This article recently appeared in local Florida media
It states the following:
A political committee linked to Gov. Ron DeSantis raised more than $1.11 million from Aug. 24 to 30, and the bulk of it came from one local Scientologist megadonor.
Most of the money received during the period came in a $1 million contribution from Belleair Shores resident Trish Duggan, who is also the “world’s top donor to Church of Scientology,” reports the Tampa Bay Times.
The Times also reports that she and her now ex-husband, billionaire venture capitalist Bob Duggan, have donated more than $360 million to Scientology.
Trish Duggan, a major donor to Donald Trump, was notably a primary financier behind the church’s wave of secretive land purchases in downtown Clearwater, which began in 2017.
The Florida Freedom Fund was launched last May, and aims to stop a pair of ballot initiatives that would allow recreational use of marijuana (Amendment 3) and write abortion rights into the state Constitution (Amendment 4).
The only way she would not get herself into hot water for diverting funds from scientology to political causes that are aligned with scientology. Clearly these two are. Scientology continues their campaigns to educate the world about the dangers of marijuana use. Apparently they didn’t read Dianetics very closely or went by some major MU’s as Hubbard says marijuana is less problematic than alcohol and scientology are NOT opposed to alcohol use or campaigning against it.
The exact passage from Dianetics comparing marijuana and other drugs to alcohol:
You have to wonder what Trish thinks about Donald Trump coming out in favor of legalizing marijuana in Florida.
Duggan and scientologists in general are anti-abortion and so writing any sort of abortion rights into the Constitution is something they oppose. Again, they seem to have a poor understanding of what Hubbard actually said (and practiced in life). Though Hubbard is obseesed in Dianetics is with subject of backyard knitting-needled, coat-hanger and other barbaric abortion methods, it is the FAILED abortions that Hubbard posits are so damaging to the thetan in their life. Hubbard sent his own messengers to get abortions when they became pregnant. It is a matter well documented that numerous Sea Org members were assisted (and sometimes coerced) to get abortions.
Hubbard stated in later writings that the thetan takes over the body right before birth — not at conception (there was no thetan even contemplated in Dianetics). This is the quote from History of Man:
Therefore a fetus is “just a piece of MEST”– this is the argument used to let pregnant Sea Org members knows it’s “OK” to have an abortion. It’s not really any different from removing a wisdom tooth.
Given this, it would make more sense for scientologists to be on the side of abortions being legal — safe and effective is far better from the Dianetics perspective than risky backroom abortions.
But despite these facts, if you ask scientologists they will SWEAR that they need to be fighting the invasion of the devil’s weed and any and all abortions. It’s “conventional wisdom” and in the world of scientology, “group think” prevails. If it is agreed upon by the opinion leaders then it is fact and unalterable, beyond questions or thought. No matter how much money you have, it doesn’t prevent you from being a dupe.
And isn’t it just a little ironic that one of the biggest SPs on the planet has a better grasp of Hubbard’s tech than the biggest “b
Yes, that was stupendous!
Bob and Trish Duggan have donated $360 million to the Church of Scientology.
Wow.
Guess how big their IAS trophy is.
What to say? Well, first, even though I don’t share her politics, what in history should the super rich do with their extra money?
I started reading the several books, and pretty quickly stopped, of the French economics guy, Thomas Piketty. Very above my reading ability.
Hubbard didn’t really leave any policies, other than the Archives (CST) massive projects, which is where probably a couple hundred million dollars has been spend on the “legacy” preservation of Hubbard’s “tech” (the quackery, the “LRH originals” etc.). There’s the one volume 3 of the green volumes policy of saving and setting aside enough money to pay the staffs of the orgs for a few years. I think that has been reached.
Scientology has collected enough straight donations, set it aside, to run Scientology now for likely tens of years, so that green vol 3 LRH goal has been reached almost certainly.
