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Diary: Oh, lord

The Times, 30 March 1998

From chriso@lutefisk.demon.co.uk Mon Feb  1 17:45:26 GMT 1999

BY Jasper Gerard,/p

THE CULT once branded "corrupt, sinister and dangerous" by a High Court judge is gaining a foothold in the Lords. Baron McNair, a Liberal Democrat, is eagerly promoting the words of L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology. Hubbard's Fundamentals of Thought, which McNair calls "a toolkit for life", is being released in paperback and the peer wants to spread the word. "There were a lot of 'Scientologists eat babies' stories," he tells me.

"All absolute nonsense." The Church is now more respectable, boasting involvement from Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman and John Travolta. Still, McNair thinks he is the only peer in the Church. Perhaps other ermined sorts fear "auditing" - protracted questioning to recall supposed emotional experiences.

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