Here is the full Freedom Magazine article:

One man is key to the media coverage ignited against the Church of Scientology last year: Mark “Marty” Rathbun. But who is this man, really, who is making these allegations?

Who is the man who has made so many allegations against the Church, and if he’s lying, as so many Church members say he is, then what in his background would make him do so?

Rathbun was born in 1957. His father, 33-year-old Sherrill “Slade” Rathbun, Jr., was a Naval Academy graduate and former Navy officer, and his mother, 30-year-old Patricia Lois Rathbun, was the daughter of the man known for creating a famous advertisement picture of Santa Claus holding a Coke bottle.

From the time he was born, Rathbun’s family life was filled with mental illness, alcoholism and other tragedy, and, ironically, it was his family history of mental illness that brought him to Scientology.

His mother suffered a series of nervous breakdowns before and throughout his early childhood, and his father would later describe her to authorities as “a very disturbed person.”

Slade Rathbun told a family friend that when his wife was pregnant with Marty she received Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT), also known as electroshock, according to a written statement provided by the family friend. The controversial treatment includes electrically inducing seizures.

The father also told the family friend that his late wife had extramarital affairs, including with one of his co-workers, and that she took his youngest son Marty with her to meet men. On one such occasion, one of his ex-wife’s lovers took her to a cottage, where he slapped both Marty and his mother, Slade Rathbun told the family friend.

During the summer of 1962, when Marty Rathbun was five, Patricia Rathbun was hospitalized, and she was released in late summer that year.

Two to three weeks after her release, on September 13, 1962, his home life grew even more traumatic.

About 7 a.m. that morning, his father kissed his mother goodbye as she still lay in bed at the family home in Mill Valley, California, just north of San Francisco. When his father came home from work that day about 5 p.m., he couldn’t find Marty’s mother and so reported her missing.

Her car was later found on the Golden Gate Bridge. Her body was spotted floating in the water by fishermen. She was wearing her husband’s Naval Academy ring and her wedding band on the same hand. There was no note. Her belongings found with the body included an Alcoholics Anonymous book.

Medical doctors have long observed that mental instability can run in families and have found statistically that the chance of being labeled with specific psychotic disorders increases from around 1 percent to 10 percent in families with a history of such disorders.

According to what Slade Rathbun told the family friend, Marty’s childhood was “rough.” He didn’t get along well with his father or either of his two brothers, who he fought with regularly. Slade Rathbun described Marty as “antagonizing” his older brothers and that the relationship with Bruce Rathbun, the youngest of the two older brothers, was particularly “volatile.” According to Sherrill, “they fought each other and Marty hated Bruce.”

Rathbun’s battle with family mental illness didn’t end with his mother.

Both of his two older brothers also suffered from mental illness, and while Marty Rathbun was in high school, one brother was committed to a veteran’s hospital.

“My brother was in and out of trouble,” Rathbun said during a taped interview posted anonymously on the Internet. “When I was in high school I had to bail him out when he got committed in the VA hospital.”

Rathbun graduated from Laguna Beach High School in 1975, and for the next two years attended college in Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz, but later quit. In 1977, he worked as a waiter in Portland, Oregon, and that same year, he told a Scientologist there a story about his brother’s mental illness and how his illness was being treated.

A short time later, Marty Rathbun joined the Church at the age of 19, partly as a way to get help for his brother, he later told a newspaper.

“I was actually seeking some help and answers on how I might help my brother who was currently locked up at Dammasch State Hospital in Oregon… He was heavily sedated. And I had spoke with the psychiatrists there, and they really weren’t talking about any type of cure,” Rathbun stated during a video interview. “They were talking about keeping him under control, and I was kind of afraid he was going to wind up living the rest of his life in the back ward.

“My brother was very close and dear to me, and he had some schizophrenic problems where he’d rapidly rollercoaster as a person. And he’d have trouble with alcohol and he’d wind up getting in a lot of barroom brawls and not being subdued by the cops.

“He’d wind up in the mental ward. But what I found when I went to go see him was that he was literally on at the time the Stelazine and the Thorazine which are the real heavy duty psychiatric drugs which they even refer internally as the chemical straitjackets. And he was literally in a catatonic state.” (See Brother Can You Spare Some Time?)

