On one of the recent Fair Game Podcast, Chris Shelton recommended Robert Jay Lifton's book Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism . Then Mockingbird posted a comment concerning this and I thought it important to include it as a post, as he summarizes the eight criteria for Thought Reform isolated by the author. I should note, there are many excellent articles at Mockingbird's Nest blog. Here is his comment in full. I have highlighted the 8 criteria. Mike Rinder recently pointed out something that most people miss, even experts. He pointed out that the E meter is used … [Read more...]
Scientology vs God
When we were talking to Chris Shelton on the Fair Game podcast, we covered some ground concerning the belief in God in Scientology. And recently I saw Jim Meskimen spouting off on the STAAD League and realized it was important to lay out what L. Ron Hubbard said about the subject. Meskimen of course omits all of what is below, but plucks a single Hubbard quote about the fate of societies that do not believe in God to "prove" that scientologists really do believe in God. The quote itself proves nothing. In fact, maybe it was one of Hubbard's cruel jokes on his followers that he … [Read more...]
Reforming Scientology?
Leah recently reminded me of this wonderful website, and in particular, this article by my old friend Jeff Hawkins. Jeff is one of the kindest, smartest and most decent people I know. When Miscavige blew him off, he lost one of the only real marketing geniuses in scientology. Jeff was responsible for the single successful marketing campaign in scientology -- returning Dianetics to the top of the NY Times bestseller list in the 80's. He is a wonderful writer -- I highly recommend his book Counterfeit Dreams -- and a thoughtful analyst of the world of scientology. I am taking the liberty … [Read more...]
“I’m a Christian and I’m also a Scientologist”
This guy is running for elected office in Minnesota. He appears to be a legitimate, if unreal, candidate for Minnesota's 4th Congressional District. It's been a democratic district continuously since 1946, the current incumbent has been re-elected every 2 years since 2000. He is a Republican. This guy, like the now forgotten Joy Villa, is a Donald Trump superfan and conspiracy theory supporter on everything from fluoride to vaccinations. And like Joy Villa, he is trying to have his cake and eat it too. He wants to appeal to the Christian right who generally vote Republican, … [Read more...]
Auditing Scientology: Reexamining Tax Exemption Eligibility
One of our commenters (ISNOINews) forward me a link to a wonderful piece by Taylor Holley, a Juris Doctorate candidate at Texas Tech University Law School written for the Law Review. It is titled Auditing Scientology: Reexamining the Church's 501(c)3 Tax Exemption Eligibility. If you click on the link above, you can download the full paper -- it is 27 pages long and summarizes all the facts and legal arguments as to why scientology should NOT enjoy tax exempt status. Below I include her abstract summarizing the paper: Abstract The Church of Scientology is one of the most discussed … [Read more...]
Scientology: Psychological Terrorism
Scientology is the only organization claiming to be a religion that has it's own "intelligence"/dirty tricks branch. It is unique in that the "doctrine" of scientology (ie the written and spoke words of L. Ron Hubbard) contain directives for scientology to engage in intelligence activities, including gathering information, spying, executing operations to intimidate and ultimately destroy people and even framing them. You can read many of Hubbard's "scriptures" in my earlier post here: Dealing with Critics of Scientology: The L. Ron Hubbard Playbook Scientology engages in … [Read more...]
More on Scientology “Religious Arbitration”
Anyone who regularly reads this blog will know that I have been scathing in my criticism of recent court rulings concerning the supposed scientology "religious arbitration" agreements that courts have enforced to prevent plaintiffs from pursuing legal recourse against scientology entities. See earlier articles: Scientology "Religious Arbitration" -- Giving Kangaroo Courts a Bad Name and this one: Concerning Scientology "Religious Arbitration." Now comes an article from the Reason.com website which is rather more scholarly than my layman's analysis. A leading expert on religious arbitration … [Read more...]
Scientology “Religious Arbitration” – Giving Kangaroo Courts a Bad Name
Recently, one of the OSA bots on Twitter announced that the Judge in the Masterson civil case had "found me to be a liar" in the case "I lost." This is their twisted interpretation of the following statement by Judge Steven Kliefield in his ruling that the Masterson plaintiffs must submit to religious "arbitration," (see Tony Ortega's site for the full order): Defendants argue the Court should disregard the March 6, 2020 declaration because Rinder is biased, dedicated to falsely attacking the Church and has no foundation for much of his testimony. CSI and CCI also make specific objections … [Read more...]
The “Glory” of Scientology’s Dead “Enemies”
A couple of days ago, Tony Ortega posted a lengthy "success story" from a woman who had recently completed "Super Power." Of course, it was over-the-top bizarre, but one paragraph stood out: While on the rundown two major SPs (2.5 percent) connected to my dynamics received their bitter end. One died in an unexpected way, and the other got put in a psychiatric hospital by his best friend. This filled me with the glory of justice. I doubt there is a more clear-cut example of the callous disregard for human life into which scientologists are inculcated than this. Many former scientologists, … [Read more...]
A Primer on Brainwashing
If you have watched either The Vow on HBO, or Seduced on Starz about NXIVM, or The Aftermath or Going Clear about scientology, this article will ring a lot of bells. Many of the specific control mechanisms Dr. Burkley cites about NXIVM have direct parallels in scientology. As she says, "the psychological tricks Raniere used are not particularly special. In face, his ability to ensnare so many victims is rooted in his reliance on several core psychological principles -- principles to which each of us is vulnerable." One of the great accomplishments of The Vow was how … [Read more...]