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A premeditated series of occurrences? - Scientology under attack or The ’80s conspiracy (?) (2)

The tale of Gerry Armstrong and his ‘affirmations’ (1) (The source of the ‘affirmations’ (aka ‘admissions’) (1947))

(to other Scientology pages)

1) G e n e r a l   o v e r v i e w / i n t r o d u c t i o n :   M i s s i o n   s t a t e m e n t ,   o v e r v i e w ,   r e s e a r c h   s p e c i f i c s I n t r o d u c t i o n   t o   S c i e n t o l o g y   a n d   L R H K e e p i n g   S c i e n t o l o g y   W o r k i n g ,   f u n d a m en t al s S c i e n t o l o g y   i n   m e d i a   a nd   I n t e r n e t   ( +   f o r u m s ,   W i k i p e d i a ) S c i e n t o l o g y :   I t s   t r u e   h i s t o r y   e x p o s e d ? S c i e n t o l o g y   Q & A   ( F A Q ) E x t e r n a l   l i n k s M a t e r i a l s   w a n t   l i s t R e c o m m e n d e d   l i s t   o f   m a t e r i a l s 2) R e s p o n s e s   ( w i t h   a n n o t a t i o n s ) : A p p r e c i a t i v e   r e s p o n s e s   t o   m y   p a g e s C r i t i q u e   r e c e i v e d   ( 1 )   f r o m   c h u r c h g o i n g   S c i e n t o l o g i s t s C r i t i q u e   r e c e i v e d   ( 2 )   f r o m   o u t - o f - c h u r c h   S c i e n t o l o g i s t s C r i t i q u e   r e c e i v e d    ( 3 )   f r o m   a n t i - S c i e n t o l o g i s t s 3) T o p i c s   o f   p a r t i c u l a r   i n t e r e s t : (a): G e n e r a l   t o p i c s H o l y   S c r i p t u r e s   v s   S c i e n t o l o g y L R H   v s   D i c t i o n a r i e s L R H   v s   t h e o r y   o f   e v o l u t i o n L R H ' s   w o r k s   o f   f i c t i o n (b): O r g a n i z a t i o n a l   t o p i c s A   p r i n t i n g   h i s t o r y   o f   t h e   m a t e r i a l s   o f   S c i e n t o l o g y S c i e n t o l o g y   M e m b e r s h i p :   H A S I   v s   I A S L R H   v s   p r i c i n g   p o l i c i e s T h e   c o p y r i g h t s   i s s u e   a n d   l i c e n s i n g (c): T e c h n i c a l   t o p i c s H i s t o r y   o f   G r a d e   C h a r t :   a )   G e n e r a l H i s t o r y   o f   G r a d e   C h a r t :   b )   D e t a i l e d ‘ C l e a r ’   d e f i n e d N E D   f o r   O T s T h e   ‘ P r i m a r y   R u n d o w n ’ 4) C o n t r o v e r s i a l   t o p i c s : M i s t a k e n   i d e a s   o f   ‘ E t h i c s ’   c l a r i f i e d T h e   F a i r    G a m e   L a w P r a c t i c e   o f   D i s c o n n e c t i o n S e c u r i t y   C h e c k i n g F r e e l o a d e r s   v s   E x - s t a f f   m e m b e r s T h e   ‘ R e h a b i l i t a t i o n   P r o j e c t   F o r c e ’   ( R P F ) 5) C h a n g e s   i n   t h e   f l o w   o f   ‘ i n f o r m a t i o n ’: (a): A l t e r a t i o n s   ( L R H   o r   n o n- L R H ? ) L R H   v s   A l t e r a t i o n s N o n - L R H   t u r n s   i n t o   L R H ?   &   P r o p o s a l   t o   s o l u t i o n T h e    ‘ C r a m m i n g   S e r i e s ’   -   L R H   o r   n o t   L R H ? B a s e d   o n   L R H   p u b l i c a t i o n s (b): G e n e r a l   o v e r v i e w L R H   v s   A   N e w   O r d e r   ( i n t r o d u c t i o n ) → A d m i n i s t r a t i v e   a n d    o r g a n i z a t i o n a l   m a t t e r s S e t u p   o f   t h e   p r i n t e d   m a t e r i a l s   ( 1 9 7 3 - 8 6 ) T h e   R T R C ,   t h e   u n i t   t h a t   w r o t e   L R H   i s s u e s   ( 1 9 7 3 - 8 2 ) T h e   d a w n i n g   o f   R T C   a n d   n e w   m a n a g e m e n t   ( 1 9 8 2 - 8 3 ) → T e c h n i c a l   m a t t e r s I n t r o d u c t i o n   t o   t h e   e v e n t   o f   l o s i n g   a   B r i d g e ) A n a l y s i s   o f   H C O B   “ T e c h   C o r r e c t i o n   R o u n d - u p ” L o s t   B r i d g e :   T e c h   c h a n g e s   d u r i n g   1 9 7 8 - 8 2 T h e   h i s t o r y   o f   t h e   o r i g i n a l   O T   V I I I ‘ G o l d e n   A g e   o f   T e c h ’   ( G A T )   a n a l y s i s D r i l l i n g   i n   S c i e n t o l o g y (c): T h e   m a t t e r   o f   D a v i d   M a y o S t o r y   o f   D a v i d   M a y o ‘ S O   E D   2 3 4 4   I n t’   a n a l y s i s T r a i n i n g   d r i l l s   ( T R s ) M a y o   r e f e r e n c e   l i s t 6) C o n s p i r a c i e s   -   I n   L .   R o n   H u b b a r d ' s   f o o t s t e p s S c i e n t o l o g y   v s   a   N e w   W o r l d   O r d e r → W h e r e   i s   L .   R o n   H u b b a r d ?   ( c h r o n o l o g y   o f   S c n   h i s t o r y ) W h e r e a b o u t s   o f   L .   R o n   H u b b a r d   c h r o n o l o g y T h e   e r a   o f   a d o r a t i o n ;   P r e s e n t a t i o n   o f   L .   R o n   H u b b a r d L .   R o n   H u b b a r d   i n t o   a r t i s t r y :   M u s i c   &   F i l m → W h e r e   i s   h i s   w i f e   a n d   f a m i l y ? S t o r y   o f   M a r y   S u e   H u b b a r d T h e   l a s t   s t a n d :   T h e   G u a r d i a n   O f f i c e 7) S c i e n t o l o g y   u n d e r   a t t a c k (a): A   p r e m e d i t a t e d   s e r i e s   o f   o c c u r r e n c e s ?   ( ’ 8 0 s   c o n s p i r a c y ) I n t r o d u c t i o n   &   R o n   D e W o l f G e r r y   A r m s t r o n g   ( ‘ a f f i r m a t i o n s ’ ) R u s s e l l   M i l l e r    ( ‘ B a r e - F a c e d   M e s s i a h ’ ) A   r e l i g i o n   c r e a t e d   f o r   t h e   m o n e y ? (b): B a t t l e s   f o u g h t   a n d   t h e   i n t e r n e t   ( 2 0 1 6 -   ) L e a h   R e m i n i :   S c i e n t o l o g y   a n d   t h e   A f t e r m a t h   ( T V   s h o w )

