Free Zone (Scientology)

Free Zone, Freezone, and Independent Scientology are umbrella terms for the groups, organizations, and individuals who practice Scientology beliefs and practices independently of the Church of Scientology (COS). Such practitioners range from those who closely adhere to the original teachings of Scientology's founder L. Ron Hubbard, to those who have adapted practices far from COS beliefs and practices.

The International Freezone Association, the group whose name became adopted as a generic term for independent Scientology, was not the first independent Scientologist group; the California Association of Dianetic Auditors, the oldest breakaway group still in existence, claims a founding date of December 1950, predating the Church of Scientology itself.

Skeptic Magazine described the Free Zone as: "a group founded by ex-Scientologists to promote L. Ron Hubbard's ideas independent of the Church of Scientology". A Miami Herald article wrote that ex-Scientologists joined the Free Zone because they felt that Church of Scientology leadership had "strayed from Hubbard's original teachings".

Introduction
The term "Free Zone" or "Freezone" is used for the loose grouping of Scientologists who are not members of the Church of Scientology. Often called "freezoners", some prefer to describe their practices as "Independent Scientology" because of the associations that the term "Free Zone" has with Ron's Org;

Key to the Free Zone is what scholar of religion Aled Thomas called its "largely unregulated and non-hierarchical environment". Within the Free Zone there are many different interpretations of Scientology; Thomas suggested Free Zone Scientologists were divided between "purists" who emphasize loyalty to Hubbard's teachings and those more open to innovation. Free Zoners typically stress that Scientology as a religion is different from the Church of Scientology as an organization, criticizing the latter's actions rather than their beliefs. They often claim to be the true inheritors of Hubbard's teachings, maintaining that Scientology's primary focus is on individual development and that that does not require a leader or membership of an organization. Some Free Zoners argue that auditing should be more affordable than it is as performed by the Church, and criticise the Church's lavish expenditure on buildings.

The Church has remained hostile to the Free Zone, regarding it as heretical. It refers to non-members who either practice Scientology or simply adopt elements of its technology as "squirrels", and their activities as "squirreling". The term "squirrels" was coined by Hubbard and originally referred only to non-Scientologists using its technology. The Church also maintains that any use of its technology by non-Church members is dangerous as they may not be used correctly. Free Zoners have also accused the Church of "squirrelling", maintaining that it has changed Hubbard's words in various posthumous publications. Lewis has suggested that the Free Zone has been fueled by some of the Church's policies, including Hubbard's tendency to eject senior members whom he thought could rival him and the Church's "suppressive persons" policy which discouraged rapprochement with ex-members.

After interviewing 16 Free Zoners in Denmark, Elizabeth Tuxen Rubin noted that they had not renounced the belief system of Scientology despite distancing themselves from the Church of Scientology. James R. Lewis suggests that these "sincerely-held beliefs of Free Zone Scientologists [...] offer the best evidence that Scientology is a religion in the legal sense of that contested term".

Ron's Org
Bill Robertson had been a Sea Org member with the Church of Scientology on the flag ship Apollo. In the early 1980s, Robertson left the Church and founded Ron's Org, a loose federation of Scientology groups operating outside the Church. Headquartered in Switzerland, Ron's Org included affiliated centers in Germany, Russia, and other former parts of the Soviet Union. Robertson claimed that he was channeling messages from Hubbard after the latter's death, through which he discovered OT levels above the eight being offered by the Church. Although Ron's Org founding members were formerly part of the Church, many later Ron's Org members never had any prior involvement with the Church.

Advanced Ability Center
David Mayo founded Advanced Ability Center in the Santa Barbara, California area. Mayo had been the highest-ranking technical officer in Scientology, but was removed in the early 1980s by David Miscavige. Several years of harassment and litigation followed. In 1985, the Church of Scientology succeeded in getting an injunction against Mayo selling Scientology services, and in 1986 the center went bankrupt and closed.

Marty Rathbun
Marty Rathbun rose in the Church of Scientology to the post of Inspector General of the Religious Technology Center, He defected in 2004 and disappeared for several years before reappearing and offering to provide Scientology auditing services. Reitman called Rathbun's activities a "virtual church" because of the sermonizing on his website. He audited people in his home in Texas, and coined the term "Independent Scientology". But then years of fair game harassment followed. In 2013, Rathbun stated he was "no longer a Scientologist, independent or otherwise", and Rathbun's wife filed a suit against the Church of Scientology in 2013. After winning several legal bouts, the case was dropped in 2016. Rathbun then started to criticize other prominent former Scientologists, including making videos against them which appeared in Church of Scientology advertisements, leading strongly to the conclusion that Rathbun had made some agreement with the Church.

Haifa, Israel
In 2012, a Scientology center in Haifa, Israel, defected from the Church.

Others
As well as these organizations, there are also small groups of Scientologists outside the Church who meet informally. Some avoid establishing public centers and communities for fear of legal retribution from the Church. There are also Free Zone practitioners who practice what Thomas calls a "very individualized form of Scientology", encouraging innovation with Hubbard's technology.

Perception by German government authorities
Scientology Commissioner Ursula Caberta in Hamburg said that the Free Zone is a type of "methadone program for Scientologists", and, in any case, "the lesser evil". According to the Free Zone conglomerate, Ron's Org, the Verfassungsschutz Baden-Württemberg (State Office for the Protection of the Constitution) has stated that there is no need to keep Ron's Org under observation "as the Ron's Org has no anti-constitutional goals". There is some cooperation between members of the Ron's Org and state authorities who observe the Church of Scientology and investigate their activities.

The Church of Scientology and the Free Zone
The COS labels all practitioners of and believers in Scientology without its sanction "squirrels"—a term Hubbard coined to describe those who alter Scientology technology or practice it in a nonstandard fashion. Among Scientologists, the term is pejorative, and comparable in meaning to "heretic". In practice, the hierarchy of the Church of Scientology uses it to describe all of those who practice Scientology outside the Church.

As of 2016, many of the major courses and publications in the Church have been altered or deleted altogether. This is a main protest and action point for Free Zone Scientologists. Major courses, such as the Class VI and Class VIII auditor training courses, which had very high enrollment in the 1970s, have been shut down. Additionally, Scientology critics in the Free Zone movement have claimed that alterations have been made to Hubbard's original writings in Church policies and even more so in technical bulletins, with parishioners never made aware of the changes to these writings.

The Church of Scientology has used copyright and trademark laws against various Free Zone groups. Accordingly, most of the Free Zone avoids the use of officially trademarked Scientology words, including Scientology itself. In 2000, the Religious Technology Center unsuccessfully attempted to gain the Internet domain name scientologie.org from the World Intellectual Property Organization (one of the 16 specialized agencies of the United Nations) in a legal action against the Free Zone.

The "Ron's Org Committee" (ROC) and the "True Source Scientology Foundation" (STSS, "Stichting True Source Scientology") have documented the argument that Scientology materials written by L. Ron Hubbard are in the public domain if certain assumptions are made. In addition the ROC has documented a legal battle over the trademark "Ron's Org".

One Free Zone Scientologist, identified as "Safe", was quoted in Salon as saying: "The Church of Scientology does not want its control over its members to be found out by the public and it doesn't want its members to know that they can get Scientology outside of the Church of Scientology".

Portrayal in media
A 2006 Channel 4 documentary presented by Sikh comedian Hardeep Singh Kohli, The Beginner's Guide to L. Ron Hubbard, explored Scientology with the "Ron's Org" Free Zone group after the Church of Scientology declined to take part.

A 2017 episode of the docuseries Believer hosted by religious scholar Reza Aslan focused on Scientology; however, Aslan was unable to get in contact with any Church of Scientology officials so instead the episode featured an array of independent scientologists. Aslan has compared the Free Zone to other schisms in religious history, such as the Protestant Reformation.

Alternative auditing practices
Several alternatives to Dianetics were developed in the early years of the Free Zone.

Synergetics is a self-help system developed by Art Coulter in 1954. American businessman, Don A. Purcell, Jr., joined Synergetics in 1954 after he had financially bailed out Hubbard and his Dianetics foundations and was later sued by Hubbard. In 1976, Coulter published Synergetics: An Adventure in Human Development; he later founded the Synergetic Society, which published a journal through 1996.

Idenics is a personal counseling method not affiliated with any religion, that was developed by John Galusha beginning in 1987. Galusha researched for Hubbard during the 1950s, and was one of the founders of the first Church of Scientology in 1953. Galusha claimed that all personal issues can be addressed by thoroughly looking over the problem at hand, without judgment. The counselor asks a series of questions until the solution is considered found, by the client. Mike Goldstein, the owner of Idenics methodology and author of the book, Idenics: An Alternative to Therapy, claims that the method is as effective over the telephone as in person.

The word "Scientology"
Disagreement over the origins of the word Scientology has been used by Free Zone groups to contest Scientology's trademarks. A German book entitled Scientologie, Wissenschaft von der Beschaffenheit und der Tauglichkeit des Wissens was published in 1934 by Anastasius Nordenholz. The groups have argued that because Scientologie was not written by L. Ron Hubbard, the Church is unfairly monopolizing control over its practice. The trademark rights to the use of Dianetics and the E-meter (invented and created by Volney Mathison) was allowed to lapse into the public domain in 1976 by Hubbard.