THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 2, 1995 TAG: 9501020062
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: ARLINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
Two grim-faced men in suits knocked on Arnaldo Lerma's door last month and shoved a legal document at him. It was a sort of confession, stating that he recanted criticism of the Church of Scientology and was a failure as a church member.
The three-page document included a blank line for Lerma's signature.
Lerma didn't sign the ``Declaration of Arnaldo Pagliarini Lerma.'' He didn't write it either.
``It's Orwellian in the extreme, isn't it?'' Lerma said.
Lerma angered officials of the technology-based religion founded by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard by his own use of technology.
Lerma, who was a junior church staff member in the 1970s, took documents from court cases involving the secretive group and placed them on international computer bulletin boards.
The documents became a hot topic in computer discussion groups about Scientology on the commercial network America OnLine and on the global Internet service.
Some of the affidavits include hair-raising tales of abuse from former church officials. The most salacious of the documents describe Scientology as a cult that brainwashes and defrauds members and exacts reprisals against critics or defectors.
The documents also outline some of the closely held details of Scientology's vision of religious experience.
Lerma ``improperly and under a false name posted protected (by court ruling) materials which Scientologists consider to be among the most sacred religious scriptures of their religion,'' church spokeswoman Karin Pouw said in written responses to questions about the Lerma incident.
``He deliberately defiled them in the computer, equivalent of desecrating a house of worship with offensive graffiti,'' the church statement said.
Pouw confirmed church representatives visited Lerma. ``The fact that he was contacted is not at all unusual and, frankly, the church considers it much more civil to try to resolve disputes through personal contact and dialogue instead of just slapping a lawsuit on someone,'' her statement said. ``Most often, this makes legal action unnecessary.''
``It's just intimidation,'' Lerma said. ``They're trying to intimidate me to agree to silence.''
Lerma, 44, joined the church in 1963 when he was living in Washington, he said. ``I was in high school, it was the '60s and things weren't making a lot of sense to me,'' he said.
The 40-year-old religion teaches that technology can expand the mind and help solve human problems. It features a hierarchy of knowledge gained as initiates progress through layers of often expensive teaching and ``auditing,'' or spiritual counseling.
Lerma claims he was forced out in 1978, after pursuing a romance with one of Hubbard's daughters against church wishes.
KEYWORDS: CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY INTERNET by CNB