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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 Loses Again in England

August 7, 2021 By Mike Rinder 53 Comments

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...]

Filed Under: Tax Exemption Tagged With: charity commission, England, London, Manchester, Massimo Angius, peter hodkin, Tax Exemption, uk

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

Letters to Congress

May 16, 2021 By Mike Rinder 16 Comments

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...]

Filed Under: Special Feature Tagged With: Aftermath Foundation, Congress, irs, letters to congress, Tax Exemption, US Representatives

Auditing Scientology: Reexamining Tax Exemption Eligibility

February 17, 2021 By Mike Rinder 57 Comments

IRS exemption scientology

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...]

Filed Under: Special Feature Tagged With: 501(c)3, irs, Law Review, Scientology, scientology tax exemption, Tax exempt status, Tax Exemption, Taylor Holley, Texas Tech

Scientology’s Tax Exemption

November 28, 2020 By Mike Rinder 35 Comments

I happened to pull up this posting from April 2015 and in re-reading it I thought it important enough to repost here today. With The Aftermath on Netflix, many new people are being exposed to the horrifying truth about scientology for the first time. And many have the same question as those who have been in the know for some time. How is it that scientology can be tax exempt? This is a pretty good essay that explains in some detail why it should NOT. And it addresses a bit why it hasn’t changed. Unfortunately, with a conservative majority now firmly entrenched in the US Supreme Court, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Tax Exemption Tagged With: 501(c)3, Amish, Catholic church, Constitution, David Miscavige, irs, Jehovah's Witnesses, Netflix, public policy, Tax Exemption, The Aftermath, Tom Cruise, US Supreme Court

Religion?

August 30, 2020 By Mike Rinder 35 Comments

The question is often asked -- how can scientology call itself a religion? It doesnt have most of the things that "normal" religions have -- worship services, a belief in God, relying on actual gifts and not charging for services, a kind, gentle approach, focus on families etc etc And of course, L. Ron Hubbard was extremely derisive about religions (I will do a post focusing on his views one of these days) until he realized it could have great benefit to use the "religion angle." But one of the things that is most incredible about this business that masquerades as a religion for tax … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Tax Exemption Tagged With: irs, L. Ron Hubbard, Tax Exemption, WISE, World Institute of Scientology Enterprises

An Interview with Leah Remini

August 29, 2020 By Mike Rinder 27 Comments

If you didnt see this on my social media yesterday, I recommend you read this piece in AwardsCircuit.com about The Aftermath. It is pegged to the Emmy nomination for the finale that aired last year (the result will be announced on Monday 14 Sept). Leah talks about the Danny Masterson case and why we didn't air the initial episode we shot. She also discusses the Me Too movement and scientology, the STAND League, scientology tax exempt status and much more. Give it a read.         … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Media Interviews Tagged With: Danny Masterson, Emmy, Leah Remini, STAND League, Taryn Teutsch, Tax Exemption, The Aftermath

Religious Protections Run Amok

August 6, 2020 By Mike Rinder 31 Comments

This is a thought-provoking, and somewhat alarming article by Professor Marci Hamilton, Founder and CEO of Child USA Marci appeared on The Aftermath and was part of the team who filed the civil lawsuits on behalf of the Masterson victims and Valerie Haney. She is one of the country's foremost experts on First Amendment Law as it relates to religion. Marci eloquently and persuasively highlights something I have often said, conservative Supreme Court justices are overly zealous in their efforts to protect religions, and the umbrellas they establish allows scientology to get away with … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Legal Tagged With: Child USA, First Amendment, irs, Marci Hamilton, Supreme Court, Tax Exemption, Title VII

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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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__doe_eyes__ Doe Eyes @__doe_eyes__ ·
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Sorry, can't. I'm listening to @MikeRinder #ABillionYears on @audible_com

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cedarsjwsurvey Lloyd Evans @cedarsjwsurvey ·
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Ex-Scientologist turned whistleblower @MikeRinder talks about his new book "A Billion Years: My Escape from a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology" and joins me in identifying the similarities and differences between our respective former #cults. https://youtu.be/YBVUxhwPzCE

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blownforgood Marc Headley @blownforgood ·
1 Feb

Scientology Q&A Live w/ Aaron Smith-Levin & Mike Rinder 5:45 PM (MST) #XenuIsMyHomeboy https://youtube.com/live/sgIdM250NhM?feature=share

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mikerinder Mike Rinder @mikerinder ·
29 Jan

Crazy L. Ron Hubbard's 1980 letter to Pres. Reagan explaining his plan for a national sales tax and abolishing the IRS. It was a key theme of #scientology's war on the IRS... until they got exemption. Do today's proponents know? Full letter in blog post.
https://www.mikerindersblog.org/the-flat-tax-republicans-reviving-the-scientology-campaign-to-abolish-the-irs/

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klempmichele Michele Klemp @klempmichele ·
29 Jan

@MikeRinder just finished reading your book. I've been anti-scientology for about 30 years. Your book was so informative as to the mindset and the bullying, gaslighting etc. Every through I watched the documentaries and listened to the podcast, I found this book so much (/2)

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