I have been writing a lot about members and Freedom Medal Winners of the International Association of Scientologists, but I don't know if it is known exactly what they stand for and why people get so passionate about it. Here is an excerpt from the IAS website that will tell you exactly who they are and what they stand for.

THE STORY OF THE IAS

Without fireworks, without cheering crowds, but with pure unadulterated dedication, a small group of Scientologists determined to see to the security and dissemination of the Scientology religion formed the International Association of Scientologists (IAS).

All new movements have at one time been faced with persecution and misunderstanding, and all great movements have succeeded because of the personal conviction and dedication of their members.

Regrettably, history has seen many attempts to suppress religious freedom and human rights. From the persecution of early Christians in Rome to the slaughter of Jews in Nazi concentration camps, many faiths have suffered dearly.

Because of just such a lamentable history, the International Association of Scientologists was formed to guarantee that the Scientology religion can be practiced for all time — through a strong group composed of those who believe in and are willing to fight for the rights of man and the freedom of all religions.

The IAS was formed at Saint Hill Manor in East Grinstead, Sussex, England, in 1984 when delegates from around the world gathered in recognition of the need to unite all Scientologists as one international body.

In addition to adopting a constitution and electing a board, the first IAS delegates also formulated and signed the Pledge to Mankind, rededicating themselves to achieving the aims of Scientology.

Catalyzed by this profound statement of purpose, Scientologists from around the world enthusiastically embraced the IAS.

Since that time membership has grown dramatically. Although there remain countries where religious intolerance must still be dealt with, the Association’s primary focus today is the dissemination and expansion of Scientology, bringing its technology into use to help others, and better the civilization as a whole. Click here to find out more about these activities.

For a full Quick Time VR Tour of the Saint Hill Castle and the Manor, click here.

Anne Archer, IAS Freedom Medal Winner, helping with world literacy

Anne Archer is another IAS Freedom Medal winner who is actively involved in making this society a better place.

Here is a picture of Anne.



Anne has been very involved in helping her fellow man. Since 1993 Anne has been an International Spokesperson for Applied Scholastics International, a nonprofit public benefit organization whose purpose is to provide educators, governments, vocational trainers, community groups, parents and students with the learning tools they need to achieve a world free from illiteracy.

Applied Scholastics was founded to ensure that these individuals and organizations could avail themselves of educational discoveries made by humanitarian and writer L. Ron Hubbard. Applied Scholastics has 325 groups in 34 countries.

Anne has worked with other celebrities such as John Travolta to launch the Drug Free Mashalls program in LA.

She is a spokesperson and supporter for the World Literacy Crusade which is a grassroots literacy movement formed in 1992 by the Rev. Alfreddie Johnson, Jr. and supported by
community leaders, ministers, parents, youth and educators who are concerned about the growing rate of illiteracy and related social ills in their communities.

The IAS and Crimminal Reform

Greg Capazorio is a Freedom Medal winner of the IAS.

L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the Scientology religion, developed very effective methods to rehabilitate criminals.

Criminon – meaning "without crime" – is an international, non-profit organization dedicated to criminal rehabilitation and reform.

The IAS sponsored the Criminon project in South Africa and Greg Capazoria took this program into 59 prisons in South Africa with spectacular results. The result - prior to the implementation of the Criminon program 84% of prisoners in this country returned to prison within 1 year of their release. After the Criminon program was implemented, this percentage dropped to zero.



Here is a picture of prisoners graduating from The Way To Happiness course, well on their way to being rehabilitated.

For more information on success stories of inmates from around the world, go to the Criminon website. If you would like to help, you can sponsor an inmate, click here.

Lawrence Anthony, IAS Freedom Medal winner saves the Elephants

Lawrence Anthony, Scientologist, IAS Freedom Medal winner, and founder of The Earth Organization, is passionate about wildlife and the conservation of Earth.



Here is a picture of Lawrence with one of the elephants at his game reserve in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.

