Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath Reddit AMA Special Monday 10/9c A&E

[passionflower]

I never heard of this before. The TV series just brought this up
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_McPherson

 

[DexterMorgan]

David is supposedly considered the pope of this religion.

But he didn't want his father revived while having a heart attack or health problem.

And he exiled his wife for opening her eyes to basic things.

So if Tom Cruise and other big names look up to David.

Then hopefully no one ever has health problems and need saving while these idiots are around. Jmo.

 

[Angie682]

I've watched every episode. Any church that has locked gates and barbed wire to keep its members in is not a church I would want to belong to. The thought of having a minder, spending 250k to be a member or losing your family if you opt to leave is frightening. It makes you wonder if Tom Cruise or John Travolta will ever leave? I also wonder how many people are being held against their will.

 

[Madeleine74]

How many episodes is this series? Was it just the 3 plus the "ask me anything" episode?

They're doing a great job of presenting the experiences of a diverse number of escapees.

This is not a church, it's a long-con and extortion abyss with the goal of extracting every bit of $$$ out of brainwashed cult members. When people have to run out the doors and plan escapes to get away, that's akin to being kidnapped, IMO.

What an evil little man that David Miscaviage is. A little Napolean. I'd seen shows on this cult and him before, but it really brings it all home, packaged and distributed to a potentially wider audience.

Wish he'd be arrested and convicted of battery, abuse, kidnapping and other felonies. He needs to be put away, far away, in a state or fed prison.

 

[LindaMac]

I picked up a L. Ron Hubbard book in the 70's when I was 20. It was the craziest most cult-like thing I ever read. I thought, how can an ordinary man, such as the author,believe he has more power than God? I am spiritual. It is within me, and bringsme peace and happiness. It didn’t cost me a dime, and I didn’t go through theseoutrageous abuses these members went through. I’ve never understoodhow people could buy into such a thing? I’m very happy Leah is doing thisseries for exposure to this cult. Earlythis year, I started receiving mailings from Scientology. Strange, I thought.In my 63 years I’ve never received one before, let alone three in less than ayear. They were recruitment-like. I thought this was all just weird until Iheard of and started watching Leah’s show. I now wonder if it is because of hershow. Are they so afraid of losing members that they are trying to get newones? One wouldn’t think that this gigantic corporation would have to worryabout money.

 

[chlban]

Since Cruise spewed his stuff with Matt, about Brooke Shields, did the couch-dancing thing on Oprah, I have absolutely refuse to watch any movie he's in. I will not give one red cent to that arrogant lunatic.

ITA. I have never watched another of his movies since that time. He absolutely makes my skin crawl.

Normally, I do not hold an artists personal or political views against them. Loretta Lynn campaigns for George W Bush? She is still one of the greatest talents of her generation and I will never stop listening to her music. She has a right to her political views, like everyone else.

But, there is a point where I know I cannot ever enjoy anything they produce. Rapists like Cosby, Child molesters, whom I will refrain from naming since his death moved him back to sainthood for some, or arrogant pigs like Cruise. Never.

OTOH, I kinda love Katie Holmes for blindsiding him exactly as he blindsided Nicole. Karma is an awesome thing.

 

[Hatfield]

ITA. I have never watched another of his movies since that time. He absolutely makes my skin crawl.

Normally, I do not hold an artists personal or political views against them. Loretta Lynn campaigns for George W Bush? She is still one of the greatest talents of her generation and I will never stop listening to her music. She has a right to her political views, like everyone else.

But, there is a point where I know I cannot ever enjoy anything they produce. Rapists like Cosby, Child molesters, whom I will refrain from naming since his death moved him back to sainthood for some, or arrogant pigs like Cruise. Never.

OTOH, I kinda love Katie Holmes for blindsiding him exactly as he blindsided Nicole. Karma is an awesome thing.

You succinctly put into words what I have been thinking and could not figure out how to convey. You hit the nail on the head for me too.

I normally try enjoy actors and musicians for their talent and if they have views different than mine then I try not to hold it against them and just enjoy their talent. But you are so right that there is a line that if they cross it for me then I simply cannot enjoy them anymore.

Thank you for expaining it so well.

 

[Hatfield]

I picked up a L. Ron Hubbard book in the 70's when I was 20. It was the craziest most cult-like thing I ever read. I thought, how can an ordinary man, such as the author,believe he has more power than God? I am spiritual. It is within me, and bringsme peace and happiness. It didn’t cost me a dime, and I didn’t go through theseoutrageous abuses these members went through. I’ve never understoodhow people could buy into such a thing? I’m very happy Leah is doing thisseries for exposure to this cult.Earlythis year, I started receiving mailings from Scientology. Strange, I thought.In my 63 years I’ve never received one before, let alone three in less than ayear. They were recruitment-like. I thought this was all just weird until Iheard of and started watching Leah’s show. I now wonder if it is because of hershow. Are they so afraid of losing members that they are trying to get newones? One wouldn’t think that this gigantic corporation would have to worryabout money.

