbard began dispatching teams of Sea Org members to search for historic evidence of his past lives; In 1973, he published ''Mission into Time'' about those searches.<ref name="Mission">Hubbard, L. Ron. ''Mission into Time'', p. 7. Copenhagen: AOSH DK Publications Department A/S, 1973. {{ISBN|87-87347-56-3}}</ref> Now having his own paramilitary force, orders to use [[R2-45]] (killing someone with a .45 pistol) on specific individuals were published.<ref>On March 6, 1968, Hubbard issued an internal memo titled "Racket Exposed", in which he denounced twelve people as "Enemies of mankind, the planet and all life", and ordered that "Any [[Sea Org]] member contacting any of them is to use Auditing Process R2-45."{{harvnb|Wallis|1977|p=154}} The memo was subsequently reproduced, with another name added, in the Church of Scientology's internal journal, ''The Auditor''.</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |magazine=[[Bibliography of Scientology#Periodicals|The Auditor]] |title=Racket Exposed |issue=35 |year=1968 |quote=[List of names] are hereby declared Suppressive Persons ... 3. They are declared Enemies of mankind, the planet and all life. 4. They are fair game. 5. No amnesty may ever cover them. 6. If they ever come to a Qual Division they are to be run on reverse processes. 7. Any Sea Organization member contacting any of them is to use Auditing Process R2-45.}}</ref> From about 1970, Hubbard was attended aboard ship by the children of Sea Org members, organized as the [[Commodore's Messenger Organization]] (CMO). They were mainly young girls dressed in [[hot pants]] and [[halter top]]s, who were responsible for running errands for Hubbard such as lighting his cigarettes, dressing him or relaying his verbal commands to other members of the crew.{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=301}}{{r|indulged}} In addition to his wife Mary Sue, he was accompanied by all four of his children by her, who were all members of the Sea Org and shared its rigors.{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=236}}

After his prior failure in Rhodesia, Hubbard again tried to establish a safe haven in a friendly country, this time Greece.{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=310}} The fleet stayed at the Greek island of [[Corfu]] for several months in 1968–1969. Hubbard, recently expelled from Britain, renamed the ships after Greek gods—the ''[[HMS Royal Scotsman|Royal Scotman]]'' was rechristened ''Apollo''—and he praised the [[Greek military junta of 1967–1974|recently established military dictatorship]].{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=290}} Despite Hubbard's hopes, in March 1969 Hubbard and his ships were ordered to leave.{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=296}}

[[File:Scientology croce.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Scientology cross]] came into use in 1969. Given Hubbard's private affinity for Crowley and antipathy to Christianity; it has been suggested that the cross may have been inspired by Crowley's Rose Cross or might be a "crossed-out cross" (an anti-Christian symbol).]]
The practice of prominently displaying the cross in Scientology centers was instituted in 1969 following hostile press coverage where Scientology's status as a legitimate religion was being questioned.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hubbard |first1=L. Ron |author-link=L. Ron Hubbard |title=An Encyclopedia of Scientology Policy |date=1999 |publisher=Church of Scientology of California |location=Los Angeles |isbn=0-88404-031-3 |page=196 |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/561e8f6ce4b04a0fe6bb0102/t/562a71dce4b0448e77d94ef9/1445622236968/OEC6_txt.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190922161023/https://static1.squarespace.com/static/561e8f6ce4b04a0fe6bb0102/t/562a71dce4b0448e77d94ef9/1445622236968/OEC6_txt.pdf |archive-date=September 22, 2019 |chapter=HCO Policy Letter of February 1969: Religion |quote=Any staff who are trained at any level as auditors (but not in AOs) are to be clothed in the traditioned ministerial black suit, black vest white collar silver cross for ordinary org wear.}}</ref> In October 1969, ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' published an exposé by Australian journalist Alex Mitchell detailing Hubbard's occult experiences with Parsons and Aleister Crowley's teachings.<ref name="Ortega 2013">{{Cite web |last1=Ortega |first1=Tony |author-link=Tony Ortega |title=Blood Relation, Blood Ritual: A Hubbard Family Occult Mystery |url=https://tonyortega.org/2013/09/28/10468/ |website=The Underground Bunker |date=September 28, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Mitchell |first1=Alexander |title=Scientology: Revealed for the first time / The odd beginning of Ron Hubbard's career |url=http://www.lermanet.com/scientologynews/crowley-hubbard-666.htm |publisher=The Sunday Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190309231340/http://www.lermanet.com/scientologynews/crowley-hubbard-666.htm |archive-date=March 9, 2019 |date=October 5, 1969 }}</ref> The Church responded with a statement, claiming without evidence Hubbard was sent in by the US Government to "break up Black Magic in America" and succeeded.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/miller/bfm07.htm | title=Bare-Faced Messiah: Chapter 7|quote=December 1969: "Hubbard broke up black magic in America . . . because he was well known as a writer and philosopher and had friends among the physicists, he was sent in to handle the situation [of black magic being practised in a house in Pasadena occupied by nuclear physicists]. 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. The house was torn down. Hubbard rescued a girl they were using. The black magic group was dispersed and never recovered."}}</ref>

