scientology & celebrities

Alternately, http://www.xenu.net

Tom Cruise: 124 - 50 = 74
Jenna Elfman: 135 - 50 = 85
Kirstie Alley: 104 - 50 = 54 (which explains a lot, really)
and so on

Is this a central plank of Scientology or just the thing that appeals to celebrities?

OTM. That's all you need to know, really.

scientology:today::christian science:1930s

ginger rogers was the most prominent/vocal of hollywood celebrities who "went over" to christian science

from what i remember it didn't make a lick of sense.

after reading the beck thread, and then some of the stuff on the web, im rather fascinated by it all. the very idea that something like that could just *spring* out of nowhere.

so, it seems, basically what happens is, they reel people in with the self improvement/taking control angle, and then gradually introduced the spacealien stuff through these courses as you get more entrenched in it? presumably if they come at you with the alien stuff they wouldnt make much progress with even the most vulnerable people. but as you rise through the levels you become more receptive to it, as they take control?

is this why they dont want that stuff leaking out onto the web, and sue everyone the whole time? its obvious they dont want the contents of 20k courses leaking out, but i guess its also because if the more, lets say, outre, contents of the course come out, their credibility is hampered to new recruits (raw meat, is that what they call them?), and that stuff should only come out when their recruits have been, lets say, adequately prepared?

now, what i dont get, is, half the time their people seem to be talking about it (i mean, everyone knows travolta and cruise are ones, right?), and the other half clamming up about it? are they supposed to prostheltyze or not?

oh yeah, also there are a lot of people who would prefer to keep it under the table that they were in narconon.

If you go up to them, fold your hands in the shape of a clam and open them up while going "CLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!" they'll freak out and pause for a moment and recall their past lives as a clam. I almost had the chance to do this in front of a Scientology church...my do I ever want to!

Scientology was started as a bet, right?

From Saturday Evening Wings (The New Age Satire Magazine)
On Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard:

Harlan Ellison: Scientology is bullshit! Man, I was there the night L. Ron Hubbard invented it, for Christ Sakes!

I was sitting in a room with L. Ron Hubbard and a bunch of other science fiction writers. L. Ron Hubbard was famous among science fiction writers because he was the first one to have an electric typewriter.

Saturday Evening Wings: He claimed to have written Dianetics in a weekend, and nobody can deny it.

Ellison: That's true. He wrote Dianetics in one weekend, and you know how he used to write? He used to take a roll of white paper, like paper you wrap fish in. He had it on the wall, and he would roll it into the typewriter and he would begin typing. When he was done, he would tear it off and leave it as one whole long novel.

We were sitting around one night... who else was there? Alfred Bester, and Cyril Kornbluth, and Lester Del Rey, and Ron Hubbard, who was making a penny a word, and had been for years. And he said "This bullshit's got to stop!" He says, "I gotta get money." He says, "I want to get rich".

Wings: He is also supposed to have said on that same night: "The question is not how to make a million dollars, but how to keep it."

Ellison: Right. And somebody said, "why don't you invent a new religion? They're always big." We were clowning! You know, "Become Elmer Gantry! You'll make a fortune!" He says, "I'm going to do it." Sat down, stole a little bit from Freud, stolee a little bit from Jung, a little bit from Alder, a little bit of encounter therapy, pre-Janov Primal Screaming, took all that bullshit, threw it all together, invented a few new words, because he was a science fiction writer, you know, "engrams" and "regression", all that bullshit. And then he conned John Campbell, who was crazy as a thousand battlefields. I mean, he believed any goddamned thing. He really believed blacks were inferior. I mean he really believed that. He was also very nervous when I was in his office because I was a Jew. You know, he was afraid maybe I would spring horns or something.

Anyhow, the way he conned John was that he had J. A. Winter, who was a doctor, who was a close friend of John's, and he got him to run this article on Dianetics, the new science of mental health.

Wings: Dianometry was the first article, I believe.

Ellison: Right. And science fiction fans will go for any goddamm thing. They'll believe anything, man, they will believe in the abominable snowman and the Bermuda Triangle, in Pyramid Power, in EST, in Scientology, in the Second Coming, they'll believe in any goddamm thing, they don't give a shit. They go to see Star Wars; they think it is for real!

So science fiction fans picked it up, they began proselytizing, he started making money, when he had made enough money he was able to spread out a little more, then he got more cuckoos, you know, pre-Charlie Manson assholes that had no place else to go, and he began talking to these loons as if Dianetics really meant something. Then he wanted to get tax-exempt status, so he called it "The Church of Scientology".

Now, they've gotten so big that they own property all over the country, and it is impossible to stop it. They infiltrated the FBI, they infiltrated the tax department, ... the funny thing is, Ron Hubbard and I still occasionally communicate with each other. Every once in a while, a couple or three times a year, we exchange letters. And I write to him, you know, and I say, "Hey Ron, when is this bullshit going to cease? These cuckoos are really driving me crazy! They come around the house with pamphlets!" And he writes me back, and he says, "It's the good work, it's the good work."

It's all very funny stuff. He was going to write a new story for me for the last Dangerous Visions, but I guess he got too busy counting his money. I don't know.

http://home.snafu.de/tilman/faq-you/celeb.txt

and what point did it move from being a charismatic leader based cult, to an organization. ie, when did it become bigger than hubbard himself? when did he no longer really matter?

"The first Body Thetan (BT) level, where one is auditing other beings in one's space. Prior to NOTs, also the last BT level. In this, one runs body thetans through two incidents. Incident 2 involved being captured 75 million years ago, frozen, shipped to Earth, taken to a volcano where one was nuked, then captured in a field, implanted with all sorts of horrid goals for 36 days and packaged up as body thetans and clusters (groups of body thetans). These were then given to folks like you and me in gobs. Incident 1 involves a multi-media show with chariots, angels, waves of light and then blackness."

this is so disgusting/reactivity rather than creativity/To foster passivity in people/ To say it's a good thing to be Owned in an unlimited fashion/To foster capitulation, conformity, resignation/To turn backbone into wishbone or worse/Undercut protest, resilience, assertiveness; replacing these with docility, apathy, sheepishness/

walk through the port authority subway station sometime, then.

They do market to normal schlubs, too. There's a big center across the main drag at UT-Austin offering personality tests and stuff. I almost took one before someone let me know who they were.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0718127641/qid=1113152889/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-8026674-7307068?v=glance&s=books

apparently laura prepon is too.

walk through the port authority subway station sometime, then.

oh, every kind of religious nut you can imagine is in that station!

(notice i use the word "market" and not "proselytize" - and not just because i can't spell the latter)

Jason Dohring who played Logan on Veronica Mars. Hmmmmmmm. Crush has just been halved by Xenu.

He was born into it, though. Small comfort.

Apparently his father had Neopets. Whatever that is.

The idea that Scientology has been around long enough to breed a second generation SCARES ME SHITLESS. Argh. That is all.

Maybe I could save him from the evil clutches of Scientology. (Cue crush swells to gigantic proportion again.)

But, yes, you are right, second gen scientologist. Freaky.

lolz

hooooolleeeeeee shiiiiiiiiiittttt

I wish I could romp and play :(

I watched it last night -- he wasn't acting in Magnolia, was he?

he must be stopped

over 1 billion served

You can sit here and wish it were different, y'know, I have to do something, don't I, yeah, I have to do it, because I can't do it myself if I don't. And it's... and that really is it.

I don't care if someone thinks it's hard, or easy. You're either helping, or contributing everything you can, or you're not. I'm carrying my load. As much as I'm carrying, I still feel like I gotta do more. All Right? There's still this thing of... Let's Go.

You can just see the look in their eyes, you know the ones that are doing. You know. And you know the spectators, who are the ones that are going 'Well that's easy for you, or what am I doing'. And it's just, that thing is, I've cancelled that in my... area. My... (Laughter) It's like man, you're either in or you're out. Spectator is something that is, we have no time for.

And I think about those people who are depending on... us, and uh, I think about that. And it does make me feel uh like manic (laughter), we got a lot of work. Get those spectators in the playing field or out of the arena. I do what I can, and I do it the way I do everything.

I've cancelled that in my area

Get those spectators in the playing field or out of the arena

they shot the Cruise interview like he's on Entertainment Tonight

Katie Holmes on Letterman last night - I think she's going nuts too. Great legs, tho.

that part where he claims only a scientologist can help at the scene of a car accident has set the wtf bar for 2008.

Is he saying the rest of us either expect God to do something, or are atheists and don't give a shit?

such a horrible person

xpost, no he's literally saying that only a Scientologist can do the right thing: silence any chatter from onlookers that could result in the formation of body engrams, and stop any 'doctors' from administering narcotics or painkillers to the victim

"There's only one explanation for it, and it's not a human one. It's the same power that helped a little boy with two fish and five loaves feed a crowd of five thousand people."

