Scientologist hops ship to escape Scientology

more about “Scientology hops ship to escape the S…“, posted with vodpod

Yet another bad week for Scientology

First, $cientology Spokesman Tommy Davis walks out on his ABC interview with Martin Bashir after being confronted with questions about the “church’s” beliefs. Then the French government fined “the church” 600,000 Euros ($902,200) for fraud.

But now comes news that Oscar-winning filmmaker Paul Haggis has not only left $cientology, but has publicly denounced the cult too. In his open letter, he blasted $cientology on a number of things.

Haggis called them out on their involvement involvement in California’s Prop 8 that overturned gay marriage in the state, their refusal to denounce this anti-gay bigotry, and their lies to cover it up:

As you know, for ten months now I have been writing to ask you to make a public statement denouncing the actions of the Church of Scientology of San Diego. […] I called and wrote and implored you, as the official spokesman of the church, to condemn their actions. I told you I could not, in good conscience, be a member of an organization where gay-bashing was tolerated.

In that first conversation, back at the end of October of last year, you told me you were horrified, that you would get to the bottom of it and “heads would roll.” You promised action. Ten months passed. No action was forthcoming. The best you offered was a weak and carefully worded press release, which praised the church’s human rights record and took no responsibility. Even that, you decided not to publish.

The church’s refusal to denounce the actions of these bigots, hypocrites and homophobes is cowardly. I can think of no other word. Silence is consent, Tommy. I refuse to consent.

He also called them out on the cult’s disconnection policy as well as their dishonest denials of the policy:

I was shocked. We all know this policy exists. I didn’t have to search for verification – I didn’t have to look any further than my own home.

You might recall that my wife was ordered to disconnect from her parents because of something absolutely trivial they supposedly did twenty-five years ago when they resigned from the church. This is a lovely retired couple, never said a negative word about Scientology to me or anyone else I know – hardly raving maniacs or enemies of the church. In fact it was they who introduced my wife to Scientology.

Although it caused her terrible personal pain, my wife broke off all contact with them. I refused to do so. I’ve never been good at following orders, especially when I find them morally reprehensible.

For a year and a half, despite her protestations, my wife did not speak to her parents and they had limited access to their grandchild. It was a terrible time. […] To see you lie so easily, I am afraid I had to ask myself: what else are you lying about?

Haggis then called $cientology out on the cult’s “Fair Game” policy in which the they viciously attack their critics:

How dare you use private information in order to label someone an “adulteress?” You took Amy Scobee’s most intimate admissions about her sexual life and passed them onto the press and then smeared them all over the pages your newsletter! I do not know the woman, but no matter what she said or did, this is the woman who joined the Sea Org at 16! She ran the entire celebrity center network, and was a loyal senior executive of the church for what, 20 years? You want to rebut her accusations, do it, and do it in the strongest terms possible – but that kind of character assassination is unconscionable.

So, I am now painfully aware that you might see this an attack and just as easily use things I have confessed over the years to smear my name. Well, luckily I have never held myself up to be anyone’s role model.

The great majority of Scientologists I know are good people who are genuinely interested in improving conditions on this planet and helping others. I have to believe that if they knew what I now know, they too would be horrified. But I know how easy it was for me to defend our organization and dismiss our critics, without ever truly looking at what was being said; I did it for thirty-five years. And so, after writing this letter, I am fully aware that some of my friends may choose to no longer associate with me, or in some cases work with me. I will always take their calls, as I always took yours. However, I have finally come to the conclusion that I can no longer be a part of this group. Frankly, I had to look no further than your refusal to denounce the church’s anti-gay stance, and the indefensible actions, and inactions, of those who condone this behavior within the organization. I am only ashamed that I waited this many months to act. I hereby resign my membership in the Church of Scientology.

Haggis specifically cited a series of articles in the St. Petersburg Times, showing just how effective a tool the internet has become in combatting $cientology’s misinformation. The St. Petersburg Times went even further by chronicling $cientology’s official responses to their articles (in writing as well as audio) and a host of background information about the cult.

