• Home
  • About Me
  • Mission Statement
  • Welcome Message
  • Open Letter to My Family
  • Donate
  • Contact Me

Mike Rinder's Blog

Something Can Be Done About It

  • All Posts
  • Disconnection
  • Idle Orgs
  • IAS
  • Media
  • Books
  • Fundraising
  • Regraded Being

The Flat Tax — Republicans Reviving the Scientology Campaign to Abolish the IRS

January 29, 2023 By Mike Rinder 27 Comments

  It's in the news that the Republicans in Congress are seeking to implement a flat sales tax and essentially do away with the need for the IRS. Just one recent article can be found here.  This story includes the following paragraph: One thing that became clear very quickly: McCarthy’s desperation to have the title of House speaker meant more to him than having any convictions. An example of his clear powerlessness in whatever deals he agreed to were reports that he would bring a ludicrous tax proposal for a vote on the House floor. It’s the Fair Tax Act, a deal first … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Front Groups Tagged With: CATS, Citizens for an Alternative Tax System, Freedom Magazine, irs, L. Ron Hubbard, Ronald Reagan, Steve Hayes

“Successful Selling” by L. Ron Hubbard

December 17, 2022 By Mike Rinder 32 Comments

Hubbard had a lot of his special wisdom to impart about the skills of selling. Scientology objects to the idea that it should be characterized as a business. Not because they are not proud of Hubbard's "administrative technology" which is the ONLY way for any business to succeed (somehow Amazon, Apple and Walmart have muddle their way to success), but because being a business is not compatible with being "religious" and thus the label threatens their tax exempt status. Scientology "administrative technology" is full of Hubbard talking about "prospects," "sales," "commissions" and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Regging Tagged With: exempt status, irs, L. Ron Hubbard, prospect, regging, sales

Podcast with Jon Atack

December 4, 2022 By Mike Rinder 6 Comments

Jon and I recorded a new episode of his excellent podcast. Enjoy.   … [Read more...]

Filed Under: A Billion Years, Danny Masterson Tagged With: Danny Masterson, irs, Jon Atack

Scientology Refunds and Repayments: We Don’t Do That Any More

October 31, 2022 By Mike Rinder 18 Comments

  Recently, a letter from the "Claims Verification Board" came to my attention. In it they state: "It has always been church policy that anyone requesting a refund/repayment must do so within 3 months" -- so of course, they denied the request for return of funds (as they ALWAYS do). This is NOT in fact even what "church policy" says. Let's go through what L. Ron Hubbard said "church policy" is with respect to giving dissatisfied customers their money back (remember, the entire Victorian Inquiry came about because Hubbard refused to return a small amount of money to one … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fundraising Tagged With: Claims Verification Board, irs, L. Ron Hubbard, refunds, repayments, Tax exempt status

Can Scientologists be Christians or Jews Too?

August 2, 2022 By Mike Rinder 2 Comments

This is the eighth "vacation" post, revisiting some of the more  important articles to have appeared on my blog over the years. The original post and comments is here.   Scientology likes to tell the world that you can be a scientologist and also be a Christian, Jew, Buddhist or anything else. This is an "acceptable truth" (defined by Hubbard this way: Handling truth is a touchy business also. You don't have to tell everything you know-that would jam the comm line too. Tell an acceptable truth. Agreement with one's message is what PR is seeking to achieve. Thus the message … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Scientology Tagged With: Christianity, irs, Jesus Christ, OT III, R6, R6 bank, Scientology, scientology cross

Scientology: Government Against The Ungovernable

May 2, 2022 By Mike Rinder 19 Comments

Two Castle Rock, Colorado High School students, Sally and Madelyn, made a short film about scientology. They entered it in a local competition and won first place in their category! They were required to submit a paper, describing their planned film and why it addressed a worthy topic before they began. You can read their submission here: Context Essay This is their description of their documentary: "Our submission was for the 2022 National History day senior division documentary category! The theme this year is debate and diplomacy, we chose to represent this with the conflict seen … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Tax Exemption Tagged With: Castle Rock, Claire Headley, First Amendment, irs, Madelyn West, Sally Pellegrini, Scientology, Tax Exemption

Episode 60: Clearwater City Council Candidate Aaron Smith-Levin

October 4, 2021 By Mike Rinder 28 Comments

  In this episode we talk to our old friend Aaron Smith-Levin about a wide variety of topics, including the status of Goliath the SP dog, but focus on his announcement that he is running to be elected to the Clearwater City Council and the activities of the Aftermath Foundation. Aaron appeared in the original season of The Aftermath, in one of the more memorable episodes:     My recent post about Aaron running for City Council:   Aaron Smith-Levin for City Council website:       Leah Remini: Scientology and the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: Aaron Smith-Levin, Clearwater City Council, Fair Game Podcast, irs, Leah Remini, Mark Bunker, Mike Rinder, Tax Exemption, The Aftermath Foundation

Scientology, Christianity and the IRS

September 19, 2021 By Mike Rinder 35 Comments

Reiterating something I have covered before on this Sunday morning. The idea that you can be a scientologist and a Christian is a lie, yet scientologists claim this all the time to try to appear "normal" or "non-threatening." You can see from the official IRS publication above listing the criteria the IRS uses to determine whether an organization qualifies for tax exempt status as a religious organization, that one of them is: Membership not associated with any other church or denomination   During the quest to obtain exemption, scientology explained things to the IRS like … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Tax Exemption Tagged With: Aar9on Smith-Levin, Christianity, Churches defined, irs, Joy Villa, L. Ron Hubbard, Ray Cassano, Tax exempt status

Episode 42: Listener Questions Part 5

May 24, 2021 By Mike Rinder 29 Comments

  We answered more "Listener Questions" this week. These are some of our favorite episodes and we really appreciate the questions people send in. This one was especially fun and I think you all will enjoy it. We talk about the last chapter of Hubbard's life which is documented in the Epilogue of Lawrence Wright's brilliant Going Clear. This is an excerpt detailing what Steve Pfauth, one of the handful of people with Hubbard at the end of his life had to say. We talk about Hubbard's succession and mention the issue appointing Pat and Annie Broeker which Miscavige had … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: Annie Broeker, Bonnie View, cremation, Fair Game Podcast, Funeral Service, Gold Base, Hernandez decision, irs, L. Ron Hubbard, Leah Remini, Mike Rinder, OCA, Oxford Capacity Analysis, Petrolia, silent birth, sklar, Tax Exemption, Tremontina, Tuolomne, US Supreme Court, Whispering Winds

Episode 41: Law Review Author Taylor Holley

May 17, 2021 By Mike Rinder 36 Comments

Leah and I had the great pleasure of speaking to Taylor Holley this week. Taylor is a law student at Texas Tech University who published a legal analysis of scientology's tax exempt status in the Law Review. Taylor has never been involved in scientology, but grew up in Tampa which sparked her interest in scientology. Her paper is a wonderful summation and careful analysis of the law and makes a compelling argument that the IRS should revisit the exempt status of scientology. I wrote about this earlier. I am including her full paper below, as well as a link to it for downloading. I … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: Ciongress, Fair Game Podcast, irs, Law Review, Leah Remini, Mike Rinder, public policy, Tax exempt status, Taylor Holley, Texas Tech

Next Page »
Order now hardback or audiobook

Subscribe

Loading

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
donate-button

Check out MRinder.com

Recent Tweets

Mike Rinder Follow

Blogging at Mike Rinder's blog -- https://t.co/WEvBhSZnSN Website -- https://t.co/gDAGnK4a4V

MikeRinder
Retweet on Twitter Mike Rinder Retweeted
politisite Albert N Milliron @politisite ·
6 Feb

Book Recommendation: A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology by .⁦@MikeRinder⁩ https://a.co/d/iCHWamh #Amazon

Reply on Twitter 1622712801897709580 Retweet on Twitter 1622712801897709580 5 Like on Twitter 1622712801897709580 32 Twitter 1622712801897709580
Retweet on Twitter Mike Rinder Retweeted
blownforgood Marc Headley @blownforgood ·
6 Feb

Scientology Live - Mondays w/ Mike & Marc 7PM (EST) https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1mrGmkAPVovxy

Reply on Twitter 1622746941401755648 Retweet on Twitter 1622746941401755648 3 Like on Twitter 1622746941401755648 44 Twitter 1622746941401755648
Retweet on Twitter Mike Rinder Retweeted
jamischott Jami Schott @jamischott ·
7 Feb

@MikeRinder @GeorgeTakei Reading it now!!! It’s great

Reply on Twitter 1622774555780472832 Retweet on Twitter 1622774555780472832 2 Like on Twitter 1622774555780472832 23 Twitter 1622774555780472832
Retweet on Twitter Mike Rinder Retweeted
tvamp1 Tina Mrazik @tvamp1 ·
7 Feb

@MikeRinder https://tinamrazik.tumblr.com/post/708563379453902848/book-review-mike-rinder-a-billion-years-my

Reply on Twitter 1622793636227293187 Retweet on Twitter 1622793636227293187 3 Like on Twitter 1622793636227293187 16 Twitter 1622793636227293187
Retweet on Twitter Mike Rinder Retweeted
growingupinscn Aaron Smith-Levin @growingupinscn ·
6 Feb

Good vibrations!

Reply on Twitter 1622668722778382378 Retweet on Twitter 1622668722778382378 18 Like on Twitter 1622668722778382378 221 Twitter 1622668722778382378
Load More

Recent Comments

  • L. Ron Hobbit on Mad Mappin Hits the Interwebs: “He’s “a business owner of a business…” Lol He’s a very naughty boy! Needs to do his basic study technology…” Feb 7, 18:08
  • Fred Haseney on Mad Mappin Hits the Interwebs: ““The Upper Class Twit of the Year” skit originated in Monty Python’s Flying Circus episode “The Naked Ant” (series 1,…” Feb 7, 17:58
  • Mockingbird on Mad Mappin Hits the Interwebs: “Ugh, this F—ing guy again. I have told the story of my interaction with him a few times. Once a…” Feb 7, 17:36
  • Jeff Hawkins on Mad Mappin Hits the Interwebs: “But he’s “a business owner of a buiness.” I think he meant to say “Guinness.”” Feb 7, 17:14
  • GL on Mad Mappin Hits the Interwebs: “Wow, talk about being paranoid, delusional and psychotic, he’s a raving, carpet chewing, rabid nucking futcase!” Feb 7, 16:56
  • GL on Mad Mappin Hits the Interwebs: “Brigadier Etc, Being an other rank I will forthwith, maybe even fifthwith, venture out to spread my stuff over the…” Feb 7, 16:46
  • Jane Standen Bolton on Mad Mappin Hits the Interwebs: “Given Johnny Mercer is mates with John Sweeney this was never going to end well was it? One word from…” Feb 7, 15:24
  • Erickson on Mad Mappin Hits the Interwebs: “We are considering returning to Tintangel but the Inn appears to be even worse than what Mike describes. https://julesevans.medium.com/john-mappin-and-the-camelot-of-conspirituality-9dcc65756edd” Feb 7, 13:46
  • Ruth on The David Miscavige Film Festival: “Clearing Course Lectures and History of Man were the best bat shit crazy parts Mike! Maybe I looked at it…” Feb 7, 13:39
  • Dr. Strabismus of Utrecht on Mad Mappin Hits the Interwebs: “Mappin is anything but an Upper Class Twit, being as common as muck — obvious the moment he opens his…” Feb 7, 13:38

Past Posts By Month

February 2023
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728  
« Jan    

Copyright © 2023 Mike Rinder · WordPress · Log in