(Via Dogpatch)
Rick Ross comments on the article. . .
In a stunning piece in The New Yorker (Feb. 14th & 21st) by Lawrence Wright titled “The Apostate” we learn of the defection of one of Scientology’s highest level members, well-known writer / director Paul Haggis (“Million Dollar Baby,” “Crash”) who revealed leaving – and why he left - his 35-year membership in Scientology. There have not been many disparaging articles about Scientology, mostly because it is the most litigious of “religions” and will go to great lengths to squash any negative publicity. A quote from the article:
- During our conversations, we spoke about some events that had stained the reputation of the church while he [Haggis]was a member. For example, there was the death of Lisa McPherson, a Scientologist who died after a mental breakdown, in 1995. She had rear-ended a car in Clearwater, Florida—where Scientology has its spiritual headquarters—and then stripped off her clothes and wandered naked down the street. She was taken to a hospital, but, in the company of several other Scientologists, she checked out, against doctors’ advice. (The church considers psychiatry an evil profession.) McPherson spent the next seventeen days being subjected to church remedies, such as doses of vitamins and attempts to feed her with a turkey baster. She became comatose, and she died of a pulmonary embolism before church members finally brought her to the hospital. The medical examiner in the case, Joan Wood, initially ruled that the cause of death was undetermined, but she told a reporter, “This is the most severe case of dehydration I’ve ever seen.” The State of Florida filed charges against the church. In February, 2000, under withering questioning from experts hired by the church, Wood declared that the death was “accidental.” The charges were dropped and Wood resigned.
The signs, as I read the Haggis article, were astonishingly similar to those as they progressed with the Peoples Temple 35 years ago: the near-worship of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard; the unquestioned obedience demanded of followers to his successor, a man named David Miscavige; the forced disconnection with family and friends who disapproved of members’ joining the cult (for that’s what it is, no less). Haggis details beatings administered by Miscavige on members and the holding of many as 200 people in forced isolation “re-education “ camps scattered across California. And as scary as the Jonestown story itself, Scientology maintains its “Sea Organization,” a kind of religious order of 6,000 adherents within the larger organization, which do the grunt work for the larger cult itself for little or no pay, from cleaning the so-called Celebrity Centers to painting the numerous sea-going vessels Scientology owns and operates and attending to the needs of its hierarcy. It appears that some of the darker secrets of this cult are beginning to bubble to the surface.
There is a key difference, though. Scientology and Hubbard consciously pursued high profile, Hollywood personalities to lend itself authenticity: Tom Cruise, Kirstie Alley, John Travolta, Ann Archer, among many film stars, as well as people like Sky Dayton, the founder of Earthlink, are current members. (Confession: Though there are always exceptions, as a class, I’ve never considered actors among the intellectual elite, and it’s also possible that the inbred insecurity of the profession itself would make such a person ripe for the picking. ) In fact, it can be said that Hollywood is to Scientology what Salt Lake City is to Mormons. The celebrities present the public face of Scientology.
This has lead to a cult which is swimming in money both in donations from its prominent members as well as from the cost to a member to rise through the ranks to achieve a state known as “Operating Thetan VII,” or OT-7, in Scientology parlance. (Haggis admits to having spent upwards of $700 thousand to achieve that level.) The money has allowed this cult to spread all over the country and even to Europe with it promises of Nirvana to those who susceptible to snake oil promises. It also allows Scientology to muster legions of well paid attorneys to groom its image, as well as to threaten anyone who gets pushy with this group. (Wright stated in an interview Terry Gross on NPR’s “Fresh Air” that The New Yorker spent more time fact-checking his article than it ever has, in anticipation of legal pushback from the Church of Scientology)
But these recent and quite public recantations by people such as Haggis and Josh Brolin, the actor, have begun to shine a light on the inner workings of Scientology and it may be that the cult is beginning to hunker down for a siege. And when this happens, it is good to remember the lessons of Jonestown: Cults under scrutiny do not do well in acting responsibly. That much we have learned from experience.
http://open.salon.com/blog/the_flylooper/2011/02/10/scientology_a_jonestown_in_the_making
