Leah Remini comes out against Scientology

[MatthewDuggar]

I remember when Dianetics came out.  I was in 5th grade and went to Catholic school.  There was a lot of buzz generally on how interesting the book was, etc.   But, I had a male physical education teacher at the time, that was actually praising the book, saying how great and truthful it was.  I cannot recall just exactly how this conversation started playing basketball in a school gymnasium, but it was like a casual conversation with maybe 4-5 of my classmates.  I never read it.  Had I known then what I know now, I would have busted his ass.  (I hated phy-ed)

[DarkAnts]

Leah Remini made a good point in her interview. Scientologest spend a lot of time and money to move up the bridge. It has to be hard to leave after that kind of investment.

[bucket]

More and more as I read about Scientology, it sounds like FLDS-level shit with the security and stuff.

[Crocoduck]

I've been interested in Scientology for years now - long before I discovered Quiverfull and other types of fundie-ism.

For those questioning how people can fall for it, I have observed that their initial marketing is very appealing. They use a lot of personal development type themes - increasing happiness, confidence, improving communication, reducing stress, etc. And honestly, a lot of their teachings about these types of issues are pretty standard on the surface. From the Wiki article on Scientology:

The ARC and KRC triangles are concept maps which show a relationship between three concepts to form another concept. These two triangles are present in the Scientology symbol. The lower triangle, the ARC triangle, is a summary representation of the knowledge the Scientologist strives for.^[112] It encompasses Affinity (affection, love or liking), Reality (consensual reality) and Communication (the exchange of ideas).^[112] Scientologists believe that improving one of the three aspects of the triangle "increases the level" of the other two, but Communication is held to be the most important.^[413] The upper triangle is the KRC triangle, the letters KRC positing a similar relationship between Knowledge, Responsibility and Control.^[414]

I mean, that's not all that different from Stephen Covey's circles of influence, you know?

It's the indoctrination that happens as people move up the "Bridge to Total Freedom" that sucks them into the cult, and it is most definitely a cult. Any organization that separates people from their families and wallets and literally keeps members prisoner is a cult.

[Howl]

Just finished Jenna Miscavige Hill's book Beyond Belief.  A very touching and shocking look at growing up in Scientology's Sea Org (she literally grew up in Scientology and Sea Org -- after the age of 8 or so, she was not raised by her parents and lived communally with other Scientology kids).  She left Scientology at age 21, after the cult tried to separate her from her Scientology husband. 

If you want to work 16 hours/day, 7 days a week, Sea Org is for you!  

One interesting item from Beyond Belief was that the group Anonymous has participated in many organized protests against Scientology and at one point hacked into and brought down Scientology's servers for three days, which seems fitting when you realize the extent and long history of the Church's dirt tricks. 

I was also remembering reading an article extremely critical of Narconon many, many years ago.  Although the nomenclature to talk about cults hadn't been developed to the extent that it is today, they were describing it as an extreme organization.  I also remember part of the discussion centered around punitive actions toward critics, including putting a live rattlesnake in someone's mailbox, and yes, the intended victim was bitten.  That's the kind of sh*t you don't forget reading about, and makes you realize the extremely long history of Scientology damaging and harassing critics.  There is no doubt in my mind, AT ALL, that this has included accidentally killing people, as well as outright murder.  

Edited to add that a long-time friend has always referred to Co$ as L. Ron Hubbard and Diuretics. 

[sophie10130]

Just finished Jenna Miscavige Hill's book Beyond Belief.  A very touching and shocking look at growing up in Scientology's Sea Org (she literally grew up in Scientology and Sea Org -- after the age of 8 or so, she was not raised by her parents and lived communally with other Scientology kids).  She left Scientology at age 21, after the cult tried to separate her from her Scientology husband. 

If you want to work 16 hours/day, 7 days a week, Sea Org is for you!  

One interesting item from Beyond Belief was that the group Anonymous has participated in many organized protests against Scientology and at one point hacked into and brought down Scientology's servers for three days, which seems fitting when you realize the extent and long history of the Church's dirt tricks. 

