Subscribers recently received the new edition of International Scientology News, and it came with a DVD! On that DVD was another great video mashup of hyperactive Scientology testimonials, and it’s one of the best we’ve seen yet.
The last time we posted a testimonial vid, it got ripped off by Buzzfeed without any credit. Let’s see how long it takes them to steal this one!
It’s the same music as last time — sounding like it was ripped from a race car video game — and some of the people are even the same. But this time, we get some new promises.
Spidey senses! And you can be the king of your own universe! And the Bridge now is so fast!
So you might be wondering, who is this video aimed at? Well, it was hard not to notice the constant drumbeat that moving through Scientology’s courses has become so much faster and easier now.
This is David Miscavige’s attempt to reel back in the large number of church members who have stopped coming in for services (but who still have copies of International Scientology News mailed to them). Can you sense the desperation?
——————–
Nice try, Scientology
Back in May, we told you about Lee Shewmaker, a rural Florida veterinarian who had just made the decision to ditch the Church of Scientology. (He was so fresh out, he’d attended this year’s New Year’s Eve celebration at the Flag Land Base in Clearwater.)
Once it was obvious he wasn’t coming back, Lee says he was visited by a couple of Scientology masters-at-arms who demanded he turn over his E-meter. Later, he received notice that he’s been declared a “suppressive person” — Scientology’s version of excommunication. Now that Lee’s an SP, other Scientologists have to cut off all ties with him.
Apparently, Lee’s status didn’t get communicated to the folks at the International Association of Scientologists, who recently sent Lee a letter asking him to pay a “balance” he owed of $12,293.
We’ve got the letter, below, and we asked Lee what it was all about. He tells us that at one point, he was in Clearwater for services, and wanted to go home.
“They were withholding my folders. They wouldn’t let me go home,” he says. It was another high-pressure tactic to get him to turn over a large donation. He says he finally relented, writing a check for $36,000 so he could finally leave. When it turned out he didn’t have the funds in the bank to cover the check, he ignored the church’s repeated messages that he had promised the donation. And now, as an “SP,” there’s no way he’s going to give the church another dime, he says.
But that didn’t prevent the IAS from sending him a letter with language making it sound like Lee still owed the money.
Oh, that Scientology. It just never gets tired of demanding cash.
Lee said he was happy to share the letter with Underground Bunker readers, and tells us he’s doing really well.
“I’m doing great, man. I feel like I’m out of jail.”
——————–
A sad update on the legal side of things
Last Thursday, we were making calls and sending e-mails, hoping to get a copy of Monique Rathbun’s latest filing in her harassment lawsuit against the Church of Scientology. That day she had a reply brief due with the Texas Third Court of Appeals, and it’s one we’re very interested to see.
But we were told that the court had granted a week’s extension on Monique’s deadline, and for a reason that made our heart sink.
The day before, on Wednesday July 30, Dannette Mitchell-Fox died after her lengthy battle with breast cancer. She was Ray Jeffrey’s law partner, and we learned that she was a reader of the Underground Bunker back when Ray was handling Debbie Cook’s lawsuit. She was just 40.
We offer our warmest thoughts to Dannette’s friends and family.
We have one more legal update. On October 6 there’s going to be a potentially very interesting court hearing in Los Angeles. On that date, at 8:30 am in the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, Judge Michael Johnson will be deciding on two of Scientology’s motions in the lawsuit brought by former member Vance Woodward.
Vance is suing for the $200,000 he says he paid Scientology over his years as a member, accusing the organization of fraud. Scientology responded with the two motions. The firsts asks that the matter go to internal church arbitration and be dismissed from the courts. The second is an “anti-SLAPP” motion, which accuses Woodward of filing a frivolous lawsuit that’s intended to harm Scientology’s free speech rights.
While the court mulls that over in advance of the October 6 hearing date, both sides were asked to submit documents which discuss their willingness to settle or mediate the matter.
Scientology’s response accuses Woodward of the usual thing (that he signed a contract and was aware that he was signing his life away, for example). But Woodward’s response is more interesting. He admits, for example, that he’s already approached Scientology for a settlement, but the church wasn’t interested. Also, he says that he expects Scientology will appeal if its motions are denied, which would tack on another year or more for an answer.
Give each of the documents a look, and let us know if you find anything particularly interesting. And who’s going to the hearing on October 6? We could use some eyes and ears.
——————–
Hey, you can’t do that!
Reader ‘California’ alerted us to this last item, and it’s a headscratcher. On Friday, July 25, a new band with members named Viva, Jordan, Jason, and Perry made their debut at a venue called “The Hand-Me-Down” at 110 N. Maple Street in Bloomington, Indiana. (The address appears to be a residential house that hosts music events.)
The band calls itself “Narconon.”
And on Friday, the band posted four songs on the Internet, and we had to marvel at their choice of logos, which is, it appears to us, identical to the logo used by Scientology’s drug rehab network.
Give those songs a listen while you can. We have a feeling the youngsters will soon be receiving a letter from Kendrick Moxon or Gary Soter about their choice of band name!
——————–
Posted by Tony Ortega on August 4, 2014 at 07:00
E-mail your tips and story ideas to tonyo94@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes updates at our Facebook author page. Here at the Bunker we try to have a post up every morning at 7 AM Eastern (Noon GMT), and on some days we post an afternoon story at around 2 PM. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.
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, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47
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, 42, 43
PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | Scientology’s Private Dancer