In mid-1972, Hubbard again tried to find a safe haven, this time in [[Morocco]], establishing contacts with the country's [[secret police]] and training senior policemen and intelligence agents in techniques for detecting subversives.{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=311}} The program ended in failure when it became caught up in internal Moroccan politics, and Hubbard left the country hastily in December 1972.{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=312}} After French prosecutors charged Hubbard with fraud and customs violations, Hubbard risked extradition to France.{{r|corydon|page=94}} In response, at the end of 1972, Hubbard left the Sea Org fleet temporarily, living incognito in [[Queens]], New York.{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=314}} Hubbard's health deteriorated significantly during this period, as he was an overweight [[chain smoking|chain-smoker]], suffered from [[bursitis]] and had a prominent growth on his forehead.{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=316}} In September 1973 when the threat of extradition had abated, Hubbard left New York, returning to his flagship.{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=318}}

Hubbard suffered serious injuries in a motorcycle accident on the island of [[Tenerife]] in December 1973. In 1974, Hubbard established the [[Rehabilitation Project Force]], a punishment program for Sea Org members who displeased him.{{sfn|Atack|1990|p=206}} Hubbard's son Quentin reportedly found it difficult to adjust and attempted suicide in mid-1974.{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=325}} Also in 1974, L. Ron Hubbard confessed to two top executives<ref>Bill Franks and David Mayo</ref> that "People do not [leave Scientology] because of [their unconfessed sins], they leave because [they stop liking Scientology or stop believing in it]".<ref>"A person does not [[Scientology ethics and justice#Blow|blow]] due to Overts or Withholds. He blows only due to ARC BKs."</ref> Hubbard warned "If any of this information ever became public, I would lose all control of the orgs and eventually Scientology as a whole."<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2r2Nd6OJT4&t=2537 Interview] with Bill Franks, June 2010</ref>

[[File:2125 S Street NW.JPG|right|thumb|On July 8, 1977, after uncovering [[Operation Snow White]], the FBI raided the [[Founding Church of Scientology]] in D.C. and seized thousands of documents revealing the scope of the Church's espionage operations.]]
Throughout this period, Hubbard was heavily involved in directing the activities of the Guardian's Office (GO), the legal bureau/intelligence agency.<ref>Beresford, David (February 7, 1980). "Snow White's dirty tricks". London: ''The Guardian''</ref> In 1973, he instigated the "[[Operation Snow White|Snow White Program]]" and directed the GO to remove negative reports about Scientology from government files and track down their sources.{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=317–318}} The GO carried out covert campaigns on his behalf such as [[List of Guardian's Office operations#Operation Bulldozer Leak|Operation Bulldozer Leak]], designed to convince authorities that Hubbard had no legal liability for the actions of the church. Hubbard was kept informed of these operations, including as the theft of medical records from a hospital, harassment of psychiatrists, and infiltrations of organizations such as the [[Better Business Bureau]], [[American Medical Association]], [[American Psychiatric Association]], [[U.S. Department of Justice]], and [[Internal Revenue Service]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Marshall |first=John |date=January 24, 1980 |title=The Scientology Papers: Hubbard still gave orders, records show |newspaper=Globe and Mail |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/386965976 |id={{ProQuest|386965976}} |url-access=subscription |via=[[ProQuest]]}}</ref>{{Sfn|Streissguth|1995|p=75}} [[Paulette Cooper]], a freelance journalist and Scientology critic, was subjected to at least at least 19 lawsuits, framed for sending bomb threats, and was urged to climb onto a dangerous 33rd-floor ledge by a roommate later believed to be a Guardian's Office agent.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.skeptictank.org/gs/sci591.htm|title=Files show spy reported woman's intimate words|last=Marshall|first=John|date=January 25, 1980|work=Globe and Mail|access-date=July 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190714201707/http://www.skeptictank.org/gs/sci591.htm |archive-date=July 14, 2019}}</ref><ref name=UML>{{Cite book |last1=Ortega |first1=Tony |title=The Unbreakable Miss Lovely |title-link=The Unbreakable Miss Lovely |date=2015 |publisher=Silvertail Books |location=London |isbn=9781511639378 |author-link=Tony Ortega}}</ref>{{r|UML|p=129–136,167–168,286,376}}<ref name="Breeze">{{Cite news |last =Staff | title =Redondo couple, N.Y. writer named in Scientology lawsuit | work =Daily Breeze|date =November 1, 1982 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.xenutv.com/hearings/cooper.htm | title=The 1982 Clearwater Hearings: Day 4 | date=May 8, 1982 | author=Paulette Cooper | access-date=February 12, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070103160959/http://www.xenutv.com/hearings/cooper.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = January 3, 2007}}</ref>