There are loopholes in the Hubbard policy to condone what Miscavige has done, in fact I’d advise Scientology to go further to becoming more like a legit religion, and the “straight donation” “religion angle” is LRH condoned theoretically under the “religion” policies which say act like a religion overall.
“Straight donations” from mega donors, really even though at the “org level” isn’t a thing, on the stand alone sideline “war chest” early 1980s trend which was condoned by LRH, has become to me, a legit thing to do since it conforms with other legit religions who do accept large straight donations.
Biggest straight donation to a pretty legit religious group, is where one of the McDonalds’ spouses donated a billion dollars to the Salvation Army. And on my job, I’ve had to meet several Salvation Army couples who run small city Salvation Army setups, and I’ve watched the Salvation Army modern videos for their recent decades strategies.
The thing with Scientology, is that there are loopholes, they have a huge amount of money in their IAS accounts, they ought to do more than just build up the Ideal Orgs, they ought to maybe start spending more of the money ON their staffs, via the OEC vol 3 loophole policy to save and spend money keeping up their staffs.
But, is this whole Hubbard cult bureaucracy really legit, of course not.
But, then, Hubbard has written so many policies to choose from, things could be different, if a Debbie Cook, or Janis Grady Gillham, or Bitty Misvavige were at the top as the top “authorizing” decision maker, and were someone else more sanely running by the Hubbard myriad options, and the important loopholes, and with that amount of IAS accounts floating out there overseas in whichever banks all that money is located, where it surely is, a BIG change would be kind of needed, to swing back to the 1980s strategic ideas, to “make becoming an auditor easier” which Ray Mithoff was attempting but didn’t make much headway.
It’s almost like the money accumulated by Scientology, has been done by the exploitation of the “religious worker” (aka modern “legit” slavery wages allowed to religions who overwork their “religious workers” in moral violation of norms of what average life creature comforts are acceptable in the modern world, Sea Org and normal Scientology lives are normally more “slave wages” like).
Scientology’s wealth accumulation are from two main sources: the mega donors, and the slave wages (“religious workers” category exploitation which is allowed in USA).
Scientology being such a non starter of a practice, it being pseudo-therapy and exorcism, which is made so difficult to become a practitioner of the quackery, and then the quackery results are lackluster and damaging, the whole thing cannot be supported, yet it now has this wealth accumulated.
It has both rich dupe donators, and it has the “slave wage” religious workers to maintain the cult bureaucracy.
It’s a mess. Solution, quit it, get a better religion in one’s life. Switch to another religion, is the obvious major step, or switch to no religion.
Hail Xenu’s body-thetans on all OSA trolls and “internet watching” people for OSA “Handling Programs.”
I know one deeply entrenched Scientology couple who aborted their baby when the sonogram revealed that it would be a mongoloid. You would definitely recognize their surname; sorry to tease and not tell it to you but they were and are, long term 2nd generaltion koolaid drinkers. She became pregnant, a few months later the sonogram dettermined the child to be monoloid. So she had a termination. They didn’t want the hassle and expense of raising a mongoloid child. Greatest good, etc. After her abortion she became pregnant several more times resulting in standard births and healthy kids. Again, I’m making no judgements but then the question is what do you really believe? What good is there in fooling oneself about moral and ethical precepts which one is unwilling or unable to practice? Is this a path to “total spiritual freedom and native state”? Somehow I don’t think so. Somehow I believe one is better off and more mentally healthy with a core of self honesty at the base of one’s nature, knowing what one would or could do if life comes in too aggessively.
My understanding is that the anti abortion movement fifty years ago wasn’t as much about protecting life as it was about enforcing morality. Most women at that time who wanted abortions had gotten pregnant out of wedlock and wanted to terminate the pregnancy so that society wouldn’t look down on them as whores. I think it was in the mid nineties when illegitimacy became acceptable and couples began having kids without bothering with the intricacies of marriage. Once again the far right shows its hypocrisy.
