Gama, yeah it's worth a watch. If you're a major film critic there are some loop holes, but it's supposed to be based on a true strory and anyway, I liked it.
L. Ron Hubbard really impresses me
by berylblue 18 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse
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MegaDude
Interesting article on Scientology and celebrities. This "religion" is much worse than the Watchtower in my opinion.
http://www.factnet.org/Scientology/celebrities_con.html?FACTNet
Celebrities' Endorsements of Scientology a Scam
Scientology's celebrities are running a global scam on their fans and on the media. Stars like John Travolta, Tom Cruise, Chick Corea, Kirstie Alley, Nicole Kidman, Kelly Preston, Priscilla Presley, Lisa Presley, and others are secretly being given lucrative compensation for endorsing Scientology. In the recent film The Truman Show, Truman's wife incessantly pitched ads for household items, while her unaware husband was convinced she was simply stating her sincere fondness for the goods. In the same way, star Scientologists have betrayed their fans and hoodwinked interviewers by acting as though glowing endorsements of Scientology are strictly from the heart, of their own accord, and certainly not paid Scientology advertisements.
In reality, Scientology's celebrities are compensated richly for endorsements with:
Free Scientology services costing up to $1,000 dollars per hour. John Travolta alone has had in excess of $100,000 of free services in compensation.
Commissions of up to 10% for bringing people into Scientology (who subsequently pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for Scientology's services).
One or more Scientology staff being sent to travel full time with celebrities as "support," at Scientology's expense.
Free luxury accommodations and carte blanc use of the finest Scientology facilities and properties. Scientology's current leader David Miscavige learned that after Tom Cruise divorced Mimi Rogers, he was persuing Nicole Kidman. Miscavige also learns that Cruise has a fantasy of running through a field of tall wheat grass with Kidman. So, Miscavige orders a section of Scientology's desert compound in Giman Hot Springs to be plowed under and planted with wheat. At a cost of tens of thousands of dollars, and through the slave labor of cult members who work all day and all night for weeks, a field of tall wheat grass is grown in the desert so that Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman may run though it. During their visit, Cruise and Kidman are provided the additional luxuries of a specially prepared suite, maids, and two four-star chefs, all at scientology's expense as a quid pro quo exchange for Cruise's endorsements of Scientology.
Marriages and Divorces Arranged
Scientology actively helps arrange celebrities' divorces and marriages when Scientology deems them beneficial to Scientology.
Scientology arranged Tom Cruise's entire divorce from Mimi Rogers for no charge. The cult knows Cruise is dyslectic and has difficulty reading and so "convinced" him to let them handle his bookkeeping and the divorce from Mimi Rogers. Orchestrating this divorce was important to Scientology because Rogers was disaffected from Scientology; thus it was in Scientology's interest to distance Cruise from her. In managing the divorce for Cruise, Scientology still had enough influence over Mimi Rogers to convince her to accept a relatively paltry $10 million for the settlement.
Scientology also helped Lisa Marie Presley arrange her marriage to Michael Jackson. The idea was to make Jackson a Scientologist so he would become a recruiter and bring large numbers of youth into Scientology. While she was working on Michael Jackson, Presley inconveniently was already married, and to a Scientologist staff member. Scientology quickly ordered a divorce, so the Michael Jackson recruiting plan could go forward.
Celebrities Go Psychotic or Neurotic
Scientology celebrities have gone psychotic during or after Scientology's bizarre practices and initiations. These celebrities include John Travolta, Tom Cruise, Kirstie Alley and Mimi Rogers.
Tom Cruise became psychotic during a secret Scientology initiation in which one is told that rather than being one person, one is composed of thousands of aliens from all over the universe fighting for control of your body. After completing this initiation, known as OT III, Tom appeared sickly with black circles under his eyes and pasty skin. He said he wanted to be away from Scientology for good. He just wanted to go back to Hollywood and his home and be left alone by Scientology. This would not happen; David Miscavige ordered Cruise could not be let go. Scientology worked on Cruise day and night until he finally returned to Scientology.
Scientology's Spies Monitor Celebrities
Scientology spies on its celebrities, looking for signs of defection. The free full-time "support" staff Scientology provides to its biggest celebrities write secret reports for David Miscavige. They report any problems the celebrity is having, any antagonism to Scientology expressed by anyone close to the celebrity, and any doubts the celebrity has about Scientology. Reports were regularly sent to David Miscavige by cult spies accompanying Tom Cruise on the set of Days of Thunder. Miscavige is a fanatic regarding security and loyalty. Believing several of Scientology's ministers might be disloyal, he ordered their private homes to be bugged. Operatives listened in on everything that went on in the homes, even the intimate moments between the ministers and their spouses.
Celebrities who Leave may Suffer
Scientology celebrities who have tried to leave Scientology, sometimes many times, have been stopped. A few of the stars who have repeatedly tried to end their association with the cult are John Travolta, Priscilla Presley, Kirstie Alley, Nicole Kidman, and Tom Cruise.
A scientology staff member that John Travolta had become close friends with was sent to Scientology's concentration camp called the Rehabilitation Project Force, or RPF. He heard that she was pregnant and crying all the time while on the RPF. He wanted to see her to be certain that she and her child were okay. Scientology said that if he brought one of his films for the Scientology staff to see, they would arrange for the woman to meet with him. Scientology lied. Travolta brought the film, but the woman was not there. He threw a fit. He left wanting nothing else to do with Scientology.
At another time, Travolta was having a relationship with a homosexual man who Travolta said he was going to marry. David Miscavige freaked out. Travolta told Scientology that if they couldn't handle his homosexuality, too damn bad. So Miscavige ordered a large number of Scientology staff to stay with Travolta for weeks at a time, to re-convert him and bring him back into Scientology. Needless to say, after both incidents, Scientology ended up getting him back.
Scientology's celebrities know in no uncertain terms that Scientology will turn against them if they cause problems. They know what happens to ex-members and critics. They know how their embarrassing confidential confessions will made public if they go against the group. They know they will be targets of character assassination exposing every part of their lives, from taxes to sex to drugs to family problems!
A Note on Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman's black magic role in her new film Practical Magic will not help her escape the ruthless tactics of Scientology. Nicole Kidman has been signaling she wants nothing more to do with Scientology; she has said she is not a Scientologist. However, her situation is problematic. Scientology's policy is that its members are not to be closely associated with individuals who are antagonistic to Scientology, and according to Scientology's definition, Nicole is antagonistic.
Nicole knows Scientology arranged the divorce of Tom Cruise and Mimi Rogers. She knows Scientology will control every possible aspect of Tom's life. She must wonder if it is only a matter of time before Scientology demands Tom chose between his wife (and kids) and Scientology. Or before Scientology destroys their marriage through covert operations or offers Tom a new dream woman to run though a new field of wheat grass with.
Does Tom have real courage to face this cult, or does he only act that way on screen? With all its others problems worldwide, Scientology might not retaliate harshly if Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman stood up and humbly said they had made a mistake getting involved with Scientology, that Scientology is dangerous and people should stay away from it. But it doesn't seem as though Cruise is doing anything apart from what Scientology dictates to him.
Consider a recent headline story from German magazine TV Spielfilm [Issue 21/98, 10-23 October 1998]. It reveals that Tom Cruise has stepped out of the planned remake of Fahrenheit 451. He left because director Mel Gibson made a subtle joke about Tom's/Scientology's beliefs regarding Jesus Christ. Scientology's secret tenets denouncing Christianity are now widely circulated. According to Scientology's policies of ending associations with anyone even minimally antagonistic to itself, Cruise responded as Scientology would insist, despite $18 million dollars at stake for the role. Nicole Kidman has a lot to worry about right now.
Anti-Christian beliefs of Scientology are found, among other places, in secret documents called OT VIII. According to Jesse Prince , the original OT VIII is part of the most secret Scientology initiation in which the initiate is told that Hubbard was the anti-Christ and that the Jesus was not a holy person, but rather a pedophile. Few people got through OT VIII before Scientology withdrew and modified it. It had caused so many problems with those who read it that it was deemed too dangerous. One long time member who passed all security clearances to reach OT VIII, freaked out on OT VIII and quit Scientology on the spot! Jesse Prince reports that even Miscavige had severe doubts about releasing this secret of secrets.
Manson and Other Scientologists
Charles Manson is the Scientologist that Scientology will deny most avidly. But, Scientology's own materials seized by the FBI disclose that Charles Manson was a member and received a considerable amount of services before he joined the Process.
With Michael Jackson no longer a Scientology hopeful, another celebrity recruit is being relied upon to bring children into Scientology: Ginger Spice, former Spice Girl.
Two other celebrities recently brought into the endorsement scam are Jenna Elfman of the Darma and Greg television sitcom and Kelly Preston, who Scientology arranged for John Travolta to marry at the peak of his sexuality-preference exposure problems.
As more people learn about the real secret Scientology - initiation-related suicides, strange deaths, coerced abortions, human rights abuses, and attacks on free speech -- Scientology worldwide organizations are plagued with continual pickets and Scientology celebrities are feeling the sting of the controversy created by Scientology wherever it appears.
