Back 
Home 
Forth
2021
1 year ago
2021-06-12, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker
Remember "Rachel"? She's the person who tipped us off several years ago about a possible sighting of Shelly Miscavige in the town of Crestline, just about a mile from the small Scientology mountain compound in Southern California where we believe that Shelly's been kept since the summer of 2005.
Rachel excitedly messaged us and called yesterday to tell us that something's up at the compound.
She's seen a lot of construction activity, and some dark material has been added to the fencing to keep outsiders from seeing what's going on. She snapped a photo of the darkened fence for us...
Tags: 1963, 1971, 1999, 2005, alt.religion.scientology, Anonymous, Brian Statler, Bridge Publications, California, Chris Shelton, Copyright, Crestline, Daniel Leipold, Deseret News, Holocaust, Holocaust denial, Jay Spina, Jon Atack, Quicky, Santa Ana, Shelly Miscavige, Suppressive Person, Twin Peaks
2020
2 years ago
2020-06-12, Mike Rinder, Something Can Be Done About It
2020-06-12, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker
On May 23, according to multiple news organizations in the Dominican Republic, national police there descended on a large compound east of Santo Domingo where American youth baseball coach James Patrick Breslin operates a sports academy, and the police arrested Breslin when they found "several naked minors between the ages of 13 and 14."
The force that raided the compound included agents of the San Pedro de Macorís Prosecutor's Office and the Special Tourist Security Corps, reported the Dominican periodical N Digital.
The article included an image of Breslin's business card, which featured a photograph of him and URLs for his businesses, Top10FloridaBaseball.com and Top10DominicanBaseball.com.
2019
3 years ago2019-06-12, Associated Press, NBC News
A federal judge awarded a Muslim-American radio host $4.1 million in monetary damages Wednesday after he successfully sued a neo-Nazi website operator who falsely accused him of terrorism.
SiriusXM Radio show host Dean Obeidallah filed the civil complaint against The Daily Stormer founder Andrew Anglin, who hasn't responded to Obeidallah's libel lawsuit. Anglin's whereabouts are unclear.
Last month, U.S. District Court Judge Edmund Sargus Jr. agreed to enter a default judgment against Anglin and his company, Moonbase Holdings LLC. Sargus announced the award after a Wednesday morning hearing.
2019-06-12, Mike Rinder, Something Can Be Done About It
Take Scientology's advice — watch The Aftermath and see what is REALLY going on in scientology. Don't listen to the propaganda spewed by scientology in the media or on their websites.
Watch those who personally experienced scientology up close and personal.
It is so appropriate they say this because it captures exactly what has happened to scientology — their PR has taken a fatal hit they will never recover from because people have been able to see the truth. Such irony, but lacking any ability to introspect or confront the reality before their very eyes, they continue to make utter fools of themselves while smugly certain they are the smartest people in any room.
2019-06-12, Dianne Lipson, Underground Bunker
(Keith Raniere's attorney Marc Agnifilo, photo by Dianne Lipson)
Dianne Lipson was in court Tuesday afternoon for another gripping session in the Nxivm trial, including the cross-examination of witness "Jaye." Here's Dianne's report...
Direct testimony from Jaye has ended. Cross-examination has begun, with Keith Raniere's attorney, Marc Agnifilo.
Tags: 2003, 2004, 2018, Albany, Brooklyn, Department of Homeland Security, FBI, IRS, Keith Raniere, Marc Agnifilo, Mark Vicente, Mexico, Microsoft, Nancy Salzman, NXIVM, Pizza, Quicky, Rick Ross
2019-06-12, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker
It's one of those things that even the most casual Scientology watcher is well aware of: If you find yourself on Scientology's mailing list, you may never get yourself off of it.
And for those who may have once been members, or even just bought a single book or took a single course, Scientology can be particularly aggressive about tracking down your latest address or your unlisted phone number to harass you endlessly about watching a new DVD or coming back for more auditing. We've written about people who were being pursued forty years after they had ended their association with the church. (Or even 46 years!)
Of course, former members will tell you that there are workers on staff whose entire job is to put these harassing letters out by the thousands. And yes, that job gets so monotonous, sometimes the letter writers get a little loopy and send out some doozies.
2019-06-12, Jeffrey Augustine, Scientology Money Project
Even as Scientology was staging its short-lived and phony "Los Angeles Faith Coalition of California" in hopes of convincing anyone that Scientology is ecumenical, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan was engaging in his decades long anti-Semitism.
That the Nation of Islam is anti-Semitic is no surprise to anyone. However, how can David Miscavige and the Church of Scientology pretend to be ecumenical while remaining silent regarding the NOI's anti-Semitism? David Miscavige lacks the ethical conscience and courage to confront to tackle this issue. He has instead silently acquiesced to the Nation of Islam while his OSA mediocrities engage in social media fraud and fake ecumenicism.
OSA hypocrite Ed Parkin promotes the US Holocaust Museum on Twitter even as he willfully turns a blind eye to the anti-Semitism and the Holocaust denial in the Nation of Islam:
Tags: Anti-Semitism, California, Catherine Bernardini, Child labor, Christiana Michael, CIA, Cult, David Miscavige, Doctor, Ed Parkin, Facebook, Fair Game, Fake, Fake News, Fraud, Google, Holocaust, Holocaust denial, Humanitarian, Kirstie Alley, Leah Remini, Los Angeles Faith Coalition, Louis Farrakhan, Mike Rinder, Narconon Europe, Nation of Islam, Office of Special Affairs, Quicky, Sea Org, Simon Wiesenthal Center, Stacy Francis, Taryn Rinder, Tom Cruise, Twitter
2018
4 years ago
2018-06-12, PressProgress
After all, what's out of the ordinary about what Rebel Media's Katie Hopkins is currently doing in Russia filming videos praising Vladimir Putin?
In one recent video shot on the streets of St. Petersburg, the far-right Rebel Media personality tells viewers Putin is an ally of the global far-right, pointing out Kremlin rubles have helped finance the rise of far-right parties across Europe.
"I do wonder about this idea of Putin being our enemy," Hopkins says, noting that he "supported Marine LePen with loans and he supported Viktor Orban in Hungary."
Tags: 2014, Alberta, Aleksandr Dugin, Alt-Right, British Columbia, Canada, Christian Right, Cockroach, David Horowitz, David Horowitz Freedom Center, Donald Trump, Dutch, Europe, Ezra Levant, Geert Wilders, Hungary, Jason Kenney, Katie Hopkins, Kremlin, Langley, Lauren Southern, Moscow, Rebel Media, Robert Shillman, Russia, Shillman Journalism Fellow, St. Petersburg (Russia), Stephen Harper, Ukraine, Viktor Orbán, Vladimir Putin, Washington Post
2018-06-12, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker
We heard recently from a young man who talked himself out of a job at a Scientology drug rehab in May, and we thought you'd want to hear about it.
Our tipster — we'll call him Peter — enrolled in a Narconon center (we're not going to say where) to help him get rid of a drug problem. Peter was not an uneducated young man, and he says the Scientology drills that he was put through during his drying out at the rehab were "the dumbest thing I've ever done, honestly."
But Scientology is very clever about how it staffs its rehabs — it knows that when its "students" come out of the program they may be faced with a challenge getting back into society and finding a job. So Narconon offers its graduates work, and it can be pretty hard to turn down, even though it's low-paying and involves drilling other people in those same Scientology rituals.
2018-06-12, Mike Rinder, Something Can Be Done About It
Another in the series of posts about the insane practice of scientologists plucking statements from "Ron" and presenting them as the most valuable words of wisdom in the history of language.
This is apparently an "amazing" quote:
What is so brilliant about this gibberish? And what are you supposed to DO with it?
2017
5 years ago2017-06-12, Mike Rinder, Something Can Be Done About It
This essay seeks to remember and reveal, for myself, the building blocks (words of Ron and experiences in the group) that built my mindset whereby clearing the planet (delusion) and selling Scientology (Ron's suitcases to Luxembourg) became more important than loyalty to family, personal nurturing, acquiring life skills, loyalty to friends and getting a "wog" education. Moments when I gave my trust to Ron. Basics on the chain that creates believing.
At some point the words of L Ron Hubbard became more prominent than my own common sense. My common sense was slowly deranged over time by the words of an articulate manipulating madman. I worked and sacrificed my life for a planet without insanity while Ron ordered suitcases of cash to offshore accounts to hide from the taxman. Apparently a cleared planet had two different meanings. His was NOT ours.
My sincere but delusional goals of working for a cleared planet, was Ron's secured source of income. With spiritual fervor and a sense of militaristic immediacy, moral imperative and moral superiority, I sacrificed my life and mental health to the mental delusions of a Malignant Narcissist.
2017-06-12, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker
On occasion here at the Underground Bunker we've brought you examples of L. Ron Hubbard's lectures. We think it's important to hear the source material for this thing called Scientology and not to rely only on published accounts or interviews about it.
Part of the reason we do that is that we're told often by former members or even other journalists that Hubbard had so much success because he had supernatural skills as a speaker, and cast a spell with charisma that was off the charts. We find those descriptions interesting, because when we listen to his lectures, we hear a bad after-dinner speaker at the local Elks lodge, yukking it up for a small but entirely bought-in audience. But maybe that's just us.
We were reminded of that assessment when Mark "Marty" Rathbun, former top Scientology official, in his most recent video criticized Going Clear author Lawrence Wright for playing fast and loose with Hubbard's lectures, excerpting more than he printed from a particular passage in order to make the point that Hubbard's lectures were generally a mess.
2017-06-12, Growing Up In Scientology, YouTube
Tags: Aaron Smith-Levin, Quicky
2017-06-12, Tony Ortega, YouTube
Tags: Quicky
2017-06-12, TED-Ed, YouTube
View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-do-people-join-cults-janja-lalich
Today, there are thousands of cults around the world. Broadly speaking, a cult is a group or movement with a shared commitment to a usually extreme ideology that's typically embodied in a charismatic leader. But what exactly differentiates cults from other groups – and why do people join them? Janja Lalich describes how cults recruit and manipulate their members.
Lesson by Janja Lalich, animation by Globizco.
Tags: 5star, Janja Lalich
2016
6 years ago2016-06-12, Chris Shelton, Critical Thinker at Large
The weekly show where I answer questions from commenters in response to my Q&A videos or sent by email to AskChrisShelton@gmail.com. This week, the questions I take up are:
(1) I have exteriorized once or twice but it was long before I heard of Scientology. It is a sensation very different from dreaming or making things up. After being introduced to Scientology, I have gone backtrack to earlier lives in basic auditing at least once which is also not the same as dreaming. Have you ever exteriorized and have you gone backtrack to earlier lives? Or is this part of what you refer to as nonsense?
(2) I'm a huge fan of your videos and appreciate them so much I became a Patreon supporter! (It was so easy.) You're doing a great job and I'm happy to contribute so you can continue educating all of us. I was initially drawn to your work because of my fascination with Scientology however I have benefited so much more because you have introduced critical thinking skills into my life. It has prompted a shift in my approach to many things. Thank you!
2016-06-12, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker
It's time again for Rod Keller's Scientology Social Media Review. He's made a specialty of hunting down the odd and wonderful things Scientologists post to the 'net. He's a chronicler who piece by piece builds a highly detailed assessment of what Scientology is doing around the world, and this is what he found for us this week...
Scientology is re-releasing L. Ron Hubbard's 1982 novel Battlefield Earth this week. Sea Org members John Goodwin (dressed as Terl) and Emily Jones from Scientology's Galaxy Press visited The Red Booth, a YouTube show with Scientologist host Kimberly Quigley. (Emily is the daughter of Phil and Willie Jones, who are known for the "Call Me" billboards.)
The front of the Author Services building in Hollywood is decorated for the re-launch.
Tags: 1982, 1987, 2008, 2010, Amazon, Author Services Inc, Battlefield Earth, Bernard Fialkoff, Call Me, Cary Goulston, Celebrity Centre, Clear, Colorado, David Miscavige, DC, Denver, Dianetics, Elio Cervi, Emily Jones, Erik Gáll, Excalibur, Frank Frazetta, Freewinds, Galaxy Press, Harlem, Harriet Schock, Hollywood, Ideal Org, Israel, Jesus Christ, John Duignan, John Goodwin, Kimberly Quigley, L. Ron Hubbard, Lisa Marie Presley, Maiden Voyage, Meghan Fialkoff, New York, OT, Quicky, Rod Keller, Role of Earth, Ron Miscavige, Russia, Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me, Sea Org, Slovakia, Social Media Review, Tampa, The Complex, The Way to Happiness, United Nations, Willie Jones, YouTube
2015
7 years ago2015-06-12, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker
Jon Atack is the author of A Piece of Blue Sky, one of the very best books on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. He has a new edition of the book for sale, and for more than a year on Saturdays he helped us sift through the legends, myths, and contested facts about Scientology that tend to get hashed and rehashed in books, articles, and especially on the Internet. He was kind enough to send us a new post.
Jon, these previews you're giving us, setting things up for the "Getting Clear" conference in Toronto, are really well put together. Once again, you've woven together several strands of Scientology history to make us think of things in a new light. Lay it on us...
JON: The history of any subject is vital to its understanding. Scientologists tend to have very little information about the development of their belief system and their understanding is consequently hampered. After my departure from the cult in 1983, I spent over a decade studying the history of Scientology. I read a mass of Scientology's published materials and extracted historical references, collected thousands of pages of public record documents and gathered the accounts of about 150 people who had been involved with Hubbard from his childhood onward. This material was cross-referenced into a 400-page chronology, which was the basis for A Piece of Blue Sky.
Tags: 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1959, 1974, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1990, A Piece of Blue Sky, A. E. van Vogt, Aberree, Aleister Crowley, Alphia Hart, American Medical Association, Amprinistics, Arizona, Art Ceppos, Astounding Science Fiction, Barbara Kaye, Barbara Klowden, Birmingham, Brainwashing Manual, Buddha, Burton Farber, California, Camden, Church of Scientology of California, Clear, Congress, Cuba, DC, Dianetics, Doctor, Don Purcell, Don Rogers, Eckankar, England, Forrest Ackerman, George Hay, Harvey Jackins, Helen O'Brien, Hubbard Association of Scientologists International, Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation, Hymn of Asia, Hypnosis, Jim Dincalci, John Neugebauer, John Sanborn, Jon Atack, Joseph Winter, L. Ron Hubbard, Los Angeles, Manhattan, Medical, Mental Health, Miss Lovely, Mission Earth, Never Believe a Hypnotist, New Jersey, OT, Paul Twitchell, Paulette Cooper, Perry Chapdelaine, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Quicky, Richard de Mille, Robert Vaughn Young, Ron DeWolf, Russell Miller, Science of Survival, Sea Org, Suppressive Person, Texas, Toronto, Wichita
2015-06-12, Mike Rinder, Something Can Be Done About It
Tags: Quicky, Regraded Being
2014
8 years ago2014-06-12, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker
Monique Rathbun Here's a shocker: For the first time, Scientology, in its legal briefs, is referring positively to our coverage of the church's activities, and get this, the church argues that the attention we paid to its notorious "Squirrel Busters" goon squad in 2011 is evidence that should harm Monique Rathbun's harassment lawsuit.
That's just one of the surprises in the 111-page brief filed by the Church of Scientology International yesterday to the Texas Third Court of Appeals. In March, Comal County Judge Dib Waldrip denied Scientology's "anti-SLAPP" motion, which had tried to portray Monique as a bully for filing a lawsuit against the church, arguing that Scientology had merely exercised its free speech rights when it spent four years following Monique and her husband, former top Scientology official Marty Rathbun.
Judge Waldrip didn't buy that argument, and denied the motion in a 25-page order in March. At the time, Monique's attorney Ray Jeffrey said it was very unusual for a state court judge to produce such a thorough order — Waldrip must have known that the decision would be appealed.
Tags: 2009, 2011, Appeal, Church of Scientology International, Comal County, IRS, Judge Dib Waldrip, Marty Rathbun, Monique Rathbun, Private investigator, Quicky, Rathbun v. Scientology, Ray Jeffrey, SLAPP, Squirrel Busters, Texas Supreme Court, Texas Third Court of Appeals, Village Voice, Wallace Jefferson
2014-06-12, Mike Rinder, Something Can Be Done About It
Wow, great news. Only 2.5 years after opening the magnificent ideal org in Sacramento they made their first clear.
Don't usually bother with these OTC Minutes but this was just too much to ignore.
And one Clear after 2.5 years is MOTIVATION for Valley to follow in their illustrious footsteps. Doesn't take much to please these people.... At that rate, Sacramento will clear the current residents of their city in a mere 1.2 million years.
Tags: Alicia Kreisberg, AOLA, Bob Welch, Bonita Wilson, Carol Loweree, Charlene Thorburn, Clear, Dali Bahat, David Wilson, Dean Glosup, Division 1, Division 2, Division 4, Division 6, Field Staff Member, Golden Era, Humanitarian, Ideal Org, IRS, Jill Halverson, John Cumming, Karen Brown, Kathie Heard, Kathy Welch, L. Ron Hubbard, Larry Marshall, Lauren Perreau, Marty Kassowitz, Mary Ann O'Donnell, Mary Elizabeth Glosup, Mary Lee Krackow, Nancy Parodi, Nola Aronson, Ofrah Bahat, OT, OT Committee, OTC, Quicky, Quinn Taufer, Ralph Temps, Ray Loomis, Reno, Sacramento, South Africa, Sue Kattoo, Susan Jacobs, Tamara Dahill, Vered Ziv
2014-06-12, Mike Rinder, Something Can Be Done About It
The Queen of the Facebook Police has resurfaced after a period of relative obscurity.
Someone sent this in and it struck me as amusing. Clearly they DO care about what the fleas and lice say... Which is why she posted this on Facebook...
But not to worry as Flourishig and Prospering we are doing a lot of !!!
2014-06-12, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker
But we're still learning more about Kerri's involvement in Scientology, which Jean has raised as an issue in the matter. Last time, we told you that Kerri's friendship with Scientology clown prince Grant Cardone and a report from one of our inside sources suggested that Kerri's involvement was more extensive than she's been letting on.
And now, we have an on-the-record account from one of our most trusted sources.
"I was friends with Kerri Kasem," says Tiziano Lugli, who left Scientology in 2010 and has become one of the more visible ex-members of the church. A music producer in Los Angeles, he's put out numerous videos about Scientology.
Tags: 1950, 1951, 1999, 2010, Casey Kasem, Clear, David Miscavige, Denis deVlaming, Derek Bloch, Dianetics, Fort Harrison, Grant Cardone, Hollywood, Jean Kasem, Jeffrey Augustine, Joe Childs, Karen de la Carriere, Keith Relkin, Kerri Kasem, Laura Prepon, LGBTQ, Lisa McPherson, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Superior Court, Marty Rathbun, Mental Health, Operating Thetan, Science of Survival, Sea Org, Tampa Bay Times, Tiziano Lugli, Tone Scale
2014-06-12, Ashley Collman, Daily Mail
A well-known Clearwater, Florida couple was banned from attending a close family friend's wedding reception last weekend by the Church of Scientology.
Jack Vasilaros secured the Crystal Ballroom at the church's Fort Harrison Hotel in downtown Clearwater for his daughter Marina's wedding reception, but was told he had to submit a guest list in advance.
Last Thursday, Mr Vasilaros was informed by the church that friends Voncele and Denis deVlaming could not attend.Since it was just two days before the wedding, he did not object.
2014-06-12, Chris Trenkmann, ABC News
And while the guests praised the high-dollar event, one couple found themselves on the outside looking in.
Prominent Clearwater attorney Denis deVlaming was banned from the event by the owner of the Fort Harrison Hotel, the Church of Scientology.
"Without a doubt it has to do with my defense of people who criticize the church," deVlaming said.
2013
9 years ago
2013-06-12, Miss Fortune, Glistening, Quivering Underbelly
Best Choice Rehabilitation The picture at left is an exterior shot of a rundown, abandoned nursing home about to be reborn as Per Wickstrom's newest addition venture, Best Choice Rehabilitation.
The building is located at 15140 16th Avenue in Marne, Michigan.
According to official property records, Wickstrom purchased the building in 2012. A former assisted living/adult foster care home, the place had a checkered history.
Tags: 1975, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, Best Choice Rehabilitation, California, Lansing, Marne, Michigan, Per Wickstrom, Quicky
2013-06-12, Marty Rathbun, Moving On Up a Little Higher
The following is an excerpt from the book Memoirs of a Scientology Warrior. It covers my introduction to the Policy Letter entitled Keeping Scientology Working. In the past, we have attempted to discuss how far this central religious tenet of Scientology ought to be adhered to given its thought-stopping potential. That discussion degenerated into recriminations, character assasinations, and other indicia of thought stoppping. Perhaps presented in a fuller context we can consider the effects of this indoctrination without instigating a riot.
From Chapter Seven:
This particular policy (still in use today) was originally issued in 1965. It pronounces that Scientology had by that point achieved "uniformly workable technology." It states that the only troubles the organization ever encountered were because of incorrect application of that uniformly workable technology. Therefore, KSW called for zealous enforcement of the standard application of Scientology. By "standard" was meant precise, unquestioning adherence to all technical and administrative instructions from L. Ron Hubbard. No interpretations or alterations allowed. Only L. Ron Hubbard's words, followed to the letter. Quite a bit of attention was paid by the course supervisors to each student, on a one-to-one basis, seeking to elicit agreement that they would follow KSW to the letter.
2013-06-12, Mike Rinder, Something Can Be Done About It
This doesn't even deserve a comment (well, one, how about at least spell checking the 7 words on the first line).
Tags: Quicky
2013-06-12, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker
The last we heard in Laura DeCrescenzo's four-year lawsuit against the Church of Scientology, the church lost an appeal to the California Supreme Court and had until July 2 to turn over Laura's confidential confessional files — thousands of pages that she believes will bolster her case that she suffered abuse (including a forced abortion) as an employee of Scientology's "Sea Org."
Now, the church has filed a new motion, saying that it intends to appeal yet again — this time to the US Supreme Court — and even if it does ultimately give up Laura's documents, it wants a protective order to keep Laura or her attorneys from sharing them with us — the public.
The church claims that Laura's attorneys had previously agreed to a protective order but then changed their minds, and in order to prove that point, they attached an August 2012 letter from one of Laura's attorneys, Kathryn Saldana, which contains these lines...
2013-06-12, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker
We hear it all the time — what happened to Tommy Davis and Jessica Feshbach?
There still seems to be a huge fascination for the two former Scientology media handlers, and why not? Take Tommy — he's the good-looking son of actress Anne Archer, and for a few years he was thrust into prominence as the church's main mouthpiece. He tangled with the likes of BBC reporter John Sweeney and New Yorker writer Lawrence Wright, and was the last Scientology official who would brave live television to do battle on behalf of the church.
Jessica, meanwhile, gained her own notoriety as the shadow of Katie Holmes. The two became good friends, and Jessica was with Katie around the clock in part to shield the actress from nosy reporters and their impertinent questions about Tom Cruise and e-meters.
2012
10 years ago
2012-06-12, Michael Musto, Runnin' Scared, Village Voice
L. Ron Hubbard, The Christ of the Closeted The Master is the eagerly awaited Paul Thomas Anderson film about a man (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman) who starts a cult-like religion in the 1950s.
Sound like anyone, maybe with the first initial L.?
Well, Hoffman says this movie has nothing whatsoever to do with Scientology.
Tags: 1950, 1999, 9/11, John Travolta, Movie, Muslim, Paul Thomas Anderson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Quicky, The Master, Tom Cruise
2012-06-12, BBC News
Officials in India's Karnataka state are sealing the sprawling centre of a controversial Hindu holy man who is facing charges of sexual misconduct.
A large number of policemen have been deployed outside the complex of Swami Nithyananda near the city of Bangalore.
On Monday, Karnataka Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda ordered the police to arrest the guru and seal his ashram.
Nithyananda has been absconding since last week when his men allegedly forced a reporter to leave a press conference.
2012-06-12, Marty Rathbun, Moving On Up a Little Higher
The following is an excerpt from What Is Wrong With Scientology?: Healing Through Understanding. It might provide some food for thought.
Virtually everyone whom I have met who knew L. Ron Hubbard personally described him in words to the effect of "larger than life." That comes from a wide spectrum of people, from those who loved him to those who sharply criticized him. I never met him, and in a way I am glad I did not. To me, the ultimate worth of what he created can only be measured against the standard of whether what he wrote and lectured about can produce desirable effects or not. In the end, that is how he wished it to be. He noted in one of his final journals to Scientologists that his legacy would be the technology he would leave behind – not his personality, not his biography, not his recognitions and awards, not any God-like abilities that others must continue to create in their minds and rely upon, and not his frailties and shortcomings.
It was Hubbard's charismatic and infectious personality that led critics back in the '80s to predict that Scientology would die once he passed away. Some have since claimed that Hubbard's January, 1986 death did indeed mark the beginning of the end of Scientology. While both of these assertions were close to the mark, in my view they were not quite accurate in a couple of respects. First, a semantics note. True, the church of Scientology is dead, for all intents and purposes. But that is an organization, a corporate conglomerate. Scientology itself is a religious philosophy, and that has not died. A philosophy cannot be killed, any more than an idea can be extinguished. True, the church of Scientology began to die after its founder's demise. However, the passing of Hubbard did not kill it. Instead, during the confusion and pain of Scientologists' mourning Hubbard's death, a deadly virus was stealthily injected into Scientology culture.
2011
11 years ago2011-06-12, Marty Rathbun, Moving On Up a Little Higher
2010
12 years ago
2010-06-12, Tampa Bay Times
The HEADLEY LAWSUITS
Former Scientologists Claire and Marc Headley are suing the Church of Scientology in separate actions in federal court in Los Angeles.
Marc Headley, 37, alleges he was the victim of unfair business practices, labor law violations and forced labor, or human trafficking, during his 15 years in the church's Sea Organization.
Tags: 2009, 2011, Claire Headley, First Amendment, Hemet, Human trafficking, Lawsuit, Los Angeles, Marc Headley, Quicky, Sea Org
2010-06-12, This is Plymouth
SCIENTOLOGISTS are planning to spend £2.5million on renovating the Royal Fleet Hotel and employ 150 staff to run it.
In a detailed interview with The Herald, Church of Scientology members also said they expected 'tens of thousands' of people to visit the Devonport site each and every year.
It follows news earlier this month that the church had bought the historic 110-year-old Morice Square site for £1million.
2008
14 years ago2008-06-12, Mark Bunker, YouTube
3/26/00 - When members of the LMT held a small picket in front of the Ft. Harrison Hotel in Clearwater, they were quickly outnumbered by Scientologists who had been holding a meeting in one of their buildings. The Scientologists try to provoke an incident to get us arrested.
Tags: Clearwater, Robert Minton
2008-06-12, Kristen Mascia, People
Pinsky, the host of VH1's Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, speculates in an interview with Playboy that Cruise's Scientology beliefs could be a result of childlhood "neglect."
"A lot of people in the public eye who behave strangely have mental illness we can learn from, and much of it is based on childhood trauma, without a doubt," says Pinsky. "Take a guy like Tom Cruise. Why would somebody be drawn into a cultish kind of environment like Scientology? To me, that's a function of a very deep emptiness and suggests serious neglect in childhood – maybe some abuse, but mostly neglect."
2008-06-12, Seth Abramovitch, Gawker
Cruise's lawyer, Bert Fields, told us: "This unqualified television performer who is obviously just looking for notoriety is so grotesquely unprofessional as to pretend to diagnose Tom and others without ever meeting them. He seems to be spewing the absurdity that all Scientologists are mentally ill. The last time we heard garbage like this was from Joseph Goebbels."
2008-06-12, PageSix, New York Post
TOM Cruise's lawyer is comparing a TV doctor's analysis of the star's mental health to Nazi methods. In next month's Playboy, Dr. Drew Pinsky, host of VH1's "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew," says: "A lot of people in the public eye who behave strangely have mental illness we can learn from, and much of it is based on childhood trauma, without a doubt. Take a guy like Tom Cruise. Why would somebody be drawn into a cultish kind of environment like Scientology? To me, that's a function of a very deep emptiness and suggests serious neglect in childhood – maybe some abuse, but mostly neglect." Cruise's lawyer, Bert Fields, told us: "This unqualified television performer who is obviously just looking for notoriety is so grotesquely unprofessional as to pretend to diagnose Tom and others without ever meeting them. He seems to be spewing the absurdity that all Scientologists are mentally ill. The last time we heard garbage like this was from Joseph Goebbels."
2008-06-12, Dawn Olsen, GlossLip
Stu, who has a popular YouTube channel and frequently spends his time and efforts videotaping his protests of local Scientology Org activities, was arrested this morning at his home in Plymouth, UK. According to reports, Stu's home was raided by police and his equipment and videos were taken and Stu was charged with assault. Details are sketchy (as is the Church of Scientology) but here's what's been reported by a member of Anonymous on Enturbulation.org:
2007
15 years ago2007-06-12, Steve Dunleavy, New York Post
Woodworth, the program president, said 930 people have signed up since 2002; 800 have completed the course. Fourhundred were firefighters - about 80 cops, the rest city workers who were first responders.
Woodworth said there has been an 86 percent success rate, varying from those who were totally cured of toxicity, to those whose health improved.
2005
17 years ago
2005-06-12, Paul Schwartzman, Washington Post
The sign advertising "Free Stress Test" beckoned Marian Prescott as she crossed Farragut Square, and she found herself settling into a chair beneath a yellow tent and taking hold of two metal poles hooked up to a device that the tester said could detect psychic strain.
"What did you think of?" asked Kelly Turrisi, the tester, as the needle on the electrometer jumped to the right.
Prescott tilted back her head and laughed. Work. Her husband. What else?
1995
27 years ago
1995-06-12, Anthony Spaeth, TIME
Since Japanese police arrested the guru of the Aum Shinrikyo cult on May 16, frightening facts have emerged indicating that Asahara had the money, the means and the intention to wreak his version of Armageddon on Japan. The March 20 nerve-gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, which killed 12 people and sickened 5,500, and the thwarted attempt to spread deadly hydrogen cyanide gas in the Shinjuku station on May 5 were intended as preludes to worse disasters, police sources are suggesting in leaks to the Japanese press. The big show was apparently set for November, when plans called for cult attacks on government buildings, the Diet and the Imperial Palace to spark what Asahara saw as a world war.
Tags: Aum Shinrikyo
1988
34 years ago
1988-06-12, James Greiff, St. Petersburg Times
It may sound easy, but it's a tough, sometimes mean business that involves rooting out the nasty little secrets about a company that management would prefer never come to light. The Feshbachs have no qualms about using guerrilla tactics to find the dirt.
"We hire detectives, accountants, lawyers, consultants, anything that gives us legally obtained information," says Matt. "We don't spare any expense." The brothers have built an extensive network of unpaid contacts as well, including securities traders, analysts and journalists on Wall Street and across the country.
Who puts money with the Feshbachs? They won't say, although New York-based Dreyfus Corp., which operates a family of mutual funds, confirms that the Feshbachs manage some of its assets.
One wealthy entity the Feshbachs say they don't invest for is the Church of Scientology. "We're just parishioners," Joe asserts, and a church spokesman, Richard A. Haworth, says that Scientology "has no investment relationship with the Feshbachs."
Tags: 1981, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, Boynton Beach, California, Clearwater, Dianetics, E-meter, Europe, Feshbach, Forbes, Fort Harrison, Mental Health, New York, Newsweek, Oklahoma, OTC, Palo Alto, Pennsylvania, Reebok, Review, Richard Haworth, St. Petersburg, Wall Street Journal
FrontCite 06/15/2022 08:41a
See also:
FrontCite Mediawiki
xenu-directory.net: Scientology in the news
Scientology in the UK Media
See also:
FrontCite Mediawiki
xenu-directory.net: Scientology in the news
Scientology in the UK Media