TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Once again we mark Independence Day here at the Underground Bunker by asking readers to tell us about their own declarations of freedom from Scientology indoctrination. What led you to dissolve the political bands which connected you to David Miscavige and his tyrannical cabal? [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“Straight line memory is the tool which discovers circuits and valences. The general rule is that anything which the preclear thinks derogatorily or sub-optimum about himself was told to him by somebody or is contained in an engram, without exception. He thinks he should control himself. He has been told to do so. Make him recall who used to tell that to him or somebody else in his presence. Find out who was ‘self-controlled’ around him when he was a child. This works for any aberrated
thinking a preclear does. In fact, quantities of locks can be knocked out of a case by straight line memory of the dramatizations of the people around the preclear’s childhood or even later life. This technique is a fast therapy technique which can be employed to make a patient comfortable. An hour of it is worth, when you know the rules and become an expert in it, hundreds of hours of any older process. The aberrated parents, relatives or associates of the preclear were aberrees. When an aberree dramatizes an engram once he can be counted upon to have dramatized it dozens of times. By contagion this engram has gotten into the preclear’s bank, where it remains as engrams or as locks.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1950
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“Moral codes are solutions to problems which aren’t announced. And you can therefore define a moral code, technically. A moral code is a series of solutions to problems which have not been confronted or analyzed. And you get upset about moral codes. ‘Thou shalt not drink pitchers of milk after three P.M. before thy parents,’ or something like this. Do you realize that almost all of those commandments which are in the Bible at this particular time, that we call the Ten Commandments, are prompted by some obsessive crimes that existed at that state of the game, and that several of these commandments are solutions to venereal disease? Isn’t that interesting? I think it’s fascinating.” — L. Ron Hubbard, July 4, 1961
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“RADIO NEWS: I don’t know what happened to our daily radio news and ALSO why we use radio news. There’s nothing much on it. Recent radio news was carefully censored of all major actions. US news magazines and Herald Tribune headlines are available daily in the port. (By the way, the Manson trial prosecutor says Manson said nothing about Scn and was worlds away from it and BBC is sweating to find out WHO said it on their pgm! Fair shook them. Our PR people are all over them and our legal is sharpening up an axe. BBC has stuck its neck out a half mile.)” — The Commodore, July 4, 1971
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“What a messed up group of people who just steal, lie, talk shit all day about nothing and getting no where doing it. Causing upset to really good people. I don’t get it. There is nothing in you people I am interested in. I hate the day I got on Facebook and accepted friend requests from ‘Scientologists,’ people far from being friendly, I know now they just want your money. You should be ashamed, I know I’m disgusted. This is not LRH. It’s criminal. I actually have more respect for a criminal, at least you know what you get and they don’t pretend to be Holier-than-thou instead of mentally deranged posers thinking you represent LRH! The nerve.”
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2000: Hartley Patterson and Dave Bird protested the Birmingham, England org this week. “Jens, Dave Bird and myself were joined by four local SPs for a peaceful picket. I chatted briefly to one handler who promised to send me proof of the Church of Scientology’s 8 million members and continuing expansion. It was evidently a good day for canvassing, besides the body routers there was Oxfam, Animal Rights and several others. Roland’s new leaflet has sides three and four on how to get money back and get family out, with contact details for ‘Escape’, ‘Catalyst’, and ‘Leaving Scientology’. I had a considerable amount of old & new style leaflets. We set up with placards and leaflets around the top of Ethel Street; no amplification, but my voice carried pretty well in a no-traffic area. We kept it basic down to ‘scam operating in this area, don’t be fooled by the personality test clipboarders, it’s a scam to extract money’. Our leaflets were well received, and quite a few people stopped for a chat. Over time the phones must have been ringing to summon various other body-routers into the Org, as by the time we finished at 1600 the number had just increased to four with their own counter-leaflets.”
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“There aren’t enough Scientologists left in the world to fill a sports arena, let alone a stadium.”
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Sentenced to 30 years to life on Sep 7, 2023. Appeal now fully briefed, oral arguments scheduled for June 25. Masterson has also submitted a habeas corpus petition.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Pleaded guilty on Nov 10 to a 17-year prison sentence. Now serving time in state prison.
— Aaron Matthes charged for SA of child under 12 years old: OT Scientologist facing multiple mandatory life sentences. Next pretrial court hearing set for June 19.
Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Some defamation claims were removed by Judge Hammock. Judge Hammock’s ruling is on appeal, which is now fully briefed. Oral arguments hearing set for July 23.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ 15 days of arbitration completed, Val waiting for further word from the IJC.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson. Judge Upindra Kalra’s ruling denying Scientology’s motion to strike upheld on appeal. Scientology expected to file additional petitions before case can return to Kalra’s court.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration. Trial has been set for January 10, 2028.
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Other links: The prosecution of Danny Masterson. Leah Remini’s Fair Game Podcast. Leah Remini’s A&E Series. Scientology’s Celebrities, from A to Z. Bryan Seymour’s suppressed series, 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] Independence Day 2025: Tell us about your fight for freedom from Scientology
[TWO years ago] It’s Independence Day: Tell us about your own fight for freedom from Scientology
[THREE years ago] On this day of declaring independence, we want to hear about your own fight for freedom
[FOUR years ago] As Scientology’s struggles continue, it’s time to declare your independence!
[FIVE years ago] Jon Atack and Mike Rinder on Scientology’s wackiest book: ‘A History of Man’
[SIX years ago] On this day of declaring independence, we want to hear about your own fight for freedom
[SEVEN years ago] On this day of declaring independence, we want to hear about your own fight for freedom
[EIGHT years ago] It’s ‘Declare your Independence of Scientology Day’ here again at the Underground Bunker
[NINE years ago] Images from spy camera show Clearwater bar owner not only target
[TEN years ago] Tell us how you declared your independence of Scientology on this glorious Independence Day
[ELEVEN years ago] Jon Atack: Looking back on a week of Scientology enturbulation in Toronto
[TWELVE years ago] Scientology’s ‘Disconnection’ policy foiled as Jeremy Powers reunites with his family
[THIRTEEN years ago] The Declaration of Independence: When Did You Join the Sons of Liberty?
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Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Joe Reaiche (1958-2024) did not see his daughter Alanna Masterson in his final 6,999 days.
Mike Rinder (1955-2025) did not see his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in his final 7,589 days.
Tammy Synovec has not seen her daughter Julia in 3,679 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 4,183 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,689 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 4,239 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,615 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 3,110 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,416 days.
Marc Headley has not seen his mother Trudy in 5,065 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 4,283 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,837 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 5,178 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,749 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,665 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,832 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,418 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,677 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,425 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 3,994 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 2,305 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,480 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 5,162 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,499 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,352 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,468 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,830 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,629 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,513 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 4,086 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,589 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,849 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,953 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on July 4, 2026 at 07:00
E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter.
Our book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is 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, 1995-2024 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2024), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)
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Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast
