Scientology Orgs are a "place of meeting for religious worship"

In a ruling that shall be repeated ad nauseum on Scientology videos, posters and websites, the Supreme Court has agreed that weddings can take place on the premises of Scientology Orgs, as they constitute a "place of meeting for religious worship"

"Religion should not be confined to religions which recognise a supreme deity," said Lord Toulson as he made the judgement. Whilst this is clearly right morally and in terms of things we already accept as religions, this is going to cause a headache for a lot of people and not least the Charity Commission and the tax man.

The real problem is the very concept of a Government trying to define what it, and what is not, a religion. It is akin to attempting to argue what makes up Doctor Who's canon. What makes up my Doctor Who canon is not what makes up your Doctor Who canon. This is quite true for religions too. What I consider a religion, others will not. Some might consider certain religions as a "cult" whilst others just don't think it is a religion at all. Such arguments have raged for years and not just on small New Religious Movements like Scientology. Confucianism and Buddhism are both hard to define as a religion and even some adherents wouldn't describe them as one. Even some, mainly born-again, Christians will swear blind Christianity is not a religion but is (depending on who you ask) a "faith" or "a personal relationship with Jesus Christ".

And if one cannot truly define what is and what is not a religion it does seem somewhat silly to attempt to give religions tax breaks that other groups and organisations cannot expect.

The court's decision was the right one in allowing Scientologists, no matter how ridiculous one finds their beliefs and how dangerous one might consider church practices, to marry in their orgs but one would hope that one day someone will finally tell the emperor that he has no clothes and stop the whole nonsense that is attempting to define a religion in law.

Memoirs Of A Scientology Warrior - Marty Rathbun

Well this was quite different to my usual Scientology reading material. I wasn't really looking forward to this memoir mainly because Marty Rathbun has been the "villain" in many other memoirs I've read. He has been accused of some nasty stuff.

He was, according to Lawrence Wright's "Going Clear", involved in the recapture of Annie Broeker who was fleeing the Church to be with her husband. After her recapture her husband never saw her again (she died in 2011). When I first read that my heart broke a little. He was also involved in a "gang-bang sec-check" of Jeff Hawkins. Of course others have also been part of the unhealthy practices of the church and finally come to their sense so it is perhaps unfair to hold such things against him.

Another difference is that Marty Rathbun is still a believer. He may have left the Church of Scientology but he still believes in the efficacy of Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard's "tech". This makes him an unusual animal (if no longer a rare one as other people like him, such as Mike Rinder, are adding their voices to the criticism of the church itself whilst maintaining a belief in the benefits of LRH's teachings) as so many who have been hurt by their time in the church have given up their faith along with their church.

Rathbun was the sort of person Jeff Hawkins described, in his book "Counterfeit Dreams", as a seeker. The ideal candidate for Scientology proselytizing. His youth was troubled by the early death of his mother and dealing with the psychological troubles of his two older brothers (these, no doubt incredibly painful, incidents can be seen as yet more reasons that Scientology would appeal to him). He sought ever greater spiritual understanding from various traditions until one day he finally agreed to take the infamous Communication course offered to so many people who've encountered a Scientologist "body router".

With some personal "wins" (i.e. spiritual moments) and the hope he might one day learn how to cure his older brother Bruce he fell deeply into the church, eventually signing up as a member of the Sea Org. A traumatic event, a murder of a fellow Scientologist by her deranged husband who he was escorting home, which he valiantly tried to stop brought him to the attention of L. Ron Hubbard himself and he went "over the rainbow" which is Scientologese for heading to the bases LRH had based himself in.

What follows is a fascinating account of the internal workings of Scientology's legal troubles towards the end of LRH's life as Rathbun moved up to one of the highest positions in the church. Though much of it was things we already learnt, we hear more about the motivations and emotions of the key players in events such as the Battle of Portland. But the narrative ends with the death of LRH and the more interesting stuff (the slow death of the church under Miscavige) is sadly not covered in detail.

