I watched the excellent 4 part documentary The Deep End about spiritual (cult) leader Teal Swan. I had never heard of her until I saw this doc. This trailer will give you some idea of who she is: The filmmakers, Jon Kasbe and Bits Sola have done a remarkable job of showing the world of Teal Swan. They were given astonishing access to Swan and her followers over three years. What unfolds is a fascinating study of control and domination by a cult leader reminiscent of so many others. Bits Sola was also a producer on The Vow (the mesmerizing HBO doc on Keith … [Read more...]
Thursday Funnies
May 9th Reduced to a "special graduation" Back in the day it was a major event held at the Shrine Auditorium Ideal Scenes and Ideal Orgs It's pretty ideal in the world of scientology. At least in their minds. Well, isn't that theta He learned how to be "light and gentle" on the PTS/SP Course. Must be a different course than I ever saw. Still Going Still a "Class VIII" Still a rimless zero Trying a new angle for some PR points Pretty soon we will be reading that the VM's have "formed a partnership" … [Read more...]
Dianetics the Modern Science of Mental Health
On this day in 1950, "Book One" was published. It seems an appropriate day to remember some of the claims Hubbard made in his lengthy explanation of his "discoveries" that had been thoroughly tested... Let's start with the most infamous: Clears of course DO get colds. They also get cancer, suffer heart attacks, strokes, pancreatitis and all sorts of other ailments. But this statement is still in the current edition of book. As for the 270 cases, this is of course also a total fabrication. Obviously. No "laboratory fact" confirms this lie because it is provably false. … [Read more...]
“Full Responsibility” a Fundamental of the Scientology Trap
Responsibility is an important topic in the world of scientology. The concept has enormous impact on the thinking of scientologists, and it is the foundation upon which much subsequent scientology belief and practice is based. Especially the very important elements of scientology that dictate YOU are responsible for anything bad that happens to you. You "pulled it in." When something goes astray in scientology, it is NEVER the fault of the organization. That is a blameless entity that can never be questioned as an extension of Hubbard himself. He was beyond fault. If the end result of your … [Read more...]
Episode 47: The Life and Lies of L. Ron Hubbard Part 2
We continue with our deep dive into the life and lies of Hubbard with Jon Atack. Once again, we have quite a lot of documents to include -- but always at the top of the list are Jon's Let's Sell These People A Piece of Blue Sky and Barefaced Messiah by Russell Miller. I should also note that though we didnt mention it, for those of you interested in what Hubbard did or didnt do in the war, Chris Owen's excellent and thoroughly researched Ron The War Hero: The True Story of L Ron Hubbard's Calamitous Military Career is essential reading. Hubbard told so many lies about his naval … [Read more...]
Episode 46: The Life and Lies of L. Ron Hubbard Part 1
Tonight we begin a new series of episodes we are calling "Deep Dives," where we take a detailed look at specific areas of scientology. It seemed only appropriate to begin with L. Ron Hubbard -- the "Source" of scientology and "Founder" from which everything flows. There is no way to cover his entire life in a single episode. Or even 5 episodes. We broke this into 2 parts, the first focused on his life and claims up to Dianetics. Even in two episodes we can only touch upon some of the highlights (lowlights?) as there is a great deal to know. If you have not already done so, I … [Read more...]
Some Funnies
A few promotional items sent in over the last week. Of course, it was Mother's Day, which seemed oddly inappropriate to fall on the same day as Dianetics was published, because Dianetics reflects Hubbard's dystopian view of women -- a great deal of the book is devoted to the idea that women routinely seek to self-abort their pregnancies. Somehow, everyone supposedly has these "engrams" from their time in the womb... But it is also a reflection of the decline of scientology that "Dianetics Day" -- once one of the "big" international events where the newest Dianetics sponsored race car would … [Read more...]
John Oliver — Where’s Shelly?
John Oliver consistently focuses his unique brand of comedy/satire/social commentary on David Miscavige and scientology. Last week he threw another barb, which you can watch below at the 2 minute mark of his opening segment. All of last season he included "Where's Shelly" (in Spanish) in the opening montage of the show, and included numerous references to all things scientology. In season 5, he did a piece in his final episode that wrapped up his year long secret "advertising campaign" for scientology that he demanded they pay him $650,000... and then ultimately $700,000 … [Read more...]
Episode 33: Media and Political Journalist Yashar Ali
We are joined this week by media and politics reporter Yashar Ali. Yashar has done over a dozen stories related to scientology and more are coming. He has been a long-term voice against scientology abuses who has never been scared off by their Fair Game tactics. Yashar was recently named one of Time magazine's 25 most influential people on the internet: You can follow Yashar on Twitter: @Yashar, Instagram: yasharali and Facebook: Yashar Ali With his background in politics and the media we had a lot to talk about: Scientology celebrities and how the media fails to … [Read more...]
Episode 21: Listener Questions Part 3
Today's episode is Leah and I responding to questions from listeners. We cover a lot of things in more detail than we had time to do on The Aftermath, and in many cases even more details than I can find the time to write about on the blog. A few documents we mentioned would be made available here and at fairgamepodcast.com. Scientology's COVID response: Tony Ortega has extensively covered scientology's response to the pandemic. Here is the Miscavige's briefing document where he calls COVID 19 a "planetary bullbait." Here are … [Read more...]