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 Luke Catton It’s been stunning to see the Narconon drug rehab network emerge in the past year as perhaps Scientology’s single biggest crisis of the many that it faces. And key to that growing problem for the church has been Lucas Catton, formerly president of Scientology’s flagship rehab facility in Oklahoma, Narconon Arrowhead. Last year, Catton came forward to tell us about Narconon’s questionable business practices in the wake of several patient deaths that have led to criminal investigations and civil lawsuits. Earlier this month, in part because of Catton’s whistleblowing, the CEO of Narconon Arrowhead was stripped of his drug counselor certification. Like other former Scientologists who have written self-published memoirs, Catton was in a remarkable position to witness some of Narconon and Scientology’s worst behavior. And his book makes for some startling reading. Continue reading Former Executive’s Tell-All Adds to Scientology Rehab Program Meltdown Advertisement
 We hear that soon, NBC’s Rock Center is going to do yet another hard-hitting episode about Scientology and its drug rehab network, Narconon.
That will be four big programs by the NBC show in the last year: One on ex-church executives Marty Rathbun and Mike Rinder, an initial show about deaths at the Narconon facility in Oklahoma, the Paul Haggis/Lawrence Wright special, and now another look at Narconon’s woes. In the meantime, Disney-owned ABC can’t seem to get out of the gate. As we’ve pointed out before, ABC’s 20/20 and Nightline have recorded hours and hours of footage for shows that just end up getting spiked by the network’s lily-livered attorneys. (From CBS, all we hear are crickets.) But now ABC’s news division is really going to have a hard time living down the shame, as the network finally has taken a swing at Scientology and its leader David Miscavige — through its long-running soap opera, General Hospital. Continue reading ABC finally takes on Scientology…with General Hospital
 Last week, we asked Scientology historian Jon Atack about OT III, the most important step on L. Ron Hubbard’s “Bridge to Total Freedom.” That got us talking about Xenu the Galactic Overlord, and Atack confirmed for us that this wild space opera tale was always meant to be taken literally by church members (at least, those who had spent enough money to reach OT III). This week, we’re continuing our conversation as Jon helps us sift through the legends, myths, and contested facts that tend to get hashed and rehashed in books, articles, and especially on the Internet — a project we call “Scientology Mythbusting.”
Jon, recently we’ve come to the understanding that what is shocking for some people who reach OT III is not the content itself — many of them have been spending years “remembering” their own million-year-old space opera tales during “whole track” auditing. Instead, what surprises them is that everything they’ve experienced up to that point has come from their own experiences, memories, and self-discovery. OT III is the first time that Hubbard tells them to accept his version of galactic history. Why did he do this, do you think? Continue reading Xenu the The Movie Star! When Scientology Almost Revealed Its Secrets on the Big Screen
 In December, we debuted two videos by Tiziano Lugli, a Los Angeles music producer and filmmaker. They were short, witty looks at Scientology’s funny language as spoken by numerous ex-church members and a few actors.
There are no actors in Tiziano’s new video, which he is allowing us to premiere today. In “The Losing Game,” Lugli has asked ex-Scientologists to talk about what they lost after spending years in the church. You should recognize most of them, including Marc Headley (pictured, right), Jenna Miscavige Hill, Karen de la Carriere, Tory Christman, Michael Fairman, and Mike Rinder. We think you’ll see why Tiziano wanted to wait some time after his last videos to release “The Losing Game.” It packs a punch. Continue reading VIDEO: What Did You Lose in Scientology?
 Welcome to our ongoing project, where we blog a 1950 first edition of Scientology’s bible, Dianetics, with the help of ex-Scientologist, Bay Area lawyer, blogger, and author Vance Woodward. Go here for the first post in the series.
Vance, in the last chapter, Hubbard’s cryptic examples and use of passive voice led us to wonder if he wasn’t describing his own mental instability and physical ailments, masked as examples of unnamed patients. We couldn’t shake that feeling as he took us into this next chapter, “Prenatal Experience and Birth,” which has to be the most disturbing so far. Continue reading Your Life as Sperm or Egg: L. Ron Hubbard’s Mad Genius
 Hip, Hip, Hooray! Today is March 13, which every Scientologist considers the most important day of the year. It was on this day in 1911 that Lafayette Ronald Hubbard emerged into the world with plenty of prenatal engrams and a burning desire to change the world.
The Church of Scientology always puts on a great bash for LRH, and this year, for scheduling reasons, official celebrations won’t be held in Clearwater, Florida and Los Angeles for several more days. (If you happen to be going, we’d love to get some eyewitness reports.) Even though those events are a few days away, we think we know what they’re going to frost the cakes with this time around. Once again, church members have been told that Super Power is coming this year! Which is, of course, what they were told last year, and the year before that. But this time, they mean it! After the jump, we have evidence of the latest promises. So grab a party hat and a cold beverage and let’s toast the Commodore on his 102nd! Continue reading What Could L. Ron Hubbard Use on His 102nd Birthday? How About a Little SUPER POWER! Advertisement
 Last week, Claire Headley started us out on our journey to train as Scientologists. In 2005, Claire and her husband Marc escaped from Scientology’s International Base after many years as “Sea Org” workers. She spent years working with Scientology’s “tech,” and was trusted to oversee the auditing of Tom Cruise. This week, she helps us learn how to stare for a really long time
Claire, last week we took one of Scientology’s “personality tests” and found out we have all kinds of problems. So this week, we’re going to start our first course at the church. What’s it all about, and what does it cost? Continue reading Scientology Starts Out as Staring Contests
Some remarkable documents hit the Internet yesterday. They appear to be actual scripts used by employees who answer the phone numbers listed at drug rehab information websites with generic-sounding names. The websites claim to deliver impartial advice about drug rehabilitation programs, but many of them are in fact front operations for Scientology’s rehab network, Narconon. According to the scripts — as well as confirmation by several former employees — the people who answer these phone calls are instructed to do everything they can to convince a family to send a potential patient to a Narconon center (and they earn a large bounty for doing so). It’s the first step in Narconon’s deceptive business model, which has come under intense scrutiny in the past year because of deaths at centers in Oklahoma and Georgia. Before patients arrive at the centers, however, they must be convinced to go there. And that’s where these scripts come in. Continue reading LEAKED: Scripts Spell Out How Scientology Directs the Unsuspecting to Its Rehab Network
 On Sundays, we enjoy showing you the latest Scientology mailers and fliers that have been forwarded to us by our worldwide tipsters network.
This week, we have another entertaining collection of what we call Sunday Funnies, including a call for help that indicates just what sort of trouble the church finds itself in these days. We think you’ll agree that our first flier contains some of the strangest wording we’ve seen in a while. But we also think our Funnies this week may be overshadowed by today’s SMERSH Madness matchup, which is the heartbreaker of the first round: we don’t envy you the choice you have to make in today’s voting! Continue reading Hurry, Scientology Needs Your PR Help!
 In 1990, author Jon Atack published what is still one of the very best books on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology, A Piece of Blue Sky. Atack now has a new edition of the book out, and it reminded us what an encyclopedic resource he is. So join us as we rely on Jon’s expertise to sift through the legends, myths, and contested facts about Scientology that tend to get hashed and rehashed in books, articles, and especially on the Internet.
Jon, it struck us (based on what you wrote in Blue Sky) that you and Paul Haggis had about the same reaction to Scientology’s most legendary stop on the Bridge, Operating Thetan Level III. For those new to the subject, we’ll summarize that material in a moment, but we wanted to know, what are the range of reactions that Scientologists tend to have when they encounter OT III? And how literal are church members supposed to take it (even if some ex-church members are now calling it metaphorical)? Continue reading Scientology Mythbusting with Jon Atack: Xenu the Galactic Overlord, Part 1!
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