They are really pouring it on to try and make some money before the end of the year.
For most staff, the ONLY paycheck they receive that exceeds $100 is at XMas when there is an annual “bonus” that is paid based on “production” (which means income).
So, they pull out all the stops. Including informing the sheeple that at this time of year (?) “the US Government will back up your Bridge progress.”
Scientology always prefers hubris over humility.
And scientology ALWAYS has a reason for you to give them your money. Immediately. Before the world ends. Before Thursday at 2. Before the children starve in Nigeria. Before the International Dissemination Center can start disseminatging. Before the WTH can be distributed. Before orgs can deliver anything. Before the end of the year. Before you can be happy. On and on ad nauseum…
These are just a couple of the pitches that are being sent out now….
I know that this request will be met by silence and crickets chirping at the Gov’t, but this evidence needs to be reviewed an acted upon by the IRS as proof that (1) Scientology is a business, NOT a “religion”, and (2) Scientology is abusing its tax-free status to raise money (i.e., “Your donations are tax deductible, so Uncle Sam PAYS for you to go up the Bridge!” —-gag me with a Spoon….
Do you remember a novel by Harper Lee called “To Kill A Mockingbird”.?
Here is a piece of the book: “The summer that had begun so long ago had ended, and another summer had taken its place. And a fall. And Boo Radley had come out. I was to think of these days many times, of Jem and Dill… and Boo Radley and Tom Robinson”.
The Church of Scientology may die but a new one will take its place, of more honest, experienced, seasoned individuals.
One thing I have never ever desired is to CASH IN on my misfortunes within the Church of Scientology. I don’t write books about it. I don’t give interviews about it, not even on You Tube. As knowledgeable as I am of these things. To do so is to give a bad name to Dianetics and Scientology, the tech. This is why some people are declared and others are not. Just because I am not declared does not mean that I can’t learn something as well from these experiences.
What did you do ASIDE from talking about the crimes of the Church of Scientology today to insure that this technology will be available to your children’s children and mine as well? Having superb TR’s is just not enough alone. Thank you LRH. And thank you CST for making sure this tech will always be here on Earth at least for other people less fortunate than ourselves to one day themselves stumble upon and come to learn the miracle of.
All my life I have wanted to be an ethical being, nothing more. Dianetics and Scientology helped me to not only achieve this but learn to maintain it as well. The Church of Scientology did not help me do this. The tech the church makes believe it offers people aided me in this task. So who do I thank other than myself? Who would you thank? What would you have done in a situation similar to mine?
Not giving credit where credit is due is practically an overt these days! 🙂
“All my life I have wanted to be an ethical being, nothing more.”
Lawrence, if it took dianetics and scientology to achieve your sole goal of being an ethical person then congratulations on utilizing the means at hand on achieving it. I have wanted other things for myself than just being ethical. Things that are a little more difficult in my opinion: a forgiving and compassionate nature for instance. That’s just me. I have achieved some of that with the help of many things like having good parents, the extraordinary people I’ve met who influenced me by their example but first and foremost, by having my intrinsic human nature which makes me, like everybody else, discontent with anything less than full and complete peace of mind. That could also be called “a clear conscience”. I can honestly say I gained next to nothing from scientology and dianetics and I don’t consider the largely false information advanced under those labels to be a “technology”, and certainly not one that needs to be preserved for future generations. Again, that’s just me, and again, congratulations on achieving your goal in life.
To say anything else would be a lie? 🙂 Thanks.
I want this to stop:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE60eupu6Qo
Yesterday’s post proved beyond any reasonable doubt that the Co$ Public Relations is absurd.
Today’s post points out that miscavige and his minions are also quite crass.
1a : gross; especially : having or indicating such grossness of mind as precludes delicacy and discrimination
b : being beneath one’s dignity c —used as a pejorative intensifier
2: guided by or indicative of base or materialistic values
Okay scientologists, pony up! You’ve hitched your wagon to this needy, hungry star who is bleeding you dry by the day, week, month and year. It’s hungry, it’s needy, it’s bossy and it’s YOURS! The church needs your money right now because it’s ALWAYS donation o’clock!
