The Scientology-Lies Database

About the Database * Download the Database * Please Add to the Database!
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About the Database

The Scientology-Lies database is a database of events related to Scientology, its founder L. Ron Hubbard, and its critics.

It is compiled by volunteers, who review existing information about Scientology and identify individual events to place in the database.

Each entry in the database is classified as a particular type of entry, such as Court (relating to one of the many court battles involving Scientology), Picket, and Scripture (relating to the writings of L. Ron Hubbard).

Of course, the database is NOT exhaustive. On the contrary: there is far, far more information available on the web and from other sources. This database merely scratches the surface.

The original intent of the database was to make it a little easier to create and update web pages that deal with a particular subset of information. I originally created the database as part of the Today in Scientology History project. The daily postings to alt.religion.scientology and the Today in Scientology History web page are generated automatically from the database. In the future, the database may be able to serve as an adjunct to other pages: for example, it would be easy to use the database to generate companion pages to the excellent Scientology Associated Deaths and Scientology and Dianetics - Tax Exempt Child Abuse and Neglect pages; the companion pages could be sortable by date, name, or location.


Download the Database

You can download all the information in the database in a single ZIP file, currently around 400K in size; it extracts to a file about 1.7M in size.

I declare my compilation, and any of my own original writing which may be within it, to be in the legal Public Domain. I am grateful to those who have contributed, who have also consented to the distribution of their work in this database. (Particular thanks to Mike O'Connor, who started the Today In Scientology History posts and gave me the idea of picking it up after he stopped.)

I'll try to upload a new ZIP file every month or so, and I'll try to remember to announce the update on the alt.religion.scientology newsgroup.


Please Add to the Database!

Please contribute to the Scientology-Lies database!

You can help by relating your own experiences, or by scouring existing information for database entries. For example, if you were involved in Scientology (either as a Scientologist or a critic), you could create a file listing events from your own life: the date you joined Scientology, the date you became a critic, whatever. Please note that Scientologists are welcome to post events from their Scientology experiences, such as the date you attested to a certain level. I'd like to collect all kinds of information from all kinds of sources. If you choose to excerpt information from web pages or other sources, please let me know before you start, so I can help make sure people aren't working on the same documents at once and duplicating effort.

Since the complete database is distributed on this page, you should be aware that any information you contribute will be copied and distributed to others. You do not need to place your contribution in the public domain, but when you submit information to the database, you are agreeing to have that information distributed along with the rest of the database and posted on web pages that draw from the database. If you wish to contribute without granting that distribution, please contact me.

Soon, a form will be available where you can enter information into the database yourself. (To avoid problems with spammers or other mischief-makers, the information will actually go into a copy of the database, so I can weed out any garbage entries. As a result, information you enter won't appear in the database immediately.)

In the meantime, you can create a text file of database entries, then simply send me the text file. Here's how:

  • Use a database program or a spreadsheet to create your file. (You can use a text editor, but it greatly increases the likelihood that there will be problems with the file.)
  • If you're using a spreadsheet program, you can download the simple template, or create one by simply typing the following headings into the top row of your spreadsheet:

    IDDatePlacePersonKeywordsTypeBlurbURLSourceEnteredModified
  • If you're using a database program, create a new database file and add a field for each of the items listed above.
  • Now, fill in your database entries. (Note that only the Blurb field is required; you can leave all the others blank.)
    • Ignore the ID field - leave it blank. It will be filled in automatically when your information is added to the main database.
    • Enter the date of the event in the date field. The database is smart enough to deal with partial dates, as long as they're formatted properly - they MUST be in the form YYYY-MM-DD (Year-Month-Day). So January 27, 2001 would be entered as 2001-01-27. An unknown date in February 1986 would be entered as 1986-02-00.
    • Enter the place, if there is one.
    • Enter the primary person, if there is one. For example, if you are entering information about Noah Lottick, you would enter his name here.
    • Enter keywords. (I'll post a list of suggested keywords soon.) For example, if the event has to do with a death, enter Death. If the event has to do with a Scientology level, enter Attest.
    • Enter an event type: Court, Picket, Scripture, Document, Press, Media. Event is a catch-all type; use that if none of the others seem to fit.
    • In the Blurb field, describe the event. Please don't use the Enter or Return key! If you do, it will probably cause problems with the file when I try to add it to the database. Try to keep your description fairly short - a sentence or two is usually plenty. If you have a very long story to tell, please just summarize it here and send me a separate text file with the whole story. I can web the story and link to it from the database entry.
    • If this entry is described on a web page somewhere, enter the web page address in the URL field. For example, if you're summarizing information from Chapter 5 of Believe What You Like, you would enter the URL for that page, http://www.scientology-lies.com/re.cgi?http://wpxx02.toxi.uni-wuerzburg...., here.
    • If the source for your entry has a name, enter it here. For example, if you're describing something you read about in the Washington Post, enter the name of the paper, the date, and the page number here. Note that you can have a source without an URL (if the source isn't on the web), but if you have an URL, you usually also have something you can enter in the Source field.
    • Finally, enter the date you're creating this entry. If you don't enter anything here, I'll use the date I add your information to the database. Most people will probably want to leave this field blank.
  • Okay, once you've entered your information, get ready to send it to me. Use your software's Save As command to save it as a text file. If you get any choices for your text file, choose tabs to separate fields and returns to separate records. (That's why you can't use the Return key when typing your entries.)
  • Finally, send the file to me at [email protected]. If you'd rather not send it to me, you can post it to alt.binaries.scientology - but try to get someone to e-mail me that it's there, or else I might miss it. (I'll try to create a way for people to anonymously ftp files to me soon.)

I know that's a lot of information, so if you have questions, don't hesitate to ask me - but please be patient, as I'm often a little slow in replying to e-mail.


If you have suggestions, ideas, or questions about the Scientology-Lies database (including suggestions for a good name for it!), please write me at [email protected]. Suggestions for keywords, entry types, and possible uses for the database are especially welcome.