Clearwater is Scientology's Mecca
More than 30 years ago, L.
Ron Hubbard secretly bought a historic hotel in this dying Florida downtown
with a vision of making a spiritual home for his Church of Scientology.
Today, locals and parishioners live in uneasy harmony.
CLEARWATER, Fla.Sure, says
Mayor Frank Hibbard. It can be a little unsettling sometimes throngs of
Scientologists wandering Clearwater's streets in their blue or khaki
trousers and crisp dress shirts. Sometimes, it makes the neighbours a bit
uneasy.
"When you come to downtown,
no one likes being a minority," Hibbard says. But mostly, folks in the
picturesque city on the Gulf of Mexico coast have come to accept that
Clearwater is to Scientologists what Salt Lake City is to Mormons, what
Mecca is to Muslims. Though not everybody is happy about it.
"I think there's been a slow
shift from a very strong adversarial relationship to a tolerance," says Ron
Stuart, who clashed with church officials as an editor of the now-defunct
Clearwater Sun in the '70s.
"There's still a lot of
people in the city who don't trust them and wish they weren't there," says
Stuart, who now works for the county court system. "But you can't deny that
they contribute, particularly to the economy. Without them, there probably
wouldn't be a downtown."
It's all unfolded over more
than 30 years, since 1975, when L. Ron Hubbard came ashore.
The science fiction writer
and his associates, who for years operated from aboard a yacht at sea,
secretly bought a historic hotel in a dying downtown with a vision of making
Clearwater a spiritual home for his Church of Scientology.
The mysterious newcomers
made waves almost immediately with secretive, aggressive expansion and
according to church documents seized by the FBI a covert plot to discredit
their enemies and ``take control" of the city. Today, downtown Clearwater is an international Scientology stronghold and a destination for elite members (including celebrity devotees like Tom Cruise and John Travolta) who come from all over the world for the highest levels of the church's spiritual training.
The empire's thumbprint on the downtown is considerable and conspicuous, from the uniformed church workers on the streets every day to the two dozen or so Scientology-owned buildings on the skyline, many of them fully or partially exempt from property taxes.
Scientology's gem is the new
seven-storey Flag Building, which covers a full city block. Also known as
the "Super Power Building," it will be the largest Scientology structure in
the world when completed late next year and is expected to draw thousands
more visiting believers to Clearwater.
By church tallies, around
12,000 Scientologists live and work in and around Clearwater now, the old
attitudes and prejudices in town softened by the passage of time and
aggressive community outreach by the church. Scientologists now sit on the
boards of civic groups. They own businesses downtown. No longer is it
political suicide for local leaders to associate with them.
Hibbard, mayor of the city
of around 110,000 residents, can hardly forget that the church is the
largest private property owner downtown. "They are a large presence," he said. "To ignore that fact is like sticking your head in the sand."
Hubbard established the
Church of Scientology in 1954, based on theories he conceived in his
best-selling book, "Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health."
Today, the Los Angeles-based church claims 10 million members and more than
7,000 churches, missions and other groups around the world.
Scientologists believe
spiritual enlightenment is possible by ridding your mind and soul of the
accumulated, unwanted effects of this lifetime and innumerable previous
lifetimes through an intense counseling process called "auditing." Auditors
use a device called an "e-meter," similar to a polygraph.
Hubbard chose Clearwater,
the church says, because it was accessible the Tampa airport is a half
hour away and warm year round.
Despite the church's
longtime presence and outreach efforts, Scientology is still mysterious and
intimidating to many in Clearwater. The church's own polling in 2003 showed
that a majority of local people who had no previous contact with the church
had negative opinions about it. New condo buildings are rising on the harbour and a long-awaited streetscape facelift is in the works, but some people wonder if a diverse downtown culture is possible with a Scientology building on nearly every corner and church staffers on the streets every day.
October 04, 2007 |