I want to wish everyone a wonderful day of peace, happiness and goodwill.
Whether you are Christian or not, everyone can share in the holiday spirit.
I hope each of you has the opportunity to spend a day with family and friends (especially children – for whom this is a magical day of excitement) as we will be.
The only sour note note to be heard among the caroling is the fact that many readers here are cut off from some family members and friends because of the cruel scientology practice of disconnection. My wish is that you can enjoy and be thankful for what you DO have today and try not to let the sadness of loss spoil things. Tomorrow you can return to the fight to put an end to the abuses.
Happy Holidays to all.
Cathy Leslie says
Happy holidays and a very great New Year!
tesseract says
Merry Christmas, Mike and all. Thanks for what you’re doing.
Geoff Levin says
Thanks Mike. I agree.
Rip Van Winkle says
Merry Christmas, Mike. Thank you for your year-long gift of comfort and hope..and camaraderie of razzing that which once enslaved our lives and minds.
The Facebook Christmas photo of you and my favourite family just made my day – and was icing on this holiday. I saved a copy to remind myself of the joy…for the rough days.
I’ll do my best this year to post and add my welcoming voice to the newly wakened who stumble in from the cold.
Ann Davis says
Merry Christmas Rip! Your posts never fail to touch my heart. Wishing you all the best for 2019!!
Rip Van Winkle says
Thanks, honey. And a very Merry Christmas to you as well.
Aquamarine says
Not sure if my Christmas wish posted – just in case it didn’t – Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good Night!
Ann Davis says
Merry Christmas Aqua! I always enjoy reading your comments. I agree that it’s gonna be a good year. My bones don’t lie either. Lol. Look out scamatology! Or shamatology!
Aquamarine says
Merry Christmas Mike and Family! As always, thank you, thank you so much. Merry Christmas everyone! Its going to be an interesting year, and a good one. Ah feel it in mah bones and mah bones they doan lie. Merry Christmas, Leah Remini, you awesome person you!
Meryl says
Happy holidays to all!!
Wrytur man says
Best Christmas wishes to you, Mike, and family, as well as all the Rinderite Heroes of the Heart here, in gratitude for all you do in the fight for truth and freedom.
I gaze from my office window at the newly fallen Christmas snow here at the treatment facility where I work in the mountains, knowing just a few miles down the highway, a frail captive gazes longingly from her compound’s barred window at that same pristine white blanket, perhaps remembering a time of freedom, a time so long ago, before a despotic husband’s descent into madness and her confinement in a gilded gulag.
I can only convey this Christmas “greeting” to the aforement despotic merchant of menace:
We are Legion. We do not Forgive. We do not Forget. Expect Us!
Ann Davis says
Merry Christmas Mike, Christi and family. Thank you for working relentlessly and endlessly to end the abuses by the cult! I have grown to love everyone here, even when our opinions differ. So Happy Holidays to all you beautiful souls.
georgemwhite says
This Buddhist prayer will help keep things in perspective and announce your thankfulness for the people in your life. Recite this prayer and you’ll provide peace within your community.
May my teachers be well, happy, and peaceful.
May my parents be well, happy, and peaceful.
May my relatives be well, happy, and peaceful.
May my friends be well, happy, and peaceful.
May the indifferent persons be well, happy, and peaceful.
May the unfriendly persons be well, happy, and peaceful.
May all meditators be well, happy, and peaceful.
May all beings be well, happy, and peaceful
Merry Christmas to all
Bruce says
Merry Christmas, Mike, to you and yours!
SILVIA says
Thank you and I really wish you an excellent Christmas day with your lovely family and the great many friends.
Thank you for all you do.
Miss Q says
Merry Christmas to Mike and his family and all who post or lurk here. May 2019 bring lots of REconnection!
TomUfer says
Merry Christmas to you and your family Mike. Also, Merry Christmas to everyone who reads this blog.
Skyler says
Oh dear. So sorry MIke. I got Alex Gibney confused with Paul Haggis. I know that Alex directed Going Clear and Paul appeared in it. But I remembered Paul discussing how he first got involved with the cult. I just remembered it wrong.
Mike? Congrats on a stellar third season. It was great to hear from the Jehovah’s Witnesses and those people from the Nation of Islam. I really like the way you and Leah keep shining a light on the problem with cults and it makes it very clear the problem is much bigger than just one single cult. Like many other people, I eagerly await for the day we see the Tiny Fuhrer being led off in handcuffs – or maybe in a box or urn.
Keep up the great work Mike and please give my best to Leah. If we were an tribe of Native People, we would give her a name meaning, “The one with the heart of a lion.”
Your name would surely mean something about your steady nature. Maybe, “The one who stands Like a Rock.”
It may be kind of funny. But it’s also true.
Rebecca says
Merry Christmas Mike to you and your family that is with you and I am so happy that you are free to celebrate in your own way. Peace!
Overun in California says
Merry Xmas Mike. Thanks for being there.
I Yawnalot says
Best wishes to everyone.
Otviii2late says
Beautifully spoken with such kindness and heart. Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Stefani Hutchison says
Joy and peace to all no matter what! May the New Year bring us closer to the end of Scientology, healing for all those affected by it’s darkness and RECONNECTION of family, friends and loved ones.
Dawn says
Thanks Mike. Merry Christmas to your sweet family too. You deserve so much appreciation and respect. Lots of love ❤️
Skyler says
I’d like to wish everyone here a Happy Holiday season. I hope the following comments will not offend anyone because they are off topic. I don’t think I’ve ever before posted something that is as far “off topic” as the following. But I recently discovered a documentary TV show and most all of its episodes I believe were created and produced by Mr. Alex Gibney.
Alex Gibney is a former member of Scamatology. He has produced some excellent documentary films in the past. He won the 2007 Academy Award for the film “Taxi to the Dark Side” which is a film that exposes the haunting details of the USA’s torture and interrogation practices during the War in Afghanistan.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0316795/awards?ref_=nm_awd
The TV show I want to recommend to you is called “Dirty Money”. The first season seems to have six episodes. I’ve only seen the first one. But it certainly was up to the standards of all the other work I’ve seen that belongs to Alex Gibney.
So, after you have watched all the episodes of Leah’s and Mike’s show “Aftermath”, I’d like to recommend that you see the episodes of Dirty Money. The first episode is pretty amazing.
Did you know that …… many years ago, VW (Volkswagon) was near bankruptcy because it was not selling nearly enough cars to keep the company solvent. But instead of investing in the development of new technologies, the company chose to invest in good advertising. But the product they created did not perform nearly as well as they advertised. In other words, they cheated. I’m not talking about a little bit of cheating. They cheated to a monumental level. The US govt has certain emission standards and car manufacturers must ensure their exhaust fumes do not contain more pollutants than a strict maximum.
It was wrong for me to say that VW did not invest in technology. They certainly did invest in technology. But the technological device they invented was designed to defeat the exhaust system so that although their new Diesel Jetta cars (form about 2011 to 2016) were advertised as being a “green car” and getting fabulous mileage and fabulous performance and emitted extremely clean exhaust fumes, it was all a lie, a big huge lie, a monumental sized lie.
The American public went crazy for these cars. Can you imaging buying a new car that cost about the same as other new mid sized car but was extremely efficient, got magnificent mileage and magnificent performance and magnificent everything else. But the only component that really worked was the cheating exhaust system.
VW sold around half a million cars and they had to buy them all back. It cost them about 6 Billion dollars (if I remember correctly).
OK. I got lots more to say. But I’m gonna stop now and recommend you watch the first episode which is all about these lying, scamming VW executives who were lying out of both sides of their mouths. but Alex Gibney (bless his good old heart) produced this episode and showed them all up for the scam artists they were. To be clear, Mr. Gibney did not discover this scam. I think that someone who knew about the scam and knew of Alex’s work, contacted him and, “The Hunt was On!”. Go Alex Go!
Why don’t you stop by here one day Alex and take a bow? You sure do deserve that! You are a wonderful producer of wonderful films! Thank Goodness you got out of that scam situation. Please, won’t you tell us about the difference that made to the quality of your work? I’m sure that I’m not the only one who would love to hear what you have to say.
Mike Rinder says
Alex Gibney was never a scientologist. He ISa brilliant filmmaker. On the subject of offtopic comments (:)) – my recommendation is Alex’s Mea Maxima Culpa. It’s brlliant.
Mary Kahn says
I concur!
Andy Poole says
Hiya from here in England – i was a never in and would never have been dupped – i was you all festive time and hope your all well and having a good life – we have difficulty in understanding all this crap around SOC and mind bending and so will fund the aftermath as it all sounds a load of bollocks
Skyler says
Thank you very much for recommending the film Mea Maxima Culpa. I had never heard of it before but it was one of the most powerful films I’ve ever seen.
It was so satisfying to learn that in the Western World, there are several cities where Catholic parishes are closing in alarming numbers due to their refusal to acknowledge or deal with the problems of priests sexually abusing children.
Parts of the film made it so clear the position of the Vatican is just “Deny, Blame others, Ignore the charges.” It sounded so familiar to me. Very similar to the way CO$ reacts to the charges made against them. I’d like to make a suggestion to you to maybe shine a light on the Catholic church. But I’m afraid to say hardly anything because of the huge numbers of people who would react negatively to that.
In any case, I apologize again for making that dumb mistake and posting off-topic. I wish you and Leah continued success and I hope we will all live to see the day when Scamatology is wiped out.
MarcAnon says
Merry Christmas to all, and thanks for all that you all are doing to help end abuses and disconnection, to get families back together at future Christmases! You are leaving the world a better place than you found it, Mike, Leah, Mary, all the other contributors to the show, and everyone else who has spoken out, woken up (if that’s a word), left, blown, supported the Aftermath or the Aftermath Foundation, or otherwise struck a blow for what’s right.
May Christmas be filled with incredible “wins” for you all!
ctempster says
Merry Christmas Mike to you and yours and to all who post here. You and Leah are doing such good work exposing the evil that I hope you never stop. Enjoy the holiday with your loved ones.
Mary Kahn says
Well put. And same to you, Mike Rinder and Christie. Thank you for your fight for those we miss and that should be here but are not in our lives this day not only because of the church’s policy of disconnection but also because of the lies and disceit the church of scientology promugates.
Thank you Mike Rinder and all of those who don’t settle into their own comforts but help fight this fight.
For now, have a wonderful day.
Ann Davis says
Keeping you in my thoughts and my heart today Mary. I’m so happy you are out. Hoping next year you will be with your son.
Mary Kahn says
?
Cece says
My WordPress has suprises today. Here is the rest of my broken posts:
https://www.class-central.com/course/coursera-learning-how-to-learn-powerful-mental-tools-to-help-you-master-tough-subjects-2161
Free Christmas gifts ?
Mark Foster says
An awesome course…That is REAL ” study/ learning technology “!
Scribe says
Merry Christmas to all! May each of you be celebrating this joyous day with loved ones and may the new year bring more and more people leaving the cult and greater efforts extended in Keeping Scientology Weakening.
Mark Foster says
Scribe!
For all you do, this batch of super-intelligent, hyperactive, extremely articulate and literate batch of multilingual BT’s is for YOU!???
OverTheBridgeTPA says
Merry Christmas to All of You. Mike…I am taking your message to heart. I lost my Mom suddenly this past March. It has been extremely difficult. But I keep Going.
I wish all of you a day of Peace and Love.
Yours…..OverTheBridgeTPA
Brian Thomas Lambert says
Merry Christmas all! Love and joy to all.
Merry Christmas to lurkers, OSA…… everyone!
May all beings be happy!
God bless us all
Stacey Shute says
Merry Christmas Mike to you and your family. I am a Christian and I’m praying for all of those in need . All of those that are lost, or have been lied too. Enjoy today❤️.. just get through today, and tomorrow do the same. Love to all of you! My heart goes out to all of you brave souls.
smorbie says
Merry Christmas, everyone. Merry Christmas, Mike and Leah.
rosemarietropf says
Merry Christmas to everyone here and especially to Mike Rinder for taking the time everyday to keep us updated on what’s happening. I appreciate your efforts Mike. Today is a wonderful family day for ya’ll. 🙂
kengullette says
Merry Christmas, Mike. I’m not a Scientologist, or a former one, but I was a Christian and some family members disconnected from me when I left the faith. It happens whenever people take their religion too seriously. So I simply enjoy the family that remains close. 🙂 I wish you and Leah the best in 2019.
Michael says
Merry Christmas Mike and Christine.. hug ”um extra tight.
