|
|
 We’re bursting with pride here in the Underground Bunker for Dee Findlay, a reader who first made contact with us about a year ago.
At that point, she had just decided to come out of Scientology, and had discovered the Voice blog almost right away. She became a frequent reader and commenter, and also communicated with us behind the scenes. We couldn’t say it then, but she’s been a great inspiration for us. That was especially true last July, when Karen de la Carriere stood up to the church that didn’t want her to see her own dead son, and several of our readers banded together with her in solidarity and dared to reveal their real identities in the comments section of our blog. One of them was Dee. Dee has become one of our most active commenters — under the name DeElizabethan — and now, she’s shared with us her latest accomplishment: she’s been declared a Suppressive Person by the Church of Scientology! Continue reading Underground Bunker Reader Gets Declared a Suppressive Person by Scientology
Oops! We plum forgot that we’d scheduled this video for this morning. Things have been a bit crazy around the Bunker lately, and we did imbibe a bit last night, joining in to “wet the head” of our newest reader, Grayson Headley. (And so did Jonny Jacobsen — check out the photos we added this morning!) Anyway, we have to say the Birmingham Org really seems to have stepped up its game judging by this Star Wars cavalcade it put on recently in order to separate local Scientologists from their money. After the jump, we’ll remind you of what a Birmingham fundraiser looked like back in 2011! Continue reading Scientology Does Star Wars: That’s No Moon, It’s a Fundraiser!
The Underground Bunker is pleased to announce the birth of Grayson Pierce Headley, who entered the world at 10:50 this morning at 8 pounds, 15.9 ounces. This makes three boys for Marc and Claire Headley, who were finally able to start a family after they left Scientology’s Sea Org in 2005. Marc assures us it was not a silent birth. Says Claire: “I’d like to see L. Ron Hubbard give birth silently.” Continue reading PLEASE WELCOME OUR NEWEST READER! Advertisement
 This Photoshopped image of Scientology leader David Miscavige as Pope was created by the smart-asses over at Anonymous. We think it’s blasphemous. Which is why it’s so darn funny. The surprising news this morning is that Pope Benedict XVI is resigning at the end of the month, the first pope to walk away from the position since 1415. When he was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, before he became pope in 2005, he expressed the opinion that popes of elderly age and failing health should step down rather than hold on to the title to the bitter end. So perhaps the frail 85-year-old is just taking his own advice. But there will be endless speculation about how much his decision was influenced by the Catholic Church’s ongoing controversy over pedophile priests — and Ratzinger’s involvement in the past to sweep away that growing scandal. A religious leader stepping down as his church is mired in scandal: Well, we can’t help thinking of another church that finds itself gripped by several crises, and for which its members, past and present, have vocally blamed its leader for helping to create. With Pope Benedict stepping down, we wondered, what would it take to depose Scientology’s leader, David Miscavige? Continue reading Scientology’s “Pope” Isn’t Resigning, But Some in the Church Want to Give Him a Push
Add this to the list of amazing things actor Tom Cruise can do with his Scientology superpowers: he can revive the dead! We’d heard about this 1972 lecture by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard — it’s one of the more notorious ones and has been referred to numerous times both before and since the Internet came along and made Scientology’s secrets more accessible — but this is the first time we’ve actually heard the lecture itself. In it, Hubbard describes how a Scientology auditor (counselor) can convince a soul — or thetan, in Scientology parlance — to return to its body after a car accident or a drowning. (If the auditor is quick enough and assertive, that is. Hubbard bemoans that in one case he couldn’t get close enough to a drowned Negro to help him in time.) Enjoy this four-minute excerpt we found on the web and follow along with the transcript we’ve provided below. Continue reading Tom Cruise Can Raise the Dead! …And More Scientology Sunday Funnies
 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 we had an idea. In the world of Scientology watching, we noticed that there seem to be some legends, myths, and contested facts that tend to get hashed and rehashed in books, articles, and especially on the Internet. With Atack’s help, we’re going to tackle these issues one by one, drawing on Jon’s deep knowledge.
This week, we try to clear up Scientology’s origin, which journalists sometimes disagree on. Continue reading Scientology Mythbusting with Jon Atack: Original Spin
 Justice for Patrick Desmond? We just got the word tonight that at the last minute, Scientology’s Atlanta drug rehab center threw in the towel and no doubt threw a sizable pile of money at the Desmond family, ending a lawsuit that was scheduled to go to trial on Monday. Over the past year, the sheer number of damning documents coming out of the case — and harsh findings by Judge Stacey Hydrick — suggested that Scientology was heading for a nightmarish reckoning over its Atlanta-area rehab center, Narconon Georgia. Until the last minute, however, Narconon’s attorneys gave every indication that they were prepared to go to trial and prove that Patrick Desmond’s 2008 heroin overdose death was his own fault, not the rehab facility’s. But Desmond family attorney Jeff Harris had uncovered stunning evidence of the deceptive way that Narconon Georgia operated, and painted a picture of a facility rife with drug abuse. That research convinced the state to begin proceedings to close the center, and now a criminal investigation is looking into allegations of insurance fraud. The Desmond family wrongful death case, at least, is going away. Is it too late for Scientology to contain the larger scandal about its drug rehab quackery? Continue reading Scientology’s Atlanta Drug Rehab Buys Its Way Out of Courtroom Nightmare Advertisement
 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.
[NOTE: As a bonus, we’ve got the new Scientology sing-a-long sensation at the bottom of the page.] It’s time for Hubbard to lay his cards on the table. We’ve been going through a lot of windup over the first 70 pages of frontmatter and the initial chapters of this book. Much of it has been a classic of the tall tale method: we’re told that a secret has been discovered which is going to release the superhuman inside of each of us. But what is that discovery? Hubbard really can’t delay any longer, and it’s here, in this second chapter of Book Two, that he has to make his claim to what his discovery is and how it works. Perhaps that’s why this chapter is by far the most expressive and even operatic in tone. Hubbard is really laying it on thick, and he’s doing his best to sweep the reader into an ecstatic state as he makes his big reveal… There’s a demon inside of each of us, holding us back, ruining our plans, keeping us from being who we really could be. And that demon is something he calls the reactive mind. Continue reading Blogging Dianetics, Part 6: Reactive Mind Games Advertisement
Sure, she’s done The View and Anderson Cooper and Piers Morgan — but surely the media highlight of Jenna Miscavige Hill’s whirlwind New York tour was sitting down with The Underground Bunker! Well, at least her kids, Winnie (left) and Archie, seemed pretty thrilled to meet us, as you can see from this picture. And we had a great time talking with Jenna and her husband Dallas Hill about what they’re going through now that her full story is finally getting to the outside world. We also got to ask her the question that so many of our readers were puzzling over: what the hell is Jenna sitting in front of in the photograph on the cover of her book? Continue reading Jenna Miscavige Hill Continues Her Media Blitz; More Scientology News in Thursday Roundup
 We’ve just finished Jenna Miscavige Hill’s memoir, Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape, and we can say that it packs a powerful punch in its final pages as the niece of Scientology’s leader considers his behavior and its effect on her life, both in and out of the church.
Along the way, we get one of the most complete and compelling narratives of how someone grows up in, and falls under the spell of, this organization which wields so much power over its members through interrogation, intimidation, and control. And behind it all is one rather diminutive man, David Miscavige, who comes off as a meddling, tyrannical, but ultimately cowardly man who Jenna and other ex-Scientologists are determined to expose. “To me, the Church is a dangerous organization whose beliefs allow it to commit crimes against humanity and violate basic human rights. It remains a mystery to me how, in our current society, this can go on unchecked. It is particularly insidious because of its celebrity advocates and affiliated groups, such as Narconon, Applied Scholastics, and the Citizens Commission on Human Rights,” she writes. “The problem is that Scientology is a system that makes it nearly impossible for you to think for yourself. People like my uncle are enablers who create an environment of fear that discourages independent thought. Get rid of them and you would continue to have a system that, almost by definition, restricts individual freedoms.” Continue reading Jenna Miscavige Hill on her Uncle, Scientology’s Leader: A Bully Too Afraid to Show His Face Advertisement
|
We’re bursting with pride here in the Underground Bunker for Dee Findlay, a reader who first made contact with us about a year ago.
