I came across this on the STAND website. As with everything they ever utter, it is laced with falsehoods. What is the Scientology position regarding litigation? During the history of the Church, some individuals sought to make money from unfounded allegations, but the Church successfully defended against those claims. Well, not exactly. Julie Christofferson won a massive judgment, so did Larry Wollersheim. The family of Lisa McPherson extracted a lrge settlement, so did many victims of Narconon. Litigation involving Churches of Scientology in America is virtually nonexistent today. Only … [Read more...]
Where is the IAS?
If this situation is so dire, why isn't the IAS stepping in to spend ten thousand dollars to buy some generators/batteries? The IAS has sucked in hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past based on Freedom Medal winners who "brought LRH tech to the government of Ukraine and thus brought sanity to an entire nation." They have used the Ukrainian Freedom Medal winners to do fundraising events. They have explained how important it is to "bring the tech" to this nation. But now in their hour of need, the IAS is nowhere to be seen, instead it's a Facebook pitch to keep the mission bringing the … [Read more...]
“Solve it with Scientology”
Hurricane Debby reminded me of the original Hurricane Debbie -- Debbie Cook's email that rocked the scientology world on 1 January 2012. In addition to other points she laid out, Debbie highlighted Hubbard's insistence that scientology NOT engage in "fundraising" but sell and deliver Dianetics and Scientology as the only way to success. Here are some Hubbard quotes Debbie cited: From HCO PL Org Ethics and Tech: “GET RID OF DISTRACTIONS FROM SCIENTOLOGY in your org. Baby-sitting or raffle tickets and such nonsense.” From HCO PL Org Programming: “If the org slumps… don’t engage in ‘fu … [Read more...]
Episode 76: Professor Aharon Friedman
Aharon Friedman is a professor of Physics and Electrical Engineering, a former scientologist and today serves on the Board of the Israeli Center for Cults’ Victims. Unlike L. Ron Hubbard, he really IS a nuclear physicist, his official title is Head - Schlesinger Knowledge Center for Accelerators and Radiation Sources. We talk about his experiences in scientology, what drove him to escape and his work helping victims of cults today. The brilliant book Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl about his time in Nazi concentration camps and what he learned from his ex … [Read more...]
Scientology and Litigation — the Real Truth
Among the many falsehoods perpetrated on the STAND League website are a series of FAQs where they try to present the image of scientology as victims of predatory, greedy litigants ... It's a typical fable that gets off to a rollicking start: During the history of the Church, some individuals sought to make money from unfounded allegations, but the Church successfully defended against those claims. It's a false premise for a number of reasons. There have been successful litigants -- notably Lawrence Wollersheim and Julie Christoffersen who were awarded multi-million dollar … [Read more...]
Episode 10: Attorney Ray Jeffrey
We have another real treat this week, Leah and I talk with Ray Jeffrey. I will add the episode here as soon as it is available. As most of you who come here know, Ray was the lawyer who took on representing Debbie Cook and her husband Wayne when they were sued by scientology for allegedly breaching their agreement not to speak out about their experiences in scientology. It was a huge ask as scientology had filed requesting a Temporary Restraining Order on an expedited hearing schedule, and of course they had lined up a small army of lawyers. They were impossible odds. By happenstance, … [Read more...]
Aharon Friedman on Israeli National TV
Long term supporter of this blog, Professor Aharon Friedman sent me a link to this show that aired last night on Israeli national TV (one of the 3 state owned stations, channel 11 which is like Israel's BBC).. I asked Aharon to give a little bit of information about himself as an introduction and he sent me this: I got into Scientology when I was in Long Island for my post doctoral studies. The LI Church was quite an intimate place, and there was no pressure or “hard sell”. In 1987 we moved to Maryland and started attending the DC Org. This was a different ball game. During my tim … [Read more...]
Debbie Cook Revisited
It's been some time since any news about Debbie Cook has surfaced. Then last weekend Tony Ortega posted that she has just published a book on Amazon about recovering from Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue. Although I haven't spoken to Debbie in years, I have thought about her and Wayne many times and after reading some of the comments on Tony's blog, I felt some background information might be of interest to fill in a few blanks and perhaps dispel some misconceptions. There hasn’t really been a reason for me to write about this before. Marty covered the activities of her case and the s … [Read more...]
Conversations With Scientologists
A couple of people have recently sent me copies of email correspondence they have had with people in the church. They were not working together, but both hit upon the same concept: responding to church efforts to get new people in or collect money from existing public and using this as an opportunity to present some facts to people they might not otherwise be able to reach. It is also interesting to see the reactions, responses and "pitches" that are employed. This first is with a Mission who had advertised a Big League Sales Seminar. The responses from the mission person are in … [Read more...]
Mike Rinder: Open Revolt Against Vulture Culture?
The following interview of Mike Rinder was published in the most widely circulated and influential newspaper in Germany, Sueddeutsche, over the weekend. It is informative and gets more integral differentiation going out worldwide. (Click Here for Mike Rinder Bio) Thanks to Greta Alexander for translating for us. Scientology-dropout about leader of sect “He beat me, he made me clean toilets” January 14, 2012, 15:57 Interview: Marc Felix Serrao For 20 years Michael Rinder has led the feared secret service of the Church of Scientology. In 2007 he dropped out – because he could no longer deal wi … [Read more...]