I was also remembering reading an article extremely critical of Narconon many, many years ago.  Although the nomenclature to talk about cults hadn't been developed to the extent that it is today, they were describing it as an extreme organization.  I also remember part of the discussion centered around punitive actions toward critics, including putting a live rattlesnake in someone's mailbox, and yes, the intended victim was bitten.  That's the kind of sh*t you don't forget reading about, and makes you realize the extremely long history of Scientology damaging and harassing critics.  There is no doubt in my mind, AT ALL, that this has included accidentally killing people, as well as outright murder.  

Edited to add that a long-time friend has always referred to Co$ as L. Ron Hubbard and Diuretics. 

for a while, I didn't know Anonymous did anything EXCEPT protest against Scientology. I hadn't heard of it until college, and the kid I knew who was in it wore a Guy Fawke's mask and protested outside of Churches of Scientology as much as he could. Now, obviously I realize they are a huge power player on the internet and so forth.

[DuggaredOut]

That seems...like thin evidence.

I'd like to believe they wouldn't be malicious / dumb / evil enough to kill a person, but, well, I doubt it is the first time...

There have long been rumors about suspicious deaths and "suicides" among current and former Scientology members. Here are some. And I've heard various escapees (can't remember which ones, though) say that David Miscavage is known to have a violent temper. I truly hope he didn't harm his wife, but the man sounds capable of anything.

[Howl]

According to Beyond Belief, Shelly Miscavige carried around a first aid kit to tidy up cuts and abrasions after David had assaulted his fellow fellow Scientologists.  These were people directly below him in the organization, and others as well, I'm sure.  This tells you that his physical abuse wasn't infrequent and was tolerated by those who were abused. 

Here's hoping that Scientology continues to fail. It truly is a pyramid scheme.  If they don't continue to bring in new people moving up the Bridge, the whole thing topples.  

ETA: Narconon is a whole different rabbit hole in a parallel Co$ universe. 

Interesting series here, started in Nov. 2013, and I'm sure Narconon is seen by Co$ as an important source of $$$. 

The Rise and Fall of the Narconon Internet Marketing Empire (Part 1)

http://narcononreviews.net/narconon/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-narconon-internet-marketing-empire-part-1

At the bottom of each page, there is a link to the next part.  There are at least 10 parts. 

 

[Crocoduck]

Narconon is terrible. They allow heroin addicts and full-blown alcoholics to detox without any medical assistance. They think saunas and positive thinking are perfectly safe methods. 3 people died in 9 months at the Narconon facility in Oklahoma. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narconon#Deaths_at_Narconon_Arrowhead.2C_Oklahoma.2C_US_.282009-2012.29

[closetcagebaby]

More and more as I read about Scientology, it sounds like FLDS-level shit with the security and stuff.

It IS, but worse. Because at least the government makes some attempts to combat the worst of the FLDS craziness. They don't even try to go up against Scientology after Operation Snow White.

There have long been rumors about suspicious deaths and "suicides" among current and former Scientology members. Here are some. And I've heard various escapees (can't remember which ones, though) say that David Miscavage is known to have a violent temper. I truly hope he didn't harm his wife, but the man sounds capable of anything.

I would honestly believe anything I read about Scientology at this point. That is the scariest thing about the whole cult. Miscavage is really capable of the worst and he has plenty of people who will do whatever he wants.

[bucket]

Narconon is terrible. They allow heroin addicts and full-blown alcoholics to detox without any medical assistance. They think saunas and positive thinking are perfectly safe methods. 3 people died in 9 months at the Narconon facility in Oklahoma. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narconon#Deaths_at_Narconon_Arrowhead.2C_Oklahoma.2C_US_.282009-2012.29

horrifying.  I'm just so stunned that this is allowed to continue basically unchecked.  

[Howl]

Reading the 10-part article on internet marketing by Narconon was fascinating, but creepy.  

Woke up early this Saturday morning and found this article in today's Austin American-Statesman:

Court: Texan can sue church.

A Texas woman can sue the Church of Scientology International and several church members for harassment, a state appeals court ruled Friday.

