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Afraid to leave Scientology? Ex-members describe their lives after David Miscavige

[Finding it hard to quit him?]

Reader Science Doc had a great suggestion. He pointed out that Scientologists are indoctrinated to believe the outside world is mysterious and dangerous, making it difficult for some to leave even when they’re feeling frustrated by church leader David Miscavige’s focus on extreme fundraising and other abuses.

But for those who did take the leap and overcame their fears to leave Scientology, what did they find on the other side? How would they describe the difference between what they were warned about life after Scientology, and how it turned out to be? We decided to ask.

 

Clarissa Adams: If I hadn’t left the Sea Org when I was 20 I’d have missed out on quite a bit but the most important things to me are my children. I’m so glad I didn’t miss my chance at becoming a mother. Oh, and happiness! Man, I was just so damn miserable working there. If I hadn’t then finally left Scientology itself, 2 kids and way too many years later, I’d have missed out on deeper, more meaningful relationships with both my family and my friends. It’s hard to fully trust even your life long friends and your family when there is a very real chance that they would report on things you said or did to the church. And it’s hard to connect with new friends if you think you’re somehow better than them simply because you are a Scientologist and they are not.

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I’m grateful that my children are not being raised by Scientologists; that we do not raise them thinking they are basically capable adults in children’s bodies. Our daughter has an Intellectual Disability and when she was diagnosed (this was pretty hard to write) in the back of my mind I was worried that that meant she may have done something in a past life to “pull it in (aka get what she deserved) this lifetime”.

I’m not sure I ever fully let myself think it but it was there, niggling at me because that’s what I’d been taught by the ‘church’ about people with special needs and disabilities. I’m SO grateful, for her sake, that that is not how I see her at all now. And thank goodness that even though I was still technically a Scientologist at the time, when I told some friends of mine about her ID and they offered her Scientology auditing, I instinctively recoiled at the idea of her going through that and instead got her the help she’s needed from people qualified and educated in how to do so. We’re definitely not perfect parents, we’ll probably always be trying to figure out how to be better at it so we don’t screw it up, but not thinking like a Scientologist parent is one less way we will mess them up.

One of the things I appreciate the most since leaving is the freedom to truly think for myself, to read whatever I want to, and to say what I want to say. Those sound so simple but when you really think about them and how restricted I was in how I thought, what I couldn’t allow myself to think, read or watch and that there were things I wasn’t allowed to even say aloud, even 10-12 years after I left the Sea Org??? I’m just so grateful not to be connected to the church in any way now. You just can’t put a price on mental freedom so that’s what I wish upon all current Scientologists, the actual freedom to think for themselves and for them to reconnect with all the family and friends they disconnected from because they were told or encouraged to by the ‘church’.

I still really miss my brother, we lost some good people in The Great Disconnection but we gained so many non-Scientologist friends and connections afterward. And we aren’t constantly guilt tripped into wasting our money on the New Sunset Rundown or the Revised Version of the Last Revised Version of the Latest Copy of the New Science of Survival. Our kids are happy and the company that we somehow managed to make successful without the use of “Scientology Management Technology” is doing well. Life isn’t always easy (Hello 2020) and has it’s tough moments but we’re doing so much better now than we were in 2014, the year we officially left Scientology behind. Life outside of Scientology is actually pretty great and I encourage anyone who is under the radar and reading this to take the next step in their journey out. It’s. So. Much. Better. On. This. Side

 

Mary Kahn: FREEDOM. Ownership of: My own time. My own money. My own thoughts. My own decision of who’s a friend. Ownership of Myself. FREEDOM. If a Scientologist doesn’t wake up they miss out on being able to run their own life without the church breathing down their necks for them to do or give something or behave a certain way. Their life is their own out here.

 

Phil Jones: When I was quite young, maybe 5 or 6 years old my dad left to join a cult (not Scientology). It was a loss that shaped my psyche for years to come. As I grew older and hit high school I tried to fill the void by researching various spiritual paths. I think it was an effort to somehow either be like my dad, or connect in some way. I read tons of books on the subject back in those days but rarely finished them, as none of them seemed to have the answers I was looking for. When Scientology found me it looked like I’d found a path that worked (at least according to their story) and so jumped in with both feet.

All through my life I had this drive to achieve some sort of spiritual enlightenment, whether I was actively pursuing it, or at times less actively. But it was always there, riding in the back of my mind. I never attributed it to my lack of relationship with my dad until many years later, after I’d left Scientology. When you’re in Scientology there is this thing where “it’s really bad out there” and so from the get-go we kept our kids in Scientology schools, and for the most part we worked with or for other Scientologists.

After we left Scientology (around 2009 or so) I started to wake up from the conditioning. At one point after being out for a few years I finally felt free. This I have to say is the major thing I got out of leaving Scientology. Yes, there were other benefits and reconnections with people I should have stayed in contact with over the years, but the real freedom came in not having to search or drive for that carrot that could never be reached. I no longer had that constant thread of stress and anxiety connected to the drive for Scientology OT, or enlightenment. I felt freer than I’d felt at any time in Scientology. I basically just woke up to living life and enjoying it for what it was. Had we broken away earlier our kids would have had a proper education. Hell, for that matter I would have had a better education if I hadn’t given my college fund to Scientology in the early days.

I’d certainly have had a more stable working life and probably a steady career. I would have also had an actual retirement. Over the years when we were in Scientology, at various times I tried to save some money, and did manage to do so periodically. Each time I did there was some Scientology registrar or FSM who discovered I had money and it would vanish in a billow of smoke and mirrors for a mere few intensives of useless auditing. This went on a number of times, over and over with the same thing happening each time I saved up some money. Eventually, I just gave up saving. I figured it would just get eaten up anyway.

Leaving Scientology might give someone a chance to put away some money for retirement. Though I have to admit, retirement in a Scientologists view is something they would never consider doing. “I’ll work until the end” a mantra often heard in Scientology. Even though leaving Scientology often means leaving behind friends and sometimes family, there are so many good people outside that one can connect with or reconnect with. When one is still in Scientology they may have non-Scientology friends but there is always that Scientology arrogance (we know the secrets of the universe and you don’t) that makes it a bit less of an honest connection. Once out, there are real friendships to be had. Willie and I have made so many good friends along the way since we left Scientology. This is the part of life to be cherished. Not like the constant stress in the drive to peel off thousands of imaginary body thetans year after year. I could go on. There are countless pluses to being out of Scientology. In the end my only real loss in getting out is the loss of our kids.

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Heather Ruggieri: That is super easy. I would have missed out having a child. As a Sea Org member you can’t have kids. I would have missed out on establishing a family. I would have missed out on the opportunity to take my GED and further my education. I feel the latter points are small in comparison to the joy of having a child. That is the main thing I am thankful for and so honored to have experienced and am continuing to experience.

 

Janis Gillham Grady: Good question. Having been in the Sea Org since the age of 11, there were times I thought about leaving and wanted to know what the outside world was like. After just over five years on the ship, I took my first leave of absence and visited America and what struck me the most was that people had weekends off and did what they wanted in that time and didn’t have to ask anyone for permission to go have fun. They also didn’t seem to get in trouble and have restrictions enforced on them.

When I was 19 we moved ashore to Clearwater and had the place fill up with FCCIs [Flag Completed Case Intensives], this created more thoughts about what it was like on the outside. I saw Sea Org members that had been off loaded or blown coming for services and they must have been making good money to have paid off a freeloader bill and then pay for services. I kept that in the back of my mind. Then when it really struck me was when I did the Freewinds Maiden Voyage missions. I was busting my ass to pull of the original Maiden Voyage and when Miscavige showed up with the IGs, etc and were goofing off most of the time while hanging out with paying public. I had always thought the paying public to be dilatants as they “weren’t contributing” though they were making money on the outside and paying it for services which did keep us Sea Org members supported.

Seeing the freedom the FCCIs had and that they were treated better than Sea Org members who had given up their freedom for “the purpose” it started to rub me the wrong way — especially when I returned to Int and I became the Trouble Shooter for many projects not getting done in time the daily threats of the RPF if I didn’t pull off miracles, started to get to me and I realized it was not what I signed up for. I started thinking of leaving but didn’t think my husband was ready to leave. When we did leave, it was a time we were not allowed to have children in the Sea Org – some lower level executives however, were allowed to be transferred to Class V orgs but being at the level of the Sea Org that I was, Miscavige had made it very clear that people like me would never be allowed to go to a lower org to have children. Thus when I found out I was pregnant, Paul and I left in the middle of the night to avoid being pulled into ethics and kept there until we agreed to an abortion. We were so done with the mistreatment and what little freedom we did have, being taken away slowly – especially with the Team Share system being implemented.

