Speculative Fictions: Scientology’s Tin-Pot Real Estate Empire and the Real Owners of the World
Yippee! We'll never have to pay tax on this building! Photo: Scientology Media (CC)
Business Insider pulls the veil aside a little on the vast global real estate portfolio of The Church Of Scientology, with 10 examples from the over 8,500 Scientology Churches, Missions and affiliated groups buildings in 165 countries around the world.
Still, Scientology is way behind the top five largest landowners in the world: Queen Elizabeth II (legal owner of about 6,600 million acres of land, one sixth of the earth’s non ocean surface, valued at £17,600,000,000,000); the Russian state (4,219 million acres); the Chinese state (about 2,365 million acres); the Federal Government of the United States, which owns about one third of the land of the USA (760 million acres); and the King of Saudi Arabia (553 million acres).
And not even in the same class as the more venerable Catholic Church, but of course Scientology hasn’t been able to take advantage…
Strange Rooms And Devices Inside Scientology’s Super Power Building
Via the Village Voice, unbelievable renderings of the chambers to be used for testing, training, and sensory enhancement of Scientology adherents:
The Voice has obtained hundreds of new renderings of Scientology’s Super Power Building in Clearwater, Florida. L. Ron Hubbard devised the “Super Power Rundown” in 1978. He envisioned it as a series of counseling routines with the use of elaborate and futuristic platforms and machines. In 1998, Hubbard’s successor broke ground on a massive new building project, “Flag Mecca,” known commonly as the Super Power Building, where the new rundown would be housed. Thirteen years and $145 million in fundraising later, the building is thought to be largely completed, but it is still not open for business.
Leaked Emails Fuel Scientology Scandal
David Miscavige. Photo: Scientology Media (CC)
Guy Adams provides details on a senior Scientology member’s letter to 12,000 followers attacking their leader’s “obsession” with money, in the LA Times:
A simmering conflict at the Church of Scientology has been made spectacularly public after a former member of the organisation’s clergy circulated a letter raising severe criticisms of both the management style and financial policies of its current leader, David Miscavige.
Debbie Cook’s email, which was sent to 12,000 fellow Scientologists shortly after midnight on New Year’s Day, alleges that Mr Miscavige has adopted a dictatorial leadership style which is at odds with the doctrines laid down by the church’s founder, the science fiction author, L Ron Hubbard.
She further claims that, since succeeding Hubbard after his death in 1986, Mr Miscavige has become obsessed with fundraising. His regime is now “hoarding” a cash reserve of more than a billion dollars, she claims, and has…
Scientology’s Plan To Infiltrate And Spy On ‘South Park’
The Village Voice’s Tony Ortega reveals the extent to which the “church” of Scientology will go to try to protect its (not too solid) reputation:
Yesterday, we reported that former Scientology executive Marty Rathbun had revealed at his blog that in 2006, Scientology’s Office of Special Affairs — the church’s intelligence and covert operations wing — was actively investigating creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone by looking for vulnerabilities among their close friends.
- Screen shot of the South Park “scientology” episode, “Trapped in the Closet” (2005)
Today, we have more leaked OSA documents which give some idea of the extent of the spying operation on the offices and the people who worked there.
They suggest that after traditional approaches with private investigators had stalled, OSA turned to film consultant Eric Sherman, a Scientologist, to help them find a young filmmaker who would make an effective mole at the South Park offices.
For decades, Scientology has earned a reputation for severe…
Scientology’s ‘Touch-Healing’ Global Disaster Response Squad: ‘Serving’ Haiti, Burma and Japan
Patrick Winn writes on GlobalPost:
BANGKOK, Thailand — After Cyclone Nargis left a trail of corpses along Burma’s coast in May 2008, foreign aid workers clamored to enter the military-controlled backwater.
Despite the world’s pleading, Burma’s paranoid generals forbade most foreign relief workers from entering the disaster zone. A frustrated U.K. threatened unauthorized air drops. The U.S. Navy was forced to float vessels loaded with life-saving supplies offshore.
But among the few who managed to access Burma’s worst-hit areas included adherents of the California-based Church of Scientology.
According to the church, miracles ensued after Scientologists touched down. Their team sought out traumatized Burmese for Scientology’s touch-healing techniques, professed to revive the spirit…
Inside Scientology: Brainwashing, Violence, And Slave Labor
No, the above isn’t hyperbole. The New Yorker has a fascinating and authoritative exposé on Scientology. The experiences of Hollywood director and ex-Scientologist Paul Haggis are the starting point, but the piece hits upon everything from the cult’s origins to its use of violence and child labor to John Travolta magically healing Marlon Brando’s leg via touch:
In December, 2009, Tricia Whitehill, a special agent from the Los Angeles office, flew to Florida to interview former members of the church in the F.B.I.’s office in downtown Clearwater, which happens to be directly across the street from Scientology’s spiritual headquarters.