Scientology celebrity products are being boycotted around the world. Even Hollywood producers and investors are having second thoughts about the economic and public impacts the cult's celebrities could bring to any project. It also appears that Christian celebrities in Hollywood have begun working behind the scenes to resist the growing influence of Scientology and its anti-Christian message in Hollywood.
For more information on Scientology celebrities, see http:// www.FACTNet.org/ Scientology/ celebrities.htm
For information on Scientology's origins in black magic, see http:// www.FACTNet.org/ Scientology/ lrhoccult.htm
For information on Scientology's secret anti-Christian and satanic positions, see http:// www.FACTNet.org/ Scientology/ satanic1.htm
For information on Scientology's founder claiming to be the anti-Christ, see http:// www.FACTNet.org/ Scientology/ satanism/ ot8.html
For information on pickets and boycotts, see http:// www.FACTNet.org/ Scientology/ picket.htm and http:// www.FACTNet.org/ Scientology/ celeboycott.htm
If you are with the celebrity media and would like to speak with Jesse Prince for the rest of his story on the Scientology celebrities, contact FACTNet with your name and credentials.
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SixofNine
Ah Gamarier, you funny guy.
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refiners fire
El Ron impressed HIMSELF. He was one of the greatest men who ever lived.
You should read his book "Ron the Master mariner". Francois would like that one Im sure.
Or perhaps "Ron, on photography" would be more your taste.
Ron the artist? "Ron on Art and the philosophy of art" . "Ron the Poet"...."Ron the lyricist"...."Ron the adventurer".
Not to mention 10,000 books about the theories of ron the greatest scientific genius of all time.Ron the psychologist.
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ballistic
They actually use that machine on you if you go for a session of "auditing". Basically a lie detector. Be afraid... be very afraid.
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czarofmischief
Just a guy who was out to make a buck and then it blew up. Like Nobel, who invented dynamite and spent the rest of his life apologizing for it.
CZAR
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MegaDude
The scary thing to me is they get you to confess everything negative about your life under the guise that they're helping you become "clear" as they say in Scientology. But once you realize their religion is a UFO cult started by a bad science fiction writer, they have a file of dirt on you to keep you quiet.
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Gamaliel
Megadude,
Did you ever go through an audit? I don't ever plan on getting an audit, but I suspected that this is a big part of their MO because the woman who sits down with me is constantly trying to get me to admit that there are big problems in my own life -- money, marriage, relationships with children, co-workers, bosses. She is obviously irritated and claims I'm not ready to "open up" when I claim that all these areas are fine and very satisfying elements of my life. I tell her that I'm still interested in how their religion has helped people who aren't so lucky -- she's happy for that angle, at least. One time she said, "Well if you don't see the need for this in your own life, perhaps you can see that your children or your wife needs it. I told her how I wish my children were more focused on education as a priority. She started beaming, and trying to sell me lots of books that touch on the subject.
They also want you to fill out these questionnaires for self-analysis (free of course), and she is irritated to no end that I filled mine out but won't give it to her. (Because she only wants it with a real name to send the results to me, and I told her I'm not comfortable enough with them yet.)
Personally, I don't think LRH was such a bad science fiction writer, Megadude. He had these flights of grandeur that got him involved in many many types of experiences which he otherwise would never have tried or had. He thought he was the best at everything, and that sometimes allowed him to get involved in experiences all over the world that gave him quite a bunch of ideas to draw on. His knack (and years of practice) for making up facts that made himself the imaginary hero of many of these experiences is part of what makes him an interesting writer. He was next to nothing at science, pychology, photography, music, commanding a battleship -- and a myriad other things he claimed, but he was able to convince many, nevertheless. It's a little like listening to a really good pathalogical liar. That's not a bad trait for a science fiction writer and I think it showed in a few of his short pulp pieces.
Gamaliel
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MegaDude
Hi Gam,
No, never did an audit. I checked other sources and realized the purpose of a Scientology audit is to show you have problems (Surprise, everybody does) and paying $$ for Scientology auditing sessions will relieve you of said problems. This is a ruthless organization that is dedicated to one thing, squeezing every last cent they can get out of you.
This Time magazine article gives you an excellent overview of Scientology: http://www.xenu.net/archive/media/time910605.html
A most heartbreaking story of a person who went through Scientology and managed to get out. Former JWs can relate although Scientology is more bizarre and cultish than the JWs.
http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/pignotti/
The ultimate website on exposing Scientology is here. Scientology makes the Watchtower look like kindergarten by comparison.