Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath 2

[PennySycamore]

Dang!  I got caught up watching an episode of season 12 of Criminal Minds on ION and totally forgot about watching this week's episode of the program until a few minutes ago.  I have some catching up to do!

[quiversR4hunting]

So last week's episode were about the kids abandoned at the "educational" camps and this week was about the kids abandoned at the sea org, as the parents moved up the ladder. Many were abused or bullied by the other kids.

[Howl]

Checked in on Tony Ortega's Underground Bunker this morning and read this fascinating piece about a recent (in the last few days) major raid on Co$'s Ideal Org in Budapest, Hungary, by the Hungarian National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information. 

It's against the law in the EU to retain information about people when ya don't need to, and to delete any and all personal information on request.  Co$ always harvests and retains information about people (and by extension their friends and family) and they don't care if you want it deleted, because L. Ron Hubbard. 

Fascinating read, especially if you are interested in digital privacy laws, and it seems Europe is way, way ahead of us in that regard. 

Tony Ortega's man in Hungary was totally on top of it.  

Raid in Hungary: Scientology’s Cold War tactics are colliding with 21st Century data privacy

I'd be curious to know if an incident like this will prompt a cascade of investigations/raids on Co$ in other EU countries. 

By the way, if you try to google for "Underground Bunker" or "Tony Ortega", the first things that come up are Co$ sites trying to "de-bunk" the Bunker, including sites that look exactly like the Underground Bunker.  It was so bad that at one point, I thought the Bunker had expired.  When I finally got to the real site, I bookmarked it to get there reliably. 

Tony's Underground Bunker site is https://tonyortega.org

Underground Bunker always gives background/amplifies/comments on current episodes of Scientology and the Aftermath. 

[PennySycamore]

Thanks for sharing that link, @Howl!  I've followed your wisdom, too,  and bookmarked Tony's site.

[Howl]

I think you'll enjoy Tony's site, @PennySycamore.  He's a past editor of The Village Voice and has been writing about Co$ since 1995, but has never been a Scientologist himself.  He does blog about the latest in Co$ on an almost daily basis.  

[SilverBeach]

The jig is up for the Co$. The public is wise to the smear campaigns they conduct against former members and other critics. No reasonable person gives that stuff any credence and it just makes the org look bad in this internet age. If they had any sense, they would remain silent or thank their former members for their years of loyal service and wish them well. 

Miscavage is a sociopath and increased the human rights abuses perpetrated by the org. The child abuse is sickening, as is the destruction of family bonds. If the Co$ just offered Hubbard's tech, without the rest of the control and craziness, nobody would care that people wasted their money. But the cultish aspects of it all, just to enrich Miscavage and a few at the top, ugh. I detest this science fiction religion-not.

[Blahblah]

And this just in:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5004443/Priscilla-Presley-quits-Scientology.html

[PennySycamore]

Good for Priscilla!  I'm glad that the article mentioned that Lisa Marie had already left, because I was going to ask that. I could not recall.

[16strong]

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Priscilla didn't leave, and Lisa Marie's exit has never been confirmed. Scientology doesn't give up easily, especially not since Leah's grand exit. Their iron grip is likely tighter than ever these days.

http://people.com/celebrity/priscilla-presley-did-not-leave-scientology/

[Inky]

The underground bunker (Tony Ortega's site) has a very reasonable explanation why Priscilla Presley has not come out and said publicly, that she has left scientology. It's because her granddaughter is still in, and would be forced to disconnect from her grandmother if that happened. 

He says that she has left Scientology (when Lisa Marie left) but doesn't make a public statement for that reason (I'm paraphrasing because I'm too tired to look it up).

[DaisyD]

That's okay. As long as she's out, she doesn't need to make a stink. That's a personal choice.

[TXGirlInAMaterialWorld]

Whenever I watch Leah's show I am reminded of how batspit crazy my family must have seemed to everyone else during my growing up years.  We were not Scientologists but independent Baptists and it's easy to see that ours was just a different flavor of crazy.  I didn't even realize how strange we were until I got into high school.  Then the overt weirdness and tight control of my parents began to give me anxiety.  I see the same pattern in hearing some of the stories on this show.  Although I did not experience the severity of abuse these Co$ kids did it just pisses me off to think of how many kids are being held emotionally hostage in the name of religion.  Watching the show is healing in a way, but also very hard to think about how many children are still in the clutches of type of insanity.  

[OyToTheVey]

I can't even imagine how many more kids there are like Nathan and Tara, who just wanted to be teenagers and go to the mall and not follow a religion. It's not like they were bad kids. They didn't do drugs, weren't violent, nothing that would get them arrested. They just wanted to live in peace with their friends and watch movies and listen to music. I'm pretty sure they would have done well in regular school if they were given the opportunity. 

[AuntKrazy]

I'm really looking forward to tonight's episode about the financial aspect of Co$.

[MamaJunebug]

23 hours ago, AuntKrazy said:

I'm really looking forward to tonight's episode about the financial aspect of Co$.

It amazed me how watchable they made it. May Mr. Garcia’s fierce lawyer win! He’s one I’d imagine the $cienos would take out without a gram of conscience. What IRS bigwig was in the photos and tapes the “C”o$ used to get the IRS to confirm the “C” as a religious organization?!