If there's anything better than 9 straight minutes of hearing the Mission Impossible theme on loop, it's hearing Tom say he wishes he could "romp and play". When I heard that I had an image of him dressed as Little Lord Fauntleroy prancing around in a garden.

It's the same power that helped a little boy with two fish and five loaves feed a crowd of five thousand people.

? Jesus was not a little boy when this was purported to have happened.

oh man that is some grim viewing. what a fuck-up.

yeah i could listen or watch but not both

was the mission impossible theme in the original version or has it been added for lols? it was driving me insane anyway.

"Get those spectators in the playing field or out of the arena" -- so chilling.

sp's, the lot of you

read these if you don't know what an SP or FAIR GAME is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suppressive_Person

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Game_%28Scientology%29

You've got to be kidding me, unreal-I find this shit somewhat frightening.

http://cover6.cduniverse.com/MuzeVideoArt/02/145602.jpg

megalomania is always frightening

It's just like 'pkugh'. And I'm thinking, you know, 'pschew'.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/connelly/336316_joel22.html

I was in Pittsburgh visiting a friend over thanksgiving, and another friend came over with some Sc!entology DVD. It was incredible. Apparently he got it from his roommate, whos uncle was a pretty high level 'tologist, but after the uncle died they kept sending shit to his house.

Anyhow, this DVD was like an infomercial, from what I could piece together, it was 3 hours of persuading people who already had all the currently available books and tapes to rebuy all of that same material on CD.

The main speaker was some guy in a gaudy suit and he was speaking in this giant guilded auditorium, it was huge, with like 70-foot tall projection screens behind him which would show bad computer animation of these CD sets flying over volcanoes and shit. And then it'd show L. Ron's face and play a soundbyte of him saying something like, "You can't unlock only half the secrets of the mind. And even if you could, ho ho, I wouldn't want to, would you? I don't think so..."

And then it'd cut to the audience, tens of thousands of people all in tuxedos and evening gowns, Kirsty Ally and John Travolta right up front, standing and applauding. All I could think was, "That didn't mean anything. He didn't say anything, that was complete gibberish. Fucking gobbledygook and thousands of people are applauding it. What the fuck?"

It was 3 hours of that. Dude saying some nonsense, audience applauds, CGI volcano scene, L. Ron soundbite, audience applauds. Over and over. And on top of it all I was high as shit, that evening had been the first time I had toked in like 9 years. Insane. I need to get that DVD. And some pot.

I have a recent Church newspaper that leads with a huge picture of the man next to a huge headline pull quote: "Drug residues can stop any mental help. They also stop a person's life!" - L. Ron Hubbard

it's true

i had conversations like this at college parties at 4am with stoned dudes whose names i never did learn.

"like, you've got to live in the moment, man"

they stole their graphics at the end from the 'starship troopers' commercials

i don't think they do much marketing to mundanes like us.

walk through the port authority subway station sometime, then.

Yeah, scientologists have a big display/stall in the shopping mall nearest to here. They gave me a stress test the other day.

I kind of feel like Tori Amos is so weird she's normal or something.

this is frightening

No more so than the Moonies.

I want to learn this guitar riff to help the people in their zealotry. Also like the random gold steam graphic repeating itself every 16 seconds. (Could not actually pay attention.)

the recent new yorker article about sc!ento!ogy and celebrities was disappointing

What struck me about it was that auditing is suppsed to be about clearing your mind and shit, but Cruise is basically babbling incomprehensibly for most of that, he never finishes a sentence off and appears to be totally fucking nuts! What an advert for the co$, eh.

I don't need no wacko actors to tell me that being positive, assertive, and pleasant to all other life in the world is productive to the human race.

Is scientology just a 'religion' stating the obvious?

why am i even asking that?

I drove past a car crash on the way to work this morning and the first thing I thought of was what would Tom Cruise do if he was here?

Smile and wave

yeah that part was mind-bendingly arrogant "we are the ONLY people qualified to help @ at a car wreck"

he's probably stand there and say 'you brought this on yourself by being mentally WEAK" or something

Do all scientologists train as panel beaters? Because that's what the crash that I saw needed more than anything else.

Is scientology just a 'religion' stating the obvious?

Not unless you think it's obvious that 75 million years ago an alien ruler of the Galactic Confederacy named Xenu brought billions of people to Earth in spacecraft resembling Douglas DC-8 airliners, stacked them around volcanoes and blew them up with hydrogen bombs, and that their souls then clustered together and stuck to the bodies of the living and continue to do this today, and that we must isolate these alien souls and neutralize their ill effects.

oh right, lol

A trawl around suggests that the tom cruise clip is just an extract - that there's more than an hour of similar batshit insanity out there? Wow, man.

The beeb have caught him just right...
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44359000/jpg/_44359314_cruise_grab_203.jpg

http://thepiratebay.org/tor/3979687

NB haven't d/l-ed this myself yet, will do so after dinner.

all's I can say is, that poor fucking kid... who wants to help me start a task force to liberate these kids from their psychotic and malignant celebrity parents?

I actually got through more of 2 girls 1 cup than I did of that clip, and similar feelings of nausea forced me to click 'stop'.

What was Cruise laughing at ?

you

This isnt that far off organized christanity, guys. Actually, its pretty much the same.

Not really.

It's just as BORING!

I missed this thread until now because I was thinking "What else is new"...but this does take the cake.

Yeah, seriously. But still, any douchebag so far up their own ass and who've convinced that they alone hold the key to Truth and everybody else is just full of it will begin spouting off similar bullshit. Pathological narcissism/megalomania attempting to be hidden inside a fog of weird-ass piety is something we've seen before, and sometimes is duly laughed at, and sometimes not.

xp

oops, check that. I was agreeing with Bill there.

Mind you, I still don't think this is anywhere near as crazy as LRH himself singing the song "Thank You For Listening" at the end of the 1985-or-so Scientology album. Overall tracklist:

1. THE ROAD TO FREEDOM performed by John Travolta, Leif Garrett, Frank Stallone, Lee Purcell.

2. THE WAY TO HAPPINESS performed by Leif Garrett, Gayle Moran, Nicky Hopkins.

3. THE WORRIED BEING performed by Amanda Ambrose.

4. THE EVIL PURPOSE performed by Frank Stallone.

5. LAUGH A LITTLE performed by Michael Roberts, Pam Roberts, Margie Nelson.

6. THE GOOD GO FREE performed by David Pomerantz.

7. WHY WORSHIP DEATH? performed by Chick Corea, Julia Migenes.

8. MAKE IT GO RIGHT performed by David Pomerantz.

9. THE ARC SONG performed by John Travolta, Karen Black, Jeff Pomerantz, Frank Stallone, Lee Purcell, Gloria Rusch.

10. L’ENVOI, THANK YOU FOR LISTENING performed by L. Ron Hubbard

Go to ron the music maker dot org slash music slash listen.htm if you want to hear it all. No, really.

I've cancelled that in my area

otm

This isnt that far off organized christanity, guys. Actually, its pretty much the same.

Much as I think organised religion is generally a Bad Thing, Christianity is something that has evolved over a couple of thousand years and it represents some kind of (flawed, IMHO) cultural and ethical continuity with the past. Scientology was invented from scratch by a known huxster forty-odd years ago.

The religions might be vastly different in most areas but both seem to bring out the nutjobs from time to time.

Christianity was invented from scratch by a known huxster two thousand-odd years ago.

*shrug*

thought to be fair, his little con didn't have the strong stench of fascism.

I dont know, they just both reek of fantastical beginnings, blind faith and a "we are the only ones that know the truth" attitude.

Ah, you've figured out ILX!

snap!

me on old ILX

http://www.artcyclopedia.com/images/Blake.jpg

"I dont know, they just both reek of fantastical beginnings, blind faith and a "we are the only ones that know the truth" attitude."

Not really. Christianity originally was an offshoot of Judaism, which had been around an extremely long time by that point. Also, it was hashed out after Jesus's death by the apostles each of whom wrote their own versions, see also the lost books of Thomas. this is a lot different from some loon thinking up a get-rich-quick scheme with his sci-fi buddies at a fucking cocktail party.

"we are the only ones that know the truth"

to be fair, i think this is only a very small fraction of christianity but a much more slice of the pie for scientologists. But that's a massive assumption from me and only based on heresay and telly progs.

I don't know, I still think Christianity (and Judaism, Islam etc) has a smattering of positive aspects and Scientology CERTAINLY doesn't (except maybe 'LOL famous people').

hey im the son of the god! oops im dead! oh wait im alive again! see ya in heavs, dudes!

