I am publishing this here as it is an invaluable repository of information that should be as widely available as possible. Thanks to TrevAnon (Trevor Horn) for sending this to me. Along with this extensive list are two other invaluable lists below.
This list represents more people than can be rounded up for an event at Flag these days. If you want to see the complete list, click here.
And remember, this is the people who hav e bravely spoken out publicly. There are perhaps 10 times this number who have left and said nothing,
For some further information about this list, you can read an article by Trevor Horn about how this list came about
The second document is a compilation of Accounts of disconnection
And the third is a List of scientology suicides
Thank you Trev for compiling the list and thank you Mike for publicizing it. I am glad that I spoke out, but I agree with Trev – no-one is compelled to do so. The more data ‘out there’ that becomes easily discoverable though searches, the better.
Thank you my old friend!
Great lists.
The big list: Klaus Buechele being on the list should be taken with caution. Mike already had his experience with him: https://www.mikerindersblog.org/the-black-bag-department/
The suicide list: Omitted is Bill Duckhorn who blew is brains out. He and his then wife Jay Duckhorn were part of the management of the mission network (before SMI was established). Unfortunately I do not have any information as to when and where (though I seem to remember it was in the desert near Las Vegas) that happened. Perhaps another reader has more and sufficient info so that his name can be added to the list.
AnEx
Your comment jogged my memory. There was a Scn guy who went into the Las Vegas desert and shot himself so that his Scn wife could get the life insurance money. She called the police and acted like she didn’t know where he was, but gave the police a round about description of where they could find him. They couldn’t find him so after time, she went and lead them to his body. I assume she got the life insurance money. She then went on Scn dating sites and met and married Chris Estey.
Not a fraction of the names are there as far as here in South Africa goes. Even where one name is mentioned, invariably that one name represents an entire family. This is, as Mike suggests, only one in ten of the real number.
In such cases the whole family may be out, but we only found evidence of 1 family member having been in AND speaking out.
TrevAnon, thank you for publishing the list of people who left the cult. That was a lot of work and kudos to you for doing it. I was perusing your list and ran across someone I knew who was a contemporary of my son and daughter: Zach Hopwood. I clicked to learn his story and he said in it that his parents also left Scn. Can it be? Lydia Hopwood is his mom, a 2nd generation Scn who speaks out for the church copiously and vociferously. Did Lydia Hopwood actually leave the church? I can hardly believe it. Mike has mentioned her in his articles or shown screen shots of missives she has put on social media about Scn. Can anyone confirm that Lydia actually did leave the church?
Thank you! We’ll look into it!
More a general remark, not related to yours: of course the big list has errors. That’s not the point.
Even if the big list had lots of errors there still are a LOT of exes speaking out, showing that the organisation has a BIG problem.
Oh yes it does show that a lot of exes have left and spoken out. I was not being critical of your list or of your reporting. I was just hoping I could rejoice if Lydia Hopwood the top KA drinker and brain washed cultie was out.
‘Incredulicide’ who maintains the big list looked into your comment (and another one) and here’s the analysis:
“The name Zach Hopwood is not on the list. There is a Josh Hopwood with no mention of his mother. There is a Zac Hopkins with 4 links to speaking out so until these commenters can spell the names they mention right I’m not looking further into it.”
https://whyweprotest.net/threads/continuing-the-big-list-of-thousands-of-former-members-who-spoke-out.134181/page-22#post-2801844
Oops my mistake in reading the names wrong. Sorry. I think there may be a connection between Josh Hopwood and Lydia Hopwood in that she may be his mother.
I get the impression that there are a huge number of people who did some courses, often at one of the old missions, who might have considered themselves scientologists once, but who moved on and are hardly ever heard from. If there are any counts related to Scientology that are actually a million or more, that’s a likely candidate.
I think the number who have been heavily involved in – or who were born in to – the CofS, and have left in the decades since the last major waves of defections in the 1980s, may be around 10 times those who have spoken out. But the total all-time number must be for example a not insignificant portion of the number of names in orgs’ “central files,” and if it were say 2,500 per org – a tenth of a lot of orgs’ file counts – that would get it to about 350,000, or 100 times.
TrevAnon: Good job on compiling that list. I seen see many long hours went into it.
Mike Rinder: that is not an “ex-Scientologist” list. A good many of those 3177 names are folks who – like myself – practice Scientology in one form or another in the Independent Field. Reclassifying us is “ex-Scientologists” is highly insulting and reinforces David “Darth Midget” Miscavige’s internal propaganda that there is no Scientology available outside of the C of $.
Michael A. Hobson – Independent Scientologist
Thanks for clarifying Michael. Please don’t take too much offence — it’s simply a shorthand way of describing this list as I am pretty sure those who still consider themselves scientologists are a very small percentage. Perhaps you could put together a list of independent scientologists and I will publish that here so people who are so inclined can find you and the others should they want to connect with like-minded people.
This is a great post. Even I am listed here! (blush).
Years ago, when I left Scientology, I was not asked if there was something going on I was unhappy about. I was asked for an Overt and Withholds write up to explain my hidden crimes.
The fact that I wanted to leave was not related in any way apparently to the fact I had met Paulette Cooper’s body double when she was walking around in the Guardian Office in New York. If I had reported this properly, I would have been declared not validated.
How can a person “go back” to a group that engages in these types of things?
So, I look forward, to looking myself in the eye in the mornings knowing I made the right decision and left.
Proud to be on the list, and really pleased to see so many people who have spoken out.
I thought long and hard today before making this comment. For the first time, I am using my real name. It is an honor to be on the list.
A few years ago, I was contacted by Scientology who begged me to come in. I really didn’t want to get involved, but they kept saying that things are totally different. So, I gave in to check it out.
I always enjoyed group processing in the past and attended a few of those.
I was open and honest about what I had done and when I would not say anything against any ex, especially Tory Christman (who always was so kind to me) they threw me under the bus, and I now have a golden rod Suppressive Declare. All of the things in the write-up were lies (ok, maybe 99.99% … they did spell my name right).
My favorite quote from Ron is, “When truth goes forward, lies die”.
I live by that and know life will be great if I stick to it.
I think you’re already on under your real name? The link speaking out is a video Tory did with you 8 years ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0keyWxGBjQ&webm=1&html5=1
We’ll add this above comment though – so thank you!
Thanks for this. What I meant is it is the first time to post under my real name here on this blog. Thanks for all that you are doing.
Trev is on the job!! Hey Trevanon, I am going to give you another name to add by private message in ESMB Redux. It’s one to add, but I do know others as well that have friends and family that do not wish to be added
I’m willing to wager that list of 3177 names is a mere drop in the bucket of total ex-scientologists, even if limited to those who speak out. I personally know 6 exes who aren’t on the list who aren’t quiet about their bad experiences while in. Imagine how many exes there are who haven’t made waves about it.
You noted 6 people who aren’t on the list. I noted 27 people. Let’s just split the difference and say if each person on the list named 17 people they knew who left, we’d be looking at roughly 54,009 people who left the cult for one reason or another. That doesn’t even take into consideration pc’s and auditors who blew the coop.
54,009 people who found the cult of Scientology – a fake religion – so heinous that they unceremoniously blew!
Can 54,009 people be dismissed as ‘apostates’?
Can 54,009 people be dismissed as having missed withholds?
Can 54,009 people be criminals/suppressive persons?
Can 54,009 people have ARC Breaks of such magnitude that they no longer could abide to remain in?
YOU BETCHA!
P.S. I was SO gung-ho (a.k.a. naive, gullible and probably delusional) I signed a billion year contract at AOLA and then ANOTHER one upon my arrival aboard the flagship. So, I owe the cult 1,999,999,990 years.
CRACKS ME UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great post! Are you any relation of a musician Memo Acevedo?
Thanks!
The name ‘Acevedo’ is a very common one in Latin countries. No relation to Memo.
I am sure that there are that many more who are Ex-Scientologists who got out of the cult because they are dead. For at least 10 years while I was on the Freewinds I told a number of fellow Sea Org members that the only way off of the ship was ” In A Box”.
My estimate would be that for every ex-COS member speaking out there are 100 who don’t. (And there’s nothing wrong with not speaking out.)
If, for the 6 people you mention, there is evidence of (1) them having been in and (2) them speaking out about it using their full name, and both of these are accessible through a resource that doesn’t require e.g. logging in (such as Mike’s blog – I can see here what people say without using an account ) they would qualify for being on the list.
So eg speaking out on Facebook doesn’t count as you would need an account. We do this so anyone can check the data.
The article Mike refers to has more details. http://www.reasoned.life/2018/02/spotlight-on-anonymous-big-list/
I’m astonished at how long this list is. But then again am I really? It is a great list. The people on this list should be proud that they had the courage to leave this heinous organization. Great job compiling this information! Thanks Mike for posting!
As I was reviewing the list, I made another list of those folks who left but whose names aren’t included…probably because they didn’t want the cult to harass them and chose to remain quiet or just wanted to get as far away as possible from that concentration camp. I haven’t provided their names in respect of their silence. There are 26 names.
Trevor Horn – good on ya!
You’re welcome!
And of course there’s nothing wrong with not speaking out. People can have all kinds of reasons not to do that.
Trev. I am incredibly lucky that I am still alive to be able to speak out. I was the Repair Chief Freewinds for 16 years (86 to 02). I was suicidal after they refused to allow me to go to my parents 50th wedding anniversary and it came up in a metered interview with the CMO Ship Crackerjack auditor. The video of that was being watched by CMO personell in real time as evidenced by notes being shoved under the door. I will probably remember her name in a minute.
After they had found out exactly how I planned to do it ( I was going to fry myself on the 380 volt Buss Bars that connect the generators to the main circuit breakers that supply all of the electricity to the ship) no-one even told me not to do it.
I imagine now they wish that they had given me more encouragement to kill myself. They did not need to give me any more encouragement. I did not even need to kill myself as I would have been dead anyway within a year from HIV/AiDS from a blood transfusion I had received 13 years earlier while I was aboard. ( As it was I WAS all but dead by the time I saw a real doctor).As the symptoms of AIDS got more and more severe I would see the ship’s doctor but nothing was done until it came up in session that I was dying. I have always used my real name in posting because I am not worried about retaliation from Scn as they already virtually killed me. Hence, my handle on this blog.
Plus, as I know they read Mike’s blog daily, it must be a real burn for them to see that I am still alive 21 years after the Captain Freewinds ordered my wife (held hostage on the ship for 6 months while they waited for me to die) to END CYCLE on me as I would be dead soon and that “No-one could help me”.
They were making certain of this by sending me to LRH’s chiropractor James M Keppler Names not changed to implicate the Guilty) (who told me when I arrived that he had never treated anyone with AIDS).
Bill Straass, you showed them by living! And by posting truth here! If you had succeeded in frying yourself electrically, they would have called it an accident, (just like Kendric Moxen’s daughter’s suicide was called.)
It’s probably my only shot at immortality, but I’ll take it. Back in about 2002 I adopted the identity Murray Luther (Martin Luther’s long lost cousin several times removed). I’d become irreparably disaffected, but wasn’t ready to go public. Instead, I posted some articles on Kristi Wachter’s site “The Truth About Scientology,” and had many conversations on the old exscn newsgroup. Leaving the cult was a genuine adventure. Nice to know it’s been preserved in cyberspace for the ages.
Chris,
Excellent info.
Makes me think that those who spoke out, also did the same as you did, and many ex’s have a period of their alias’ or avatars also, and just like Hubbard’s pen names and stories going with each pen name, it’d be interesting to see all of the material provided by alias/avatar/pen named ex’s who spoke out too, to lump a person’s history of comments into a bin, for posterity.
The late Paul Adams suggested people set up sites of their collected postings, themselves.
I love reading the old postings, and I still go to ARS sometimes to read people’s postings.
Long list. Nice to see my own name on it (my pen name next to my birth name, Berman ). Actually , the length of the list itself is somewhat shocking, considering how we viewed our “mission” here on Earth during our initial years in Scientology and how and why we eventually decided to abandon that enterprise. Took me 35 years in before I decided to leave. I saw the other day that Mike said he was in for 46 years. I guess Arte Maren may be pushing 60 years in soon, but as a businessman, he’s not gonna give up his customers and his ego’s not gonna give up his admirers , but then again, maybe you just get so old you think, “Oh, what the hell, might as well play out the string , the game’s almost over anyway” …
Re: Former Church of Scientology members who have spoken out
To All Those Still in scientology:
If you have lost touch with friends, co-workers and associates as you moved up the “The Bridge to Total Freedom,” take a look at the list of former members who have spoken out.
There you will find, no doubt, people you haven’t heard from in years. You will most likely find people who went “missing,” without any explanation (including our proprietor, Mike Rinder).
To those on the list who I met as a scientologist who, like me, went on to speak out against scientology: thank you, thank you, thank you.
To anyone thinking about jumping that ship: get your ass in gear!
Should anyone wanting to jump ship need any help: contact the Aftermath Foundation.
https://theaftermathfoundation.org/
I almost jumped off of the pool deck of the Freewinds once. but then I decided to fry myself on the 380 Volt Buss Bars that connect the generators to the main Circuit Breakers in the Engine Control Room. That would have been fun compared to what Did happen. But then they would have just said that it was a tragic accident.
Oops my mistake in reading the names wrong. Sorry. I think there may be a connection between Josh Hopwood and Lydia Hopwood in that she may be his mother.
“To anyone else thinking about jumping that ship: get your ass in gear!”
Well spoken, soldier!
Alcoboy.
United States Army.
1988-1992.
Alcoboy,
Thank you for your service.
I auditioned twice for the Air Force Band, in 1974 and in 1976.
In 1972 or so, while still in high school, I got my Draft Card. With the Vietnam war still on, I contacted the draft board because I didn’t know what “Section F” (as printed on that card) stood for. When I found out (“immediate front line duty”), I freaked out, but only for a short while because the war soon ended.
That’s as close to serving in the military as I got.
Thank you Mike!
Thank you, Trevor, for your work on this important project.
For those interested – there’s also this list of publications:
https://whyweprotest.fandom.com/wiki/Chronology_of_publications_on_Scientology
Ideally, there should be a kiosk in every block within a mile of every scientology organization world-wide. That kiosk would be strictly devoted to this “Chronology of publications on Scientology.” This would allow the public outside of Scientology to make an educated decision whether or not to proceed with a Body Router to an org for the purpose of a “free” movie or an “OCA Personality Test.”
Thank you, Trevor.
TrevAnon,
I now have at least two new links that can update two broken links in the “Chronology of Publications on Scientology.”
How can I submit this data and to whom?
Fred
Thanks!
Feel free to post here below one of my comments, I guess Mike will allow. It’s by far the easiest way. I get a notification when it is approved (or similar) and will take it from there.
An alternative might be to just post in the big list thread over at WhyWeProtest.
https://whyweprotest.net/threads/continuing-the-big-list-of-thousands-of-former-members-who-spoke-out.134181/unread
Now I notice you would need to create an account there. For a long time it was possible to post without having an account, but I guess they disabled that because of too much spam.
A 1962 entry in the “Chronology of Publications on Scientology” has a link to a Google reference regarding the book (“The doctors’ dilemmas, Louis Lasagna, Harper, pages 235-236”).
Here’s a link to the actual book, in its entirety, which can be borrowed at the Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/details/doctorsdilemmas00lasa/page/n329/mode/1up
Thanks for these two!
Should you in the future have any other additions, posting them below one of my posts is the easiest way.
Mike has forwarded my email to you, so that’s another option you could use.
A 1950 entry in the “Chronology of Publications on Scientology” has a link to a document from Lermanet regarding an article in The Nation (“A Cure for All Ills, Milton R. Sapirstein, The Nation, August 5, page 130”).
Here’s a link to the actual magazine that the article appeared in, in its entirety, which can be downloaded for free at the Internet Archive (note that a different title of the same article is on the cover: “The Dianetics Book”):
https://archive.org/details/sim_nation_1950-08-05_171_6/mode/1up
I look forward to getting your email address via Mike Rinder.
I sent it to the address you use to post comments
Re: Your March 31, 2023 comment posted at 7:49 pm (“I sent it to the address you use to post comments”):
Okay, but that email didn’t arrive. Please try again.
OK, re-sent.
A 2007 entry in the “Chronology of Publications on Scientology” (“Comment on the Narconon Purification as used for 9-11 Rescue Workers, Edmund A.C. Crouch and Laura C. Green, Chemosphere, May 23”) has a broken link.
This links to the document in PDF form:
https://narcononreviews.net/documents/formal_reports/FormalReport-2007-05-23-StudyEval-Purif-Detox-Cambridge-environmental-crouch.pdf
Not sure if my answer came through? Feel free to post one of my comments. I’ll take it from there.
You can also post on WWP: https://whyweprotest.net/threads/continuing-the-big-list-of-thousands-of-former-members-who-spoke-out.134181/page-22#post-2801880
Terrific job, Trev. I know you’ve kept at this for years, and it’s much appreciated.