Inside Scientology - Janet Reitman [212]
[>] "selling religion": Ibid.
[>] "suck the blood": David Miscavige, "The War Is Over," speech announcing the victory over the IRS, delivered in Los Angeles on October 8, 1993, transcribed from DVD of the event.
[>] "But most importantly": Ibid.
[>] "cookie cutter suits": Childs and Tobin, "The Truth Rundown, Pt. 1," June 21, 2009.
[>] "the whole idea was to create": Douglas Frantz, "Scientology's Puzzling Journey from Tax Rebel to Tax Exempt," New York Times, March 9, 1997.
[>] "startling congressional hearings": Edward Mezvinsky and Bill Adler Jr., "Blackmail, Bribery, Corruption: The File on the IRS," New York Times, July 24, 1989.
[>] Miscavige wrote an editorial: David Miscavige, "Abolish Income Tax: We'd All Benefit," USA Today, April 16, 1990.
[>] the IRS definition of church: Church of Scientology International v. C. Philip Xanthos and 16 other agents, No. 91-4302 SVW, U.S. District Court in the Central District of California, August 12, 1991.
[>] Miscavige proposed meeting with: The story of DM's meeting with Goldberg, and all quotations allegedly reflecting his statements, come from Marty Rathbun's recollection of events, as told to the St. Petersburg Times for its Truth Rundown series, June 21, 2009.
[>] "required by the I.R.S. to disclose": Frantz, "Scientology's Puzzling Journey," March 9, 1997.
[>] "Instead of tough tax law": "Exempted, Not Vindicated," editorial, St. Petersburg Times, November 21, 1993.
9. Lisa
In 2004, the estate of Lisa McPherson settled its seven-year civil lawsuit against the Church of Scientology. As a condition of the settlement, both sides agreed not to discuss the case, or the terms of the settlement, in the future. As the facts of the civil case were nearly identical to those of the criminal case, as Lisa's mother and several other relatives are now deceased, and as the majority of Scientologists referred to in this and subsequent chapters are still involved in Scientology, bound by the agreement or otherwise unwilling to talk about Lisa, much of the information contained in this chapter, as well as chapters 10–12, comes directly from the Clearwater Police Department's investigative file, which was made available by the department in a CD format.
This file is made up of more than six thousand pages of documentary evidence, including Lisa's handwritten notes and letters to friends, write-ups of her overts and withholds, a life history report and other confessions, Church of Scientology internal reports and documents including Lisa's ethics files, and scores of interviews, sworn statements, and depositions taken by Clearwater law enforcement officials from Lisa's family, friends, colleagues, and Scientology staff. Unless otherwise noted, all quotations come from these records.
In addition, for background and insight on the environment at the Dallas Mission of the Southwest, and on Bennetta Slaughter, I relied on personal interviews with Steve Hall, Melanie Stokes, and Greg Barnes. Sandra Mercer and Nancy Many were two key sources of information about WISE, the experience of working for a WISE company, and the FSM program.
[>] "They were a time of unease": David Frum, How We Got Here: The 70s, the Decade That Brought You Modern Life (for Better or Worse), p. xxiii.
[>] skeptical of Scientology: Boss, in fact, wanted Lisa to ask for a refund after she committed some $3,000 to pay for Scientology's Life Repair package; he was so irate, according to church records, that he phoned the Dallas mission numerous times, threatening legal action if they didn't return the money. Succumbing to pressure from her husband, Lisa did ask for a refund but made it clear to the staff at the mission that she was happy in Scientology and did not intend to abandon it. Rather, as she explained to several staffers, she planned to use the refund money to file for divorce and then, once free of Boss, to do "amends" to get back into the