As his family life was filled with tragedy and death, so were Rathbun’s early years with the Church.

In 1979, only months after he joined, Rathbun was in a vehicle with a woman. He was escorting her and protecting her from her estranged husband, who had allegedly attacked and threatened her.

The husband somehow intercepted the vehicle Rathbun was driving and broke out a window with a pistol, prompting Rathbun to attack him. During the struggle, the pistol went off. As more shots went off, one or more bullets struck the woman in the chest, and her husband pointed the pistol at Rathbun’s head. He pulled the trigger, but for some reason, the gun didn’t fire. As he struggled with Rathbun, he fired the gun again at his estranged wife. She eventually died of her wounds. The husband drove to a hotel room and killed himself, apparently with an overdose of poison.

Rathbun’s father Slade Rathbun told the family friend that the last time Marty visited him for any length of time was for a couple of weeks in December 1980, but Rathbun spent most of his time out of the house at bars and took a trip to Mexico. His father said that Marty went drinking once with his older brother Bruce but Marty wouldn’t discuss whether they had made up their differences as kids. Slade said he “always wondered what happened back in December of 1980 between Marty and Bruce,” according to the friend.

Six months later, in 1981, while he was still dealing with the effects of his other brother’s mental illness, tragedy struck Rathbun again.

At about 9 p.m. on July 1 of that year, two joggers in Garden Grove, California, became alarmed when their dog sniffed at a pile of concrete near railroad tracks in the 7700 block of Garden Grove Boulevard, some 25 miles from the Rathbun family home. The joggers pulled away a few chunks of concrete and found the decomposing body of an adult male dressed in brown shorts and hiking shoes.

Authorities identified the man as Bruce Grenville Rathbun, Marty Rathbun’s other brother. At the time, police suspected the body had been there up to a year, but they now suspect the length of time the body was there was shorter. Authorities continue to refuse to release further details, calling it a cold case which was recently reopened by a Garden Grove Police Detective.

Meanwhile, Marty Rathbun, who was working as a mail clerk in the Church, was assigned as an administrative assistant to a special unit assigned to take control over litigation matters affecting the Church at the time. From there he gradually took over more and more authority in legal affairs and ultimately rose to an executive position over external matters. Although the position sounded all encompassing, his actual functions in the late 1980s entailed overseeing the handling of legal matters being handled within a branch of the Church assigned to external affairs.

But his career fell just as fast as it rose.

The woman who worked as Rathbun’s secretary from 1987 to 1993 said in a declaration that she witnessed Rathbun become violent and abusive on several occasions.

“He would go into violent outbreaks and rages,” she said. “In one particular instance when he did not like the answer he received, he…went into a rage, ripped the phone out of the wall and threw it across the conference room table so it hit the shelf and only barely missed the staff member.”

By 1993, Church officials said, Rathbun had become obsessed with his work, reveling in the confrontations that came with litigating civil cases against the Church.

That same year Rathbun’s stepmother died of a prescription drug overdose, and his father was battling cancer, when the family house burned down.

After the end of the war with the IRS, Rathbun was ordered to settle rather than litigate all other outstanding legal cases. Rathbun’s supervisor at the time said Rathbun became irate. Instead of using the legal momentum the Church gained to mark a new era for the religion, Rathbun got on his motorcycle and drove away, leaving behind his job and his wife.

Four days later, he telephoned from New Orleans. Subsequently, Rathbun was removed from his staff position, but provided with a two-year sabbatical in the Caribbean during which time keepers saw to his every need. (See Postcards from the Edge or Marty Takes a Holiday.)

Following this sabbatical, Rathbun held various positions at both the Church in Clearwater, Florida, and at Church offices in California, working his way back into dealing with legal affairs.

But complaints about his behavior continued.

Co-workers said Rathbun would yell at subordinates for no apparent reason. “He’d just go crazy,” said one former subordinate. An internal investigation leading to his ultimate removal revealed a series of incidents that included physical attacks on staff members.

