Trust's goal: Truth about Scientology

I am a board member for the Lisa McPherson Trust and I take issue with the statements given by the cult of Scientology's spokesman, Marty Rathbun.

First, I am not an outsider, as Mr. Rathbun claims. I own a residence in Tampa and only moved here after the company I work for moved from downtown Clearwater because of the dark and threatening nature of the cult and its not-so-well-hidden agenda.

The cult of Scientology has managed to insidiously insert itself into the very threads that control the business community of downtown Clearwater. When asked by the Lisa McPherson Trust to assist in finding office space downtown, I ended up going to every high-rise office building in downtown with vacant office space. In each case, we were turned down. When asked, some of the property managers were honest enough to say that they'd been contacted by the cult.

We knew this to be true because we were followed by private investigators the entire time we were visiting these buildings. So when Mr. Rathbun says the reason we're here "is to harass people," all I can say is that they accuse others of what they are guilty of.

Mr. Rathbun goes on to say of the trust: "They know better than anybody that any existing Scientologist isn't interested in their information."

Truth be told, the average Scientologists don't even know what their management is doing with all their hard-earned money. The cult's management keeps all that information very quiet, while they allow their own intelligence agency to harass people into silence.

My boss, Peter Alexander, was in Scientology for 20 years and gave a lot of money to this cult, thinking they were doing as they claimed, "making the world a better place." The moment that he found out the truth, he left and is now involved helping others to know the truth, which is what the trust is about.

Finally, to clear up any misconceptions, when Scientology officials said that Minton and his staff are in Clearwater to "violently deprogram" Scientologists, that is a fabrication to induce hate and fear in those members that might think about leaving. Also, if the cult didn't program its members, then why would there be a need to deprogram?

The trust will produce the truth about Scientology and its management, the lies they tell their members and why they are trying to stop the trust.

-- Patricia Greenway, Tampa