imported>Grorp: rewrite lead in prep for {{excerpt}} into Scientology; expand lead to cover the whole article

2026-03-24T15:48:54Z

rewrite lead in prep for {{excerpt}} into Scientology; expand lead to cover the whole article

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{{short description|Scientology groups independent of the Church of Scientology}}
{{use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Scientology sidebar}}

The '''Free Zone''', also known as '''Freezone''' or '''Independent Scientology''', refers to a loose collection of individuals and groups who practice [[Scientology]] outside the authority of the [[Church of Scientology]]. These practitioners range from those who closely follow [[L. Ron Hubbard]]'s early teachings to others who adapt or innovate upon them, often emphasizing a non-hierarchical and individualized approach to Scientology's methods. The Church of Scientology regards such activity as heretical and labels independent practitioners "squirrels", a term used within [[The Church (Scientology)|the Church]] for those who alter or use Scientology techniques without authorization.

Independent Scientology movements have existed since the early years of Dianetics, with various organizations and informal networks emerging over time, including Ron's Org, the Advanced Ability Center, and later online or decentralized communities. Free Zone practitioners typically distinguish between Scientology as a belief system and the Church as an institution, criticizing the Church's leadership, organizational practices, and changes to Hubbard's original materials.

The Free Zone has been the subject of legal disputes with the Church over [[Church of Scientology trademarks|trademarks]] and copyrights. Its groups have received varying levels of attention from government agencies, [[Scientology in Germany|particularly in Germany]] where Free Zone groups are viewed as less problematic than the Church. Documentaries and journalistic accounts have portrayed the Free Zone movement as an alternative expression of Scientology outside of the Church's control.

== History ==

=== Origins (1950s–1970s) ===

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,<ref name="Doctrine">{{cite news |last=Sappell |first=Joel |author2=Welkos, Robert W. |date=1990-06-29 |title=When the Doctrine Leaves the Church |page=A49:1 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/la-scientology062990b-story.html |access-date=2007-04-12 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150325052923/https://www.latimes.com/local/la-scientology062990b-story.html |archive-date=March 25, 2015}}</ref> claims a founding date of December 1950 during the days of Dianetics Foundations and predating the creation of Scientology.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ca-da.org/whoweare/whoweare.html |title=California Association of Dianetic Auditors -- Who We Are |access-date=2007-04-14 |archive-date=June 1, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070601200852/http://ca-da.org/whoweare/whoweare.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1965, a longtime Church member and "Doctor of Scientology" Jack Horner, dissatisfied with the Church's "ethics" program, developed Dianology.{{r|beithallahmi|p=111}}

=== Formation of the Free Zone (1980s) ===

[[David Mayo (Scientology)|David Mayo]] founded the [[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.{{r|reitman|pages=157-8}}

{{Anchor|Ron's Org}}Bill Robertson had been a [[Sea Org]] member with the Church of Scientology on the flagship ''[[Apollo (Scientology)|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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.freezone.org/cbr/sector9/e_fzdecr.htm |title=The Free Zone Decree |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070416224032/http://www.freezone.org/cbr/sector9/e_fzdecr.htm |archive-date=2007-04-16 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ronsorg.com/bill-robertson |title=Captain Bill Robertson a.k.a. "Captain Bill" and "CBR" |website=ronsorg.com |access-date=April 20, 2024}}</ref>{{r|lewis2013|pp=262-4}} Robertson claimed that he was channeling messages from Hubbard after the latter's death, through which he discovered [[Operating Thetan|OT levels]] above the eight being offered by the Church.{{r|lewis2013|p=265}} 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.{{r|lewis2013|p=269}}

=== Later independent movements (1990s–present) ===

As well as organizations, there are also small groups of Scientologists outside the Church of Scientology who meet informally.{{r|lewis2013|p=265}} Some avoid establishing public centers and communities for fear of legal retribution from the Church, and there are Free Zone practitioners who practice what Aled Thomas calls a "very individualized form of Scientology", encouraging innovation with Hubbard's technology.{{r|thomas|pp=11, 96, 107}}