While in the Sea Org, you really don’t know what you are missing, especially if you have been there since childhood and know little else. Plus people that are not Sea Org are considered to be dilettantes or first dynamic (self) oriented. Which is what those that leave the Sea Org were considered to be. They were being selfish and putting themselves head of the group. People wishing to route out, when pulled into ethics to convince them to stay would be told how others have gone out there and failed. You would hear stories and lies about people that have left — some getting into drugs, some living on the streets or flipping hamburger, etc. and one even begins to believe that nearly every person in the real world are a druggie, purposeless, dishonest, etc. But, in your own mind it doesn’t add up as I would see people that got kicked out of the Sea Org returning as successful and wealthy FCCIs. So when you know a lot of people that had passed through the Sea Org like I did, having been there from close to the start, while the thought of going out on your own was scary, I believed if those who had been offloaded could survive, then so could I. But even knowing that, you don’t know where to begin when you do leave.

If you blow you are in bad standing and any good standing Scientologist no matter how good a friend they had been when you were in, would not be willing to help you unless you had done A-E and gotten back in good standing. Plus, you have no money to even start somewhere! Having made the decision to leave, it was scary and since I knew I had no friends that would help me that were in good standing and believing getting back in good standing would be harder if I contacted old friends who were declared SPs, I felt I had no where to go in order to get my feet on the ground to even start somewhere in the new world. I took the risk of contacting my brother who I had not seen in 8 years, I had no idea how he would respond. Little did I know how excited he was to see me when I showed up on his front door.

On that first day out when I meet his children, I realized I had missed many of their growing up years. Then as I started connecting with old friends “in bad standing” with the church and while I was still hesitant to associate with them, I realized they weren’t bad people and were the same people that I had always thought them to be. While mentally leaving Scientology is a slow process as one peels the onion to shed their mental control, reconnecting and regaining old friendships has been one of the biggest things I find joy in, since leaving the Sea Org and Scientology.

Also while the onion slowly peels, new friendships are created as one slowly finds confidence in the new world and realizes its not that hard. I remember after having been with a small group of exes and building a company together, later when I decided to go off on my own, I told myself “I can do this”, everyday as I drove to my new business, and I did and still am. Also, if I had stayed I would have missed having the family I have created since leaving, having kids put me in a world I had no idea existed and have loved having. I have freedom to have thoughts, do things I want and enjoy, relax (which is still hard to do without feeling guilting for sitting around doing nothing) and have time to hang out with friends and just enjoy life!

 

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Sylvia DeWall: Most afraid…. of being wrong. Or realizing they’re not elite or righteous. Afraid that there might be folks in the ‘outside world‘ who are smarter, nicer, more capable. Hubbard always claimed that by calling yourself a scientologist (which for most was simply by association and maybe a few courses) meant you were far more superior than the general population of earth. Sucked (at first) to realize the opposite. But that quickly turned to relief as it posed endless opportunities and possibilities. Missing out… our own thoughts and philosophies of life. Personally, I missed out on my formal education. My dream was to be a veterinarian. I can’t tell you how many scientologists made me feel ridiculous for having such a goal. Electing to attend a college course in lieu of TR’s such as staring at another human for hours on end or yelling at a freaking ashtray… blasphemy!!

 

Lois Reisdorf: My situation is very different from those who were paying Scientologists, so am not sure that I am the right person to ask. I was 13 years old when I went into the SO on the Apollo and I left at age 22. I missed out on my childhood completely and was well trained/versed in Scientology but had not even had my full education and had no idea about the real world, only fear. I was also married to Gary who had left the real world at 17, so we were both in the same boat. Even though my parents in South Africa (which is where we went) were mission holders for Scientology, they helped us tremendously navigate our way in the real world as my step-Dad worked in the real world in a big corporate company as a chemical engineer (mission holder at night)……my parents had a brief stint in the SO, but they had spent most of their lives in the real world, even though they also worked in Scientology. There is a HUGE difference being in the SO and being a Scientologist in the real world.

I also think that being an Org staff member is hard, as they have to live in the real world somehow which in a way is worse than being in the SO where everything is provided for you. I have been in the real world now for almost 40 years, but when I think back on the first few years of being out of the SO, I had tremendous fear and felt completely out of my element. I did not even know how to speak to “wogs”, I did not even know how to write a check or pay bills, not to mention all the bigger things. I was extremely naïve and felt stupid. I do feel lucky that I got out at age 22, unlike my one sister who has been in the SO since she was 15 and is still in there at the most secure place – Int Base near Hemet. She is now 55 years old. I just cannot imagine what it would be like for her to finally leave. It would be catastrophic I think as she really has no clue. It is also different from someone who was an adult and then went into Scientology and/or the SO and then came out…….at least they had had an education and maybe even college and maybe even had worked at a normal job…

 

Chris Shelton: If I hadn’t left Scientology, I would never have found out a number of things. First and foremost is how good people actually can be. In Scientology we were carefully taught how bad the so-called “wog world” was and how everyone outside of the Scientology bubble were bordering on being insane, if not already there. We were told repeatedly that we were the only ones who had any “workable” solutions and no one else was even really trying, they were just pretending to. When I started interacting with trained professionals across a wide diversity of subjects and listened closely to what they had to say, I discovered that everything Hubbard and Miscavige ever claimed about all this was horribly wrong. Academics, scientists and professionals are almost all hard working, well intentioned and very smart people who do good work that is of material benefit to those around them.

I have learned so much since leaving Scientology and it has all helped me to help myself and others. On a related note, I also have come to learn how full of crap Hubbard was about so many fields he claimed to be an expert in, such as psychology, sociology, toxicology, engineering and science, management and administration, medicine and even writing. Hubbard was actually a pretty poor writer of fiction and his so-called “scientific writings” are so laughably bad that he would be literally laughed out of any college or university that tried to peddle his nonsense. I had no idea what real science was when I was a Scientologist.

I was carefully and purposefully taught that the only thing that really mattered was what Hubbard said. The most powerful thing I have gotten from leaving Scientology, though, is myself. I thought I knew who I was and what I was all about when I was a Scientologist. I had dedicated my whole life to it, first as a staff member and then a Sea Org member. If that is not honest and complete commitment to a cause, I don’t know what is. I truly was “all-in” for Hubbard and Scientology and I thought that was what gave my life meaning and purpose and direction. And for many years it did but it wasn’t a fulfilling purpose or a very good direction.

I was having to lie to people every day in order to “help” them. I was having to put people into uncomfortable situations and then rub their noses in it to make them feel awful to “save” them. I had to be a beast to people and had it so backwards in my head that I thought I was doing them a service by abusing them. I have since come to learn that none of those things are ever necessary if you really want to help people. But worst of all, as a Scientologist I was constantly degrading myself, making myself out to be an “aberrated” thetan who only through the grace of Scientology could ever hope to become an ethical, powerful being. I suffered and slaved and groveled and worked for decades to try to overcome my so-called aberrations and overts and withholds until it became clear that there was never enough work, never enough confession, never enough ethics work that was going to satisfy my seniors or the case supervisors or ethics officers that I was worth something.

To the church, I was only as good as last week’s statistics and no matter how much I did, how much I accomplished, it was never enough. For many years I took that as a personal failing, as something that reflected my aberrations and case and ethics level. So when I finally woke up enough from that self-invalidation fog to get out of the Sea Org and out of Scientology entirely, I started making friends with “wogs.” And what did I discover? They were friendly, they were warm, they greeted me with interest and compassion. I suddenly wasn’t being judged or told how out-ethics I was for not doing enough, for not contributing enough, for not caring enough. Suddenly, I was actually good enough and I was someone worth knowing and I was someone who was even likable.

I didn’t think any of those things were true when I was a Scientologist. In short, the “big scary wog world” was all just a lie, a con job that kept me as a Scientologist from truly enjoying life and the world at large. The more I dedicated myself to Scientology, the more miserable I was as a person even though I could never let on to the outside world how I really felt. I couldn’t even tell my own family what my day-to-day was like because I knew they just “wouldn’t understand.” What I’ve come to learn in leaving is that it’s not that they didn’t or wouldn’t understand, it was that deep down I knew what I was involved in was somehow wrong, I just couldn’t explain how. If what we were doing was so great and was truly saving the world, how come we had to be so cloistered and secretive about everything we did? How come we couldn’t just go enjoy a movie on Saturday night or spend some time off with non-Scientologist friends or family? Since leaving Scientology, I have gained a sense of myself and the world that is more honest, more real and more objectively true than anything I had in Scientology. There really is no comparison.