Can you think of anything you may have done recently where they could have gotten you on their mailing list? Maybe through purchasing something on an internet site or visiting a site where you had to register and they sold the mailing list to them?

It is scary how mailing lists get sold from one company to another. Its one reason why I hate to register anywhere online because it seems as soon as I do then I start receiving telemarketing calls or other mailed solicitations.

As a funny example I recently went to a Captain Crunch cereal website to see if I "won" a prize. LOL And of course I had to register to see if my cereal box code number matched the winning prize code. I knew I would not win and I was foolish for even trying but this one day curiosity got the best of me and I checked it out. Right afterwards I started to get strange mailed solicitations for all sorts of strange offers in the mail. I knew right away where they got my address. Captain Crunch sold the mailing list to everyone in the world. LMAO
Im gonna sink the Ole Capn's ship if I ever see him. LOL

I also find it scary how when I do purchase something online how ads pop up for similar products as I surf the net. They must have "cookies" that know what I purchased. Pretty scary stuff how they steal people's personal information. I am sure its in the fine print when I ordered the product that I did give permission for them to do that.

Its almost impossible to avoid letting our information get out to marketers because we then would not be able to do anything. We would have to lock ourselves in our homes and never come out and throw our computers in the trash. LOL

 

[nanwv]

"exactly as he blindsided Nicole." Karma is an awesome thing.

Any one able to refresh me on how Cruise blindsided Nicole?

 

[chlban]

What I recall is that they had just renewed their vows, a month or so before. It was reported, and confirmed by Nicole years later, that she had no idea a divorce was on the horizon or even that Tom was unhappy.

There has been speculation that the issue was Nicole was not so enthralled with the church, hadn't been for some time and that was the primary reason. Whether that is true or not, of course we do not know, but it doesn't seem that far fetched.

Tom and the church also did a really good job of turning the two children against their mother and the relationship remains strained. From what I see on the front of the tabloids these days, Tom is not seeing Suri at all, so sure looks like Karma to me.

 

[Gracenote]

Actually the laboring mother can "make noises" but cannot say words lest you imprint on the baby. In Paulette Cooper's book she describes a man who had a bad rash on his bottom and it was traced back to his mother asking for Aspirin ( burn) when he was in the womb. , Nevermind that a baby can't even speak or understand English until they are older. But what do you expect from a science fiction writer.

 

[Madeleine74]

Gosh I am really enjoying this series and am so glad I started watching it. Episode #5 was on the other night. Another escape detailed by a fairly high ranking couple who was in the cult. Husband got out first and wife followed sometime later.

The big :-O revealed in this episode is the fact that seaorg members who sign those billion year contracts are not allowed to have children and if/when the woman/wife gets pregnant, she is expected to have an abortion ASAP.

This couple were forced to abort their first child. They later had 3 boys after escaping, but the emotional scars of the coercion and not standing up for herself really took its toll on the wife. Couples actually spend very little time together and the cult arranges it so they work opposite schedules as much as possible. Plus seaorg members work all the time, massive amounts of overtime, for no extra pay and pennies on the dollar.

 

[Davia18]

My husband and I have been watching and he gets crazy and doesn't understand how anyone can think any of this is true and they stay and do the things they do. I tried to tell him some start so young they are brainwashed. Then I pointed out, we have convinced our 4 year old son that a fat man wearing a red suit flies around on Christmas Eve behind deer and brings good kids toys and so on with the tooth fairy and Easter Bunny.
It's very sad to think how many members there are and how sad many of them probably are.

 

[Safeguard]

My husband and I have been watching and he gets crazy and doesn't understand how anyone can think any of this is true and they stay and do the things they do. I tried to tell him some start so young they are brainwashed. Then I pointed out, we have convinced our 4 year old son that a fat man wearing a red suit flies around on Christmas Eve behind deer and brings good kids toys and so on with the tooth fairy and Easter Bunny.
It's very sad to think how many members there are and how sad many of them probably are.

Hahaha! Right? I actually could never bring myself to tell my kids that was true. I took a lot of crap from relatives for refusing to make them believe that. I taught it as a Myth, a lovely fairy-tale, but not the truth. We acted out all the usual traditions and all that, but I remember finding out my parents lied about that, and maybe I was an overly sensitive kid, but I was pissed! It wasn't pleasant at all finding out the truth. I never quite trusted them the same afterwards either...

