The Religious Technology Center, or RTC, was incorporated on January 1st, 1982(1), originally with the purpose of safeguarding the trademarks of Scientology, and Dianetics, with its members being Class 8, FEBCs on NOTs(1). The RTC claims to enforce the copyright on the works of L. Ron Hubbard. But they really just sue people.

The RTC has placed themselves at the "source-point" of an entirely new corporate structure:

...Prior to the end of 1981, a few of us got together and took a look at the corporate structure of the Church with the view in mind of making it more defensible and more regular and to make an overall improvement.

- Warrant Officer Lyman Spurlock
US Mission Holders' Conference transcript
SO ED 2104 INT, 7 Nov 1982

They then "proceeded to invalidate the structure" established by Hubbard himself(2). The RTC is now the senior governing entity of the all interrelated organisations of Scientology, e.g. the Church of Scientology International, Inc., the Church of Scientology of California, Inc., Author's Services, Inc., Asociación Civil de Narconon, etc. (3)

In April 1982, Hubbard selected David Mayo to wear various technical hats, such as Senior C/S Int, Senior C/S Flag, etc., for a period of 20-25 years. This was because Hubbard knew he was going to pass on soon, and wanted someone he could trust to take over the technical supervision of the Scientology applied religious technology(1). However in August of the same year, the entire Senior C/S Int Office was removed, and Kerry Gleeson was replaced as ED Int by Guillaume Lesèvre. They were subjected to a Comm Ev (akin to a thamzing session in communist China), and then on August 29, taken to Happy Valley for the "Running Program".

 The "Running Program" consisted to running "around a tree in the desert in temperatures of up to 110 degrees [40C] for 12 hours a day, 7 days a week for 3 months"(4). The RTC has gradually seized all positions of importance in the Church, and in 1982 began to issue vast numbers of Declare Orders (almost 2000 in the period January 1982 to January 1984(1).

The RTC now holds (virtually) all the trademarks of Scientology (SO ED 2104 INT); these trademarks include the name L. Ron Hubbard, the intials LRH and even Hubbard's signature. It is now no longer possible to identify a genuine policy issue, or technical briefing/bulletin(1). We can now only follow Hubbard's advice and "judge a person by his products".

David Miscavige, originally a trustee of RTC, now maintains absolute control over the RTC and its staff, "controlling these other members of the board of directors by the fact of his possessing undated, signed resignations of each member"(3). It has been testified under oath, on numerous occasions, that Miscavige has violent tendancies, and a relish of inflicting physical or psychological pain on others.

Miscavige has conceived, planned, and ordered the implementation of the policies of the Church which are giving it such a bad PR image today: the repeated actions against those he considered to be causing legal of public relations conflicts against the church, against those he considered a personal threat(1), and turning the Church into a representation of "the Bridge to total intimidation, fear and enslavement"(5). In fact, a recent lawsuit (that into the death of Lisa McPherson) has been amended to say that he 'totally controls' and 'micro-manages all of Scientology,' and that his ecclesiastical role is part of an elaborate set-up to shield Scientology and its leaders from liability.

It is sad that the paranoia of a select few within Scientology can thwart the good that the majority can do.


(1) John Atack, So, what really happened?
(2) Freie Zone, e.V., Credibility of the RTC, 17 Sept. 1983
(3) Vicki J Aznaran, Affidavit of 27 January, 1992) [Vicki Aznaran was a senior executive of the RTC from 1984 until 1987]
(4) David Mayo, Affidavit)
(5) Shiona Fox-Ness, Resignation from the Church of Scientology, 27 January, 1984