Scientologist Spokesmen embarrassed by his own beliefs

It gets really good starting at the at the 3:40 mark:

I knew this looked familiar:

You can find the rest of the ABC report beginning here.

And you can find Tommy Davis giving CNN and KESQ the same dog and pony show here.

News From Around The Blogosphere 9.23.09

1. John Travolta admits to late son’s autism – It will be very interesting to see how this plays out since $cientology rejects the notion of any mental illness, autism included. Are the rumors of Travolta’s possible departure from the cult true? I think they may very well be.

2. Spielberg’s ‘Paranormal Activity’ DVD haunted? – C’mon Steve, you’re not that gullible, are you? I hope this is just a publicity stunt.

3. Atheist ads banned from Lucerne, Switzerland -

Rico de Bona, the person responsible for the infrastructure of the city, said, “Ads from an organization that motivates people to leave the church will not be tolerated here”

4. Insurance company loses lawsuit after discriminating against atheists - GuideOne Mutual Insurance Company was offering special benefits for churchgoers only.

5. Age of Autism has seen the latest UK report that invalidates their faith – And they reject it. BIG SURPRISE!

But rather than dispel such concerns the new report is more likely to support claims of a cover-up.

Of course it does. As I always say, the conspiracy theory is a favorite for the paranoid. It is a convenient answer when the numbers just don’t add up. It takes no real proof, and often the absence of proof is just proof it exists! And any scientific evidence conflicting with that belief system must to them be the result of a coverup.

Town rejects new Scientology ‘church’

$cientology isn’t wanted in Sandy Springs, Georgia:

In a 3-2 vote, the commission denied the church’s request to rezone a former office building at Roswell Road and Glenridge Drive into its Georgia headquarters.

. . .

The vote is nonbinding but will be considered by the City Council during its vote. The City Council is scheduled to vote on the issue at its Oct. 20 meeting.

The swift vote cheered the 30 residents who showed up to oppose the rezoning, but church leaders and 30 members who showed up in support of the move were undeterred.

Good job, Sandy Springs! Keep those vampires out of your town!

And speaking of $cientology, I recently wrote an article, which I dual-posted over at Examiner and the New York City Skeptics’ new blog, The Gotham Skeptic about a lecture I attended on cults where the lecturer, Paul Grosswald, was a former $cientologist. Now the complete lecture is available online here, and I highly encourage everyone to listen to it. Cults are a real problem and almost anyone is capable of being sucked into a cult if they’re not educated in cult tactics.

News From Around The Blogosphere 9.14.09

1. $cientology tries to censor critics in Australia – The Australian branch of CoS submitted a proposal to the local Human Rights Commission to censor those who commit, as they call it, “Religious Vilification.” Essentially, they want to create their own blasphemy laws.

2. 2010 California Marriage Protection Act - Safeguarding marriage from the evils of divorce. As if you needed another reason to hate religion.

3. Proposed law in Indonesia calls for stoning adulterers to death -

Muslims who commit adultery in Indonesia’s Aceh province may be stoned to death under a controversial new sharia law passed by the local parliament on Monday.

As if you needed yet another reason to hate religion.

4. Bill Gates intends to control the weather -

Turns out Microsoft mogul Bill Gates and a team of scientists have filed a patent on technology that would seek to eliminate the danger of hurricanes. The idea is pretty simple: A fleet of barges would be dispatched to the waters ahead of a raging storm. There, they would use a system of conduits to both push warm surface water below the ocean surface while bringing deeper, colder water up. This would theoretically weaken the approaching hurricane, possibly saving lives and money and binding all those affected into a blood debt with Mr. Gates.

Gates may be onto something but some experts aren’t convinced for various reasons. For more info, click the link above.

5. Science Daily explains how stem cells make skin -

Stem cells have a unique ability: when they divide, they can either give rise to more stem cells, or to a variety of specialised cell types. In both mice and humans, a layer of cells at the base of the skin contains stem cells that can develop into the specialised cells in the layers above. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Monterotondo, in collaboration with colleagues at the Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnologicas (CIEMAT) in Madrid, have discovered two proteins that control when and how these stem cells switch to being skin cells.

Mormon censored for speaking out against church’s homophobia

Apparently, it wasn’t enough for the bishop to just politely ask him to stop. They felt they had to cut his microphone and escort him out:

More Scientology defectors report abuse

A little over a month ago, I blogged about the St. Petersburg Times’ investigation into $cientology. At that time, “the church’s” was pissed off that they had the audacity to report what the serious accusations of 3 former members and wrote the publication an angry letter telling them what evil Hitlers those former members were. And the St. Petersburg Times decided to publish that letter in all its hilarious glory.

Now the St. Petersburg Times has reported more accusations against $cientology by more former members.

Jackie Wolff wept as she recalled the chaotic night she was ordered to stand at a microphone in the mess hall and confess her “crimes” in front of 300 fellow workers, many jeering and heckling her.

Gary Morehead dredged up his recollection of Scientology leader David Miscavige punishing venerable church leaders by forcing them to live out of tents for days, wash with a garden hose and use an open latrine.

Steve Hall replayed his memory of a meeting when Miscavige grabbed the heads of two church executives and knocked them together. One came away with a bloody ear.

Mark Fisher remembered precisely what he told Miscavige after the punches stopped and Fisher touched his head, looked at his palm and saw blood.

And of course you can predict $cientology’s response:  denial, denial, denial. Spokesperson Tommy Davis is calling these guys all liars who are just pissed that they were thrown out of “the church.” Yeah right, Tommy! $cientology never met a dollar it wouldn’t happily add to its bank account. The only way one ever gets kicked out is when they’ve given all their money away and are unwilling to become a slave to “the church.” But given the miracles promised by $cientology, I find it kinda hard to believe anyone would rock the boat so much as to get kicked out and when be so evil as to discourage others from achieving all the amazing things $cientology claims it has to offer.

The church provided the Times two dozen written declarations from current and former church executives and staffers. Referring to those statements, Davis said: “You have been provided with volumes of evidence to show that your original sources are delusionary, bitter and dishonest; your new sources are more of the same.”

Pay attention everyone. This is how $cientology treats its members, with betrayal if you don’t play ball.

I can’t wait until Davis blows. On that day, I’ll just laugh and laugh. Then of course, I’ll support him as another victim of this cult.

Pledge to support John Travolta should he escape Scientology

Yesterday, when I blogged about the very telling $cientology document that leaked on the intertubes, I ended with a brief link to a tabloid article suggesting The cult’s number 2 (hehe) celebrity member John Travolta has become a grief stricken, late-night-golf-cart-driving, reclusive wreck ever since the tragic loss of his possibly autistic son Jett back in early January.  The rumors that are flying around are that, as I pondered back in January, the traumatic loss of Jett Travolta might push one if not both Travolta parents to escape $cientology based on the cult’s denial of autism and mental illness in general. Although unclear since $cientology arranged to have Jett cremated very, very quickly after his death, it’s possible the very anti-seizure medication $cientology convinced the Travolta’s to take Jett off of could have saved his life.

Well, so far there are no confirmed reports from the family that there’s any truth to these rumors. But if it’s true and John Travolta is considering leaving, the negative consequences of his departure will likely be great thanks to $cientology’s standard operating procedure to expose all the dirty, little secrets that their members were forced to confess to during the many, many hours of “auditing.” The cult keeps detailed records of these confessions so that they can use the information against those wanting to leave in order to blackmail them into staying in the cult.

But should John Travolta decide to leave, he won’t be on his own. A website has gone up calling on people to pledge to stand by him after he’s out, It’s OK, John – we’ll back you, especially if you stand up and expose the cult for what it really is, helping to ensure $cientology can’t destroy any other lives.