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/168/438660591_76e73d0767.jpg

hey im the son of the god! oops im dead! oh wait im alive again! see ya in heavs, dudes!

I'm not saying it's not founded on bullshit. That's not my point at all.

that wasnt directed at you

Oh Ok, apologies.

http://gawker.com/5002269/the-cruise-indoctrination-video-scientology-tried-to-suppress A rather better link.

If it's intended to indoctrinate why would they want it suppressed?

fear of riff-raff

it'll be interesting to see what scientology looks like in 2000 years

xenu willing

"hey im the son of the god! oops im dead! oh wait im alive again! see ya in heavs, dudes!"

It wasn't my point either.

it wasnt directed at you either. it is kind of fairyland though, right?

Of course, I don't believe a word of it. But if you ignore the crap in the bible and just look at the evolution of christianity as a political and social force, you'll see there's a hell of a lot more complexity and ambiguity there than in Scientology.

Nicky Hopkins?! :(

Go to ron the music maker dot org slash music slash listen.htm if you want to hear it all. No, really.

This is the best thing ever! Thanks, Ned!

You're welcome! Trust me, the whole site is amazing.

wow that video.

i saw magnolia on cable recently and it occurs to me that maybe cruise in that movie is the closest we've ever gotten to seeing the real tom. don't die you asshole don't die you asshole

Ned, you're not wrong...

Not only did his heritage of nautical experience place him in the top ranks of professional yachtsmen, but it distinguished him as a world-class master mariner.

I did not know that.

lolz I think the only movie he's ever been in that I like even just a little bit was, uh, Legend. Otherwise - man, he's made a lot of shitty movies. Like Julia Roberts, an amazingly overpaid actor who has no real range or actorly chops, nor ever even been in a particularly great movie.

Not only did his heritage of nautical experience place him in the top ranks of professional yachtsmen, but it distinguished him as a world-class master mariner.

there is a funny story about him trying to steal a boat from Jack Parsons and Parsons putting a curse on him. (a storm arose and forced Hubbard back to port, where he was arrested and the boat confiscated and returned to Parsons)

i have to say mission impossible III was a pleasant surprise

Nicky Hopkins?! :(

Holy shit, that's fucking sad.

mi 3 was good

lolz I think the only movie he's ever been in that I like even just a little bit was, uh, Legend. Otherwise - man, he's made a lot of shitty movies. Like Julia Roberts, an amazingly overpaid actor who has no real range or actorly chops, nor ever even been in a particularly great movie.

-- Shakey Mo Collier, Wednesday, January 16, 2008 5:38 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

range and chops dont really matter when it comes to being a movie star. just matters whether people like watching you onscreen.

I guess I just underestimated America's fascination with short guys and horse-faced women

" it is kind of fairyland though, right?"

Yes, to an extent.Don't want to get into it on this thread though.

On topic-I'm with SMC. What the hell is the fascination with these two people?

I always thought Cruise was a shit actor, never got the appeal. He was OK in "War of the Worlds", seems to supress some of his more annoying tics somewhat, especially the "look at my intense glary eyes" schtick. Still, like Ms A Jolie, I've found it safe to assume that any movie featuring him will blow goats & is to be avoided. I hate his face as well.

http://suppressiveperson.org/spdl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=458&Itemid=68

^ here is a v v entertaining read. Srsly, well worth a look.

Nicky Hopkins?! :(

Holy shit, that's fucking sad.

-- Sara Sara Sara, Wednesday, 16 January 2008 17:42 (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

Saddest one for me was Gloria Swanson. Major bummer when I read that.

I like how in the clip Cruise talks about "meeting an SP" as if it would be the greatest, most magical moment in his life

^ here is a v v entertaining read. Srsly, well worth a look.

Is that fan fic? What is that?

It would appear to be an account of mr cruise & mr speilberg's falling out, written in a weird fanficish (as you correctly point out) manner. I laffed (& believed every word of it of course)

if mr cruise is a tr00 kvlt $ceino, and he were to meet an SP, he would have to totally blank him/her y/n?

I wanted it to be true really badly. :/

he would have to totally blank him/her y/n?

would this be like when Hitler blanked a donkey?

I believe the article originally appeared in a gossip column with "mr movie star" and "mr director" in place of the actual names, and someone has C&P-ed the real names in before putting it on that website. Ha haha ha ah ahahah ahahaha aha aha etc. I believe every word of it!

x-post dunno shakey, I just read that Co$ devotees weren't allowed to talk to "suppressive persons" under any circumstances or summat.

I totally believe that story too. Or at least want to believe it. TC seems toolish enough to behave that way.

i don't know why i read all of that. why does dude go out of his way to refer to the "church" under weird nicknames only to call it by it's actual name a few pages later?

i sort of appreciate the bizarre intensity cruise brings to even his stupidest action roles (i like him in those a lot more than when he's being a "real actor" in "good films")...same w/nic cage in his b-movie stuff.

what is the actual hook of co$, to the non-famous? i understand there's a lot of 'unlock and purify yr mind' kind of stuff... is that it?

like, if this vid is supposed to be inspirational, wtf it's totally incoherent and threatening, and half the language doesn't make sense unless you're already in the tent.

The Germans have a history of some egregious behavior, to put it mildly, but they are on the right track in looking into this garbage.

what is the actual hook of co$, to the non-famous

I assume that its "we'll make you rich/powerful/famous just like our most rich/powerful/famous members!"

matt otm! this is probably total projection, but i love the subliminal little smirk all of his co-actors give him. like "i am acting well, showing a role for the camera, but you my friend, are off in never-never land." val kilmer and tom skerritt in top gun, ken watanabe in last samurai.

i swear it's there.

every movie he's in has a scene where he figures something out and his mannerisms just take over. like that scene where he plays magic tricks on jean reno in MI 1.

http://www.slate.com/id/2182452/

there's a half an hour of this stuff!!

haven't watched any of it...

if u don't want to f with slate, here's pt 1

http://www.megavideo.com/?v=YZFH2HZ2

is that Mission Impossible music in the background?

man this shit is wacky but you guys are for all the cruise-movie hate!!

i mean--risky business, legend, top gun, color of money, a few good men, the firm, mission impossible 1, minority report, collateral, war of the worlds, mission impossible 3! the dude has been in all kids of classics

10. L’ENVOI, THANK YOU FOR LISTENING performed by L. Ron Hubbard

This is the greatest thing ever:

"Thank you for listening
I write just for you
but others hearing this may find
things they would argue

I do not sing what I believe
I only give them facts
If they believe quite otherwise
it still will have IM-PACT!"

4. THE EVIL PURPOSE performed by Frank Stallone.

omgwtf

all the fake newspaper headlines and statistics in these videos are hilarious

http://www.lordpercy.com/Bluetooth%20logo.jpg http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/d/dc/75px-Scientology_new_style_logo.png

CONSPIRACY

I love how people "reading about" the prescription drugs dust-up counts as them being "exposed" or some shit.

Sunny, Scientology is nothing like Christianity in teh sense that you can not really leave from the former but you can quit the latter. Wasn't there a woman who died after she tried to leave and the Church (of Scient.) wanted to *convince* her to stay?

I watched it last night -- he wasn't acting in Magnolia, was he?

it's more like he's "on" all the time. all of his gestures--the gestures of piety, of sincerity, of amusement, of awe--read like tics to me, willful. it's like he's estrange from normal human expression and has to emulate its outward manifestations with some care. not that this isn't evident in 100 other ways, but this guy has some kind of major personality disorder.

the narrowing of the eyes, the rubbing of the bottom lip, the choked laugh, the pointed looks DIRECTLY INTO THE EYES OF THE INTERVIEWER -- none of it seems the least bit unmediated, unprepared. it's bad acting. but i've never seen him not like this.

also that repeated M:I riff sounds like Tetuzi Akiyama or something...

also (sorry for so many posts, this video is long)... he manages to seem utterly confident and yet none of his thoughts seem to be completed. it's completely incoherent, even granted the ellipses (accompanied by that weird camera click noise).

honestly a lot of this doesn't seem that far from enthusiastic forms of christianity as they have been repackaged for television. except the message isn't as...tight.

If you haven't watched the full 30 minutes of this, you haven't watched it at all. The full video is fucking disturbing.

"I can't...because....I know. I know, so...I, I, you know, you know?"

he manages to seem utterly confident and yet none of his thoughts seem to be completed. it's completely incoherent, even granted the ellipses

miscavige is even more like this (see this interview) so that's probably who he is imitating/trying to live up to

well they're also assuming a frame of reference (scientology faithful) we don't share... there seems to be a lot implied and unspoken i'm sure you'd pick up on if you were hip to the church's teachings.

"I can't...Thetans..because...SPs...I know. I know, so... E-meter...I, I, you know, you know?"

man, that salute at the start of pt 5!

"when i read that, it was just (mouths explosive sound).. you know? i was like, boom (snaps fingers), that's it"

he's the michael winslow of scientology

"now is the TIME people"

New Yorkers oozing purple!!! oh man

I can't believe they really just looped the M:I themesong on the actual promo film

a glossary of terms found in the video. I didn't know a lot of these.

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1579963/20080118/index.jhtml

i read last night that danny elfman is suing the co$ over them using the theme song without permission in this clip. i figured it would be lalo schifrin doing the suing, but whatever. good for danny.

also, chick corea WTF ;_;

a glossary of terms found in the video. I didn't know a lot of these.

Hehe, I figured my friend Jen would have written that, and she did.

There is a great part in Christiane F where she talks about being in some scino-run heroin rehab plant where the treatment was like them moving a football, she'd touch the football, they'd move it again, she'd touch it again, ad nauseum. Basically had nothing to do otherwise but 'confess' shit and read Hubbard's works, which she thought were "really interesting." Then it mentions Germany kicked them out a few years later and disallowed the program. Haha!

cruise movies i do enjoy:

MI3(M:I 1 to a lesser extent)
Collateral
Legend
Minority Report

amateurist wonderfully otm upthread regarding what makes Cruise's mannerisms so off-putting

didn't tom cruise have an experience growing up with an abusive step-parent or something? b/c if so that's obv. very sad plus one could see how it would leave him vulnerable to being at high-risk for being drawn in by a cult (among other factors, such as experiencing great fame and success at a young age)

I've been reading the OT III mythos (on Wikipedia) today, and I gotta say that I have a certain respect for L. Ron Hubbard for pulling off this massive science fiction tale as literal truth to one person, let alone however many Scientologists there are. Birth of a religion, eh?

didn't tom cruise have an experience growing up with an abusive step-parent or something? b/c if so that's obv. very sad plus one could see how it would leave him vulnerable to being at high-risk for being drawn in by a cult (among other factors, such as experiencing great fame and success at a young age)

yeah, there's def. a certain pathos there, but lately it's been overwhelmed by the sense that this man is potentially doing a lot of harm.

i'm not sure all this is an more unsettling than a lot of evangelical xtianity, but well, that's a familiar part of the american landscape, where as this is batshit looniness in all its fulsome newness.

just read the x3nu article on wikipedia. kind of mind-blowing. especially the detail about the origin of modern cinema design. you kind of have to read it yourself.

amateurist since Cruise's antics are pretty much universally met with ridicule I think he's probably not causing any harm.

This is hilarious:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rundown_%28Scientology%29

The Super Power Rundown is described in the Dianetics and Scientology Technical Dictionary as "a super fantastic, but confidential series of rundowns that can be done on anybody whether Dn Clear or not that puts the person into fantastic shape unleashing Super Power of a thetan. This means that puts Scientologists into a new realm of ability enabling them to create a new world."[7] The Super Power Building is currently under construction in Clearwater, Florida for the specific purpose of administering this rundown.

super fantastic, but confidential

just watched the orientation video

http://youtube.com/watch?v=XJtUDcm3bBw

the end of the video has some amazing quotes

"you are at the threshold of your next trillion years. you will live it in shivering agonized darkness or you will live it in the triumphant light..."

"if you leave this room and never mention scientology again, you are perfectly free to do so. it would be stupid, but you can do it. you could also dive off a bridge or blow your brains out. that is your choice" !!!!

also lmao@ testimonials by isaac hayes and kirstie alley ("without scientology i would be dead!")

they're just as much a corporation as they are a religion. all the books and courses they make you pay for. they say they admit everyone but obv. poor people aren't wanted. there's a part in this vid where they say that occasionally if someone doesn't have money, they sometimes are able to assign a student auditor to work with them.

had no idea will smith had joined their ranks lol

had no idea will smith had joined their ranks lol

Whoa, really? Man, that's damn depressing...but then again I remember reading somewhere that he and Cruise were buds. Oh well!

For a long time, Smith has denied joining the Church of Scientology with his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, explaining that it would go against the beliefs of his late grandmother. But for some time, insiders in Hollywood have insisted the Smiths were, indeed, brought in by Cruise.Smith concedes that his kids are being home-schooled, just as are those of Cruise, Travolta and other Scientologists.

In the article, Smith refers to “Thetans,” who are space aliens in the vernacular of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

“… in all of the experiences I’ve had with Tom and Scientology, like 98 percent of the principles are identical to the principles of the Bible,” Smith tells Men’s Vogue writer Hudson Morgan.

That orientation video is funny, but not as funny as bug-eyed, fanatical Tom Cruise. He seems, in real life, like he does in the movies: Nothing is subtle, reflective or self-aware; everything is hyper-confident, hyper-macho, and over-the-top; and he doesn't speak -- he emotes ("Acting!"). But this is no act.

Oh for the love of ghod dont let Will Smith be involved in this shit. what would his gramma say.

She would probably make him move out to California to live with his rich relatives, getting him away from this bad crowd.

epic win

ahaha

lololololol

"you are at the threshold of your next trillion years. you will live it in shivering agonized darkness or you will live it in the triumphant light..."

lol early christianity! these guys have done their homework

epic win indeed

Jerry O'Connell is Tom Cruise: Scientologist!

scientology.org is down again

This YouTube video explains a lot about what Tom Cruise was saying in that video clip.

What do Scientologists believe? I'm talking not the periphery of their views -- like they can help people get off drugs, become spiritually aware, and so forth -- but their core religious beliefs. Do they, for instance, believe in a single G-d similar to Christians or Jews? Do they, as I've heard, believe in aliens populating the Earth?

You'd figure that a quick internet search would reveal this, but I haven't found anything that squarely and fully answers these questions.

And so I ask you, ILX'ors. A nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

a nation shakes its head and hopes that it raised its children well.

So, are 4chan hackers idiots going up against all this, or heroes? I think idiot, but what do I know rly.

also, chick corea WTF ;_;

He's been a Scientologist for, like, over 30 years. Some of the Return to Forever LPs from the seventies have dedications to L. Ron Hubbard. And Stanley Clarke is/was a Scientologist too, the liner notes of his School Days from 1976 give "special thanks" to Hubbard as well.

So, are 4chan hackers idiots going up against all this, or heroes? I think idiot, but what do I know rly.

I LOL'd

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCbKv9yiLiQ

Serious business!

And Stanley Clarke is/was a Scientologist too

so wrong. he went to a couple classes and decided it was bullshit. he has even spoken out against it.

Why did he thank Hubbard on his album then? The liner notes in School Days say "special thanks to L. Ron Hubbard for being an inspiration to me". I'm glad he realized Scientology is humbug, but it doesn't sound like he just took a couple classes and decided it was bullshit.

these guys took down The Sun as well apparently, because "They enraged /i/ when the forum censored truth that the parents of Madeleine McCann murdered her."

4chan dudes are goobs, but hey, if they get the job done they get the job done.

Why did he thank Hubbard on his album then? The liner notes in School Days say "special thanks to L. Ron Hubbard for being an inspiration to me". I'm glad he realized Scientology is humbug, but it doesn't sound like he just took a couple classes and decided it was bullshit.

Maybe he just liked the dodgy sci-fi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiqmvWZg-qs

Even seriouser business! Scarier, with a deeper and more menacing voice!

Chick Corea's famously on a live album with the Incredible String Band, Mike Garson & Woody Woodmansey all celebrating LRH's 9 millionth birthday or something. As an Incredible String Band fan I can assure that hours of fun can be had deciphering their albums (and solo albums) for Sc'ology references - they're crammed full of 'em - hell, LRH, even sneaked on to the cover of one of their albums if you look closely enough.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOkOEltl678

I just got this GINORMOUS box of books from Bridge Publications! There are at least 20 different books on Scientology in there. They are seriously wasting Will Smith and Tom Cruise's money by sending all of these books to libraries that are in all likelihood just going to pitch them.

S.O.P. with outfits like that -- they figure any publicity = good publicity. But Jack Chick probably gets better results with less expenditure.

Well, he at least knows the length of a religious craziness tome to keep people's attention all the way through. (24 tiny pages w/pictures vs 1000+ pages of lord knows what)

haha

"HOLY DICK /i/ IS DOWN! IT'S ON MOTHERFUCKERS! BRING BACK /i/ HALP HALP!"

retaliation?

http://donkeyscientology.ytmnd.com/

Bart gives http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23136785-5001026,00.html1m to Scientology (and gets an award in return)

Oops...try this instead...

