The Free Zone, “Freezone”, or more recently identified as Independent Scientology, comprises a variety of non-affiliated independent groups, organizations, and individuals who practice Scientology beliefs and techniques independently of the

Church of Scientology The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religious ...

(CoS). Such practitioners range from those who closely adhere to the original teachings of Scientology's founder,

L. Ron Hubbard Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986) was an American author, primarily of science fiction and fantasy stories, who is best known for having founded the Church of Scientology. In 1950, Hubbard authored '' Dianetic ...

, to those who have adapted their practices so far that they are almost unrecognizable as Scientology. The term ''Free Zone'' was originally only used by a single organization, but the term is now commonly applied to all non-CoS Scientologists, although many dispute the application of the term to themselves. The International Freezone Association, the group whose name became adopted as a generic term for independent Scientology, was not the first independent Scientologist group; the California Association of Dianetic Auditors, the oldest breakaway group still in existence, Additional convenience link a

claims a founding date of December 1950, predating the Church of Scientology itself. A November 2004 press release published by the International Freezone Association cited a command written by Hubbard: "... before you go, whisper this to your sons and their sons: 'THE WORK WAS FREE. KEEP IT SO.'" '' Skeptic (U.S. magazine), Skeptic Magazine'' described the Free Zone as: "a group founded by ex-Scientologists to promote L. Ron Hubbard's ideas independent of the

." A ''

Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami.

Etymology

The first group to use the term ''Free Zone'' was in the organization founded by the captain of the Apollo Flagship and Second-Deputy Commodore of the Sea Org, Captain Bill Robertson, in mid-1982, which is now known as "Ron's Org" in several countries. The name came from the "

space opera Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, it features technological and soc ...

" beliefs of L. Ron Hubbard, which Robertson later expressed in the "Free Zone Decree", which he said was an Official Decree of "Galactic Central - Grand Council" which was "relayed from Mainship Sector 9": #The planet known as

Teegeeack Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard explicitly compared his teachings to the science-fiction subgenre space opera. In his writings, wherein thetans (the name given to human souls) were reincarnated periodically over quadrillions of years, ret ...

- local dialect "Earth" or Terra - Sun 12, Sector 9, is hereby declared a Free Zone. #No political interference in its affairs from any other part of the Sector or Galaxy will be tolerated. #No economic interference in its affairs will be tolerated from any non-planetary agency or power. #All of its inhabitants are hereby declared Free Zone Citizens and free of external political or economic interference.

Germany

Scientology Commissioner

Ursula Caberta Ursula Caberta y Diaz (born 22 March 1950) is a German politician, former State of Hamburg government official and was the Commissioner for the Scientology Task Force of the Hamburg Interior Authority. She graduated in political economy. Accordi ...

in Hamburg said that the Free Zone is a type of "

methadone Methadone, sold under the brand names Dolophine and Methadose among others, is a synthetic opioid agonist used for chronic pain and also for opioid dependence. It is used to treat chronic pain, and it is also used to treat addiction to heroi ...

program for Scientologists," and, in any case, "the lesser evil". The Free Zone group Ron's Org says that the Verfassungsschutz

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

(State Office for the Protection of the Constitution) has stated that there is no need to keep Ron's Org under observation "as the Ron's Org has no anti-constitutional goals." There is some cooperation between members of the Ron's Org and state authorities who observe the Church of Scientology and investigate their activities.

The Church of Scientology and the Free Zone

The COS labels all practitioners of and believers in Scientology without its sanction "

squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. ...

s"—a term Hubbard coined to describe those who alter Scientology technology or practice it in a nonstandard fashion. Among Scientologists, the term is pejorative, and comparable in meaning to "

heretic Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important relig ...

". In practice, the hierarchy of the Church of Scientology uses it to describe all of those who practice Scientology outside the Church. As of 2016, many of the major courses and publications in the Church have been altered or deleted altogether. This is a main protest and action point for Independent/Freezone Scientologists. Major courses, such as the Class VI and Class VIII auditor training courses, which had very high enrollment in the 1970s, have been shut down. Additionally, Scientology critics in the Freezone movement have claimed that alterations have been made to Hubbard's original writings in church policies and even more so in technical bulletins, with parishioners never made aware of the changes to these writings. In addition, in 2009, the church created a new course called “The Basics Course," which is believed to be redundant with existing courses and motivated for profit. Also as of 2016, the church removed the bulk of the Scientology technical bulletins, known as the "Tech Volumes," a republished and expanded edition of the 1975 issue of Technical Bulletins in 1991, from all course rooms worldwide. A violation of the aforementioned HCO PL "Technical Degrades", and HCO PL "Safeguarding Technology.", as well as Hubbard's HCO PL "Hidden Data Line." "Hidden data Line" expresses that all data is out in the open for all to see, which is now not the case with the majority of technical references deleted from academies. Independent Scientologists note that the Technical Volume's 1991 copyrights have lapsed, thus forcing the church to newly publish them with alterations so as to keep the copyrights valid. They argue that this continual redux of books and bulletins by the COS, under US copyright law, only affects what was changed, not the original works by Hubbard. Forcing them to publish new similar, but entirely altered and different in the same breath, books titled on the cover stating “based on the works of...” and singularly Hubbard's name but no “By” next to his name, just his name. The Church of Scientology has used