[[Marty Rathbun]] rose in the Church of Scientology to the post of Inspector General of the [[Religious Technology Center]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rtc.org/en_US/mark-rathbun.html |title=Mark Rathbun Inspector General Religious Technology Center |publisher=[[Religious Technology Center]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050904200333/http://www.rtc.org/en_US/mark-rathbun.html |archive-date=2005-09-04}}</ref> He defected in 2004 and disappeared for several years before reappearing and offering to provide Scientology auditing services.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tom Cruise's confessions mocked at Scientology parties |work=MSN NZ |publisher=MSN New Zealand Ltd |date=May 9, 2010 |url=http://entertainment.msn.co.nz/blog.aspx?blogentryid=644319&showcomments=true |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100526192347/http://entertainment.msn.co.nz/blog.aspx?blogentryid=644319&showcomments=true |archive-date=May 26, 2010 |quote=Since defecting from the Church in 2004, Marty has made a career out of providing counselling and auditing services to other former Scientology members.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=26 September 2010|title=Mr Shouty and Cruise: The Rematch|work=[[The Sunday Times]]|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A238019293/STND?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=e1e2c2c7|access-date=December 21, 2022 |first=John |last=Sweeney |author-link=John Sweeney (journalist)|quote=Marty Rathbun, who like Rinder is now an independent scientologist}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last1 = Tobin | first1 = Thomas C. | last2 = Childs | first2= Joe | title = In new year's message, Scientology insider blasts 'extreme' fundraising | date = January 1, 2012 | work = [[Tampa Bay Times]] | url = https://www.tampabay.com/news/scientology/in-new-years-message-scientology-insider-blasts-extreme-fundraising/1208723/ | quote = Rathbun, now a leading figure in a movement for Scientologists to practice independently of the church ... | access-date = January 14, 2012 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130625183722/http://www.tampabay.com/news/scientology/in-new-years-message-scientology-insider-blasts-extreme-fundraising/1208723 | archive-date = June 25, 2013 }}</ref> Reitman called Rathbun's activities a "virtual church" because of the sermonizing on his website.{{r|reitman|page=361-3}} He audited people in his home in Texas, and coined the term "Independent Scientology".<ref name="ortega2017">{{Cite web |title=Memories of a Scientology warrior: Marty Rathbun's curious career as church rebel |first=Tony |last=Ortega |author-link=Tony Ortega |date=March 14, 2017 |website=The Underground Bunker |url=https://tonyortega.org/2017/03/14/memories-of-a-scientology-warrior-marty-rathbuns-curious-career-as-church-rebel/}}</ref> But then years of [[Fair game (Scientology)|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.{{r|ortega2017}} After winning several legal bouts, the case was dropped in 2016.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.houstonpress.com/news/another-scientology-lawsuit-meets-a-strange-abrupt-end-in-texas-8424797 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610042105/https://www.houstonpress.com/news/another-scientology-lawsuit-meets-a-strange-abrupt-end-in-texas-8424797 |archive-date=June 10, 2016 |title=Another Scientology Lawsuit Meets a Strange, Abrupt End in Texas
|last=Wray |first=Dianna |work=Houston Press |date=May 25, 2016}}</ref> 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.{{r|ortega2017}}

In 2012, a Scientology center in [[Haifa]], Israel, defected from the Church.{{r|lewis2013|p=264}}

== Beliefs and practices ==

The term "Free Zone" or "Freezone" is used for the loose grouping of Scientologists who are not members of the Church of Scientology.{{r|lewis2012|p=141}}{{r|lewis2013|p=262}} Often called "freezoners",{{r|grossman}}{{r|lewis2013|p=267}} some prefer to describe their practices as "Independent Scientology" because of the associations that the term "Free Zone" has with [[#Ron's Org|Ron's Org]] and other breakaway groups.{{r|lewis2013|p=265}}

''[[Skeptic (U.S. magazine)|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".<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Lippard |first1=Jim |author1-link=Jim Lippard |last2=Jacobsen |first2=Jeff |title=Scientology v. the Internet. Free Speech & Copyright Infringement on the Information Super-Highway |magazine=[[Skeptic (U.S. magazine)|Skeptic Magazine]] |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=35–41 |year=1995 |url=http://www.discord.org/~lippard/skeptic/03.3.jl-jj-scientology.html}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite news |last=Alter |first=Alexandra |title=Scientology: What's behind the Hollywood hype? |work=[[Miami Herald]] |date=2005-07-02 |pages=8E |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/652246733/?terms=free%20zone&match=1 |via=newspapers.com |quote=Some followers of Scientology say the church leadership has strayed from Hubbard's original teachings. Many belong to the Free Zone, a group of Scientologists who believe in the religion's practices but not the organization.}}</ref>

Key to the Free Zone is what scholar of religion Aled Thomas called its "largely unregulated and non-hierarchical environment".{{r|thomas|p=2}} Within the Free Zone there are many different interpretations of Scientology;{{r|thomas|p=ix}} Thomas suggested Free Zone Scientologists were divided between "purists" who emphasize loyalty to Hubbard's teachings and those more open to innovation.{{r|thomas|p=165}} 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.{{r|thomas|p=29}} They often claim to be the true inheritors of Hubbard's teachings,{{r|willms|p=248}} maintaining that Scientology's primary focus is on individual development and that that does not require a leader or membership of an organization.{{r|thomas|p=29}} Some Free Zoners argue that auditing should be more affordable than it is as performed by the Church,{{r|thomas|p=29}} and criticise the Church's lavish expenditure on buildings.{{r|thomas|p=144}}

