Editing Steven Fishman (section)

==Authenticity of Fishman's Church History==

A substantial amount of [[Scientology controversies|controversy]] regarding Fishman's involvement with the Church of Scientology has emerged in the decades since the affair.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Fishman/ | title=Church of Scientology International v. Fishman and Geertz }}</ref> The [[Perjury|allegations]] calling Fishman's involvement into question initially came solely from the Church (CoS) itself and their legal representation, who pursued the libel suit after discovering that he was not in their member data or records.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theta.com/fishman/ |title=The Steven Fishman Page |website=www.theta.com |access-date=11 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415053600/http://www.theta.com/fishman/ |archive-date=15 April 2021 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In August 2015, prolific Scientology critic and investigator [[Tony Ortega]] published an [[Exposé (journalism)|exposé]] on the [[Fishman Affidavit|Fishman Case]]; in which he characterizes Steven Fishman as a "squirrel" (or [[Free Zone (Scientology)|Independent Scientologist]]). He describes Fishman as follows:<ref name="tonyortega.org">{{cite web | url=https://tonyortega.org/2015/08/19/why-steve-fishman-of-the-notorious-fishman-papers-is-today-serving-21-years-in-prison/ | title=Why Steve Fishman — of the notorious Fishman Papers — is today serving 21 years in prison &#124; the Underground Bunker }}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text="Actual longtime Scientologists will tell you that the material in [Fishman's] book, as well as Fishman's statements on his notorious set of videos (recorded by his attorney to prove to the court that Fishman was a lunatic) prove that Fishman was never a Scientologist, but a nutcase who had amassed a huge library of Scientology materials which he studied closely so he could talk as though he knew what he was talking about — at least to the uninitiated."|author=Tony Ortega|title=Why Steve Fishman — of the notorious Fishman Papers — is today serving 21 years in prison}}

In addition to there being no historical Scientology completions for Steven Fishman listed, produced, or published,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.truthaboutscientology.com/stats/stats-name-search?name=fishman | title=Fishman - Scientology Service Completions | access-date=June 3, 2023 | archive-date=June 3, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603045506/https://www.truthaboutscientology.com/stats/stats-name-search?name=fishman | url-status=dead }}</ref> many since-[[Apostasy|apostatized]] Scientologists named in Fishman's self-published memoir, ''Lonesome Squirrel'', have categorically refuted the events of the book mentioning them, and denied having known him altogether. Fishman himself has long asserted that he received OT levels I to VII and VIII respectively from two [[Sea Org]] members on separate instances. Ortega, though professing skepticism regarding this, states that he believes the [[OT-VIII]] document to be authentic nonetheless.<ref name="tonyortega.org"/>

{{Blockquote|text=As we began reading "Lonesome Squirrel," we realized that some of the people named in it have, 20 years later, come out of the church. So we reached out to them and they confirmed for us that nothing in the book associated with them actually happened. "Lonesome Squirrel" is an incredibly creative work of fiction that has enough actual names and locations and quotations from L. Ron Hubbard's work that it has a veneer of authenticity.|author=Tony Ortega|title=Why Steve Fishman — of the notorious Fishman Papers — is today serving 21 years in prison}}