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Scientology Shuttering

March 30, 2020 By Mike Rinder 46 Comments

Here are the comments people sent in yesterday about the state of scientology orgs in their local area. If you have a minute and can contact your local org, I will add it to the update. So far, everywhere seems to be closed except Flag (not sure about the other Advanced Orgs). This is catastrophic for the scientology empire -- the longer staff and public are away from the control mechanisms exerted on them in the bubble, and the more bored they get, the more likely it is they are going to come across something on the internet or TV that is going to start them down the rabbit hole of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Ideal Orgs, Idle Orgs Tagged With: Boston, Buffalo, Church of Scientology, DC, Ideal Orgs, Milano, St. Louis, Sydney

Scientology and COVID-19

March 21, 2020 By Mike Rinder 138 Comments

  You may have seen this pitch and others on Tony's site and social media. Flaunting government guidelines recommending no gatherings of more than 10 people, scientology instead uses the pandemic as a reason to encourage people to COME IN TO THE ORG. It's batshit crazy. Take a read and I will then try to explain the madness from a scientology perspective. Admittedly, that one was before the stricter requirements for social distancing were in force in California, but then, after the Governor ordered that everyone stay in their homes, this one came in: A combination of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fundraising, Ideal Orgs Tagged With: Church of Scientology, COVID-19, fundraising, public relations, Scientology, valley org

City Councilman Mark Bunker and Scientology Tax Exempt Status

March 18, 2020 By Mike Rinder 72 Comments

  The news has sunk in, Mark Bunker is now a Clearwater City Commissioner-elect. As Tracey McManus put it, this is a historic day for Clearwater. There is another piece in the Tampa Bay Times (top of article screencapped above) this morning. It makes some interesting points - first of which is noting Bunker's "desire for the city to urge the IRS to revoke Scientology's tax exempt status..." Some have poo-poo'd this idea "The City of Clearwater doesn't grant tax exempt status, the IRS does" -- as if Mark Bunker is unaware of the difference between a city government and the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Clearwater, Tax Exemption Tagged With: Church of Scientology, Clearwater Florida, David Miscavige, Flag Service Organization, Frank Hibbard, irs, Kathleen Beckman, Kirby Wilson, Mark Bunker, public relations, Scientology, Tax Exemption, Tracey McManus

Unofficial Result — Mark Bunker Wins Election

March 17, 2020 By Mike Rinder 35 Comments

This is an historic day in Clearwater. Providing nothing changes as this is made into the official result (not sure when this will be), Mark Bunker is now a City Council member of the City of Clearwater. The scientology backed candidate came in 4th out of 5... Once and for all proving that scientology in fact has NO political clout in Clearwater, let alone Tampa Bay. Congratulations to Mark Bunker! Also Congratulations to Frank Hibbard who will be the new Mayor of Clearwater. The people I feel sorry for are those in OSA Flag. This loss will be blamed on them. It will not be … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Clearwater Tagged With: Church of Scientology, City of Clearwater, David Miscavige, Flag Service Organization, Mark Bunker

Where Clearwater Candidates Stand on Scientology

January 6, 2020 By Mike Rinder 27 Comments

Tracey McManus published another of her uniformly excellent articles recently:  Where every Clearwater City Council Candidate stands on Scientology I have excerpted most of the answers to her survey and offer my biased views on them. I believe there are just two reasons why scientology is actually being spoken about in this election.  It has been a taboo subject for local politicians for decades. They have steered clear of this topic like it was the plague...  Now for the first time in recent memory, it is something  to be debated. The two factors are Tracey's bombshell article … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Clearwater Tagged With: Bob Cundiff, Bruce Rector, Bud Elias, Church of Scientology, Clearwater Florida, Elisio Santana, Elizabeth Drayer, Flag Service Organization, Frank Hibbard, Kathleen Beckman, Lina Teixeira, Mark Bunker, Michael Mannino, Scott Thomas, tampa bay times, Tracey McManus

Mighty Tampa Ideal Org – The Best Is Not Good Enough

December 31, 2019 By Mike Rinder 26 Comments

Here is a new video from Tampa Org (with 58 likes and 3 comments). They promote themselves as both "Ideal" AND "SH Size" -- in fact they promote themselves as the FIRST ideal and FIRST SH size org. They even start out with the humble assertion "What does every other Org want to be?" Well, let's take a look at what every org on earth aspires to. Because Tampa has given us a wonderful glimpse of just how much they actually accomplish. They kindly provided statistics for the last decade as significant accomplishments that everyone else should be jealous of. It is a good measure of the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Ideal Orgs Tagged With: Church of Scientology, Flag Service Organization, Ideal Orgs, public relations, Scientology Idle Orgs, tampa

Handling Crime in Brussels

December 10, 2019 By Mike Rinder 48 Comments

    Of course, they cite nothing to support their bold claims -- but then again any scientologist would NEVER even think to question the IAS. After all, this is the international association of the most ethical group on earth. There is nothing to substantiate the figures of distribution at all, they pluck these numbers out of the sky usually. Someone paid for a printing of the booklets. They may or may not have actually printed that many. No doubt, however many they printed, they did NOT get distributed. Often they end up being dumped. And the "network of 1400 … [Read more...]