 

[AuntB]

I have a couple of questions. I'm not sure if this is the correct episode, but in one of these recent episodes, Leah said she and Mike talk constantly about things they might do. One of the ideas she specifically mentioned was dropping pamphlets which is something I'd thought about too... Has this ever been tried? I also thought about one of those planes that drags a message banner behind it? In some ways, I think the banner would work better.

If nothing else, a pamphlet (or banner plane) could provide members with contact information about support (is there support?) available on the outside for ex-members since some of the members who want to leave may not feel that they have any place to go.


Also wondering... How do Sea Org members advance in scientology, since they don't earn much money and (I assume) they don't have the money to pay for the materials required for advancing?

 

[tlcya]

Also wondering... How do Sea Org members advance in scientology, since they don't earn much money and (I assume) they don't have the money to pay for the materials required for advancing?

RSBM I think that was discussed in the most recent episode called Golden Era. From what I understood, Sea Org members sign the billion year contract and then their classes are paid for by the organization. With the understanding that should they leave the program or escape they are then billed for the money spent by the org to advance them through the classes. I think they called it freeloader debt.

I have only seen the Golden Era episode once and will be watching it again. It was a very good episode. http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...p-E-Leah-Remini-Scientology-and-the-Aftermath

 

[condorchristi]

Agree. Good on Ms. Remini for exposing the rather shocking lengths Scientology Management will go to in an attempt to discredit their detractors. Obviously it's well beyond the pale.
On the other hand...if this is what you want to do with your time and money...more power to you.

On the third hand, when Hurricane Katrina hit, I saw the red cross at the shelter ( I was at the Astrodome). I saw the Lions Club (a lodge), CVS pharmacists worked around the clock. There were dozens of other entities helping out with relief efforts, job placement, etc... Never saw the scientologists there. Nor have I seen them active in any of the various cities I've lived in as far as outreach goes.
Seems as though the Scientologists have their own idea of how to help thy neighbor.

 

[DaisyChains]

My Sig Other's father installs the security cameras around the compound there. He is creeped out every time he has gone. He is not allowed anywhere without a chaperone. He is probably one of the only non-scientologists allowed on certain areas of the premises. That's all I will say about it as we are aware the church is watching everywhere.

You would think they would make sure someone who is working on their security systems is a scientologist though - even though my sig other's dad is trustworthy and has no intention to reveal anything about the church.

The area where the church headquarters are located is in hemet, which is basically cattle fields and empty land unless you are on one of the track housing developments a few miles away. It's surreal to watch the special and literally look out my window to see the area where the headquarters are.

 

[DaisyChains]

I also dated a man shortly who had escaped from the church, but his sister and parents were still in it. His father was very close to the higher ups in the organization. His father had cancer and the guy I was dating decided he no longer supported the church if his dad was not allowed to seek medical care (which he wasn't). He was concerned about his sister essentially being a slave b/c she had signed the billion year contract or whatever and owed tons of money to the church or the church gave her family money for signing the contract (I don't know how it all works). His family did not speak to him. He had ran off to Georgia.

 

[DaisyChains]

My Sig Other's father installs the security cameras around the compound there. He is creeped out every time he has gone. He is not allowed anywhere without a chaperone. He is probably one of the only non-scientologists allowed on certain areas of the premises. That's all I will say about it as we are aware the church is watching everywhere.

You would think they would make sure someone who is working on their security systems is a scientologist though - even though my sig other's dad is trustworthy and has no intention to reveal anything about the church.

The area where the church headquarters are located is in hemet, which is basically cattle fields and empty land unless you are on one of the track housing developments a few miles away. It's surreal to watch the special and literally look out my window to see the area where the headquarters are.

I just wanted to amend this b/c I just spoke with my SO and he said his father did not do the security cameras, but instead set up the satellites on the property. He did say though that there was a person designated to be about 2 feet from him at all times. He couldn't even use bathroom without person being right outside of the door.

Just to add he did say that the compound is covered in cameras and that the people who do them most likely ARE scientologists. He also said his dad's friend has a ranch that butts up to the compound and police have showed up before when he was Hunting b/c church was worried when they heard gunshots. The police knew his exact make and model of gun from the Scientologists who had seen the gun with their super high tech surveillence camera. The guy is a dairy farmer and he has had people who escape come through his property. I won't post anymore. I just wanted to correct my statement about SO's dad doing security cameras rather than the satellite system.