Strength in their numbers: More Church of Scientology defectors come forward with accounts of abuse.
tampabay.com/news/scientology/article1023717.ecePosted Aug 2, 2009, 4:50 PM UTC
785166
tampabay.com
I love Scientology... it's a perfect modern day example of just how quickly fantasy can turn into batshit crazy organised religion. And just like any other religion, it saddles everyone with an enormous sense of guilt about their everyday human failings. Unlike most moderate religions however, it mercilessly puts all the blame on the individual if something goes wrong.
The result is that you have a giant club of unhappy people, who each think this is caused by somehow not applying Scientology's pseudo-science correctly. This is sacrilege, so they all hide it from one another. Everyone just keeps pretending they're all feeling great, not actually talking to each other except to revel in how awesome everything is.
By the time you figure out it's all a lie, it's too late. For one, their practice of recording confessions means there is an enormous list of blackmail material waiting to leak out. But more importantly, you will have invested so much of yourself and your money, that it will be nearly impossible to admit to yourself that you've been had.
30
just how quickly fantasy can turn into batshit crazy organised religion. And just like any other religion
This is wrong. Scientology was designed to be "batshit crazy" from day one by its creator.
Have you forgotten that L. Ron was a science fiction writer? Have you forgotten that he created Scientology solely as a scam to make money?
10
This is what irks me. He literally said the best way to make a million dollars is to start a religion.
15
I didn't mean to imply that it wasn't a deliberate con, quite the opposite. I mean that we know exactly how it started. A guy wrote a book about bad science fiction, claimed it was true and got enough gullible idiots to believe it.
This material is now the life manual for devoted Scientologists. People are born and raised in an oppressive system driven by his whacky rules.
Having done my homework on Scientology, I can't help but feel every single religion in the world must have had a similar history. Sure, most religions have a core of good will and good values in them, but inevitably these things get wrapped up in meaningless dogma and irrelevant stories.
3
You're right. Especially Mormonism. Joseph Smith was a conman.
6
[deleted]
1
Having done my homework on Scientology, I can't help but feel every single religion in the world must have had a similar history.
I think you should read the gospels to find out how Christianity started. Pay attention to the words of the guy named "Jesus Christ," they are very important in this context.
1
FYI, one of the best testimonies I've seen on Scientology is the following lengthy interview with Jason Beghe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHb0BZyF5Ok
The sad thing is that he seems like a pretty intelligent person who just got roped in by some basic self-awareness and relaxation techniques and then kept searching for a bigger truth where there was none.
6
This is sacrilege, so they all hide it from one another. Everyone just keeps pretending they're all feeling great, not actually talking to each other except to revel in how awesome everything is. By the time you figure out it's all a lie, it's too late.
Wait are we talking about Scientology or dating?
3
It's much like other religions... except it was designed. All of the mind-control is deliberate. All of the little hooks in there are purposeful.
2
By the time you figure out it's all a lie, it's too late.
You may as well be talking about American culture. The fact is, Miscavige is not a Scientologist. All through the most basic tenets of the religion (as opposed to the organization), are very strict policies on not treating people the way Miscavige treats them.
He is therefore not a Scientologist. The problem with the Church of Scientology is that it is being run by non-Scientologists. If it were truly Scientology he was using, you'd see his personal statistics, weekly, there would be no secret organizations, and things would be just fine for Scientology, in general.
The fact is, there are people who are letting him get away with destroying the Religion of Scientology. Those people need to know: the Church is being run by American Fascists, into the dirt.
CALL TO ARMS TO ALL SCIENTOLOGISTS: APPLY THE 'HEAD ON A PIKE' POLICY: START WITH MISCAVIGE AND ALL THOSE WHO ALLOWED HIM HIS SUPPRESSIVE REIGN.
0
Even if it wasn't run by "non-Scientologists", the whole concept is still batshit crazy. The abuse is just icing on the cake.
1
"The whole concept": studied it, have you? I have. Its not a bit batshit crazy, at all. It works. Its great. It really does a lot of good, well-applied.
0
Apparently you haven't paid enough money to reach the higher levels where you find out about the truly batshit crazy beliefs. I have looked into it, but it's hard to look beyond the purpose of audits, Xenu, and the atomic bombs. I also think their view on psychiatry is downright dangerous. It can be as dangerous as christian scientists view on medicine. Spiritual healing WILL NOT fix you.
Apparently you haven't even bothered to try to understand what those materials are about (hint: story) and are just taking it at face value without an actual, honest, investigation of the value of the materials in the context of spiritual endeavours. Maybe you're not capable of disassociating your ideal of religion from the reality, which is that .. yes .. there are people (such as myself) who actually do get what the materials are all about and do not consider it an aspect of the religion that must be 'believed', rather applied. The material you're referring to are so far from what you think they are, its just plain clear you're not being honest about the subject.
1
[deleted]
0
The Church of Scientology was doing evil shit to members and non-members alike long before Miscavige ever took power. Hubbard himself dictated despicable policies such as fair game. The only reason Scientologists are finally starting to notice is because Miscavige doesn't have the charisma and charm that LRH did to get everyone to look the other way.
Anyway, I hope you and the one other Scientologst on Reddit do take down the church from the top. I think that would make the critics pretty damn happy.
1
There's a rumor going around that John Travolta is leaving Scientology.
25
But then the church will reveal the secret tapes of his auditing sessions that out him as a homosexual.
36
Yes that is how they play ball, unfortunately. On the other hand, I don't think too many people would be surprised.
25
There has never before been a time where gays have been more accepted in our culture. It wouldn't be that big of deal.
24
Exactly. Maybe this a good thing for Travolta - and the culture itself. Who cares if he is gay anyway. He seems like an OK guy and being gay has nothing to do with that fact.
21
The internet does not reflect culture. Neither does the "entertainment" press which is itself composed of many homosexuals. If you went out into the actual world and talked to actual people who live in it, you'd know that being outed as gay is still a very big deal.
I don't think something like this would hurt Travolta's movie career necessarily (he was the star of Grease, for God's sake), but you can't blame him for not wanting millions of people to discuss his private life like this, not to mention going through life knowing that millions of people are privately ridiculing him.
3
Tell Mathew Shepard that. Granted, 10 years ago.
3
Hell, it would probably work out extremely well for him and extremely crappily for $cientology.
2
The fact that he's married and has children would make the entire situation a very bad one for him.
2
That's like how South Park revealed Chef wanted to have sex with the children when he left!
0
That's pure speculation, probably mostly on your part. There's nothing to suggest that the personal dirt they have on him has anything to do with sexual orientation.
1
Yeah, I was being facetious. The article mentions that the church has major dirt on Travolta, and what I mentioned is also speculated to be the exact dirt the church has.
2
Just to clarify the concept
If a person is "clear" on a particular subject, then they have no hangups on it one way or another, and have no buttons that could be pushed. They could take a practical rational viewpoint on it, vs getting hung up on some secondary angle.
Thus, IF travolta is both gay and clear, he would not care at all who knew about it as a practical matter.
But he might want to keep practical matters like movie contract details, etc. private for all of the obvious reasons, just because there are fruitcakes, wingnuts, and stalkers out there.
so, as a practical matter, the blackmail speculation looks quite silly. and any scientologist of long experience will have experienced this.
That does not mean that I'm going to sell my personal for the paparazzi to look through, or critics to titter over.
-1
It also implies Miscavige shouldn't be a trumped up little psychopath... oh that's right it's a cynical manipulation of money and power - not an attempt to help people, in fact the exact converse.
1
Nonsense. They "cured" him of gayness. Isn't he "clear" now?
1
Sounds like the movie the punisher john travolta's main guy was gay and the punisher outted him in the movie. Yeech Travolt's living out the punisher movie script with xenu as the punisher.
0
With a strong emphasis on the word RUMOR. There seems to be zero evidence for this claim.
3
http://www.canada.com/topics/entertainment/story.html?id=de581a85-faff-40d8-9950-fd9ff101bf99&k=3222
... just saying
2
You misunderstood. We weren't referring to the rumor of him being gay or not, we were referring to the rumor that he's going to leave scientology.
2
Ah, you're dead right. Sometimes on reddit it's not that clear which comment is the parent if you don't hit the parent button.
2
import propaganda
for suppressive_person in defectors:
print "%s is a %s" % (suppressive_person,
random.choice(["child molester", "homosexual", "prostitute", "felon", "liar"]))
fair_game.append(suppressive person)
12
I think you meant "from propaganda import *", otherwise you've got a whole bunch of undefined names.
10
:)
6
I just LOL'd in my head.
0
So you didn't LOL at all?
8
LQTM
(Laughing Quietly To Myself)
2
[deleted]
3
Why pick only one?
1
# disinformation.py 1.1
# Incorporates suggestions from thetan FunnyMan3595 and thetan Grognor
from propaganda import *
import random
baseless_accusations = [
"child molester", "homosexual", "prostitute", "felon",
"liar", "psychiatrist", "user of profanity", "sexual deviant",
"alcoholic", "liberal", "terrorist", "con artist", "philanderer",
"porn addict", "supporter of Hitler", "cannabis user",
"fan of Pee-Wee Herman"]
for suppressive_person in defectors:
num_accusations = random.randint(1,10)
print "%s is a %s." % (suppressive_person,
",".join(random.sample(baseless_accusations,num_accusations))
fair_game.append(suppressive_person)
6
After 8 years at a firm litigating COS issues I understand their evil practices. They don't physically force you to join. Most people do not "grow up in the 'church.' " Much like christians people choose. Unlike smaller cults, they can respond in monetary damages. A couple of big judgments will reign them in or put them out of business.
12
Any Scientologists wanna weigh in on this? or Former Scientologists to give us better insight? cause right now this "religion" is looking GAWD DAMN evil. I I want to give you a chance to change our minds...
8
There are plenty of Ex's on this forum & your can read their stories:
http://www.forum.exscn.net/forumdisplay.php?f=2
And more stories from Ex's here:
http://www.ExScientologyKids.com
In my opinion, those St. Petersburg Times stories are just scratching the surface in terms of the corruption & abuse that cult dishes out to their own people.
9
I agree. but I want to see one of our Scientologists explain this to me. I know we have a few here.
5
They'll just deny its all lies, or that the victims "Drew in" the abuse and deserved it.
4
[deleted]
-3
Yes, No other religion I know of any worth, Hordes their knowledge like the Scientologists. Most want to SHARE SHARE SHARE. and most SHARE it freely, FREE.
14
Hordes their knowledge
Yes! For the Hordes (of knowledge)!
1
-6
Not such a popular religion these days, is it.
7
Also not one I consider 'one of worth "I'll take Deism for $200, Alex"
1
[deleted]
4
Their lifestyle supports a criminal organization.
Not to mention one that has tax exempt status that also includes exemption for "religious education." $cientologists can deduct money they spend on Scientology courses and materials. No other religion gets that privilege.
6
You should have more empathy toward victims even if they seem like shiny happy people. It does seem like a band of criminals, though.
5
[deleted]
2
I give. You win. Keep kicking ass. You rock. For real.
1
Hey do you see the Reddit icon on the WTF section!
1
Not all of them get to choose:
http://exscientologykids.com/voicesinunison.html
And those going into it tend to not be aware of the abuses within it.
5
Many of these people joined when they were young, still in high school.
2
[deleted]
3
Have you tried reading Dianetics?
9
[deleted]
2
RTFA, these people left the organization out of their own free will. I didn't read anything in the article about them asking for handouts.
faggot.
-3
[deleted]
5
Hmm. Apparently people with antisocial disorders do really, really well in Scientology. Who would have thought?
4
Well they have to have money. People who don't think highly of themselves - yet have bucks - are the ones that Scientology does best with. These people include but are not limited to Travolta and Kirstie Alley, among others.
7
It is a cult.......
4
[deleted]
3
John was known to raise a glass in honor of Satan every now and again.
If it weren't the Catholic Church, I'd be all WTF Holy Shit!!11!!1!
3
Don't link to rotten.com without warning. I haven't been to that site in over 9 years, fortunately I didn't click.
2
[deleted]
8
A classmate of mine told me to go there when I was in 7th grade. I assume that his coping mechanism for what he saw was to share it with other people. I saw some stuff that haunted me for months.
1
There was a thread about shock sites last week. I didn't click on any of the links but apparently some of the stuff was really horrible and possibly illegal in the UK. It was in an r/IAmA post of a guy who worked in a funeral home (not the mortician, the one before that).
3
It scares me that people remain in situations like this for so long. I'd like to think that I would leave if I was abused like Miscavige abused his underlings, but there have to be tons of followers who just blame themselves for not living up to his standard.
Are there any ways for someone to mentally harden themselves against cult tactics? Is it just a matter of developing self-esteem?
2
If this story is true then Scientology deserves to be utterly destroyed as a centralized organization. The world would be much better off without it. Let the members form their own churches and groups if they want.
2
[deleted]
1
[deleted]
1
[deleted]
1
More Church of Scientology defectors come forward with accounts of abuse
I hope they also come forward and admit what morons they were for joining in the first place.
1
I don't understand why one of the ppl he assaulted didn't kick him hard in the crotch.
1
Because there is not just physical but also mental abuse. These guys are afraid of him.
4
Speaking as a guy who's into some "expanding your awareness" techniques - it sounds like they're all suffering from too-much-concentration-meditation psychosis.
0
[deleted]
0
Not too long ago Reddit was full of stories about Scientology and "The Anonymous". Now there's hardly anything (not like I'm complaining). Internet has such a short attention span.
Tremendous progress has been made since the assaults by Anonymous. Much of the negative public awareness around Scientology is due to Anonymous and the media coverage it spurred. As was said, it is not a battle that can be won over night, but rather the initiation of a slow but devastating backlash against the cult.
So far, I think it may still be working.
There are still Anti-Scientology protests here where I live. Once a month, like clockwork.
... in your mom's basement ?
I guess we will never know how much of it was due to Anonymous.
The fact that this article exists and is very popular on reddit's front page right now sort of disproves your thesis.
not really; go back 2 months ago there would be 5-10 articles about this very topic at any given time. I'm not saying the topic is no longer of interest, just that it's not nearly as popular as it used to be
That's because they don't have any campaigns underway right this second. It sounds silly, but for those HS and college kids that make up the bulk of Anonymous, they either graduated or are off the the summer somewhere. Summer did start two months ago, you know.
On that note, there aren't constantly 5-10 articles about anything specific on reddit except pussy.
Don't forget the boobies!
Wrong: XKCD and RIAA are just a few that are posted about all the time every week. : )
[deleted]
to be honest I took the "two months ago" out of my ass - I don't really remember when that happened, just that it did. So I think my theory still stands
I think it's a matter of there not being any new developments worth writing about.
So you're saying that in that short 2-week period when this topic was immensely popular all of the interesting, Scientology-related things happened and since then nothing? I find that very hard to believe.
It does. Take Iran for example. I have no clue how things ended up there.
Didn't you hear? Protests happened, some hot girl got shot, Obama was all like "Dude, that's pretty low". Then Michael Jackson died. That's all you need to know.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111441671
I also heard there's some sort of trial going on, don't remember the specifics.
& it's not like Iran stories have been replaced by other humanitarian issues.
Two things stand out to me about the Iran affair:
it makes me wonder whether social media was washed downstream in a gigantic Internet PSYOP initiated by some government body (perhaps even the military).
</tinfoil hat> XD
I came to make a similar comment. I was hoping that the fad has passed.
Not too long ago Reddit was full of stories about Scientology and "The Anonymous". Now there's hardly anything (not like I'm complaining). Internet has such a short attention span.
Oh... wait. You said that already. Sorry.
wat
Not too long ago Reddit was full of stories about Scientology and "The Anonymous". Now there's hardly anything (not like I'm complaining). Internet has such a short attention span.
Oh... wait. That's what he said. Sorry.