The Pied Piper of Scientology

Alan Rosenberg of the Church of Scientology Paris pushes back reporters as he leaves court. Photo: Reuters

In the 1970s and 1980s, LRH did a great deal of research into the subject of delusion. He found that people who live unethical lives don't see the real world. They live in their own delusional reality. That's why when you talk to someone who is involved in some unethical practice, your attempts to help may fall on deaf ears. Like the 130 children of Hamelin, Germany who followed the legendary Pied Piper to their deaths June 26, 1284. No one could get through to them until it was too late.

Today Scientology staff in organizations worldwide are following a corrupt piper named David Miscavige. I write from personal experience. He has them coercing and badgering parishioners for every last penny as part of programs that he instituted or through puppets. Swept up in his lies and propaganda, convinced they are following "command intention," following cherry-picked LRH policies that David Miscavige has emphasizes totally out of context, these staff are heading for a fall. As LRH says, when the individual disregards his own responsibility for ethical behavior, eventually blind Justice herself has no choice but to act.

Hence the photo at above.

Do I think French courts will succeed in shutting Scientology down in France? I doubt it, because in most cases auditing and training actually produce results. But do Church staff have clean hands? No they don't. 

Experiment

Recently a friend of mine who had moved to a new city made an experiment at my request. He attended a Scientology event his new city. Within days he was receiving 6 to 12 emails a day -- all spam -- inviting him into the org for various "brifings." Each of these briefings was thinly veiled ploy to get him into the org to shake him down for a donation to help finance their new "Ideal Org" in direct contravention of LRH policy.

Soon he started to receive 3-5 phone calls a day, 7 days a week. Each of the phone calls were to invite him into the org for a "briefing," again the briefings were a ploy to get him in so he could be shaken down for a donation for their new "Ideal Org."

When that did not work, someone from the Scientology Church called him and left a voicemail actually requesting a donation of $5,000 -- in a voicemail! The staff menber did not know my friend; they had never met.

He confronted her on this and her response was, "Well, you're in the field and the field is expected to support the org." This line comes directly from David Miscavige. There is nothing in LRH Policy that says Scientologists are expected to buy the org's building. This was crazy. But it got even worse. 

Soon the staff started calling my friend's wife, too. She was not even a Scientologist. They called as late as 10:30 PM to "brief her on their plans to get a new Ideal Org."

David Miscavige (center) parties with buddy Tom Cruise at a motorcycle race in 2008.

One of the other two events turned out to be a cover for a "group reg cycle" where donations are demanded from everyone in the audience. Another bait and switch: "Okay, are you guys excited?"  (fake enthusiasm)...

Audience: (groaning) "Yes"

"Are you really excited?"

Audience: "Yes."

"I don't hear you! Are you REALLY excited?"

Audience: "YES."

"Okay, then before you leave tonight, everyone needs to donate at least $100 for our new Ideal Org. We need to raise 4 million dollars in the next two weeks. So everyone needs to do whatever you can, okay? Okay, who's going to be first?" And for the next 10 minutes he sat there while a few people donated money, starting again with a plant in the audience who got the ball rolling with a $500 dollar donation. This sort of thing is 100% off policy. In fact, if a Scientologist from the 1970s could have been transported to any of these events in 2009 he would have been ashamed. Let me explain.

Eric Roux of Celebrity Centre Paris at the court house.  Photo: AFP/GETTY

Leading You Astray

In those days (before Miscavige wrested control of the Church from those Hubbard assigned to run it) there was no IAS membership whereby Scientologists donate hundreds, thousands and even millions of dollars in exchange for status pins and a photo with, you guested it, David Miscavige. There were no donation programs for "Ideal Orgs" of which there is nothing in Policy.

Organizations had but one job, to sell and deliver books, training and counseling. That's it. Any donations were refundable. Orgs were instructed to EARN new buildings by delivering actual services in exchange for money. Not any more. Not under Miscavige. Now staff simply demand (non-refundable) donations of cash.

In the year 2000, working at the Int Base, Miscavige made it very clear he was after money. He stressed the events were all about making money. The production of new releases was designed to generated money. To demonstrate, he took over the production of LRH lectures and produced a special run of the Philadelphia Doctorate Course Lectures to do one thing: generate the cash to buy CD equipment. The CDs he knew would be a huge money maker because, as he pointed out over and over, CDs cost only $0.12 to produce whereas cassette tapes were far above that. Miscavige needed a lot of cash because he is the worst money manager anyone has ever heard of. He wastes millions like most people waste bread crumbs. You think I'm kidding. I'm not.

