REISDORF FAMILY AFTERMATH – Disconnection
This is the story of the last 4-5 years of the subtle coercion and lengths the church will go to, to enforce disconnection of families and friends. I will say it felt like mental torture and being put in a situation of making a Sophie’s Choice between your children. I will also liken it to the term “gaslighting” which perfectly explains how I felt during this time period. (Gaslighting is a form of mental abuse in which information is twisted or spun, selectively omitted to favor the abuser, or false information is presented with the intent of making victims doubt their own memory, perception, and sanity).
It also shows that the church absolutely lies that disconnection is not enforced. This was reinforced by the lawyer Monique Yingling, a spokesperson for the church who was on the 20/20 episode which just aired on ABC last Friday night – she stated that a person is ONLY declared if they speak out against the church. This is an ABSOLUTE LIE. My story will show you that it is a lie.
If you are coming here for the first time, you may want to read my prior postings on this blog.
The Lois Reisdorf Story: Part 1
Lois Reisdorf – Part 2 LRH on the Apollo
Lois Reisdorf – Part 3 LRH Moves to the US
Lois Reisdorf Part 6 – Rise of David Miscavige
CRAIG
Craig is my youngest son, he is now 26. He is a very affectionate person and was especially to me. As a child he was attached to my skirt. He was part of a very loving family.
Being the youngest of 3 boys, he always had to keep up with his two older brothers, but he was in there with them. He is an artist, he loves music and had that connection to Gary (my husband), he loved the old 60’s and 70’s music and knew all the words. I have videos of him singing with Gary. He is an exceptional surfer, just like his two older brothers, and a great soccer player. He is an exceptional human being. Anyone who knows him knows this. As an example – In January of 2014 our beloved dog Jonty was 14 years old and he was very ill and we made the decision to put him down. Craig was working at his restaurant job and got to our house at 11PM, he laid outside on the cold concrete with Jonty (who was wrapped up) and stayed with him for 3 hours. The next morning we put Jonty down. This is the type of person Craig is. A few months later we got our lovely puppy Misty, and Craig was the one who named him. It is so heartbreaking to experience the change in him and how he now hates us. I am crying just writing this……….the loss is just unimaginable. This is the story of how I tried to save my family.
Craig wrote two beautiful letters to Gary and I in 2012. He was a very affectionate child and it shows through these letters, here are some excerpts. This is in such sharp contrast to the final email we got from him in 2015. How does someone lose their love for their parents so quickly?
DISCONNECTION
In 2010 when my youngest returned from his 6 months in South Africa, he had become a scientologist by living with my sisters (explained in Part 7). One of the things he had to immediately do while still in South Africa was send this letter of disconnection to my sister-in-law Dede Reisdorf due to her having being declared a suppressive person in 1982.
We lived from this time onwards in a state of precariousness. When he returned Craig started going to the local scientology organization but we were still seeing our declared family members (including Dede). Even though we had family gatherings where suppressive person (SP) “evil” family members were present, even though Craig was there he would not communicate with them. It was awkward and weird. I felt as though I was walking on egg shells.
Then things changed in 2012 as described in Part 7 – we got called into the local San Diego org and told to disconnect from the Reisdorf family members or lose our son and my family in South Africa.
It took us about 4 weeks to get up our courage to figure out how we were going to handle this. We had to write disconnection letters to Dede and Gale (Gary’s sisters) but we did not send them, instead we met them privately and told them the situation. We made a pact between Gary & I that we would continue to see them secretly and told them so. Our family relationship between us and them deteriorated due to this. No more Thanksgivings together. No more family Christmas. No more celebration of birthdays together for any of us, which included our kids and their cousins.
Please note: Our oldest son Brett was NOT a scientologist nor was his wife Jessie. Jessie’s parents had been scientologists but were not active and they were in touch with current scientologists and people who were declared – same boat as us, but they were off-the-radar so to speak.
We thought that that would be the end of it. We had our kids in our life and secretly still saw our SP family members.
But oh no, that was not good enough. In Aug 2012 someone in my family forwarded me (by mistake) the following email from my sister who is in the Sea Org at GOLD (near Hemet, CA). It was sent to all my other siblings. There are 6 children total in my family.
> Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2012 17:19:31 -0700
> > Subject: Lois and Gary
> > Dearest Lou,
> > You probably received the signed document form Lois and Gary.
> > I have alerted Dione about this and now need to alert you and Dor.
> > It is still not completely okay as there are still bad connections. Including Brett as he is still connected to the other family members in addition to others!
> > The MAA at Int is working with me on this and it is being addressed as we speak – but the R Factor is that there cannot be any connections until word has been gotten from me or from OSA.
> > You should know that Cathy True from OSA Flag plans to get with you and D to give you all the data and the exact plan and handling. She is the Clearances IC at OSA FLAG. You could try and reach her if she hasn’t gotten a hold of you already. The person working with me is Marion Pouw and Cathy will know about this.
> > Please let me know that you are all tracking on this.
> > Love you, Geray
> > PS. Just so you know, if Lois and Gary fully cooperate, their lives will change forever – so there is an exact handling – I was just briefed on it. And Craig will be used to help get the remainder of the connections handled as he is obviously really trying to push this through and this is pretty obvious by all terminals at my end.
As you can see in this email, it is not “good enough” that we had disconnected from Dede and Gale but our oldest son Brett (not a scientologist) and his wife Jessie also have “connections” and these all need to be “handled.”
An interesting note at the bottom is how Craig is “helping” them. I confronted Craig about this and he denied he knew anything about this. I believe he was unwittingly giving them info and data about us after being told that “this will really help your parents”. This will become even more evident later.
I was then called and told that my son Brett and daughter-in-law Jessie had too many connections on Facebook. I was to tell them to unfriend these people. I did not even know who these people were! It was ridiculous. Jessie refused to do so. How can you tell a non-scientologist that it is not okay to be friends with someone who is deemed an SP? This is where the policy letter I described in Part 7 that exists but is not in any library available to the average scientologist. “Once you have an SP identified, you then get rid of all of their connections” My son Brett actually closed down his Facebook page and only in the last few weeks has he restarted it. Rather than “unfriend” these people it was easier for him to just close it down.
Gary and I were then ordered to report to the Advanced Organization Los Angeles. We were told that the local org in SD was too low for our “handling” and therefore had to go to LA. This is something we were now going to do on a regular basis for the next 2 years. Anyone who knows LA traffic understands what a pain in the ass it is to drive from SD to LA. We hated it for that reason alone, but of course there were many other reasons.
It was the first time we had set foot in a Sea Org church in 30 years. The MAA (police) started interrogating us, separately, as to who and what our connections were. It was a real mind f….k. They call this type of interrogation a “roll back”. I had never experienced this in my entire life in scientology, nor had Gary.
We did not even know what the acronym C.O.B stood for; Gary would ask “What is COB?” (Saying it like you would say corn-on-the cob). It means Chairman of the Board for RTC (Religious Technology Corp) and is how everyone refers to David Miscavige or DM. We of course knew who he was, but did not know this new “title”.
After these interrogations we were then told that we had a choice, either get a comm-ev (committee of evidence, like a trial) or receive sec-checking which we must pay for. Sec-checking is another form of interrogation and more intense. If we opted for the comm-ev, she tells us, we would most probably be declared SP, there was pretty much 100% chance that was going to happen. We freaked out and opted for the sec-checking instead because to be declared a Suppressive Person (S.P.) we would for sure lose Craig and Brandon to SCN’s disconnection policies. We thought we could squeak thru the sec-checks.
Gary and I HAD NEVER bad-mouthed scientology to my scientology family OR anyone who was still in scientology; we had never even gone on the internet to read about the anti-stuff; we had never read an anti-book; we had not spoken out publicly; we had done nothing. In fact, scientology was so far removed from our minds that in the beginning of all of this drama, we did not remember things from 30 years ago. We believed that we could be uninvolved with the church and still keep the peace with all of our family.
We then went to LA and had the dreaded sec-checks and got through them. Maybe about 25 hours each.
It seems as though everything we did took forever to get approval on things. This was another thing I had never experienced in the church prior. Ethics actions were always done fast, but this just took months and months and I got to the point that things must be going up to the highest levels of the church. There were no other explanations. The MAA at AOLA could never tell me either. It was so frustrating.
So now all of my family in South Africa were STILL not allowed to talk to me or any of us, on this end, they did not even talk to our two sons who were now working for the local San Diego church! Even though Gary and I were going regularly to LA and chatting with other Scientologists or staff in the SO. I had one email exchange with one of my sister’s about this, which follows below, because she did not understand it either. I constantly brought this up to the MAA but she never had an answer. This was her last answer to me:
“Dear Lowie,
I am going to lay out one more time all the facts.
- Lou was told when she was routing onto OT 7 by OSA Flag that she should not re-establish communication with you just yet, as OSA checks were still being done.
- She was re-told this at her last refresher by both her MAA and OSA Flag. I should have repeated this in my last email to you which I see is causing much misduplication.
- Geray has been told by her MAA and her OSA terminal that the comm line still has to remain disconnected for all of us. By not saying this in my last email I here too caused a misduplication. Geray is not a 3rd Party.
Continue with your ethics handling and do the sec check as this is very good. You will now have the opportunity to handle this completely. I know this as I have been through this exact same route. I see you forward your information to Dor so I hope you can correct her misconceptions too.
Please just do what is needed and we will be in comm with you soon, but for now please do not respond to my email and let’s leave it at that as I am finding your emails too enturbulating.”
In mid-2014, our son Craig was now going to be put in a position over HCO (Hubbard Communications Office) in the local SD Org. At the time I thought this was very bizarre as he was “new” to Scn and one does not just get a job this high in an Org so quickly. In order for him to be on this post, he needed to go to LA for training and sec-checking for about a month. The local Org could not pay for his accommodation, so we paid for it with the promise from the Org that they would pay me back – never happened!
This was Craig’s first sec-check and he just spilled his guts on things we had told him through his life as a little boy, and who we were really connected with – not sure who but we think he told them he thought that maybe we were still in communication with Gale & Dede and possibly others. Oh boy, so now this was all coming out and Craig ended up not being qualified for the job. But I thought at the time, I wonder if that was done on purpose – to get him sec checked, to find out what was “really” going on with us??
I believe he had to write up knowledge reports on us and then it happened: we were now being comm-eved. Even though we were told this would not happen. This is like being prosecuted except you are not represented and pretty much have no say. We were charged with heinous high crimes in the world of scientology.
This also took forever… like a year to get this done!
In the middle of this comm-ev, in August of 2014, our niece was getting married. This is a daughter of Gale, Gary’s sister. She is a non-scientologist. We decided we were going despite everything. Our son Brandon who was on staff at the org also decided to go! We kept it a secret from Craig to avoid putting him in a difficult situation. But lo and behold, someone in the wedding posted a photo on Facebook with Brandon in it and the cat was out of the bag. I was pretty sure the comm-ev would declare us SP’s. At the wedding were not only Dede and Gale and the entire Reisdorf family but also Janis & Paul Grady and Terri and Fernando Gamboa (declared SP’s). Boy, now we were in real trouble.
When we had our last meeting with the comm-ev, we were told that Ron and Lisa Boyd (Jessie’s parents) had been declared SP’s – these are our daughter-in-law’s parents! They were declared because they had refused to disconnect from some of their friends who were declared and also because Lisa had sent a PERSONAL letter to a few of her friends, back in 1986, that she was no longer going to do any Scn. This letter was obviously found in her old ethics file. At this point I honestly thought and felt that there was a concerted effort to actually intentionally destroy my family. Now Brett & Jessie were connected to her parents who were declared SP. BTW – The Boyd’s were NEVER contacted by the church, not one attempt, they were just declared like that.
I begged the com-ev committee members’ not to declare us. And surprisingly they did not.
One of the recommendations was more sec-checking!! Ugghhhhh…. We had just spent months doing this and now more. We paid for more. I know, I know. Ridiculous and we should have just walked away, we wanted to, believe me. BUT, our sons were at stake. I wanted to show my sons and my family that we were doing EVERYTHING we could to keep the family together and to not lose them.
My family was still not talking to me through all of this.
Craig had found a lady at the local church in San Diego and they fell in love. They got engaged and she ALSO had parents who were in scientology. It was just getting more and more complicated. Because Craig had donated so much money to scientology on his credit cards, mainly for books/tapes/courses AND donations for the building in San Diego he had trouble putting down a deposit for a rental apartment etc. We helped him with the deposit twice. He then had problems paying for food – I put him on one of my smaller credit cards which I never used and he used it for food and gas, he would make the monthly payments. He worked at the local Org and worked in a high-end restaurant to make ends meet. His fiancé did not seem to have any steady job and he was getting himself into more and more debt and financial strain.
Gary and I then started going back to LA for more sec-checking. It was brutal. The stupid e-meter would read on things that were crazy and it got to the point that I was getting more and more upset in session, then the auditor would have to handle my upset on the fact that things are reading when they shouldn’t and I was getting more and more worried I would lose my sons, so that had to be handled. I started making things up. I had never done that in all my years of previous auditing. When I went to the examiner after a session, I would force myself to have a floating needle by thinking of nice things in my life or some odd thing. Meanwhile, we would have to pay for more hours, as hours were wasted handling my “upsets” – it was like a never ending problem. I then began worrying about the amount of money I was paying. At one point we finished the session, all was good, had an F/N (floating needle on the e-meter) at the examiner and we were ready to go back to San Diego late one night, and then NO, the C/S determined that something had read on the list of questions and I was told that NO WAY CAN I LEAVE Oh god, I thought I was in hell. It meant they had to take me in again, and I had to pay more. I thought I was going mad. I actually had to stay overnight in LA. Because I was by myself this time, Gary wanted me in a more safe place, (as the part of LA that the complex is in is kind of a dodgy area) so the org organized for me to go to the Manor Hotel which they run, but they were supposedly fully booked and ONLY had the big suite available – boy did that cost me a lot of money just in itself.
We also did not know that the church actually video records all auditing sessions, including sec-checks.
The biggest thing the MAA and the comm-ev pushed on me was the fact that I was “reasonable” – In the 30 years I had stayed away from the church, I did NOT report things to the church that were not okay – i.e. someone gossiping about something that was going on in Scn whether in SA or San Diego. I constantly had to reread policies about “reasonableness” and how suppressive that was. I was told I should have written up knowledge reports and the fact that I didn’t made me just as culpable as the person who said or did it, whatever it was. I had NEVER written a Knowledge Report in my life while in the SO. Not once! I had never endured such BS in that time. Keeping Scientology Working (KSW) was another policy letter pushed down my throat. But again, maybe I had read KSW once while I was in the Sea Org. I just could not believe what the church had become. I was becoming more and more agitated and pissed off.
By March 2015, Gary and I had done ALL the steps on the comm-ev recommendations. A stupid amends project at the local San Diego church where we worked on their Central Files for 100 hours. We now put our whole package together for approval by whoever the person was that gave final approval to proclaim we had completed all the steps required by the comm-ev and could be cleared to live a normal life again. We waited and waited for MONTHS, no word….
By this time Craig and his fiancé had moved to Burbank, near LA and no longer lived in San Diego. Once again we helped them with their deposit and he was still using and paying our credit card we let him use, but he still had huge credit card debt. He started working for a scientology company David Morse and Associates (a claims adjuster company). This worried me even worse – now he was working for ex-GO (Guardian Office) people – Duke Snider and Henning Heldt who were part of the Snow White group who went to jail for the FBI raid in 1977. I knew of them very well. I actually could not believe they were still in scientology. But yes they were, very much so.
In early 2015 Craig went to the MAA at AOLA and wanted to read the findings and recommendations of our committee of evidence. He obviously was not happy with what was found and wrote up 4-5 pages of knowledge report on Gary and me. The MAA called us and told us about this. I asked her to send me the KR’s; she had Craig send them to us. I reminded her there is a policy letter that exists that the accused should be provided with a copy. At this point we did not even know Craig was the one who wrote us up. But I received the KR’s and was horrified. He gave accounts of how I told him AS A LITTLE BOY – stories of LRH – how he had a heart attack – true; Quentin committed suicide….true etc. etc Gary and I wrote up “rebuttals” to his KR’s as he did get things wrong in them, obviously he did not remember things correctly told to him as a child.
The last time I saw Craig was on my birthday in April 2015. He did not stay long. I kept emailing him and left voicemails afterwards as I knew something was up, proposing that Gary and I would like to meet him in a neutral place in Orange County so we can talk and clear things up. I used scientology terms and LRH quotes to tell him we need to sort this out — that communication will handle everything… It was heartbreaking. He then after quite a while sent us the following email:
Hi Mom and Dad,
You’ve asked me a few times why I haven’t been in communication with you. To be honest, it is because I am not in agreement with how you have treated me or my Fiancée.
I have my goals and ambitions which I have made clear to both of you, which you have been discouraging of. There are also some viewpoints you have expressed about my group that I don’t agree with; I have asked you to resolve these, but you have not. I have my goals that I am pursuing and I don’t see that our intentions are aligned right now.
I hope you continue to work with the terminals you are working with, so you can fully resolve things for yourself.
Love,
Craig
All we have ever done is support Craig and we even went over the top to do that.
Shortly thereafter Brett (my non-scientology son), made a trip up to Glendale where Craig and his fiancé were living. He showed up unannounced in the hopes to change Craig’s mind – here is his story about that:
“I drove up to LA early one morning. The idea was to surprise Craig with some coffee and donuts really early on a Sunday morning knowing he and his girlfriend would be sleeping in. I prepared myself with a few focused breaths in my car and headed for his door having no idea how he or his girlfriend would react. Finally, Craig came to the door and let me in and almost immediately, his girlfriend left with some excuse. No doubt she bailed to save her own ass from having to tell her ethics officer she spoke to a Potential Trouble Source. I could care less and was elated to be in the presence of my dear brother Craig. Once we made eye contact and connected it was like nothing had ever happened between us. I really enjoyed the next two hours with Craig. We caught up on each other’s surfing stories mostly and all the news from the surf world. Anyway, my point here is that we are two brothers who obviously love each other more than anything in the world and here he is about to disconnect from me and my family with not even a blink of an eye. This more than anything shows how powerful of a force mind-control is. I mean, we grew up in South Africa as wild boys in an equally wild terrain where once we even chased a troop of Vervet monkeys who stole some food and around the corner they went running away from us… where my brother Brandon and I stopped, and Craig kept chasing the monkeys around the corner by himself. Not before long the monkeys realized that the littlest human was all that was left chasing them so they turned a fast 180 and came back for Craig. Well that was something… seeing this terrified little freckle faced boy about to be murdered by a troop of monkeys! He survived and somehow all 3 of us survived our upbringing in SA which is something that made us who we were when we all arrived in California with nothing but our brothers to back us up.
The final 45 min. of this visit at his home was spent talking about Scientology. I purposefully came across as a more naive person to the inner workings of Scientology than what I actually was (by then I had read Going Clear, Combatting Cult Mind Control and Beyond Belief) I kept saying how confused I was with how my wife’s family is a connection to him when neither I nor Jessie were ever even a Scientologist. It made no sense to be throwing away a wonderful relationship over something so easily fixed. I would say to him that there must be an error with how they are coming up with this and if he talked to the right person I’m sure they’ll see that this isn’t really a connection issue in the first place. Of course I knew how the church are and I could tell that his ignorance was literally making him deaf to any truth I would have to say.
He even told me that I can’t believe everything I read on the internet but I countered with why would people waste their time lying about a church continuously year after year, person after person? I finally understood that no matter what I said he would nod and smile but his mind was made up. Funny enough he even claimed of a Mike Rinder (but was then confused on which SP exactly and changed his answer to a Marty Rathbun) who was known to have been coercing with Nazis? This was all incredibly sad to hear including the inflated numbers of Scientologists in the world he believed in and the growth of the fastest growing religion in the world. He was on a mission to free himself of life’s sufferings and to him there was only one path that led to that salvation and it was Scientology. I closed the visitation with comparing my life so far to his. We talked about marriage, about our education and about our business goals. This gave me an opportunity to show off some of my more exciting design projects with other portfolio material allowing him to see what living an honest, creative life in the real world could be. He walked me to my car and we looked at each other’s surfboards for a few minutes and had a final goodbye hug. He even felt the need to clear up an upset we had from years prior to perhaps allow for there to be no regrets with his decision to disconnect. I drove away hoping that one day even if it’s in a decade from now, that some of the seeds I planted that day would start to grow and allow for his true self to see the corrupt belief he’s involved with.”
The final meeting we had with the MAA was in about August of 2015. I asked her what she thought of the KR’s and our rebuttals, her response was disgust that it was all just enturbulating (upsetting) and BAD PR. I also brought up the subject of Craig disconnecting from us, her reply was simply, he has the right to make that determination. She knew Brett had visited Craig and thought the whole thing was disgusting, that we need to “handle” Brett.
I then had a planned trip to South Africa for 2 weeks to see my non-scientology biological father who was about to turn 80. I wanted to also see my brother who had somewhat stayed in communication with me through WhatsApp (he is not on staff at any org or my sister’s mission). He was going through a divorce and an ongoing battle for custody of his small kids. As the oldest child in the family I wanted to see him and help him in this difficult time. I asked permission to do this. By the time I got to SA I still had not heard from the MAA and planned to see my bro at the end of the trip, I waited and waited. I then received this email from the MAA.
Lois,
You do not have okay to see your brother, Scott. I want to ensure you know this. You need to complete your handlings that you and Gary are mid before this is to occur.
ML,
L
But as I waited at the airport in Johannesburg, I sent my brother a WhatsApp anyway and said, I am here at the airport about to go home, I have hours to wait. I will be at a certain coffee shop, please come by (he lives close to the airport)… He never came.
We had one last phone conversation with the MAA shortly after I got home. Someone had not approved our comm-ev recommendation completion package (which had been sent 8 months prior) because “Step 1 was incomplete.”
I asked her what she meant? We had disconnected from the declared SP’s in our life. NO, she responded, your oldest son Brett and daughter-in-law Jessie are still connected to SP’s and they need to be “handled”. Now what were we supposed to do? Tell these non-scientologists that they had to disconnect from Jessie’s parents; disconnect from the Reisdorf side of the family; that they had to disconnect from Jessie’s god father who was declared? It went on and on. I kept bringing up “How can we do this, it is BAD PR for the church?” She then said in a very condescending voice “If you knew your neighbor was looking at child pornography on his computer what would you do?” Of course we said we would turn him into the police and have nothing to ever do with the person again. She was trying to tell us that the crime of a person being connected to a suppressive persons is as bad as being involved in child pornography. That was when I knew it was really over for us. I as a parent, was NOT going to disconnect from one of my children.
The whole charade of the last few years really came down to the fact that Brett & Jessie were connected to too many SP’s and that THEY had to disconnect or else we would be declared.
We now had no connection to my scientology family in SA; we had “somewhat” of a relationship with the Reisdorf family, but believe me, the non-scientologists in that family were getting pissed off and rightly so. And now we were being told we also had to sever any relationship with the Boyd’s. Our family was dwindling to nothing.
The last nail in our coffin, at the end of 2015 was when we went to a dinner at Jessie’s parents (the Boyd’s) who had invited Ronnie Miscavige Jr., Bitty and their daughter Jenna Miscavige & her husband Dallas (they knew Ronnie back in the early 70’s). We had never met Jenna and had just recently finished reading her book – yes by this time we had started going on the internet and reading books. We had had enough and knew that we were going to be declared. The Boyd’s live in a quiet neighborhood in a cul-de-sac. We got there, parked and as we got out of the car, two large vehicles did a fast circle in the cul-de-sac. We knew they were PI’s, obviously following Ron Jr and Jenna. They then knew we were seeing all of these SP’s.
SCRAMBLE TO SAVE BRANDON
We knew that out of our 2 sons that were now in scientology, Brandon was the one we could get out.
He kept telling us that there was no way he would disconnect from us. But he was still working at the local org, living at home, working on a new business he was trying to get started and he was on the “Survival Rundown.” This involved hours and hours of objective auditing which one does with a twin (partner) as opposed to an auditor. It does not involve the e-meter. This was “new” (re-released) “technology” and right from the beginning I knew this was bogus, altered tech. EVERY scientologist, even if they were at the top of the bridge, had to redo this. Prior to this, objective auditing was maybe a maximum of 50 hours for each side – giving and receiving, but Brandon was on this for going on 2 years, every single day. He figures it was about 1000 hours in total. Sometimes he would tell me about the processes and boy did it sound fishy to me. I was already thinking that the whole book redo’s and the new “Golden Age of Tech II” was also a bunch of BS. I was completely in doubt about everything.
We had tried to be very good from a scientology point-of-view and not tell Brandon about all the bs we went through in our efforts to keep the family together. He obviously knew we were being sec checked and had had a comm-ev etc. But he always felt that we could go higher, to RTC (Religious Technology Center) and it would all be corrected. He knew it was wrong what was being done to us and every time he asked someone in the org, he was told to write it up to RTC. But I knew it was fruitless.
He found a non-scientology girlfriend, who was great and we knew this would also help get him out. He was moving further and further away from scientology.
On January 5th 2016 we received an email from the Continental Justice Chief that we had been declared suppressive persons.
Brandon got called into the local San Diego org and was basically told that he had to disconnect from us and that the family in South Africa and Craig were ready to help him and be there for him and will be his family. He told them to F….. Off and walked out of the org.
To put it lightly, I was relieved to have him. The thought of losing two of my sons was too much for me to take.
However, he was in quite a state himself. He still believed in the tech and unbeknownst to us, he had been pressured to give money to build an “LRH Hall” in Clearwater, Fl. He had no money and his credit cards were maxed out. A scheme was worked out whereby two rich scientologists would donate $60,000 in his name, but then he would have to make the payments back to them. He was now being pressured by these 2 people to pay them the money back, and he was becoming frantic. We had no clue.
All of his scientology friends unfriended him from Facebook, he lost 50 friends overnight.
Most important of all, he had lost his brother, Craig.
By April, he was in a spin – the debt and pressure to pay; his business falling apart; he just lost his religion and his brother.
On top of this we were now freely talking about our anti-scientology stance to him and I was about to appear on the ABC 20/20 show which aired on April 29th – Ruthless.
He had a mental breakdown and he left the house at midnight (we did not know, we were sleeping) and returned around 430am.
He needed psychiatric help and has since received this and is now doing great. He still sees his Dr. and is now off any meds.
That was seriously the worst day of my life. I was in a literal panic. As many people who know me, I am usually a calm and collected person, but this was just the worst situation we had experienced in my life. Even though I was now firmly anti scientology and especially against the current organization, I was still against psychiatry and I suppose that was the last thing about scientology I lost. As a scientologist or anyone associated with scientology, going to a mental hospital is the absolutely worst thing ever. It was so ingrained in me from birth.
The church has cameras and security guards around their properties, so they immediately had the license plate # (registered to me) and had him on camera throwing a hammer through the window of the LA Org. They acted swiftly. The church knew I was going to be on 20/20 so this was just the perfect thing landed in their lap. Lois Reisdorf’ s son just threw a hammer through our window. Boy I am sure they were cheering.
ABC 20/20 were very good to us as the church called them immediately. ABC were worried about us, but I decided to go through with my appearance despite what had just happened with Brandon.
We followed through with the psychiatric handling of Brandon. But on the day he was to be released from the hospital, he walked out and was immediately arrested by the LAPD. They drove him to LA in handcuffs. We were once again devastated. He spent 3 nights in the LA jail which was horrific for him, and was WAY worse than the psych hospital. We got him out on bail.
Now he was being prosecuted in LA and the detectives who came to see Gary & I as part of their investigation, told us point blank that the church were going for blood on Brandon. The church pressured the prosecutor to go for the full extent of the law, including calling it a hate crime.
We spent most of 2016 trying to deal with Brandon’s prosecution – paying to get him out on bail which was set at $50,000; he had no job; paying for lawyers; paying for his fines. Going back up to LA for his various court hearings……on and on it went. It has been a nightmare. Kendrick Moxon was the lawyer from the church side and it was hard to sit across from him waiting to go into the courtroom.
At one hearing, the church showed up with 7 witnesses, the judge had a fit and the next time there were only 2. Another hearing the church tried to say that Brandon had gone to the Orange County Church (after this incident) and then asked for a Temporary Restraining Order against Brandon, but it was a blatant lie, he never went close to another church. He does have TROs on him to this day.
Gary and I have never allowed violence and all 3 of our sons have been good guys and not done anything like this, but Brandon was not mentally stable. He did it in the middle of the night, there was no-one around when he did it.
Of course the church put out a nasty website on me and Brandon. The website makes it out as though I have produced a violent child. It is a horrible nasty site.
He was finally charged with a felony vandalism charge which the judge (who had so much sympathy for him) wants him to work down to a misdemeanor within 18 months. He currently is having the probation and community service transferred down to San Diego, this takes time and will be done by February 2017. So by Feb he will no longer have to report to probation in LA, but in SD and then he can do his 100 hours of community service in SD.
He is working on a new business now, he has learned his lesson and is in a much better place mentally and is in fact better than he has been for a number years.
He has had his family at his side throughout this, we are helping him get on his feet and the good thing is he is firmly out of the church and completely out of the mindset of scientology.
CLOSING
As a family we are doing much better after the trauma of the last 5 years. Even though we are under financial stress, we are all even closer than we were before. We are close to our Reisdorf & Boyd families and all the families and people we know who now know our full story and have been so supportive. We have great friends and family and we are eternally grateful to them.
Gary and I have a lot of regrets; we should have instilled in our kids way earlier that we were not and did not want to be involved in scientology. It should have been made clear from the beginning. We should have sought out help for our son Brandon way sooner. But I cannot undo the past and all I can do is rejoice in the fact that I have the most amazing family, friends and my life.
I am very sad for my son Craig, who now has NO family in the US. He is on his own with his fiancé. BUT, he knows our door is always open and we hope to see him in the near future. We love him dearly.
We have a lot to look forward to. Our son Brett and his wife Jessie are in the process of adopting a very special grandson and the possibility of the child’s sibling who is newborn. We have that to look forward to.
Brett has started a Facebook page called “Surfing Against Scientology” and we are now setting up a lovely website to our missing son called www.CraigReisdorfWithLove.com – we will post letters to him with love and post some of his great artwork and photos of him surfing. My wish is that one day he will read our letters to him on this website.
Also, we are now able to have a great relationship with Gary’s family and Jessie’s family (Boyd’s) and celebrate Christmas and birthdays together again.
Special thanks go to Mike Rinder who has been stalwart in his support of us and a great friend and of course allowing me to tell my stories, then and of course to the great Leah Remini who is such a lovely person and has such big balls, we love her for what she is doing, she is a force to be reckoned with. Thanks to A&E for doing the series, I hope they get an Emmy for their hard work and continue on with the series. Thanks Alex Weresow, you did a great job on this series (Producer of the series).
Cheers to a drama-free 2017 for us!
Gato Rojo states: “There are some ex’s whose stories could take an entire season in themselves! Yours and Gary’s is clearly one of them.” I wholeheartedly agree, Lois and Gary. This is mammoth, so many levels and layers and important individuals, including and especially the two of you. Thank you for taking the time and employing the heart and courage to share.
I realize, in this blog, we exchange instances of hypocrisy and “cognitive dissonance.” When I saw the Reisdorf’s story in Leah and Mike’s “Aftermath” program, I immediately spotted the ENORMOUS hypocrisy of the org going after Brandon. Standard Tech for the recipient of such a “motivator” would be to have all staff immediately write up their O/Ws on Brandon, then apply correct Conditions to fully address and remedy any “Why” for the staff and the org “pulling this in.”
If a parishioner showed up to the org and announced, “Man, I was so upset when I arrived to my business this morning as someone had thrown a brick through my window,” that person would be routed to Ethics to uncover what they did to provoke the “motivator.”
The convenience of cherry-picking which bit of handling will be used for what is part of the #madness. I am super sad for the steady self-injury and self-sinking of this ship!
Lois and Gary, I add to what so many are telling you: I believe you will have Craig back in your lives, if you do not already as this is now 2020. Throughout this year, I suspect the unusual conditions of the pandemic have inspired many a frustrated, beleaguered “fence sitter” to dis-enroll, not return. Also, the “shelter-at-home” orders lead people more into easily accessed television and internet programs.
Because orgs had to close for several months, it seems like that movie “The Matrix.” How could this not create an effect in 2020: a lot more souls (with orgs closed) un-plugged from the matrix prompts an adjustment of their eyesight and understanding.
I remain #positive. I believe an LRH statement: “Truth, though fought, in the end prevails.”
In the computer world, they call these embedded nuggets “Easter eggs.” It is as if LRH left a bunch of these “clues” strewn throughout his works. Here is one that gripped me, then I kept in my wallet as a talisman to defend myself while in the orgs:
“Religion is always different than truth. It has to be because the only way you can control a people is to lie to them.” LRH lecture Overt Acts, Motivators and DEDs recorded 25 June 1952
Quite a story, Lowie. You’re a treasure.
After I read this story and what they have done to Brandon, I think the Church of Scientology should be shut down. This is too much. Thanks Lois. My heart for you and your family
Scientology has become a big second dynamic. To keep with the “reality level” all those people coming from everywhere married togather made kids who goes to the sea org… It became a race, and if you are not for “COB” (pronounce with sweetness like you eat a candy) this marvellous little man with his delicious doll blue eyes (rarely I hate someone but him, yes !) then you are not only dimissed from your eternity but also from your entire race.
I tell you a secret : I am racist with scientologist. Not like those who hate Hubbard and the tech, no, first I hate the sea org, always did, even when I was on my OT Level at Flag. Their uniform scared me. I was a good auditor by I hated sea org member, marines style… “standing tall”…I couldn’t stand this awful culture.
Slow minded idiots remembering me communists. Of course anti-scientologists stinks as well.
It’s unbelievable that they are so well organised and careful to make disconnection thorough. Before they would drill how to audit Dianetics, now they are trained to make people disconnect. It’s golden age of disconnection. The only thing I can compare with is the very organised persecution of Jews by the nazis.
How scientology can have give birth to such a thing is beyond my understanding.
Miscavige wants to make sure that none will be around to find him out.
Lois, I would bet that “COB” himself has micro managed your eradiction. You knew him when he was nothing and If I understand your south african family were top managment before he took over. You’ve been near Hubbard, you may remember Hubbard with his flaws and his qualities.
For him Hubbard is a mark, a perfect mark. (And he is spoiling the mark big time. Just for that he should be arrested and jailed.)
FG said:
“How scientology can have give birth to such a thing is beyond my understanding.”
My next essay will seek to fill in that understanding gap.
FG opined, “How scientology can have give birth to such a thing is beyond my understanding.”
It is because L. Con ordered that to happen in his policies and tech. I would suggest a study of his written orders if you want to understand something so basic and simple about Scientology.
It is love that will win this story.
The negative tactics used on you and your family were to divert attention and confuse.
In this way it is easier to control.
You and Craig and friends have come through and are now standing so very strong, using love as your strongest tool. Love gives the greatest strength.
Love for all is unbeatable and is the one weapon that is unconquerable.
Love will win in the end.
Stand strong friends. Holding each others hands with this simplicity of courage and love is our greatest power.
To think we all started out with the very best of intentions to help others. Many having the vision, dream and determination for No War, No Crime, Better World, etc..
A travesty that there is no proper word to describe. Horrifying comes close, but yet, is still not enough.
Keep kicking Ass, Lois, Mike, Leah, and others. I appreciate every video, story, word, sentence, letter and pixel.
We will get through, somehow, to our families; it will be because of you courageous people, and others like you.
My heart aches for your agony and losses. I’m praying for healing and restoration of broken relationships. Blessings on you and yours.
Gary, Brett, Brandon, Jessie and I wanted to thank all of you, far and wide, who have sent such amazing support and love to me and my family. We have been inundated with support that I cannot thank you all individually. It has been overwhelming. It really does go to show that there are such caring, loving people out there. I can assure you that we doing fine and are weathering the storm. Brandon is the hero in all of this for his bravery and courage and we are so proud of him.
We will work further on our website for Craig and get more photos up on the website we created and of course letters to him. I am more confident that we will get him back. It was a very hard decision for me to “put this all out there”, but after reading so many other people’s stories of disconnection of their kids or parents, for years or even decades while keeping their mouths shut for all that time, nothing changed…..the family member never came back (only in a few instances did they), that I seriously have nothing to lose.
We will continue to support those who are fighting for their family. Thank you so much. FIGHT FOR YOUR FAMILY!
Thank you Lois for sharing your story with us. By doing so, you are, and have helped many more people than you know. I too believe that you will get Craig back. Keep up the fight.
I have to say that after being exposed to Scientology’s ugly side for literally decades, I am still absolutely floored to see from this story that not only is the organization enforcing members’ disconnection and lying about it, but that they are also now even forcing outsiders (“wogs”) to disconnect! That is something indefensible which ought to be documented and exposed thoroughly.
Lois and Gary: I am so sorry that you went through all of this. Craig’s earlier letter was so sweet. I believe that person still exists, just in an inhibited state. I hope he makes his way back the you soon. Thank you for taking the time and energy to write this all out and expose the church’s actions. The CoS has enjoyed secrecy and silence for too long. No more, those days are gone for them.
Idea/Suggestion in addition to #Scientology The Aftermath I’d like to see an hour long series set up like true crime episodes titled something like “Life & Death In Scientology”. Each episode centers on one person or family anywhere in the world & their experiences while in & trying to leave Scientology who died mysteriously by suicide or murder.
Begin the story around the person/family entering from day one show them “before” & “after” then conclude with their tragic death. Yes it’s dark. Yes it’s true. Yes it will open more eyes & serve as an additional tool to help wogs understand the whys of how people got in it & the parishioners/captives to see how others got out. Viewers would need a large supply of tissues on hand & maybe nerf balls to throw at the TV when actors portraying DM/TC/JT etal come on screen to deliver their evil spiels. A real ball might break the TV. I am not kidding there are a lot of dramatic stories that can be re-enacted which will continue to raise awareness as well as Leah & Mike’s fabulous Scientology The Aftermath. The more we get the word out the faster we will see results. Remember Bio Channel’s show “I Survived” ?? Yeah like that one. The cello music was awesome. Thank you for letting me suggest that here.
God Bless & prayers for all in it & all who have escaped.
Someone needs to pitch this to A&E.
Lowie, I commented on your last contribution, saying * don*t get angry*. I’m so sorry. Get angry, get throughly pissed and stay that way! Sometimes anger is a great driving force. To you and your family, somehow, some way you have become part of and loved by an even bigger family than scientology claims. Those of us who know a desperate love for our children, our mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers. Right now we’re separated physically only. I know you have continued faith that your youngest son will be returned to you, so say we all.
Just reading what you-all have gone through for a “church” is unimaginable. I can’t understand how a “church” can get away from such agregious doctrine and behavior. Freedom of religion should not extend to pure evil.
I meant to say get away with such agregious doctrine. ..
Lois, love and prayers. Thank you, Brandon, Leah, Mikeep and all. Praying for Craig and your family in SA.
It’s terrible that Brandon has a felony. I hope he gets it cleared up. If not, I know that many business owners wouldn’t hold it against him if they knew the whole story. I really do hope he can get it expunged though. Even if it shows up after that, it would carry much, much less weight.
Wow – I can’t imagine being involved in a church where I would get in trouble for going to a relative’s wedding. It’s mind boggling that this happened. I’m not judging them, because I kind of get that it might seem normal to someone who’s been involved in it their whole life. I’m also not in a position of losing my child either, so I don’t know what I would and would not agree to. Scientology needs to go away. They need to stop ruining people’s families. I think so-called normal churches are weird, but this is scary.
Lois – all I can say is, insanity at its best. And one more thing, you were not paranoid, they were coming after you and Gary for specific reason. You all know the truth of the early days and worked directly with LRH and have basic hard core data. This a threat to all the BS of so called ethics and “new tech”.
Reading that loving letter from your son to you and husband, I truly believe that it’s only a matter of time that he will be hugging you soon. Mark my words and send me a note when it happens.
Dear Lois,
I have watched every episode of Aftermath. As a Catholic I had the absolute opposite reaction when we had our scandals! I wanted to know more! I wanted those responsible for molesting and abusing children punished! We couldn’t believe the pains the church went to to cover it up. But by the same token we understand why it was so easy. Priests were looked upon as demigods. If they paid you attention or if you were lucky enough to have them over for dinner it was prestigious. No one would take the words of a child against a priest. And if it was reported to the church instead of the police as it should have been, they priest was just moved, not punished.
I am so very sorry for the loss of your son. Hopefully it is not a total and complete loss. With all of his immediately family out and with you giving him a soft place to land perhaps he will be able to shrug off the pressure and swallow some false pride and come back to you all! Leah and Mike have done remarkable work and I know if they can help you reunite they will!
My best to you all!
Sincerely,
Dawn
Lois and Gary, thank you so much for sharing this absolutely compelling story. I am from Denmark, about the same age as you, and now live in OC. At some point we might have gone together in the very raggedy elevator of AOSH EU in Jernbanegade, Lois, who knows? I have two sisters in the SO. In 2007 my one sister pressed me hard to find out why I was so “disaffected”. Finally I told about DMs abuses, the hole, the musical chairs etc. So she started to write reports that this bad PR had to be stopped etc. which got her into the RPF. I found out from my brother that she’d been there for a year and a half (she’d been there before, she absolutely hates it). She’d requested a Board of Review from day one (this as covered by Scientology policy has to be granted similar to an arrestee having a limited amount of time to appear before a judge or must be set free). Funny how some policies are adhered too 110% while others totally ignored! I had at that point posted anonymously on websites for several years, deliberately altering things so it would not be evident who I was. I now went on to post that my sister (in her late 50s) was being rewarded for her 40 years of loyal, unselfish service to her church by being sent to a labor camp where she had to run everywhere she was going etc. with small hope of ever getting out. I posted that did they not grant her the Board of Review she’d asked for I would alert the Danish police to come and check on her well-being and I would have my brother and ex-husband distribute fliers describing her plight all over Copenhagen. Shortly after she was out of the RPF and shortly after a Scientologist friend alerted me and my husband that he’d been asked to disconnect from us since we’d been declared. That’s how we found out.
Before I revealed myself this way I’d considered the consequences. I would probably loose connection with my two sisters. At some point it came to me; I had already lost them. Even though I’d talk to them all I was getting was the g–d—— happy talk about the f—— greatest blah-blah-blah. No interest in my life, my kids’ lives except “what’s your next step” etc. The only way I would ever be connected to them again would be if they came out of the mind-fog they were in, and allowed themselves to think again and be themselves again. I am the mother of 4. My oldest was on staff for a year and a half (terrible experience) and my husband and I made sure we warned our kids the best we could. I get how hard it must be for you with Craig doing what he’s doing. I talked to my husband today about how lucky we were not being in your situation. My life motto is: “Everything will be right in the end. If it’s not right, it’s not the end”. Being disconnected from our loved ones is a very temporary thing and when we get them back we’ll get them back without the stupid, arrogant, mean, condescending valences they’ve agreed to put themselves in.
Board of Reviews are bullshit Bodil, I tried that route
Board of Reviews, Comm-Evs, Board of Investigations, everything in Scientology in terms of ethics and justice bullshit! Talk about kangaroo courts! I just wanted my sister out of the RPF. I know the thinking and the culture. They’ll then smooth-talk her, blaming it all on me. My other siblings are being love-bombed as well into blaming everything on me. I got what I wanted. My sister is out of the RPF and I’ll gladly be hated by people who are not allowed to think for themselves.
Had Miscavige already decided prior to subjecting Lois and Gary to a Comm Ev that he was going to disconnect them? I believe so. It was pure revenge and extortion, and nothing else.
My thoughts exactly. Bleed them dry then kick them to the curb. Typical con man style.
Heartbreaking! I am so sorry you had to go through this. It’s not okay! It is very criminal organization.
Hopefully now with Leah and Mike things will start to turn in the right direction and this fake church with the disconnection policy will collapse down.
What shines through in this last chapter of Lois’s life story is the love she has for her family, and particularly her sons. Never give up, Lois and Gary.
I am so happy to hear how well Brandon is doing, too. What courageous young men you raised.
Thank you Lois for sharing your personal family story. I am so sorry for the pain and devastation you have gone through.
The website for Craig is beautiful, true testament of your unconditional love for him.
I believe your strength and unwavering love will guide him back to your family.
I am hopeful 2017 will begin the demise for the evil actions DM has unjustly brought to each innocent family!
One of the more abhorrent tactics of the Cult (and there are many) is using the child to snitch and rat on his parents in a confessional. My son Alexander Jentzsch endured MONTHS of this, while they pretended the confessional (police polygraphing) was for HIS benefit while trying to determine my disaffection and my allegiances.
It went On and On and ON.
One day he threw the cans down more or less and said he was DONE.
He was allowed to attest and made to write a *SUCCESS STORY” for his OSA intelligence sec check (Confessional) sessions.
Living through this as a burn victim, dissociation is the worst burial, they could not cement me in. I will not be erased. I do exist and will fight for my rights and my children are my purpose on earth. I am the best mother and not just a piece of ass. Thanks again for this blog and being able to identify with others going through this.
Terrible story Lois,
Clearly you are a wonderful and loving person. Neither you nor your family deserves any of this. Thank you for speaking out and further exposing the Church of Scientology for what it really is, a greedy, manipulative and unscrupulous cult!
Okay, I’ve watched all installments of Aftermath, seen many related interviews on YouTube and read several of Mike’s articles here and just finished Ms. Reisdorf’s lengthy narrative. Fortunately, unlike many of you, neither I nor any member of my family or friends have ever been infected by the teachings of Scientology. However, I have lived long enough (in my 70s) and read widely enough to be appalled by what has passed for an excepted system of belief to take up the cause prompted by Mike and Leah. So . . .
WHAT CAN BE DONE? I suggest the following: Long term of course would be the revocation of the tax exempt status of the “church.” But short term I would offer just two words: Probable Cause. Now, I’m not a lawyer nor have I any experience in law enforcement, but it seems to this lay person that there is enough interviews on record from the many families Leah has filmed, and enough documented instances such as that of Brandon Reisdorf and Serge Gil to get affidavits from them as well as their psychiatrists to take to a judge and obtain a search warrant to enter the Hemet compound and seize all files and computers that hold evidence of child or adult abuse. I’m not advocating a siege such as what turned Ruby Ridge and Waco into disasters, rather a search that the announcement of which alone would send the church into a panic. I mean if the Waco warrant could have been issued under such flimsy evidence as the “suspicion of firearms possession” and the Branch Davidians being nothing more than a religious sect attempting to mind its own business and live its own life “freely” – why wouldn’t the COS, with so many more instances of abuse and fraud, qualify similarly?
Short of the above, in the short term I have made the decision to boycott any film Tom Cruise or John Travolta my produce or star in. Hit the church where it hurts – in their reputation and pocketbook.
If you go to Tony Ortega’s website, underground bunker, he has all the info laid out for us to file complaints to the IRS. I believe if we hit them where it hurts, that will bring this cult down.
Such a total and complete nightmare and insanity-inducing set of experiences with the cherch! I’m so glad that you and your family are now completely out of the cult (except for Craig) and are now fighting to see that other families are not harmed by the cherch’s cruel policy of disconnection.
In time, and through his own experiences of being used, abused, lied to and betrayed by the cherch, I’m certain that Craig will come to realize the truth, leave the cherch and return to his loving family. In the meantime, doing what you and your family can to see that other families are not harmed through the cherch’s vile policy of disconnection in the same way that yours was is a courageous and important task that deserves the anti-$cn community’s appreciation and support.
By now, there are many more times the number of remaining active $cilons who’ve been declared suppressive, or just become quietly disaffected and wandered away from the cult. Interestingly, Elron wrote a policy letter that describes exactly what is going on in circumstances where a top level $cn exec has been declaring large numbers of individuals within the organization to be suppressives. In those cases, Elron directly noted, it is the top level exec who’s the real suppressive and not those that he’s targeted!
From an objective perspective, and when viewed over the last three decades that he’s been in sole and complete control of the cherch , it’s very clear that the real Super SP on $cn’s lines is none other than DM himself, whose reign of terror has not only unmocked the entire top exec level management of $cn, but has also driven thousands out of the cherch who would not bow to his absolute power and sole control. It may be too much to hope that those cowed and craven folks who are still in will finally find the backbone to stand up to this tiny tyrant but, one way or another, his sadistic and sociopathic reign will be brought to an end. It’s not a question of if that will occur, but only a matter of when.
Tick, tock, lil davey, your reign as $cn’s Super SP I/C is coming to an end and there is absolutely nothing that you can do to keep that from occurring!
I’ve been meaning to make a comment on Lois’ Chapter 7 that was posted previously and now seems an appropriate time to do that.
Chapter 7 revealed an organization BACK THEN thirty five years or so ago that was … COMPLETELY FUCKING NUTS, an almost complete chaos of insanity (which really, the day to day Scientologist outside of that orbit had little idea), LRH’s paranoia about the missions and everything else that was going on.
And the current version of the CoS as described by Lois … even MORE fucking insane. A group that claims it will salvage the world and rid it of insanity is itself in reality a MADHOUSE, where up is down and “total freedom” is a maze of complete craziness and control over one’s life. (not only do you have to disconnect from someone considered an “sp”, but disconnect from anyone who themselves are so connected, with facebook police and gestapo type officers monitoring one’s personal communication lines).
In a very real sense, the church of scientology has ALREADY lost (they lost when Marty started his blog and probably even some years before that). They have already lost because there could hardly be a soul in the Western world who would not completely check on the internet before getting heavily involved with such a destructive group. As for impressionable young people? Well, that will always be an existing risk which is why parents need to do what they can to ensure their children do not get involved with the CoS (kudos, Katie Holmes).
*and not only are folks like Lois and Gary put through the CoS torture chamber to keep their connection with their OWN CHILDREN, they fucking HAVE TO PAY THIRTY PLUS THOUSAND DOLLARS to experience the torture!!!! Talk about FUCKING EXTORTION! (this is not free exercise of religion and if no money is ever returned, a court case forcing CoS officials to deposition and to the witness stand needs to happen to publicize even more what this criminal organization does).
Amazing that Ron hated commies so much, but created an “ethics” and “justice” system that’s straight out of the NKVD playbook. The NKVD were masters at not only dealing with “enemies of the people”, but ensuring that the enemy’s family and acquaintances were “taken care of” as well. Of course, this disgusting game of Six Degrees has only one end: to make sure that anyone who has any relationship with a Scientologist also dwells in the bubble.
It’s an ever-shrinking world for them, and soon enough, they’ll be crushed by their own delusions.
My heart goes to you and everyone in your family, Lois. It will get better and better.
Lois, Tell Brandon that he is not alone in going through a difficult time with the judicial system as a young adult. The Judge has given him a gift by allowing the charges to revert to a misdemeanor after he completes his probation. This means that he should not have to check that “convicted of a felony” box on employment applications. Tell him that “it gets better.” People will understand and have compassion for his situation. Generally, the world is not so vindictive as Scientology is and would like their members to believe. He will eventually be able to put this behind him. That goes for you too, Lois. I completely understand the stress that having a child under the supervision of probation can create. It will get better, because the system is not designed to deal with people like Brandon.
I don’t post here often and am a “never-in” who has seen the damage Co$ can do to a person. While I don’t comment often, I do read this blog everyday and I wanted to say that Mike Rinder is my hero. He has gone through so much and fearlessly give people the avenue to find a way out, tell their stories, and is unflinching in his own reporting of the abuses. Well done, Mike.
Any wonder why someone would throw a hammer through their window? They moan about hate crimes, while they commit the most disgusting evils and blackmail their victims into paying for it. Be assured that they were motivated to extract $30,000 from Lois & Gary while they worked their destruction. All orchestrated by the psychopath COB at every move. Sickening.
I wish you could sue them to get your money back with triple damages.
After reading your story Lois I couldn’t help but feel like you’ll be getting Craig back at some point. You all seem to be a loving family and it seems you have done a good job being parents. He can’t now un-know what you have taught him so his heart will always feel the truth. Too bad you had to keep the door open to the CoS but I understand why you did it (we did the same thing). Perhaps your experience will show others to shut the dang door. On a good note, we did get our children back and we simply picked up where we left off and moved forward. I think you will too. He will miss the love. He’ll figure it out and be back.
My only regret was that I wish I hadn’t spent so much of my time being mad – it only hurt me and it was not necessary.
Loved your site for Craig. Great idea. Load it up with pictures
Best to you and your family
Lois and Gary, It’s hard to comprehend what both of you went through, unless you were in the Sea org and been subjected to this type of pressure. And even then it’s hard to digest. The brainwash machine is very oppressive. In my process of routing out in 2007, after blowing, I was subjected to similar threats and interrogations. I stand with you and hope Craig will come back to his senses and realize that family is the most important unit! Thank you for sharing and your efforts will bring results. Thank you Mike and Leah for uncovering this story and many others!
My heart goes out to this family and others in similar situations. I can very much relate as a few members of my family have been declared (based on ridiclous and unfounded accusations of course) leaving myself and one other in scn. The “other” is in the SO, and I am undercover, pretending to still be on lines yet actually being completely off and not disconnecting from anyone. Its been difficult maintaining the illusion of still being “on lines”, but even more difficult being in the middle – the declared side wanting nothing more than to talk to their family, and the SO member claiming no interest (although I feel on the inside that’s not true).
Also difficult is watching Monique on TV claiming “You can absolutely be connected to an SP and still be a Scientologist”. Complete lie. But for the sake of my family, the Reisdorfs and all the other victims of the disconnection policy, I hope this changes soon.
Wow….just….wow. This was tough to read, Lois! So sorry for this evil group inserting itself into your lives and making such a hell for you. While watching the show I knew that Brandon’s “auditing”: wreaked of out-tech. That’s the trouble these days and has been for many many years now….what they are calling scientology is NOT scientology anymore.
And in your story of course there it is….murdering the pc with 1,000 hours of SRD. Probably due to Mi$cavige’s suppressive re-definition of what a floating needle is and his other little “fixes” of LRH’s stuff. How many times did he feel he was done with a process….OMG. He was just dug in further and further on objectives.
And ripping him (and Craig) off for so much money and setting up loans from other people (!!!) just so “scientology” can get more and more money and some people can make their targets. This puts the two of them in debt to real people, friends or maybe only acquaintances…tens of thousands of dollars. What a weight to carry around for years and years. Nice to be facing that when you’re trying to get your own new business going. What crap!
There are some ex’s whose stories could take an entire season in themselves! Yours and Gary’s is clearly one of them. Thank you so much for diving in and exposing all this, and of course to Mike and Leah again for absolutely killing it and all the A&E people. I hope it has brought you some relief to strike back against the correct target! My very best to you all.
Lois, Gary & family,
Thank you for sharing your story here and on Leah’s show. Providing clear evidence that disconnection not only exists, but is mandated by Scientology. Family members are being ordered to disconnect from you or suffer extreme retribution by Scientology. It is just your opinion/accusation, you have provided written evidence. This matters to people who are new to understanding the abuses and never bothered much with Scientology before. Through her program and her guests Leah has brought an awareness to the masses!
Thank you to all who have participated, shared their heartbreaking stories and braved the wrath of Scientology to do so.
This is just insane. The real perversion here is that people are being declared Suppressive people inappropriately. Leaving Scientology or even complaining about it may be a crime in the organization’s mind, but, to declare or identify someone as suppressive, one has to look at the totality of the person’s behavior. There are evil people in the world that people shouldn’t be friends with, but these people have specific characteristics that can be identified as anti-social. Not wanting to do Scientology services is definitely not one of them. Reading the stories of Lois and others have given me the tools to protect my family. I see that I need to have a more blunt and detailed conversation with my children, who are not currently Scientologists and have family that are, about the impact of their potential involvement. They should know that it is likely that they will have to disconnect from me and all of my large extended family, if they decide to get involved. I also need to be blunt with my exes family and former friends that I am no longer a Scientologist, and I will never be, and to refrain from any form of recruitment of my children, if they want to maintain any kind of relationship. My children seem to have done their own research and understand the predicament that their cousins are in, so I feel I’m pretty safe here. Thank you, thank you, thank you for everyone who is bringing all of this out in the open, and likely taking a lot of heat over it. Thank you so much.
Hi Lois, Thank you for your continuing revelations. You are a wonderful mother.
I went to the website http://www.CraigReisdorfWithLove.com. Something to fix; the buttons on the right don’t seem to be working, for example ‘Contact me’ doesn’t do anything.
Also the copyright at the bottom seems odd (2023?).
Cheers to you Lois for going through the inferno and coming out whole. Or as much as you can be whole without your son Craig. God’s blessings on you and your family.
I lOve thiS gAme! ! !
Big hello from LRHs Bulgravia.
The thing I love about this series is that it teaches us what it’s really like to be a scientologist. It has helped me to understand why people are so blindly devoted to something that an outsider sees as exploitation at best and criminal as worst. My hope is that this starts an effective movement to stop David Miscavage and to take away the honor and priveledge to be called a religion.
It’s a great show in many ways. But it doesn’t explain much at all why people devote themselves to Scientology. I’ll probably catch hell for saying that so I may skip reading my evals.
My suggestion would be you watch Going Clear which deals more with this topic. No one show can explain everything, it’s a complicated subject.
Lowie my love,
I an old timer, cry at Reading this.Just as I loved your Mom, who I first met in 1963, I will always love you and your family. I know your Mom and Neville would have been horrified at the misuse of LRH’s tech. Recognise that the attack on you is being directed at you because of the knowledge you have of the period 1978 until the time you left. You are and will always be a threat to Mischavige. Lots of love. David.
Thank you Dave. Love you back too. I appreciate your unwavering support.
lois, I just finished reading your last chapter above and then jumped over to http://www.CraigReisdorfWithLove.com. What you wrote to Craig on that site is so loving and caring, if he ever reads it I don’t know how he could fail to come running back. I truly hope and pray that 2017 is your year of reunion and all of your family comes back to you.
“I just finished reading your last chapter above and then jumped over to http://www.CraigReisdorfWithLove.com”
I did the same; I suspect most of us here today will have done so. It’s a really beautiful website.
Monique DingDong is a corrupt lying sack of shit. The criminal enterprise she is defending is going to any lengths to break up families, destroy friendships and any interpersonal relations when deemed necessary to protect their deceptive scheming to financially and emotionally exploit human beings.
There is nothing voluntarily about “disconnection”, as I have seen in my own case and confirmed by hundreds of others.
The sad story is ordinary Church members are victims and perpetrators at the same time confused and entangled in a web of deception and lies.
The inner circle around David Miscavige though knows exactly what they are doing , may they burn in hell.
One of the most disgusting aspects of the Church of Scientology is its greed motivated justice system. A person will be made to undergo Sec-checks, repair sessions or amends projects at great expense even after it has been determines that the end result will be expulsion from the church and disconnection from their friends and loved ones. They prey on people’s hope. Not unlike the kidnapper who has already decided to kill the hostage even before the ransom has been collected.
It is a fiendishly cruel system limited in its allotment of punishment only by what it perceives it can get away with under the laws of the land.
The Church of Scientology is a blight to the world’s religions.
And it is a blight on the human experiment in general. You want to examine the worst of the worst, look no further than Scientology.
So true, Regraded Being: the church fleeces you of your hard earned money for Sec Checks knowing full well before you even start that they’ll declare you SP anyway, just like the kidnapper who knows he will kill the victim before he even sends the ransom note. Any why shouldn’t the church do this? It complies with the policy letter, “Fair Game” where any SP can be harmed, lied to, etc because they are SP’s. Charging you for endless Sec Checks with the false hope you’ll get your family back is just Fair Game. Lois, thank you so much for speaking out. Continue to do it. I cried when I read your article today. It just hits too close to home for me. I lost my only kids, both of them, to the church and their Disconnection policy. And only weeks before they disconnected, my daughter swore to me that she would never disconnect from me and that I would not be declared because “everyone knows you are not an SP.” Yet the church turns them against their loving parent and turns their love for the parents away so that in a matter of weeks the kids hate you and disconnect from you all based on false lies told them by the church. May the church rot in hell for what they do to families. It is a form of genocide.
That about sums it up. Thanks Regraded being.
Of course it takes months and years to complete the sec check-comm ev process nowadays: look at the vast wealth it garners for the church. Miscavige is nothing if not a master salesman, and who cares if the sanctity of family life is torn apart and thrown to the dogs in the process? If he can keep those dollars rolling in whilst at the same time maintaining an iron grip on those suffering through the process, naturally he will ensure it lasts for as long as he can possibly string it out 🙁
Regarded Being: that’s exactly what they do. Until you just walk out of there and never go back. Works like a charm, with the same end result. Except you keep some of your money, time, energy, life…
RB: You so right. And have oppenned THE can of worms for DM here… All these crimes are really punishable by law, very much so and the only thing that needs to happen now is that enough people (including the sleeping authorities) wake up to the fact that Scientology has morphed into a gigantic Criminally Organized Brainwashing System that has hidden out in the open by exerting total mind control of its subjects and destroying their human rights and families and stealing all their assets, while being tax exempt…!!! VWD old friend.
“At this point I honestly thought and felt that there was a concerted effort to actually intentionally destroy my family.” Yes, you are correct. Why are they doing this?
They want your children to be perfect little ronbots, so connecting to any SP or anyone on the fence is dangerous. The ronbots might hear things that start them to think.
The MMAs and C/Sers and everyone in that ‘comm line’ needed to justify their petty, nasty jobs. The Reisdorf family is just another stat to them. And they got to keep Craig. Better one loyal minion than an entire family of fence sitters. How can you ‘salvage the galaxy’ if you throw out 90% of it?
All that sec checking was just for the money. They never had any intention of doing anything but busting up your family. A vendetta has been declared on all the South Africans who don’t knell to DM.
Sometimes it is about the money, many times it is about instilling fear. Lron liked both and DM does too. Everyone in $cientology is disposable, everyone but DM.
And when you can instill fear AND extort money, then the only thing left to make it a perfect trifecta of tyranny is to capture and enslave others’ loved ones, then bend them to your will as a proxy instrument of vengeance that destroys their own personal integrity as it accomplishes your purpose.
The terms “diabolical,” ruthless,” “depraved,” “sociopathic” and just plain “evil” jump readily to mind here, but this is a special kind of evil because it distills and concentrates all of the power and resources of the cherch in the hands of just one man – an individual whose sadism, lack of remorse and compassion, and capacity for violence make him truly dangerous to the world.
It simply is well past time that we allowed – and those still in the cherch enabled – this kind of concentrated power of evil to continue to exist!
Or Tom Cruise
It was quite apparent when we demanded a refund for gross out tech that the cherch had gone nuts and Miscavige was suppressive. Each new revelation has turned an apparency into a factual certainty.
Perhaps LRH was right when he stated that “what you resist, you become.” The Co$ has become the suppressive group they fervently rail against.
This too shall pass.
LDW you said:
“The Co$ has become the suppressive group they fervently railed against”
That is because this suppressive church learn how to be suppressive, from the man, who instructed his church in the institutionalized art form of suppression.
Ron’s evil doctrine of violent retribution against critics, that David Miscavige has perfected, comes directly from a man with mental illness.
David Miscavige is only following Ron’s instructions.
You need look no further for the cause of this insidious sickness than Mike’s link below.
The seeds of the church’s destruction is all in writing. It just took one loon to write it and one loon to make the practice all pervasive.
https://www.mikerindersblog.org/dealing-with-critics-of-scientology-the-l-ron-hubbard-playbook/
I knew you would respond to him as you aid you world.
It’s simple to see out here isn’t it.
Lois. Thank you for allowing us to see and hopefully soon Craig will be home to you.
I love your devotion.
http://www.craigreisdorfwithlove.com/
Reading your most recent missive I’m struck by how similar your experience to help your son Craig felt to what my parents went through with a drug/alcohol addicted son. While the structure and behavior of the Scientology organization holds its unique horrors, it feels like there are emotional parallels.
My parents spent the better part of two decades attempting to free their child from addiction. To a great extent their lives revolved around this. Other relationships were neglected and often greatly damaged by their prioritizing saving someone who did not want to be saved and their inability to tolerate those who did not fully support their actions. They twisted their values and personal ethics to promote contact with someone who would only accept their presence in his life on his terms. My parent’s finances suffered as they continually bailed him out. The stress of this situation and their focus truly caused their own emotional and mental deterioration. From the outside, their behavior was often inscrutable, illogical and sometimes just plain crazy.
But they did it for their child. As a parent I can understand this. For most of us that bond supersedes rationality. They, and perhaps you, were trying to control the uncontrollable. Because it has to be devastating to accept that we are unable to save our children. After many years my parents were finally exhausted into accepting that. They did not give up on him – there was not disconnection on their side – but they no longer allowed his addiction to dictate their actions.
I know that the situation with Scientology has differences. However, it feels as though there is a similarity in the what you are in now in regards to Craig. I don’t think you could have helped him by staying in Scientology and thus facilitate his continuing immersion in the culture. This is not to negate your sorrow at not having his presence in your life. I just don’t know that even if you had donated every cent to Scientology and turned your back on every other unapproved relationship to gain good standing that it would actually help him to be a fulfilled person living a life with integrity.
I didn’t intend to blather so much about my personal experiences while commenting on your story – kind of working out why yours touched me so much. Thank you for sharing this personal story. Best wishes.
Thanks for sharing that story. I can see the similarities.
Ummmmm…..I think I’ll go out on a limb and say, mass insanity?
Oh my God, I stay with no voice Lois, all that misery just in application of the damned disconnection rules. This was true madness. Being obliged to be sec checked while you were no longer in scientology for 30 years!
FG- And to pay for it, no less! Mama Mia- what a scam. I am keeping them in my prayers. Did anyone catch Leah Remini’s comment that if they spoke about Zenu (or whatever the hell the name is for the super alien with all the answers) outside of the “church” they would be fined $100,000? Isn’t that blackmail?
Mind boggling…….
Why yes, the $100,000 fine imposed on an OAT TEA for spilling the beans on Xenu – is simply “Ecclesiastical BLACKMAIL” and is perfectly fine to do as long as it is under direction from a religious tax exempt Church hiding its Eccleasiastical Crimes under a Religious Cloak.
That was actually scary to hear as in Leah saying “that is one of the biggest secrets”…..Leah looked stunned that the name was even mentioned as if he were so “HOLY” as in “thou shalt NOT speak his name”….another LRH the SCIENCE FICTION WRITER to make up an “all knowing character” to start in his next product of “The Church Of Scientology”….
And the disconnection rules come from Ron’s pathological fear and terror of criticism.
The “damn disconnection rules” are L Ron Hubbard’s rules of fighting invisible enemies in Ron’s own head.
And that is the source of all of this. Ron’s inability to deal with criticism as a sane person created a doctrine that destroys families.
That is basic basic on this chain!
And the man created a navy to avoid prison and taxes. Who the hell does this?
There is a movie round here somewhere.
Several stories I think. Each one a variation on his motivations.
I think the final definition of the life of L Ron Hubbard should come from the psychiatric community.
That would be full circle. That would be delicious justice.
Little did Ron know when he said he would “smash his name into history” it would be smashed with the diagnosis or paranoid-schizo-narcissistic looney tunes.
Chris Shelton did a show on a theory of Hubbard. I found it quite credible as it tied up a lot of loose ends and apparent contradictions in his personality.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUdcLUN3JpE
Outstanding post, Brian! +1!
This is CRAZY!!!!! I have been in the Sea Org for 25 years and involved with Scientology since I was 10 years old, man this tops it all.
As the cult continues to unwind into it’s very own and special version of a dwindling spiral, expect even crazier stories to emerge.
I am sure the experiences of kids like Craig and my own two kids who are still in are harrowing in their insanity. There will be many many more in the future as Dave loses his grip and the actions of Kathy True and Marion Pouw and their ilk become progressively more rabid.
It would be unbelievable if it were not true.
Yo Dave,
We are not here for you good buddy. We are here for the kids who you have fooled into a hypnotic state.
+1! Nice!
Are you still in mreppen?
Cathy, you may want to take a look at this list.
http://whyweprotest.wikia.com/wiki/Former_Church_of_Scientology_members_who_have_spoken_out
Yes. It isn’t there. I had a follow up question TrevAnon
Years of Blackmail, you must have felt that you were losing your mind.
Wow.
Lois, your story resonates with so many people. Thanks for sharing it with us. The current Scientology regime is now destroying itself from within. The tragedy is that it affects your son ongoing. Scientology is suppose to eradicate a persons service fac on grade IV. What a joke. Cult members think they are right no matter what the cost.
The saving grace is that your son will eventually get out. I never thought I would leave Scientology. And it happened. Never say never.
Thanks BKmole, I hope it happens.
Wow! Lois we all really appreciate you sharing your story! This is just unbelievable! I’m really hoping that Craig comes to his senses soon. I have read your entire story with great interest, hearing about your time with LRH all the way up to this article. I got in with my mom at age 11 back in ’77 at a small mission. Those were pretty good times. Things changed when SMI was created and our Missionholder/ED (an old timer) said “B.S” and packed his bags and left. I did a year in LA on staff in the 80’s and it was one of the worst years of my life. The pressure for stats was the focus of everything, all nighters, pay you can’t live on etc. I left. Some years later I got back “in” and did a few things here and there. My children went to a Scn. affiliated school and that was a good experience due to the caring teachers. I began getting really pissed off when I started looking at how the church views children. I inquired about starting a scout pack at a local org and was met with complete disinterest. Churches are some of the most common sponsors of scout packs and troops. I then realized…children don’t have money to put on the bridge. Children can’t really do church services until they are about 10…children under the age of 10 are just a burden and parents spending their time with them would take away from their time on the bridge. It made me sick. Thankfully we moved far away and my boys were never involved enough to be targets for the S.O. etc. The stories Mike and Leah are telling are showing the many horrible flaws in the church. Disconnection, child labor law violations, abuse of S.O. members, the constant repackaging and fleecing, the constant changing of the tech so that DO OVERS are commonplace. What a farce. I am so very sorry for your nightmare and the loss of communication you’ve had with so much family. There are big chinks in the armor of the church now, here’s to season 2!
Absolutely lovely. Congratulations on a wonderful life, filled with family and friends.
Lois, this one part of your story happened to us as well; my wife’s brother and his wife (so, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law) are NOT Scientologists. They never have been. They have zero interest in Scientology, and never will. Yet both of them AND their two kids have had to disconnect from me, my wife and our three kids because BOTH of their parents are Scientologists and have told them they they WILL disconnect from them if they are connected to us.
So you have Scientologists who are NOT allowed to be “connected” through non-Scientologists.
It seems however that the ” can’t be connected through nine Scientologists” rule ONLY applies if the non-Scientologists are family members.
For example…if I talk to my non-scientologist neighbor, and that neighbor talks to my father-in-law…it’s not like that’s a violation.
But when I talked to my non-scientologist dad, and my dad talked to my brother…that was a violation.
So the Church of Scientology really is uniquely dedicated to tearing apart families. I believe personally that this comes from DM’s sadistic desire to instill as much pain as possible in anyone who dares not bend a knee to his holy authority and his army of teenage, virgin MAA’s.
DM’s hens are coming home to roost. He only has himself to thank for the tidal wave of exposure and bad PR coming his way.
He is so extremely sadistic!! I just wish I had the money or the resources to join this fight! I talk to everyone about the series, Going Clear, and the books. It’s the best I can do, that being said I am a hair stylist so I know it spreads pretty fast, lol! I live in South Louisiana and as far as I know there is no COS presence here. I would love them to try and come here, they wouldn’t stay long I promise. The people around here have balls just like the Leah, Mike, and all of you fighting to stop this cult. Also, family is EVERYTHING where I am from. I’m not saying it isn’t in other places, I do not want to offend anyone.
I know this is totally off subject and random but I really believe DM is into some hardcore S&M, not that there’s anything wrong with that! I would put down money in Vegas that he really gets off on Tom Cruise bounding him and beating the shit out of him, then DM returning the favor. Think about it, Tom can’t stay married to save is life and nobody knows where the hell Shelley is!!!!!! Just saying…. Was that to far?? I’m sorry for the sexual content, I just really wanted to get that off my chest.
Anyway, keep fighting the good fight! Love and family is everything in this life!!!
“In the end the love you take is equal to the love you make” -Paul McCartney
Linds -“I really believe DM is into some hardcore S&M”, my thoughts exactly for quite sometime. I believe that he has so much crap hidden in his “closet” that he is so afraid it will come out. I’m waiting for that one person to come forward and tell us all about his sexual perversions. I also want to state that I can give a shit if someone is into S&M with another consenting ADULT but I don’t believe that the one being beatin up by DM would be consenting to S&M sexual activity.
Hey, Lou what do you think? are you going to be to one coming forward with info? Is that why Shelley got shipped off? she got tired and you just filled her shoes (or chains)?
I agree with Ms. P 100%! I am glad I’m not the only one who was thinking that… I really hope DM and his minions read all of this.
I know Aaron it is so insane! I am so sorry this same thing is happening to you. Well at least I have my non-Scientology family firmly on my side now. They are shooting themselves in the foot and yet they cannot see it. Mind blowing.
You and most of your family are out! And that’s worth celebrating every day.
You’re family has truly fought the good fight. And come out the other side.
I hope every day is day full of peace and blessings…
Aaron, That is a really interesting distinction. The connection is important only where the Church of Scientology has a tiny bit of power. They can’t control your neighbor, but they can control members and family connections. They are actively destroying families as a Church policy.
Aaron after much thought and research I have come to the conclusion that your dog has no choice but to disconnect from your crazy neighbour.
bravo to you and your family, may your new year be one of many changes, including a reunion with you son!
This couldn’t have been easy to write. Reading your story was reliving my story. I too was so close with my youngest son, Sammy, who is now 25. I too grapple with how he could go from someone who loved me so much to someone who hates me.
When I watched the video the church had him make to counter my episode in “The Aftermath,” I someone who had become a scientologist. He is detached and loveless as regards me, with a rendition of what came down as regards my declare and my “disconnecting from him” (eye roll) that is nothing but church-think.
The church has become what it preaches against and its parishioners are part of that and in its own parlance have “gone into the valence of an SP. ” One day I will have my Sammy back. One day you will have your Craig back. I firmly believe that.
Thank you again Lois for telling your story on camera and here for all the world to see. You are creating quite an impact.
I know it really sucks, it is complete mind-control.
I remember going trough the campaign to destroy me.
It felt like being in a nightmare , you want to scream but the scream is silent , because you know at some point , that no amount of screaming will stop the disconnection machine.
Thank you Lois , and you too Mary…
Am I the only person who finds this story beyond creepy. A church, watching your every move & association on the planet. Sounds more like N Korea than a church. Very creepy. My heart goes out to Lois, Gary, their family and anyone sucked into this dictator style cherch.
Thanks you so much for telling your story. I’m sorry you have had to go through it.
Scientology is obsessed with SPs. I hate to use their own technology back at them but it seems so appropriate. SPs are everywhere, in every family, around every corner and are all over the internet and media. In other words Scientology is Type 3 and dramatizes it at every opportunity. The story above is mind numbing, it’s a loving family affected by a cruel and criminal cult that holds the threat of family and friends to ransom by forced isolation/disconnection if you don’t unquestioningly obey them. It is an unbelievably inhumane thing to do.
What is even more sickening in this particular scenario is Lois use to be a very close aide to Hubbard and knew him intimately. Miscavige has gone out of his way to pay special attention to anyone ever connected to Hubbard and punish them for that connection. First into silence and then banishment. He’s an extreme bully with a very large guilt complex. His crimes are difficult to fathom. He enjoys ripping families apart and in particular turning children against their parents. His whole organisation does this at every location as a regular procedure to handle discontent and for control purposes.
“Miscavige has gone out of his way to pay special attention to anyone ever connected to Hubbard and punish them for that connection.”
I think that his motive in targeting these folks is more about covering up his “palace coup” rise to power. Everyone who was on the scene at the time and in a position to give direct, first-hand testimony concerning the events that occurred at that time has either been hounded out of the cherch and ultimately declared suppressive, or ruthlessly suppressed and humiliated within the cult by sentencing them to the RPF and/or demoting them.
Three decades later, I’d be very surprised if there were any long-time $ea Orgy members of high rank who remain in positions at that same level, or indeed, remain in the $ea Orgy at all. DM has ruthlessly consolidated power and done everything he could to see that no one of authority remained to oppose him or to tell the truth about how he came to acquire it in the first place.
Beautiful, eloquent, insightful comment, Yawn.
Are you the yawn guy?
The alias “yawnguy” has been used by Paul Adams, long out. He now goes by “dulloldfart” on ESMB.
I wanted to say that the yawn tengnique really works Iyawnalot if that was you.
“…(Gaslighting is a form of mental abuse in which information is twisted or spun, selectively omitted to favor the abuser, or false information is presented with the intent of making victims doubt their own memory, perception, and sanity)…..”
Scientology is a sophistry and gaslighting and character assassination “ir-religion.”
How the freezoner Scientologists carry on doing Scientology on each other minus the “bad” parts of full official Scienotlogy would be a comparison book I’d someday read were some smart person to do a good job of showing how Scientologists can exist minus all the bad stuff official Scientology does.
As an atheist and ex long term Sea Org member I notice that the freezone Scientologists seem to be a case in point that people practicing Scientology auditing and training in their small groups they can behave more tolerantly and decently compared to official Scientology.
Official Scientology needs to lose their Office of Special Affairs and lost the Int Justice Chief office and discontinue SP declaring, and amnesty all past SP declares as unjust, which is a loophole they could do, that is an option on the books for official Scientology, but they don’t have brains to carry that one out.
Freezone Scientology looks to me like it is historically a sort of pilot project for official Scientology.
Official Scientology needs some new brains to see this.
That will only happen if David Miscavige is removed from his position and expelled.
A kinder, gentler $cn!? I guess anything is possible, but even without all the “bad part,” unless the doctrine of Elron’s supposed infallibility was done away with, you would still have a pseudo-science in which the unsubstantiated conjectures of a single man are taken as the indisputable gospel. And since he was wrong about an incredible amount of things, any “Reformed CoS” that continued on insisting in his infallibility would be just as whacky as the current corporate cherch is, just a lot less powerful in their ability to control folks.
From my reading on several different indie sites, they sound like they’re still immersed in the Kool-Aid and consider Elron, along with all of his space opera madness, to be the one true Source.
This just breaks my heart.. Scientology is disgusting and must be stopped. A Families love is stronger then this bull.. I don’t know him, but I know Craig will one day find his way back to his family. I hope that one day too this will end, and people will see the truth.
I lot of people leave, if they get a chance to. Since he knows he has family on the outside, at least he has someone to turn to if he has ever had enough. Would Scientology, knowing he has outside resources, treat him a little better so he doesn’t get to the point where he’s had enough to bolt? I doubt it. The are only capable of doing the same thing over and over. I hope Craig doesn’t suffer too much before he decides he’s had enough.
Oh my God Dave, you’re bleeding!
No, no, no, Lou. Not my blood. I was just doing a little “sec checking” (wink, wink). Gotta show these guys who’s boss, ya know?
Oh Dave, I affinity you.
I affinity you too Lou.
Oh Dave?
Yes Lou?
I ran into Charlie Beck and his wife today when I was shopping at Tiffany’s and he wanted to know if we could use our private jet this weekend for our little getaway to Vegas. His is in the shop. Oh and he wanted me to thank you for that little extra “donation” for I think he said combat pay?
Harvey, I think it might go more like:
“Sir?”
“What the fuck do you want now? Hurry up, I’m busy!”
“Beck wants the fucking jet. What shall I tell him ?”
” Tell the fucking cheapskate he will need to make a bigger dono. No, tell him I will come along but he will have to cover the accommos.”
Mike Rinder – you are glowing in the photo. Amazing what delivering blows to the REAL enemy – Scientology – does to a person! Thank you for all you do.
Hurricane Leah – you are an angel….sent from GOD to help expose this criminal cult Organization disguised as a religion and hides its crimes with its clever “tech” and the Religious Cloak. Now – please don’t stop and take it down!
To the Reisdorf family – THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR STORY!
A big hug to you all. You are brave and courageous souls and we love you!
To Lois and Gary, the boys and all family.
I love you all. Thank you for all that you have been through. Your story may help bring down this beast. My heart breaks for you guys. You are a stalwart of loyalty and love for family. A total opposite of Scientology today but with instructions from Ron’s writings.
God bless you all. All of the folks on this A&E public service. Because that’s what it is. It is a service to the public.
The stories of all of your pain will not be in vain.
Leah the Viking Shield Maiden and Mike are the heroes in this journey.
You guys have touched the hearts of thousands if not millions.
Your pain will be the hammer that finally brings down this evil ideology birthed in the mind of a madman and applied by his psycho successor.
There are so many praying for all of you. You are all in my daily meditations and prayers.
I ask for an army of invisible angels to send a petition to that Infinite Presence, that Benevolent Transcedent Reality to bring light into this darkness.
May the light of truth destroy the shackles of this evil ideology.
With All My Sincerity,
Brian
Brian that was beautiful so touching and meaningful. Everyone else your comments are so kind and love filled what a beautiful group of souls Mike & Leah have brought together keep fighting never give up!!
If we all take a moment each day to pray and/or send positive vibes and thoughts of hope for freedom for their loved ones this will eventually come to fruition I know it!!
I hope this evil man and his minions eventually pay dearly for their evil actions.
The PTS/SP “technology” that L Ron ordered the “church” to use on its followers & critics is designed to control and if necessary, destroy lives. It is evil to the core. Anyone promoting its use is either ignorant of that fact or is criminally minded.
I am with you 100% Mike! Some of Ron’s doctrines are birthed straight out of his paranoia.
Scientology is institutionalized paranoia. It is also institutionalized hatred and child abuse.
God Almighty…….. how can this THING be called a church or religion???????!!!!!!
Thanks Brian. You have to remember, a church or a religion doesn’t have to be good. It can be very evil. Good or bad isn’t part of the definition.
Thank you for sharing your stories and info both on A&E and in your blog. I’m sorry all of you had to go through so much. I don’t know what your belief system is now and it doesn’t matter. Please know you and everyone are in my prayers and I know there is a Loving God looking out for all of you! He has work for you and you are doing it! Thank you!
Gary here, Michelle. To answer your question, since my father read Dianetics in 1953, the year I was born, back in Mason City, Iowa, Scientology became my religion since birth until leaving in ’82. After getting to SCN’s “upper levels” I decided that it wasn’t for me after a week of attempting these upper levels back in ’81 or so. I was working at the top organization of SCN at the time and was in their Sea Org from age 17 until 29.
After leaving the Sea Org and SCN, I guess my religion was learning how to enjoy life, making up for things that I had missed out on. I missed out on a very fun time of a normal person’s life. This is when young people travel with backpacks thru Europe not slaving away on a ship. Lois and I moved to South Africa and finally started a real life. We really had a wonderful time there. We now live in San Diego.
Structural religion is not a part of my life. I like to tell people I’m as spiritual as a sack of hammers. I guess my upbringing with SCN left me this way. But, even though we suffered with the recent escapades of SCN’s attempt at destroying our family, I usually have a very good outlook on things and am still loving life.
Perhaps my experience with a religion that I thought was the savior of mankind and then finding out that it was really all a very well disguised lie, it has turned me off of religion completely. At the moment, I still prefer the backpacking idea.
Thanks for sharing your story. As a Mason City native myself, I wanted to let you all know you have my respect and support. It’s heartbreaking to see what this cult has done to your family and so many others. Thanks to Leah, Mike, A&E and all those who have courageously spoken out to help others. Best wishes to you all!
An actual ad posted today by $cientology on the Internet.
Meet a $cientologist: Magaera, a mother, who shares the benefits of using Dianetics and $cientology and their policy of disconnection to disconnect and shun those members of her family who threaten the very existence of every man, woman and child on this planet.
Thank you COB and that other guy…Don, or Ron or something like that.
One of the saddest stories I’ve ever read regarding scio and disconnection, though ALL of them are sad. But here is clear proof that the disconnections were enforced. What a miserable person is Miscavige.
Wow! I am so sorry to read this and can just imagine how hard it was to write this! I do wonder one thing, are you still helping Craig through your spare credit card? I cannot imagine the Church would allow even that tenuous of contact/relationship!
No we are not helping him. In fact, he stopped making payments on the remaining balance of over a $1000 and I cut him off the credit card and changed passwords etc. He was never the type of person to not pay something back, but with Fair Game policy it is the right thing for him to do, not pay back the $. He actually owes us a lot more money than just the credit card.
From what I understand, Craig’s debts to his parents cannot be paid back because he disconnected from his creditors. However, when the 2 Scientologists who owed Brandon money disconnected from him, then he doesn’t need to pay back the $60K, correct?
I wonder why an SP Creditor never sues his debtor in court after disconnection. And demands that the creditor make a payment every week, just to bring him in contact with his SP self. Wouldn’t the church then declare the debtor an SP? Can’t Lois do this to her son?
Thank you Lois for sharing your heartbreaking story. I am so sorry for all your family has endured. I’m also very impressed by the efforts you all made to stay connected despite the giant called Scientology that fought against you. It is a testimony of love that binds against all else. I will pray for your future …. especially that your missing son will return to you. Blessings!
I have followed Lois’s truely heart felt,heart rending and ultimately heart warming journey as she continues forward.Her plain guts and her ability to put their story right out there is so Powerful.On The Bunker,here and amoung the Stars the Reisdorfs have revealed the Truth.The idea for a web page for Craig is so amazing a tool,may it somehow allow light to flood his world with Miscavige and he will look up and out.Waves Waves of Love to Lois,Gary,Brett,Brandon,Mike R,Leah and I light a candle for Craig.Thank you.?❤️??
I never realized how far they were willing to go to destroy people. This A&E series is so instrumental in warning people what could happen should they enter this world of mindfuckery! So much love for you, Lois and all of your family. So glad you found Mike and Leah.
Brett wrote: “He was on a mission to free himself of life’s sufferings and to him there was only one path that led to that salvation and it was Scientology.”
Lois, if anyone hasn’t learned the lesson of how much a group can degenerate – in the name of all things “holy” – your story should teach it well. Thanks very much for sharing it.
Marvellous idea.Visited the website.Read the whole series.Even looked at A&E.somehow this website impacted me the most.
Don’t know why that is.
Maybe the llast still-in scientologists are the masters of disconnection (50 Facebook unfrienders instantly).
Awnser make a website in the name of the disconnector.
Maybe I will do the same for my son.
Or maybe Phil has some good ideas,but nothing beats a photo to make a point..