 

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Amy Scobee: Great question. Life in the ‘free world’ is nothing like being trapped in a cult, 24/7. If I were still there, I never would have discovered the truth about Scientology (through research and the study of materials we were forbidden to access) or healed from its damaging effects. I wouldn’t have taken care of my mother as she battled with cancer and remained by her side to her last breath. I wouldn’t have been able to spend every day enjoying my family, my pets, my friends, my career, my home and many fun vacations. I have the ability to go where I want in a moment’s notice. I can watch what I want, say what I want, believe what I want. I have no fear – of anything. No fear of being separated from my husband, no fear of being subjected to draconian punishments like the RPF, being beaten or receiving hours of mind-numbing security checks. I don’t have to worry about medical care or if I’ll be abandoned when I get older. I can select my own doctor, take needed medications without a dictator and I’m able to retire young enough to thoroughly enjoy my retirement years. And most importantly, I was able to read the Bible, discover the truth about Jesus and have made him first priority in my life, which healed my soul better than a billion hours of Scientology auditing ever could.

 

Carol Nyburg: I would have to say that my days are now long and full. While “on Post”, days just went seamlessly into another and days, weeks and months just moved very quickly with no real definition of difference between them. Now they are full of events and memories. It never occurred to me that I would not be successful – never once. I know that is told to those that leave – maybe because I blew, no one ever said that to me directly. After I was home for a couple of years, my family confessed to me that they were worried that I would never find a job and I would always be living with my mom. They wanted to let me know that they were proud of me and that I forged ahead and was successful at what I was doing and independent and did not need them to survive financially.

 
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Source Code

“I myself had a rig worked out in order to take care of witch doctors down in Africa. Ran this way: I was going to get an asbestos glove, you know, and — it doesn’t matter whether something is supercold or superhot, you know? They both burn and there is sensation, so the practitioner should be careful when he’s doing something like this. I was going to take an asbestos glove and I was going to put a metal disc, preferably a lead disc, in the palm of the glove, you see? And there’d be a little snap in there so that it could be taken out and put in easily. And get this little disc supercold, totally supercold, you see? Get it down there to maybe -200 or something like that — way down, you know — and then snap that quickly in the glove and go out and shake hands with the witch doctor. Well, the dampness of a palm is quite adequate there, and it would of course brainwash him. Be very, very effective. As a matter of fact, one could probably take over the entirety of witch-doctoring throughout Africa with the greatest of ease, particularly if you shook hands with all of the witch doctors in front of the tribe, and they instantly went down on their knees and went “gaggo bulla,” and you said, “Bark,” and they would thereafter bark. You see, they hold all the natives in that sort of a thrall. And so if you held them in that sort of a thrall, why, then the natives would of course do what you said twice as good as they would do what the witch doctor says; and this is already perfect.” — L. Ron Hubbard, November 13, 1956

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“I can’t say enough good about Solo NOTs. It is my magic wand in life. What Ron gave us is beyond anything that could’ve been imagined. Just on a daily living aspect, my ruds are IN!! My body is doing great!! 3rd and 4th dynamically, I have handled so much charge!! Anyone out here who feels betrayed and f**ed up from the Church, needs to get into session and get up to Solo NOTs ASAP. As-isness is the real weapon!! Remember, an SP’s only power is to restimulate. Spiritually, it is amazing!! The MEST universe is going from infinity to zero and myself as a thetan is going from zero to infinity. I used to want certain valences and would lament, why can’t I be like that person? Not anymore! postulates are working more and more.”

 

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Past is Prologue

2002: 60 Minutes aired a story on Scientology and the Citizens Commission on Human Rights. “[Psychiatrist Dr. Bell] They are forever pumping into the black community these scare’ tactics – that there’s a genocidal plot to put black children on Ritalin, there’s a genocidal plot to put black people on anti-depressant medication. Who’s spreading those tales? Among others, the Church of Scientology, which has long campaigned against psychiatry.”