Scientology-Cult.com is putting together a detailed article to expose how many millions we know David Miscavige has wasted. The total figure is staggering... a small preview:

"...The wood paneling in David Miscavige's office was replaced twice and is African Zebra wood that costs $500 per foot. There are 1,000 feet of wood = $500,000 parishioner money. His hand-built desk rises up out of the floor. Cost: $17,000 of parishioner cash. Miscavige's Egyptian cotton tailor-made shirts cost $500 each. Parishioner cash."

Meanwhile staff like Alan Rosenberg in Paris generally make very little and risk going to jail for being stupid enough and pathetic enough to follow the programs and orders of a pied piper named David Miscavige.

Written by Thoughtful

Germany is a nice place. But not while Hitler was in charge.

Italy is a nice place. But not while Mussolini was in charge.

There are many parallels in history to the current state of Scientology. The point is not to compare the crimes of The Cob (pronounced cawb) to the atrocities of Hitler or Mussolini; the point is that the current regime IS a fascist state. Take any description of fascism and, viola! you have a description of The Cob's leadership. "Fascism tends to include a belief in the supremacy of one national or ethnic group, a contempt for democracy, an insistence on obedience to a powerful leader, and a strong demagogic approach." "Extreme authoritarian, or intolerant views or practice." "Fascists advocate the creation of a single-party state. Fascists believe that nations and races are in perpetual conflict whereby only the strong can survive by being healthy, vital, and by asserting themselves in combat against the weak. Fascist governments forbid and suppress criticism and opposition to the government and the fascist movement."

The shoe fits.

The Cob opposes any criticism directed toward him and outwardly blames psychiatry and the media for creating conflict. Inwardly, he accuses all critics of harboring "destructive evil purposes." In other words, The Cob accuses any would-be critic of being a puppet to his or her own bad intentions and he points to examples where this was the case. Sure, throughout the history of Scientology there have been examples whereby irrational people tried to stop, pervert or subvert a good thing. But those examples pale in comparison to the bad example set by The Cob himself.

Racketeering 

The Cob puts the squeeze on Scientologists by blaming them for "lack of participation." Through his programs and subverted groups he extorts Scientologists into "donating" huge sums of money, forcing thousands into debt. It's a protection racket no different from thugs "shaking down" local business owners for cash.

The problems created by The Cob and the incidents of his abuse are worse than you could ever know. This is a man who does not belong at the head of a spiritual movement designed to help people. The Cob is incapable of helping others. His specialty is crushing people.

Tough Love

In my case, The Cob had me in the jaws of his vice for a number of years. Yet in that thin, hard space I discovered something: there was a point of compression beyond which, like liquid, I could not be compressed. I was most unhappy but amazed nevertheless.

The next step was to figure out how to free myself from the trap. The answer came from a book by an author I don't particularly recommend; he did, however, have one remarkable statement that sprung open the jaws of the trap. He pointed out that we are a population of victims. "Stop being a victim" he said "and take responsibility for yourself." Perhaps that would be applicable to anyone on the wrong end of the abuse stick. All it know is it worked for me.

We Come Back

At the top of Scientology, Hubbard created the elite Sea Organization and gave them a humanitarian mission. The Cob changed all that and made the Sea Org into a fascist (suppressive) organization little better than a glorified collection agency of the worst kind. The Sea Org has fallen and today they're a disgrace. Yet their original mission was decent; only the toughest, most intelligent and dedicated could qualify. People with a very clean ethics record. Their motto was "We Come Back."

...well, what do you know? We're coming back alright. But this time its for The Cob and anyone foolish enough to condone, whitewash or cover up his crimes.

So, sit back. Get comfortable. It's going to be one hell of a fight.

Written by Thoughtful

"Mind control" is a phrase that's easy to throw around. Q: "She likes working there?" A: "Yeah, they're all about mind control." In other words, mind control has become synonymous with simply being lied to; but originally "mind control" described something far darker.

Films like Manchurian Candidate depict real "mind control." In short, an individual is drugged, put in pain (usually by electro-shocking them) and given commands. They are also told, "You will not be able to remember this!"

Such techniques are also known as "pain-drug-hypnosis" or "implanting" since it implants a hidden command within the victim's subconscious. Many conspiracy buffs have theorized that perhaps this was the technique used to create such assassins as Lee Harvey Oswald, Sirhan Sirhan and Mark Chapman. No one really knows.

What we do know is that implanting is vicious stuff. This is how someone with an electro-shock machine can disrupt someone's memory and seriously mess with their head. Intelligence agencies known all about it and have employed these methods for decades.