The 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin rejected the church’s request to throw out the lawsuit by Monique Rathbun, who alleged that Scientologists conducted a three-year harassment campaign when her husband, Marty Rathbun, began speaking out against church activities in 2010.

The lawsuit claimed church members followed the Rathbuns with cameras, installed surveillance cameras to monitor their Corpus Christi-area home and hired private investigators to spread disparaging information about Marty Rathbun under the guise of interviewing family, friends and co-workers.

Lawyers for the church have acknowledged that the Rathbuns, accused by the church of distorting the faith’s teachings, were investigated in an effort to protect the integrity of the church, but denied that they were harassed.

Church lawyers said the activities — which they characterized as holding protest signs, attempting to speak to passers-by and filming a documentary defending the Church of Scientology — were protected by the rights of free speech and free association, court records show. The conduct also was protected because it involved a matter of public concern — protecting Scientology’s doctrines from being attacked and usurped by Marty Rathbun, church lawyers said.

The appeals court rejected the arguments.

“It strains credulity to consider the harassing conduct that Rathbun complains of as having any direct relationship to this issue,” said the opinion, written by Justice Scott Field.

The internationally watched case revolves around Marty Rathbun, a former high-ranking member who left the Church of Scientology in 2004 and later accused David Miscavige, Scientology’s highest ranking official, of physically and psychologically abusing church members, court records show.

In October 2012, according to Monique Rathbun’s lawsuit, the Rathbuns discovered surveillance cameras pointed at their Corpus Christi-area home from a nearby rental house. After moving to a rural location near Bulverde, they found high-tech surveillance cameras that an investigator hired by the church had placed in the woods behind their home, the lawsuit said.

The purpose was to “make the Rathbuns’ life a living hell” and to “turn their neighbors against them,” according to court records that include a sworn affidavit from a videographer hired by Scientologists to follow the couple.

The efforts followed church policy to attack those who seek to damage Scientology, the lawsuit argued.

 

ETA: Leah Remini will be protected from this type of overt harassment for the most part because of her celebrity status, but I suspect that the church could easily launch a very covert operation to just torment her -- there's a viciousness in this church's Fair Game policy that is horrifying. 

Just google "Fair Game (Scientology)" on Wikipedia.  Also, David Miscavige's father left Scientology in 2012.  I'm about to head down that rabbit hole right now. 

[Howl]

OK, one more thing & I'll let this sit for awhile, but it does relate to the Monique Rathbun lawsuit referenced above.  This is footage from just over a year ago of Marty Rathbun being ambused at LAX by the three top Scientologists, two of whom sit at David Miscavige's right hand, and one of whom IS David Miscaviges right hand.  This scene was witnessed by about 150 people waiting for their flights. 

From Tony Ortega, an ex-Scientologist who blogs and tracks Co$ at Underground Bunker: 

But here’s what really stuns us about this encounter — its timing. Right now, the Texas Third Court of Appeals is deliberating on whether to reverse the denial of the Church of Scientology’s anti-SLAPP motion in Monique Rathbun’s lawsuit for harassment — the same kind of harassment that her husband just experienced. [as noted in the post above, Monique Rathbun's suit was just approved to proceed]

One of the key elements in the lawsuit so far is whether any of the surveillance of the Rathbuns was connected to Scientology’s leader. Miscavige denies having anything to do with the stalking and photographing of Monique and her husband in Texas, and a collection of low-level church members and private eyes has tried to convince the court they were acting on their own.

But here? Three top Scientology officials, one as close to Miscavige as it gets, somehow learn that Marty Rathbun is traveling (a trick the church has practiced for decades) and then show up to berate him in a bizarre scene clearly intended to intimidate him? It’s almost impossible to imagine that Miscavige had nothing to do with today’s incident.

Could the church have provided any better evidence that what they’re telling the courts in Texas is a pack of lies?