The Earth Organization held an international press conference at the end of last year opposing the proposed slaughter of 5,000 elephants by the South African National Parks (SANParks) in the Kruger National Park, South Africa.

The slaughter will see the killing of entire elephant herds; mothers, fathers and babies; in an attempt to solve the claimed overpopulation of elephants in the Kruger Park. This entails using helicopters to round up and confuse the herds before using high powered rifles to put the whole herd down.

As a result of this conference the elephants are now safe, as it was decided that alternate ways should be looked into for controlling the elephant population in the Kruger Park.

Lawrence Anthony's inspiration to start the Earth Organization came after reading a book by the founder of the Scientology religion, L. Ron Hubbard. The book, called The Fundamentals of Thought, covers eight urges everyone has toward survival. Mr. Hubbard called these the Eight Dynamics. For more information on man's urges toward survival, click here.

The IAS and Human Rights

The International Association of Scientologists works to create a better society for all.

L. Ron Hubbard said: “Ideas, and not battles, mark the forward progress of mankind.”

The new European Office of Public Affairs and Human Rights, sponsored by the IAS, was opened in 2003 in Brussels. There is a web site called Scientology Effective Solutions where this office presents information on the various priorities the Church sees as needing to be handled in society, and their programs to improve these areas.

Here is what it says about the Scientology European Human Rights Office on its web site:

“We live in a world where many solutions advanced to cure the world’s pressing problems ignore the spiritual nature of humanity. The elevation of the soulless psychiatrist over the cleric has done nothing to solve these problems. On the contrary, the explosion of intolerance, the plague of drug abuse, the increasing ills of illiteracy, crime, and immorality, and the rapid rise in terrorism and international conflict demonstrate the futility of solving these problems through purely scientific solutions.
Religion and belief have a critical role to play in society, not only for the individual, but for society as a whole. The Church of Scientology holds that a reaffirmation of the primacy of the human spirit will bring about resurgence in our civilisation. With that foundation in mind, we believe that adherence to the following precepts will form the foundation for the advancement of religious freedom, justice and peace in the world, and the protection of human rights.”

There are several Human Rights publications available. To download your own copies, click here. If you have children, you might want to look at the Youth for Human Rights International website. They are a youth organization with the purpose to educate youth in human rights so they become valuable advocates for tolerance and peace. To get a copy of the Youth for Human Rights booklet, click here. Available in 16 languages.

The IAS and Drugs

Drug abuse is a major problem across the world today. Here is a continuation of my discussion of what the IAS is doing to bring about a better society.

I found a good description of the drug situation on the website Scientology Effective Solutions:

To say that drug abuse has become a major affliction in society is not an exaggeration; no aspect of life is untouched by this epidemic. Crime and violence are the most obvious byproducts, but amorality, ruined relationships, aborted careers, endangered families and ruined lives are no less serious and just as widespread. Can something be done about it?

There is a brochure available called Scientology Effective Solutions: Saving Lives from Drugs. Copies of the booklet can be downloaded: click here. This booklet provides important information about what churches of Scientology and their members are doing about the drug problem.


The booklet also gives an introduction to the most effective solutions to drug addiction and dependency – the drug rehabilitation methods developed by humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard .

The IAS and Education

As mentioned in my blog of yesterday I will be giving you further data on the International Association of Scientologists and their involvement to create a better society. One of their areas of involvement is education. The International Association of Scientologists provides grants to bring Study Technology to countries and communities accross the world. To get more reality on the study problems children run into go to the Applied Scholastics website or Effective Solutions. Here is some data I found on the Effective Solutions website as to why children have a problem with study.

At the root of educational failures lies a fundamental problem that has been almost universally overlooked: Students have never been taught how to learn.

Children are thrown into their school years and basic subjects without ever first being taught how to go about learning those subjects. As they grow older they are confronted by more and more complex areas of study, still without ever having acquired the skills with which to assimilate information, evaluate its relative importance and put it to use.

This has been the vital missing ingredient that has hampered all fields of study. It handicaps both children in school and adults in life.

