Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath

[Palimpsest]

10 minutes ago, Tim-Tom Biblethumper said:

And that's the best news!  I must say, even when I'm at ground zero (downtown), they aren't walking down the street five-abreast like when I first moved to this area.  It's down to two-abreast.   

Still bloody frightening!

It is a truly horrible and destructive cult.

[PennySycamore]

@Palimpsest,  I watched the show, but my description is so detailed that I put it under a spoiler tag.  I hope I got the facts right.  It's a great episode and well worth watching.  

Spoiler

@Palimpsest,  I watched last night's episode and it was great!  The first part consisted of Leah and Mike Rinder going over a chart with the director(?) which showed the steps in Scientology till a person got to OT 8, how the CO$ would change the books and make you take the course all over again and how much money a person would end up spending.  Leah basically said that it was a scam.  Most of the program was an interview with Mary Kahn.  She talked about getting involved in '73 as a college student and about how she came to the realization of what the CO$ was when she had to go on their ship.  She just knew that she was through, wanted nothing more to do with the CO$ and would never, as she put it, hold the cans again.  (The "cans" are attached to an e-meter which are used in auditing.)  They called her into church HQ and tried to get her to hold the cans.  She told them to fuck off and tried to escape.  They wouldn't let her out the back way so she decided to go out the front.  She knew she'd get free that way as they wouldn't make in scene out front where they'd be seen.  She did have to go and tell her husband that she was out.  She'd been declared though and her husband was told that he needed to divorce her.   He eventually left too, but one son is still in and is disconnected from his mom and dad.  It was heartbreaking to watch Mary.

 

[Palimpsest]

Many thanks @PennySycamore.  I'm glad Leah is moving on to people/survivors whose stories are not as well known.  I plan to watch this episode soon.

[RabbitKM]

I haven't seen episode three yet, but as soon as I am done with finals (if I survive) I will get to it.  

I don't think I've ever really talked to a scientologist or had one try to "get" me or anything. But I live in NYC, so its curious since there is that big "church" in times square. I guess they dont do the JW system of standing in the subway with their pamphlets or going door to door here. 

[Howl]

My late uncle lived in Vero Beach, FL.  He and his wife investigated Dianetics briefly early on.  One whiff was enough for them to decide to get as far away as possible, as soon as possible. 

I've got episode #3 set to record -- A&E shows it several times in different time slots after the original airing. 

[Tim-Tom Biblethumper]

12 hours ago, Howl said:

My late uncle lived in Vero Beach, FL.  He and his wife investigated Dianetics briefly early on.  One whiff was enough for them to decide to get as far away as possible, as soon as possible. 

I've got episode #3 set to record -- A&E shows it several times in different time slots after the original airing. 

I was just telling my Mom the other night that I remember Dianetics being in our home as a kid (late 60's).  It sat on the shelf right next to "How to Win Friends and Influence People" - Dale Carnegie.  Mom had no clue (Dad and I were the readers in the family).  I grew up in St. Pete (very close to Clearwater), but they didn't invade Clearwater 'til '76.  So the book in our home is a mystery & must've been no more than a self-improvement thing to Dad.  Wish I could ask him...

[THERetroGamerNY]

I own a bunch of Scientology books, but never actually sat down to read them... they're just collecting dust down in my basement "weird religious/paranormal/misc stuff" collection. Considering the Quran; Book of Mormon; two books on Y2K prepping; and a 1980s book exposing Rock and Roll as "Satanic" are all lumped into the collection together - along with tarot card decks and an Astrology kit (I love collecting this shit!) I'm frankly surprised, and disappointed, that it all hasn't exploded from negative/conflicting mystical energies and some demonic force has come screaming out.

Anyways...

Have Dianetics here... Dianetics: The Original Thesis... Dianetics: Evolution of a Science... Dianetics 55 (which I guess is the sequel to Dianetics??)

That big-ass chart of all the Scientology levels. Jeez this sucker is huge...

Bunch of the more basic Scientology books ... "History of Man" ... Advanced Procedures and Axioms ... Handbook for Preclears... Welcome to the Sea Org training manual ...