More significantly, it was also discovered that he had withheld vital information on legal matters—of such a serious nature that his actions caused the very situations he claimed he was handling—in particular a criminal and civil case in Florida. (See A Liar is a Coward; a Perjurer is a Criminal.)

In January 2004, after Rathbun had been demoted to a lower Church and relieved of any remaining vestiges of authority, he began to display what Church officials called “psychotic behavior.” Witnesses told of how Rathbun tackled co-worker Mike Rinder, and violently beat him. It took five men to pull Rathbun off Rinder, officials said. (See The “Kinky” Relationship: Rathbun & Rinder.)

The following month, Rathbun left Church management headquarters without notice, drove up the California coast in a rented car, a bottle of tequila on the passenger seat. He eventually ran off the road and awoke the next morning in a ditch. Whereupon, he called his wife.

“He said, ‘I’m a warrior. I’m a mercenary. I’m a fighter,’ ” she told CNN. “I was a bit concerned about his statements of a warrior and mercenary because he’s got a bit of a [history] of insanity, in his family.”

Concerned about his mental state, the Church subsequently provided Rathbun with another sabbatical, including tens of thousands of dollars in medical care, for varicose veins, calcium deposits in his neck and other ailments. He was also given unlimited access to a private exercise facility. He was placed on a medically supervised nutritional regimen and granted his request for part-time vocational training in a Church carpentry mill.

Nine months later, Rathbun’s wife moved out of the apartment she shared with him after he shoved his fist in her face and threatened her. Rathbun then left the Church for good on December 12, 2004.

The incident, Rathbun’s ex-wife told CNN, “really, really scared me.”

“And actually at that moment I moved [out of the] apartment and locked my door. Because the one thing I had seen him do, was once on a phone call I saw him get so mad that he put his fist right through a computer screen, and I was stunned.

“…Marty Rathbun is accusing others of what he himself was doing. It’s Marty Rathbun that is a violent psychopath, OK? He’s a psychopath.”

Medical doctors have long observed that mental instability can run in families and have found statistically that the chance of being labeled with specific psychotic disorders increases from around 1 percent to 10 percent in families with a history of such disorders.

The phenomenon is perhaps better described by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard as “contagion of aberration,” in which the lasting effects of traumatic incidents experienced in early life are passed on to other family members through the dramatization of insanity.

The Los Angeles chapter of the Drug-Free Marshals, sponsored by the Church of Scientology of Los Angeles, joined the festivities of the Songkran Festival, the celebration of Thai New Year, getting kids to pledge to live drug-free lives.

Located just blocks from the heart of Thai Town, the Church of Scientology of Los Angeles joined this year’s Songkran Festival, the celebration of Thai New Year, by helping neighborhood children avoid the tragedy of drug abuse.  Scientology volunteers distributed copies of The Truth About Drugs drug-education booklets and “swore in children” as Drug-Free Marshals, a program that encourages youth to pledge to live drug-free lives and help their friends and family do the same.

Thai New Year, celebrated each year in April, is a time of renewal, marked by lighthearted fun and enthusiasm.   Several blocks of Hollywood Boulevard were closed to traffic and filled with hundreds of booths, offering a variety of Thai products including food and beverages, clothing and gifts.  There were also booths from community programs including the Drug-Free Marshals.

“Every 12 seconds another school-age child experiments with illicit drugs for the first time,” said Noelle North, Outreach Program Coordinator for the Church of Scientology of Los Angeles. “Our aim with the Drug-Free Marshals is to reach children with the truth about drugs before they succumb to peer pressure or pro-drug false propaganda.”

The Drug-Free Marshals program was founded by the Church of Scientology International in Los Angeles 17 years ago.  The non-denominational program has been adopted by individuals and organizations throughout the United States and in many other countries as well.

For more information on drug education and prevention programs of the Church of Scientology, visit www.scientology.org.

The Church of Scientology of Quebec urged fellow Quebecois to Say NO to Drugs.

The Church of Scientology of Quebec urged their fellow Quebecois to Say NO to Drugs on Quebec National Day.  This year marks the 401st anniversary of the City of Quebec and on June 23rd, the eve of Quebec National Day, young Scientologists kicked off the holiday by letting the youth of Quebec learn the truth about drugs.

