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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 now has a new edition of the book out, 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.
We’ve been talking a lot lately about Scientology’s policy of “disconnection,” which church members can face when they leave the fold. But some ex-members can face another wave of retaliation from the church, known as Fair Game. Jon Atack reminded us this week of a particular harassment campaign that backfired badly against the church — the case of Bonnie Woods in England. Continue reading Jon Atack: A Case of Scientology Fair Game Deflected with Disinfecting Sunlight
It’s self-promotion day here on the fringes of the Internet! We’re trying to get some big stories finished up here in the Bunker (as well as another chapter of the book, which is coming along nicely), so this morning we’re going to plague you with some examples of our recent appearances on local media. Continue reading Scientology, Your Proprietor, and the Airwaves
 Run away! Leah Remini’s in your Facebook! Oh, this is rich. One of our tipsters forwarded to us a message that has been sent to Scientologists about how to avoid all the “entheta” — negative press — that has enveloped Scientology, especially since the departure of Leah Remini. Since the news of Remini’s defection broke on July 8, Scientologists — who are obsessed with rules and regulations and can hardly put on their shoes in the morning without instructions from the church — have been asking for help understanding what’s going on. Continue reading Scientologists Warned about Facebook “Entheta” After Leah Remini’s Departure
 Jeff Harris Last week, we reported that Scientology’s drug rehab network, Narconon, had removed a class-action lawsuit filed against it in Georgia to federal court, and had filed multiple motions to dismiss it. Now, the plaintiffs in that suit, led by their attorney, Jeff Harris, have hit back with a detailed briefing explaining why they’re suing not only Narconon, but the Religious Technology Center — Scientology’s controlling entity, which is led by the church’s top official, David Miscavige. Harris attached 31 exhibits of Scientology’s own publications and internal documents in an attempt to show that Miscavige wields total control of the Scientology empire, down to local drug rehab centers like the one in the Atlanta area, Narconon Georgia, that is the focus of this suit. We have all of those exhibits, and we think you’ll agree it’s one of the most comprehensive assaults on Scientology’s real structure in many years. Continue reading DOX: Class-Action Plaintiffs Aim at David Miscavige’s Total Control of Scientology
 Last week, Leah Remini’s sister Nicole had to call bullshit on an unnamed source who told the Chicago Sun-Times that Leah and Kirstie Alley were “chatting” to make sure there was no “loss of friendship” between the two. Didn’t happen, Nicole told us.
Now, the National Enquirer is saying it talked to an unnamed source who says Leah isn’t accepting phone calls from John Travolta and Kelly Preston, who just want to ask her what’s going on. This too, never happened, Nicole tells us. Continue reading Nicole Remini: John Travolta Has NOT Called Leah, Despite National Enquirer Unnamed Source
 Scientology continues to “handle” the defection of Leah Remini and the subsequent media uproar. We have now learned that the church has produced a video about the controversy, and is asking Scientologists in the Los Angeles area to come to local facilities to view it and learn how to think about “Black PR” — Scientology jargon for negative press.
We have talked to numerous Scientologists who say they’ve been asked to come down and view the video, and we’ve asked our sources to get us details of what’s being shown. Meanwhile, we’re told that there’s more fallout for Remini herself as Scientologists continue to “disconnect” from her on instructions from the church Continue reading Scientology Continues to “Handle” the “Black PR” of Leah Remini’s Defection
 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.
Claire, you wanted to interrupt our journey up the Bridge this week? CLAIRE: That’s right. Once again, Scientology has managed to create public uproar with its bald-faced lies, denying that it engages in the forced disconnection of families. Continue reading Claire Headley: Scientology’s Own Rules Prove That it Uses “Disconnection” To Split Up Families
 Lori Hodgson Leah Remini’s defection from Scientology put into stark relief one of the church’s most toxic policies: Disconnection. Because Remini and her family dared to walk away, their longtime Scientology friends were told to cut off ties with them as quickly as possible. The church put out a statement, denying that its members are forced to disconnect, but we asked our readers for examples that prove the policy is still in force and is quite common. Mike Rinder and other former Scientology officials tell us that the church uses Disconnection as a way to have “leverage” over its members and keep them controlled. After we made our call for entries, we received a remarkable outpouring of stories, but some came in later and we wanted to highlight a couple of them today. Continue reading DISCONNECTION: A Double Dose of Scientology’s Toxic Use of “Leverage”
 We’ve been getting a lot of mail from readers about an interesting legal case happening in London. We first mentioned it last December, and now it’s reached a fascinating stage: The UK’s highest court is having a hard time deciding whether or not Scientology’s churches are “places of worship.”
Before you assume that this is a major legal showdown which will affect the very existence of Scientology in England, put down the cans, step away from the e-meter, and take a deep breath. Actually, the case is a bit of a stunt, it may hand the church in England something of a PR coup but will hardly stem the tide of its poor numbers there, and it will certainly have no effect on Scientology here in its home country of the United States, where this case would never happen. Let us explain. Continue reading Neil Gaiman’s Nephew Fights for Scientology Marriage Rights in the UK
 Oh, Perez. You look fabulous after all that weight loss. But you just have no reading comprehension, apparently.
We say that because we’ve just watched Perez mangle the Leah Remini story out of all recognition, and the thing is, he’s obviously getting nearly every one of his “facts” from stories we published earlier this week. Perez, for some reason, is trying to turn the story of Leah Remini leaving Scientology into some kind of dishy tale of gay panic. And while it may be hopeless to try and counter his misunderstandings before they circle the globe a few times, we’ll do our best to try. Continue reading Perez Hilton Has Poor Reading Skills: Here’s a Leah Remini Primer for the Word-Challenged
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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 now has a new edition of the book out, 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.
