With the ongoing rape trial of Danny Masterson, a lot of people are curious about scientology's position with respect to reporting crimes to law enforcement. Scientology responded to reports they forbid this in typical fashion -- quoting the LA Times: The Church of Scientology declined to comment on the pending criminal matter, but said the religion has no policy against reporting crimes committed by Scientologists to law enforcement. “Church policy explicitly demands Scientologists abide by all laws of the land,” spokeswoman Karin Pouw said. Though most people reject scientology's … [Read more...]
The 2009/2010 FBI Scientology Investigation: New Details
More documents from the 2010 FBI investigation have become available through an FOIA request made many years ago. While there is a great deal of redacted information and many documents withheld in their entirety, there is a lot of information contained in this disclosure that I had not been previously aware of. The full documents can be found here. There were a lot of documents released by the FBI back in 2017 which Tony O covered on his blog. Those docs (many of them witness interviews) are included in this new release -- though the redactions are very different. This is common with … [Read more...]
L. Ron Hubbard on Psychiatry, Pain and Sex
This is an expansion of an earlier post I did on this subject. Hubbard always had a lot to say about psychiatry being the root of all evil in this universe, but towards the end of his days, he became increasingly obsessed with the topic. Just as he was trying to get rid of those pesky BT's and clusters, so too he was trying to explain to the world the scourge of psychiatry. Read his fiction from the time -- Battlefield Earth and even more so, Mission Earth, and his fixation on psychiatry is remarkable. They are the source of all suppression of mankind. His unpublished writings are even … [Read more...]
Scientology Hypocrisy: Slave Labor and Human Trafficking
Hypocrisy in scientology runs very deep. It is almost axiomatic that if scientology claims something virtuous about itself, the opposite is true. They are masters at the art of pointing the finger at others to avert scrutiny of themselves. Just a short list: They proclaim they are champions of free speech, while seeking by any means necessary to silence anyone who says things they don't like. They claim to be against hatred and bigotry while putting out a continuous stream of hate-filled utterances and offering a safe harbor and support for the likes of Tony … [Read more...]
The Big Lie: “They Incited Murder”
Yesterday, Tony Ortega reported the news out of Australia concerning the perpetrator of the tragic murder at the Advanced Organization in Sydney. Stefani Hutchinson weighed in with her always cogent and fact driven take on things like this, I recommend reading her blog on the subject. While there is much to be said about what happened, the tragic circumstances, the scientology refusal to acknowledge real mental illness and other things, there is a singular point I want to make. Scientology seized on this tragedy to make baseless and … [Read more...]
Scientology “Arbitration”: They make up the rules as they go along
The recent, very disappointing decision from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in the Garcia case highlights once again the problem of trying to deal with scientology in the courts: they understand too well how to game the system. The old adage that when the facts are not on your side, argue the law is page 2 of the scientology playbook. Page one is: baffle them with bullshit disguised as "religious practices." Legal decisions are based on precedent: Precedent refers to a court decision that is considered as authority for deciding subsequent cases involving identical or similar … [Read more...]
A Scientology Committee of Evidence is NOT Arbitration
Scientology has managed to persuade courts that people who signed Enrollment Agreements as a condition of starting a scientology service, are bound by a paragraph of the agreement where they agree to resolve disputes through a scientology "religious arbitration." Here is the language from those agreements. This is the paragraph concerning religious arbitration: Set aside whether an agreement to participate in services can encompass claims that have nothing to do with the service that is the subject of the agreement; there is another more … [Read more...]
Shameful Scientology “Religious Arbitration” Destroying Justice
Anyone who paid attention to the Masterson case Preliminary Hearing last week got a glimpse of the triggering experience of recounting a rape for the victims. After hearing their testimony, Judge Olmedo ordered that Danny Masterson to stand trial for rape. The role of scientology in the matter was not lost on her. Which makes the order of Judge Kleifield in the civil court virtually next door even more egregious. The same women who testified as victims in the criminal case are also plaintiffs in a civil suit. Their civil case was filed before the criminal charges were announced, when … [Read more...]
Scientology Tells Another Big Lie or Two
The prosecution of Danny Masterson is becoming a predictable nightmare for David Miscavige and scientology. Forced into making a public statement after damaging testimony in the Preliminary Hearing, scientology resorted to its time-honored tradition and lied. Not just a little lie. A big, bold, easily disproven denial. They rely on the fact that most are uninformed about their actual practices, and that the vast majority of people think when someone makes such an emphatic statement, they could not possibly be lying. Sociopaths use the good nature of the vast majority of people who … [Read more...]
Letters to Congress
Leah and I have often responded to the question "What can I do to help?" by saying people should write to their elected representatives to demand action. I have been asked a number of times whether there is a form letter to use. Two people have recently sent me copies of letters they have written that may help. The first is a fairly lengthy, footnoted letter and the author has made it possible for you to download it here including the footnotes. He also graciously provided some instructions and guidance on how to go about this: Hello! Beginning on the next page is a … [Read more...]