Also that stupid The Way to Happiness, which was actually passed out in my neighborhood several years ago. It's basically a booklet of non-religious ideas on how not to be a dick in life. Says on the backside here that because it's not a religious text, or affiliated with any church, you can pass copies around at the workplace, or even government building.

The church opened in our downtown area back in 2012, and David Miscavige was there for the opening ceremony. I seem to recall some guy singing some song as well. They had confetti, balloons, and gave all sorts of speeches ... I kept waiting for Miscavige to become enraged and start beating the crap out of some poor person, but alas. Xenu failed to present as well. Was bummed.

Anyways, from 2012 till about 2013 they had a kiosk in the local mall, offering to give their "stress test" on their e-meter, as well as the Dianetics books all on the kiosk. I remember some dude standing there, talking to some other guy, and saying "You know why Dianetics has been around for so long? Because it WORKS." The stand closed down after a while.

The church itself is a rather nicely done restoration on a Beux Arts historical building (they restored it rather nicely), and inside is the typical Scientology building layout --- and it always seems quiet and barely inhabited, clearly has low attendance.

[FundieFarmer]

I haven't seen the show, but I'm looking forward to them. I wasn't quite on it enough to record ahead of time so I am going to look for the precious episodes online ASAP.

[Palimpsest]

I watched the latest episode (Mary Kahn) On Demand last night.  It is really very moving.

Co$ = bastards.

 

[marmalade]

Can't wait for next week. Micaviges' father speaks out. I'm reading Jenna's book right now; I'm assuming he was her escape line. She was born into it, so who else could it have been?

[Inky]

On 12/14/2016 at 9:34 AM, nst said:

I am so happy Katie Holmes got out though and seems to be doing well. 

She has guts 

Yes, and thank goodness a father who, as a lawyer, was able to prevent them from doing their worst. 

[dianapavelovna]

3 hours ago, marmalade said:

Can't wait for next week. Micaviges' father speaks out. I'm reading Jenna's book right now; I'm assuming he was her escape line. She was born into it, so who else could it have been?

I read Jenna's book a month or two ago; she really got herself out. Her mom & dad had been out for some years, though, and I think they helped her get on her feet. I believe she was out before her grandpa.

[MarblesMom]

On 12/14/2016 at 8:30 AM, Palimpsest said:

You live in Clearwater?  Are the Scientologists still infesting the environment?

I thought Clearwater was infested with Amish?  How do they co-exist?

[Peas n carrots]

 

13 hours ago, MarblesMom said:

I thought Clearwater was infested with Amish?  How do they co-exist?

Sarasota is where a lot of older Amish retire. So they have a bit of distance.

There is a special episode added for Monday night - Leah is doing an AMA with Paulette Cooper. If you don't know the story, she was one of the first journalists to write an expose on Scientology in the late 60's and subsequently became one of the first journalists to be the target of LRH's "Fair Game" policy.

I really love what Leah is doing.

I was watching a you tube video of a talk Tony Ortega recently did for Seattle Skeptics. Apparently, Marty Rathbun has given up Scientology completely and no long Squirrels the tech. According to Tony, he spent years trying to tease out the good stuff he got out of $ci from the bad, but eventually came to the conclusion you can pick up the same lessons in other ways in life. After that realization, he let it all go.

 

[Palimpsest]

 

6 hours ago, Peas n carrots said:

Apparently, Marty Rathbun has given up Scientology completely and no long Squirrels the tech.

I don't know what to make of Rathbun, except I wouldn't trust him as far as I can spit.  His stories about whether he believes in the tech change and if he doesn't get his own way - he attacks.  Attacks using classic C0$ methods of discrediting an opponent, I might add.

Not that I think Ron Miscavige is a good person ...

http://tonyortega.org/2016/09/01/marty-rathbun-defends-scientology-leader-david-miscavige-as-he-trashes-tell-all-memoir-ruthless/

And here Marty is attacking Operation Clambake and Tony Ortega in October:

https://markrathbun.wordpress.com/2016/10/05/the-only-good-scientologist/

[Mary C Doates]

On 12/7/2016 at 10:11 PM, Jana814 said:

I seen that building so many times in the city. I have never gone in. 

