It is very interesting. I’m interested in whether they are able to sue. IMO, they should file a false claims act case, alleging they are not meeting their tax exemption. Anyone can do that and have standing as a whistleblower or what they call a relator". Then begin discovery…
Cults really scare me, after one lured my mentally ill son in a few years ago. You might recall that I posted about the situation and named the group. Not long after, one of their members joined the site and posted in the thread and argued that it wasn’t a cult. Gave me the creeps. They must monitor the internet constantly.
Oh my! That is terrifying!
@teriwtt I totally agree with you. It is very noticeable how well spoken and poised these people are after only being schooled through age 12.
I’ve been watching and find it fascinating and chilling at once.
L. Ron Hubbard believed that knowing the definitions of words was all that is needed for understanding concepts. He emphasized it a lot:
http://www.studytechnology.org/chapter1.html
He was also a serial liar and pharmaceuticals user…
I want to watch this series, I am quite curious if some of my ancient observations are true.
I took a couple of Scientology classes over 30 years ago. I wonder if this is still how they suck people in. It was a group of really friendly people, hanging around the University District. I was going through a tough time in my life with my family (seems silly, now), but they talked me into taking a cheap (maybe free?) starter class. Part of the class, they had you sit in a chair while they hurled personal insults at you repetitively. Supposedly if you heard it often enough, when someone said it to you, you would have thick skin and it would not bother you. Very weird, and to this day, I don’t even remember what they insulted me with. Then they talked me into a “study class”, as I was a college student. It seemed like a silly waste of time, but then they gave me free “auditing” sessions.
I had no money to pay for the “study class”, but they sat down with me and figured out any possible way I could find the money. Could I get it from friends or parents, did I have a bank account, did I have any possessions? They talked me into selling my one item of value, my silver trumpet. Still irritated about that one. Then they went with me to the bank to withdraw the money, after I had deposited it. They are very focused on getting your money, no matter how little you have of it.
They had sessions where you talked to one of their counselors, and they asked very personal questions and took notes. Fortunately I had no skeletons in my closet and was very suspicious, so they didn’t get anything on me. I highly suspect that they could use this information to blackmail people. Then it got weird with the “auditing” sessions, where you basically sit there and stare at another person without saying anything for long periods of time. After enough of these sessions, you were declared a “clear”, and I don’t remember what that is, but you’re someone extra special, then! They started talking about people actually being “thetans” from another planet, and I decided to exit the premises. My excuse was, as a soon to be Air Force officer, this was not going to be helpful for my career. They were truly persistent, and overly friendly–like your best friends, so it was hard to get away, and I was barely involved. God forbid if I had any money, or anything to blackmail. They sent mail to my parent’s address for over 20 years, they never give up.
I do think that not everyone has the same experience in Scientology, that it is not a monolithic experience, but shaped by the people that you deal with. So some of these celebrities may have a completely different experience than others. I don’t know that there’s that many celebrities involved, it’s just they are public, so people know about them. I also suspect that they might suck them in by telling them they are superior beings, Godlike. Then again, I’ll have to watch the series to find out.
Yes, I meant Elisabeth Moss! Ooops. 
She was apparently raised in it.
I’m sure that it is incredibly difficult to pull away from it, would probably mean losing her family.
That’s when they make the move to make things up about you. One of the guys they interviewed told how they began to spread rumors about him to his neighbors. Like, really gross rumors.
I did sort of halfway wonder if they google Scientology and then stalk any online discussions like it seems they did with @MaineLongorn - someone could realistically be reading this and wondering who they can smear if you’ve said anything bad about them.
Well if you’re right, teriwtt, I hope they google this, so I can say, “Stop sending my parents Scientology crap! It’s been over 30 years and you’re wasting your money! Give it up, I have no more brass or silver instruments to sell!” 
I doubt he considered it “messed up” considering he made a ton of cash in the course of founding Scientology and creating a uniformed arm known as the Sea Org to fulfill his fantasies of being a top-notch naval war hero*.
Similarly, his claims of being a supergenius in multiple fields including nuclear physics is belied by an undergrad transcript easily accessible by googling which is far less impressive. While he did take nuclear physics and majored in engineering, he left after 2 years with exceedingly abysmal grades to put it mildly.
http://www.xenu-directory.net/documents/hubbard-gwu.html
On the flipside, he could be cited as an example of how even being placed on academic probation and a subterranean undergrad GPA is no barrier to ultimate success and riches. 
- A glimpse at his actual war records which can be found by google paints a far less flattering portrayal. One aspect had him cause an international incident when he carelessly allowed his ship to use a Mexican Island for crew target practice which prompted protests from the Mexican government.
Maybe they’d like you to donate your USAF pilot wings and flight suit so they can add it to the museum and start proclaiming the founder as an ace AF pilot. 
@busdriver11 looking forward to your views of the series,as someone with personal experience who felt pressured by scientologists.
Scientology isn’t as visible here in South Jersey as it must be in Clearwater, or even Hollywood. I wonder how it does effect the residents around Clearwater, and how many are members.
When we were in Melbourne, Australia last year we passed a table set up by the river that had a couple of kids behind it and I thought at first it was an outreach to any students or backpackers passing by that might be feeling homesick or lonely. When we got closer, I realized it was sponsored by the Scientologists (there must have been a discreet sign somewhere) and it was the first time I ever thought about how they recruit people. What seemed so innocent and kind…It actually gave me a frisson because it looked so normal and I could imagine kids being sucked in without realizing what they were getting themselves into. It also made me wonder about the two kids behind the table, and their stories, and if their parents knew where they were.
@busdriver11, thanks for sharing your experience with them! That’s how my son was drawn in - a friendly guy walked up to him on campus and asked if he wanted to go to a Bible study. DS is a Christian, so he said sure. He was living at home at the time, and we were actually happy he would be socializing, since his disease tends to isolate him.
Then we noticed the Bible studies were happening more and more often. DS told us later that they told him he must have done something horrible as a child to fall ill with schizophrenia!! They said he needed to repent of what he’d done. After that, he isolated himself whenever he was home and started reading the Bible A LOT. It was weird for us, because we think Bible reading is good as a rule, but he became hyper-religious. Once I went to his room to ask him to come to dinner, and he was rocking back and forth - “MOM, I’m listening to the Lord! Leave me alone!” Shortly after that was when he went and stood outside in a snow bank, insisting that God was going to come for him in a chariot at any minute. We had to call 911 and he ended up in the hospital for a month - catatonic part of the time.
We took his phone when he was hospitalized. The “friendly guy” kept texting him, getting more and more upset and angry. We called the campus chaplain for help. She knew about the group, because there had been other complaints, but she couldn’t do anything about them since the campus is a public place. She did call the “friendly guy” and tell him they needed to back off if someone wasn’t interested. So then he sent DS a text that said something like, “Bro, if you want me to leave you alone, text back ‘yes.’” So I did. To his credit, he never tried to contact our son again.
It still makes my blood boil when I think about what happened. Our son was doing well in school at that point, and this derailed him. For them to take advantage of a visibly ill person was unconscionable. I couldn’t believe that there was nothing we could do about it!
Having said all of this, there are good Christian groups on campus. If anyone ever wants to run any group’s name by me, I would be glad to tell you what I know about them.
Part of Scientology and other cult groups is the requirement to get someone else to join–or you are out of the group.
The Tony Ortega site has the actual lists of questions that are asked during auditing sessions.
One point brought up on the site is that the internet has made it more difficult to keep the secrecy of Scientology which it thrives on.
The money and the disconnection and the difficulty “getting out”. Are these the hallmarks of a religion or a cult? Add in aliens, well…
I have been watching this show, and have also watched Going Clear (and read the book). I find this all fascinating, in a “wow, I can’t believe this” kind of way. Remini is impressive (as is Mike Rinder) in doing this; she was very lucky that when she decided to leave, her family came with her. Unlike Rinder, who still has family in the church who are used against him, though he has a new wife and younger children to support him now.
I can’t imagine being harassed at the level some of these people are for speaking out. There were stories in the book about people whose lives were destroyed because they spoke out or wrote articles; even FBI and IRS agents couldn’t take the pressure.
In watching and hearing the stories of the former members, especially the ones in since childhood, I have been so amazed at the progress to a “normal” life. People in middle age with middle school level educations, some never learned to drive, never held a job outside the church, never owned property or had a bank account…add on the prospect of losing your loved ones and it is so daunting to even think about leaving. Where do you begin? Who will hire you? Where will you live?
There is one more episode on Tuesday, she is doing another “Ask Me Anything.”
@MaineLonghorn, that is terrible. I would be so angry! What organization was that (I obviously missed it), was that Scientology? I never heard them mention God one time…or perhaps they change the tactic based on the person?
I have learned to never say never, but gosh. 
I too am watching the show and watched “going clear” and read the book. It is very fascinating.
My take-a-way is that if an organization is this aggressive about people saying disparaging comments about it, then something is terribly wrong. The official public statements put out by them are just horrendously viscous. And to hire all these PI’s to film, harass, and follow people around is just crazy.
I studied their tax cause during college and it was amazing the lengths they went to harass the government into submission. Finally the government gave in and allowed them tax exempt status to make them go away. It had a way of emboldening them. If they could bully the government with no consequences then they could bully anyone.
As we all know the “religion” word is a get out of everything jail card. All you need to say is it is your religious belief and government officials in all departments will run to the hills.