And I was expecting Rathbun to offer some insight into the mentality behind some of his angry or morally suspect actions whilst in the church. Though he does give a little insight into his belief that he was a "warrior" for Scientology and that he did have reservations about how the church was run, he doesn't really get into this much. And his leaving the church is given little more than a paragraph when it warrants far more illumination. This he may well have done on his blog or in one of the other books he has written but it was deeply annoying to hear how, whilst assaulting Mike Rinder, he finally realised he needed to leave when Rinder plead: “Marty, I don't want to play this game anymore.” without much further elaboration. I wanted to know more, how Rathbun really felt, was he ashamed? Did he regret his actions in the church? It was hard to tell.

But it was another piece of the Scientology puzzle and a worthy addition to the historical record. And Rathbun writes well and keeps you engaged as he spins his tale. But I can't help feeling it was missing that little bit extra.

Counterfeit Dreams - Jefferson Hawkins

Another day and another Scientology memoir. The number of memoirs out there has exploded over the last few years and you'd think there wasn't much more to say. You'd be very wrong.

Jeff Hawkins' "Counterfeit Dreams " is to Scientology memoirs what Going Clear was to Scientology history. It is extremely well-written and deeply engaging. Hawkins was in the church for 35 years. He sailed aboard the Apollo with L. Ron Hubbard himself. He ran the successful 1980s campaign to promote Dianetics. And he served out his last years in the church on the now infamous Int Base near Hemet, California. 

Thus the depth and range of his experience within Scientology makes his an interesting perspective and he certainly provides some fascinating insights into previously unknown events. But also, as with the other memoirs I've read, his testimony corroborates tales of the traumatic and hideous existence that many have been, and still are being, forced to live. He confirms Amy Scobee's description of an unprovoked physical attack that happened to Hawkins himself. And his version of the events of the New Years ceremony in 2000 tally up with Marc Headley's. For those of us who are concerned, yet fascinated, by the history of Scientology this is quite simply a must read.  

Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, & the Prison of Belief

I've read many, many books on Scientology and I think I can safely say that this is the most well-written of them all. The beautiful prose made this an absolute joy to read (even if I read most of it sat in a hospital car park!), and it tells a fascinating story indeed.

I love the history of religions and this book is the definitive history of Dianetics and Scientology. For people who have only the vaguest of interest in the church, this book will give you an easy to read but in depth look at the history of the church. Even for people like me, who've read their fair share of Scientology history, there is still enough new information and a fresh perspective on oft-repeated events to keep it interesting.

And the history is intertwined with the story of Paul Haggis, from his early life through his time as a loyal public member to his apostasy. It helps imbue the narrative with a human story told by a master of his craft. It doesn't get much better than this.

There are excellent tellings of the stories of Quentin Hubbard (L. Ron Hubbard's son who committed suicide) and of David Miscavage's early years. And some little insights into John Travolta's journey inside the church.

Buy it. Read it. Love it.

Scientology And Some Interesting Times Ahead

We are not quite at the excitement levels that Project Chanology caused, but there are two very big events (one newsworthy and one less so) that are likely to make Scientology pretty interesting for those of us who find the Church so fascinating.

The first news-friendly story is the ongoing fallout from Leah Remini's defection from the Church. John Sweeney's excellent Panorama documentary "Scientology and Me" was the first time I'd ever heard of Leah Remini. In it Remini is shown as a loyal member of the Church aghast at the evil BBC's distortion of source. But we now know that just months before Remini had began to ask questions about the whereabouts of her friend, and COB RTC David Miscavige's wife, Shelly Miscavige. These questions would ultimately lead to her leaving the Church last month and have now resulted in what could be quite an interesting moment as Leah Remini pursues, 7 years after she first raised concerns, information as to where Shelly Miscavige may be by registering her as a missing person.

Though the Church regularly faces open opposition from former members, and even people who were in very senior positions during their time in the Church, it rarely has to face with such vocal opposition from one of its most cherished celebrity members. With her name recognition (with people who aren't me anyway!) and desire not to be silenced, we could be looking at one of the more serious threats to the status quo of the Church in recent years.  

She is also planning to release a memoir which may provide some fascinating insights into life as a celebrity in the Church of Scientology. We've had plenty of info on the workings of the Celebrity Center from former employees but how it looks from the other side of the bar might be revealing indeed.

It was already being speculated, prior to the missing person report, that Shelly might make an appearance at an upcoming Celebrity Center event. Time will tell.

The other news is less media friendly and more for the Scientology anoraks but... the long overdue Super Power Building (yes, Dear Constant Reader, this is a real thing) is quite likely to be opened within a matter of weeks. And, quite possibly, at the same time COB RTC might announce a new model of e-meter in what is being call the "The Golden Age of Tech 2". Both will probably done in an event in Clearwater that seems to be replacing both a formerly annual IAS event in the UK and an event on the Freewinds (a ship Scientology operates in the Caribbean). With an obvious reduction in the Scientology event calender we may want to count the heads at the Super Power Building opening and see if the recent great apostasy is finally causing Scientology to have to scale back its pomp!

And how the Super Power Building and GATII will effect the way the church works moving forward, if there is a future for the church, will be something to watch.

Very interesting times ahead Scientology watchers!!

Trolls and Suppressive Persons: We're All Scientologists Now

As Dear Constant Readers know, I've an unhealthy obsession with less mainstream religions. Scientology is one which, though not mainstream, a great many people have at least heard of. So some of you may well know what a Suppressive Person (SP) is. For those that don't, here's the Church of Scientology's view:

"the Suppressive Person seeks to upset, continuously undermine, spread bad news about and denigrate betterment activities and groups. Thus the Anti-Social Personality is also against what Scientology is about—helping people become more able and improving conditions in society. As anyone can think of many examples of a Suppressive Person, this concept is not limited to Scientology. However, when such a person is connected to Scientology, for the good of the Church and the individuals in it, such a person is officially labeled a Suppressive Person so that others will know not to associate with them." Source: Scientology page "What does Suppressive Person mean?" 

Tory Christman, an SP but still a wonderful person, has a video of her experiences of getting an "SP Declare".

Basically Scientology use SP Declares to silence opposition, to keep people from interacting with SPs so that they won't hear what they are saying. They do it both to harm the SP and "protect" those still within the Church from hearing any views opposing the Church's own.

Pretty much everyone agrees that this policy is harmful, destructive and authoritarian. What does this have to do with internet trolls?

Wikipedia describes trolls as follows: 

In Internet slang, a troll is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a forum, chat room, or blog), either accidentally or with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion. 

While this sense of the word troll and its associated verb trolling are associated with Internet discourse, media attention in recent years has made such labels subjective, with trolling also used to describe intentionally provocative actions and harassment outside of an online context. For example, mass media has used troll to describe "a person who defaces Internet tribute sites with the aim of causing grief to families."

Sound familiar? The current campaign against abuse on Twitter brings up some reasonable concerns about those who threaten other users. But it is also beginning to take on the appearance of a witch hunt where those who disagree with some of the aims of the campaign (like a report abuse button when using the block button or a phone call to the police might be more appropriate depending on the issue) are themselves receiving abuse from supporters! And what are those who disagree called? Trolls.

Quiet Riot Girl has had to deal with this sort of a thing for a long time. The use of the word troll has gone from the descriptive to a way of shaming someone into silence. Instead of perhaps listening to what the other person has to say, or feeling the need to be the better person and rise above non-threatening abuse by ignoring it, people attack. Over the last few days I've been left to wonder if anyone on Twitter has ever heard the phrase "Two wrongs don't make a right".

If you feel you are "the better person", then I implore you to start acting like one. Rather than abusing positions of relative cultural power to insult the less intelligent, the nasty or the rebel, why not ignore or, heaven forbid, engage them and try to show them the error of their ways?! Because otherwise we'll end up building the same sort of horrendously offensive social apparatus as operated by Scientology which is detrimental to free speech, open debate and basic human decency.

As Tory says in her video: "the top two worst cults in the world are the Moonies and Scientology. Why? Because they cut you off from thinking, they stop you from looking. Right away, early on, you can't be talking to these Suppressive People because they're evil, they're horrible, they're bad".

We can do better than that. 

Review: The Church of Fear: Inside the Weird World of Scientology by John Sweeney

If you are looking for a thorough history of the Church of Scientology, then this book is not for you. I'd recommend Piece of Blue Sky or Inside Scientology instead. But if you saw either of John Sweeney's Panorama documentaries and came away wondering what happened between scenes, like I did, then this is most definitely the book for you.

John Sweeney's "exposes" of Scientology turned into more a study into just what the Church does to those who try to expose it. And here, with the benefit of hindsight and evidence from the Church's side of the story, John Sweeney paints a vivid picture of a Church that is dying from within but still strong enough to lash out at those it feels oppose it.

It was fascinating reading the (allegedly real) leaked documents showing the communications between the infamous Tommy Davis and Scientology HQ. The level of abuse in those communications is not surprising to someone who has been studying the workings of the Church for a while, but the documents still leave one
feeling very uncomfortable.

It's an easy read, and makes a good way to introduce yourself to some of the basic history of Dianetics and Scientology. That history is nothing if not utterly fascinating and, occasionally, deeply disturbing.

And to get a picture of the inner workings of the Sea Org, Scientology's holy order, and to get corroboration  for what may seem some outlandish claims made by Sweeney, check out Blown For Good.

Losing Faith In The Libertarian Way

As you may know I'm a, often inconsistent, "liberaltarian". That is basically a libertarian who doesn't have the balls to go all the way and just say "Screw the Government". Perhaps calling myself a lightweight minarchist is the best way of describing my usual political stance on most issues.

Reading back through my personal blog (which is far older than this) I have often gone through periods of libertarianism. It is a running theme through the last decade or so. I have a strong belief that the Government should keep out of people's lives.

And yet, I'm a huge a fan of co-operatives (I know that is not mutually exclusive with being a libertarian!).  At the same time I'm a great idealist who loves big building projects, space exploration (for exploration's sake) and who just wants everyone to get along. Worse, at times in my past I've been very sympathetic to many of the aims of Communism (even if I believe that those who follow Marxism so strictly that it's become a religion are just as crazy as those who think L. Ron Hubbard discovered the solution to life's problems)

I have spent the last few years of my life working at a housing association and now a public utility. In both instances I've encountered a great deal of people suffering in poverty and even more who appear helpless without the assistance of others ("My tap is dripping, we're all going to die!") . I've often tried to blame this on their dependency on the state and argued in my head that if the state just got out of their lives they'd find deep within themselves the ability to stand on their own two feet and help themselves out.

I don't believe that any more.

I speak to so many people who either through illness/disability or sheer ignorance NEED guidance and assistance. Their family situations don't allow for the support they need from their family. I often wonder what their lives would be like in a libertarian world. Charities and individuals would help many I'm sure. But so many more would fall to even great depths of destitution than they are in now that it makes me wonder whether I personally could stomach their suffering for my freedom.

I know there are libertarian answers to this out there, but my experiences are starting to make me think that, just as we weren't cut out for a nearly 100% planned economy and an authoritarian state, humans just aren't made for libertarianism.

And other things rankle me. I love freedom of speech but my personal morality just cannot stand the idea of people abusing each other in the streets without retribution. I hate the selfishness of many individuals and I'm often distressed that they are allowed to get away with treating others like scum. I've bit my lip to try to keep consistent with my libertarian leanings but some things just shouldn't be allowed (in my opinion).

I'm certain I don't like how things are now under this weird corporate capitalist state where Government and business are far too close, to the detriment of both. PFIs and PPPs drive me crazy. I can't stand Government monitoring of our every move in the interests of some imaginary "security". But then I have a distaste for those who need assistance being denied it, I can't stand the idea of people suffering needlessly.

And I hate compromise. Which leaves me at a loss as to what I believe will be the best way forward for this country. I don't see the Tories, Labour or the Lib Dems offering a vision of the future that I like. So I'm in the process of trying to work out what I actually believe is right before I can decide if there is anyone I'd want to support. It will probably be a long process.

If you feel benevolent and particularly generous, this writer always appreciates things bought for him from his wishlist

Two Books. Two Religions. One Theme.

Sorry I've been quiet recently. Mother-in-law has been for a visit, work intervened and I'm rediscovering my love of reading. Which is what I'm here to post about today.

As regular readers know I have obsessions with both the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and with the Church of Scientology. I find both religions fascinating, inspiring and disturbing in equal measures. They have extremely similar backgrounds of charismatic prophets, tight control of followers, evangelism, mixing politics with religion and persecution.

Currently I'm reading Under the Banner of Heaven, which is both a concise history of the Mormon faith and the tale of a modern-day murder of a mother and her child by Mormon fundamentalists. The interposition of the two stories makes it a compelling read and a really good introduction to the faith for a non-believer.

What I find truly fascinating about the "Lafferty" murders is how Ron Lafferty (one of the murderers) used his religious beliefs to excuse the murder of his sister-in-law in his own mind when he had plenty of real-world reasons to do it. The human mind is a complicated beast.

The other book I'm very interested in getting is Inside Scientology. Whilst I already have a rather large Scientology library, my reading of this long excerpt shows this book may well prove to be one of the most well written and well researched critiques of the Church since Jon Atack's brilliant history Piece of Blue Sky.

Scientology is a very secretive religion, still in it's infancy and, like Mormonism before it, desperate not to show anything other than sweetness and light to the "wog" world (as they refer to non-Scientologists).  It's a particularly interesting time at the moment as whilst there have been "Free Zone" splitters before, we may well be witnessing the beginnings of a more successful schism in the Church thanks to independents such as Mark Rinder. Exciting times for us Scientology watchers.

On a related note there are two musical stories of late which I think need to be shared. Firstly the Book of Mormon musical has pride of place on my mp3 player at the moment. I am totally overly excited by the prospect of it being released on the West End next year. Check out All-American Prophet for a taster



The other piece of news is a bit late but none-the-less hilarious. A Scientology song. With David Miscavige singing! Priceless.



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Scientology Never Learns

As Scientologist's complaints about a councillor's comments on Twitter have forced him to face a disciplinary, I thought I'd take the time to just remind people of some resources where they can find out more about the sort of practices Scientology gets up to. (FYI John Dixon's "crime" was to tweet: “I didn’t know the Scientologists had a church on Tottenham Court Road. Just hurried past in case the stupid rubs off.”)

Operation Clambake is the centre of discussion for ex-members and those interested/concerned by Scientology.

Xenu TV for awesome news from a former Scientologist.

Tory Magoo's Youtube Channel, a "recent" escapee, she helped greatly during Project Chanology.

Let's be clear, Scientology is not any more worthy of criticism than most religions. BUT... that doesn't mean we should give them any slack either. I've not been!

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Scientologist Begins To Wake Up

Scientologists are not, in and of themselves, bad people. Like any religion Scientology attracts people who truly just want to better themselves and, perhaps, better the world. Sadly Scientology was set up, from the start, not as a guide to life but as a vehicle of self promotion (originally for L. Ron Hubbard). The early history of the movement (up and to just after L. Ron's death) is given in the excellent
Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L.Ron Hubbard Exposed (US Amazon).

Which makes it all the more depressing to find leak documents, such as this, in which an honourable Scientologist bemoans the fact that Scientology seems to be less about the Tech and more about making money. Sadly they think that keeping to L. Ron's original texts is the way forward, which means that this poor unfortunate has only opened their eyes half way.

At least, in this case, she is now out of the church and practising in what is known as the Scientology Freezone. Sadly that does not mean she is Scientology free.


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Scientology: Another Reason To Be An Atheist

Glosslip has a great article on the front organisations of Scientology. I think it's a timely reminder of the danger of religious organisations using "front" organisations to increase membership through subtle means. I see Christian schools as little different. But Scientology will always have a special place in my anti-religious thoughts.

I really recommend Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L.Ron Hubbard Exposed (US Amazon) which really goes into detail about the early history of the church and it's not all that glorious. But it's very, very interesting.

Scientology is not singularly evil, but it does serve as a singularly obvious example of the evils/excesses of religion.

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

Scientology Tries To Silence Dissent

It should be the right of all free people to be able to peacefully protest in a public space. Homophobes protests at gay pride. Anti abortionists protest at abortion clinics. But when people try to protest publicly against the Church Con of Scientology, Scientologists go out of their way to try and make those peoples lives a misery.

Their current target is a man named Gregg who agreed to be the signee on the permits allowing the peaceful protest to go ahead in Boston. As Scientology have his details they have began making allegations against him and have him tied up in legal wrangling, as is their usual tactic to shut up those they don't like.

If anyone out there labours under the delusion that Scientology isn't all that bad pick up Piece of Blue Sky (UK) (Piece of Blue Sky (US))and you'll soon realise just how horrible an organisation it is.