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23136785-5001026,00.html

More info here...
http://www.hollywood.com/news/Nancy_Bart_Simpson_Cartwright_Gives_10_Million_to_Scientology/5057516

Including the news thatr Kirstie Alley gave them $5m. She still got some money in the bank then?

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/webscout/2008/02/protesters-asse.html

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/webscout/images/2008/02/10/img_0098.jpg

Melbourne protest was pretty well attended.

why are they all in disguise?

Co$ is not kind to those who criticize it

what exactly could the church do to them?

"If there will be a long-term threat, you are to immediately evaluate and originate a black PR campaign to destroy the person's repute and to discredit them so thoroughly that they will be ostracized." — L. Ron Hubbard, 30 May 1974, "Confidential - PR Series 24 - Handling Hostile Contacts/Dead Agenting"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Game_(Scientology)

Yeah stalking, harrasment, all kinds of crazy shit. I have friends who've had it happen.

what exactly could the church do to them?

-- Ste, Monday, 11 February 2008 10:01 (23 minutes ago) Link

http://www.whyaretheydead.net/room771.html

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/webscout/2008/02/protesters-asse.html

haha i saw this going on yesterday! i shouted "we love you xenu!!!" out the passenger side window.

What a frigging stupid, asinine cult. Boiling a guy alive in a bathtub? Damn.

I know this is huge but it's worth it:
http://pics.livejournal.com/7chanlawlz/pic/000062p1

so gonna happen

wow scientology's enemies are so formidable. they must be SCARED.

nice to see some 4channers getting out of the house for a little while

UK teen summoned to court for using the word "cult" to refer to Scientology.

"A policewoman later read him section five of the Public Order Act and "strongly advised" him to remove the sign. The section prohibits signs which have representations or words which are threatening, abusive or insulting."

That's illegal in the UK???????

you know whats fun about scientology? the rich people.

The City of London police came under fire two years ago when it emerged that more than 20 officers, ranging from constable to chief superintendent, had accepted gifts worth thousands of pounds from the Church of Scientology.

see!

I'm shocked you can get arrested just for saying something insulting in the UK. Sounds like 1984

Well it's a blatant misuse of the law - I'm fairly sure the law was introduced to prevent incitement to racial hatred and the like. But yeah you can be arrested/fined for swearing in public, which is total bullshit.

The poor Scientologists apparently believed that the use of the word cult was "threatening", and hence invoked the Public Order Act. But yes, a flagrant misuse of the law.

Steven Poole has a good take on it all here:
http://unspeak.net/cult/

If you live in France, you can call “Scientology” a cult or secte with impunity, because that is how it is defined in law. And as a point of fact, the “Church” of “Scientology” is not a religion under UK law either.

Yes, this is astonishing. Especially as there is another demo vs. the cult in Tottenham Court road where the same banners don't seem to get the same reaction. Different police force though, this was the City of London and that's the Met (iirc).

And one doesn't want to get all conspiracist or anything but there is this..
Gala dinners, jive bands and Tom Cruise: how the Scientologists woo City police

At the lavish ceremony, Chief Superintendent Kevin Hurley, the fourth most senior officer in the force, praised the scientologists for the support they had provided after the July 7 attacks

Oh, sorry didn't see Poo's post upthread. So yeah, what he said...

By "support" I suppose the City of London Police meant "attempts to take advantage of bomb victims", yes?

praised the scientologists for the support they had provided after the July 7 attacks

Yes, I remember that, they were out on the streets in force helping to drum up membership for their ridiculous cu1t Londoners to cope with the stress induced by the terrorist attacks. I remember, there was a FAP and, on the way there, and I noticed them.

But yeah you can be arrested/fined for swearing in public,

Actually you've always been able to be arrested for swearing in public, or even just shouting - behaviour likely to lead to a breach of the peace - in fact the met have used this to arrest two men kissing in public. They have plenty of laws at their disposal!

I was thinking of that case when 2 kids were sitting on a bench talking to each other and a policewomen overheard one of them swearing, just in conversation with his friend, not even shouting, and gave him an on-the-spot fine. Fucking ridiculous.

There was some fellow on the tube a couple of years ago who suggested that the metal detectors were...erm...not up to scratch, and got an £80 fine on the spot. That's the British Transport Police though (I presume), they can be especially touchy.

Excuse me for criticizing the laws of another sovereign nation, but that's ridiculous. I'd either be broke or spending life in prison. I think " behaviour likely to lead to a breach of the peace" can often lead to positive things. MLK Jr anyone?

They shot him

I think you missed the point.

Seems the City of police were being over-zealous.

Anyways, yeah Bill the "behaviour likely to lead blahblahblah" is a pretty catch-all offence.

Oh it just sounds like SOP whenever someone rich wants to silence a critic. Hit them with a nuisance lawsuit that costs $30k to deal with before it gets dropped.

Raj Persaud brought down by Scientologists.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/oct/24/raj-persaud-psychiatry-maudsley

Well brought down by his copying of other peoples work obviously.

THE OBSCENE BRASS DOG

Scientology is just mostly common sense ppls.

Duh, if you don't b3l33v3 then you're just hung up on a failed R6 rundown.

banned from Wikipedia lolz

Derek P. May 29th, 2009 4:45 pm ET

Obama supporters have also manipulated Wikipedia. However, unlike Scientology, they are evenly distributed throughout the US. Anyone they don’t like, they ban. They are able to do this because there is a sadistic subculture in Wikipedia. Kids vote for each other to become “administrators” who can ban anyone and unbanning often only occurs if the original administrator agrees (Wikipedia policy). Wikipedia is not an encyclopedia. It is worse than twitter

noizipedia

James Bond vs. Scientology (sorta):

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6740831.ece

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6740728.ece

No-talent film director bails:

http://showbiz411.blogs.thr.com/paul-haggis-breaks-with-scientology/

whoa.

That is a pretty good letter.

I bet it would suck if Haggis adapted it into a movie, tho.

HA!

good to finally have a plausible explanation for all his success, though

http://www.popeater.com/2009/10/26/tommy-davis-scientology-interview/

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Testimony_by_John_Travolta_that_son_was_autistic_raises_Scientology_questions

THey scare the shit out of me.

i watched that Tommy Davis, cylon spokesman interview when i was at work and when it concluded with asking the viewers if they thought that Scientology should keep their tax exemption status as i stood up to out i calmly and gratefully said to the tee vee screen "thank you, Martin Bashir". lol.

Just read this today: http://www.tampabay.com/specials/2009/reports/project/

Wow. Apparently their leader has a Napolean complex.

Or Napoleon complex - whatever works ;)

It's a pretty revealing three part article from the St. Petersburg Times written back in June.

I wonder if Haggis has googled Xenu yet.

From his letter: To see you lie so easily, I am afraid I had to ask myself: what else are you lying about?

I totally feel that, it's a reason I left the Mormon church...so weird seeing your religion's leader saying something on the TV to cover PR that completely contradicts what you're told at church.

I think Scientology is like a blown up version what I dislike about religion. Pedantic self-righteous lying bastards. -> Oops, I guess I'm still pretty much an atheist despite mentioning on the Prayer thread that I mellowed when it came to religion. heehee

The T-shirt would read 'I spent 13 years talking about it and all I got was this $150,000 debt.'

The page you have requested cannot be found.
It may have moved or may no longer be available.
You may want to try searching tampabay.com for the content you desire.

Had to redo the link, try again. Alternate, Gawker summary:

http://gawker.com/5456002/how-to-spend-150000-on-scientology-the-larry-anderson-story

Oopsy:

http://markrathbun.wordpress.com/2010/05/07/david-miscavige-violates-tom-cruises-confessional/

Ding ding... Round Two

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/sep/28/church-of-scientology-john-sweeney

Watched that last night. Interesting that there's a "reformation" movement of scientologists who've left the official church but still believe in scientology as a religion, which I was completely unaware of before.

Did that image work?

http://images.onesite.com/blogs.telegraph.co.uk/user/ceri_radford/sweeney15.jpg

That one did

First one was better though

GAH NOT AVAILABLE IN U.S.

This guy, so creepy

http://wwwimg.bbc.co.uk/programmes/i/512xn/44e31897325e72522fc6a2271f3c738f144ae9cb.jpg

http://media.filmschoolrejects.com/images/raiders_face.jpg

(obviously his face is about to melt because he's looking into a volcano as atom bombs detonate to slaughter trillions of frozen space aliens)

Yo aerosmith:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPlYQx5vjcg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HHr9g3VDFk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9oGzBCmGmM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEy8qfuTPpA

hell yes nick b, thanks so much

Man this is an awesome doco.

wow, amazing how much healthier and happier Rinder looks now that he's out.

I didnt see the first doco, but those clips early on in this one with adherents all saying how good $ci is were creepy... the vacant, distant stare in their eyes. Reciting the lines like rote.