Where Scientologists are Right

Scientologists object strongly to anyone equating Scientology with "mind control" because they feel the two subjects are polar opposites. Scientology's counseling technique (called auditing) can undo the effects of real mind control by enabling someone to remember "what really happened." It doesn't always work because electro-shock can cause permanent brain damage. But in many cases auditing has alerted an individual to the fact that something did happen.

As an aside, this is a primary reason that psychiatrists went after Scientology in the 1950s. People were being electro-shocked. They were being lobotomized. Patients were being raped and commanded to "Forget!" Those who had committed such horrific crimes didn't want to be exposed. Just the fact that Scientology and Dianetics exist puts a restraint on the flagrant use of pain-drug-hypnosis since Hubbard's counseling techniques are the only known means that have successfully detected and remedied such abuses.

Where Scientologists are Wrong

However, as society has evolved the definition of "mind control" has broadened to include other means of coercion and control. It's similar to what constitutes sexual harassment. Only a few decades ago, the concept of "sexual harassment" might have basically included only the most aggressive act. Since then, the definition of what constitutes sexual harassment has broadened to include unwanted jokes, gestures, flirting, unwelcome comments, scratching or patting a coworker's back, touching or grabbing an employee around the waist.

Likewise, the definition of "mind control" has evolved to include lying to people and extortion. This is what some Scientologists don't get. So while no one in Scientology has ever been electro-shocked, Miscavige heavily uses other methods of coercion: freely lying, misleading and betraying staff and public as documented throughout this website.

Sure, "mind control" techniques employed by Miscavige are tame compared to getting your brain fried... but that doesn't make them any more acceptable. Misleading parishioners, taking their money, breaking up families, lying to staff, violence, physical and emotional abuse, incarcerating staff behind razor spikes, closing them off from the outside world... all of that is WRONG.

Written by Thoughtful

Damage Control

Before the guilty are caught, they change into white robes

With two suits on the legal horizon whereby the "Church" of Scientology is being sued by Marc and Claire Headley for violation of human trafficking laws, the cult's massive PR wing is running proactive damage control under the direction of David Miscavige. The plan? On March 16, Scientology Public Relations spin doctors announced their "support" of the Blue Heart Campaign against Human Trafficking, a project of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). See this link for the latest cover-up from Scientology PRs.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! This is like the mafia making a video about the evils of crime. Or child abusers supporting a ban on child abuse! At Scientology's International Headquarters in Hemet, California the self-declared dictator of the Church, a thuggish runt and high-school drop out named David Miscavige, runs the operation not only through fear and intimidation, but through outright extortion of Scientology staff members. If they criticize him or any of his projects (called Command Intention) they risk expulsion from the Church and disconnection from their spouse, life-long friends and any other family members in Scientology. Staff members, some whom have worked for the Church for 25 and 35 years are sent packing with no more than $500 severance. Other staff are "off-loaded" to far flung areas to work in "small, failing" organizations, bereft of their spouses and families. That is human trafficking and it has been happening secretly and consistently for decades inside the Church. If any Church member mentions what has happened, the result is instant expulsion and disconnection, so they keep quiet. 

As for me, after 25 years on staff, I said I wanted to leave and so they gave me $500, stole personal belongings including photographs of my spouse and expelled me from the Church -- keeping my spouse whom I was still in love with. I never saw my spouse again. I also lost scores of friends who -- if they communicate with me -- risk being debarred from the Church themselves. Frankly, at this point, I'm glad to be out of David Miscavige's insane hell hole. But I feel responsible to warn others who don't know the truth about the Church, so they don't fall victim to the same fate that myself and hundreds of others have received. And when I say hundreds of others, I mean just that.

I mentioned that David Miscavige runs his operation through fear and intimidation. This is another aspect of human trafficking. He has a nasty habit of physically attacking and assaulting staff -- beating them in the face with his fists. I know -- I've seen him do it repeatedly myself. That is another aspect of human trafficking, no different from a pimp beating his women. And when Miscavige violently beats his staff they bleed. But they never raise a hand in defense since if they do, it means instant expulsion and disconnection from spouse, friends, family and their only means of support. Some people, like Tommy Davis will deny it. Davis is a tool of Miscavige. He never actually worked at the International Headquarters. He doesn't know because he wasn't there. David Miscavige is very careful about who he lets witness his beatings. People like Davis are the last to know the real deal.

But don't get me wrong. This isn't an attack on Scientology. The technology works and can be of great help to anyone. This is an attack on criminality.

Written by Thoughtful