 

[DaisyD]

They went all the way to LAX to tell him that no one cares? I'd have a really hard time not just laughing at that bitch. Of course, I didn't lose my faith. I understand why that might be hard on someone coming from former fellow church members. What psychos (in the vernacular. It's the only word I can think of to describe this behavior. )

[Howl]

From reading about Co$ and the Beyond Belief book, I was sensitized to several words and phrases in the video:

Suppressive acts 

TRs 

You are doing nothing to help mankind 

[Soulhuntress]

Gee maybe bitchaham lincoln in the video and her two freakish friends could do something to help mankind and get a life.  and gee it is nice to see an Axis 2 without meds. 

[delilahdog11]

If there was a serious chance that they could tie Miscaviage to the stalking and harassment and it have legal ramifications for him and Scientology then I would donate to their legal fund if it was needed.   The rampant, unchecked harassment and threats leveled against people wanting to leave Scientology is injustice in action. 

I read Jenna Miscaviage's book and I am sketchy on the details, but as I remember it she faced physical and mental harassment when trying to leave Scientilogy. She was detained in various facilities and basically had to escape her handlers. I don't understand how they are legally allowed to keep people in their facility dubbed the hole. 

[HarleyQuinn]

Listening to all these things Leah says, I can only imagine the dirt Katie Holmes must have on Scientology. I assume we'll never hear it from her. She probably had to sign her life away not to say anything in order to get full custody of her daughter, but Katie Holmes has to know a lot of fucked up things. 

[DaisyD]

Having to give birth without making a sound would have sent me running for the hills long before the birth. I'm glad Katie got out with the baby.

[socalrules]

One of the many things that bothers me about Scientology is that you have to pay to learn about the religion. You are supposed to go into this completely believing in its tenants without knowing what you are believing in. In Christianity, everything you need to know is in the Bible. In Islam, the Koran. I am sure it is the same for many other religions. You can be poor and learn just as much as anyone else. In most religions you don't have to give a dime to the church to be part of it. In Scientology, if you go broke, you are pretty much stuck. The richer make it to the top, so of course the celebs are going to be the leaders of the church. 

[choralcrusader8613]

One of the many things that bothers me about Scientology is that you have to pay to learn about the religion. You are supposed to go into this completely believing in its tenants without knowing what you are believing in. In Christianity, everything you need to know is in the Bible. In Islam, the Koran. I am sure it is the same for many other religions. You can be poor and learn just as much as anyone else. In most religions you don't have to give a dime to the church to be part of it. In Scientology, if you go broke, you are pretty much stuck. The richer make it to the top, so of course the celebs are going to be the leaders of the church. 

That's why I get so annoyed with people saying "Scientology is just like any other religion. They're all cults at some level." Uh, last I checked, most people do not have to pay to be a member of a church, synagogue, mosque, etc. Otherwise, poor people who believed in whatever deity/deities they chose to believe in would be SOL for places to worship. Obviously, offerings are a different practice that varies by religion. As far as I'm aware, most mainstream churches do not even try to pull the stuff that Scientology gets away with, year after year.

[Inky]

The next year is going to be very interesting on the scientology-watch front. I keep waiting for the announcement that scientology is finished, but I think it's going to go down slowly with a whimper, not a bang.

[August]

Inky, you should read up on the scheme to build new buildings. It has some silly name, but it's incredible, and should bankrupt them in short order.

[Inky]

Do you mean the Ideal Orgs? I've been reading Tony Ortega's blog for several years now. I think they have tons of money put away - that's not going to put them under. It will be a lack of new fresh bodies to fill those stupid orgs.

 

Scientology watching has become one of my guilty pleasures...along with reading FJ LOL

[Chach1984i]

Do you mean the Ideal Orgs? I've been reading Tony Ortega's blog for several years now. I think they have tons of money put away - that's not going to put them under. It will be a lack of new fresh bodies to fill those stupid orgs.

 

Scientology watching has become one of my guilty pleasures...along with reading FJ LOL

I've been obsessed with the Scientologists since I was a little kid. To get to my grandparents house we had to drive through the Gold Base and I remember when they were first building the production studio and the pirate ship. Now they own almost all the land there. They have been trying to get the city to sell them them street that runs through their compound for years, even offering to build a shopping center and a new road around.

 

I can still remember waving to the people working and being bummed because nobody ever waved back. Looking back it's sad because I now know they were probably being held there as punishment.