Cyril Ronald Vosper (7 June 1935 – 4 May 2004) was an
anti-cult leader, former
Scientologist and later a
critic of Scientology,
deprogrammer, and spokesperson on
men's health
''Men's Health'' (''MH''), published by Hearst Communications, Hearst, is the world's largest men's magazine brand, with 35 editions in 59 countries; it is the bestselling men's magazine on American newsstands.
Started as a men's health magazin ...
. He wrote ''
The Mind Benders'', which was the first book on Scientology to be written by an ex-member, and the first critical book on Scientology to be published (narrowly beating ''
Inside Scientology'' by Robert Kaufman).
Biography
Vosper was born in 1935 in
Hounslow, Middlesex (now part of
Greater London
Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...
) and lived his early life in Britain. He joined the
Hubbard Association of Scientologists International
In the 1950s and 1960s, a HASI (short for Hubbard Association of Scientologists International) was an organization where people would go for Scientology training, auditing, books, tapes, and e-meters. There were HASI organizations across the we ...
(the overseas arm of the
Church of Scientology
The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religiou ...
) in 1954 at 19. He soon became a Scientology
auditor
An auditor is a person or a firm appointed by a company to execute an audit.Practical Auditing, Kul Narsingh Shrestha, 2012, Nabin Prakashan, Nepal To act as an auditor, a person should be certified by the regulatory authority of accounting an ...
.
[Vosper, Cyril. ''The Mind Benders''. Neville Spearman, 1971] In 1956, he was personally cited by
L. Ron Hubbard
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986) was an American author and the founder of Scientology. A prolific writer of pulp science fiction and fantasy novels in his early career, in 1950 he authored the pseudoscie ...
for his "test work and the wonderful results
e hasobtained on pcs
/nowiki>preclears">preclear.html" ;"title="/nowiki>preclear">/nowiki>preclearsprocessed under various directives." Vosper joined Hubbard's staff at Saint Hill Manor in the 1960s, working as the Dissemination Secretary, World Wide and Dissemination Secretary, Evening and Weekend Foundation. He was expelled in September 1968 for alleged disciplinary offences.copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...
and breach of confidence
The tort of breach of confidence is, in United Kingdom law and the United States law, a common-law tort that protects private information conveyed in confidence. A claim for breach of confidence typically requires the information to be of a co ...
, but its case was rejected by the courts. At one stage in the litigation, a High Court judge was reported as saying of applications by the Church that Vosper and a newspaper editor be committed to prison for contempt of court
Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the co ...
, that these actions were deliberately taken "to try to stifle any criticism or inquiry into their he Church of Scientology'saffairs". The Church was permitted to appeal the case but the Court of Appeal
An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...
rejected the Church's appeal, finding "fair dealing
Fair dealing is a limitation and exception to the exclusive rights granted by copyright law to the author of a creative work. Fair dealing is found in many of the common law jurisdictions of the Commonwealth of Nations.
Fair dealing is an e ...
in ''The Mind Benders'' in criticising scientology and that it was in the public interest to investigate and disclose."
Following the outcome of the case, Vosper asserted that he had been subjected to "dirty tricks" carried out by the Church. According to him, a copy of his manuscript disappeared from his lodgings and, while on holiday in Spain, he was questioned by the police when they opened a parcel addressed to the place in which he was staying, containing obscene caricatures of the Spanish dictator General Franco.
Vosper subsequently became a deprogrammer, working to extract individuals from groups he considered to be cult
Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...
s. In November 1987, while a committee member of the British anti-cult group Family, Action, Information, Rescue (FAIR), he was convicted in Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
on charges of false imprisonment
False imprisonment or unlawful imprisonment occurs when a person intentionally restricts another person's movement within any area without legal authority, justification, or the restrained person's permission.
Actual physical restraint is n ...
and causing bodily harm to German Scientologist Barbara Schwarz in the course of a deprogramming attempt. He received a five-month suspended sentence.[''The Guardian'' (London), December 30, 1987. Title: "UK News In Brief: Britons convicted of kidnapping." Full text: "Two Britons were yesterday convicted by a Munich court on charges of false imprisonment and causing bodily harm. Cyril Vosper, aged 52, and John Mathewson, aged 25, were stated to have held 32 year old Barbara Schwarz against her will for 12 hours in an attempt to persuade her to abandon her religion. Vosper received a five month suspended sentence and Mathewson a three month suspended sentence."]
References
Additional sources
*Cyril Vosper, ''The Mind-benders: Scientology'', Mayflower (April 19, 1973), trade paperback, 176 pages, ; hardcover, Neville Spearman Ltd (September 9, 1971), 190 pages,
Warrior Against Sect And Prostate Cancer
(obituary, ''The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'', 12 May 2004)
External links
Researching New Religious Movements: Responses and Redefinitions by Elisabeth Arweck, p. 114
(required Google login)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vosper, Cyril
1935 births
2004 deaths
British expatriates in Australia
British people convicted of kidnapping
British whistleblowers
Critics of Scientology
Scientology and law
Deaths from cancer in Victoria (state)
Deprogrammers
Exit counselors
Former members of new religious movements
Former Scientologists