Leah Remini comes out against Scientology

[47of74]

Yeah I guess Tom Cruise is quite bent out of shape about all this;

http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/tom-cruise-livid-over-leah-reminis-claims-about-him-scientology-20151111

 

[Inky]

I have fallen really far down this rabbit hole. I'm almost halfway through the "Up the bridge" series on the Tony Ortega site. I'm really pretty stunned at how many people get sucked into this. They have you yelling at ashtrays and walls pretty early in. It's all so clearly designed to just make a lot of money for the org. I found it hilarious that Tom Cruise failed to get a "floating needle" but then Miscavige cleared him anyway. I get why he's in the "church". He needs the ego massage.

Yes, and scientology needs his money and his celebrity. Quite the match. You be careful down that rabbit hole - there are plenty of twists and turns. Lots of good blogs by former scientologists too.

[DaffyDill]

Yes, and scientology needs his money and his celebrity. Quite the match. You be careful down that rabbit hole - there are plenty of twists and turns. Lots of good blogs by former scientologists too.

Not only an ego massage, as Daisy681 said, the Co$ also make everything in Cruise's life run smoothly. It sounds like he's surrounded by Scientology "yes men", and I remember seeing an interview in "Going Clear" with a guy who was paid to create and install all the gadgets Cruise could possibly want in his car, in his home, on his motorbike, his mobile home/trailer thingy. Thousands and thousands of dollars to keep him happy. And all the admirers and hangers on he could possibly want.

[nausicaa]

Not only an ego massage, as Daisy681 said, the Co$ also make everything in Cruise's life run smoothly. It sounds like he's surrounded by Scientology "yes men", and I remember seeing an interview in "Going Clear" with a guy who was paid to create and install all the gadgets Cruise could possibly want in his car, in his home, on his motorbike, his mobile home/trailer thingy. Thousands and thousands of dollars to keep him happy. And all the admirers and hangers on he could possibly want.

Hell, they even provide yard work and personalized dating services. 

[AliceInFundyland]

Oooh just got the book. So excited. I'm a compulsive binge reader too. Yippee! Love a good escape from a cult story.

[DaisyD]

Most surprising revelation of my trip down the rabbit hole? Sea Org members were forced to get abortions or do manual labor until they were no longer pregnant. Which to me sounds like they either get an abortion or are made to miscarry. Apparently the lawsuit from Claire and Marc Headley forced them to change some of their policies for fear of more lawsuits. Marc wrote a book "Blown for Good" that upset co$ enough that when you search his name a site dedicated to slamming him comes up.

[Tim-Tom Biblethumper]

I hope the forced abortion policies are a thing of the past, but the RPF is still very real.  They clean my local park, and I've seen folks in their seventies on their hands and knees scrubbing the stone steps leading into Super Power (not on the main thoroughfare of course) in 98 degree weather.  

[DaisyD]

Did Hubbard do a lot of acid or something? Everything from the space opera, to the revelations while thinking about random stuff, to the controlling people with your mind sounds like heavy LSD use and a dictaphone were involved. 

I may require the  soon. I'm in really deep.

[sawasdee]

I find it so hard to understand how a third or fourth rate science fiction writer's ramblings have managed to fool so many people, and separate them from their money! Even when shown where he  - ahem - polished the truth  - with regard to his own life, they seem to have lost all critical faculties. And I HATE that they nuisanced themselves into being classified as a church in the US. I love the French, who have fined them as a fraudulent organisation.

[nastyhobbitses]

I find it so hard to understand how a third or fourth rate science fiction writer's ramblings have managed to fool so many people, and separate them from their money! Even when shown where he  - ahem - polished the truth  - with regard to his own life, they seem to have lost all critical faculties. And I HATE that they nuisanced themselves into being classified as a church in the US. I love the French, who have fined them as a fraudulent organisation.

If you're going to cultishly devote yourself to a sci-fi author, at least devote yourself to an actually decent writer. ALL GLORY TO RAY BRADBURY

But I think that people join up with Co$ for many of the same reasons people join Gothard's weird-ass cult: they feel they have no direction or real support in life, there's a void that needs to be filled, and here's a group that promises you purpose, success, love, like-minded people -- and teaches you that you're persecuted, the rest of the world is bad and the source of your problems, but OUR way will solve those problems for you. And if you work hard and become involved, maybe you can gain power and influence, and help others find their way to us. It's an intoxicating message for people who feel lost or alone in the world. And feeling lost and alone in the world can happen whether you're a lower middle class kid from Arkansas or an internationally renowned movie star.

[sawasdee]

Agree on  Ray Bradbury! And for fantasy - Anne McCaffrey forever!