I just kept thinking of the Movementarians (even though Groening denies that was explicitly a dig at $cientology, but I dont buy it).

Couldn't get into the documentary. Sweeney seems to be on a mission to 'prove' they were after him. Their 'scientology methods' included calling him names and interrupting him? Is that it? The only disturbing information here is that the government give scientology tax breaks and the torys are harbouring a supporter in the ranks.

There was a bit much of the paranoid camera angles and over dramatic music, yeah. That did annoy me.

and his voice is so doomy and dramatic all the time!

I thought he spent too much time on how he personally was so persecuted and not enough time on the breakaway scientologists who still practised, the lives of the ex-scientologists - how you cope with leaving something like that is way more interesting to me than some english dude being aggrieved in stentorian tones.

I wish we could see all of the celebrity interviews. I probably could watch 10 hours of that.

The look on Leah Remini's face when he asks her about Xenu is so difficult to put into words.

All the slebs reactions made me want to puke. Kirsty Alley was defensive as fuck in a really ugly way. No wonder they denied it being on the doco.

I mean come on. "Would you say this to a JEW?!"

Well no, because uh.. COME ON.

I just kept thinking of the Movementarians (even though Groening denies that was explicitly a dig at $cientology, but I dont buy it).

― cathedral-sized jellyfish in your mind (Trayce), Saturday, October 2, 2010 8:08 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

Considering Nancy Cartwright (the voice of Bart Simpson, Nelson, and others) is a $cientologist, I tend to believe him. Sadly, that's one topic that's probably off-limits to the writers; they can ill afford to piss off one of the show's defining voices.

That did occur to me yeah.

[In portentous, dramatic voice] "Years ago ... we investigated ... this crazy cult ... and its crazy track record ... of craziness. They called me names. They even made me ... yell. Now, years later, we return, to see ... if anything ... has changed. And if ... it will happen ... again." [looks over shoulder] "But am I prepared ... emotionally ... physically ... for exactly what I expect will happen? There's only one way ... to find out" [picks up rock and throws it at hornet's nest/angry moose/sleeping lion/policeman's head]

ha ha otm

i guess i should be more freaked out by these guys than i am? discrete cabal of christian theocrats (i.e. C-Street creeps) wielding undemocratic influence over foreign and domestic policy is way scarier tbh

If you have only watched the nine-minute edit of the video where Tom Cruise accepts the award for the Freedom Medal of Valor, you should really watch the full 40 minutes, because it is exceptional. Part 1:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMvAXpq7Xj4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9onb8RcVnmE

lol

its just KSW *swoosh* - and the suppression is shattered!

My favorite part is when he talks about that and the fact that his mere existence as OT9000 keeps sociopaths (suppressive persons) away from him.

I assume he means that when he encounters a SP he just does the manual of bullying tactics that is used to shout them down?

no, SPs can't get close to him. they are like physically repulsed by his massive amounts of theta.

he doesn't need to do "suppression shatter" but he's still a big fan of it.

I tht people were just physically repulsed cz he is Tom Cruise.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/02/14/110214fa_fact_wright

Brolin says that he once witnessed John Travolta practicing Scientology. Brolin was at a dinner party in Los Angeles with Travolta and Marlon Brando. Brando arrived with a cut on his leg, and explained that he had injured himself while helping a stranded motorist on the Pacific Coast Highway. He was in pain. Travolta offered to help, saying that he had just reached a new level in Scientology. Travolta touched Brando’s leg and Brando closed his eyes. “I watched this process going on—it was very physical,” Brolin recalls. “I was thinking, This is really fucking bizarre! Then, after ten minutes, Brando opens his eyes and says, ‘That really helped. I actually feel different!’ ” (Travolta, through a lawyer, called this account “pure fabrication.”)

this whole thing is O_O as hell and you all need to read it. i knew some of the lingo and understood it to be a big scam but this is nuttier and more horrible than i expected.

Waiting for my hard copy to show up, I'm still not keen on reading articles that long on screen.

that shit about the kids' education is pretty horrible

In late September, Davis and Feshbach, along with four attorneys representing the church, travelled to Manhattan to meet with me and six staff members of The New Yorker. In response to nearly a thousand queries, the Scientology delegation handed over forty-eight binders of supporting material, stretching nearly seven linear feet...

great article

First Scientology piece I've read that addresses its latent/blatant homophobia, not to mention explicitly alludes to certain high-profile closeted gay Scientologists, which would be merely salacious were it mentioned in a publication other than the New Yorker.

Waiting for my hard copy to show up, I'm still not keen on reading articles that long on screen.

I'm not either, but I just couldn't stop...

this has article has occupied my evening.

Woah 26 page article. Have to wait til I get home to read this one.

holy shit this article!!!!

Miscavige’s official title is chairman of the board of the Religious Technology Center, but he dominates the entire organization. His word is absolute, and he imposes his will even on some of the people closest to him. According to Rinder and Brousseau, in June, 2006, while Miscavige was away from the Gold Base, his wife, Shelly, filled several job vacancies without her husband’s permission. Soon afterward, she disappeared. Her current status is unknown. Tommy Davis told me, “I definitely know where she is,” but he won’t disclose where that is.

labor camp

i will admit to looking at gmaps around hemet CA to see if anything stuck out...

i got bored after 7 pages

I read the whole thing. Nothing new (if you've been following this stuff) but it's great to see New Yorker publish an expose like this. Most journalists (see Matt Taibbi's mailbag recently) won't touch Scientology. I've got some crazy personal stories about ppl my family knows who got involved in Scientology and they did evil shit to them. The more exposure, imo, the better.

Wright's on Fresh Air today.

Cool, that's on in 25 minutes on WHYY.

They have labor camps with kids in them! These camps may produce gifts for Tom Cruise occasionally!

These facts seem like parodic worst-case scenarios but it's apparently true. Wtf.

when the planet Earth, then called Teegeeack

weird that such an exhaustive article skips over Operation Snow White

I don't think I've ever mentioned this on ILX but a very good friend of mine was a product of a Scientology family. She worked at the Sea Org in Clearwater, FL as a child/young teen. Very little schooling, mostly working long days and being bunked with 6 other people in a tiny room. She eventually ran away and was threatened by the Church and her parents to come back which she never did. Her parents were ordered to disconnect from her and they are straight wacked. Her and her parents have an obvious very strained relationship as her parents are lifers and that's probably never gonna change at this point.

She has many nightmarish stories about the psychological warfare and crazy crazy creepy cult bureaucratic shit that goes on, and my friend is obviously a bit scarred by all of it but she ended up going to college and now owns a pretty successful business. I don't think many of her friends know the whole horrible backstory.

Anyways, nothing to do with celebrity, just bored on my lunch break and taking a break from reading bike repair manuals.

I gotta say, as someone who doesn't know much about Scientology, the Sea Org stuff kinda freaks me out.

It all freaks me out. People are crazy.

i was once acquainted with a girl who had a similar story, but was kind of cagey about it; grew up in a church dorm somewhere in missouri, mom was still there. it came up once and she got a little tense, and gave an answer like you'd hear if someone was a muslim convert at a baptist convention: faith is a personal choice, values are universal, everyone has their own experiences, you shouldn't judge anyone, etc. i couldn't tell if that meant she was a believer or a runaway or what.

Values like: don't make people stay somewhere and live in virtual slavery

maybe she had a lot of people getting up in her face about how shitty scientology is! i really don't know

skydad

A survey of American religious affiliations, compiled in the Statistical Abstract of the United States, estimates that only twenty-five thousand Americans actually call themselves Scientologists. That’s less than half the number who identify themselves as Rastafarians

lol

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GlQaJjCs7Aw/Rz4azJChbUI/AAAAAAAABlg/9XImhL_iZ-0/s400/rasta.JPG

Thought the parts about the Beverly Hills acting coach gave made it much clearer why it's a celeb org.

someone i live with gets CELEBRITY, the scientologist newsletter. ananda lewis WHY?

the NPR interview is up and is pretty interesting

man sea org

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/7600/seaorgey5.jpg

(Be sure to right-click on that one.)

you poor, deluded fools

most culty shit gets down to sex & sexual powergame garbage at some level. i was a little surprised the NYer story didn't have more about that. or maybe these dudes don't roll that way for some reason.

disappearing your own wife might qualify tho...

http://www.entertainmentgeekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/bohemianrhapsody.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3563/3489072713_4992e24847.jpg

most culty shit gets down to sex & sexual powergame garbage at some level. i was a little surprised the NYer story didn't have more about that. or maybe these dudes don't roll that way for some reason.

tiny man prefers beatings to sex

based on the scientology drones i see walking around the area of the building near sunset and vermont, there seems to be a weird dynamic @ play where they use plain looking middle america types to do the heavy lifting and have the more attractive or upper middle class-to-wealthy people as the public face and the ones who are allowed to progress through the program. it's a religion tailor-made for class structure imo, moreso than any other.

would definitely like to see some of these Scientology people behind bars

the folks who are wandering around wearing gray shirts and black pants on any given day around there all look exactly the same, male and female versions of the "pc" dude from the mac ads w/justin long.

it seems like you can pretty directly attribute it's "success" as one of the few American "religious" cults of the 20th century to its remarkable exploitation of celebrity culture, strict hierarchical structures, and relentless, carefully orchestrated money-grubbing.

er I meant few successful religious cults there

it's like Hubbard took all his experiences in the military, with occult groups, and with Hollywood and was like "voila HERE is the magic combo"

If you really want to delve into more of all this, enjoy:

http://xenu.net/

All sorts of...interesting things there.

hyper-religious folks in any guise weird me out but pretty much any religion seems to have its fair share of believers who are also skeptics, moderates, and aspects that tie in to actual recorded history. this clown show seems to be strictly "you're either in or you're out" (heidi klum voice) and allows no room for questioning.

Auditing room hallway:

http://www.xenu.net/archive/spb/Auditing_room_hallway.jpg

Auditing room hallway:

http://www.xenu.net/archive/spb/Auditing_room_hallway.jpg

Auditing room hallway:

http://www.xenu.net/archive/spb/Auditing_room_hallway.jpg

Shakey, you forgot his knowledge of nerdy sci fi imaginings of the future. Hence all the futuristic hallways!

x-post The comparison of original military documents with Scientology forgings is something I've not seen done before, tbh. I'm always amazed at the power of this cult, given that LRH has a literal paper trail of factual records, reports and documents to refute the official hagiography that, say, Jesus does not have to contend with.

the interesting thing to me is that it is so clearly a class structured religion - there is that whole repetition in the article of 'the able become more able' which screams elitism. plus, the fact that the 'coursework' is so expensive means only those with funds can do it (unless you join sea org and get 'coursework' as payment for your manual labour).

i was gonna post how the sci-fi element of it baffles me, how i can't believe ppl can get behind that... but then i thought about xtianity and then it didn't seem so weird.

(Sorry 'bout the repeat photo -- kept getting errors when I was posting. If I disappear, you guys get my CDs.)

there was something kinda mesmerizing about "auditing room hallway" x3 tbh

I expected & got a lot of a specific type of wacky from this article, but I did not expect a sinister custom motorcycle & SUV refinishing scene.

Yeah I loved it. I kept looking for differences in the hallways! Like in one was the doorknob a different color or something.

Jastrow added. “It’s the fastest-growing religion.”

Waiiit this is what Mormons say about their church! How many religions used alleged exponential functions as a sales point?

Not mine. When I was growing up we were always the fastest-declining religion and we had all better meet nice jewish girls and make jewish babies before we all disappear like the kids in Back2Future

2Back2Future

i thought islam was the fastest growing religion!

So this isn't in this week's issue? Gonna have to read it online then, not that patient.

It's in the Feb. 14/21 issue, which arrives this week. (I haven't received mine yet.)

Judaism is not evangelical, so in the end, they're kind of cool with it, right?

It's in the Feb. 14/21 issue, which arrives this week. (I haven't received mine yet.)

Considering I just got my Feb. 7th issue today, I don't think I'll see it this week. I don't know why, but for some reason I don't get it ahead of the newsstands, it is kind of annoying.

i was gonna post how the sci-fi element of it baffles me, how i can't believe ppl can get behind that

all that stuff about xenu, volcanoes, etc. isn't revealed until you reach the level of "OT III" (which can take years and loads of $$$ to reach...they definitely don't advertise that part up front)

So it's like a Ferrari with a magic book in the glove box: FOR OWNER ONLY.

Paul Thomas Anderson really should take a Flip cam and make his Scientology movie now.

Brando was a clam?

he had an injured clam iirc

brando might've been the one celeb too crazy for scientology

I'm still not quite sure what the whole "double ring" ceremony is about. I've looked it up online and all the answers are vague.

the folks who are wandering around wearing gray shirts and black pants on any given day around there all look exactly the same, male and female versions of the "pc" dude from the mac ads w/justin long.

― omar little

yeah, i see these drones pretty much every day either in hollywood or next to the celebrity centre. such drab, joyless creatures. they are always scurrying somewhere, i just get an impression that they are treated very poorly

Brando was kind of a one-man thing. Definitely not cult material.

we need more pics.

motion quadrant!
http://www.xenu.net/archive/spb/Superpower_Motion_Quadrant.jpg

http://www.xenu.net/archive/spb/Superpower_Motion_Quadrant.jpg

superpower hallway!
http://www.xenu.net/archive/spb/Superpower_hallway.jpg

superpower drill space
http://www.xenu.net/archive/spb/Superpower_drill_space.jpg

superpower elevator lobby
http://www.xenu.net/archive/spb/Superpower_elevator_lobby.jpg

I totally want to see a B movie with a bloody Jenna Elfman being chased by David Miscavige down that corridor.

It must've been amazing for that person whose car broke down and Marlon Brando pulls over to help out.

Darin, might you possibly have a picture of an auditing room hallway? i have always wondered what one of those looks like.

"It must've been amazing for that person whose car broke down and Marlon Brando pulls over to help out."

Except that's Brando's version of events. In all likelihood he fell down outside a McDonalds after eating 10 double cheeseburgers.

Because he was fat, you see.

Actually, he was notorious for loving cheeseburgers.

There are some great anecdotes about him supposedly being on a diet, but he'd sneak to the edge of his property at night and his next door neighbor, Jack Nicholson, would throw a bag of cheeseburgers over.

brando.xls

There are some great anecdotes about him supposedly being on a diet, but he'd sneak to the edge of his property at night and his next door neighbor, Jack Nicholson, would throw a bag of cheeseburgers over.\

lol - love this

"Actually, he was notorious for loving cheeseburgers."

Ding!

A friend lived down the street from Christian Brando in Studio City says Brando used to slip his handlers, buy a dozen burgers and sit in his car down the street, gorging.

I know those photos are real, but somehow, they still look like those weird Photoshopped creations designers make for ppt presentations to solicit funding for the new stadium.

http://blog.kierantimberlake.com/wp-content/uploads/interior-view-at-concourse-looking-south_existing.jpg

Ah, my favorite photo of the man himself:

http://i52.tinypic.com/2q0ojmt.jpg

Larger version and explanation here

tomatoes totally feel pain

Murderer.

lol

those pics are wiiiiiild

so wait, those superpower pics above *aren't* just photoshoppy computer generated representations? they do not look real to me.

the hallway one looked like a real photo but yeah the others are definitely computer generated

My mistake. Thanks for suppressing my progress.

glad we could "clear" that up

KSW guys

dunno if this has been covered already midthread, but the Haggis/Wright/St. Petersburg Times exposés (devastating though they are) are not quite as o_O as 'Operation Freakout' & what happened to Paulette Cooper in the 70s:

http://www.lermanet.com/paulette-cooper/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Freakout

i think this NYer story is important because it puts a mainstream-elite stamp of approval on public distrust and disapproval of scientology. generally this has been confined to south park style parody plus committed internet-based activism and documentation. plus there has been a serious climate of fear around them, right? like atul gawande on healthcare or jane mayer on cheney, now "everyone" can say, boy, kind of problem here, even though all the details were in plain sight.

yeah it does feel especially weighty because of that. i also like that it doesn't hesitate to criticize some of the more OTT anti-Scieno sentiment too.

Waiiit this is what Mormons say about their church! How many religions used alleged exponential functions as a sales point?

Temple of Underrated Aerosmith has 3x more chill vibes & good times than all other religions iirc

Brought back by Catholic bones, I see. Welcome.

no I came back to find out how Tuomas feels about suggest ban but now they've locked the thread so I'm feeling kind of adrift, can't live like this tbqf

lol hope you find harbor

I had to stop reading this mid-article to do some other reading up, after that throwaway sentence about Miscavige's wife not having been seen in two years.

Temple of Underrated Aerosmith

would join this church

not sure how reliable this is, but interesting nonetheless:

http://leavingscientology.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/david-miscavige-“the-adulterer”/

I link on that page leads to this:

She lamented how he would sometimes walk around mumbling, then periodically shouting, “Shelly, where is the gold buried?” She swore she had no idea what gold DM was referring to.

I had to stop reading this mid-article to do some other reading up, after that throwaway sentence about Miscavige's wife not having been seen in two years.

Yeah that's the bit I really wonder about.

