Religious Technology Center

Religious Technology Center
Formation1982
TypeReligious / commercial
Legal statusCalifornia non-profit corporation[1]
HeadquartersGilman Hot Springs, California, United States
Chairman
David Miscavige
Websitertc.org
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The Religious Technology Center (RTC) is an American non-profit corporation[2][1] that was founded in 1982 by the Church of Scientology to control and oversee the use of all of the trademarks, symbols and texts of Scientology and Dianetics. Although RTC controls their use, those works are owned by another corporation, the Church of Spiritual Technology which is doing business as L. Ron Hubbard Library, registered in Los Angeles County, California.[3][4]

While exercising authority over the use of all Dianetics and Scientology materials, RTC claims that it is not involved in the day-to-day management of the Church of Scientology; that role is assigned to a separate corporation, the Church of Scientology International (CSI). According to the RTC website, "RTC stands apart as an external body which protects the Scientology religion and acts as the final arbiter of orthodoxy"[5] and its stated purpose is "to protect the public from misapplication of the technology and to see that the religious technologies of Dianetics and Scientology remain in proper hands and are properly ministered".[6]

Since 1987, David Miscavige has held the title of Chairman of the Board.[7]: 57 [8]: 269 [9]: 122–3 [10]: 154 

In a 1993 memorandum by the Church of Scientology International, the following information was provided to the Internal Revenue Service with regards to RTC's role and functions, its personnel and its income:[11]

"[...] RTC [...] owns the Scientology religious marks and advanced technology. It licenses the marks to CSI for sublicense to subordinate churches and directly licenses the advanced technology to appropriate churches. Through this structure RTC assures that practice of the Scientology religion within the ecclesiastical hierarchy under CSI's authority as Mother Church remains strictly orthodox, in accordance with the Scientology Scriptures. This church has a staff of approximately 50 individuals and an annual budget of approximately $ 6.6 million, based on its annual disbursements for the most recent year for which financial statements are available. [...]"

The RTC guarantees the "purity and workability of Scientology so far into the future", thus engaging in programs to "restore, preserve, maintain and keep uncorrupted" the church's "religious technology", according to Scientology spokesman Eric Roux.[12][13]

  1. ^ a b Rosenoer, Jonathan (1997). Cyberlaw: the law of the Internet. Springer. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-387-94832-4. OL 7448604M. Religious Technology Center and Bridge Publications Inc., California non-profit corporations ... are owners of rights to published and unpublished works of L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Scientology religion.
  2. ^ Letter by the Internal Revenue Service to Flemming Paludan, Regional Director, Danish Tax-Office, Washington, D.C., USA, December 22, 1993
  3. ^ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, as an example Archived 2007-06-28 at the Wayback Machine, under "HUBBARD L RON LIBRARY"
  4. ^ "Notice for Materials Copyrighted to Church of Scientology International". Archived from the original on February 16, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2007.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference ignetwork was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Religious Technology Center, Preserving, Maintaining and Protecting the Scientology Religion". rtc.org.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference scobee was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference wright was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference rinder was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference reitman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Summary Description of Churches of Scientology - RTC, CSI, CSFSSO, CSFSO, Other Churches, Missions, Field Ministers, CSI Prod. 11-4-93, Bate Stamp: 151396 - 151398, Ex. 1-3, Washington, DC, 1993
  12. ^ "Scientology faces ban in Belgium". AFP. news.com.au. December 12, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  13. ^ Roux, Eric (July 21, 2016). "Scientology". In Gallagher, Eugene V. (ed.). Cult Wars in Historical Perspective: New and Minority Religions. Routledge. ISBN 978-1472458124.