What is the IAS?

My blog is about IAS Freedom Medal Winners. An understanding of the IAS - the International Association of Scientologists - is necessary to understand the significance of the people I write about. Here is an excerpt from the IAS Membership web site called "The Story of the IAS."

Here is a short description of what they stand for and what they do.

Without fireworks, without cheering crowds, but with pure unadulterated dedication, a small group of Scientologists determined to see to the security and dissemination of the Scientology religion formed the International Association of Scientologists (IAS).

All new movements have at one time been faced with persecution and misunderstanding, and all great movements have succeeded because of the personal conviction and dedication of their members.

Regrettably, history has seen many attempts to suppress religious freedom and human rights. From the persecution of early Christians in Rome to the slaughter of Jews in Nazi concentration camps, many faiths have suffered dearly.

Because of just such a lamentable history, the International Association of Scientologists was formed to guarantee that the Scientology religion can be practiced for all time — through a strong group composed of those who believe in and are willing to fight for the rights of man and the freedom of all religions.

In addition to adopting a constitution and electing a board, the first IAS delegates also formulated and signed the Pledge to Mankind, rededicating themselves to achieving the aims of Scientology.

Since that time membership has grown dramatically. Although there remain countries where religious intolerance must still be dealt with, the Association’s primary focus today is the dissemination and expansion of Scientology, bringing its technology into use to help others, and better the civilization as a whole.

Some of the activities IAS members and IAS Freedom Medal Winners are involved in in the community are for example, reversing the decline of literacy and education, making human rights a fact, bringing about a new era of morality, defeating the scourge of drug abuse, volunteer ministers - something can be done about it, helping to clean up the field of mental health.

For the next few days I will post data on each of these activities to show how the IAS is changing society for the better.

John Travolta and The Way to Happiness

John Travolta is a Freedom Medal Winner of the International Association of Scientologists.

On his web site he endorses The Way To Happiness Foundation.

This web site says:

"After John’s appearance on the Good Morning America Show, fans have been requesting more information about The Way To Happiness Foundation. If you are also interested to download a free e-book edition of The Way To Happiness or to learn more about The Way To Happiness Foundation click here."

Sorry I missed that show!

The Way to Happiness is a great book. You can download one at the Way to Happiness web site.

What is The Earth Organization?

What is The Earth Organization? Here is a short description. The founder is Lawrence Anthony who is also a Scientologist.

The Earth Organization is a non-profit, non-partisan, issue oriented organization. Our members come from all walks of life, from all cultures, races and religious backgrounds, all motivated by a common cause; to reverse the dwindling spiral of life on Earth, and create a healthy habitable Planet on which all life flourishes and prospers, and of which we can be proud.

The Earth Organization's international offices work in association with other environmental groups around the world in projects of mutual interest. One of these co-venture partners is The Earth Organization in the United States (a 501(c)3 corporation with non-profit status pending).

The Earth and practically all major life forms on it are currently in danger, as ecosystems become degraded and extinctions continue to escalate at an alarming rate. Global warming is real and the polar caps are melting.

It took billions of years to develop a viable, balanced relationship amongst life forms on planet Earth. In less than 100 years, Earth's survival potential has deteriorated to a point where we must now consider that man himself could one day become an endangered species. Something can be done about it.

You can also visit The Earth Organization for FAQs such as Recycling: does it really help? or Why are trees so important to us?

Why I joined The Earth Organization - Kelly Preston

"The Earth Organization is the first international environmental movement that truly understands the relationship between man, the environment and plant and animal kingdom. It is totally true that none survive alone and when one really realizes the fact that our very own survival depends upon the well being of ALL life on this planet, we start to understand that we are the ones responsible for the state that we find Earth in today.

