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ABOUT THE TRUST
The mission of The Lisa McPherson Trust is to expose the abusive and deceptive practices of the Church of Scientology and to help those who have been victimized by it. These were the final wishes of Lisa McPherson's mother, Fannie, who died before the Church of Scientology was held to account for Lisa's death. To accomplish our mission, we will demystify and thereby make transparent the coercive processes and practices of the Church of Scientology. In this way, informed consumers can make an educated decision about whether Scientology can meet their psychological or spiritual needs. We will expose the Church of Scientology's abuse of the human, civil and privacy rights of its members and critics. We will reveal its deceptive advertising practices that border on consumer fraud. We will bring to light those "religious practices" that violate civil or criminal law. At the same time, we will respect the right of all Scientologists to embrace any religious belief they may choose. We will assist Scientologists in recovering from their unique personal experience with the abusive and deceptive practices of the Church of Scientology. We will offer counsel to Scientologists who choose to hear the truth about how the Church of Scientology uses deceptive mind control techniques. Our dedicated staff will provide the information, love and support to Scientologists that will enable them to release the bonds of cult mind control. Finally, all of the people involved in the Lisa McPherson Trust will respect the dignity and innate human goodness of all current, former and recovering Scientologists.
The Board of Directors, Advisory Committee and staff of the Lisa McPherson Trust include a number of former Scientologists who have had firsthand experience with the Church of Scientology's abuse, and they are all in some way still recovering from it. They are decent, caring and compassionate human beings who have chosen to help others that have made similar uninformed decisions about the Church of Scientology. Moreover, they are willing and able to share their innermost personal experiences in the Sea Organization or as public Scientologists in order to educate and immunize others against the abuses and deceptions of the Church of Scientology. The Church of Scientology draws its members from a broad cross-section of society, and, like other destructive cults, uses a sophisticated combination of deceptive recruiting methods, false promises, hypnosis, behavior modification, sleep deprivation, dietary manipulation, information control, phobia indoctrination and other mind control techniques to entice and control its members. There is no shame in having been seduced into a group like the Church of Scientology. Likewise, there need be no reluctance to leave after discovering that the organization is not capable of delivering on its promise of a ''Road to Total Freedom.'' Real freedom begins and ends with the never-ending quest of the human spirit to be free. This perpetual quest is the single most important factor that keeps mind control from being irreversible. Organized Scientology's claim of eight million members is a deception. Informed estimates indicate that there are at most 200,000 active members of the Church of Scientology in the world today. What is clear is that the vast majority of people who join the Church of Scientology reject it, because this organization does not deliver on its promises. The Board of Directors, Advisory Committee and staff of the Lisa McPherson Trust will do our part to see that the human spirit of all Scientologists will always have a pathway to real freedom.
The Lisa McPherson Trust started operations in Clearwater, Florida on January 6, 2000. It was formed after decades of exhaustive investigation by media and government agencies as well as firsthand accounts from hundreds of former Scientologists. For more than twenty-five years there have been outcries that the Church of Scientology abandon its abusive and deceptive practices. But until now, there has been no formal organization committed to stopping these abuses. The Lisa McPherson Trust was established for that purpose, and we are now calling for the Church of Scientology to make the following reforms:
The Lisa McPherson Trust firmly believes in religious freedom for all. But we do not believe that anyone has the right to engage in behavior that violates other people's rights or the laws of the land. Scientologists have every right to participate in the world's religious community in practicing their sincerely held religious beliefs. However, the Church of Scientology needs to cease its abusive and deceptive practices.
Our Officers and Staff: Stacy Brooks, President Our Board of Directors: Stacy Brooks
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