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	“I'm saying that I can do it. I can type those goddam things and duplicate them and make them look exactly the same. You can't, you would not be able to tell the difference.”
	Gerald Armstrong
	(captured on video in Nov 1984, using a telephoto lens and a long range microphone)

A premeditated series of occurrences? - Scientology: The ’80s conspiracy (?)  (2)

Go to “Scientology under attack or The ’80s conspiracy (?)” index page

 
Index:

	Foreword and introductory notices
		Origin and consequence of the affair involving Gerry Armstrong (page 1)
		‘Hitler's Diaries’ versus ‘The Affirmations of L. Ron Hubbard’
	The (fairy) tale of the ‘affirmations’
		Introduction of Gerry Armstrong and his ‘affirmations’
		What are they? Overview and summary
		The involvement of one Gerry Armstrong
		Court proceedings and overview of developments during 1980-84 & 86
			- Chronological overview of events according to news media and court - Court proceedings held in 1984 (selections of the ‘affirmations’ read in court) - Signing and breach of 1986 settlement
		Mention of the ‘affirmations’ in books published in 1987
			- ‘Bare-Faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard’ by Russell Miller - ‘L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman?’ by Bent Corydon and L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
		The ‘affirmations’ emerging in the year 2000
		The incidence of the Nov 1984 tapes, and the defence of Gerry Armstrong
			(Includes: The recordings (raw tapes))
	Inconsistencies and annotations
		Allowing a hired biographer access to particularly ‘damaging’ papers? Why was an autobiography never an option?
		Conspiracies
		The ‘affirmations’: The domain of the imaginary vs The position of the Church of Scientology (page 2)
		The ‘fear’ of one Gerry Armstrong
			- Having access to archives after already having a declare issued on your person? - Was a real danger feared or was this just a plot devised to extort funds? - Gerry Armstrong and his SP doctrine
		Are the ‘affirmations’ at odds with the published writings of L. Ron Hubbard? Who authored them?
			- “Men are your slaves. Elemental spirits are your slaves. ...” & Jack Parsons - Who wrote the ‘affirmations’? - A note about Gerry Armstrong)
		A statement from Robert Vaughn Young concerning Gerry Armstrong (2 May ’85)
		The position of Omar V. Garrison (with notices from Larry Brennan)
		About the ruling of judge Paul G. Breckenridge Jr.
	Responses, aftermath and further annotations
		An evaluation of the admissions by a Swedish psychiatrist (2005)
		Responses received to my write-up and Gerry Armstrong further evaluated
			- Responses from Gerry Armstrong prior to release of my write-up (30 Nov ’08) (includes the Swedish psychiatrist returning) - First responses after release of my write-up (‘burden of proof’ shift) (26 Jan-3 Feb '09) - Gerry Armstrong and Monica Pignotti respond to my write-up (27 Jan-14 Feb ’09) - Gerry Armstrong asking Mr. David Miscavige to come to his rescue (5 Feb ’09) (includes a third appearance of the Swedish psychiatrist)
		The Swedish psychiatrist once more
			(Includes:  The documentary of SVT (Swedish television) and its forum (1-25 Oct ’08))
		Gerry Armstrong's merry-go-round... or The mental state of one Gerry Armstrong
		Gerry Armstrong called in as an ‘expert’ witness at other trials (fair game)
		Gerry Armstrong about outside-of-church Scientology practitioners (2012)

Origin and consequence of the affair involving Gerry Armstrong

In 1984 Gerry Armstrong hit the headlines in the media because of various lawsuits brought about by the Church of Scientology in where said Gerry Armstrong was accused of basically stealing some 21 boxes of materials, containing in part (so we are told) sensitive information and personal papers of L. Ron Hubbard. It was the intent of the representatives of the Church of Scientology to have these boxes returned, although these representatives did not actually know what they contained as it was Gerry Armstrong that had been handling these all by himself.

There is an obvious irony present here as at one side (1) the Church of Scientology argued that Gerry Armstrong had unlawfully taken papers belonging to them, while (2) Gerry Armstrong argued that he had taken these papers attempting to protect himself from disciplinary and improper actions taken against him by the Church of Scientology. The matter here is that it would have been very unlikely that the Church of Scientology would have taken any action against said Gerry Armstrong if he had not taken materials that did not actually belong to him! That he had done so was the primary and as far as we can tell the only reason why the Church of Scientology prosecuted him. Gerry Armstrong himself provided the very reason why they went after him.