Filed Under: IAS, Public Relations Tagged With: Brussels, Church of Scientology, fundraising, IAS, public relations

Kanye, the IRS and Scientology

December 8, 2019 By Mike Rinder 23 Comments

  This is an interesting recent Forbes magazine article. The author covers how Kanye West, who has changed his name to Christian Genius Billionaire Kanye West and conducts "Sunday Services,” could actually file for tax exemption and reap mighty benefits. He describes what the IRS criteria are for granting such a religious exemption: Distinct legal existence; Recognized creed and form of worship; Definite and distinct ecclesiastical government; Formal code of doctrine and discipline; Distinct religious history; Membership not associated with any other church … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Tax Exemption Tagged With: Church of Scientology, Forbes magazine, irs, Kanye West, Tax exempt status, Tax Exemption

Our 10th Anniversary

November 5, 2019 By Mike Rinder 67 Comments

  The first blog post on mikerindersblog.org was on 5 November 2009. It's been 10 years but it sure doesn't seem that long! It's been a lot of fun along the way. I have met many wonderful people here (and quite a number subsequently IRL which has been especially gratifying).  Hopefully I have opened a window to discovering the truth about scientology for many. This blog would not have been possible without the support of many who have helped. While it is a labor of love (or perhaps passion) it IS labor and first my thanks to the many contributors who have provided content and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Mike Rinder Tagged With: Aaron Smith-Levin, Black Propaganda, Brian Lambert, Chris Shelton, Christi Gordon, Church of Scientology, David Miscavige, Disconnection, fair game, fundraising, Gary Reisdorf, Ideal Orgs, International Association of Scientologists, Jeffrey Augustine, Karen de la Carriere, L. Ron Hubbard, Leah Remini, Lois Reisdorf, Marty Rathbun, Mike Rinder, Mike Rinder's Blog, public relations, regraded being, Scientology, Scientology Idle Orgs, shelly miscavige, Terra Cognita, Tony Ortega, Tory Christman

Scientology Attempting to Revise Clearwater History

October 26, 2019 By Mike Rinder 38 Comments

After Tracey McManus' bombshell article dropped on 20 October, scientology immediately began their efforts to revise history. The next day, Freedom magazines started popping up all over the city. I wrote an article addressing some of the falsehoods Scientology BS Grows Deeper Then they began trying to make a dent in the social media world to cast the article as a bigoted assault on scientology and highlight the wonderful contributions they make to Clearwater. Freedom magazine has a twitter account @Freedommag and on October 21 they began sending out tweets. This is the tweet that is pinned … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Clearwater Tagged With: Church of Scientology, Clearwater Florida, CNN, David Miscavige, Flag Service Organization, public relations, Scientology, ScientologyTV, Smerconish, tampa bay times, Tracey McManus

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Important Reading

Troublemaker - Leah Remini
Ruthless - Ron Miscavige
Going Clear - Lawrence Wright
Bare Faced Messiah - Russell Miller
Counterfeit Dreams - Jeff Hawkins
Blown For Good - Marc Headley
Abuse at the Top - Amy Scobee
Unbreakable Miss Lovely - Tony Ortega
The Church of Fear - John Sweeney
Fair Game - Steve Cannane
Inside Scientology - Janet Reitman
A Piece of Blue Sky - Jon Atack
Beyond Belief - Jenna Miscavige
My Billion Year Contract
Escaping Scientology - Karen Schless
Commodore's Messenger - Janis Grady
Commodore's Messenger - Book II
Scythe Tleppo - Nathan Rich
Expert Witness - Jesse Prince
Perfectly Clear - Michelle LeCaire
Ron the War Hero - Chris Owen
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These people represent patriotism like #scientology represents freedom.

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There's a lot going on in the world but we still push forward w/ another game-changing bipartisan bill making workplaces safer! HR8227 bans NDAs for harassment/assault! Thank you @RepLoisFrankel @RepKenBuck & all others for your support. #EndNDAs @LiftOurVoicesUS @julieroginsky https://twitter.com/LiftOurVoicesUS/status/1542150797294768128

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Historic federal bipartisan legislation supported by @GretchenCarlson & @julieroginsky banning NDAs for sexual harassment & assault was introduced to protect survivors. Thanks to @RepLoisFrankel @RepKenBuck @RepJerryNadler @RepCicilline @RepJayapal @RepMGriffith @RepCheri

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L. Ron Hubbard claims his "scientific research" proves he went to heaven. He also opines how #scientology must replace the "false Gods" of #christianity and other religions. It's one of his truly unhinged scribblings that they don't want people to see.
https://www.mikerindersblog.org/l-ron-hubbard-has-been-to-heaven-he-has-the-scientific-research-to-prove-it/

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So many people expected that #GhislaineMaxwell would walk free from this trial, but the story told by @BradEdwards_Esq in Relentless Pursuit reveals exactly how she and Epstein worked together. It's a shocking and compelling read. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Relentless-Pursuit-Victims-Jeffrey-Epstein/dp/1471195317/ref=monarch_sidesheet https://twitter.com/BBCWorld/status/1476458297897201667

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Ghislaine Maxwell: How accusers' testimony brought her down https://bbc.in/3zcMD60

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Watch #TheDeepEnd on Hulu. Fascinating 4 part doc study of cult leader @_tealswan by Jon Kasbe and @BitsSola. Also listen to interview by @sarahjedmondson and @nippyames on @alittlebitculty podcast. Cult leaders are all cut from the same cloth. My take: https://www.mikerindersblog.org/off-the-deep-end/

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