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Suppressive Persons


How the Church of Scientology tried (and failed) to suppress
Bare-Faced Messiah

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Russell Miller started work on Bare-Faced Messiah in 1985, not long before L. Ron Hubbard's death. He was well aware that he would face problems. Every author who had written 'unsanctioned' books about the Church of Scientology, and many journalists as well, had been threatened with legal and sometimes physical reprisals; many had been harassed and defamed as well. He knew that the Church could go to extreme lengths to suppress critical comment - in the 1970s, New York journalist Paulette Cooper very nearly went to prison for alleged terroristic activities before the FBI found that the Church leadership was responsible for framing her.

Given this background, it's to Miller's credit that he persevered. The threats were not long in coming. When the Church learned of his project,

"[it] did its best to dissuade people who knew Hubbard from speaking to me and constantly threatened litigation. Scientology lawyers in New York and Los Angeles made it clear in frequent letters that they expected me to libel and defame L. Ron Hubbard. When I protested that in thirty years as a journalist and writer I had never been accused of libel, I was apparently investigated and a letter was written to my publishers in New York alleging that my claim was 'simply not accurate'. It was, and is." (Bare-Faced Messiah, page ix) The death of Hubbard in January 1986 reduced the Church's hand in dealing with Miller - the dead cannot be libelled or defamed (at least in the eyes of the law). Even so, it soon became apparent that the Church's 'secret police' - the Office of Special Affairs (OSA) - regarded Miller's work as being a major threat. As publication day (October 1987) moved closer, the Church's efforts to suppress the book became increasingly desperate - and vicious.



In 1988, Miller wrote a rueful article for The Listener magazine on the bizarre experiences which he had had in writing Bare-Faced Messiah. The nadir was probably the attempt by persons unknown to frame him for an axe murder in South London. Things could only get better after that...

See You In Court - Punch, 19 February 1988

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