After interviewing sixteen Free Zoners in Denmark who had left the Church of Scientology, Elizabeth Tuxen Rubin noted that they had not renounced the belief system of Scientology.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lewis |first=J. R. |year=2015 |title=Scientology: Sect, Science, or Scam? |journal=Numen |volume=62 |issue=2/3 |pages=226–242 |doi=10.1163/15685276-12341364 |jstor=24644760 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/24644760|url-access=subscription }}</ref>{{Rp|238}}

== 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>

== 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".<ref>{{cite news |first=Axel |last=Kintzinger |title=The sect is broke |work=[[:de:Die Woche (1993)|Die Woche]] |date=1998-12-11 }}</ref> 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.<ref>"Maybe it makes you feel more confident, for example, if you learn that the office for safeguarding the constitution (Verfassungsschutz) of the German state of Baden-Württemberg has stated years ago that the RON's Org is not a part of the Church of Scientology and that there is no need to observe them as the RON's Org has no anti-constitutional goals. Indeed, there is some cooperation between members of the RON's Org and state authorities who observe the Church of Scientology and investigate their activities, [http://www.ronsorg.de/englisch/mehr_infos/ausf_texte/antworten.html English FAQ on German Ron's Org site] with some similar cooperation taking place among other respective Freezone groups and affiliates. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928140704/http://www.ronsorg.de/englisch/mehr_infos/ausf_texte/antworten.html |date=2007-09-28 }}</ref>

== 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.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73AdC09azSI |title=The Beginner's Guide To L. Ron Hubbard |subject1=Hardeep Singh Kohli (presenter) |subject2=[[Ron's Org]] |publisher=[[Channel 4]] |date=27 May 2011|via=YouTube}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2017/03/20/believer-reza-aslan-scientology-clip-3.cnn |title=A steep price for leaving Scientology : Believer with Reza Aslan |date=March 20, 2017 | website=[[CNN]]}}</ref> Aslan has compared the Free Zone to other [[schisms]] in religious history, such as the [[Protestant Reformation]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Emami |first=Gazelle |date=2017-03-03 |title=Reza Aslan on Believer and Why Scientology Gets a Bad Rap |url=https://www.vulture.com/2017/03/reza-aslan-believer-scientology-muslim-american-tv-show.html |access-date=2023-01-04 |website=Vulture |language=en-us}}</ref>

== 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aberree.com/terms/synergetics.html|title=Synergetics - The Compleat Aberree|website=www.aberree.com}}</ref> 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.{{r|atack|page=138}} In 1976, Coulter published ''Synergetics: An Adventure in Human Development''; he later founded the Synergetic Society, which published a journal through 1996.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://solutions.synearth.net/2002/02/12|title=CommUnity of Minds » 2002 » February » 12|website=solutions.synearth.net|access-date=September 1, 2008|archive-date=October 12, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012111636/http://solutions.synearth.net/2002/02/12|url-status=dead}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aberree.com/v01/n04p04.html|title=Successor Organization Is Religious Fellowship (continued) - The Compleat Aberree|website=www.aberree.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aberree.com/people/john-galusha.html|title=John Galusha - The Compleat Aberree|website=www.aberree.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.freezoneplanet.org/3t.html|title=John Galusha and the Book One Course|website=www.freezoneplanet.org}}</ref> 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 [[List of trademarks owned by the Church of Scientology and its affiliates|Scientology's trademarks]]. A German book entitled ''[[Scientologie, Wissenschaft von der Beschaffenheit und der Tauglichkeit des Wissens]]'' was published in 1934 by [[Anastasius Nordenholz]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scientologie.org/se_npre.htm |title=Scientology 1934, Nordenholz, Preface |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928125142/http://www.scientologie.org/se_npre.htm |archive-date=2007-09-28 |website=scientologie.org |date=1999}}</ref> The groups have argued that because ''Scientologie'' was not written by [[L. Ron Hubbard]], the Church is unfairly monopolizing control over its practice.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scientologie.org/gif/wipo-decision.pdf |title=Administrative Panel Decision : Religious Technology Center v. Freie Zone E. V (Free Zone Association, Germany) |date=June 23, 2000 |access-date=2005-11-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050819232335/http://www.scientologie.org/gif/wipo-decision.pdf |archive-date=2005-08-19 }}</ref> The trademark rights to the use of [[Dianetics]] and the [[E-meter]] (invented and created by [[Volney Mathison]]{{r|urban|pages=49–52}}) was allowed to lapse into the [[public domain]] in 1976 by Hubbard.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

