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Two weeks ago, Scientology came through on its promise to air its “Knowledge” ad during the AFC Championship — at least in some cities. We saw it here in New York, and it turned out to be a 30-second ad which is also on the web in a 1-minute version.
Will the ad also air today during the Super Bowl? We’ll be watching here at the Bunker, and we’d love to hear if you spot the ad in your town as well.
In today’s special SUPER SUNDAY edition of Sunday Funnies, we’ll take a quick look at both ads the church has been running lately, and then we have a jam-packed collection of other wacky items for you.
We’re starting a new weekly feature today, and we’re very excited about it. 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 coming 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 and (who knew?) droll sense of humor.
This week, let’s start out with one of the most iconic photographs of L. Ron Hubbard and settle some facts about its background. Get your alligator clamps ready — it’s time to torture a tomato!
Five years after it was first posted to YouTube, the infamous 9-minute Tom Cruise video that was only supposed to be seen by members of the Church of Scientology still seems as nutty as ever. You know the one, the interview Cruise gave to celebrate his winning the “Freedom Medal of Valor,” a special tchotchke made just for him and awarded by Scientology leader David Miscavige in a 2004 celebration. The video was clearly intended to make Cruise’s fellow church members feel warm and fuzzy that the actor was such a hard-core L. Ron Hubbard addict, who shared with them their belief that in the upper levels Scientologists acquire superhuman abilities: “Being a Scientologist, when you drive past an accident, it’s not like anyone else. As you drive past, you know you have to do something about it, because you know you’re the only one that can really help,” Tom said, flexing his OT muscles.
Well, talk about another car wreck. Get a load of Cruise’s former assistant, Andrea Doven, talking the Scientology talk as she celebrates finishing a course at the Hollywood Celebrity Centre.
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.
We’re now entering Book Two, which promises to take us into the nuts and bolts of dianetic theory. And it begins with Hubbard describing to us how the human mind works — that it has three divisions, and in this first chapter he is going to explain how the analytical mind works.
The analytical mind, he explains, is the “I”. It’s the awareness we have as a self. When we’re conscious and thinking, it’s our analytical mind that is helping us make decisions.
And remarkably, the analytical mind works just like an error-free computer, analyzing data stored in massive data banks, never making a mistake.
Gosh, that’s a keen idea, and we figure it must have sounded downright spiffy in 1950, when this book came out.
Tomorrow, Ursula Caberta will retire from her post with the Hamburg state government after spending more than 20 years investigating Scientology’s influence in Germany.
Yesterday, we had a lengthy telephone conversation with her, and reviewed some of the highlights of her career, which was one of the most troublesome for Scientology in Europe.
“I’m done with my work for Hamburg. I’m free to do other things, including finishing my final book on Scientology,” she says.
We’ve commented in the past how remarkable it is that some of Atlanta’s local news outlets have banded together to keep a close watch on one of Scientology’s more intriguing messes going on there.
Pete Combs of WSB Radio, Jodie Fleischer of WSB-TV, and Christian Boone of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution have coordinated their coverage as a wrongful death and civil racketeering lawsuit has exposed shocking improprieties at Scientology’s drug rehab center in Atlanta, known as Narconon Georgia.
With a trial looming, the case has been going terribly for Scientology, and the state has announced its intention to revoke the facility’s license and shut the place down.
And last night, Combs tweeted the latest sign that things are going to hell in a handbasket for Scientology leader David Miscavige’s side: Narconon Georgia Executive Director Mary Rieser has apparently lost her position, when she had been doing such an effective job lying like a rug.
Just a quick evening post for some blatant self-promotion as we point out a couple of smart news stories that feature quotes from the Bunker.
This afternoon, The Observer‘s Dan Duray published an insightful look at the fact-checking process that journalists go through when they investigate the Church of Scientology. Specifically, he talked with Lawrence Wright and his indefatigable researcher, Lauren Wolf, about what they went through trying to get answers from Scientology’s spokeswoman, Karin Pouw.
And Dan revealed what we told him: that we haven’t heard directly from Pouw since the Debbie Cook lawsuit last February.
Last March, we visited former Scientology spokesman Mike Rinder at his home in Florida. The result of our visit was a series of videos that we posted at the Village Voice website in April. However, since leaving the Voice our YouTube account was shut down. Thankfully, with help from a loyal reader, we managed to retrieve those videos and have posted them to YouTube once again. So we’ve decided to republish the entire story along with the videos.
And our timing is good, because Chris Owen just published a lengthy and detailed Wikipedia entry about “The Hole,” Scientology’s concentration camp for top executives, and that’s the subject of many of these video segments. We’re glad to get this interview with Rinder back on the ‘net…
Well, not everyone loves Lawrence Wright’s book, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, & the Prison of Belief. The Church of Scientology isn’t very happy about it, but neither is Steven Hassan, who writes about cults and mind control. He wishes Larry had said more about undue influence in Scientology, and we’d like to hear what you think about that in the comments.
It’s time for another look at the fundraising fliers and other come-ons that Scientologists received this week. On Sundays, we like to post the items that our tipsters have forwarded to us, so we can get a snapshot of what church members are getting hit up for at the moment.
This week, there are so many fun things to spend money on. A table at a CCHR awards banquet? A campaign of terror against psychiatry? Or more books for libraries around the world? Get that checkbook out and let’s start saving the world!
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![Ursula Caberta [Credit: dpa/DPA]](http://tonyortega.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Ursula_Caberta.jpg)