[Lysistrata]

I think it's HILARIOUS that Scientologists don't find out about much of their origin beliefs until they've been in for some years and have invested some heavy money.  All the other religions are upfront about the fantastical parts, but not ol' Scientology.  They know to hide that shit until a person is in too deep.

Wasn't in Going Clear where Paul Haggis finally finds out and his reaction was wait what??  

 

[nastyhobbitses]

I think it's HILARIOUS that Scientologists don't find out about much of their origin beliefs until they've been in for some years and have invested some heavy money.  All the other religions are upfront about the fantastical parts, but not ol' Scientology.  They know to hide that shit until a person is in too deep.

Wasn't in Going Clear where Paul Haggis finally finds out and his reaction was wait what??  

 

Apparently Jenna Miscavige Hill (niece of David) didn't learn about the full extent of Scientology beliefs until she saw the South Park episode "Trapped in the Closet". In the episode, they present an animated condensed version of the Xenu story with the caption "THIS IS WHAT SCIENTOLOGISTS ACTUALLY BELIEVE".

[DaisyD]

And, according to Hubbard, learning the truth about Xenu before you're ready for OT III would prove fatal. I wonder how true believers reconcile the South Park episode with all of us still being alive. Also, John Travolta wants to make the movie Ron wrote about Xenu. I think he wants us all dead...

[nastyhobbitses]

And, according to Hubbard, learning the truth about Xenu before you're ready for OT III would prove fatal. I wonder how true believers reconcile the South Park episode with all of us still being alive. Also, John Travolta wants to make the movie Ron wrote about Xenu. I think he wants us all dead...

Didn't he already make Battlefield Earth?

BTW, all you need to see of Battlefield Earth is the scene where John Travolta, wearing prosthetic claws and a giant dreadlock wig, yells in the middle of an alien bar, "When yooouuuu were still learning to SPELL YOUR NAME! I...was being trained to conquer GALAXIES!"

[Granwych]

And, according to Hubbard, learning the truth about Xenu before you're ready for OT III would prove fatal. I wonder how true believers reconcile the South Park episode with all of us still being alive. Also, John Travolta wants to make the movie Ron wrote about Xenu. I think he wants us all dead...

Wasn't "Battlefield Earth" punishment enough?

[FundieFarmer]

And, according to Hubbard, learning the truth about Xenu before you're ready for OT III would prove fatal. I wonder how true believers reconcile the South Park episode with all of us still being alive. Also, John Travolta wants to make the movie Ron wrote about Xenu. I think he wants us all dead...

Sheesh. He really did make his made-up religion as obviously bullshittery as possible, and people STILL buy it.

Good grief.

[nelliebelle1197]

I am listening to the audio of Leah's book. She is adorable and it's pretty clear throughout why this "religion" appeals. It really sets people up to think they are on a mission and that they have answers. It appeals to the very basest parts of the ego. She is also a very different kind of "celebrity" member; unlike the rest, she was actually a sea org member as a kid. I really like her thus far.

[nelliebelle1197]

Just a note, someone above said Tony Ortega is a former Scientologist. He is NOT. He is a former editor of the Village Voice and an old-fashioned journalist type. Ortega's work is based in objective analysis, not in the passion of the failed convert. Just a clarification that really needed to be made so that folks know what to expect from his work.

[August]

Agree on  Ray Bradbury! And for fantasy - Anne McCaffrey forever!

Can you imagine a religion based on Anne McCaffrey's writings?

[sawasdee]

Can you imagine a religion based on Anne McCaffrey's writings?

Oh yes please! The humanity, empathy,acceptance of difference - and the music!

[paganbaby]

Lois McMaster Bujold has a character in her science fiction novels who says simply, "People before principles." Over the years, I've kept coming back to this. If you look at each thorny decision and make your first questions, "How will this affect the people involved? Will they be damaged or helped?" it's amazing how the principles fall in place afterward.

I don't know how you'd make tons of money off that idea, though, so it's not likely to catch on.

[Eatingintheprayercloset]

I wonder what kind of dirty they have on John Travolta? I think it's been rumored that he wanted to leave Scientology at one point but decided not to.......

[Crocoduck]

I wonder what kind of dirty they have on John Travolta? I think it's been rumored that he wanted to leave Scientology at one point but decided not to.......

The rumors about Travolta always come back to him being homosexual or bisexual. Scientology is as against LGBTQ rights as any other group of fundies.

[Inky]

John Travolta is the one celebrity I'd really like to see get out of scientology. He just doesn't seem like a happy person. Of course, losing his son Jett is reason enough, but even before that I felt like he was just going along with it.