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Church of Scientology 448 Beacon Street L. Ron Hubbard's Adventurous Deeds L. Ron Hubbard is well-known for his work as an author and as the founder of the Scientology religion, but less so for his adventures, including one mentioned by Camille Paglia in her recent article in Arion. Mr. Hubbard believed in living life to its fullest which is why he was a barnstorming pilot, a member of the elite Explorer's Club and a sailor. The latter led him to a distinguished career in the US Naval intelligence. While in the US Navy, Hubbard was assigned a mission in 1945 to break up the US branch of Aleister Crowley's black magic group of the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.) in Pasadena, CA as many physicists were getting involved and this was creating a national security situation. As published in the Sunday Times of London on October 5, 1969, Hubbard successfully infiltrated and broke up this group that was run by Dr. Jack Parsons. This led to many of the top 64 US scientists being declared as security risks and dismissed from government service. According to religious scholar J. Gordon Melton's paper presented at, "The Conference on Alternative Religions" at Loyola University in May of 1981 about Crowley's US leader Jack Parsons, there has been confusion regarding a connection between Mr. Hubbard and O.T.O. leaders. Per Melton, "Since Hubbard's involvement with this incident [covered in the previous paragraph] has also been used to discredit the Church of Scientology that he founded, we should also note that the Church's teachings are not magical and show no connection with the O.T.O. or its beliefs and practices." Mr. Hubbard's works also include a non-religious morals booklet called, "The Way to Happiness" that is used in schools throughout the world as well as proven methods to get people off drugs—a far cry from what Crowley had practiced. For more information on the works and life of Mr. Hubbard, click onto http://www.lronhubbard.org. Sincerely, Rev. Gerard Renna |