Is it that time of year again already? Tonight, Scientology puts on its annual celebration of SF and Fantasy, the Writers of the Future gala. The celebration will anoint this year’s winners in writing and illustration, who are also featured in another year’s anthology (see right).
Once again, leading lights of speculative fiction will pretend that this is not Scientology’s attempt to burnish its image through the imprimatur of the likes of Orson Scott Card and Larry Niven. Over the years, some writers have wondered about the veracity of assurances they got from the Sea Org executives running the event that it was separate and independent of the church itself. And since so many stories about the dystopic world of Scientology workers came to light in the last several years, those questions were getting more pointed.
Then, two years ago, we proved a direct link between the contest and some of the most brutal behavior of Scientology. The Sea Org executive at Author Services Inc who oversaw the contest, Barbara Ruiz, was seen by eyewitnesses helping church leader David Miscavige run the hellish and strange office-prison for church executives, “The Hole,” early in 2004. Both Ruiz and Miscavige were seen at the Writers of the Future gala later that year. But some time after that, Ruiz disappeared. She hasn’t been seen since.
She’s just one of several top Scientology executives who were vanished, but that hasn’t stopped the gravy train of the WOTF gala. If you’re going to ignore that your annual party is tied to Scientology’s odd and troubling behavior, you’re probably also going to ignore that somehow, this minor anthology calls for a week-long party, with free airfare, custom-fitted tuxedos, and a lavish awards ceremony unaffected by the shaky fortunes of the rest of the publishing industry.
Hey, it’s a great party, why ask questions about who’s paying for it? Just make sure you thank L. Ron Hubbard when you pick up your trophy, right?
Oh, and a thank you to Skip Press for bringing to our attention that Publisher’s Weekly got into the act by allowing Scientology to buy the cover of its latest issue…
Everyone loves Scientology’s money!
We’ll be watching the ceremony tonight, which is always a hoot, and we may put up a live-blog entry later with an embed of the ceremony.
Now, on to our weekly feature, Sunday Funnies!
First up, at Saint Hill, Scientology’s UK headquarters, another great success story video from another satisfied customer.
Jake’s dynamics are expanding!
Saint Hill is hiring!
Easter? EASTER? Did Jesus “do a bunk”? (And how many readers remember THAT reference. We are really reaching.)
Join Scientology’s espionage wing, the Office of Special Affairs, and then go spy on the US Capitol!
Grant Cardone, our favorite asshat.
More Easter fun…
Who needs reges pounding on your door everyday begging for your donations — set up an automatic bloodletting every month!
Hey, it’s Matt Feshbach, one of the famous Feshbach brothers and a Super Power graduate! He’s superhuman!
Scotland’s new sauna is operational!
Sydney’s Ideal Org opens in three weeks. But an AO? Get us the details, Sydney peeps.
Thanks again to our great tipsters!
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Posted by Tony Ortega on April 13, 2014 at 07:00
E-mail your tips and story ideas to tonyo94@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes updates at our Facebook author page. Here at the Bunker we try to have a post up every morning at 7 AM Eastern (Noon GMT), and on some days we post an afternoon story at around 2 PM. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.
Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…
BLOGGING DIANETICS (We read Scientology’s founding text) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25
UP THE BRIDGE (Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43
GETTING OUR ETHICS IN (Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING (Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46
PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | Scientology’s Private Dancer