If you really want to dig around, you'll find conspiracy theories that she's the natural mother of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman's adopted daughter.

missed ya underrated aerosmith

Of all of the media on this page:

http://www.xenu.net/archive/multimedia.html

This was always my favorite:

http://www.xenu.net/archive/media_vault/Helatrob.mp3

Or this one, where LRH predicts the coming of Mad Men:

http://www.xenu.net/archive/media_vault/Nochrist.mp3

This is full of interesting stuff, including an apparent quote from Hubbard: "When buildings get important to us, for God’s sake, some of you born revolutionists, will you please blow up central headquarters.”

so what will the church do now? maybe i overestimate the importance of the new yorker as opposed to the st. pete times, but this seems like kind of a big deal?

i guess standard procedure is to sue the shit out of conde nast, but between the new yorker's fact checkers and conde's lawyers no doubt having already picked it apart, that seems only slightly more feasible than dan snyder's lawsuit . . .

Well the FBI is already investigating so...

It doesn't say the FBI is actively investigating, does it? Just that the investigation is still open. Maybe that's splitting hairs. But I imagine there are hundreds of "open" investigations the FBI hasn't bothered with in years. Can't imagine this particular pile of crazy-pants is a priority.

Skimmed this thread (and I forgot I gave that St. Petersburgh Times piece upthread -- good reading, but did anyone link to the RollingStone article that came out about five years ago? One of my favorite RS articles ever (I'm sure it's old news to most, but maybe not to all):

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/inside-scientology-20110208

And again, it's worth reposting that St. Pete Times series of articles for those who haven't read them:

http://www.tampabay.com/specials/2009/reports/project/

Woah 26 page article.

Normally I wouldn't feel like printing out an article to read on the way home was an abuse of office equipment, but this one took 48 sheets of paper. I punched holes in it and put it in a binder.

It's been said on this thread much before, but this is a fantastic article, and everyone should read it.

can someone link to it again? i'm too lazy to go into the 400+ other messages

Suck it up.

Or friend me on Facebook. It's on my profile recently.

what a sassmaster.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/02/14/110214fa_fact_wright

Well, I'd have had to look it up, too! Or reload the whole thread. I'm not going to do it just because he doesn't want to. That's free labor.

Or this one, where LRH predicts the coming of Mad Men:

http://www.xenu.net/archive/media_vault/Nochrist.mp3

― polyphonic, woensdag 9 februari 2011 21:39 (Yesterday) Bookmark

And because of that he put Elisabeth 'Peggy Olson' Moss in there? ;_;

(yes, only just now found out, rip etc.)

sorry kenan, didn't mean to make you cry

I read the whole thing and enjoyed it but sorta amazed I could read so much and not feel like I'd learned anything new. Maybe just read too many of these by now.

yeah, I feel that its main function is to lend further credence & exposure to what was already unearthed by the St. Petersburg Times piece(s). Absolutely nothing wrong w/ that though - very well written & assembled. The Tommy Davis quotes vs. contrary evidence/fact-checking is priceless stuff.

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/02/10/scientology_friends_dc

greta van susteren? say it ain't so

she hid it and someone revealed it when she left cnn

The Tommy Davis quotes vs. contrary evidence/fact-checking is priceless stuff.

Definitely. The piece was well-edited with a nice big climax at the end. I think CoS's meeting with the New Yorker people was an uncharacteristically bad move for them, but the whole thing seems like a chess match where they're down to their last few moves and are hoping for stalemate at best.

i know! it would help their defense if it wasn't a bunch of creepy controlling thieving bullshit, but, there they are.

i bet if you talked to someone like your parents about these people, the answer would probably be "eh kinda creepy, really expensive, some pseudo psychological self-help crap, dumb celebrities are into it." but now all the wilder stories are being legitimized (maybe overselling the NYer's importance here, but their stuff resonates throughout the rest of the media). like, no really, tom cruise has custom motorcycles built by slave labor in the california desert. the dude's wife got disappeared.

http://www.npr.org/2011/02/08/133561256/the-church-of-scientology-fact-checked

Halfway through the print version and just wanted to ask, the online one doesn't have any additional content to the print one, does it?

I don't believe so.

Can't recall, are/were there any ilxors who have defended CoS?

too lazy to search but maybe a defend the indefensible?

I guess envisioning Isaac Hayes and Incredible String Band jamming together would give me ever-so-slight pause before GTFO.

the online one doesn't have any additional content to the print one, does it?

under "related links" there are links to an audio interview with the article's author, plus copies of documents such as lrh's military records

copies of documents such as lrh's military records

oh man. that's gotta burn Davis & co

I guess envisioning Isaac Hayes and Incredible String Band jamming together..

^ this reminds me: if you missed it at the time & you have a taste for CoS schadenfreude, you really should check out the skewering that South Park did a few years back & also the subsequent 'response' episode to Isaac Hayes leaving the show as a result of the ensuing controversy.

both eps are online in full:
http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s09e12-trapped-in-the-closet
http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s10e01-the-return-of-chef

I fuck with the first few post-CoS Incredible String Band records.

will never forgive these fuckers for essentially working isaac hayes into an early grave.

the musical chairs part freaked me out, except

According to Rathbun, Miscavige came to the Hole one evening and announced that everyone was going to play musical chairs. Only the last person standing would be allowed to stay on the base. He declared that people whose spouses “were not participants would have their marriages terminated.” The St. Petersburg Times noted that Miscavige played Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” on a boom box as the church leaders fought over the chairs, punching each other and, in one case, ripping a chair apart.

surely the last person sitting would win a game of musical chairs? is this the most unfortunate misuse of a phrase ever? how did nobody sub this? not criticising just find it amusing.

last person physically able to stand up and walk to a chair

and sit down?

The weirdest thing is, of all the stories to confirm, the game of musical chairs is one thing Tommy Davis does confirm!

My favorite part of the South Park episodes was the THIS IS WHAT SCIENTOLOGISTS ACTUALLY BELIEVE text

I like the last line the best

did they get sued for that? and if not, how did they manage to avoid it?

They got threatened like crazy, Tom Cruise refused to do any press junkets on Comedy Central-related stations for War of the Worlds, iirc. I don't think they can sue because the episode really is what Scientologists believe, and the Tom Cruise / Travolta bits are satire.

Scienlologist

About 4,970 results (0.18 seconds)

Furthermore, says Wright, the notice of separation that the church provided was signed by a man who never existed.

never existed on earth perhaps, but elsewhere ........

there are lies, there are damn lies, and then there are statistics

Won't scroll through the thread to see if it's been posted, but The New Yorker just published an article about Paul Haggis' adventures in Scientology.

lol

A few years ago i dl'ed some Scientology video on The Reactive Mind and becoming a Clear and it was about some guy in a car accident being affected by the things people were saying around him, even though he was unconscious. There's another video that leaked, which is basically just a really generic sales pitch with a few famous faces at the very end. Has any truly crazy Scientology insider videos leaked in the past few years? And no, I mean beside Battlefield Earth ;-)

there's a pretty famous video of Cruise speaking at a Scieno event

Cannot recommend it enough:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMvAXpq7Xj4

Being a Scientologist, when you drive past an accident.. you know you have to do something about it because you know you are the only one that can really help. Being a Scientologist, when you drive past an accident.. you know you have to do something about it because you know you are the only one that can really help. Being a Scientologist, when you drive past an accident.. you know you have to do something about it because you know you are the only one that can really help. Being a Scientologist, when you drive past an accident.. you know you have to do something about it because you know you are the only one that can really help. Being a Scientologist, when you drive past an accident.. you know you have to do something about it because you know you are the only one that can really help. Being a Scientologist, when you drive past an accident.. you know you have to do something about it because you know you are the only one that can really help.

holy shit that tom cruise youtube totally comes off as a parody

too surreal to be parody imo

Make sure you get to the part in the third part of the video wherein they heal 9/11 workers by extracting purple fluid from them.

An aside from this conversation: interesting how Tony Robbins has gone from, in his 1980s infomercial incarnation, being cult-ish and mysterious-to-all-but-those-who-pay to being more of a performance self-help guru. He still has similar intense energy as these guys, but without the e-meter.

(from the yahoo piece)

Semr Kiss
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Semr Kiss 5 minutes ago Report Abuse

Thank you for a common sense story!.
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---------How do these freaks keep their tax exempt status as a religion?
They protect all related literature as a Corportation.. which pretty much nullifies the entire concept of Non-Profit, and they raise their followers in tiers based on how much MONEY they've put into the "church."

Their entire "religion" is from SCIENCE FICTION literature. There is no Faith or Religion to it, only a pyramid scheme.

Cross your fingers!

http://www.firstshowing.net/2011/p-t-anderson-may-have-funding-for-inherent-vice-the-master/