 
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Random Howdy

“Shit, I was under the gun for suggesting there were mucho socks on board…which was later proven to be true thanks to help from Robert, StillGrace and Andrew…and I was a big meanie for ragging on the noobs for over-commenting…and then I had the audacity to merely hint that the beloved Knickers was anything less than the Virgin Mary. I wasn’t saying shit to anyone at that point.”

 
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Criminal prosecutions:
Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Masterson’s demurrer denied Oct 19, arraignment delayed to Jan 6.
Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay’s sentencing delayed for ‘Fatico’ hearing in January.
Hanan and Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Next pretrial conference set for Jan 12 in Los Angeles

Civil litigation:
Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Oral arguments were heard on July 30 at the Eleventh Circuit
Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Petition for writ of mandate denied Oct 22 by Cal 2nd Appellate District. Petition for review by state supreme court filed Oct 30.
Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Nov 6, motions to compel arbitration, awaiting ruling; Jan 29, Masterson’s request to stay discovery pending the criminal case
Matt and Kathy Feschbach tax debt: Eleventh Circuit ruled on Sept 9 that Feshbachs can’t discharge IRS debt in bankruptcy. Oct 19: Feshbachs still considering further appellate relief.
Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Second amended complaint filed, trial set for Nov 9, 2021.
Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: Trial concluded, awaiting verdict.

Concluded litigation:
Dennis Nobbe, Medicare fraud, PPP loan fraud: Charged July 29. Bond revoked Sep 14. Nobbe dead, Sep 14.
Jane Doe v. Scientology (in Miami): Jane Doe dismissed the lawsuit on May 15 after the Clearwater Police dropped their criminal investigation of her allegations.

 
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SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks

The Australian Seven News network cancelled a 10-part investigation of Scientology and its history of dirty tricks. Read the transcripts of the episodes and judge for yourself why Tom Cruise and Tommy Davis might not have wanted viewers to see this hard-hitting series by journalist Bryan Seymour.

SCIENTOLOGY: FAIR GAME

After the success of their double-Emmy-winning, three-season A&E series ‘Scientology and the Aftermath,’ Leah Remini and Mike Rinder continue the conversation on their podcast, ‘Scientology: Fair Game.’ We’ve created a landing page where you can hear all of the episodes so far.

LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH

An episode-by-episode guide to Leah Remini’s three-season, double-Emmy winning series that changed everything for Scientology watching. Originally aired from 2016 to 2019 on the A&E network, and coming November 1 to Netflix.

SCIENTOLOGY’S CELEBRITIES, from A to Z

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

 
Other links: Scientology’s Ideal Orgs, from one end of the planet to the other. 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 a weekly series. How many have you read?

 
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THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Hubbard family member: Mary Sue griped about Scientology leader’s ‘Napoleon complex’
[TWO years ago] Shifting gears: Leah Remini talks about tonight’s two-hour special on Jehovah’s Witnesses
[THREE years ago] Sexual harassment allegations strike a blow against a Scientology political ally in Florida
[FOUR years ago] Scientology saw a tempting target in a Tampa pastor gaining fame for her compassion
[FIVE years ago] Why it was Scientology leader David Miscavige who declared Lisa McPherson ‘Clear’
[SIX years ago] Scientology Photoshopping, Part 2: A mystery disappearance on the yacht Apollo
[SEVEN years ago] LISA MARIE PRESLEY ON SCIENTOLOGY: “CRAZY CRIMINAL PEOPLE”
[EIGHT years ago] Lay Off Xenu: An Ex-Scientologist’s Plea
[NINE years ago] Scientology, “The Money Machine:” Explosive New Series by the St. Pete Times

 
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Scientology disconnection, a reminder

Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 2,119 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 2,623 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,143 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,163 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,054 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,361 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,229 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 3,003 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 3,807 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,123 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 11,689 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 7,608 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 3,776 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,357 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 3,618 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 2,656 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,369 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 1,894 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 249 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,424 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 5,975 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,124 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,444 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,299 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,418 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,774 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,077 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,183 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 2,585 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,457 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,040 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,535 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 2,789 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 13,898 days.

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Posted by Tony Ortega on November 13, 2020 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, 1995-2019 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2019), 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, 14 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

Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…

Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.

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

 

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