Agree if that is the only one they have harmed, unfortunately this kind of act degraded society as a whole.

What exactly was “settled”? Obviously the cult harassment and denigration of Scientology critics (Paulette Cooper included) hasn’t. You know what hasn’t settled down as yet? David Miscavige’s paranoia. The little man can’t even step outside his office to do a press interview because he’s petrified of being caught in his own lies and being held accountable. He gets little lackeys like yourself, elle, to handle all the Internet/public skirmishes for him. What kind of a cowardly leader is that?

Len Zinberg said:

“I believe I’ve learned a few things. First, that fear leads to
paralysis, and paralysis leads to acquiescence. Acquiescence to evil is
evil. Never surrender your moral compass. Ever.

Getting involved with Scientology was the biggest mistake of my life.
But it is silence about Scientology that is the real crime. Redemption
is possible.”

Hear Hear! Perfectly said, and please add my thanks to you for your story here on Tony’s site. I hope that with your story out that you begin to be able to take in a full breath, and let it out. Telling your story is good for the soul, the same thing happens in Alcoholic Anonymous. People who have a few years of sobriety are asked to speak at a meeting, to tell their story. I have spoken at a few meetings and it really does help you to feel lighter afterward. Telling your own personal story is for the benefit of new people so they can see that you can be sober for the rest of your life and still have a full and happy life. I see the same thing happening with people who have come forward to tell their story of their time in Scientology. A good many people that have left Scientology have spoken of the heavy weight that they carried for years after they came out, but had not told their personal story. And that once they did that,they felt like a huge weight was lifted from them.

I hope that has happened for you, thank you again for having the courage to tell your story.

Thank you.

A lot of my perspective comes from now being a member of the
older generation that’s seen a lot of changes in society, as well as
living with parents who were born just after the turn of the last
century, and who also experienced different cultures, even though their
experiences were seen through the weird perspective of fundamentalist
Christianity. I didn’t realize until much later that they had become Operating Taoists because of their time in China. That tempered the rigidity of their beliefs somewhat.

I also have been in a lot of out of the way places in the U.S., and that helps. I’ve seen some incredible tolerance in what people would assume are rigid, close-minded areas, and I’ve seen some incredible intolerance in what many people would think of as cosmopolitan areas.

MK, I like the things that you say, and the way that you say them… so much. (Goes for more than just this specific comment above — your observations and thoughtful analysis are Quality.)

I’m not too scared to read Hollywood Traitors, but I’m old enough to remember Joe McCarthy’s era. On a personal level, one of my earliest memories is of my mother laying out 3 of her closest Missionary friends for burial, who were killed just outside the city we were in by Communists, so I have no love for the system.

I’ve also read enough conservative bullshit about “Communism,” which tends to be whatever they are against, without regard for the economic underpinnings of communism or socialism. Communism is a failed system, but to attack someone for being sympathetic to some of the goals of communism instead of looking at the underpinnings of their arguments and discussing them isn’t reasonable to me.

The problem with the McCarthy era was that people who had changed their minds about Communism and no longer supported it were prosecuted. Those who chose not to rat out their friends were prosecuted. People who joined the Communist Party, even for a short time years before, were blacklisted, even though their involvement was very brief and peripheral, and didn’t fit what they believed in.

The blacklist was bullshit, and caused the ruination of careers simply because people had once supported causes put forth by front groups.

It should be remembered that many people got interested in Communism because it, like $cientology later did, seemed to offer solutions to problems. Many people on the blacklist got involved with Communism because they saw a lot of social and economic inequality during the depression, and communism tried to take advantage of it to expand its influence. During WWII, the USSR was also an ally, but with the cold war, the ruthlessness of communism and duplicity was also exposed.

On the other hand, the anti-communist fervor led to some unrealistic foreign policy moves. Specifically, the State Department people who advocated a pragmatic approach to our post-war China policy were fired. They were deemed to be pro-communist. They weren’t. They knew Chinese politics very well, and were well acquainted with both Mao and Chiang. Unfortunately, we had Madame Chiang meddling in our China policy, supporting her very corrupt husband and his regime. Eventually, the State Department people who authored what was called the White Paper, got their jobs back. They were not communists.

Ironically, a person who made his political bones as an anti-communist is the person I hold responsible for handing the keys to our economy to China: Richard Nixon.

I have also known some of the children of the Hollywood 10, even though I didn’t know their relationship of some of them at the time I knew them.

Oh, no you didn’t hit my buttons it was just everybody. I might have mentioned I tried to psyche myself out of i but just didn’t seem to be able to. It’s funny now as i can laugh at it in retrospect. When I seem to be that way I guess the best idea would be to take a mental health day!
And no Greyhounds aren’t known for being anything other than gentle and sweet which sadly makes them perfect for the medical industry to use in experiments. I’ve been around them forever and personally had one incident. I went to shut off a light in the sitting room and I stepped on Bud’s(his name) tail. He snapped at me and did nothing more than draw a small amount of blood on my calf. You could tell he was asleep and didn’t really know what had going on. Hope you have a great rest of the week!

Todd, greyhounds don’t really attack right? that was the basis of my joke, the might run up to you at dangerous speeds, but are generally very loving and non aggressive dogs. :)?
I’m sorry you’re having a bitch day, we all have them, makes all our buttons easier to reach. Just sorry I hit one of them!

Stick with your assumptions and prejudices that you believe are well-thought logic, if you too scared to read Hollywood Traitors and get some insight and facts. It’s your loss.

Criminal history does not settle overnight or in 50 years or 100. The crimes of Scientology existed then and exist now. Been on both sides so have seen first hand. Some day you will fully understand the nasty joke Hubbard played on us. I gurantee Hubbards not laughing now.