Consequence

Was this a goal accomplished for Gerry Armstrong? He could have retired with the funds he was awarded by the court, but he chose to not stop there. In the year of 2000 he started another, let's call it a campaign, this was also about some supposed papers. Papers that were said deriving from these 21 boxes and that were entered into the court proceedings. These particular papers have since been referred to as ‘The Affirmations of L. Ron Hubbard’. Here Gerry Armstrong basically offers not much more than strange tales and unsupported claims, but this did not discourage some people to take him seriously. This can be explained through that Gerry Armstrong told what people wanted to hear and that would satisfy the preconceptions that these people already had. So, here we may even have to start to refer to him as Sir Gerry Armstrong, the undisputed grand poobah of black PR!

Concurrently we have the affair of Hitler's diaries that came to light in April 1983. An obvious correlation can be established between ‘Hitler's Diaries’ on one side and ‘The Affirmations of L. Ron Hubbard’ on the other side. They both come in actual handwriting with the rather crucial difference that from Hitler's diaries we actually do have the diaries, a whole 27 volumes of them, and they come in the original (i.e. not photocopies). Whereas from ‘The Affirmations of L. Ron Hubbard’ we do not have squat, we do not have a single sample of even a snippet of a photocopy! And what was found with these Hitler's diaries? Well, that they were forgeries, and not even particularly good ones. According to the autograph expert they were “bad forgeries but a great hoax” (Kenneth W. Rendell, Forging History: The Detection of Fake Letters and Documents (published 1994), see page 112).

Now, how will you ever be able to expose if ‘The Affirmations of L. Ron Hubbard’ would be such a hoax, if we have no access to any original papers or even photocopies of these original papers! I would rather say that these affirmations are even a greater hoax, as these have never been demanded to be actually presented! All that ever has been presented was a text, some phrases read in court, some text presented by Ron DeWolf (which he later withdrew), and ‘transcripts’ from Gerry Armstrong (presented in 2000). What is this for an amazingly silly world in where people can and/or dare claim authenticity for particularly damaging papers and think they never have to show anything for it? So, who are these amazingly silly people that claim authenticity without any presentation of a handwriting? It is rather astonishing that there are people arguing where the evidence would be that they are not authentic. Excuse me? Isn't that up to the person that claims authenticity to first provide proof that something would be authentic! How can you possibly ask for any counter-evidence if you yourself have not presented any materials that can be subjected to examination? That which is attempted here is the so-called burden of proof shift.
But even worse, why are people in general and the media even falling for something like that?! Well, mostly this will be because it will confirm preconceptions people already had. This is also a story that can be sold, money that can be pocketed. There was thus already a conditioned state of mind formed by the receiver (the public) of the information. It is not asked of the public to be critical, they are asked to simply consume, and they do, ignorantly and so often very willingly.

Introduction of Gerry Armstrong and his ‘affirmations’

Gerry Armstrong in February 2009, in a video he had dedicated to me

This is still a sort of sensitive matter. I haven't been keen about addressing this. See, if I was to address these writings I could not ignore the person who had spurred them into existence and who had raised public awareness about them. He listens to the name Gerry Armstrong, and one could say that he sort of has been spearheading the anti-Scientology movement for a while. Regarding these affirmations one usually only will see their take being presented. Well, my write-up could be seen as the other side of the coin. To somehow establish who would or would not be the author of these affirmations. It requires that one should very carefully track their actual recorded history and forward the documentation in existence. I have gone through the available materials in rather great detail and I thus forward these and share herewith my observations. I simply figured that someone should report about this story in the way as I have done now. It wasn't available, now it is. These affirmations, as offered by Gerry Armstrong in 2000, are available at some places out on the Internet. My focus here will not be so much on what it says in them, my focus will be on their recorded history and origin and how provable (or not) this may turn out to be.

An observation that can be made about the whole thing is though that it rather effectively has drawn the attention away from what the subject matter of Dianetics and Scientology actually are about. Most particularly the Gerry Armstrong episode is about attacking and discrediting the person L. Ron Hubbard with claimed authentic papers, and therewith to persuade the public to discard of the subject of Dianetics and Scientology wholly, before they got to know anything about it. The Gerry Armstrong episode could thus be perceived as an act of distraction. May be one should keep his in mind a bit. If you can't destroy or discredit a topic, you attack the person that forwarded the topic. This is generally referred to as ad hominem.

	“We don't have to prove a goddam thing. We don't have to prove sh-t. We just have to allege it.”
	– Gerald Armstrong
	(Immortalized on video tape in Nov 1984, using a telephoto lens and a long range microphone that, amongst other, picked up this quote.

“He believed that the only way he could defend himself, physically as well as from harassing lawsuits, was to take from Omar Garrison those materials which would support and corroborate everything that he had been saying within the Church about LRH and the Church, or refute the allegations made against him in the April 22 Suppressive Person Declare. He believed that the only way he could be sure that the documents would remain secure for his future use was to send them to his attorneys, and that to protect himself, he had to go public so as to minimize the risk that LRH, the Church, or any of their agents would do him physical harm.” (from ‘Memorandum of Intended Decision’ by Judge Paul G. Breckenridge Jr., 20 Jun 84)

Strictly taken this adjudication could be regarded as being rather nonsensical. It's like you invite someone in your home to look at some things, you go out to get some drinks, then by the time you return you find that your visitor is gone with your personal belongings. Then a judge comes along and says to you: “Sorry guy, you lost ownership! Now they're going public!”. Either way the Church of Scientology wanted these materials back and so the happenings dragged on till a settlement was reached in Dec 1986. And at such time the Church of Scientology had to pay rather heavily -financially- to get these belongings returned to them.

The irony here is that Gerry Armstrong very actively made himself him a target for the Church of Scientology (naturally) as he took materials that were not his and that he refused to return. Of course they went after him, who wouldn't! If he had returned them or had not taken them, things may not very likely have evolved as they now had. The Church of Scientology would not have had any particular reason to ‘harass’ him or any other if he simply had returned the properties he had taken or had not taken them in the first place. Then if Gerry Armstrong was so much in fear then why did he repeatedly violate his later settlement deal from Dec 1986? His tale tells that he has persistently provoked the representatives of the Church of Scientology and made himself a target again and again and again.

