The new issue of Impact magazine is out, and the publication — from the international Association of Scientologists — includes this great photograph of Bob and Trish Duggan with their newest piece of hardware from Scientology leader David Miscavige, given to them at the October IAS gala in England. They’ve reached yet another new donation status (which had to be invented for them) — Patron Invictus! And look at that trophy shine!
For our newer readers, we’ll try to explain what’s going on in this picture. You see, Scientology has always been about money. Sure, in the old days, the amounts were more modest, but from the beginning L. Ron Hubbard held out the tantalizing prospect that if you followed his highly regimented and detailed counseling procedures, step by increasingly pricey step you’d get closer and closer to some kind of space opera godhood. In more recent years, the prices for those steps have become hugely expensive, and it can take half a million dollars just in course fees to reach the top of the “Bridge to Total Freedom.” But at least you were working toward that goal.
In the last ten years or so, current church leader David Miscavige has made a big shift when it comes to Scientology and money. He has asked members to give even more cash than ever — but rather than for their spiritual advancement, members are being asked to fork over this money simply for the sake of donating money itself.
And since Scientologists can’t do something without feeling that they’re gaining levels like in some kind of science fiction videogame RPG, the IAS has happy names for “status” levels that you unlock as you climb the donations ladder.
Bob and Trish Duggan, a super-wealthy couple we wrote about at some length in a rather bizarre story earlier, have given so much money, the IAS keeps having to come up with new status names to award them with! And what does Patron Invictus mean? Have they now reached something like $55 million in giving to the IAS? $60 million? We’ll keep working our sources to see if we can get the amount nailed down. (And this is just for donations to the IAS. The Duggans have also given to numerous Scientology building projects around the world.)
As we pointed out earlier, only the Duggans get the privilege of receiving their trophy with David Miscavige himself also in the frame of the picture. (Take that, you lesser whales!) And the occasion also called for some classic bluster from Miscavige’s speech writer, Dan Sherman…
The final presentation was another landmark moment in IAS history for not only was it the climax of the awards ceremony at the 30th IAS Anniversary Patrons Ball, it also marked the unveiling of a brand new IAS Honor Status, Patron Invictus.
Bob and Trish Duggan continue to lead the way as top contributors of the IAS, setting ever-greatest levels of support in their bid to further the purpose of the IAS and achieve the Aims of Scientology.
As Chairman of the Board RTC stated when presenting them with this award: “We come to the outer limits of this evening’s ceremony and an IAS accomplishment of entirely new dimensions.
“The status itself bears the title Invictus, which means ‘unconquerable.’ It is drawn from an LRH pronouncement that reads: ‘No man can stand entirely and completely alone — if he is still a man.’
“This status was specifically created for this night, and even more specifically, for an IAS Patron of legendary renown. And I don’t use that word ‘legendary’ lightly. As a matter of fact, this is the name that triggers a chain reaction like nothing else in our universe. Because this is who we are and what we represent — none other than Bob Duggan, Trish Duggan, and the family in totality — now and forever, the IAS!”
The photo also included three of the Duggan boys…
And the photo came with this caption…
Bob & Trish Duggan with their sons Daniel, Dylan and David, acknowledged by Chairman of the Board RTC with the highest Honor Status in the IAS.
(One of the boys we wrote about who was sent to South Africa is in this photo, the other is not.)
We’ve been asked, how does Scientology still have so much money if it’s losing members and is down to something like only 30 to 40 thousand members around the world? Well, if the Duggans have given $55 million just to the IAS, that’s the same as 11,000 less wealthy Scientologists becoming IAS lifetime members at $5,000 each. You begin to see how the whales like Duggan are propping up Miscavige as his organization lurches from one crisis to another.
But hey, there’s a new type of trophy for all those eager collectors out there! Excelsior!
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Richie Acunto’s ‘Platinum Meritorious’ trophy taken off eBay
Speaking of IAS donation trophies, the saga of Richie Acunto’s trophies, sold at auction this past Sunday on eBay, just gets stranger and stranger.
As we detailed in our long story on Acunto, the former millionaire fell so low, he apparently couldn’t pay the rent on a storage unit, which went to auction. Among his things were many of the artifacts of his long time as a high-flying member of the Church of Scientology, including some of his IAS trophies. They went up for sale on eBay, and brought in between about $1,000 and $3,500 each. Three of the most valuable were all swept up by one bidder, who then immediately put one of the trophies — for “Platinum Meritorious” donations of $2.5 million — right back up for sale.
But now, that sale has ended, and with no bidders.
Former church member Karen de la Carriere assured us that Scientology itself would not pay money to end the embarrassment of these trophies being on sale in such a public way.
But now we have some evidence that suggests that’s exactly what happened, and to the tune of about $13,500 in total.
We’re taking a harder look at the evidence we have on that, and we’ll share it if we can get more confirmation. But for now, we suspect that David Miscavige has cut a sizable check to get Richie Acunto’s trophies off the market.
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Karen de la Carriere on Scientology’s kangaroo courts
Another great video from Karen de la Carriere and Jeffrey Augustine, this time about Scientology’s ‘non-enterbulation order’ and committees of evidence…
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Posted by Tony Ortega on November 28, 2014 at 07:00
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