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Last night, Rock Center with Brian Williams aired a 10 minute segment featuring two very high ranking ex Scientologists, former second in command Marty Rathbun and former Scientology spokesperson, Mike Rinder. (That video is above.) Rathbun and Rinder detailed the harassment, stalking, abuse and disconnection from family members that they endured after leaving the church. It was an incredible look into how the church intimidates members in order to maintain a culture of fear. One of the best moments was when they showed an 1998 interview that Rinder himself did with NBC in which he claimed that Scientology doesn’t make family members disconnect from people who leave the fold. (That’s at 7:30 in the video above.) Now the shoe is definitely on the other foot, and Rinder admitted that his 1998 self looked “like a sleazeball” and that he was lying back then. (We’ve covered these type of stories in the past, so rather than recap them, I’ll just include these links to Rinder’s story and Rathbun’s story.)
After learning all this about how they treat people who leave, how easy is it to believe that Tom freaked out and screamed at Katie for days when she dared question Scientology?
Getting back to NBC’s coverage, they later ran about a four minute background on the history of Scientology and the beliefs of practitioners. (You can watch that segment here) It was a way of legitimizing the cult by drawing comparisons to other religions. It’s worth noting that Rathbun and at least 60 other parishioners call themselves “Independent Scientologists” and still practice apart from the Scientology organization. Die hard Scientologist call people who practice independently “squirrels.” Rathbun was harassed for nearly a year by a team of Scientologists who rented a house across the street from him, wore T-shirts with his head superimposed on top of a squirrel, and called themselves “squirrel busters.” (You can read more about that here, and watch videos of them here. His experiences are also covered in the video above.)
Needless to say the “church” of Scientology wasn’t pleased that this story was about to air, even though NBC attempted to be fair and did include all of Scientology’s ridiculous claims trying to discredit their sources. The most telling part for me was at the end of the “What is Scientology” segment. Correspondent Kate Snow described how she’s been inundated with letters and emails since they started working on this story:
Kate Snow: They made it very difficult for us to do this story tonight.
Brian Williams: They were not thrilled to know this was coming.
Kate Snow: That’s an understatement. In the past 24 hours we have received letter after letter from attorneys from the church, attorneys for Tom Cruise, family members. Within the past hour I got two more letters from family members of Mike Rinder saying that he’s a liar.
And they asked us not to run this story tonight.
Brian Williams: Of course because of this divorce case they are squarely in the spotlight.
Scientology is in the spotlight, as Williams mentioned. We’ve heard Marty Rathbun predict Cruise’s every move in the divorce, down to the PR blitz that Scientology is conducting now. The latest? “Someone” told the LA Times that “Scientology officials stayed out of ‘Kate’ Holmes – Tom Cruise divorce.”
Maybe they did, but it’s not like Cruise hasn’t internalized every single Scientology concept by now. It’s not like he wasn’t calling up Miscavige for personal advice.
“Kate” Holmes, really? How much more transparent can they be? Everyone knows that’s Tom’s pet name for her. It wasn’t enough to give her a whole new life and separate her from her friends and family, he had to rename her too. Well now she’s taking all that back, and Cruise’s cult is getting exposed by the mainstream media. Finally. I’m just waiting for 60 Minutes to do something on Scientology*. You know it will be epic.
Oh and after I wrote this story I found this other fluff piece on Scientology in the LA Times, as pointed out by The Village Voice.
*60 Minutes did do a report on Scientology in 1997. Transcript is here and video is here. It was about the way that Scientology took over the Cult Awareness Network.
This photobomb is awesome, right?
Update: The photo above is from the Super 8 premiere in June, 2011. As you can see from where Tom is standing, the crowd would have been right behind him. So that’s a random guy photobombing in the image above.
Photo credit: WENN.com
Why is Tom Cruise so desperate to be married? Why doesn’t he just marry another Cult member and be done with it?
Because for sociopath (like Tom C. nobody tells me that he is emotionally stable) is not fun to break someone who is already broken. Fun is when sociopath must do it all by himself. It is like sick challenge.
I thought that too, he must enjoy it; his control issues are very scary, and says more about his character than PR does.
That sent a shiver up my spine. Now that you’ve said it, it does make a certain sick kind of sense.
I wondered what had happened to Nicole in that marriage. She went into the marriage as a beautiful, smiling, open looking person and came out of it a shell of her former self. All these years later and she’s STILL afraid.
I think Anne de vries is right, having Tom choose Katie,a famous enough woman who appears to reject her Catholic upbringing and seemingly chooses to adopt COS teachings was their attempt to further manipulate public perception.
It would, in their warped eyes, add credence to their organization to have a convert rather than someone who’s already brainwashed.
Thats beyond creepy. I agree though. Sad, because you know that some starlet that wants to be famous will again fall for his “I’ll make you a star” line again. So the next marriage will be what? Number 4? He must be so proud to be involved with Scientology with a record like that.
I think that Julianne Hough would make a perfect wife #4. I think she is not above selling her soul to become an A-Lister, and Ryan Sechrest is not holding the ladder for her high enough AND she is already accustomed to short men. IMO.
Dibba there were reports that it was less about being married than it was about image. The search for the wife coincided with the rise of Brad and Angie. Both superstars, an getting super hot, if scandalous, press. Tom is supposed to be the biggest star in the world! He is suppose to be able to get the hottest women! Some nobody from the Sea Org wasn’t going to cut it. His problem was the hottest women and biggest female stars were not interested. He wanted to be one half of a super couple. What a disaster! Did he learn his lesson? We will see…
My money says the next one will be a “normal” woman because he’s so sick of actresses and what divas they are.
one who doesn’t have “money of her own”
I think it’s also at least partly about making a big, public conversion as a ‘win’ for the Co$.
I think Scientology is trying to get two earners into the cult and the easiest way is through marriage.
This is a reply to Dibba:
Because, that would make too much sense my logical one.
His first wife, Mimi Rogers, not only was and is a Scientologist, but also was the person who got Tiny Tom involved in the cult in the first place.
He may well be marrying Catholic girls and trying to convert them in order to demonstrate his abilities at mind control or something, but when it comes to being married to a fellow Scientologist, he *has* been there and done that.
The more they squeal, the more culty and crazeee! it seems that $cientology is. If they just shut the hell up, people wouldn’t notice the man behind the curtain, and knowing how America is, would probably forget all about it.
You’re right of course. But they cannot afford to take even a tiny risk because they have been commissioned by Misgavige to fight, fight, fight and not stop fighting. Because Misgavige knows full well what he is doing is illegal. The $cilon goons don’t know any other way. So they’ll continue until Misgavige gives them a different directive. And he’s terribly short-sighted. No pun intended.
LOL!! Oh no, please…intended!!!!
oh well, it was just a ‘tiny’ pun wasn’t it?
The LA Times…
I didn’t realize people actually read that. I thought it was printed for lining cat boxes.
**Oh, and the photo bomb in the last pic is priceless.
I was thinking the same thing (about the photo bomb). Best part of this whole story 😀
Lol… so agree on the photo bomb, is that Donald Faison?! Eheh, funny man 🙂
That’s what I thought- he is so damn cute!
Faison was on WWHL with Andy Cohn (sp?)last night. Very easy on the eyes!
I thought the photo-bomber was Fresh Prince Will Smith….waiting in the wings to take Tom’s place as the World’s #1 Xenu-Celeb.
LMAO! Is that Donald Faison (from Scrubs)?
That’s what I thought! It looks just like him.
Yup, that’s him!
Ha! Thank you for pointing that out. Funny.
Hee, hee!!
Photo bomb of the YEAR!!
That’s not Donald Faison! I’ll update with another photo – the crowd was right behind Tom and that’s a random guy.
Sorry CB! Definitely Faison.
http://www.mptvimages.com/cgi-bin/imageFolio.cgi?action=view&link=Licensed/Non-Restricted/Red_Carpet/Recent_Events/Events_S_thru_U/Super_8_Premiere_6_8_2011&image=24072_0328.jpg&img=0&search=Super%208%20Premiere&cat=Licensed/Non-Restricted&tt=&bool=and
LOL! Thank you Leah. That man is awesome, but now he needs special protection or something…
Stay cool and use burner phones, Donald! 🙂
+1, exactly what I was scrolling down to say (about the photobomber). Hilarious!
Sorry OT, but funny!
I took my kid to see Norah Jones last week and the people in the row in front of us would NOT stop taking pics toward us with flash. We couldn’t watch the show.
You know what they got? Me, with a huge smile flipping them off in every pic. I loved it. I’m hoping to show up on some photo bomb site. They totally deserved it.
OrigTiff, funny! 😆
Donald Faison photobombing Tom Cruise is my favorite part of the entire story.
Love me some Donald Faison!!!!
This is getting good.
Alright those photos of him are starting to freak me out a little.
I know!! He look so dead-behind-the-eyes and evil at the same time! Like a shark.
He looks positively manic.
That’s the impression I’ve had of him ever since the sofa-jumping episode. Maybe he’s bipolar?
Y’know, in that first pic, I can never decide whether that’s a shine on his forehead or a botox vein…..
To me he always looks like he wants to eat your eyeballs…
Poor stupid Tom..wish he could enjoy life more…taking his meths on time.
He had potential 20 year ago..so sad the way things worked out for him..
he looks like he just wants a HONEST good cuddle…anyone?
Meths. Haha. He really appears to be on the meths 😉
I haven’t watched all the links yet, but may I say that the first video still has me crying. Crying for what happened to us, to everyone in this cult. It is so abusive, evil, malicious, etc. It is gut wrenching and I feel for anyone who ever got involved, cept maybe Tiny Hitler and Tommy. They deny, while the victims are tortured. FU COS!
Every word true, this is their MO, THIS is what they did and are doing to my family. Same exact story. They follow my aunt around, my grandfather-still. THIS IS what they did to Nicole, this is what he wants to slowly do to Suri.
It is evil beyond comprehension. THAT IS ALL.
So, you are a former COS member? Is that what you are claiming? Please shed some light…what is the motive??? Why do they follow people around…intimidate, lie, all of it. Why? And why don’t those who deflect press charges? The allegations against the COS are criminal yet one doesn’t hear of charges. I don’t get it.
I’d like to add that I would like to see continued media coverage on the COS so that all of the allegations are exposed so that action to close down the cult happens.
Ummmm, NO WAY. I have been posting on the regular on each of these posts and speaking out for years.
Go back and read some of the old posts, its too long of a story to recount again.
I have spilled every single secret I know about them. My Aunt just blew, my grandfather 10 years ago. Seriously go back and re-read my posts if you want the inside scoop. I also worked next door at CHLA. They are always out trying to suck people in.
Also, read the village voice links, read Inside Scientology, read all the links. Every word is true, except for the words the cult says.
@OTiff —
Just wanted you to know I’ve been sharing your experiences with everyone I know. Scientology doesn’t have a huge presence where I live (thankfully), so a lot of people really weren’t getting the gravity of the situation.
By telling the tales of ‘my friend Tiff’, I’ve been able to open a lot of eyes to just how dangerous that Psycho cult is.
As much as it pains me to know what you and your family are going through, I hope you can find comfort that your ordeal has given this situation a more personal element, and those who didn’t care 2 weeks ago are now vigilant is their opposition to Scientology ever staking any claims around here.
As always, my prayers are with you for your family’s safe return.
Original Tiff, I cannot do anything for your family, but I can tell everyone I know about the evils of Co$. Spread the word far and wide and blow this evil cult wide open. I’m bringing it up in casual conversations with everyone I know. They say knowledge is power.
Tiffany: In reviewing the LA times article, the interviewee says they believe in a God. I have never ever heard reference to this. Is there any basis in fact or is it just more $cilon spin? – Like when they told Katie she could be a Christian AND a $cilon (which was a huge lie designed to suck her in.)
And another thing: Christians should be highly offended that the $cilons have ripped off their cross and stuck it on $cientology buildings in a vain attempt to make it look more mainstream religion.
That’s a rosicrucian cross they have on that photo and I’ve seen it on their podiums. The cross signifies Jesus’ crucifixion and nothing else. More attempts to pass it off as a “church” to satisfy taxing authorities in the US. They have also deconstructed the Jewish Star of David on their other logos.
great observations.
They don’t believe in a god – Ole Hubs is the closest thing to one I guess.
Xenu is closer to their devil – he is feared, not revered.
One of the most recent articles I read stated that CO$ teaches that Jesus is a pedophile. I think they also teach that Christianity is a lie implanted by Xenu.
Tom Cruise is the only person, that I’ve read about in the last few years, who claims that you can be a Catholic, etc and still be a scientologist.
They absolutely do not believe in God, and what they believe is completely incompatible with any other religion, or with even believing in reality. They are told that Jesus and God and Mohammed and Buddha and everything else any religion is based on and most of human history are lies implanted in thetans through movies they were forced to watch by Xenu.
Seriously.
All other religions have stories that are at least good stories even if you don’t believe in the religion. Instead, Scientology has this Xenu bullshit. Just goes to show what a poor writer L. Ron Hubbard was.
Actually, it’s Aleister Crowley’s cross and it symbolizes the Cross with an “X” through it, meaning Anti-Christianity. Hubbard was an associate of Jack Parsons who was a disciple of Crowley, a Satanist who claimed he was the Beast 666. Hubbard basically stole Crowley’s symbol for his own use.
In one audio clip, Hubbard called Crowley his great friend and in another he said “there was no Christ”
You can hear the clips yourself here;
Hubbard calls Crowley his great friend
http://www.xenu.net/archive/multimedia.html
Hubbard says there was “no christ”(scroll down page to find it)
http://ezlink.com/~perry/CoS/Theology/christian.htm
OTiff,
My heart just bleeds for you and your family, for what you have gone and are still going through.
Your comments about the culthave always affected me and just know that there are many of us out here who support you 100% in your views.
Take comfort that so many more people are finally having their eyes opened to how evil the cult is. We’re playing our part here, thanks to CB.
Keep strong – the day is coming when those responsible for such heinous crimes will face retribution. {{hugs}}
I didn’t see your response until after I posted mine. Glad to know I’m not the only one taking this to heart and trying to make a difference.
🙂 Keep it up! Let’s bring it down!!
So sorry to hear your family has gone through this; I have a friend who also left the church after a few years. It’s probably 20 years later and she STILL gets mail from them, despite several moves AND a name change. Anyone who doesn’t think they’re a cult, and a dangerous one at that, is deluded. And it really offends me that they hide behind this “religion” thing – it was only designated as a “religion” when they figured out tax breaks would be very lucrative.
@OriginalTiffany – the more Marty Rathburn talks, the more it makes me angry at him.
Both Marty and Mark Rinder were top of the co$ tree with the munchkin David. They implemented alot of what your family has gone through.
It makes me so angry and crazy that they are now squealing to the media – in their own words, to protect themselves from co$.
Why aren’t they protecting other co$ members? it’s all very well trying to convince us who are non-co$ members and hopefully not fool enough to fall for co$ but where is the protection for the rank and file co$ who defected or want to defect? where is the protection for your family?
Of course he can evade the squirrel busters – he was part of the system that implemented them and knowledge of how they work unlike rank and file co$.
Debbie Cook, was not able to evade. She was thrown into the hole in the desert.
And when she got out, she didn’t just defect, she wrote to the other co$ members directly so they got the message unfiltered and unblocked from the scigoons.
Not Marty Rathburn who can apparently keep a blog when we all know co$ members are banned from the internet or have filters and will not be able to see said blog.
Based on his previous position, and knowing the organisation so well he can predict how they will react to Tom Cruise divorce, why isn’t he helping the FBI take them down. He knows where the bodies are buried, figuratively speaking. And apparently how to out-wit the munchkin David.
You should post a comment like this on Brian Williams’ site. Your points are brilliant. Maybe (fingers crossed) someone will take notice.
Everyone, first off thank you SO much. This is a serious business.
I decided to come clean, to name names and make myself known because I cannot stand by after watching what this cult has done.
Thank you all for spreading the story. It should ring true since it is virtually the same story they all share.
Rinder and Rathbun won’t talk because they know if they do their families will be thrown in the hole or sent for re-programming. I still wish they would tell all, but they still follow independent COS, they just hate Tiny Hitler. That’s disappointing. I just came to a point where I have no more f*cks to give. Even if the two remaining get their asses busted, it is worth telling the truth, telling how seemingly normal people get sucked in to signing their lives away.
How childhood is stolen, how children can grow to hate a parent, how a spouse can walk away and never look back.
I’m honored that some of you call me your friend Tiff. I’m glad I came forward and I don’t care that the OSA reads my posts. Hi, Daniel, Hi Roberta!
I hope it goes down. Erasing people’s minds is not cool. They don’t believe in a god, they believe in LRH. I believe I have been speaking out since I joined this site years ago. I’m glad Katie has her family, you don’t get normal right away.
My family still isn’t-the ones that got away. Believe me, they followed them to NY and KY and still do.
@Veruca – is it the daily nightly news blog?
I am posting my comment on all these people’s blogs.
let me play devil’s advocate – is it possible that the only way they can protect/help those who are still in is by speaking out as they’re now doing? Aren’t they also involved with helping people who are in get assistance in making their escapes?
@LAK —
That was the one I was thinking, but I’m glad to hear you’re getting that message out to the major news sources.
I know we have a lot of discussions going that carry over to other sites (like CDAN & Dlisted), but if the mainstream media starts getting rabid, they might just go after Devil Miscarraige with gusto.