In an article published by Bruce Livesay on 23 June 2008, in where he had visited and interviewed Gerry Armstrong, he relates the following: “Armstrong signed the agreement, the documents about Hubbard were returned to the church, and he pocketed $500,000 US (the rest went to his lawyer).”. Still this is quite a sum of money that he received. Interesting is also that the same article tells about the claim of Gerry Armstrong that it was “his lawyer, who collectively represented about twenty former Scientologists, negotiated a settlement: in return for $800,000 US for himself, Armstrong would sign a confidentiality agreement”. A few sentences later in the article it reads: “‘You have to sign,’ Armstrong recalls his attorney saying. ‘All of these people [the other litigants and former Scientologists] are depending on you to have fair game end for them.’”.

Strangely enough it had earlier in this same article been referring to Gerry Armstrong as “this unemployed, penniless man living on a disability pension in the middle of nowhere in British Columbia”. It is rather unclear what he had done with this settlement benefit amounting US$ 500,000. A bit later in the article it then said: “Financially broke, Armstrong is unable to hire lawyers and has for the past several years represented himself.”. Be it noted here that he was then, as he is at present, residing in Canada escaping court justice. A country where the US has no jurisdiction. As far as known Gerry Armstrong has never accounted for what he had done with his benefit settlement. When I had the opportunity to inquire in person with him a while back, he simply chose to ignore answering to this. It has been proposed to me that these funds would have been spent on expenses for judicial support. This argument however does not appear very plausible simply due to the fact that he all these years has been hiding in Canada. In addition if Gerry Armstrong would actually have been right about matters, then why did he not receive any further earnings from judges that ruled in his favour? As it appears followers of Gerry Armstrong are very quick to only refer to court decisions that had been favourable for him, and with the same ignore all the rest. Or they may resort to simply put the blame on the supposed intimidation of the Church of Scientology at the courts. Subsequently it is ignored that if he today would be penniless, broke, and living from a disability pension, that it casts also doubt on his claimed effectiveness while employed within the Scientology organization. His path in life really hasn't been very successful since after he had left the organization, at the same we do know nothing about how successful or not he had been prior to joining staff in a Scientology organization.

• Chronological overview of events according to news media and court
• Court proceedings held in 1984 (selections of the ‘affirmations’ read in court)
• Signing and breach of 1986 settlement

 
Chronological overview of events according to news media and court

A selection and synopsis taken from this ‘Appendix’ that folds out a chronology of events, followed with some commentaries and annotations:
	“Defendant Armstrong was involved with Scientology from 1969 through 1981, a period spanning 12 years. During that time he was a dedicated and devoted member who revered the founder, L. Ron Hubbard.”
	“On January 8, 1980, Defendant Armstrong wrote a petition to Hubbard requesting his permission to perform the research for a biography to be done about his life.”
	“In June of 1980 Defendant Armstrong became involved in the selection of a writer for the Hubbard biography. Defendant Armstrong learned that Hubbard had approved of a biography proposal prepared by Omar Garrison, a writer who was not a member of Scientology.”
	“From November of 1980 through 1981, Defendant Armstrong worked closely with Mr. Garrison, assembling Hubbard's archives into logical categories, copying them and arranging the copies of the Archives materials into bound volumes. Defendant Armstrong made two copies of almost all documents copied for Mr. Garrison - one for Mr. Garrison and the other to remain in Hubbard Archives for reference or recopying. Defendant Armstrong created approximately 400 binders of documents.”
	“During 1980 Defendant Armstrong remained convinced of Hubbard's honesty and integrity and believed that the representation he had made about himself in various publications were truthful.”
	“Slowly, however, throughout 1981, Defendant Armstrong began to see that Hubbard and the Organization had continuously lied about Hubbard's past, his credentials, and his accomplishments.”
	“Defendant Armstrong attempted to change and make accurate the various ‘about the author’ sections in Scientology books, and further, Defendant rewrote or critiqued several of these and other publications for the L. Ron Hubbard Public Relations Bureau and various Scientology Organizations.”
	“Because of Defendant Armstrong's actions, in late November of 1981, ... Defendant Armstrong was ordered to undergo a ‘security check,’ ...”

A strange sequence follows here below:
	“In December of 1981 Defendant Armstrong made the decision to leave the Church of Scientology. In order to continue in his commitment to Hubbard and Mr. Garrison in the biography project, he copied a large quantity of documents, which Mr. Garrison had requested or which would be useful to him for the biography. Defendant Armstrong delivered all of this material to Mr. Garrison the date he left the SEA Organization and kept nothing in his possession.
	Thereafter, Defendant Armstrong maintained friendly relations with Hubbard's representatives by returning to the Archives offices and discussing the various categories of materials. In fact on February 24, 1982, Defendant Armstrong wrote to Vaughn Young, regarding certain materials Mr. Young was unable to locate for Omar Garrison.
	After this letter was written, Defendant Armstrong went to the Archives office and located certain materials Mr. Garrison had wanted which Hubbard representatives claimed they could not locate.”
Annotation:  These last 3 paragraphs in the above actually make a rather strange claim. If it was true that Gerry Armstrong had actually left the organization then how is it possible that he was allowed to continue to work on that very project??

	“At the time Defendant Armstrong left the SEA Organization, he was disappointed with Scientology and Hubbard, and also felt deceived by them. However, Defendant Armstrong felt he had no enemies and felt no ill will toward anyone in the Organization or Hubbard”
	“After leaving the SEA Organization, Defendant Armstrong continued to assist Mr. Garrison with the Hubbard biography project. In the spring of 1982, Defendant Armstrong at Mr. Garrison's request, transcribed some of his interview tapes, copied some of the documentation he had, and assembled several more binders of copied materials.”
Annotation:  The same note can be made here. Leaving is not considered something in your favour, in particular not within the Scientology organization! Why then was he allowed to still have access to these materials if he had left?