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

and

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from ot ...

laws against various Free Zone groups. Accordingly, most of the Free Zone avoids the use of officially trademarked Scientology words, including ''Scientology'' itself. In 2000, the

Religious Technology Center The Religious Technology Center (RTC) is an American non-profit corporation Letter by the Internal Revenue Service to Flemming Paludan, Regional Director, Danish Tax-Office, Washington, D.C., USA, December 22, 1993 that was founded in 1982 by the ...

unsuccessfully attempted to gain the Internet domain name scientologie.org from the WIPO (

World Intellectual Property Organization The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO; french: link=no, Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle (OMPI)) is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishi ...

; one of the 16 specialized agencies of the United Nations), in a legal action against the Free Zone. Many Free Zone advocates say that everyone has the right to freely practice the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard, whether sanctioned by the Church or not. In support of this they cite Hubbard himself:

Dianetics is not in any way covered by legislation anywhere, for no law can prevent one man sitting down and telling another man his troubles, and if anyone wants a
monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...
on dianetics, be assured that he wants it for reasons which have to do not with dianetics but with profit.
—L. Ron Hubbard, ''Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health'' (1950)

If I have fought for a quarter of a century, most of it alone, to keep this work from serving to uphold the enslavers of Man, to keep it free from some destructive "pitch" or slant, then you certainly can carry that motif a little further. ..But before you go, whisper this to your sons, and their sons – "The work was free. Keep it so."
—L. Ron Hubbard, ''Scientology: Clear Procedure - Issue One'' (1957)

Other Free Zoners assert basic

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

protections in order to freely follow their chosen religion. One Free Zone Scientologist, identified as "Safe", was quoted in ''

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon ( ...

'' as saying: "The Church of Scientology does not want its control over its members to be found out by the public and it doesn't want its members to know that they can get Scientology outside of the Church of Scientology". A 2006

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

documentary presented by

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

comedian Hardeep Singh Kohli, '' The Beginner's Guide to L. Ron Hubbard'', explored Scientology with the "Ron's Org" Free Zone group after the Church of Scientology declined to take part. A 2017 episode of the docuseries ''Believer'' hosted by religious scholar Reza Aslan focused on Scientology; however, Aslan was unable to get in contact with any Church officials so instead the episode focused on and featured an array of Independent Scientologists. Aslan has compared the Freezone to other

schisms A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...

in religious history, including the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...

. Aslan included professor of Theology, and scholar of

New Religious Movements A new religious movement (NRM), also known as alternative spirituality or a new religion, is a religious or spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin or t ...

, Donald Westbrook in the episode, who has also argued the position that Scientology fits the criteria for recognition as a religion. Despite not returning his phone calls offering to be part of the episode, The Church of Scientology responded with harsh criticism of the episode and stated “not a single Scientologist appeared in the program.” The "Ron's Org Committee" (ROC) and the "True Source Scientology Foundation" (STSS, " Stichting True Source Scientology") have documented the argument that Scientology materials written by L. Ron Hubbard are in the public domain if certain assumptions are made. In addition the ROC has documented a legal battle over the trademark "Ron's Org".

Alternative auditing practices

Several alternatives to Dianetics were developed in the early years of the Freezone. Synergetics is a self-help system developed by Art Coulter in 1954. American businessman, Don A.Purcell (Junior), founded an early Dianetics organization which had a tentative claim on the Dianetics trademark, joined Synergetics and allegedly returned the Dianetics and HASI trademarks ownership to Hubbard when Hubbard was forced by Purcell's Lawyers to close the failed Wichita Dianetics Foundation in a civil legal dispute over unpaid organisational bills and lawyers fees was settled 'out of court' amicably in 1954 in the US. In 1976, Coulter published ''Synergetics: An Adventure in Human Development''; he later founded the Synergetic Society, which published a journal through 1996. Idenics is a personal counseling method not affiliated with any religion, that was developed by John Galusha beginning in 1987. Mr. Galusha researched for

during the 1950s, and was one of the founders of the first Church of Scientology in 1953. Galusha claimed that all personal issues can be addressed by thoroughly looking over the problem at hand, without judgment. The counselor asks a series of questions until the solution is considered found, by the client. Mike Goldstein, the owner of Idenics methodology and author of the book, "Idenics, an alternative to therapy", claims that the method is as effective over the telephone as in person.

The word "Scientology"

Disagreement over the origins of the word ''Scientology'' has been used by Free Zone groups to contest Scientology's trademarks. A German book entitled '' Scientologie, Wissenschaft von der Beschaffenheit und der Tauglichkeit des Wissens'' was published in 1934 by Anastasius Nordenholz. The groups have argued that because ''Scientologie'' was not written by Hubbard, the Church is unfairly monopolizing control over its practice. The trademark rights to the use of Dianetics and the E-Meter (invented and created by Volney Mathieson) was allowed to lapse into the public domain in 1976 by Hubbard. This is discreetly ignored by the RTC/CSI Body Corporate.

References

External links