(in a not so light trance – chanting) It’s ALWAYS donation o’clock! It’s ALWAYS donation o’clock! It’s ALWAYS donation o’clock! It’s ALWAYS donation o’clock! LOUDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Once again I wake up, grab a cup of java and scan the net in my morning routine. It always get me when I go over Mike’s commentary on the Cof$ and see church promo that reads “… so you can achieve total freedom.”
My response is always pretty much nausea but it’s also, OK… show me an example of that product please… I have two, in good standing OT8s in the family and they are not only deluded fools who avoid all communication about scientology except praise about them personally being OT8. They are broke, really struggling to make ends meet, have terrible memories and are treated like a little bit of a joke by other family members who are nowhere on this bridge to total freedom. What is really sad is that these two top products of the Cof$ are now in their late 60s/70s and the relentless demand for money, and this is just to survive and put food on the table and make mortgage payments is making them take on the aura of soon to be destitute. Their twilight years are already a horror especially with body problems such as arthritis, crook teeth, bad knees etc. very real to them now. Retirement is a concept foreign to them, they will work till they drop, they have no choice. They have ridden the rest the family for so long and so hard with this relentless scientology propaganda (over 30 years of it!), no-one listens or will help them anymore with anything to do with scientology. All they get now is pity (and can’t see it) and worst of all, they remain aloof and condescending of the hands that show them compassion and I hate to say this, but feed them decent food and provide social company and family love at regular meals, at a now much increased frequency as they get older. They are becoming a burden to the hard working family members around them and soon it’s going to get worse, a lot worse. Time is not a friendly thing to an arrogant scientologist. Their response at exchange is an area of complete non-confront, they have every idea of how much they are loved yet can’t see what scientology has done to their relationships. Pity is not a good foundation as a reverse flow.
That’s the working definition of the Cof$’s bridge to total freedom as I see it. Scientologists are so out of communication it’s ridiculous and heartbreaking.
And of course someone like me, well… they’d rather eat poison than talk to me. They literally cannot be in the same room with me, they get a bad physical reaction.
Thank you so much for your synopsis. Well said. It’s the arrogance of those who are always eating others’ food that gets to me. One neat trick is to have occasional family events that are ‘pay for yourself’ at some expensive locale. The ones who have been sucked dry realize maybe they aren’t a shit-hot as they think because they can’t make it. I believe it adds a spark of critical thinking that will one day help them wake up. (Mind you, I talk big and have only done this 2 times but it did cause a little chink in a family member’s armor of superiority)
Yes, it’s a well justified minefield one walks into trying to deal with arrogant scientologists on a family level.
They have no idea of the damage they are doing to social responsibilities at a grass roots level. Sympathy is about the only tool left, common sense and then the big stick simply got worn out.
Great post, Yawn. “Time is not a friendly thing to an arrogant Scientologist”. That line gave me chills. How true.
So true that many of the long time still ins, some of the OTs I know and especially those who’ve been long time staff seem to evolve into a curious mixture of ignorance and arrogance. Many of them aredependent upon their families for basic sustenance throughout their 20s and well into their 30s, 40s and even 50s. I would be ashamed to be so un-grown up on this dynamic but the ones I’ve known don’t seem to mind and even have a kind of superior attitude toward the Scientologist family members in “wog” professions who are feeding, clothing and sheltering them. I’ve been privy to some serious bragging from some of them about declaring bankruptcy (giving the money to the church instead of paying bills or taxes). I’ve heard their proud talk about how theydropped out of high school, or dropped some wog course they were learning. They’re PROUD of this! Sure, Einstein and a bunch of others who became rich and famous dropped out of school but they didn’t BRAG about it.
Its just so weird to me that Scientologists feel superior about and proud of actions that would make most others shrink in shame to even admit.
