The Way to Happiness

The Way to Happiness Foundation International is a non-profit 501(c)(3), incorporated in 1984. Headquartered at 201 East Broadway, Glendale, California, the foundation coordinates the activities of the Way to Happiness international network, including continental and national offices, associates and local groups. The Way to Happiness Foundation International is a division of the Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE), and is a "Scientology-related entity" under the 1993 IRS Closing Agreement. ==Booklet==

The Way to Happiness booklet contains a set of 21 precepts, It was first published in 1981 by Regent House, Los Angeles as a 48-page paper-covered booklet (). The book is frequently given out by Scientologists. A campaign in the early 1990s to distribute the book in United States schools was described in Church of Scientology publications as "the largest dissemination project in Scientology history" and "the bridge between broad society and Scientology." A song titled "The Way to Happiness" appears on the music album The Road to Freedom, with music and lyrics by Hubbard. The Way to Happiness forms the core of the Church of Scientology prison program Criminon. It is also used in the Scientology-affiliated organization Narconon – all clients receive a pamphlet of The Way to Happiness when they begin the program. Volunteer Ministers, a Scientology-affiliated organization which responds to disaster scenes, distributes The Way to Happiness pamphlets, and did so in the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, and the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre. The Scientology organization Concerned Businessmen's Association of America (CBAA) has also distributed The Way to Happiness, though representatives of the group have denied connections to Scientology. A 1993 article in Newsweek described cases where schools in Bellflower, California and Brooklyn, New York were influenced by CBAA to use The Way to Happiness in their schools, without knowing of the connections to Scientology. ==Promoted by celebrities==

Scientologist Nancy Cartwright, the voice actor for Bart Simpson, mailed 1 million copies of The Way to Happiness booklet to residents of San Fernando Valley, California in December 2007. Cartwright told the Daily News of Los Angeles: "The mailing was from me to the San Fernando Valley community, the highest gang-infested area of Los Angeles. I thought it would make an impact, give someone a tool in order to make their lives happier at home." Tom Cruise has distributed The Way to Happiness pamphlets, and passed out brochures embossed with his name at the elementary school where the 2005 movie War of the Worlds was filmed. He also gave copies of the pamphlet to managers of United International Pictures, the company which distributed War of the Worlds overseas. Actor Miles Fisher parodies this quote by Cruise, in a scene in the 2008 film Superhero Movie. Fisher's character in the film states that he can "eat planets" and that he is "the way to happiness". ==Courses==

The Church of Scientology offers two courses based on The Way to Happiness: "The Way to Happiness Course", done at a Church organization or mission and "The Way to Happiness Extension Course", which can be done at home. There is also the "Happiness Rundown" which is a Scientology procedure of a "Rundown" including auditing. ==Controversy==

Deceptive and misleading distribution In 1992, teachers in Anchorage, Alaska found copies of The Way to Happiness in their school mailboxes accompanied by a letter inviting the teachers to order more copies and distribute them to their students. Parents complained to the school district, and the school districts director of secondary education, Bill Mell, instructed school principals to tell teachers not to order The Way to Happiness. The booklets contained the insignia of Boys & Girls Clubs on the front cover, and instructions on the back cover stating that additional copies could be obtained at the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast facilities. In 2007, The Way to Happiness Foundation produced and distributed pamphlets with sample endorsements from the mayors of Dallas, Texas and San Francisco, California. The books were sent to mayor's offices, accompanied by a letter asking mayors to purchase copies of the books for distribution in their city. According to a report in The Dallas Morning News, the city attorney's office of Dallas looked into possible options of response regarding the matter. An official spokesman for the mayor of San Francisco released a statement, saying: "The mayor does not support the unauthorized use of his image or the city seal on this booklet." The city attorney for San Francisco wrote a letter to "The Way to Happiness Foundation", citing California state law, which prohibits deceptive and misleading advertising that could create an appearance that the pamphlets are from a government agency. The city attorney also cited San Francisco law, writing that the Board of Supervisors must approve any commercial use of the city's official seal. In a 2007 published US embassy cable, Ursula Caberta, the Director of the Working Group on Scientology (created by the Hamburg State Parliament to address all "destructive groups" which endanger society), obtained a booklet that contained the Hamburg mayor's photograph and signature, yet was actually a publication from The Way to Happiness Foundation. Caberta contended that "Scientology regularly used misleading methods to fool individuals into joining and said that such booklets had been distributed to other German cities. For someone unfamiliar with Scientology publications, the booklet looked very much like information brochures from the City of Hamburg." In October 2007, uniformed police officers visiting Whyalla High School in Australia distributed a booklet called "Whyalla High School presents the way to happiness, a common-sense guide for better living", against the school's guidelines for religious education. One parent told the Adelaide, Australia paper The Advertiser she had specifically told the school not to give religious instruction to her children, and other parents mistakenly thought that the booklets were distributed by the Education Department because Whyalla High School was displayed on the booklet's cover. A video of the speech was released to YouTube in February 2008. Representatives from Philips and 7-Eleven told the Los Angeles Times that they were unaware of any such association, but said they were looking into the matter. The non-profit group sent e-mails to social workers in Sderot, offering to help people cope with Kassam rocket attacks the city has been enduring. The reporter stated, "Not even the voice of Bart Simpson could convince Illinois lawmakers to approve a resolution aimed at teaching character in public schools because of its link to the Church of Scientology." Validity of secular claim The Way to Happiness is described by the foundation as "a non-religious moral code, based entirely on common sense, which is having profound effects around the world". The religious scholar Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi states he has performed an extensive search in the history of religions, and has been unable to find a single case in which "a religion was publicly propagating a secular version of its ethical system". To illustrate the uniqueness of the booklet, he gave the following analogy: "How about a secular, improved version of the Ten Commandments?" The text uses key words and concepts taken directly from Scientology beliefs – for example that "survival" is the fundamental point of life, that you can be truly happy if you become the "cause" of your own actions, and that the truth is "what is true for you." Critics argue that The Way to Happiness is primarily a recruiting tool for the church. According to Vicki Aznaran, former Inspector General of the Church's highest ecclesiastical organization, the Religious Technology Center, The Way to Happiness Foundation is "a front group to get people into Scientology" and the book is designed "to make Scientology palatable to the masses." ==See also==