According to the United Nations 2009 Drug Report, Canada is one of the top distributors and producers of synthetic drugs.  This year there were 100,000 drug-related crimes in Canada, with marijuana, ecstasy, crystal meth and cocaine responsible for most of them.

Determined to do something about this and help their fellow Quebecois avoid the tragedy of drug abuse and addiction, a team of young Scientologists gathered to distribute anti-drug booklets to youth arriving at the Parc Plaines D’Abraham to enjoy the traditional concerts there on the eve of the holiday.

The booklets, produced by the Foundation for a Drug Free World, present the facts about drugs, to help youth make informed decisions about drugs.

Scientology churches around the world carry out grass roots activities o help youth make informed choices about drugs. For more information on the anti-drug program of the Church of Scientology visit the Scientology web site.

In May 2009 a lot of media reports claimed that “Scientology was banned from Wikipedia”. Nothing is further from the truth, as usual, when it comes to reporting about Scientology. It took a while to grasp what happened but here we go. The following is a very short explanation and I apologize in advance to Wikipedians for simplifying things for the sake of a better understanding.

Wikipedia.org is a website that hosts about 2 million English articles about any conceivable subject in the world. Amongst these are several articles that deal with Scientology or related subjects. Anyone can edit in Wikipedia, i.e. change the articles in alignment with a complex set of Wikpedia policies such as “WP:RS” that says that any factual statement in an article has to be backed up by a reliable source. “Reliable source” (RS) then is defined as secondary literature such as news articles or peer-reviewed expert opinions. Documents such as certificates, diaries, religious scripture are not or are only rarely allowed as sources for the articles. So far, so good.

In real life, articles in Wikipedia are subject to the editor’s opinion, personal viewpoints etc. that color his/her edits accordingly. In an effort to control this, Wikipedia does not allow representatives of organizations to edit their own articles.

As “anyone can edit”, Wikipedia does not require any credentials or personal data to become an editor. Nameless editors, however, get registered with the IP address (internet connection) their computer is using at the time of the edit. Registered users can choose a nickname. The more edits a user does the more “status” he/she gets on Wikipedia (which should indicate that the “top editors” of Wikipedia are either very rich, are on social welfare or are without a job/student, i.e. they seem to have a lot of time to research and increase article content).

In December 2008 a committee of high status, elect Wikipedia editors took on the task to investigate why articles about Scientology have a lot of noise surrounding them, for example lots of changes back and forth and hostile “discussions” about the articles. Their investigation revealed a pro- and anti-Scientology faction heavily violating another of Wikipedia’s Policy: “Neutral Point Of View”. In short this means, editors should be “neutral” about the subject they write about (Not “disinterested” or “careless” though it could be understood that way).

As a result of the investigation the above committee, formally called the “Arbitration Committee”, ruled to ban 13 pro-Scientology and 15 anti-Scientology editors from further editing any articles remotely connected with “Scientology” (about 430 if my count is right), with the purpose to remove the “combatans” from the article area. This ban is enforced by another group of uebereditors (called “Administrators”) that have the power to cancel accounts and block Internet computers from logging onto Wikipedia.

Also, the 12 ArbCom members decided to block any edits coming from computers that are connected to Internet lines that are rented or owned by the Church of Scientology. This part of the ruling somewhat lacks evidence that the Church of Scientology has been involved in editing articles on Wikipedia (not that the media would care about this minor detail) but consequently IP addresses officially registered by the Church of Scientology are now supposed to be blocked. So anyone working inside a Church of Scientology would be technically blocked from editing the articles (unless he/she uses a wireless internet line or jumps over to Starbucks to log on from there). The whole “ruling” will be reviewed in six months. Meanwhile banned editors could – if they chose to – register under a different name and continue editing as before. This is what seems to be happening in the article now (June 2009).

And what is the viewpoint of the Church of Scientology?