And then suddenly (?):
	“On February 18, 1982, the Church of Scientology International issued a ‘Suppressive Person Declare Gerry Armstrong,’ which is an official Scientology document issued against individuals who are considered as enemies of the Organization.”
Annotation:  This is indeed a very strange sequence of happenings... For the very simple reason that if this was ahead of him and he was thus under actual investigation, his access to any church materials would have been restricted instantly and completely! He would also have been ordered to return any materials in his possession saved elsewhere, originals and photocopies.

Another very unlikely sequence following is quoted here below:
	“From his extensive knowledge of the covert and intelligence operations carried out by the Church of Scientology of California against its enemies (suppressive persons), Defendant Armstrong became terrified and feared that his life and the life of his wife were in danger, and he also feared he would be the target of costly and harassing lawsuits. ... Thus, Defendant Armstrong made copies of certain documents for Mr. Garrison and maintained them in a separate location.
	It was thereafter, in the summer of 1982, that Defendant Armstrong asked Mr. Garrison for copies of documents to use in his defense and sent the documents to his attorneys, ...”
Annotation:  It is rather unclear what extensive knowledge and experience he would have had about some operations. When did he expose about these? If he breaches agreements that easily then why is he silent about some operations? He had been in the organization since 1969, during which time “he was a dedicated and devoted member who revered the founder, L. Ron Hubbard”. Things seems to have turned around almost overnight during 1981. Suddenly he even claims he is fear of his life and his wife's. For what? Because he had left the organization? He had not done very much else, yet! He also admits that he had made advance preparations for possible future happenings for, as he calls it, his defence. When, as we can see from all future happenings that he himself is persistently providing the reason for that the Church of Scientology chooses to target him!

The Church of Scientology then resorted to file for a civil lawsuit in August 1982 accusing Gerry Armstrong of stealing documents, which at that time were held by the court's clerk and were until then sealed from the public.

	“A Los Angeles Superior Court judge says that a letter purportedly written by Church of scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard can't be used in a legal battle to regain thousands of his personal papers. The documents – personal letters and journals – allegedly were stolen from the Church by Gerald Armstrong. ... Armstrong's attorney, Bruce Bunch, said yesterday that Judge L. Cole has told Hubbard's attorneys the letter can't be used to retrieve the 30,000 documents.		‘Given your lack of standing as counsel and the fact that Mr. Hubbard has not appeared as a party in that action, the request contained in his letter cannot be deemed to be a motion upon which the court can act,’ Cole wrote to Hubbard's attorneys in a letter dated wednesday. The church has filed suit against Armstrong, but Hubbard has not. ... ‘If Hubbard wants to be heard as to what should happen with these documents,’ Bunch said, ‘Hubbard has to present himself and appear.’”

(from ‘Los Angeles Herald’, Friday,11 Feb 83 “Hubbard's ‘Request’ for Papers”)

	“A Los Angeles Superior Court judge tuesday refused to release 21 boxes of personal letters and journals of reclusive Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard to church officials, despite a handwritten letter purportedly from Hubbard claiming them as his property. The material is the subject of a lawsuit by the Scientologists against their former member and archivist, Gerald Armstrong, seeking permanent return of the documents. The church claims that Armstrong stole the material. He claims that Hubbard had permitted him to use it under a contract to produce a biography of Hubbard. ...		Scientology attorneys Barrett S. Litt and John G. Peterson also argued that Hubbard's wife, Mary Sue, an intervenor in the case, verified that the documents belong to the Hubbards and requested that they be returned to the church. But Savitch said the fairest course is to leave the documents in the clerk hands until a full trial can determine who should have them. That could take four years because of court backlogs. Church President Heber Jentzsch said outside court that church lawyers will have to determine whether to appeal Savitch's ruling.”

(from ‘Los Angeles Times’, Wednesday, 27 Apr 83 “Scientologists Fail to Obtain Hubbard's Files”)

 
Court proceedings held in 1984 (selections of the ‘affirmations’ read in court)

A rather interesting data that comes to light per the quotations in the previous section is that the materials that came forward into court were no originals. They were simply photocopies that were assembled by Gerry Armstrong into binders. Apparently this is all they were.

	“From the October 28, 1983 deposition transcript, page 264, line 2 through line 21:
	"QWell, maybe you can explain it to me. Was there within the archives materials that you were working with while you held the archives position some documents that had been labeled or identified 'Affirmations'?
	"AThat is correct.
	"QCan you explain to me what these were.
	"AAffirmations were handwritten materials, handwritten by L. Ron Hubbard, which went over various of his problems, and they were self-hypnotic commands that he was writing to himself, affirmations. And they were from the late 1940's, and they referred to his work career, his physical and mental condition, that sort of thing.
	"QThen, were these separate documents, or were they all one document? How were they physically compiled?
	"AThey were assorted. There's a number from the same kind of period or same style of writing.
	"QAnd these were handwritten --
	"AYes.
	"Q-- by Mr. Hubbard?
	"AYes."
	From page 264 beginning at line 27, going to page 265, through 20 of the same deposition transcript:
	"QAnd these were in the nature of personal notes or personal thoughts or ideas? Is that essentially what these documents consisted of?
	"APersonal writings.
	"QApproximately how many different documents are we talking about?
	"AMaybe six.
	"QAnd they all come roughly from the late 1940's?
	"AYes.
	"QWhile you were holding the archives post, where did you obtain these documents?
	"AThey originally came from the boxes in Del Sol on the Gilman Hot Springs property.”