Hi Aquamarine, I think your post is very important. I am very fortunate to not have to worry about what will happen to me when I get really elderly. However my heart breaks for those SO members still in over 60, Where and what will be their circumstances? I love your posts from the beginning. You are real and that resonates with me. Love, Ann.
On the topic of time not being friendly, I am reminded of a conversation that Tony Manero (John Travolta) has with his boss at the hardware store in “Saturday Night Fever.” It’s a Friday, and Tony is asking for an advance on his paycheck. Boss says, no, he can’t have it. He pays his people on Monday so they’ll have money all week, and perhaps they can put something away for the future. Tony says, “fuck the future.” Boss says, “you don’t fuck the future; the future fucks you.”
the two OT’s you write about have the same symptoms as the two OT’s I know.But the ones I know are very lucky, financially…Inherited $ & has a business that makes $ from Psych organizations! How hypocritical this cult is regarding money, money, money////
The dichotomy between ‘donations’ and advance payments for ‘services’ has always been problematic for the clampire. The 93 IRS agreement called for treating these advance payments for future services like a bank account. That part of the agreement has never been obeyed. Regs took that money and sold the customer pallet loads of Lron’s books without the customers knowledge or approval. They took those monies and re-branded them as ‘donations’. Not exactly a bank account treatment is it?
That is just one of the many violations of the 93 agreement. There are many more, but the IRS is toothless these days.
I can see the clampire trying anything to get sales up, but claiming huge subsidies for donations and course payments is just stupid. Anyone who ever did their taxes knows what the payback is. And it isn’t that much of a payback. Only the Duggans benefit from that kind of treatment.
A bit of truth slipped through – on the second piece they actually used the word ‘payments’ to accurately call the fees charged for services. They are not donations.
How ironic that Uncle Sam is now the ally and savior. Now that “the war is over” with the new friends at the IRS, Uncle Sam is featured front and center on their shakedown propaganda. Clearly, Uncle Sam did his A – Es and is back in good standing!
So, I was watching “America’s Book of Secrets” on the History channel this morning. There was an entire episode about one of America’s biggest secret organizations. Something called, “Scientology”. Has anyone heard of this?? LOL It was actually very well done in the program’s production. It was factual and thoroughly researched. It includes interviews with Jenna Miscavige and Tony Ortega. You gotta love the disclaimer at the beginning. I guess the History channel was fully expecting some trouble. LOL You can watch the entire episode online here:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1u3cm3_america-s-book-of-secrets-s03e01-scientology_news
Thanks for the link. That is always a big draw how much taxes you save as you go deeper and deeper in debt.
I’d have more respect if they just said the poor staff need a Christmas bonus like everyone else gets.
… in that case, knowing them, I’d give directly to the poor staff, and I’d give goods rather than money to make it harder for those assholes to extract it from them.
Food hampers maybe. Nothing like a good feed to raise the spirits and scientologists need to feel good every now and again just like the rest of humanity, they don’t feel that way very often.
You reminded me of my last cycle with my Org. Two staff members brought me to an all night diner for a “free meal” and a staff reg cycle. When the senior(who was paying) asked what I’d like, I said I just wanted coffee. They were shocked. The junior (who was a twenty year veteran techy) was so excited about his free five dollar meal. It was really very sad. A major moment of cognitive dissonance.
Taxpayers in countries that subsidise the ideal church of dm are inadvertently complicit in its harmful deeds. My early new year wish – let’s make 2016 the year of NO MORE TAX SUBSIDIES. I know it won’t be easy but with the crescendo of superb Hubbard PR-tech filling the sails you never know if the church finally runs aground on the rocks. In the immortal words of the 2004 IAS medal award winner and scientology’s most famous member still echoing in our ears “we can crush these people ……..NOW are the times……whaddayasay? are we going to clean this place up?”
Yeap, IRS made a very bad deal when approved tax exemption to this criminal organization and taxes are, have been and will be evaded with “government support”. Shame man!
