OTHER ISSUES

Freedom Magazine. Addiction issue cover
April 2017
Vol. 49, Issue 2
Freedom Magazine. The Data Demon issue cover
February 2017
Vol. 49, Issue 1
Freedom Magazine. The 2016 Expansion issue cover
December 2016 Special Edition
Freedom Magazine. The Shocking Truth issue cover
October 2016
Vol. 48, Issue 3
Freedom Magazine. Military Spending issue cover
June-July 2016
Vol. 48, Issue 2
Freedom Magazine. Pill Pushers issue cover
April-May 2016
Vol. 48, Issue 1
Freedom Magazine. Back to School issue cover
September 2015
Vol. 47, Issue 8
Freedom Magazine. Veterans issue cover
August 2015
Vol. 47, Issue 7
Freedom Magazine. Infrastructure issue cover
July 2015
Vol. 47, Issue 6
Freedom Magazine. Net Freedom issue cover
June 2015
Vol. 47, Issue 5
Freedom Magazine. Patriot Games issue cover
May 2015
Vol. 47, Issue 4
Freedom Magazine. Freedom of Information Act issue cover
April 2015
Vol. 47, Issue 3
Freedom Magazine. People Who Read Are a Dying Breed issue cover
March 2015
Vol. 47, Issue 2
Get Religion? issue cover
February 2015
Vol. 47, Issue 1
Freedom Magazine. Held Back issue cover
November 2014
Vol. 46, Issue 4
Freedom Magazine. Created Equal issue cover
October 2014
Vol. 46, Issue 3
Freedom Magazine. LA Under the Influence issue cover
September 2014
Vol. 46, Issue 2
Military: Are They Drugged to Death issue cover
August 2014
Vol. 46, Issue 1

FLORIDA ISSUES

Freedom Magazine. The Year in Review issue cover
December 2016
Clearwater Special Edition
Freedom Magazine. Clearwater Building cover
Special Clearwater Edition.
August 2015
Freedom Magazine. Building a Great City issue cover
Florida.
Vol. 20, Issue 1
Freedom Magazine. Flag issue cover
July 2014
Special Edition
PUBLISHED BY
Church of Scientology
since 1968
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“Determine Never to Be Idle.”

—Thomas Jefferson

 

Scientology
Today

 

11,000

Churches, Missions
& Groups in

167

Nations

In West Africa, Ebola rages like a firestorm through impoverished nations that have only marginal resources to cope with the pandemic. In the Middle East, 2014 witnessed yet another bloody onslaught between cultures that, ironically, both revere the same ancient religious patriarchs. Russia and the Ukraine rattle arms at one another in a high-tech turf war. A torrent of refugees surges at the American southern border. Child labor, human trafficking, sweatshops and slavery are the lot of tens of millions of our fellow human beings. Personally and societally, it’s no surprise we are, all of us, overwhelmed.

None of this is new. Much of the tragedy of this modern age was predicted by forward thinkers in the 1940s and 1950s—among them L. Ron Hubbard, who realized that if something wasn’t done to change the toxic tide of history, humanity was doomed.

Out of that concern came his Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, the first popular work on the mind. He recognized that to heal the mind, the spirit too must be addressed, and thus emerged the Scientology religion.

L. Ron Hubbard also held that personal spiritual freedom was necessary if humanity was to overcome all that plagued it. From that belief came a plan, penned in 1963:

“The true story of Scientology is simple, concise and direct. It is quickly told: 1. A philosopher developed a philosophy about life and death. 2. People find it interesting. 3. People find it works. 4. People pass it along to others. 5. It grows.”

Testimony to his lasting impact, Smithsonian magazine, chronicler of American culture, recently named L. Ron Hubbard one of the 10 most influential religious figures in the nation’s history and one of the 100 most significant Americans overall.

And indeed, in its first six decades, the religion he founded has flourished. Scientology’s 11,000 Churches, Missions and affiliated groups have a presence in 167 nations. Each of its 60 years has witnessed exceptional events, but few have been so notable for the Church as 2014.

In this special edition, Freedom looks at how that ‘true story of Scientology’ continues to unfold.

We bring readers inside Scientology Churches around the world, and visit the religion’s spiritual home in Clearwater, Florida—a destination that draws thousands of Scientologists from around the globe each year.

Freedom also takes a trip aboard the Freewinds, a Scientology religious retreat at sea. In addition to its function delivering high-level Scientology services, the 440-foot vessel has forged enduring relationships at its many ports of call, where it carries out a wide range of humanitarian initiatives and charitable activities.

Freedom further gives readers a statistical overview of the social betterment and humanitarian work central to the Scientology religion. This includes initiatives in drug education and promoting human rights, programs that forward the cause of freedom for all humankind, empower individuals, and save lives.

Freedom itself has had a noteworthy year. Redesigned and recommitted to its 1968 founding principles, the magazine broke new investigative ground on issues such as the lethal drugging of America’s soldiers, the plight of people caught in the snare of human trafficking, the failure of education to give children the tools they need for success, and the racial divide underscored by the tragic events in Ferguson, Missouri.

This issue of Freedom, like all Churches of Scientology around the world, invites people in—to come and learn for themselves what Scientology is and what its practitioners do.

But there is only so much we can fit into these pages. A wealth of information on the religion and its social betterment work is available on www.scientology.org, and all are welcome to visit the local Churches and Missions of Scientology, where the curious may take self-guided tours and avail themselves of multimedia presentations designed to answer any and all questions about the Scientology religion and its Founder.

As always, Freedom welcomes your views, comments and letters.

— The Editors