“Once again the far right shows its hypocrisy.” Totally agree with this and all the points you made. Forget Scientologists and their flaming hypocrisy, even apart from this demographic, , as if anyone else, male or female, on the political Far Right would force their daughters, girlfriends, sisters, wives, etc., or themselves – to bear unwanted children – unwanted for ANY reason – AS IF! Such a joke. Yet in between praising Jesus with every 3rd breath we have to listen to them moan and cry and clutch their pearls in sympathy for and outrage over the rights of the “unborn”. I’m sure some of them truly care but the posturing for political reasons make me ill. I suspect the ones that truy care aren’t the ones loudly judging and condemning.
The Church of Scientology is anti abortion except if or when Sea Org females get pregnant; then its “Don’t worry, its just a little tissue”. I’m not judging or moralizing, just pointing out the hypocracy.
Any drug that can make people feel less bad is potential competition for the cult. They would let ten thousand people suffer for years without a second thought, if it results in the cult making another $10,000.
Just $10,000.00?
You’re not thinking like a Scientologist! Go for the big bucks!
If I have a Dream:
“Scientology is for smoking Marihuuna!”
As Hubbard has thrown his ancer in front of Afrika, I think, he has had enough Maroc Marihuuna, and had made his oT3.
The CBR said: “Ron was so mightfull, that he allway going to damaged him self, as he made his oT3!”
He was high
Trish Duggan would pump money into Hitler’s campaign if he was alive and said he’d repeal Obamacare. “The greatest good for the greatest number” and all that.
What does this immensely weathy koolaid drinker who has the funds to summon a top medical specialist to treat a hangnail, who attends Scientology soirees dressed in her grandmother’s dining room curtains have againt the Affordable Care Act?
(By the way, I guess by now you can tell that I really don’t like this woman, and it makes no sense because I’ve never met her and she might be a nice person; I guess its those fucking awful clothes she wears; I mean, how dare she, with all that money…OK, I’ll stop, you’ve heard this all before )
To answer your question… in Scn anything that makes it easier to get “psych drugs” is evil. The ACA fits that description.
Spot on!
OK, Bognition, now I understand, thanks.
I wondered if someone could do a targeted campaign in Clearwater based on Hubbard’s words, but I don’t know how one could get Scientologists to pay attention to what Hubbard had to say.
You’re so right.
Once the pubic today hears “Scientology”, they think bad.
There’s no way to get positive about Scientology, since they lie about their positive effects, and no one believes those lies.
Best if they DID positive things locally, in some way. But “using policy to stop” and in general Hubbard policy curtails anyone being creative if that creativity collides with Miscavige’s opinions, it’s all a creeping mess wherever Scientology.
So cities, some creative Scientologists have little “victories” of positive, but these don’t go far and never can get widespread support.
The Hubbard quackery just does not attract people interested in really believing in the Hubbard past lives pseudo-therapy and the Hubbard exorcism of Xenu’s earth dumped body-thetans which Hubbard teaches we humans are infested with Xenu’s earth dumped body-thetans (invisible souls).
When anyone stands long enough to hear the full practices of Scientology, minus any plus or negative PR, just the practices alone kind of puts people off.
Back in the 2000s some clever YouTuber(s) would play the Scientology then YouTube videos and give incisive on screen explanations of the reality behind the people in the videos.
There’s just too much behind the scenes attending Scientology today, for it to ever be attractive.
Hail Xenu’s body-thetans on all OSA trolls who haven’t done yet the full OT 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 Xenu exorcism steps of upper Scientology. (Most Scientologist voluntary trolls don’t even know OT 3 thru 7 is all exorcism of Xenu’s body-thetans, they are cult useful idiots.)
I remember with great fondness when the proprietor of this very blog, along with another ex-Scientologist, flew a banner over the 2013 IAS event that read ‘WHERE IS SHELLY MISCAVIGE?” Talk about Tone 40…
Yes, that was stupendous!