Anyone who cared to ask the Church about their viewpoint on the above “ban” was sent a statement of the Church of Scientology International that said the following:

STATEMENT ON THE WIKIPEDIA CASE

This is a routine internal action by Wikipedia to clean up its editing process. We understand that postings from the Department of Justice and CIA have also been blocked from time to time. This is not new. However, more importantly is the fact that Wikipedia finally banned those who were engaged in unobjective and biased editing for the purposes of antagonism as opposed to providing accurate information. We hope the decision will result in more accurate and useful articles on Wikipedia as the site evolves. Meanwhile, anyone wishing to know about Scientology should visit scientology.org where they can find more than 300 individual videos, totaling over 4 hours of information.

And now what?

The Wikipedia committee took a bit over six months to decide to restrict the editing rights of Wikipedia editors for a bit under six month. I say: The Wikipedia concept of anonymous editors does not work for polarized subjects, namely religious, philosophic or political issues. It also does not work for brands whose competitors want to screw their competition.

if you want to learn something about Scientology go to the source, like scientology.org or whatiscientology.org.

References / more information:
The “Arbitration Commitee” ruling, 28 May 2009
The Register “Wikipedia Bans Scientology”, 29 May 2009
The Register, ArbCommember resigns after being caught violating Wikipedia rules, 26 May 2009
Wikipedia about Wikipedia
Scientology.org

The answers to so many problems that surround us in society are as close as a local Volunteer Minister. From the sites of colossal tragedies, such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Australian wildfires, and Central European floods, to the daily disasters encountered in any home anywhere, Volunteer Ministers are called upon time and again to bring effective help and practical solutions to their fellow man.

The ever-growing corps of Volunteer Ministers — more than 61,000 as Freedom went to press — today spans all continents in over 150 countries. Each is trained to help people deal successfully with the upheavals of existence and to restore order, dignity, honesty and happiness to their lives.

Most people have the desire to help in such matters. Often, they don’t know how. Volunteer Ministers know what to do and how to help in times of crisis. As L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Scientology religion, described them, each is “a person who on a strictly volunteer basis helps out his fellow man by providing simple, basic counseling to people he meets to assist them in overcoming difficulties they may be having in life.”

In establishing the Volunteer Ministers program in the mid-1970s, Mr. Hubbard created a broad-based movement of individuals from all walks of life dedicated to bringing practical assistance to others. By applying fundamental Scientology techniques that anyone can use, Volunteer Ministers embody the solutions-driven motto they live by: “Something CAN Be Done About It.”

BY KERRY BURKE, SIMONE WEICHSELBAUM, ALISON GENDAR and LEO STANDORA
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Updated Thursday, January 15th 2009, 9:21 AM

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/01/15/2009-01-15_greasy_vandal_in_hate_crime_vs_scientolo.html

A hooligan claiming to be a member of an anti-Scientology group was arrested Wednesday for attempting to “desecrate” the Church of Scientology with a wacky weapon – Vaseline, police said.

Mahoud Samed Almahadin – the name he gave cops – tossed a number of books around, then smeared the petroleum jelly on a TV set, shelves and himself during the incident at the W. 46th St. Scientology center last week.

A cohort videotaped the 18-year-old’s antics while surveillance cameras filmed them both.

Cops used the tapes to track down the dopey duo, who said they were members of Anonymous, a shadowy, Internet-based anti-Scientology group.

A cop escorting the suspect to his arraignment, said “He’s just a kid. He’s young and he’s dumb.”

Police said Almahadin, clad in shorts, boots and rubber gloves, entered the building at 227 W. 46th St. with his partner at about 1:30 p.m. Thursday and went to work. The Vaseline was laced with toenail clippings and pubic hair, police said.

Shown the tapes at the Midtown North Precinct, Almahadin admitted, “Yup, that’s me,” a source said.

Almahadin, whose who goes by Matt Connor on the Web, was charged with burglary, criminal mischief and aggravated harassment as hate crimes. No charges were filed against the other man.

