First question: Generally speaking, Scientology has a bad reputation. I'm not saying that to be mean, I'm just stating a fact. Now, I know that a bad reputation does not equal a bad reality. BUT, one of the claims made by the COS is that Scientology can turn anyone into an expert communicator. If that were so, then it seems to me that Scientology would have a _good_ reputation, because there's be all those expert communicators pitching it. If Scientology guerantees successful communications, then why is it that people find the various "entheta" websites so much more convincing than they do the COS pages?

Second question: Where are the 8 million Scientologists? There are eight million Mormons, accordingt to their Church's leadership. Here in the city where I live, there are 9 active LDS churches, and a dozen more in nearby towns. There's only _one_ Scientology mission, that serves this city and those same towns that the Mormons have seperate churches in. So, why the disparity?

Third question: Are the OT materials on the Internet genuine? The COS' lawyers claim they are, at the same time as the COS public spokespeople say they aren't. Which is correct?

Fourth question: The COS claims that Scientology is "compatible" with _all_ other religions, with the word "Compatible" meaning that someone can be a scientologist and a member of another religion simultaneously. Logically, how can someone belive in reincarnation while at the same time believing in "One life, one death, one Judgement"?

Fifth question: The COS claims to welcome homosexuals and to have no bias against them. Since Hubbard wrote that gays were "Deseased" and "Dangerous", does this mean that the COS has rejected some of Hubbard's doctrines?

Sixth question: The COS often claims to have "scientific proof" that Hubbard's 'tech' is effective. Has that proof ever been submitted to the scientific community for evaluation? If the Church has indeed submitted their "proof" to the scientific community, what was the result? Have any studies supporting Scientology and/or Dianetics ever been published in a major scientific journal? If so, which ones?

Seventh question: The COS claims to believe in "Religious Tolerance". How do individual Scientologists reconcile that belief with the COS' actions in depriving "Freezone" Scientologists of their right to practice their version of Scientology? Please note that I am _not_ interested in legalistic arguments about intellectual property rights, I am interested _only_ in the moral reasoning behind the COS' actions.

Eighth question: The COS has claimed that its members are suffering "Nazi-like" religious persecution in Europe. I've read the UN reports and those of the US State department. I saw the word "Alleged" a lot, but they contained very few substantiated allegations. Certainly far fewer than there would be if this persecution were indeed "Nazi-like". Now, don't get me wrong, I believe that any persecution (as opposed to prosecution) is wrong, but doesn't it do far more harm than good for the COS to exaggerate the situation?

Ninth question: Many Scientologists have claimed that the site "Ron The War Hero" at http://ronthewarhero.org is inaccurate. Can you point out any inaccuracies, and provide collaborating evidence that they are, indeed, inaccurate?

Tenth question: In "The Second Dynamic" on page 20, Hubbard writes:

"--- Society begins its sharpest decline at the instant when women begin to take part, on an equal footing with men, in political and business affairs;

since this means that the men are decadent and the women are no longer women."

What exactly does this mean? It seems to me to mean something like "A woman's place is in the home". Does this then mean that the Church of Scientology believes that women should, well, not take part in political and business affairs? If that's not what it means, then what?

Eleventh and final (for now) question: Hubbard claimed to have physically visited Venus ("I notice that we all believe that Venus has a methane atmosphere and is unlivable. I almost got run down by a freight locomotive the other day -- didn't look very uncivilized to me." - "Between Lives Implants"

lecture, SHSBC #317. 23 July 1963). Do you, as a Scientologist, believe this claim to be literally true?

that I ever said. Why has no OT taken me up on the "Polite OT Challenge"? If an OT can really read my mind, they must know I'm sincere. Considering the prize (one less critic), I should think that an OT would jump at the chance, if they were able.

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