Yesterday, we asked former Sea Org official Chris Shelton for his thoughts on the Danny Masterson preliminary hearing and its heavy Scientology content. He provided us an overview of how the Scientology mindset was reflected in the hearing. We also asked another former Sea Org official, Sunny Pereira, for her thoughts on some particular Scientology moments in the hearing. Here are her thoughts.
From the testimony of Jane Doe #1:
When she got back to Los Angeles, she then did go to her “Master-at-Arms,” a Sea Org member named Julian Swartz.
He closed the door, and she started telling him about her bruises, and that she had been at Masterson’s house…
Advertisement“If you’re going to say the word ‘rape,’ don’t say it. We don’t say that word here,” she remembers Swartz telling her. He brought her policy books and explained the Suppressive Person policy.
One key thing to understand about Scientology here: It looks like Scientology is trying to protect Danny. Honestly they are not. The concern is only about Scientology’s reputation.
I can tell you many instances of people doing something unbecoming of a Scientologist and the immediate thought and reaction is how it would reflect badly on Scientology.
They believe they have the tech and tools for every situation, so when their members come out as “human” or, in Danny’s case, (allegedly) commit a serious crime, it’s seen as a direct hit against the expansion of Scientology.
Unlike other religions (that I know of), Scientology tries to portray itself as the solution to everything, and pretty much able to make anyone super human.
I find it unusual that Scientology didn’t throw him under the bus. But they clearly haven’t, based in his family still being with him in the courtroom.
I wonder if there is a line in the list of suppressive acts about talking derogatorily about someone in good standing. That must be what they were using on her.
Scientology and Scientologists all are indoctrinated that anything bad that happens to a person was “deserved.” So, in a sense, Jane Doe 1 turning him in or trying to file a complaint on him is, actually, in simple terms, her admitting her own sin. Scientology does not and can not compute that someone could be a victim and need help, support and protection. Those do not exist in Scientology.
From the testimony of Christina B:
She went downstairs and found Danny in his office. What happened last night? I don’t have any memory of it. Did I fall? She indicated that her anus was injured.
He laughed at me. He said he had sex with me there. I asked him if I was unconscious. He said yes. The whole time? Yes.
“I’m going to report you to the church. He said that was fine.”
The next day she went to the ethics office and talked to her Master-at-Arms, Miranda Skoggins.
AdvertisementI was looking to help him. I wanted him to understand that this was not right. I knew it deep down that it was not right, and I wanted him to get some help.
Did you think the church would help him? I did, I did.
It’s completely normal in Scientology not only to talk about all of your personal relationships with others, it’s also expected to turn them in.
In her Scientology mindset, like a good Scientologist, her effort was to help Danny by bringing this up to Scientology officials. Sadly, in almost all situations, these backfire onto the person reporting.
Speaking in general terms, not specifically about Christina’s exact situations: Scientology’s indoctrination to all of its members is “responsibility.” But in the most covert way possible, it’s more “blame” than actual responsibility.
For example, even if the other party was 100 percent guilty. Even if there are clearly bruises and injuries to be seen, that does not exclude the person who had been raped from their responsibility in it.
In other words, in talking to and dealing with the rape complaint, all conversations with the victim would be in the direction of “how you caused this.” That doesn’t mean the rapist gets away though. That person would also be brought in and given separate handlings. It would be rare for the complainant to be advised of any of the handlings on the other party.
In Christina B.’s case it looks like they did zero handling on Danny, which translates to her being at fault and essentially makes it OK for him to keep doing those types of things.
From the testimony of Jane Doe 2:
You didn’t think it was rape until 2011? I was more certain than I was before. Did you tell someone that you didn’t think it was rape until you read a New Yorker article in 2011? Yes. What about that article changed your mind?
When you are in Scientology, the hold it has over you is remarkable. There’s a fear, partly subconscious, of disagreeing with what you’ve been told. Also a policy that you can’t read Black PR. It took quite a long time to disabuse myself of what I’d been taught in it. In order to function in Scientology you’re upholding a set of beliefs that are pillared up in you. I did my best to stay within a set of internal allegiances. When I read that article, when I saw what the defector said, my brain was firing about the differences between reality and what I’d been taught. Walls were coming down. Holy cow, holy cow. I didn’t want to deal with how I’d been treated before that.
Jane Doe 2 opens a door to an entire story about the grip Scientology has on its members. It’s not just “threat of SP declare.” There’s the whole concept of dangling your eternity in front of you. You live afraid that you will lose your chance.
In Scientology you are completely alone with your grievances. Nobody has your back. Nobody will openly support you. Any upset or grievance must be handled using LRH’s technology.
Imagine the pressure of that. The feeling of being alone, the people around you gaslighting you that it didn’t happen the way you said it happened, the threat of losing your friends and family, and maybe your eternity too.
You have to be incredibly brave to bring it up at all in the Scientology world.
— Sunny Pereira
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Leah Remini podcast: Listener Questions #5
“We cover a variety of topics from the succession plan of Hubbard, silent births, what happens when a scientologist dies, to the Supreme Court decision about the deducibility of donations to scientology and the big lie about the death of L. Ron Hubbard.”
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“How about the big boy who becomes the big boy, and he’s been a local boy in some town, and all of a sudden he becomes a big boy. And he’s highly powerful on Wall Street. And he never again speaks to any of his friends in the old home town. Jesus, those people resent that. That is so much the matter of the thing that I can tell you personally that it’s almost impossible to speak to them. That is to say, if you’ve been in an area where you’ve been very well known and you suddenly become, oh, you might say, become a celebrity or something like that, these people won’t believe that you want to talk to them, you see? They’re so used to having the formula violated. You get the idea?” — L. Ron Hubbard, May 25, 1965
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“TO ALL ABOARD: (1) Anyone who makes any shuffle, bang, clatter — ANY NOISE — while the Commodore is IN SESSION will get NO AUDITING themselves for 3 months. (2) For FEBC’s — they lose a week’s stats. (3) The Commodore’s Messengers are keeping a list of these people and will turn the list in to D of P as well as a copy for Dir I&R. If one isn’t considerate enough to let the Commodore audit — one doesn’t deserve it himself. (4) If the Port Prom deck is roped off — it is for a PURPOSE — don’t go walking under the rope. IT IS OUT OF BOUNDS! (5) The radio room is OUT OF BOUNDS when LRH is IN SESSION too. (6) If the A & B Deck ladies heads are closed off with a sign saying ‘LRH IN SESSION NO ENTRY’ you don’t walk under the rope — go somewhere else!” — Msm Terri Gillham, Commodore’s Messenger, May 25, 1971
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“I always had a lot of enturbulative mass in my space, but knew I was a really big Thetan. I’ve had almost no auditing but there are a couple of totally kick ass processes on the First American and I did them both and got so blown out I was able to change the weather and almost anything I would postulate would come to me magically, and many other Godlike OT powers that many piss and moan that they were never able to achieve. All that’s wrong with us is that we need to blow out all the mass and circuitry and then we are able to do pretty much anything, even those things that require study or a normal person, because you know it all — it’s up at Knowingness. I ran that process they do on the E-Meter to discover how long we’ve been in this universe – and I couldn’t possibly, possibly have been here longer than 2,000 years, I thought. Since I remembered about five Whole Track incidents without any auditing and even remembered being in native state before I came here. I think it’s that same ACC where LRH says that most people have been here 74 or 76 trillion years. He says he doesn’t know what they’re using for years, maybe just the swing of a planet around its star (which could all be different.) He says the least amount of time person has been here is 3,000 years. That’s when I recounted each lifetime being about 100 years and couldn’t possibly imagine being here more than 20. Then I went to Marty’s blog sometime after that and some guy said is only been here for 2400 years – I thought, OK so maybe that’s an average LRH gave or maybe he doesn’t know EVERYTHING.”
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1995: The Church of Scientology put up its first website this week, http://www.theta.com/goodman/index.htm. Ron Newman writes: “Note that the URL ends in ‘htm’, not ‘html’, and that the name is ‘index’, not ‘home’. I think the unusual file suffix is consistent with the PC-based INCOMM system.”
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“There is plenty room around here for the J&D’s as well as the ‘Herberts’ and if people cross way over the line they usually get their asses straightened out by both sides.”
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Held to answer for trial, next arraignment set for June 7.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay sentenced to 9 years in prison. Jeff’s sentencing to be scheduled.
— Hanan and Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Pretrial conference August 21 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Next pretrial conference set for June 18.
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 denied Dec 11.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Dec 30, Judge Kleifield granted Scientology’s motions to compel arbitration. June 7: Status conference.
— Matt and Kathy Feschbach tax debt: Eleventh Circuit ruled on Sept 9 that Feshbachs can’t discharge IRS debt in bankruptcy. Dec 17: Feshbachs sign court judgment obliging them to pay entire $3.674 million tax debt, plus interest from Nov 19.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Second amended complaint filed, trial set for Nov 9, 2021.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: Trial concluded, Cannane victorious, awarded court costs. Case appealed on Dec 24.
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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THE DANNY MASTERSON PRELIM: Our reports from Los Angeles
Our exhaustive reports from each day of testimony that led to Danny Masterson being bound over for trial to face charges that he raped three women, including dramatic references to Scientology, May 18-21, 2021 in the courtroom of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo: [Day 1: Jane Doe 1] [Day 2: Jane Doe 1 & Christina B.] [Day 3: Christina B. & Jane Doe 2] [Day 4: Arguments and the ruling] [Post-ruling: The Scientology highlights]
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 now on 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 BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks. 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] On Memorial Day, Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard’s ‘stolen valor’: His bogus war injuries
[TWO years ago] Behind enemy li(n)es: Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard’s secret mission that never was
[THREE years ago] Erika Christensen shows off her new Scientology trophy for donating half a million bucks
[FOUR years ago] Our photographer goes back for more Scientology ‘body routing’ on the streets of LA
[FIVE years ago] As Scientology prepares for Saturday’s grand opening, its controversial sign goes up
[SIX years ago] On Memorial Day, some new revelations from L. Ron Hubbard’s military record
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology Sunday Funnies: Save the date for Maiden Voyage!
[EIGHT years ago] TMZ The Latest To Mix Up Tiziano Lugli for Tom Cruise
[NINE years ago] VIDEO: Dianetics Day 2012! See People Who Can’t Wait to Go “Clear”!
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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 2,311 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 2,816 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,336 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,356 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,247 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,554 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,422 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 3,196 days.
Doug Kramer has not seen his parents Linda and Norm in 1,526 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 4.000 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,316 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 11,882 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 7,801 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 3,969 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,550 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 3,811 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 2,849 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,562 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 2,087 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 442 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,617 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,168 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,317 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,637 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,492 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,611 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,967 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,270 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,376 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 2,778 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,650 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,233 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,728 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 2,982 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 14,091 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on May 25, 2021 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, 1995-2020 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2020), 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, 15 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
