On Wednesday, we told you about Quinn Bennett, a 10-year-old girl the Church of Scientology is touting as its “youngest self-made humanitarian,” which is Scientology-speak indicating that young Quinn has personally donated at least $100,000 for the church’s expansion efforts.
(For those of you who keep bringing up an anonymous commenter over at Mike Rinder’s blog who claims that Quinn didn’t donate her own money, we’ll point out that our issue is with the church promoting this young girl as a ‘humanitarian’ in order to set an example for other church members.)
As we explained on Wednesday, former Scientology spokesman Mike Rinder has been documenting what a disaster Scientology’s “Ideal Org” project is, with members pressured to raise millions for unneeded buildings that then sit empty. The constant push to donate more and more money — even if it means maxing out credit cards and taking second mortgages on their homes — is one of the reasons longtime members have been abandoning the church in recent years. That only seems to have ratcheted up the pressure to donate for those who are left.
We showed you that Quinn’s achievement was featured on a fundraising flier for an event happening tomorrow in Mountain View, California. But she also recorded a short video to encourage people to show up and meet her, the young girl who has donated so much money to the cause…
“Hi, I’m Quinn Bennett. I’m 10, and I’m a humanitarian at my Portland Ideal Org. And I’m coming to ‘The Good, the Bad, and the Ideal’ to flow power to you.”
How precious. Quinn’s parents are Dylan and Kaellagh Bennett, who both work at Scientology’s Delphian School in Oregon. According to the expensive boarding school’s website, Dylan is listed as the Audio/Visual Production Manager and an A/V Arts Teacher, while Kaellagh is listed as a Senior Ethics Advisor. Each of them are identified as 1998 graduates of the school.
Here’s a video of dad shaving.
Looking through Dylan’s other videos at his YouTube channel, some of which feature Quinn and her younger brother, we’re struck by what a fun-loving family they seem to be, with an obvious passion for learning. But why would they allow their 10-year-old daughter to be used as a shill in the church’s high-pressure fundraising games? We’re hoping to reach them to ask that question.
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Jonny Jacobsen
Our man in Paris, Jonny Jacobsen, gives us an update on the Belgian case against Scientology currently dragging its way through the system…
We should know by March 13 whether or not the Brussels case is actually going to go ahead. That is when the Chambre de Conseil will say whether it thinks the matter is worth taking any further.
Prosecutors want to go after Scientology on a series of charges including fraud, the illegal practice of medicine, extortion and violation of the privacy laws. And they are targeting not just key officers of the movement in Belgium, but the organization itself.
Arguments concluded on Thursday and the court announced it would give its ruling on March 13, Belgian media reported.
The problem for the prosecutors is that this case, which is in fact a composite of two merged into one, has been dragging on for years now, as we reported here last month. The oldest of the two dates back to 1997.
The more recent case started in spectacular fashion with police raids on the movement’s Brussels offices in April 2008 following a complaint over allegedly fake job ads. Scientology was accused of having used the job ads simply to recruit members — there was no real paid employment on offer, say investigators.
More than four years later, in December 2012, prosecutors charged a Scientology organization and two senior executives over this case, as we reported at the time. But later that year it got shunted into the Chambre de Conseil, which decides if such cases are worth pursuing — and thus joined the earlier case in procedural limbo.
In that older case, prosecutors wanted to go after 12 Scientologist and two of the movement’s organizations in Belgium on fraud charges.
So if the case does ever make it into court, the stakes could be high.
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A Valentine to our readers
Thanks to The Hole that Does Not Exist, we have a special treat for you today. It’s a remix of our in-house jam, Hunkered Down in Bunker Town. We’ll let Hole explain what makes it special…
I am so excited and thrilled to present a Hunkered Down upgrade featuring a renowned tenor sax artist, a NY native, whose worked with the likes of jazz legends Diane Shuur, Maynard Ferguson, fusion, classic pop, and R&B icons Jeff Lorber, Alex Acuna, Bloomberg, Rick Derringer, Tower of Power’s Roger Smith, Frankie Valli, most recently opened for Queen Latifah, all to name but a few in his long diversified career. He also happens to give back to the community and is a loving family man. A rare gem.
Thanks to Chukcita for hooking me up and by my luck of the Irish, I happened to catch him just coming off of one concert and before family vacation, with just a few days’ window of opportunity.
We think you’ll notice the improvement. Of course, Hole’s vocals are still smashing. So, for all you lovers out there, here’s some good feeling sent your way…
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Posted by Tony Ortega on February 14, 2014 at 07:00
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Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…
BLOGGING DIANETICS (We read Scientology’s founding text) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25
UP THE BRIDGE (Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40
GETTING OUR ETHICS IN (Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING (Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41
PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | Scientology’s Private Dancer