[quiversR4hunting]

I finally was able to watch the last half of this weeks episode. I was falling asleep the other night trying to watch it.

I hope the Garcia's are successful. I really like their attorney. I think the key to the downfall of CO$ will be the IRS and financial records and loosing the religious status, again.

The CO$ sitting on peoples money reeks of FLDS pooling the money of the church goers and of the Kingston clan. Money makes people dependent on the "church" the lack of education makes people dependent and keeps people from thinking. For the CO$ children raised with little to no education, it amazes me how many of them have broken free yet kids like the Duggars, Bates, Maxwells, Ardnts, Kingston, etc do not break free.

I really hop this show helps bring down CO$. The sad thing is that some CO$ will just follow or start another cult and blindly follow it.  

[acheronbeach]

11 hours ago, quiversR4hunting said:

I really hop this show helps bring down CO$. The sad thing is that some CO$ will just follow or start another cult and blindly follow it.  

I honestly think (based just on years of following Operation Clambake and The Underground Bunker)  this was Marty Rathbun's plan when he left SCN.  He wanted to lead the independent Scienos, and when that didn't happen,  he scurried back to Miscavige and spilled all he knew about Rinder, Haggis and others who trusted him after they "blew."

SCN attracts a disproportionate amount of power-hungry sociopaths, no?

Edited October 27, 2017 by acheronbeach
Moronic auto correct

[Botkinetti]

Years ago my son loved reruns of King of Queens so I used to watch them with him while I was making dinner. I found Leah Remini  abrasive and kind of irritating. 

I just finished watching last nights episode of Scientology and the aftermath. I have seen them all and suddenly remembered my earlier feelings about Leah.  Thank Rufus she is abrasive. Also ballsy , confrontational and confident about speaking out. I admire her ability to hold herself accountable for her actions in her past and apologize.

 I wish there was an equivalent spokesperson for the quiverfull movement.

[DaisyD]

OMFG y'all! I just saw a commercial for Scientology. They mention drug abuse, human trafficking, and criminality. Then give random numbers of people who have "regained self respect", "learned the truth about drugs", and other random, meaningless shit. It was on TNT. They should totally bring the volcano back.

[MamaJunebug]

5 hours ago, DaisyD said:

OMFG y'all! I just saw a commercial for Scientology. They mention drug abuse, human trafficking, and criminality. Then give random numbers of people who have "regained self respect", "learned the truth about drugs", and other random, meaningless shit. It was on TNT. They should totally bring the volcano back.

Amoral and proud of it. 

I felt anger like rarely before when the episode with Leah’s two BFFs showed Chantal’s mom & stepdad, smug and well-fed only because after the Sea Org kicked their sick asses out, Chantal and her husband got them back on  their feet.  The parents, in an astounding show of ingratitude and arrogance, then disconnected from Chantal because she spoke frankly about $cientology.

Get that, kids? These two left a child to her own devices, could not have cared less about her for decades, then promptly (and I imagine unapologetically) showed up on her doorstep when $’gy booted them out, took her help and then kicked her to the curb again!

”Most ethical people on the planet,’ my foot. 

 

[Inky]

8 hours ago, Botkinetti said:

Years ago my son loved reruns of King of Queens so I used to watch them with him while I was making dinner. I found Leah Remini  abrasive and kind of irritating. 

I just finished watching last nights episode of Scientology and the aftermath. I have seen them all and suddenly remembered my earlier feelings about Leah.  Thank Rufus she is abrasive. Also ballsy , confrontational and confident about speaking out. I admire her ability to hold herself accountable for her actions in her past and apologize.

 I wish there was an equivalent spokesperson for the quiverfull movement.

Don't feel too bad - I never liked her on King of Queens. I liked her even less when I watched her on Oprah - she was having huge issues with her 4 year old daughter (who was being raised with scientology "principles" and basically no rules . I have a lot of respect for her now - she's learned from the past and is trying to hold sci accountable. 

[DaisyD]

I was never a fan of King of Queens, but Mr. D loves it so I've seen quite a bit. 

I tried to find the ad I saw on YouTube to show Mr. and MIL. We ended up watching some of the $ci videos we found there. Did you know that when two people are fighting, it's because a third person is always the one causing it? On purpose. 

[quiversR4hunting]

Update on the Danny Masterson rape case. The update is it is stalled...

https://www.yahoo.com/news/despite-apos-overwhelming-apos-evidence-164314550.html?.tsrc=fauxdal 

 

[Inky]

On 11/3/2017 at 10:42 AM, quiversR4hunting said:

Update on the Danny Masterson rape case. The update is it is stalled...

https://www.yahoo.com/news/despite-apos-overwhelming-apos-evidence-164314550.html?.tsrc=fauxdal 

 

I have a bad feeling that it's going to be more than stalled. Charges dropped? That would be awful. 

[quiversR4hunting]

So anyone watch last night's episode? Recaps from 4 people from last season. 1 new person is put and interviewed. Her testimony and pledging with other parents to save their family was making my tears flow. Mike Rinder broke down, i assume he was thinking he wished his family would leave. 

I won't go into specifics to allow those that want to watch the chance to watch.