We continue breaking down the Bridge to total Freedom towards the level of Clear with Bruce Hines. It's the stairway to heaven with turnstiles at every step. The State of Clear -- halfway up the Bridge What is the E-Meter? Leah mentions her therapist's write-up on the E-Meter and she quotes from a small part of it. Here it is in full: The science is pretty precise and involved (i.e., the science that it sounds like Scientology and the e-meter capitalizes on and distorts for the purposes of Scientology), but here’s the basic scenario: It … [Read more...]
Episode 50: The Bridge Deep Dive Part 1 with Bruce Hines
We earlier had Jon Atack join us for two episodes taking a deeper look into the life of L. Ron Hubbard. This week, our old friend Bruce Hines joins us for Part 1 (of 3) where we take a look at the scientology "Bridge to Total Freedom" in more detail. In this episode we address the lower levels of the Bridge. Bruce was a highly trained scientology "Auditor" (counselor) and "Case Supervisor" (one who oversees auditors to ensure they are following the words of Hubbard exactly). Bruce appeared on an episode of The Aftermath and did a series of articles for Tony Ortega with Claire Headley on the … [Read more...]
Episode 49: Katherine and Julian Wain
This week we talk to a couple who experienced scientology ethics and disconnection policies up close and personal. Katherine is the sister of William Kilmartin. William was previously married to Leah's sister Shannon. When Leah and her family left scientology, William refused to disconnect, as a result his scientology family members all disconnected from him, including his sisters and parents. William was then officially adopted into Leah's family and is now Leah's adopted brother. It's a bit unusual and sort of complicated so I wanted to make sure it was clear up front here. After … [Read more...]
Episode 48: Listener Questions 6
The next episode of Listener Questions. As always, we cover a lot of ground, though not nearly all the questions you have submitted. This time we try our best to answer questions about how many scientologists are left, why scientology is so "white," should scientology celebrities be boycotted, the front groups of scientology, Applied Scholastics schools, Degraded Beings, Dilettantes and more. It's a lot of stuff! And here are some documents and resources to go alo0ng with the answers. The number of scientologists today -- this is a great visual done by … [Read more...]
Episode 44: Tom Green County Sheriff Nick Hanna
What an enormous pleasure it was to speak to the Sheriff of Tom Green County, Texas, Nick Hanna. He recounted the incredible story of his work (and that of many others) in discovering, investigating and prosecuting the criminal activities and abuses in a compound of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints on a ranch (the YFZ Ranch "Yearning For Zion") in the small town of Eldorado Texas in 2003. It is a perfect example of how law enforcement and the court system got it right with a religious organization abusing its members, especially children. A bit of background: Tom Green … [Read more...]
Episode 42: Listener Questions Part 5
We answered more "Listener Questions" this week. These are some of our favorite episodes and we really appreciate the questions people send in. This one was especially fun and I think you all will enjoy it. We talk about the last chapter of Hubbard's life which is documented in the Epilogue of Lawrence Wright's brilliant Going Clear. This is an excerpt detailing what Steve Pfauth, one of the handful of people with Hubbard at the end of his life had to say. We talk about Hubbard's succession and mention the issue appointing Pat and Annie Broeker which Miscavige had … [Read more...]
Episode 41: Law Review Author Taylor Holley
Leah and I had the great pleasure of speaking to Taylor Holley this week. Taylor is a law student at Texas Tech University who published a legal analysis of scientology's tax exempt status in the Law Review. Taylor has never been involved in scientology, but grew up in Tampa which sparked her interest in scientology. Her paper is a wonderful summation and careful analysis of the law and makes a compelling argument that the IRS should revisit the exempt status of scientology. I wrote about this earlier. I am including her full paper below, as well as a link to it for downloading. I … [Read more...]
Episode 40: Dr. Steven Hassan
Leah and I welcome Dr. Steve Hassan to the podcast this week. A former Moonie, Steve is today an internationally recognized expert in the field of cults and undue influence. We cover a lot of territory, including undue influence, hypnosis and the methods used to control people. Dr. Hassan holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology from Cambridge College and a Doctorate in Organizational Development and Change from Fielding Graduate University School of Leadership Studies. He is a member of the Program in Psychiatry and the Law at Harvard Medical School. He is Founding Director … [Read more...]
Episode 39: Former A&E Executive Devon Graham Hammonds
This week we talk with our guardian angel at A&E, Devon Graham Hammonds. Devon was VP Programming (she has since moved on and is now an executive at the production company that produced the show) and oversaw The Aftermath show in every respect. We talk about how the show came to be with a lot of behind-the-scenes glimpses into what it was like to make The Aftermath -- including the Fair Gaming of everyone concerned and the challenges the network and production company and everyone who worked on the show faced. We also cover why the show ended (it was not, as scientology crowed … [Read more...]
Episode 38: Listener Questions #4
This week is another episode answering listener questions. We cover a range of topics and below are related documents. The first is that scientology paid the IRS $12.5 million as part of the settlement which resulted in tax exemption. At the event announcing the exemption, Miscavige said the bill to the IRS was $1 billion: This is a fairly comprehensive summary of the story of the IRS and Scn on Wikipedia: How to find your US Representative: and US Senator: And here are some twitter … [Read more...]