WhatWall says
Merry Christmas, Mike and family. Thank you for all you and Christie do. My family, after several years of tribulation, survived. Scientology failed to separate us, although it tried especially hard to break one of my children. Now we are all together and cannot be pulled apart.
The new year brings more hope for all affected by disconnection as more of Scientology’s abuses are exposed.
Wynski says
May all people find what makes them happy. Thanks Mike for everything you do to help the oppressed.
bixntram says
Merry Christmas to all. My Christmas morning fantasy: David Miscavige is visited by three ghosts. You all can fill in the rest.
bixntram says
Make that four ghosts; Flubbard as Marley.
Rebecca says
Oh that is too funny, thank you for the laughs.
Idle Morgue says
Merry Christmas Mike! Spoken from a true gentleman and humanitarian with honors.
We appreciate everyone all of you are doing.
You are making a difference in the world and may cults never run the same because of what you do
Stefan says
I don´t think anything can be more true! And not to speak of the brilliant analyzes.
Compare this with the Cult statements, e.g 10 times expansion,,,and/or Michael Myers example or Big Pharma Whores; i.e Miscavige or Parkin style!
Aharon Friedman says
Merry Christmas, Mike, to you, your family and everybody here who celebrates the holiday.
Ms. B. Haven says
Seasons Greetings to All, including my scientologist friends, indies, freezoners and OSA net nannies. Let’s celebrate the return of the light this season brings and celebrate our diversity and freedom (or at least potential freedom).
This might be WAY OT(off topic) but might be some interesting reading for some of you. The article is clearly written so you won’t need your dictionary or demo kit to understand it. There will be no metered word clearing or star-rated check outs, so have fun with this.
I recently read an article on NPR
(https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/12/22/679083038/researchers-show-parachutes-dont-work-but-there-s-a-catch)
about scientific research and couldn’t help but think of my old friend FOOLproof. This article nicely explains the “research” that FOOL’s infallible mentor, L. Ron Hubbard employed when coming up with his “discoveries” about the human mind back in the 40s and 50s and continuing with his breakthroughs into the mysteries of the spirit on Target II. Thanks for sharing Ron.
As a result of my persistent harping about Hubbard’s lack of genuine research and results, FOOLproof has honored me with the title of Chief Lab Rat. While that honor is truly flattering coming from someone as steeped in KSW Kool-Aid as FOOL, I certainly am not worthy of it. There are others who post here who are a lot smarter and more knowledgable and are much more deserving than I. I would name name names, but I would forget some that shouldn’t be left out, so I won’t. I will offer a special mention for Mike though. Thanks for all the hard work you do in providing this forum that has helped so many people.
All the Best the Season has to offer, and may you not be burdened by your R6mas implants,
Ms. B. Haven (Chief Lab Rat I/C)
bixntram says
Great article; thanks, Mrs. B. However, I must say, none of that applies to Flubbard’s inane ramblings. He just out and out lied about any “research” being done. After all, he only wrote science fiction, never science fact.
Mark Foster says
Fantastic article, Ms. B. Haven!
Maybe Proven Stool, er, Fool…will read it…
?
Pam says
A blessed, healthy, joyful and peaceful Christmas/Holiday season to all ??☃️❄
Peggy L says
What a sweet message Mike. Thank you. My wish for you and all those who are waiting to be reunited with loved ones my sincere wish is that it will happen soon. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and may you have the best New Year ever.
Glenn says
Merry Christmas Mike, to you and all friends and “family” we have here because of you. Yes, being cut off from biological family can be intensely painful, especially at this time of year, but that is greatly softened with the plethora of real friends we have here. So, again Merry Christmas everyone and may the new year bring abounding happiness and good cheer.
Gail Shourds says
Wishing you and your family a very merry Christmas and I am praying for everybody who is missing a family member at the table due to being disconnected that soon they will be together.
Marji says
Merry Christmas! Please never stop exposing the abusers of faith and trust!
Golden Era Parachute says
Well said. Very in line with the holiday spirit too.
Didi M says
Many thanks for the kind Christmas wishes Mike. I of course wish you and all your loved ones the same. Again a million thanks for all you are doing to help shine the light of truth upon us all.
Henni Sincoff says
Merry Christmas to you & family, thank you for ur holiday wishes 😉 may you have a wonderful day 😉