Whitehill and Valerie Venegas, the lead agent on the case, also interviewed former Sea Org members in California. One of them was Gary Morehead, who had been the head of security at the Gold Base; he left the church in 1996. In February, 2010, he spoke to Whitehill and told her that he had…
Lawrence Wright’s Amazing ‘New Yorker’ Feature On Scientology
Paul Haggis. Photo: David Shankbone (CC)
Lawrence Wright’s forthcoming tell-all book about the Hollywood uber-cult Scientology (The Heretic of Hollywood: Paul Haggis vs.The Church of Scientology) has been in the news often the past few weeks, mostly concerning speculation about whether or not award-winning scribe Paul Haggis “officially” collaborated with Wright.
The book still hasn’t been scheduled for publication and considering the cult’s propensity for litigation it might face considerable delays. For those who can’t wait, Wright has contributed a fascinating and lengthy essay on the topic to the current issue of the New Yorker.
It’s a must-read for anyone interested in the cult of Scientology. Here’s the beginning:
On August 19, 2009, Tommy Davis, the chief spokesperson for the Church of Scientology International, received a letter from the film director and screenwriter Paul Haggis. “For ten months now I have been writing to ask you to make a public statement denouncing the actions of the…
Paul Haggis And The Scientology Tell-All Book
Paul Haggis. Photo: David Shankbone (CC)
It’s been tagged as “the Scientology expose we’ve been waiting for” (Gawker), but some serious questions have been raised about just how much Paul Haggis has cooperated with New Yorker staff writer and Looming Tower author Lawrence Wright’s new book, The Heretic of Hollywood: Paul Haggis vs.The Church of Scientology. The LA Times suggests it’s time for conspiracy theorists to ponder whether or not Haggis has been nobbled by the Scientology “Church”:
Paul Haggis has severed ties with the Church of Scientology. But maybe he’s not quite willing to tell all.
Last week, a number of reports said Haggis was collaborating on a Scientology-themed book with New Yorker writer Lawrence Wright, who was also writing an as-yet-unpublished magazine article on the subject. The book was to explore the director’s involvement with, and disassociation from, the Church of Scientology.
The next day, a representative for the filmmaker messaged to clarify that while…
Another Ex-Scientologist Publishes Damning Tell-All
From the Village Voice:
Adding to Scientology’s woes, some of the people who have been making defections in recent years are turning around and writing damning tell-alls.
Regular publishers won’t touch these books — even though some of them are actually very well written — so the authors have had to go the self-published route.
Last year’s killer I-escaped-from-Scientology narrative was put out by Marc Headley. His Blown for Good made for a gripping read, about a low-level grunt who spent years at Scientology’s secret HQ in the California desert until he finally made a mad dash for freedom.
This year, we can report that Headley’s book has been equaled. In Counterfeit Dreams: One Man’s Journey Into and Out of the World of Scientology, ex-Scientologist Jefferson Hawkins not only provides his own dramatic tale of getting sucked into and ultimately escaping from Scientology, but Hawkins was no low-level scrub.
He, maybe more than any other single person, may be the reason Scientology ever became as popular as it did…
List of 1,000 Former Church of Scientology Members Publicly Speak Out Against The Church
The following is a press release sent to disinformation by Anonymous:
Over 1,000 former members of the Church of Scientology have spoken out publicly against the so-called church, according to a list researched and compiled by Anonymous over the last year and announced on April 11th 2010.
The individuals on the list have spoken out under their real names against the abuses seen and experienced within the so-called church despite being subjected to Scientology’s “Fair Game” policy, which gives members permission to destroy its critics. Most former members do not ever speak out against the church, largely because of this policy.
The stories told by these ex-members are similar to the revelations made recently by former members speaking out against Scientology in highly visible stories in the New York Times, the St. Petersburg Times, and most recently, in a five-part series on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360. According to the Church of Scientology, these…
Russia Criminalizes The Writings Of L. Ron Hubbard
From now on in Russia, only outlaws will have Scientology pamphlets, as the writings of L. Ron Hubbard have been criminalized. That’s right, no more free “Are You Stressed?” quizzes in the subway for the people of Moscow. From Yahoo News:
Under a new law empowering the Russian government to ban written work categorized as “extremist materials,” the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office has declared that the work of L. Ron Hubbard, the American founder of Scientology, belongs on a list of materials “undermining the traditional spiritual values of the citizens of the Russian Federation.”
The law lays out fines of 3,000 rubles ($100) for anyone in possession of such materials, or a jail term of up to 15 days — with harsher penalties imposed on repeat offenders and/or those with a criminal history.
According to the Moscow Times, 28 Hubbard-penned titles are now on that forbidden-readings list, including such works such as “The Factors, Admiration & the Renaissance of Beingness” and “The Unification Congress. Communication! Freedom and Ability.” The writings were reportedly intercepted by Russian transport officials, who forwarded them to a panel of “psychiatrists, psychologists, and sociologists” for review…
Russia Bans Scientology Writings as Extremist
Scott Rose writes in the Moscow Times:
Works by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard will be added to the country’s list of extremist literature for “undermining the traditional spiritual values of the citizens of the Russian Federation,” the Prosecutor General’s Office said Wednesday.
