Editing Free Zone (Scientology) (section)

== Relationship with the Church of Scientology ==

[[File:L. Ron Hubbard influences.png|thumb|right|Hubbard's beliefs and practices, drawn from a diverse set of sources, influenced numerous offshoots, splinter groups, and new movements]]

The Church of Scientology has remained hostile to the Free Zone,{{r|lewis2013|pp=269-270}} regarding it as heretical.{{r|thomas|p=4}} It refers to non-members who either practice Scientology or simply adopt elements of its technology as "[[Scientology beliefs and practices#Squirreling|squirrels]]",{{r|barrett2001|p=451}}{{r|lewis2013|p=264}} and their activities as "squirreling".{{r|reitman|p=158}} The term "squirrels" was coined by Hubbard and originally referred only to non-Scientologists using its technology.{{r|thomas|p=29}}{{Verify source|date=April 2024|reason=Not sure if this is correct; thought term originally referred to Scientologists experimenting, and not applying it standardly.}} The Church also maintains that any use of its technology by non-Church members is dangerous as they may not be used correctly.{{r|barrett2001|p=451}} Free Zoners have also accused the Church of "squirrelling",{{r|thomas|p=121}} maintaining that it has changed Hubbard's words in various posthumous publications.{{r|thomas|p=114}} 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 who he thought could rival him and the Church's "suppressive persons" policy which discouraged reconciliation with ex-members.{{r|lewis2012|p=141}}{{r|lewis2013|p=263}}

The [[Church of Scientology|COS]] labels all practitioners of and believers in Scientology without its sanction "squirrels"—a term [[L. Ron Hubbard|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 "[[heresy|heretic]]". In practice, the hierarchy of the Church of Scientology uses it to describe all of those who practice Scientology outside the Church.<ref name="Doctrine"/>

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 [[Auditing (Scientology)|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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-03-19 |title=True LRH - The Truth is Simple |url=http://www.truelrh.com/ |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230319044416/http://www.truelrh.com/ |archive-date=March 19, 2023 |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=truelrh.com}}</ref>

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 the word ''Scientology''. In 2000, the [[Religious Technology Center]] unsuccessfully attempted to gain the Internet domain name scientologie.org in a legal action against the Free Zone.<ref name="wipo">{{Cite web |url=https://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/decisions/html/2000/d2000-0410.html |title=Administrative Panel Decision, Religious Technology Center v. Freie Zone E. V, Case No. D2000-0410 |website=[[WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center]] |date=June 23, 2000}}</ref>

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.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |date=2017-10-23 |title=Legal – Ron's Org Committee |url=https://ronsorg.com/legal/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023170139/https://ronsorg.com/legal/ |archive-date=2017-10-23 |access-date=2017-10-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2017-09-21 |title=Who owns Scientology – or who owns the copyrights of the works of L.Ron Hubbard? – True Source Scientology Foundation |url=https://stss.nl/legal/who-owns-scientology/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921152840/https://stss.nl/legal/who-owns-scientology/ |archive-date=2017-09-21 |access-date=2017-10-23}}</ref> In addition the ROC has documented a legal battle over the trademark "Ron's Org".<ref name=":0" />

One Free Zone Scientologist, identified as "Safe", was quoted in ''[[Salon.com|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".<ref name="salon">{{cite news |last=Brown |first=Janelle |author-link=Janelle Brown |title=Copyright -- or wrong? : The Church of Scientology takes up a new weapon -- the Digital Millennium Copyright Act -- in its ongoing battle with critics. |work=[[Salon.com|Salon]] |date=1999-07-22 |url=http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/1999/07/22/scientology/print.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090626222533/http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/1999/07/22/scientology/print.html |archive-date=2009-06-26 }}</ref>