The IRS, literally, threw in the towel. They gave up. They cried ‘Uncle.’ They retreated. They threw up their hands in surrender! They all yelled, “We quit!” That was a very black day for our government agency known as the IRS. They bowed to a vicious, toxic, evil and militant cult. I hope they collectively grow a pair and reverse course. Until then, they’re just a shell…..
The IRS has a problem with the law and lawyers concerning religion, not the Cof$ so much but its own rules.
OSD, have you considered that the people carrying out the vicious, toxic, evil and militant cult’s business were simply doing their job?
One wonders … are any of the people who were instrumental in getting the IRS to throw in the towel, now out of Scientology, and if so, what are they doing to reverse the course of that very black day?
IS this a serious question? Both Marty Rathbun and I were directly involved with the IRS. Done everything I can think of and keep working at it.
Mike Nimble, Exactly what effect did that IRS ruling have on you, or me, or anyone else except David Miscavige positioning himself to keep the books closed so he could not be audited? The rates stayed the same or increased, the staff hours and pay and hardships stayed the same, the abuse stayed the same.
It changed nothing for nobody, except for some tax write offs for the very very wealthy, and very wealthy, and wealthy. But they had to spend so much to get a claim!!
Miscavige obtained wider license for abuse. He got to wipe out an unpaid tax debt for the Church. Otherwise, the I.R.S. discount did nothing for anyone who really had skin in the game.
Nobody involved with Scientology as a worker owns a damned thing except a debt to the Church they can never pay. Even the uniforms are borrowed and must be handed back when a person leaves. They owe time by hidden standards and written standards. They owe money if they are on board to keep going. The only person in that entire theater that owns anything is David Miscavige, and he owns everything.
I have no idea why Miscavige keeps hooting and hollering over a damned tax bill that everyone else in America lives with, and manages to pay on a yearly basis. Why he keeps showing that 1993 video in Orgs as if it effects the people that watch it. I can’t think of a single person that has been effected by that tax ruling, except in court matters where Miscavige relies on “religious status” to justify his crimes against humanity.
It did accomplish something very important though, they gave Miscavige enough rope to hang himself, and he did. And he dragged the Church, and everyone involved with it, down with him.
Yeah, “The war is over” alright. and the Scientologists are the causalities.
What I feel is missing in all this discussion is the names of individuals. The “IRS” is pretty meaningless. A gigantic “Bureau”, faceless to any of us. Who made the decisions? Who is (not) making them now? Which members of Congress have been approached and failed to respond? Pointing fingers at “the IRS” is an indictment of vapor. And why, why, why as their decision immediately made secret?
I’d love to see Oliver Stone take this Gordon Gekko wannabe on, casting anyone? I’d think Danny Devito as COB/DM…
Can I play Heber’s role, robert?
OH Oh!! Can play IJC? Please, pretty please… always wanted a role as Superdick!
I’d go for Al Pacino as COB. He’d need a face lift because he’ too old but OMG what Pacino could do with that role…
Actually, that would be the role of a lifetime for Mr. Tom Cruise! LOL
You’re right! PERFECT casting!
Al Pacino, brilliant suggestion – “meet my little friend…”
Yawn, on further thought, he WOULD have been, but Pacino is now a bit long in the tooth to play DM from young to old…TC has that baby face and could still look like a young boy with the right lighting and makeup.
“Going Clear” documentary is up for an Oscar. I’d love to see it win and see tom Cruise see the clips played at the Oscar ceremony because he’d be in the audience. And afterward, I’d love the media to interview him and ask about “Going Clear” and put him on the hot seat.
Contact the registrar for tax advice?
Go Bankrupt so John Lobb and Ken Moxon and Elliot Abelson (Scientology attorney’s) has to pay taxes – and you will get a right off.
It’s because they want to milk that tax deductible cow before it dies when the IRS finally catches onto the BS and pulls the plug on it. Just a matter of time :O)
It’s as though he’s playing devils advocate – advertising Uncle Sam’s involvement like this. If an IRS person or someone who’s working on a proposal to the IRS to have the tax exemption benefit removed sees this, it’ll work against Miscavige.
He’s not the brightest of pennies, is he?
Should the plug ever be pulled by the IRS, it would be interesting if the penalties were applied from the very first time they refused to pay a refund. That would bankrupt them instantly. Freeze the accounts and the attorneys quit. Heh heh heh!
The IRS is dying to show Miscavige what REAL “Auditing” feels like!
Thank you david miscavige for letting me know that the United States Gov’t is behind the church of scientology and wants me (and YOU) to achieve Total Freedom. I was looking for another tax deduction.
So be broke for Christmas by going broke and have a rockin April. Wait April Fools, now just give us everything you own
new pitch. If you give Scientology all your money and property you won’t have to pay any taxes
Mary, if you claim me as your kid, you can get another tax deduction. Of course, you’ve got to feed and clothe me and buy me new Harley….
What happened to last Harley?
I sold it. It was 15 years old and I wanted to get something newer. One of my best friends has it now.
How nauseating
Laughter!
It’s amazing how “Having To Have Before You Can Do” applies to everyone EXCEPT the church. This is the only way they know how to operate.
Mike, what was your pay like during your time as exec? Was it much better than others? I was wondering whether it was just COB that had the stupid high pay
Nope, never better than anyone else in the same org I was in…
The “Church” of Infinite shame, that should be called.
I am not a tax expert by any means, but isn’t Scientology walking a fine line here? I know that donations to non-profits and churches are tax deductible, but donations mean you are donating and not getting anything in return. How is paying for a classes or training a tax deduction? You are getting something of value (I use that term lightly), hence it is not a donation.
Good point. Even when I was blinded by the glaring discrepancies in $cn but not having yet removed my blinkers, I thought Hubbard a tad bit of a chancer for calling our payments donations. (However, I played along, didn’t I?)
Yes, yes you did, Dawn. We all did. But, again, we’re all out now. Life is fantastic once again!
Lori, you are logical and right, but Scientology duped the IRS and persuaded some idiot parser of words in the government that these payments for services were really donations to a church for suggested amounts. Here is how the church spins it: http://www.scientology.org/faq/church-funding/church-funding.html.
One writer aptly described the business-wolf putting on religion-sheep’s clothing (a time which I remember personally) as “His counselors started sporting clerical collars. Chapels were built, franchises became “missions,” fees became “fixed donations,” and Hubbard’s comic-book cosmology became “sacred scriptures.” (https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Fishman/time-behar.html). That transition to putting the Tarot-Crowley crosses was when I first started doubting Scientology, because the modifications were so patently and obviously a ploy. Yet the government bought it. And to my shame as a young person at the time, I remained silent within the organization. To speak up would have been to challenge Hubbard and be sent to ethics, and then have to grovel my way back into good standing through “ethics conditions.”
Shortly, I’ll go to Starbucks or somewhere and donate some money for a cup of coffee. I understand they have fixed donations too so hopefully I can claim my religious tax deduction for my donation spent at the Church of Caffeine.
“Comic Book Cosmology” I like it. A far more accurate description for Hubbard’s ramblings than “Sacred Scriptures”
Hi FOTF2012, You make excellent points in your post.Those crosses got me too. My problem was I spoke up, asked questions, screwed up electrical equipment and disconnected and mixed up so many pbs phone calls,it was ridiculous.Oh did Ethics love me because I just could not grovel my way through the many conditions I did, I glared my way thru them! Laughter! Always, Ann.
Lori you are correct. I am a tax preparer, but not an EXPERT. The portion of the “contribution” that is paying for a service is not deductible.
The interesting fact of deductible contributions is if you’re in the 15% tax bracket & you donate $1000 you save $150 on your taxes. In this example you still would be out-of-pocket $850.
To benefit on your taxes from ANY donation, you would have to have enough in itemized deductions to exceed the standard deduction before the donation is made. If not, the tax benefit is less or possibly none at all. This would be $6300, $9250 and $12,600 for single/married filing separately, head of household, or married filing jointly/surviving spouse.
Most states that have state income tax use federal taxable income as a starting point for calculating what you owe in state income tax. If you itemize and deduct state income tax on your federal return, you will usually be required to add the amount that you deducted in state income tax on your federal tax return to taxable income to calculate tax due on your state return. This condition does not apply if you don’t itemize. Consequently, the tax benefits are lower than what CO$ advertises. You might donate enough to them to qualify for a federal tax deduction, but then you lose deductibility of your state income tax on your state return.
Usually the portion of a fundraising event that is in excess of what you receive is deductible. If you paid $100 for a concert ticket that would usually cost $40, then $60 is deductible as a charitable donation provided that the organization qualifies for tax-deductible donations.
“How is paying for a classes or training a tax deduction? You are getting something of value (I use that term lightly), hence it is not a donation.”
Lori S, here’s how its rigged: the cult has its training and auditing classified as actions done ONLY for the purpose of spiritual benefit, and such benefits are intangible and as such cannot be charged fees for, nor can the attainment of them be promised or guaranteed in any way
.
Their legal language tells you plainly that with any Scientology action each person gets what he gets and doesn’t get whatever he doesn’t get and the spiritual benefits obtained or not obtained can vary with each individual, and that whatever he gets or doesn’t get out of anything is his responsibility and not the cult’s.
Co$ is slick with its language for legal purposes, conflating spiritual enhancement (subjective) with an actual ability gained (objective).
For legal purposes, a VIA is used, and that via is the “spiritual enhancement” POSSIBLE but not promised, which, in turn, MIGHT result in an ability gained. (And then again, might not.) And this stuff is all in papers that have to be signed before anyone is allowed to do a course or auditing.
Slick, and they get away with it, because the IRS accepted this bullshit back in 1993. Also, it opened the door for requiring people to do courses and auditing actions over and over and over again.
Now, to confuse you even more, when the sheeple are SOLD courses by the registrars, they are NEVER “soft sold” with vague possibilities as described above. In these cycles, registars “hard sell” like crazy, ( per policy they have to).
In short, there’s a vast dichotomy between what is “promised” by the registrars (whatever) and what you are “promised” by the cult’s lawyers (nothing).
Well observed and said. And of course if someone rebels, the term ‘out-ethics’ is applied.
Slick alright, if you give the Cof$ money it’s like Catch 22 written into legalese.
If they ever delivered what they promised… well… dodge those flying pigs.
I hear you, Yawn.
And, even sadder is the fact that effectively on paper the church promises nothing , and absolves itself from all responsibility to deliver anything and prevents anyone from taking action against them for delivering nothing.
On the other hand, if the regges didn’t strongly and clearly communicate the concept of a definite ability gained they’d never sell anything to anyone. There’s such a wide disparity between what the papers say and what the regges communicate.
I’m thinking that possibly the sheeple are reading the fine print of the contracts they have to sign nowadays and are being bothered by the language. This could be one of the major reasons why the cult is veering away from delivering services and toward straight donos.
Tax laws are fickle. Would you have to pay tax on money you gave to the local church (an actual one for the sake of the argument) for a bible class?
Save on taxes but pay interest to the cc companies for years. Yes, I fell for this bull shit which gave me a bit more on my tax return but payed way more in interest while getting rediculously in debt. Just about everyone at the org including the reg was in over their head. I’m sure nothing has changed.
20+ years out, and am still recovering from the debt impact of having been in. LOL — I just realized that Scientology is the anti-Dave Ramsey program.
I wonder if they will also eventually promote “Donate now before our tax-exempt status is revoked!”
Laughter!
🙂 That SP Gov’t.
LOL… very good. I bet they find a way to do that. They have no shame – absolute ZERO!