Scientology: So much effort and heartache, for such little effect

Does it ever strike you, the way it does us from time to time, the sheer amount of effort that Scientology puts into its various initiatives that are forever chipping away at the margins?

This example we have for you today, sent in by Phil Jones, is so apt. There’s the Writers of the Future contest itself, which we’ve been writing about for years, and which must cost Scientology a boatload of money in an effort to keep L. Ron Hubbard’s name associated with the pulp fiction he cranked out mostly before WW2.

Each spring, the contest names its big winners in a lavish ceremony that includes lots of genuflecting to Hubbard. We’ve marveled at the expensive sets, the tuxedos, and the wild interpretive dances of recent galas.

Increasingly, however, contest participants have begun to question their involvement in something that, looked at objectively, is a bizarre thing for Scientology to sponsor and promote. And that’s even without considering the direct tie we uncovered between the contest and Scientology’s Sea Org abuses.

And so these two Sea Org members, John Goodwin and Emily Jones (Phil’s daughter), go from convention to convention, peddling Hubbard’s wares and trying to come up with something exciting — there are Utah writers who have taken part in the contest! — hoping for a credulous local news reporter to come by and gush about the product they’re pushing.

Look, we don’t actually expect entertainment reporter Tracy Smith of ABC4 to bring up the point that the contest started in 1983 while Hubbard was in hiding. Or to know why Hubbard was in seclusion. Or to bother to look up the many stories about Emily and her brother Mike Jones, who have cut off all ties with their parents Phil and Willie Jones simply because Phil expressed some doubts about Scientology. Or to wonder why these two Galaxy Press gladhanders needed to sign billion-year contracts to prove their commitment to Hubbard’s church.

Or to ask Emily what she thought of her parents raising money to put up a billboard in Los Angeles just asking her (and other Sea Org members) to give their loved ones a call.

Yes, we could be irritated by such an uninformed TV reporter doing Scientology’s public relations for it, but then again, consider the result. After spending untold amounts of money for the lavish ways of the contest, and to stroke big names in the Sci-Fi community, and to keep its many volumes of annual anthologies in print year after year, and to fly John and Emily around to convention after convention… And after all of that, what do they get? A Facebook video for a Salt Lake City ABC affiliate with 820 views.

This planet will be cleared in no time.

 
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Bonus items from our tipsters

Meanwhile, in Canada…

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“I say LRH had to return like he said he would and he had to create a totally different beingness in order to understand and communicate with the newest most severe levels of degraded beings here on Earth. I myself know: I was a former criminal and even a psych on my track, having done so I could penetrate their veils and then break their spells on others. One never knows all unless one experiences all.”

 
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Scientology’s celebrities, ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and more!

We’ve been building landing pages about David Miscavige’s favorite playthings, including celebrities and ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and we’re hoping you’ll join in and help us gather as much information as we can about them. Head on over and help us with links and photos and comments.

Scientology’s celebrities, from A to Z! Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

Scientology’s ‘Ideal Orgs,’ from one end of the planet to the other! Help us build up pages about each these worldwide locations!

Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society!

Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in our weekly series. How many have you read?

 
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THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] A dispatch from the front: Protesting Scientology’s anti-psych quackery
[TWO years ago] Ideal and Ideal-er: England org coming soon will be Scientology to the max
[THREE years ago] Laying to rest the obfuscations of L. Fletcher Prouty, Scientology’s conspiracist-for-hire
[FOUR years ago] Another trial ordered against Narconon as Scientology derail attempt mostly fails
[FIVE years ago] Finally! Scientology begins selling its mysterious ‘OT’ levels more openly with slick new videos!
[SIX years ago] SCIENTOLOGY MOVES TO DISQUALIFY MONIQUE RATHBUN’S ATTORNEYS
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology Schweinehund: Commenters of the Week!

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on September 10, 2019 at 07:00

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Our new book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is now on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. Our book about Paulette, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.

The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2018 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2018), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists | GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice | SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts | Shelly Miscavige, ten years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

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Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele