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 Jon Atack is the author of A Piece of Blue Sky, one of the very best books on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. He has a new edition of the book for sale, and on Saturdays he’s helping us 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.
On Thursday, Jefferson Hawkins explained to us how Scientolgy’s system of “ethics” seals church members off from outside influence. But how, ultimately, do Scientologists then break out of that bubble and escape? Jon Atack this week helps us understand that process. Continue reading Jon Atack: For Scientologists, thinking outside the church can feel like breaking a taboo
 The Hollywood Reporter broke the news today: Tom Cruise has finally given up on his dumb lawsuit against In Touch and Life & Style magazines.
He was seeking $50 million in damages because the magazines had claimed that Cruise had “abandoned” his daughter Suri after his 2012 divorce to Katie Holmes. But then, after a tough year of discovery, it turned out that the magazines had done their homework, and the facts showed that Cruise had only seen his daughter a handful of times over a 110-day period. After that, any chance of convincing a jury that the magazines had lied about Cruise with malice were pretty much nil. So, no big surprise that he gave up the suit. It only brought him waves of additional media laughter based on some of the things he’d said in a deposition that was put into the court file. So why did he even pursue this loser of a suit, wasting lots of money and only embarrassing himself further, when there was little chance of victory to begin with? Continue reading Tom Cruise drops his disastrous suit against Bauer Media and its magazines
Starting today, we’re beginning a new weekly feature that we think is going to impinge. (That’s Scientology talk for “have a big effect.”)
The Underground Bunker has heard from a source who has access to a large number of Scientology’s internal videos. We believe that some of the videos have never been online before. Others, like today’s, did make it to the Internet, but then were pulled down by threats from Scientology. We’re not getting a lot of information from our source about the videos except where to find them online. But we did some quick research and so we know that today’s piece, “Boots in the Sky,” is something that Scientologists know very well. The words you will hear are spoken by L. Ron Hubbard — it’s from a lecture he gave as part of the Philadelphia Doctorate Course in December 1952. Continue reading A video Scientology doesn’t want you to see: “Boots in the Sky”
 Jefferson Hawkins was once the top marketing executive for the Church of Scientology and helped it reach its greatest extent with the famous “volcano” TV ads in the 1980s. He’s told his tale of getting into and out of the church with his excellent books Counterfeit Dreams and Leaving Scientology, and he’s helping us understand the upside-down world of Scientology “ethics.”
Where are you taking us this week, Jeff? JEFFERSON: This week we’ll be looking at Chapter 8 of Introduction to Scientology Ethics, which is called “Ethics in Scientology Organizations,” and contains a somewhat random collection of L. Ron Hubbard’s “Policy Letters” on the theme of the role of Ethics, and the Ethics Officer, in a Scientology Org. Continue reading How Scientology ‘ethics’ creates your very own Truman Show
Sixty years ago on this date in Camden, New Jersey, the first “Church of Scientology” corporation came into existence with the signing of a document by six individuals, including L. Ron Hubbard and his son Nibs (L. Ron Hubbard Jr.). In fact, three entities were born on that day: the Church of American Science, the Church of Scientology, and the Church of Spiritual Engineering. But you know L. Ron Hubbard — he was a marketer, if nothing else. Continue reading Happy Birthday, Church of Scientology!
 Claire Headley is taking us on our journey to train as Scientologists. She and her husband Marc were Sea Org workers who escaped from Scientology’s International Base in 2005. She spent years working with Scientology’s “tech,” and was trusted to oversee the auditing of Tom Cruise. Go here to see the first part in this series.
Last week, Claire and tech expert Bruce Hines helped us with the big reveal — the mind-blowing “data” of Scientology’s “Operating Thetan Level Three,” the stuff of intergalactic genocide and a leader named “Xenu” which became the subject of a 2005 episode of South Park. But we don’t want to leave OT 3 just yet. This week, we have more questions for Bruce and Claire about this high-level counseling, which runs about $800 an hour for veteran Scientologists. Continue reading At OT 3, you learn you have space cooties — how do you get rid of them? Scientology exorcism!
The Underground Bunker is thrilled to have the chance to premiere the video of Roslyn Cohn’s recent one-time-only, one-woman performance, “DiffiCULT to Leave.” From 1985 to 2008, Roz was a member of the Church of Scientology, and like many others she left the church during a period that’s seen a lot of longtime members break away. Some people who leave never speak up, wary of Scientology’s legendary reputation for retaliation. Others have dared to speak up, particularly in the last few years. But Roz did something unique: she turned her Scientology story into a musical revue! Continue reading EXCLUSIVE: Roslyn Cohn’s one-woman show skewering Scientology — complete!
 While Boing Boing recently went bananas over a single piece of Scientology mail (which itself consisted of only a single line of writing), our loyal readers here at the Underground Bunker know that week in and week out, we bring you a mother lode of wacky Scientology mailers that we call Sunday Funnies.
And this week, we have quite a haul. From San Diego to Scotland, we have quite a collection of notices put out by various Scientology organizations as they do their best to convince members to sign up for courses or make donations. As usual, we look forward to your interpretations and close readings of these nutty fliers. Continue reading Sunday Funnies: Scientology celebrates the holidays!
 Jon Atack is the author of A Piece of Blue Sky, one of the very best books on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. He has a new edition of the book for sale, and on Saturdays he’s helping us 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, you’re going to challenge one of Scientology’s essential tenets again, aren’t you? Well, let us have it. JON: The central conundrum of Scientology is in the right to communicate. The Creed of the Church of Scientology states, and emphatically so, “We of the Church believe: That all men have the inalienable rights to think freely, to talk freely, to write freely their own opinions and to counter or utter or write upon the opinions of others…and that no agency less than God has the power to suspend or set aside these rights, overtly or covertly.” Continue reading Jon Atack: What we have here — in Scientology — is a failure to communicate
 Ray Jeffrey We talked to Ray Jeffrey, attorney for Monique Rathbun, who confirmed that Judge Dib Waldrip has granted Monique’s motion for a continuance in her harassment lawsuit against the Church of Scientology so she can have the time to depose its leader, David Miscavige. And although Scientology attorneys asked that it be a written deposition, Jeffrey tells us the judge did not agree to that. “He has ordered the deposition of Miscavige with no restrictions. It will be a regular deposition like any other,” Jeffrey said. Continue reading TEXAS JUDGE ORDERS DEPOSITION OF SCIENTOLOGY LEADER DAVID MISCAVIGE
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Jon Atack is the author of A Piece of Blue Sky, one of the very best books on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. He has a new edition of the book for sale, and on Saturdays he’s helping us 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.