The ruling — initiated by transport prosecutors in the Siberian city of Surgut and Khanty-Mansiisk customs officers — is the latest use of the hotly debated law on extremism to target systems of belief that are not traditional in Russia.
Individuals in possession of extremist materials can be jailed for up to 15 days or fined 3,000 rubles ($100). The law also allows for harsher punishment of suspects convicted of other crimes.
Prosecutors said they intercepted 28 individual titles, including books, audio and video recordings by Hubbard that were sent to residents in Surgut from the United States. The materials were sent for study to “psychiatrists, psychologists and sociologists,” who determined…
Scientologists Sue Organization for $1 million for Slave Wages
From the Telegraph:
Two former Scientologists have shone a less than flattering spotlight on the controversial organization, which counts the actors John Travolta and Tom Cruise among its followers, in a landmark lawsuit.
In the test case against the US-based Church of Scientology, Marc Headley and his wife, Claire, have told how they were treated like slaves and forced to work 20-hour days almost continually through the year.
Mrs Headley claims she was coerced into having an abortion, while Mr Headley has spoken about how he was subjected to a strange mind-control practise by the actor Tom Cruise.
Both were members of Sea Org, the Scientologists’ “religious order” and a supposedly elite vanguard made up of its most dedicated recruits, and signed up to the religion when they were still teenagers.
Members of the order sign a billion-year pledge of loyalty, promise not to have children, and live and work communally.
[Read more at the Telegraph]
…
‘Battlefield Earth’ Script Writer Apologizes For Making The Worst Movie Of The Twenty-First Century
Script writer J.D. Shapiro wrote an open letter apologizing to “anyone who went to see Battlefield Earth” printed in the New York Post. It’s actually a refreshingly honest look at how a historically bad Hollywood movie came to be made:
It wasn’t as I intended — promise. No one sets out to make a train wreck. Actually, comparing it to a train wreck isn’t really fair to train wrecks, because people actually want to watch those.
It was 1994, and I had read an article in Premiere magazine saying that the Celebrity Center, the Scientology epicenter in Los Angeles, was a great place to meet women.
I researched Scientology before signing on to the movie, to make sure I wasn’t making anything that would indoctrinate people. I took a few courses, including the Purification Rundown, or Purif. You go to CC every day, take vitamins and go in and out of a sauna…
Scientology Escapee Breaks her Silence
From ScienceBlogs.com:
Raised as Scientologists, Christie King Collbran and her husband, Chris, were recruited as teenagers to work for the elite corps of staff members who keep the Church of Scientology running, known as the Sea Organization, or Sea Org.
They signed a contract for a billion years — in keeping with the church’s belief that Scientologists are immortal. They worked seven days a week, often on little sleep, for sporadic paychecks of $50 a week, at most.
Scientology On Its Last Legs?
There once was a time when the media were scared to report on the madness that is the “Church” of Scientology for fear of costly litigation. No more. While there have been occasional reports over the years, last year ABC News went hard after Scientology leader David Miscavige. Now the New York Times runs a front page story suggesting that the “Church” is losing members fast and may have as few as 25,000 members in the United States, versus the millions claimed by the organization:
Raised as Scientologists, Christie King Collbran and her husband, Chris, were recruited as teenagers to work for the elite corps of staff members who keep the Church of Scientology running, known as the Sea Organization, or Sea Org.
They signed a contract for a billion years — in keeping with the church’s belief that Scientologists are immortal. They worked seven days a week, often on little sleep, for sporadic paychecks of $50 a week, at most.
But after 13 years and growing disillusionment, the Collbrans decided to leave…
We Are Anonymous. We Are Legion. We Plead Guilty In Court.
From TechCrunch:
On Thursday 8 January 2009, then 18-year old Mahoud Samed Almahadin (aka Matt Connor aka Agent Pubeit
) took off his shirt, proceeded to rub vaseline all over his upper body and subsequently used it to hold toenail clippings and pubic hair. He then ran into the New York Scientology building, tossed some books around and smeared the mixture on objects.
After his greasy raid
Scientologists Using Touch to ‘Heal’ Haitian Earthquake Victims
Charles Onians writes on the AP via Yahoo News:
PORT-AU-PRINCE — Amid the mass of aid agencies piling in to help Haiti quake victims is a batch of Church of Scientology “volunteer ministers”, claiming to use the power of touch to reconnect nervous systems.
Clad in yellow T-shirts emblazoned with the logo of the controversial US-based group, smiling volunteers fan out among the injured lying under makeshift shelters in the courtyard of Port-au-Prince’s General Hospital.
A wealthy private donor provided his airplane to fly in 80 volunteers from Los Angeles, along with 50 Haitian-American-doctors, in a gesture worth 400,000 dollars, said a Parisian volunteer who gave her name as Sylvie.
“We’re trained as volunteer ministers, we use a process called ‘assist’ to follow the nervous system to reconnect the main points, to bring back communication,” she said.
“When you get a sudden shock to a part of your body the energy gets stuck, so we re-establish…
