Gerald Armstrong spoke in the auditorium of the Nikolo-Ugreshky Seminary on September 16, 2013.
Also taking part was Alexander Dvorkin, Doctor of Philosophy, Candidate of Theology, Professor at St. Tikhon’s Orthodox University, President of the Center for Religious Studies, Chairman of the Justice Ministry’s Expert Council for State Religious Expertise, Vice-President of the European Federation of Centres of Research and Information on Cults (FECRIS).
Gerald Armstrong is a well-known critic and former member of the Scientology cult who spent many years in the organization. He was the personal archivist of the cult’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard, and he was involved in the “biography project” created by the “Church of Scientology” for the purpose of writing a documented biography of Hubbard. After learning the shocking details of L. Ron Hubbard‘s real biography, he left the cult and became one of its most active critics.
In his presentation to the Nikolo-Ugreshky Seminary’s teachers, students and guests, Gerald Armstrong discussed the fundamental dangers that Scientology poses to society. He said that the “Church of Scientology” essentially operates as an intelligence-gathering organization and that Scientologists are pathological liars, as illustrated by some remarkable facts about the history of this movement. For example, in 1977 in the USA, 11 Scientologists were charged with espionage by the FBI, tried and sentenced to prison. Only six years later, however, the government of the United States recognized the Scientologists as a religious organization and signed a cooperation agreement with them.
Gerald Armstrong views Scientology’s approach as geared to annihilating an individual’s conscience, and therefore as destructive to character. “My understanding,” he said, “is that conscience is the voice of the Holy Spirit within a person. And by seeking to destroy conscience, Scientology is committing the most unforgivable sin — a sin against the Holy Spirit.”
