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So sorry to hear your story. I hope you are leading a happier life now.

I grew up with parents in scientology in Clearwater, FL. My home was a place where scientologists could stay for free if they were in transition from Sea Org or another mission. As a kid I witnessed many illegal activities and was a victim. However, I was told that I created those situations, the books of LRH had all the answers, and I was not allowed to talk to anyone about what happened in our home. I wish the police had shown up at least once to see how this organization and its members had ruined my childhood and tore my family apart.

Let me comment on just one point here, regarding $cientology and the law….when you join as a young adult, or even younger, you have no experience with the law yet. Maybe you knew you shouldn’t be trying to buy beer yet. And don’t speed too much in your car. But when it comes to the law protecting you as far as human rights and the rights of an employee in the workplace, you have no clue yet. And there is nothing of the sort in $cientology! You don’t even know that you are being treated like dirt and that federal and state laws do not allow it. That was the case with me. You just keep getting treated like dirt, you think that’s how it’s supposed to be and finally make yourself get used to it. (Because one of the threats you’ll get is never being allowed to see your parents again if you disobey.)

Never in 33 years on “staff” and in the phony “sea org” did I or anyone else get the legal 10 or 15 minute break; or were OSHA regulations followed on building sites we worked on; or were we reminded to take our 30 minute lunch. Rather, we were told more often that something had to be done before 6PM, nevermind that at 5:30 a meal was served and it would’ve been nice to eat something–you just better have that project done at 6 or you’re dead meat!!!! Raise your hand if you had to forgo meals over and over again to try to make pie-in-the-sky targets.

Sleazy religion has so many advantages! You don’t have to abide by any laws and pay your staff, feed them anything nourishing, take care of them, no matter how much you promised it when you signed them on, after so much mental and emotional pressure that they finally buckled. Don’t just look at the glossy retouched PR photos–listen to what the kids, young adults and adult members who finally escaped have to say.

So all I can say to $cientology parents is DON’T LET YOUR KIDS GET ON STAFF OR INTO THE SEA ORG. Don’t let yourself be intimidated into letting your kids go. If you want them to experience the great things in life, make memories, learn amazing things….DO NOT GET FOOLED that being on staff in any way shape or form is going to accomplish that for them.

The “church” of $cientology has the law wrapped up nicely for now, so they don’t have to take care of your kids like they promised you they would. If you hate your kids then fine, because they WILL be harmed in many different ways that you can’t even imagine because you haven’t been there and you haven’t seen it.

But if you really do love them and want the best for them, get them the heck out of the claws of $cientology recruiters. And get yourself outta there too.

“But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain – that it has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it.”

― Lysander Spooner, No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority

“You are right, they are not allowed to make a determination and finding on whether and organization is or is not religious”

EXACTLY Mike, that is ALL I am talking about. Any agency that subsequently were to use a negative opinion from the IRS to discriminate on religious basis would get destroyed in Fed court.

Wrong, Wynski, for example the Department of State uses the IRS’ determination of religious status when granting religious worker visas – and nothing else. On Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, it asks applicants to certify, under penalty of perjury, that the employing organization is affiliated with a “religious denomination”:

“and that the attesting organization within the religious denomination is tax-exempt as described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (codified at 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3)), any subsequent amendment(s), subsequent amendment, or equivalent ections of prior enactments of the Internal Revenue Code. ”

Technically, the Department of State regulations and website list the much the same criteria as the IRS for determining whether an organization is a religion:

A recognized common creed or statement of faith shared among the denomination’s members;
A common form of worship;
A common formal code of doctrine and discipline;
Common religious services and ceremonies;
Common established places of religious worship or religious congregations; or
Comparable indicia of a bona fide religious denomination.

But as a practical matter the I-129 application doesn’t ask for anything other than if the organization has been granted religious tax exempt status by the IRS – there’s no option for determination of individual cases. So good luck getting the Department of State to approve a religious worker visa application for an organization if the IRS hasn’t made a de facto determination that it’s a religion.

That’s what I’m talking about. It may raise your hackles about how you think things are supposed to work according to the Constitution – but that’s the problem, this is how it works out in reality when government gets into providing any sort of preferential, or even differential, status to religious groups. It’s exactly the sort of creep into semi-official status and imprimatur that the founders saw had happened with the Puritan church in New England, and sought to avoid. And we can see how abusive groups like Scientology exploit it. The only practical solution is for the IRS and all arms of government to treat all non-profits the same regardless of their purpose, and to let the courts sort out any issues specific to religions and religious freedom.