== See also ==
* [[Erhard Seminars Training]] (est)
* [[Free Zone Association]]
* [[Process Church of the Final Judgement]]

== References ==
<references>
<ref name="atack">{{Cite book |title=A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed |title-link=A Piece of Blue Sky |first=Jon |last=Atack |author-link=Jon Atack |date=1990 |publisher=[[Lyle Stuart|Lyle Stuart Books]] |isbn=081840499X |ol=9429654M}}</ref>

<ref name="barrett2001">{{Cite book |last=Barrett |first=David V. |title=The New Believers: A Survey of Sects, Cults and Alternative Religions |publisher=Cassell and Co |year=2001 |isbn=978-0304355921 |location=London |ol=3999281M}}</ref>

<ref name="beithallahmi">{{cite book |first=Benjamin |last=Beit-Hallahmi |author-link=Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi |title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Active New Religions, Sects, and Cults |year=1998 |publisher=[[Rosen Publishing Group]] |edition=2nd |isbn=0823925862 |ol=8120059M}}</ref>

<ref name=grossman>{{cite news |last=Grossman |first=Wendy M. |author-link=Wendy M. Grossman |title=alt.scientology.war |work=[[Wired News]] |date=December 1995 |url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.12/alt.scientology.war_pr.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991111205120/https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.12/alt.scientology.war_pr.html |archive-date=November 11, 1999 |access-date=2007-04-14 |quote=One of the first steps toward open warfare was the emergence, in about 1990, of a group that wanted to separate the church and its scriptures. Calling itself the Free Zone, this group consists of people who have left the church but still want to practice its teachings - use the tech, as Free Zoners say. Ex Scientologist Homer Smith is one of these (ex meaning "expanded," not "former" Scientologist, says Smith). Wanting to encourage serious discussion of the tech away from the noisy brawl next door in alt.religion.scientology, Smith set up a second newsgroup, alt.clearing.technology, for this purpose.}}</ref>

<ref name="lewis2012">{{cite book |last=Lewis |first=James R. |year=2012 |chapter=Scientology: Up Stat, Down Stat |title=The Cambridge Companion to New Religious Movements |editor1=Olav Hammer |editor2=Mikael Rothstein |location=New York |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=133–149 |ol=25323554M}}</ref>

<ref name="lewis2013">{{cite journal |last=Lewis |first=James R. |author-link=James R. Lewis (scholar) |title=Free Zone Scientology and Other Movement Milieus: A Preliminary Characterization |journal=Temenos: Nordic Journal of Comparative Religion |volume=49 |number=2 |year=2013 |pages=255–276|doi=10.33356/temenos.8203 |doi-access=free |hdl=10037/25718 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

<ref name="reitman">{{cite book |last=Reitman |first=Janet |author-link=Janet Reitman |title=Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion |title-link=Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion |date=2011 |isbn=9780618883028 |ol=24881847M |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]] }}</ref>

<ref name="thomas">{{cite book |last=Thomas |first=Aled |year=2021 |title=Free Zone Scientology: Contesting the Boundaries of a New Religion |location=London |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-350-18254-7 }}</ref>

<ref name="urban">{{cite book|last=Urban|first=Hugh B. |author-link=Hugh Urban |title=The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion |title-link=The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |year=2011 |isbn=9780691146089}}</ref>

<ref name="willms">{{cite book |title=Scientology |title-link=Scientology (Lewis book) |year=2009 |editor-first=James R. |editor-last=Lewis |editor-link=James R. Lewis (scholar) |isbn=9780199852321 |ol=16943235M |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |chapter=Scientology: "Modern Religion" or "Religion of Modernity"? |pages=245–266 |first=Gerald |last=Willms |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331493.003.0013}}</ref>
</references>

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Lewis |editor1-first=James R. |editor1-link=James R. Lewis (scholar) |editor2-first=Olav |editor2-last=Hammer |editor2-link=Olav Hammer |title=The Invention of Sacred Tradition |chapter=Scientology, scripture, and sacred tradition |first=Mikael |last=Rothstein |author-link=Mikael Rothstein |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2007 |pages=18–37 | isbn =978-0-521-86479-4 |doi=10.1017/CBO9780511488450.002}}

{{Scientology}}
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[[Category:Free Zone (Scientology)| ]]
[[Category:1950 establishments in the United States]]
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[[Category:Religious schisms]]
[[Category:Scientology]]

Free Zone (Scientology) - Revision history

imported>Grorp: rewrite lead in prep for {{excerpt}} into Scientology; expand lead to cover the whole article