Right across the street from the theater where Hamilton is playing. When you wait on line to go into the theater you can watch a little pro-Scientology movie on a screen over their building. 

[Jana814]

15 minutes ago, Mary C Doates said:

Right across the street from the theater where Hamilton is playing. When you wait on line to go into the theater you can watch a little pro-Scientology movie on a screen over their building. 

Did not know about the movie.  Have gone past the building in a long time. 

[Mary C Doates]

2 minutes ago, Jana814 said:

Did not know about the movie.  Have gone past the building in a long time. 

It's the Broadway show. You'd think people from Scientology would be trying to recruit the people waiting on line, but haven't seen them.

[Jana814]

15 minutes ago, Mary C Doates said:

It's the Broadway show. You'd think people from Scientology would be trying to recruit the people waiting on line, but haven't seen them.

I know about the broadway show. I ment I didn't know about the Scientology movie that is shown. 

[Peas n carrots]

 

17 hours ago, Jana814 said:

I know about the broadway show. I ment I didn't know about the Scientology movie that is shown. 

When I was there a couple weeks ago there was just a TV set in the window playing DIANETICS (volcano explodes). And a whole display of the works of L Ron Hubbard as well.

 

[quiversR4hunting]

For those that don’t have cable you can see all the episodes on A&E tv. http://www.aetv.com/shows/leah-remini-scientology-and-the-aftermath

I watched the episode about Mary Kahn (S1 E3) last week, I finally have a moment to say a few things about it. It was powerful. She was a regular church goer to scientology who worked her way up the chain and married a fellow scientologist and raised 2 sons in it. That is her biggest regret. They still have one son in the cult. She actually stuck with it for a while (several years) after she had serious misgivings about the cult because she didn’t want to lose her family. She left not knowing if her husband would leave with her or if her sons would leave too. She talks about her experience on the ship. Twice, she made it to the top (you have to go on the ship to make it to the top). The ship sounds like torture, brainwashing, and mental abuse all rolled into one.  I find it unbelievable that the person reaches the top only to have to do it again because of revisionist history. The sadder thing is people do it! They believe the cult that it is their own fault and they need to pay to redo it because of something.

I really want a scientist to take the “can device” and experiment with it and tell us what it actually “reads”. I know it is hokum but I want to know how the meter is moving. Is it trying to work like a lie detector?

Tomorrow is another new episode. And on line I need to watch “Ask me anything.” I really hope Leah’s series reaches the cult members and families and really starts to make it crumble.

On a slightly different note, “SheKnows” blog says that someone has seen Shelly Miscavige twice in the Crestline area. Which I believe is where the “hole” is that Mike Rinder was put in for a while and the 2nd episode had aerial views of the buildings.

http://www.sheknows.com/entertainment/articles/1130645/reports-claim-that-scientology-leaders-absent-wife-looks-homeless-frail

[K'Z'K]

21 minutes ago, quiversR4hunting said:

I really want a scientist to take the “can device” and experiment with it and tell us what it actually “reads”. I know it is hokum but I want to know how the meter is moving. Is it trying to work like a lie detector?

The "can device" is an e-meter (electropsychometer). It's a skin galvanometer--it measures electrodermal activity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrodermal_activity  Similar devices are part of the suite of measurement tools used in so-called lie detectors, which of course don't really detect lies.

More than anyone ever needed to know about e-meters:

https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/E-Meter/

http://tonyortega.org/2014/02/01/jon-atack-takes-apart-the-scientology-emeter/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter

 

[FundieFarmer]

Now, I have no doubt machines can tell me a lot about myself. I put a lot of trust in MRIs, EKGs, and echocardiograms.

But those cans ain't gonna tell me shit I don't already know. For example, I know those are shit. I don't need to hold the cans to know that.

[Coconut Flan]

They seem like cousins and less effectual than the biofeedback I did quite a few years back.  That actually worked for its limited purpose. 

[Rachel333]

I read Leah's book this weekend. I thought it was interesting that she never really lost faith in Scientology itself, just in the way the church was being run. I don't think she still believes in it, but lack of belief wasn't what made her question the church.

I did appreciate how in the book and her show she has talked about the good elements of Scientology. It makes it a lot easier to understand how rational people get caught up in it.