I'm pretty sure that the situation with L. Ron Hubbard Jr. is covered in the Preface of the book. I did a quick cut and paste of some stuff already posted on ESMB, which might provide some background.
There are only five pages of material from Ron Jr. in 'Messiah or Madman?' and it has all been verified by other testimony and evidence, including court's evidence.
Unfortunately, the only scan available of the book is the 1998 scan of the 1987 edition (The one with with the "emergency cover.")
Below is a video by Mark Bunker from around 2000. Includes an interview with the former mayor of Clearwater, and a look at Dennis Clarke, cult thug and, then, head of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights.
From 15:48 to 16:20 Mark holds up and discusses a copy of the 3rd edition of the book, 'Messiah or Madman?'
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4595729596527335458 The 3rd edition (1996) is the preferred edition, if you can find it.
And for those who haven't seen it, here's the statement by Bent Corydon at the end of the 'Preface' of the 2nd and 3rd editions:
"
As of the Spring of 1991, I have been a regular target for Scientology harassment - both 'legal' and otherwise - for over a decade. I have been sued six times. I have counter sued twice.
"
I have had to struggle within a court system which does not recognize as meaningful the long-standing Scientology policy of using frivolous lawsuits for purposes of harassment.
"
It's been very hard work. Yet I've been amazingly successful - or lucky. There are good judges, and even some honest lawyers. Unfortunately, over-all, the 'legal system' works in favor of the rich: competent lawyers are expensive. And the system of near endless 'appeals' often can bring the average person to his knees financially - and sometimes emotionally.
"I've watched many fall by the wayside. Silenced in various ways: by threats, harassment of family members, litigation induced financial problems, stress related illnesses, and - perhaps most insidiously - so called legal settlements arrived at under these and other conditions of duress.
"
In light of all this, it occurred to me that there is no absolute guarantee that I will always be able to withstand the Machiavellian machinations of this big sticky trap called the Church of Scientology. I have a family to support. It is feasible that I may collapse financially before the legal process is complete, and also feasible that I may have to settle on less than ideal terms.
"
With this in mind, I wish to state that no matter what my fate may be, that one thing is absolutely true: I wholeheartedly support all of those who are working to make known the many hidden facts about this amoral and exploitative organization, and expose the truth about its founder, L. Ron Hubbard.
"
I unequivocally stand by the contents of 'L. Ron Hubbard, Messiah or Madman?'. This book has helped many to think through, and sort out, their disturbing experiences with Scientology. It has also helped to 'inoculate' those who might otherwise be vulnerable to the 'dark side' of Scientology.
"
I look forward to seeing a second edition.
"-
Bent Corydon, 1991"
The book
L. Ron Hubbard, Messiah or Madman? has been published in three English language editions, each further revised and updated
(1987, 1992, and 1996.)
There is also a hardbound Russian language edition that became available in 2005.
An excerpt from the book flap for the 464 page 1996 edition:
"I have high hopes of smashing my name
into history so violently that it will take a
legendary form even if all the books are
destroyed. That goal is the real goal as far as
I am concerned. Things which stand too
consistently in my way make me nervous.
It's a pretty big job. In a hundred years
Roosevelt will have been forgotten - which
gives some idea of the magnitude of my
attempt. And all this boils and froths inside
my head... "Psychiatrists, reaching the high of the
dusty desk, tell us that Alexander, Genghis
Khan and Napoleon were madmen. I know
they're maligning some very intelligent
gentlemen."
L. Ron Hubbard wrote these words in a letter to
his first wife in 1938.
In 1950 he wrote the bestseller 'Dianetics, the
Modern Science of Mental Health. This inspired a
layman oriented mental health movement which,
ultimately, developed into Scientology, the most
profitable of the money-making new religions.
Hubbard's early Dianetic and Scientology writings
borrow freely from Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and
the founder of General Semantics, Alfred Korzybski.
And P.T. Barnum appears to have been an inspiration.
Hubbard also took much from the writings of Aleister
Crowley - self-proclaimed "Beast 666." This is a source
of embarrassment for the Scientology Church, which
is determined to achieve broad public acceptance.
In the 1960s Hubbard incorporated Brainwashing
methodologies into the subject. He established the
"Fair Game Policy" which states that an "enemy" of
Scientology "may be deprived of property or injured
by any means by any Scientologist, without
discipline of that Scientologist. May be tricked,
sued, lied to or destroyed."
He also became the Commodore of his own private
navy, and began to refer to himself as "Source."
L. Ron Hubbard, Messiah or Madman? exposes
as never before the dark side of Scientology, yet
contains an in-depth examination of the potential
positives of the subject and their actual origins.
To ALL
:dancer:
This is pretty much what Bent looked like when I first met him:
Hmmm..