	“MR. LITT:Let me clarify it, as Mr. Armstrong knows, does the court have all of the affirmations? Mr. Armstrong, do you know what the affirmations are?
	MR. ARMSTRONG:Yes.
	MR. LITT:Has the full set of the affirmations, including the book been brought up here and the introductory part to it which is about 30 pages?
	MR. ARMSTRONG:Let me give you some numbers; okay? I'll give you some -- it is 4-D, 4-E, 4-F, 4-G, 4-H, 4-I. That is it. 4-I fits in that category. It is not part of that particular set of documents, but --
	MR. LITT:Do those things together constitute the totality of the affirmations?
	MR. ARMSTRONG:As far as I know, it does.
	MR. LITT:Your Honor, could we take a look for a moment just to determine for ourselves?
	MR. FLYNN:Your Honor, if it doesn't we have no objection --
	MR. LITT:We just want to know what the court has.
	MR. FLYNN:-- to the plaintiff bringing up whatever they want to bring up. Our feeling, Your Honor, is all the records --
	THE COURT:I know what your feeling is.
	MR. FLYNN:-- are relevant.
	THE COURT:I have heard it. Well, We are in recess until 9 o'clock.
	MR. HARRIS:Very well.
	MR. LITT:If Mr. Armstrong could come here for a moment and tell me what document goes with what, I think we can put then in proper order for the court.
	MR. FLYNN:We want them it that order, Mr. Litt, for a very specific reason.
	MR. LIT:But the order that they appear in is not the order that they were in in the original binders, so I would like for the court's review for them to be in the order that they were in in the original binder. Thank you, Mr. Flynn.
	MR. FLYNN:The original binder was created by Mr. Armstrong.
	MR. LITT:I am quite aware of this.
	THE COURT:Okay, okay, just relax.”

	“QNow, would you read the portion relating to Mr. Hubbard's Naval background and Veterans Administration background that we have selected.
	...
	THE WITNESS [Mr. Armstrong](reading:) "Your stomach trouble" --
	MR. LITT:Obviously, we object to any reading. I just wanted to make it clear for the record.
	THE COURT:I'll deem it that you are objecting to each of these. Overruled so long as Mr. Flynn is continuing the line of what he has already told me he is going to do.
	MR. FLYNN:I am limiting it to that. And I have shown it to Mr. Litt.
	THE WITNESS:(Reading:) "Your stomach trouble you used as an excuse to keep the Navy from punishing you. You are free of the Navy. You have no further reason to have a weak stomach. "Your ulcers are all well and never bother you. You can eat anything. "Your hip is a pose. You have a sound hip. It never hurts. "Your shoulder never hurts. "Your foot was an alibi. The injury is no longer needed. It is well. You have perfect and lovely feet. "Your sinus trouble is nothing. It is not dangerous. It will vanish. The common cold amuses you. You are protected from further illness. Your cat fever has vanished forever and will never return. You do not have malaria. "When you tell people you are ill, it has no effect upon your health. And in Veterans Administration examinations you'll tell them how sick you are; you'll look sick when you take it; you'll return to health one hour after the examination and laugh at them. "No matter what lies you may tell others, they have no physical effect on you of any kind. You never injure your health by saying it is bad. You cannot lie to yourself."
	QOn the exhibit 500 quadruple E page 18, subparagraph (g) --
	MR. LITT:Your Honor, before that occurs, Mr. Flynn has chosen out a series -- what is a subsection (g) --
	THE COURT:May I see it?
	MR. LITT:-- from this document and at the top of the previous page are the words "by hypnosis I must be convinced as follows:" and then there are a series of subsection (a), (b) at cetera from which Mr. Flynn wishes to read subsection (g).
	MR. FLYNN:I'd be happy to have the whole document go into evidence.
	MR. LITT:No, no, no. The words “by hypnosis” --
	THE COURT:If you want that read, it may be read. "By hypnosis I must be convinced as follows:" and then skip to subparagraph (g).
	MR. LITT:Yes.
	THE COURT:The court will deem that the witness has read what I have just read to avoid repetition.
	THE WITNESS:This is (g), "That my eyes (which I used as an excuse to get out of school) are perfect and do not pain me ever."”

“THE WITNESS [Mr. Armstrong]:Those 4D through 4G are the documents that we have called at various times the affirmations or the admissions, ...”

	“MR. LITT:Is the Court going to permit a reading from this?
	THE COURT:Those excerpts and, of course, if you want in later testimony to develop the context or something to affect it, you may do so. Please identify the exhibit that you are referring to before you do it.
	MR. FLYNN:4D, 500 4D.
	QIt states, 'Men are your slaves.'
	Is that correct, Mr. Armstrong?
	AYes.”

	“MR. FLYNN:(Reading:)
	'Elemental spirits are your slaves.'
	QAnd referring to exhibit 4F it states, 'You can be merciless whenever your will is crossed and you have the right to be merciless'; is that correct, Mr. Armstrong?
	AYes.”

 
Signing and breach of 1986 settlement

“Plaintiff agrees never to create or publish or attempt to publish, and/or assist another to create for publication by means of magazine, article, book or other similar form, any writing or to broadcast or to assist another to create, write, film or video tape or audio tape any show, program or movie, or to grant interviews or discuss with others, concerning their experiences with the Church of Scientology, individuals and entities ... Plaintiff further agrees that he will maintain strict confidentiality and silence with respect to his experiences with the Church of Scientology and any knowledge or information he may have concerning the Church of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, or any of the organizations, individuals and entities ...”

In 1992 he was summoned by the Church of Scientology for breaching the above agreement, later claims for breach of contract were forwarded in 1995 and again in 2002. Because of this the amount of the monies that he had received was also no longer kept confidential.

It is sort of interesting that Gerry Armstrong was welcomed, heralded and revered, by the anti-Scientologist community, as a true hero. The reason that they provide is that they believed that he had not submitted to supposed intimidation by the Church of Scientology. Gerry Armstrong himself persistently had claimed ever since that he had been persecuted by members of the Church of Scientology. This credibility awarded to him may however not be entirely rightfully earned as after all he had signed an agreement that supplied him with US$ 500,000. If he was not going to follow the agreement then why accepting these funds? Or if he later disagreed with that what he signed, why not returning these funds? Funds he had received for materials that were not his to start with. How credible does that make him really?

This can also be viewed in an ironical light if we then consult a declaration that Gerry Armstrong wrote on 26 Jan ’97 in where he says at #4: “I have been sued by the Scientology organization five times since 1982 in its continuing effort to prevent me from speaking the truth and to destroy me financially.”. How could he be destroyed financially, the US$ 500,000 that he personally pocketed from the Church of Scientology should last for a while. At that he resides in Canada, he is a native Canadian, where the US has no jurisdiction.

In the same declaration he writes at #3: “I have testified, either in deposition or trial, over 60 days in approximately 20 Scientology related cases. I have written and executed dozens of declarations”. Obviously he is openly, and as it seems rather proudly, violating the agreement he signed. Rather conveniently however he kept the funds he had pocketed from that agreement.

At present he is residing in Canada. He does not earn a living through employment as far as known. He is living a life that appears a full time dedication to discredit the person L. Ron Hubbard and through that the subject matter of Scientology and its affiliated organization. He also frequently appears at demonstrations that target the Church of Scientology. Then he is appearing as a witness at many trials, posts on news groups, makes interviews for radio and television, creates huge anti-Scientology websites on the Internet, and somehow he seems to have the funds to do all these things without having the need to earn a living. It may seem obvious that he is living off the funds he benefited earlier in 1986 from the Church of Scientology.

• ‘Bare-Faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard’ by Russell Miller
• ‘L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman?’ by Bent Corydon and L. Ron Hubbard Jr.

The year 1987 saw the release of 2 books that made mention of these affirmations.

 
‘Bare-Faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard’ by Russell Miller

The first to make mention of the affirmations outside of the courthouse and in a book publication was Russell Miller in his book ‘Bare-Faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard’, released in 1987. He takes them up in passing in chapter 8 entitled: “The Mystery of the Missing Research”, and quotes the bulk of these phrases that were 2 years earlier read in court.

 
‘L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman?’ by Bent Corydon and L. Ron Hubbard Jr.

“All men shall be my slaves!
  All women shall succumb to my charms!
  All mankind shall grovel at my feet and not know why!”

The above lines we find in this book ‘L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman?’ by Bent Corydon and L. Ron Hubbard Jr. a.k.a. Ronald DeWolf, issued in 1987. This is the 2nd time we get some more phrases that are claimed to be deriving from these affirmations. Interesting and noteworthy is that these phrases are different. Here we find as a noted coauthor L. Ron Hubbard Jr. (aka Ron DeWolf), yet he himself denounced this authorship in an affidavit written prior to the release of the book. In this affidavit (dated 20 May 1987) he writes: “To the extend that any portion of the book is based on my previous manuscripts, ..., the book is complete and utter fantasy without the slightest figment of truth.”.

	“According to Ron Jr. his father used drugs and self-hypnosis in order to beef up his WILL:
	For years he used even in the thirties sound scribers. I think you would call it that....The original dictaphones, and IBM had one tot, ..., And he would read these what he called the ‘Affirmations’ into the dictaphone. This is when they were non-erasable. You know, the old Edison with the wax cylinder. He would write these up, or he'd take quotes from the Book of the Law, and other places; then he'd take whatever he had in the way of drugs and play ’em back. Usually he used headphones.
	Hardly anyone believed Ron Jr. when he told this story; but the ‘Affirmations,’ in their original hand-written version, were brought into evidence in open court in Los Angeles in mid-1984, and are part of the court record.”

Here below I copied some further sections of his lengthy explanation foregoing these affirmations and let them follow with my comments.

	“In 1984 I read portions of them into the record at my trial in $cientology v. Armstrong, Los Angeles Superior Court, Case No. C 420153.”

	“Omar first called these writings Hubbard's ‘Affirmations.’ Later, after it dawned on him that Hubbard was a stupendous liar, Omar said he was correcting himself, and thereafter called the writings the ‘Admissions.’ I believe that Omar was right, and that these writings are ‘Affirmations,’ but more importantly, ‘Admissions.’”

	“I don't know who in this recent period sent me the copy from which I typed that follows. In any event I would not divulge the identity of the person because of the clear and senseless threat of attack from the people who now run $cientology. It is sufficient for legal purposes to state that the copy I received was not made by me. By the time the Admissions are posted to the internet, I will have, pursuant to the wishes of the person who made it, destroyed the copy I received.”

	“Obviously I don't have any desire to profit monetarily by posting Hubbard's unpublished Admissions.”

	“I am also posting the Admissions openly to confirm their authenticity. The copy I received was not clear in places, and it is now gone. All words, spellings, punctuation and notations are Hubbard's, except for brackets [] which are mine.”

	“Posting the Admissions, I believe, lessens the threat of harm or murder to silence me, but it ups the revenge factor ®. The person who sent me the copy emphatically doesn't want any trouble. Good Lord, I don't want any trouble, and I'm the guy who typed this copy and will now post it using my own name to ... [newsgroup]. The person who sent the copy certainly knew that I would recognize the writings and I'd like to think wanted me to do with them what I've done and what the person was in no position to do.”

	“The judge in the Julie Christofferson v. Scientology case, where the cult broke the Armstrong Op videos, initially would not allow the cult to use them because they were obtained illegally. He also stated, after watching them in chambers, that the videos ‘are devastating, devastating against the church.’
	An attempt to discredit a witness testifying against the Church of Scientology in a fraud trial hit a snag Thursday when a Portland judge called surreptitiously made videotapes an ‘amateurish performance’ and refused to let them be shown to the jury.
	‘I think they are devastating, devastating against the church,’ Multnomah Circuit Judge Donald H. Londer said out of the presence of the jury after viewing 108 minutes of tape recorded in a Los Angeles park last November.
	[...]
	After viewing the tapes, Londer told attorneys he thought it was ‘very questionable’ whether the concealed recordings were made under legal authority in California by a private investigator. He also said the method used in the tapes ‘borders more on entrapment than anything else.’ [from newspaper article ‘Oregonian’, 5 Apr 85]
	Because they showed that Scientology's fair game practice was alive and well, however, Christofferson's attorneys dropped their objection to the videos being put into evidence, and they were played for the jury. And the jury returned a devastating judgment for Julie. And the Judge, a month later, for some reason that he apparently took to his grave, declared a mistrial.
	The cult, of course, after the 1986 ‘settlement’ continued to use the illegally obtained videos and to twist and wring anything they could out of them to fair game me.
	That worked about as well as the rest of Scientology's tech, didn't it?
	© Gerry Armstrong

	“Made by police impersonator Eugene Ingram, and edited to hell by OSA*.
	They might be part of the court record, but as garbage that was rejected by the court as evidence.
	You lose.”

For the record it can be said that Gerry Armstrong himself has actually been presenting these very videos through his own website. Then strangely enough he is also hosting scannings from the Scientology periodical ‘Freedom’ Apr/May 85 (Special Edition) that carries a large article about this matter entitled: “Videotapes of Federal informant Reveal Bizarre Government Plot to Destroy Church” (see pages 3-12). Indeed Gerry Armstrong must be very confident about matters as this article goes in rather great depth about this matter and provides for rather extensive transcripts of pertinent sections from these tape recordings. Is Gerry Armstrong bluffing when he does so, I tend to think that this is the reason. He can't deny these things and thus he hosts all these things himself. The matter is then to get them differently interpreted or presented. And this is actually what Gerry Armstrong has been doing from the very beginning.

	“I went through the transcripts and pulled the ‘best’ parts I could find, doing my best to comply with DM's orders to make Gerry look like a paid informant. Privately I thought it was obvious, even after the editing, that Gerry was being set up, but I dutifully turned in my doctored transcript to DM, who then turned it over to Ted Horner, a Gold staff member in charge of film editing, to use my edited transcript to do the final edit on the videotapes.
	After seeing the videotape, the judge was enraged and told the Scientologists, ‘I have heard about these dirty tactics that you use against your perceived enemies, but now that I have seen it for myself I think you are much, much worse than I had ever imagined!’ And kicked them out of his chambers.
	Everyone joined in the delusion that we were simply tightening up the videotape. DM ordered me and the rest of the FREEDOM staff to turn the edited GA videotape transcripts into a special edition of FREEDOM. If the judge wouldn't listen, then we would take the issue to the people of Portland! That was what DM said.”

I would question the correctness of the contents of this tale for reasons that I have described elsewhere in this section of my write-up. It may very well be so that “DM” (=David Miscavige) ordered all sorts of things. But the raw tapes simply didn't need much work! “GA” (=Gerry Armstrong) behaved and talked like a “paid informant” (or pretty much so). See, there is just too much raw tape trying to go around that and claim that Gerry Armstrong would have been “set up”!

If that judge really responded like that, then it may get a bit silly. It does appear to be on record that the private investigator had written permission to video record, or at least he believed he had. That the earlier mentioned Chief of Police Daryl F. Gates “believed to have been drafted by Ingram [private investigator] himself,” as he claims in his ’Public Announcement, dated 23 Apr 1985’, issued thus a while after conclusion of the Gerry Armstrong trials in June 1984.

The recordings (raw tapes)

These raw tapes that have been available are of a rather reasonable quality, keeping in mind that these were recorded with a telephoto lens and a long range microphone at considerable distance.

Allowing a hired biographer access to particularly ‘damaging’ papers? Why was an autobiography never an option?

May be the grandest of inconsistencies here may very well be that if L. Ron Hubbard actually knew he had such papers as these affirmations in his archives and evidence for the many other claimed fabrications about his own life, then why, why, oh why would he have allowed someone to have access to papers that would very effectively expose him? Did he forgot about all these? Can you actually forget about all of that? Here the member of the anti-Scientology movement will be quick to tell that L. Ron Hubbard was living his own delusion. It would be rather obvious though that giving anyone (particularly a hired biographer) knowingly and willingly access to materials of this nature, would be an error of gargantuan proportions! See, it would just never work in your favour! What about the person surrounding L. Ron Hubbard, would they also all be living their own delusion? No one of these persons would have spotted or be on the alert for anything? See, that's just not very likely.

Now, the person approached to have the biography written, Omar V. Garrison, he had the repute to be a rather conscientious writer. He would just not write things that he knew could not be supported or were contradicted by existing documentation or that were simply untrue. So, if you want a boasting kind of biography written, as the Church of Scientology since have produced, you would just not turn to Omar V. Garrison. Next we see is that he was given through Gerry Armstrong access to particularly damaging materials. That it at all occurred is in itself a paradox, if not somehow and deliberately orchestrated!

I can't disregard from that it all gives an impression of being a prank that was pulled in this business involving Gerry Armstrong. It really was not worked out terribly well! The inconsistencies are literally scattered all over the place!

The members of the anti-Scientology community are quick to quote and point at this ‘Memorandum of Intended Decision’ by Judge Paul G. Breckenridge Jr. (Los Angeles Superior Court, Case No. C 420153; dated 20 Jun 84). Indeed it does not say very nice things about the Church of Scientology and the personality of L. Ron Hubbard. One should however not overlook that this decision is largely based on the sayings and claims of Gerry Armstrong. Also this court decision is just one out of many rulings that since have been made in regards to Gerry Armstrong. Scientology antagonists out on the Internet as a rule fail to mention all that passed the revue afterwards and those rulings that were not particularly favourable of Gerry Armstrong. The integrity of Gerry Armstrong has been seriously questioned by a variety of courts since the original 1984 ruling. Something to which the anti-Scientologist gives a blind eye.

Vocabulary:

     CSI:
‘Church of Scientology International’. A senior level within the Church of Scientology.
     LRH:
An usual abbreviation for ‘L. Ron Hubbard’.
     OSA:
‘Office of Special Affairs’. A network within the Church of Scientology International which plans and supervises the legal affairs of the church, under the board of directors. (What Is Scientology? (1992), p. 649)
     Sea Org (SO):
Short for ‘Sea Organization’. This is the senior organization within the Church of Scientology that see to it that Advanced Organizations (AOs) and the Class IV-V organizations do function well. They send out so-called missions if there are indications or if they find that improvement or corrections are called for. They also provide for dissemination and other programs that the Scientology organizations are to comply with. Missions may be send out to implement these and instruct the organizations.