"I have joined the Earth Organization because I believe that they operate ethically and take on well researched projects which they always carry right through to the end. They are making a vital difference on Planet Earth and we can all lend a hand in reversing this decline.We can and must create a change." - Kelly Preston

Freedom Medal Winner Lawrence Anthony

Lawrence Anthony, Founder of the Earth Organization and probably best known for his work in salvaging the animals in the Baghdad zoo, for which he was honored with the Earth Trustee Award, and Earth Day Medal. Lawrence is a well-known environmentalist, conservationist and explorer whose area of particular interest is the rehabilitation of wild traumatized African Elephant. He is a member of the esteemed explorers club in New York. He is also the winner of an International Association of Scientologists Freedom Medal Award.

The Earth Organization, supported by top opinion leaders from the fields of science, economics and tourism, held an international press conference in November to oppose the proposed slaughter of 5,000 elephants by the South African National Parks (SANParks) in the Kruger National Park, South Africa.

The Earth Organization is alarmed that the slaughter will see the killing of entire elephant herds; mothers, fathers and babies; in an attempt to “solve” the claimed overpopulation of elephants in the Kruger Park. This entails using helicopters to round up and confuse the herds before using high powered rifles to put the whole herd down.

Full research is being done and needs to be pursued and implemented to find alternate ways to overcome the overpopulation of the elephant population.

In a speech about the significance of the IAS Freedom Medal several years ago, Mr. David Miscavige, Chairman of the board of Religious Technology Center made a comment that is very appropriate, as it shows the kind of responsibility individual Scientologists are taking to right wrongs and preserve what is good and decent in life. He stated:

“You have societal decline? We not only can, but we are reversing that trend — anywhere and everywhere.

“You have the “everyday man” who has been lost in a technological society? We not only can, but we are helping him find his way."

I believe that the work Lawrence Anthony is doing to carry out the purpose of Earth Organization is an example of just this. That purpose is: " to reverse the dwindling spiral of life on Earth, and create a healthy habitable Planet on which all life flourishes and prospers, and of which we can be proud."

The Way To Happiness

The more than half a million copies of The Way to Happiness distributed in South Africa in 1987 were credited by many with defusing tensions and preventing violence at a particularly volatile time of year. This was so successful that in 1993, an IAS grant was provided for the distribution of a million more copies, including enough for all of South Africa’s police officers.

Read more about the IAS and The Way to Happiness.

Isaac Hayes

"The day I discovered Scientology was the day my life changed for the better. The Scientology religion must be protected. It should be available to my children and future generations. The future freedom of the entire planet depends on it."

Isaac Hayes - IAS Freedom Medal Winner
For information on how you can become a member of the IAS contact the IAS Administrations.

For musicians

For all you musicians out there, if you want to check out a phenomenal work featuring incredible versatility and interaction of musicians, check out track 10 of Chick's second to last album "To The Stars" based on L. Ron Hubbard's classic novel of the same title. How Chick gets such a wide variety of styles and emotions into each album continues to boggle my mind. Check out "The Ultimate Adventure" his latest album, perhaps his best. He often cites his Scientology studies which must have something to do with his success. The Dianetics site, by the way, is extremely interesting.

Chick's new album

Chick's new album is absolutely amazing! There is a great article on it at Asbury Park Press (app.com). It mentions his Scientology influences and L. Ron Hubbard's novel "The Ultimate Adventure" and also speaks a bit about Chick's early music career with Miles Davis around the time he first started his Dianetics studies.

Here's part of the artictle:
... His follow-up CD, "The Ultimate Adventure," released in February, portrays characters and scenes from Hubbard's Arabian Nights fantasy in which the hero is transported by a renegade scientist into another plane where he overcomes ghouls, genies and a usurping tyrant to rescue the beautiful Queen Tedmur of the enchanted City of Brass.

"The title grabbed me because I think life is the ultimate adventure," said Corea, peering intently through his round, wire-rimmed glasses during an interview at his hotel suite.

"It's a great attitude to have toward life — that it is an adventure, that you tackle things and have challenges and foes to overcome and goals to accomplish." ...

