Church of Scientology hoping South End move will clear up misconceptions
by Kate Lindsmith
Contributing Writer
Wednesday Dec 16, 2009

Timeframe of move remains undecided almost a year after sale of Alexandra Hotel

Having spent more than three decades in the heart of the Back Bay, the Church of Scientology is still working on moving its headquarters to the South End. The church plans to renovate space in the Alexandra Hotel building and a neighboring brownstone, thus expanding its base to nearly twice the size of its current 26,000-square-foot location at 448 Beacon Street. The church bought the space in early 2008 from previous owner, Peter Bakis, for an undisclosed amount, but has yet to move its operation.

The sale came as a surprise, as city officials had expected the building to be converted into condos with retail space on the ground floor. Since the announcement, reaction from some in the South End community and the media has been split, but church officials hope the new location will serve to educate people about Scientology and lead them to draw their own conclusions.

"The main reason it’s so great is because when someone walks in and says, ’What is this place?’ you can see exactly what it is about and answer any questions that you have without making easy mistakes," said Kevin Hall, the church’s Social Reform Director.

Christopher Garrison serves as a minister on weekends and weeknights, delivering a Sunday sermon every week. With 39 years of experience in the church, Garrison said Scientology has motivated him to pursue injustice, learn more about psychology and realize his full physical and emotional potential.

After attending a Cambridge lecture in 1971, Garrison said he found a union of his passions for psychology and eastern religion in Scientology, a religion founded on mental and spiritual guidelines by author L. Ron Hubbard in 1954.


^{"You may have been taught that the mind is a very difficult thing to know about. This is the first principle of Scientology: It is possible to know about the mind, the spirit and life."—L. Ron Hubbard}

French Scientologists Celebrate UN Human Rights Year of Learning

Scientology Youth in France in partnership with Youth for Human Rights International work to give new meaning to human rights education.

Scientology volunteers across France are promoting human rights education, in support of the United Nations International Year of Human Rights Learning that began on December 10, 2008. The day is also marked as Human Rights Day, in honor of the United Nation’s adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948, a document drafted by a UN Committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Champions of human rights for decades, Churches of Scientology have spearheaded human rights reforms since the 1950s and in partnership with Youth for Human Rights International have distributed over 1.5 million human rights educational publications and obtained over 200,000 signatures in support of human rights education.

In France, volunteers of Scientology Churches are gearing up for Human Rights Day 2009 after a year of weekly human rights education events in Paris, Lyons, Marseilles, Vannes, Clermont-Ferrand, and Nice. Dedicating more than 5,000 man-hours to the cause over the past year, the young activists estimate they have promoted the UDHR to more than 48,000 people in France in 2009.

In addition to gaining support from individuals for human rights education through petition drives, the youth have distributed human rights booklets at music concerts, discussed actions to counter racial discrimination on a radio program and created their own song and dance performances demonstrating the UDHR article on Freedom of Expression. The volunteers also supported UN General-Secretary Ban Ki Moon’s call for a global ceasefire on the International Day of Peace, by distributing booklets at the Esplanade des Droits de l’Homme (Esplanade of Human Rights) where a monument commemorates the UN General Assembly’s adoption of the Universal Declaration.

“Human rights are something everyone needs to know,” said one volunteer. “Then you make sure everybody’s human rights are respected, including your own.”

^{"You may have been taught that the mind is a very difficult thing to know about. This is the first principle of Scientology: It is possible to know about the mind, the spirit and life."—L. Ron Hubbard}

^{Scientology Churches Celebrate Children’s Rights on 20th Anniversary of International Children’s Day}

Scientology Churches and their members, from Australia to Zimbabwe and Canada to the Ukraine celebrate the rights of children by demanding action by private citizens and governments on International Children’s Day. Twenty years ago the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child, yet millions of children still die each year from preventable causes.

Scientologists ask:

· If the Convention on the Rights of the Child guarantees freedom from want, why do almost 16,000 children die of malnutrition—one child every five seconds?

· If children have the right to life, why did nearly 10 million children die in 2006 before they reached their fifth birthday?

· Why did an estimated 2 million children lose at least one parent to AIDS in southern Africa in 2003, a number expected to rise to 18 million in the year 2010?

· Why have an estimated 20 million children been forced to flee their homes because of conflict and human rights violations?

· How could 10,000 children be killed or maimed last year by landmines? Why have more than 2 million children died and 6 million been permanently disabled or seriously injured through armed conflicts?

· How come 300,000 boys and girls under the age of 18 have been pressed into service as child soldiers?

· And why do one million children suffer from sexual exploitation every year?

Churches of Scientology believe the answer lies with each of us, that only when people know their rights and freedoms will they insist on their enforcement, not only for themselves but for others.

That is why Scientology Churches partner with Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) and United for Human Rights (UHR) in distributing the documentary The Story of Human Rights.

Released in June 2009 The Story of Human Rights is an educational tour de force, making the subject of human rights, its history and ramifications understandable to a very broad audience, used to getting their information as entertainment in this multimedia age. The film lays the responsibility for implementing human rights where it belongs—with each one of us, to fight for our own rights and the rights of others.

The Story of Human Rights explains that although the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, “…it did not have the force of law. It was optional. And despite many more documents, conventions, treaties and laws, it is still little more than words on a page.”

The film ends with a hard-hitting appeal to the individual: “Those who fight today against torture, poverty and discrimination are not giants or superheroes. They are people—kids, mothers, fathers, teachers—free-thinking individuals who refuse to be silent, who realize that human rights are not a history lesson, they’re not words on a page, they’re not speeches or commercials or PR campaigns. They are the choices we make every day as human beings. They are the responsibility we all share, to respect each other, to help each other and to protect those in need.”

Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard once wrote, “Human rights must be made a fact, not an idealistic dream.” Understanding human rights is the first step in bringing this about.

To sign a petition to mandate human rights education in schools in your country or to watch The Story of Human Rights online, visit www.humanrights.com. To learn more about the human rights education initiative of the Church of Scientology, visit the Scientology site.

^{"You may have been taught that the mind is a very difficult thing to know about. This is the first principle of Scientology: It is possible to know about the mind, the spirit and life."—L. Ron Hubbard}