On a number of previous occasions I have commented on the parallels between the scientology world and North Korea. From empty showcase buildings to the unwarranted adulation of their current leader Kim Jong-un to the bizarre stories of the life and accomplishments of the Godlike founder of the DPRK, Kim Il-sung. But this BBC News story came across my newsfeed and once again the similarities were eery. A prominent North Korean diplomat defected. The response reads like the things scientology puts out about me and anyone else who has escaped from its bubble. He was of … [Read more...]
Shiny Baubles
Apparently the higher up the scientology "Bridge to Freedom From Your Money" you progress, the more gullible you are to being led around by the nose ring of shiny trinkets. They dangle these little items in front of the sheeple with as much tact as The Publisher's Clearing House. Here is the latest offering -- directed exclusively at OT VIII's. If you re-do all your bottom of the bridge stuff, you will be awarded a "pin" that announces to one and all "Get Ready for OT IX and X" (just to be a nit-picker, why doesn't it say "I am Ready for OT IX and X"? Because undoubtedly the … [Read more...]
North Korea Catching the “Ideal” Wave
An eagle eyed Special correspondent sent me this Daily Mail story which could be about scientology. I have excerpted some of it below, there are more photos at the Daily Mail site. Apparently the North Koreans are envious of the scientology "ideal buildings" strategy for placating the sheeple with photos of empty facilities, all set up for action, but with nobody to use them. The motto seems to be "Build it and they won't come -- but they will be certain other people are and that proves how well things are going inside our bubble." Empty corridors, restaurants with fake grass … [Read more...]
Monumentally Useless Buildings
Jeff Hawkins sent me this article. I thought it was of interest as yet another comparison between North Korea and the bubble world of corporate scientology. There are many parallels, from the control of information to the worship of Dear Leader and from the ridiculous event spectacles to the gulags where dissidents are reformed. But this is a slightly different angle."Kijong-dong may seem like a novelty, but it is part of a twentieth-century tradition of hollow architectural spectacles. Communist regimes from Moscow to Beijing often indulged in monumental and monumentally useless … [Read more...]
Fundamentalist Scientology And North Korea
I have often made comparisons between the cult of the RCS and North Korea. I have been reading John Sweeney's excellent book North Korea Undercover (this is a link to order the book on Amazon, I recommend it as an informative and enjoyable read filled with typical Sweeney wit). The parallels that come to mind while reading the book are eerie. Someone also recently alerted me to a link to the official english language version of the The Pyongyang Times. It makes fascinating reading. They seem to employ the same writers as the RCS. Perhaps Dan Sherman is moonlighting for the Pyongyang … [Read more...]