These are some words of wisdom from a viewer who noticed the discussion of contacting elected officials on one of our YouTube live chats. This person didn't ask for this to be published, so I have hidden personal identifying details in case it might be a problem in some way. I saw a question in the group live chat re: contacting elected officials (specifically asking for a template they could use) and I thought I could be helpful and explain why that is a VERY bad idea....while offering some tips on what actually works. About me: I was a political communications strategist for … [Read more...]
Alex Gibney Urges IRS to Revoke Scientology’s Tax Exempt Status
A recent interview with Alex Gibney in Rolling Stone where he was asked the following question, jogged my memory. I had the pleasure of seeing Going Clear at its Sundance premiere, which was pretty wild. Is Scientology still on your case? And I’ve done a lot of reporting on Scientology as well, so what’s it like to see Tom Cruise still be the king of Hollywood? It seems he hasn’t had to answer a single question about this stuff in the eight years since Going Clear. I agree. And I’m kind of surprised. I think he took a step away, so he’s not the kind of ambassador for Scientology … [Read more...]
How Many Taxpayer-Subsidized Mansions, Homes and Offices Does A Dead Man Need?
This might seem like a foolish question -- but not when it come to L. Ron Hubbard. He apparently needs a whole lot of homes and even more offices... It is one of the lesser-known bizarre facts about scientology and the worship of L. Ron Hubbard that subsequent to his death (or in the words of David Miscavige he "discarded the body... he had used to facilitate his existence in this MEST universe," because it "had ceased to be useful and in fact had become an impediment to the work he now must do outside of its confines”), many fully furnished mansions and lavish homes were … [Read more...]
Revoke Scientology’s Tax Exempt Status Immediately
This was originally posted under the title: Auditing Scientology: Reexamining Tax Exemption Eligibility which was the title of the article written by Taylor Holley. I believe the ongoing public policy violations alone should be the immediate end of scientology's tax exempt status. Taylor points out how "Public Policy" has been narrowly interpreted to mean discrimination, but this is not what the intent of this regulation is. Spending tax exempt money to spy on people, smear and destroy them is NOT in keeping with "public policy." Scientology violates this every single day. The IRS sits on … [Read more...]
Scientology: Government Against The Ungovernable
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...]
Episode 60: Clearwater City Council Candidate Aaron Smith-Levin
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...]
Scientology Loses Again in England
One of our regular commenters, ISNOINews, pointed out this new decision reported in the UK. Since being denied charitable status in the UK in the early 2000's, scientology has been attempting all sorts of end-runs to circumvent the decision of the Charity Commission. They once again fell falling short as the British regulatory agencies don't just buy the bs scientology tries to foist off about what they do. Here is an article about the latest decision where they were seeking rate (tax) exemptions for 3 org buildings (the org and test center in London and the org in Manchester) on the … [Read more...]
Episode 42: Listener Questions Part 5
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...]
Letters to Congress
Leah and I have often responded to the question "What can I do to help?" by saying people should write to their elected representatives to demand action. I have been asked a number of times whether there is a form letter to use. Two people have recently sent me copies of letters they have written that may help. The first is a fairly lengthy, footnoted letter and the author has made it possible for you to download it here including the footnotes. He also graciously provided some instructions and guidance on how to go about this: Hello! Beginning on the next page is a … [Read more...]
Auditing Scientology: Reexamining Tax Exemption Eligibility
One of our commenters (ISNOINews) forward me a link to a wonderful piece by Taylor Holley, a Juris Doctorate candidate at Texas Tech University Law School written for the Law Review. It is titled Auditing Scientology: Reexamining the Church's 501(c)3 Tax Exemption Eligibility. If you click on the link above, you can download the full paper -- it is 27 pages long and summarizes all the facts and legal arguments as to why scientology should NOT enjoy tax exempt status. Below I include her abstract summarizing the paper: Abstract The Church of Scientology is one of the most discussed … [Read more...]