Legendary Musician Chick Corea to Perform Free World Jazz Concert Celebrating "Ultimate Adventure" CD, Book Release

Chic Corea is an IAS Freedom Medal Winner. I found this press release about a concert he's doing this weekend, and a brand new album.

LOS ANGELES, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 02/06/06 -- Multiple Grammy Award winner and National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Master Chick Corea will perform a free concert with his band Touchstone and Spanish flamenco dancer, Auxi Fernandez, in a special pre-Valentine's day event on Sunday, February 12th at 2:30 pm at the Hollywood Virgin Megastore located in the Hollywood and Highland Complex. An autograph session will immediately follow the performance.

The free concert will include selections from Corea's newly released album, "The Ultimate Adventure" (Concord Records, 2006), an exotic blend of Spanish, North African and Middle Eastern melodies inspired by the fantasy novel of the same name written by best-selling author L. Ron Hubbard. "The Ultimate Adventure" book is being co-released in a retro-stylized paperback version of the novel that recreates the original pulp magazine cover design and story illustrations (Galaxy Press, 2006). This is set to be the first in a line of over 100 pulp fiction books to be released by Galaxy Press at a rate of four per month starting in March.

This is Corea's second successfully realized concept album based on a work by L. Ron Hubbard. In 2004, Chick reunited his early 1980s Elektric Band for a trip "To the Stars." "While I was in the performance stage of 'To the Stars,' I started looking for some more of Hubbard's books to work with, and found this wonderful story that has a southern Spain, Northern African, Arabian background to it. And as I began reading the book again... because I had read it before... I realized how neatly the Touchstone band would be able to realize the music," Corea said.

Other master musicians who appear with Corea on the CD include, legendary jazz flutist Hubert Laws, Grammy-winning world percussionist Airto Moerira, Flamenco bassist Carles Benavent, Egyptian percussionist Hossam Ramzy, saxophonist Tim Garland, percussionist Rubem Dantas, drummer Tom Brechtlein, sax/flute player Jorge Pardo, guitarist Frank Gambale, drummer Steve Gadd, and drummer Vinnie Calaiuta.

Customers may obtain a wristband, which will guarantee an autograph from Chick Corea at this event, by purchasing a copy of his new album at this Virgin Megastore beginning Tuesday, February 7th. For more information or to RSVP, contact Elise Toth at (323) 466-7812 x160.

Elise Toth
(323) 466-7812 x160

IAS Web Site

There's a beautiful new look to the IAS web site

Here's a description of the IAS, from this site:

"The IAS is the official membership organization of Scientology, the most vital movement on Earth today.

"A Scientologist is defined as “essentially one who betters the conditions of himself and the conditions of others by using Scientology technology.”

"The IAS is made up of individual Scientologists who desire to change conditions on this planet for the better. Its purpose is:

"To unite, advance, support and protect the Scientology religion and Scientologists in all parts of the world, so as to achieve the aims of Scientology as originated by L. Ron Hubbard."

Anniversary of the International Association of Scientologists (IAS)

I heard from friends who were there that the 21st anniversary of the IAS was fantastic.
Mr. David Miscavige was master of ceremonies for the event and keynote speaker, and that it was completely inspiring.

I wish I could have attended, but I will go to the Los Angeles event, being held next weekend (on November 5th) and the Church of Scientology of Los Angeles.

The event will be held in a big tent behind the church and there will be a dinner before-hand on L. Ron Hubbard Way.

I've also heard that those who attended the seminars the day following the IAS event in the UK said they got a tremendous amount out of them. There will be seminars on Sunday in LA -- the day after the event.

Looking Forward to the IAS Event

At the end of this month we will celebrate the 21st anniversary of the International Association of Scientologists.

Here is an image everyone who joins us there will see -- Saint Hill Manor: L. Ron Hubbard's home during the late 1950's and up through 1966, when he did he completed the bulk of his research into life and the spirit.

There are great speakers every year, including Mr. David Miscavige, Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center.

And very deserving Scientologists are acknowledged for their stellar humanitarian actions.