All’s not well in Hubbard Land

Another super-secret $cientology document has been leaked (view full document here (pdf)). This time it’s a document called the Application, Declaration and General Release Declaration of Religious Commitment and Application for Membership in a Scientology Religious Order and for Active Participation on Church Staff. And this is what they make their new staffers sign before taking the job. Here are some of the strange items all applicants must agree to:

8. I am not related to or connected with any intelligence agency, either by past history or immediate familial connection.
9. I do NOT have a parent or a guardian who is an antagonist of the Scientology religion, or of any organization devoted to Scientology applied religious philosophy.
10. I am not seeking a staff position to obtain material for dissemination to the public via press, radio, television, motion picture or other media. I do not seek to obtain data for any other organization or to disrupt the Church organization.
11. I do not have personal debts of a magnitude such that efforts to satisfy them would immediately disrupt or cause me to pull back from my commitment to the Church.

Then applicants are to sign an acknowledgment that the “Church” holds the right to not adhere state or federal labor practices because after all, this is a religion and is far too sacred for its employees to expect any material payment at all. And just to make sure you know this is serious, they put this stipulation in all caps:

I FURTHER UNDERSTAND THAT ALL CHURCH STAFF MEMBERS INCLUDING MYSELF, ARE MEMBERS OF A RELIGIOUS ORDER; THAT THEY SERVE PURSUANT TO THEIR RELIGIOUS OBLIGATIONS AND NOT IN CONTEMPLATION OF RECEIVING ANY COMPENSATION WHATSOEVER, AND IN DOING SO THAT THEY ARE FORSAKING ALL COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL MOTIVATION. PLEASE INITIAL __EACH CONSIDERS HIMSELF/HERSELF A VOLUNTEER TO CREATE A BETTER WORLD, AND UNDERSTANDS THAT HE/SHE IS NOT AN EMPLOYEE, I.E. IS NOT ENTITLED TO RECEIVE SECULAR BENEFITS SUCH AS A MINIMUM WAGE OR OVERTIME COMPENSATION. PLEASE INITIAL __

And what are the consequences of violating these contractual obligations?

7. BREACH OF COVENANT. If a staff member . . . breaks his agreement either by leaving staff before completing his commitment [either 2 1/2 or 5 years] or by violating his good standing as a Scientology staff member so that he is dismissed in accordance with policy, he or she shall remit forthwith to the Church a penance for violation of this covenant in accordance with the ecclesiastical policy of the Church if such person is declared a “freeloader”. [...]9. ENTIRETY OF COVENANT. The Church shall not be obligated to honor any verbal promises or any other terms or conditions not specifically covered in this Covenant. This Covenant forms the entirety of the Church’s agreement with the Church staff member, and promises no specific counselling, training, posts or other benefits to any Church staff member.

Seems kinda like a one-way deal. As a $cientologist once say: “I am altering the deal. Pray that I do not alter it any further.” Oh, wait. That wasn’t a $cientologist. It was Darth Vader. I’m always mixing them up.

But at least you can sue if they “alter the deal” too much to your dissatisfaction, right? Wrong:

B. I HEREBY RELEASE AND DISCHARGE THE RELEASES from all actions, claims or demands I, my heirs, distributees, guardians, legal representatives or assigns ever had, now have or may hereafter have for injury or damage resulting from or any way connected with my membership in the Scientology Religious Order, active participation on Church staff or association with the Releasees. [...]I AM AWARE THAT THIS IS A RELEASE OF LIABILITY, COVENANT NOT TO SUE AND INDEMNITY AGREEMENT BETWEEN MYSELF AND THE CHURCH AND/OR ITS AFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONS AND/OR OTHER INDIVIDUALS, AND I UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT BY PLACING MY SIGNATURE AT THE END OF THIS DOCUMENT I SHALL BE BOUND BY ITS TERMS. PLEASE INITIAL __

Wow! With exploitation like this, is it any wonder that the tabloids are gossiping about John Travolta on the verge of leaving.