Member of “Anonymous” nabbed for January attack on church web sites

OCTOBER 17–A New Jersey teenager who considered himself a member of “Anonymous,” the shadowy underground group that has targeted the Church of Scientology, was charged today with an online assault on the church’s web sites earlier this year. Dmitriy Guzner, 18, allegedly was involved in a denial of service attack on Scientology web sites in January, a plot that “contributed to the unavailability of the web sites,” according to a criminal information filed today in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. The information, a copy of which you’ll find below, charges that Guzner launched the online attack “because he believed the attack furthered the goals of the anti-Scientology group ‘Anonymous,’ of which he considered himself a member.” Guzner, a Verona, New Jersey resident, has agreed to plead guilty to the felony count, according to a plea agreement he signed yesterday. The agreement estimates that the Church of Scientology suffered losses of between $30,000 and $70,000 as a result of the Internet attack. (2 pages)

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/1017081guzner1.html

Scientology Religion Welcomed in Deeply Buddhist Nation

In a decree that reflects the rapid growth of the Church of Scientology in Asia, the government of Taiwan announced yesterday that it has officially recognized the Scientology religion, just 15 years after the first Scientology Mission opened in the capital city of Taipei.

At the same time, the Ministry of the Interior registered the Church of Scientology as the 25th officially recognized religious body in Taiwan. Scientology, founded by author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard, joins Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity and 21 other faiths in Taiwan’s pluralistic religious community.

Taiwan Church of Scientology President Mei-Tsu Lee said, “We are delighted. The Scientology religion has its roots in the great religions of the East such as Buddhism. It feels as if we have come home. It is because the Taiwanese are a deeply spiritual and yet practical people that Scientology has grown so fast in our country.”

She added that the Church in Taiwan will also expand its community work that already won it the “Good Citizen, Good Deeds” award from Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian in 1999. The government bestowed the award for the 500 Scientology Volunteer Ministers who aided the rescue of victims of the September 1999 earthquake in Nan Tao. For a photo of President Chen Shui-bian presenting the award to Taiwan Church President Mei-Tsu Lee, click here.

Scientology is already officially recognized as a religion in the United States and numerous other countries around the world. Most recently it gained official recognition in New Zealand, Sweden and South Africa.

Scientology membership is rapidly increasing throughout Asia, with one of the denomination’s largest churches located in Tokyo. Buddhist masters who have studied the Scientology religion have praised its founder, L. Ron Hubbard, for his contribution to religious wisdom in the spirit of Buddha.

Scientology came to Taiwan with the forming of the first mission in Taipei in 1988. This was followed by the Scientology Mission of Taichung, incorporated in 1991 as a religious organization by the Taichung County government. Over the next decade, Scientology grew rapidly in Taiwan and there are now nine Scientology Missions throughout the country. Because of the religion’s rapid growth, in March 1999 the Church opened an administrative headquarters in Taipei to coordinate the activities of the burgeoning mission network.

In recent months, thousands of Taiwanese have visited a 250-square-meter What Is Scientology? exhibit consisting of more than 50 visual and graphic representations of the religion. The exhibit, which has also traveled to Kaohsiung and Taipei, explains the theology and practice of Scientology and describes its social betterment activities in fields such as education and drug rehabilitation.

Internationally, the Scientology religion has grown from one church in 1954 to more than 3,000 churches, missions and groups in 154 countries. Scientology provides a precise path to spiritual enlightenment that enables people to improve the quality of their lives.

The most comprehensive explanation of all this seems to be on the Scientology Video Channel at scientology.org.

And this:

Suspicious Envelopes Sent to Scientology

Jan 31, 2008

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Several envelopes containing white powder were sent to the Church of Scientology in what appeared to be a hoax that prompted street closings and evacuations in Southern California, the FBI said Thursday.

The envelopes were mailed to at least 19 church addresses in Los Angeles and Orange counties, and began showing up Wednesday, the FBI said.

Glendale police shut down a street for two hours and Tustin authorities evacuated 60 people from buildings as hazardous materials teams were called in.

The FBI said initial tests indicated the powder was harmless but more tests were being conducted.

The church declined to comment Thursday.

The Los Angeles-based Church of Scientology was established in 1954 by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard and claims 10 million members around the world, including celebrity devotees such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta.

And there, call to arms for fight in “RL”, real life: