C H U R C H O F S CIENTOLOGY I NTERNATIONAL November 23, 2016 Alex Weresow Executive Producer Slauson Productions, LLC c/o UPS Store 10736 Jefferson Blvd. Culver City, CA 90230 Re: The Practice of “Disconnection” Dear Mr. Weresow: Enclosed is a statement for use on your program explaining the Church of Scientology’s view on disconnection. It is a voluntary decision by the individual that is consistent with many other faiths. It has been part of Church policy, laid down by Founder L. Ron Hubbard, since the 1960s. To put this all in perspective, the overriding policy of the Church is to encourage family relationships. To promote your sources’ line that families and friends were forced to disconnect from them when they left the Church, whether or not they attacked Scientology, is false and misleading. Your sources are using family conflicts they generated as a forum to manufacture publicity in support of their anti-religious agenda. Slauson Productions is giving its sources a forum to mislead viewers. Many religions today such as the Amish, the Mennonites, the Bahá’í and Jehovah Witnesses practice a form of shunning, a formal decision to cease interaction with an individual or a group. Orthodox and Hasidic Jews practice Herem, the total exclusion of a person from the Jewish community. Considered more broadly, virtually every religion practices some form of social exclusion, whether or not it has a formal ecclesiastical penalty, is in response to an attack, or merely an admonition that one is to avoid the company of evil. Like Scientology, most religions do not forbid contact with people who ___________________________________________________________ 6331 Hollywood Blvd., Suite 1200, Los Angeles, CA, 90028-6329 Slauson Productions 2 November 23, 2016 merely have different beliefs. As can be seen in the enclosed summary, examples of these doctrines exist in all major faith traditions. These religious practices have been upheld as constitutionally protected by multiple court decisions in the United States and elsewhere. There is no requirement in our society that any individual be forced to endure an abusive relationship with a toxic personality, no matter their religious affiliation or lack of any affiliation. Just the opposite. Citizens of this country have a constitutional right to associate with anyone they wish, as well as a right to sever ties to those who are harmful. Members of the Church of Scientology enjoy the same constitutional right. Regards, Karin Pouw cc: Ms. Nancy Dubuc, CEO A+E Networks Mr. Paul Buccieri, President, A&E and History Enclosures: 1. CSI Statement on Disconnection 2. A Comparative Summary of Shunning in World Religions C H U R C H O F S CIENTOLOGY I NTERNATIONAL STATEMENT ON DISCONNECTION There is no policy in Scientology that requires members to disconnect from anyone, family or friends, who have left the Church or who have different religious beliefs. To the contrary, Scientology practice mandates that Scientologists respect the religious beliefs of others. No Scientologist “disconnects” from someone because they left the Church. Disconnection or ceasing to communicate with someone happens when an individual obsessively attacks the individual or those things that affect his spiritual progress, including his religion or Church and only after all other options have been exhausted. The Church does not and cannot order anyone to disconnect—it is a self-determined action. Many of the family members of those Leah Remini and her “co-host” interviewed have all gone on the record to voice their outrage that their personal, private family conflicts are being used as fodder for “reality” television. Each one has informed the show what really shattered their relationships. It was their choice to no longer associate with these toxic personalities. A COMPARATIVE SUMMARY OF SHUNNING IN WORLD RELIGIONS shun [shǝn] (v) persistently avoid, ignore, or reject (someone or something) through antipathy or caution. Virtually every world religion practices some form of shunning. As in other religions, Scientologists have a similar practice called disconnection that is often misunderstood or mischaracterized. Scientologists practice disconnection as a last resort after all other avenues of reconciliation have been exhausted. In Scientology, inclusion rather than exclusion is preferred. As with other faiths, Scientology practice does not involve disconnecting from people because they have different beliefs. Scientologists live and work on a daily basis with Jews, Protestants, Catholics, Mormons, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and atheists. Scientologists are taught to respect the faith of others. Here is a summary of religious practices similar to Scientology disconnection: Jewish Doctrines Shunning as an ecclesiastical discipline is still practiced in strictly Orthodox and Chasidic communities. It is even referenced in the Old Testament as in Job: 28:28 (“The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding”) and Proverbs 12:26 (“The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray”). Herem is the highest ecclesiastical censure in the Jewish community. It is the total exclusion of a person from the Jewish community. Although it developed from the above Biblical sources, herem, as employed during Talmudic times (70 BCE-500 CE) and during the Middle Ages (400-1400 CE), became a rabbinic institution, the object of which was to preserve Jewish solidarity. Christian Doctrines The Bible contains many references in both the Old and New Testaments to exclude communication with those who are hostile to the faith or its practices, notably in the letters of Paul. Two examples:“I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one,” from I Corinthians 5:11 and “Mark those who cause divisions contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned and avoid them” from Romans 16:17. The interpretation and application of these passages varies widely among Christian denominations and numerous examples exist of current application. Jehovah’s Witnesses Jehovah’s Witnesses practice a form of shunning which they refer to as disfellowshipping. This refers to a person who is not greeted either socially or at meetings following a decision of a judicial committee established by a local congregation that a member is unrepentantly guilty of a “serious sin.” The Jehovah’s Witnesses practice of disfellowshipment has been examined by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and found to be a protected religious practice. [Paul v. Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., 819 F.2d 87, (1986)] In 2010, the European Court of Human Rights wrote favorably on the practice. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints practices excommunication, as well as the lesser sanctions of private counsel and caution, informal probation, formal probation, and disfellowship. In most cases, excommunication in the Mormon Church is a last resort, used only after repeated warnings. Disfellowshipped individuals are permitted to maintain church membership, but they may not take the sacrament or enter church temples, nor may they offer public prayers or sermons. Disfellowshipped persons may continue to attend most church functions and are permitted to wear temple garments, pay tithes and offerings, and participate in church classes if their conduct is orderly. Disfellowshipment typically lasts for one year, after which one may earn reinstatement. Independent Evangelical Congregations In January 2008, the Wall Street Journal reported an increase in shunning among independent evangelical congregations. Approximately 10-15 percent of evangelical Christian churches practice public disciplining of wayward members. In May 2015, the Southern Baptist Convention shunned then-presidential candidate Ben Carson, a Seventh- Day Adventist, because of his political and theological views. Amish The Amish practice of shunning includes avoiding a former member in every way possible. Excluding that person from both the church and community is considered a means of preserving the Amish culture. At its most severe, other members of the congregation are prohibited almost all contact with an excommunicated member including social and business ties between the member and the congregation, sometimes 2 even marital contact between spouses or family members if one remains in the congregation. Hutterites The Hutterites use shunning as a form of church discipline. Because Hutterites have communal ownership of goods, the effects of excommunication could impose a hardship upon the excluded member and family leaving them without employment income and material assets such as a home. One Hutterite colony in Manitoba, Canada, was involved in a protracted dispute when leaders attempted to force the departure of a group that had been excommunicated but would not leave. Mennonites In the Mennonite Church excommunication is carried out only after many attempts at reconciliation and on someone who is flagrantly and repeatedly violating standards of behavior that the church expects. Occasionally excommunication is also carried out against those who question the church and/or who genuinely differ with the church’s theology. In either case, the church will attempt reconciliation with the member in private. Anabaptist tradition Discipline requires the church to confront a notoriously erring and unrepentant church member, first directly in a very small circle and, if no resolution is forthcoming, expanding the circle in steps eventually to include the entire church congregation. If the errant member persists without repentance and rejects even the admonition of the congregation, that person is excommunicated or excluded from church membership. Exclusion from the church is recognition by the congregation that this person has separated himself or herself from the church by way of his or her visible and unrepentant sin. This is done as a final resort to protect the integrity of the church.