Excellent comment Lak very insightful,
And OTiff my thoughts are with you and your family, please stay strong and know that when you speak out like this it is giving others a personal side to these stories of the CO$, it makes what they do less abstract,and more real.
Great post, LAK. Really really good. I agree 100%.
@olcranky – you have a very good point.
I haven’t read anywhere that Rathburn is helping anyone transitioning out of co$ except to spread his personal i hate David message.
Rather than saying that he was part of the process, he is very cleverly talking about ‘them/david’ rather than i did this….which based opon his position as top 3-4 co$ tree, he most definitely did. And again given his position in co$, if he simply looked the other way whilst all this was going on, he is as complicit as Tom Cruise is.
He is happy to admit that he personally brainwashed Tom Cruise but doesn’t apologise for it or the obvious results. Tom Cruise wouldn’t have been his first ‘victim’ because Rathburn was an auditor for many years before being asigned to Cruise. Therefore many more victims are a direct result of his actions.
here is how i view it based upon justice system as far as defectors are concerned, especifically mafia. They may regret their actions, and squeal to the authorities to help bring down the Don, but they still get punished – even if the sentence is lenient.
Why should he be any different?
According to him, the munchkin David is the only problem with co$, so take out David, co$ is alright. He should be doing more of that and less of trying to convince me about co$.
I think going down the road of being angry at former Sci’s for being in the cult in the first place is fruitless.
Like all of us in life, people make mistakes. They always have the right to change thier choices as they move forward to make life better. Obviously if anyone had a the full knowledge of what they were getting into they would not go down this road. Saying that they should of have known is pretty unconstructive.
We’re all evolving people and I applaud anyone at any level of COS that breaks free and speaks out.
@G – Look at all the dictator regimes around the world that have fallen as recently as Libya. It is easier for a high ranking official with insider knowledge to bring the system down. It’s not as though we didn’t know about the evils of Gadaffi. And i know there was more at play in that situation, but the point remains the same. Only when Musa Kusa defected and went straight into the arms of allies’ information system were the rebels’ attacks better organised and ultimately prevail.
a rank and file co$ speaking out or attempting to bring down co$ isn’t going to make the slightest bit of difference in any forum except to make us helplessly aware. @originaltiffany has talked about co$ and what they do on this blog for quite some time. Only now is it really registering with other cbers and only because co$ suddenly has a higher profile because of a celebrity divorce.
Will FBI believe her against a million dollar machine like co$? Not unless she can lead them to the bodies in the desert.
Rathburn and Rinder have that information. They can make a difference. Given their former position, i very much doubt that they haven’t protected their own families in a way @originaltiffany is unable to do for her family.
edit:- another thing, look at what he does with the squirrel busters following him. He has evidence that they are harrassing him and rather than take that information to the authorities, he writes it down in a book for $17.99 [whatever the current price] at Amazon.com
Something like that could have started a chain reaction that brought co$ down. see Al capone.
Marty and Mark did work extensively with the FBI but the investigation ended by command from Washington. It was planned to raid the Hemut compound (Gold Base or Int. Base). You can read about it at the Village Voice (http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/03/scientology_fbi_investigation_over.php). Why a new investigation isn’t going on I can’t say because the cult’s actions appear criminal. The best chance my be with the IRS for fraud, money laundering, etc. Also, the LA Times piece is a travesty of journalism. If you agree and have the time write a letter to the editor asking that they publish a story of a Scion who’s escaped to balance that paid PR article or something like that.http://www.latimes.com/la-op-email-form,0,5759779.customform
@Tucker – Thanks for that link and information, and i am posting my comment there as well.
I see this as an Al Capone situation. It took them years to get him, and even then it was tax evasion rather than the mafioso activities so whatever it takes.
It’s not enough to be aware people. we all need to help and bring thse people down.
@ LAK, you’re welcome. Here’s another link about Marty helping people out of the cult. It’s the twisted tale of Daniel Montalvo who escaped with Marty’s help and then was arrested by order of Scientology in LA. http://markrathbun.wordpress.com/2010/10/08/free-daniel-montalvo/
It isn’t just one celbrity or one person that is going to effect change on COS or expose it. I know in our celebrity culture it’s dramatic to think that Katie could “blow COS wide open” or something like but that’s not going to happen.
In reality it’s not that simple and it take a multiplicity of actions, people and circumstances to make something like that happen. Remember, that if you asked the vast majority of people who are in COS what they think about it, they would say that they are happy to be involved?
@ LAK
I haven’t watched the clip yet so don’t know if he discussed it but, last year, the Squirrel Busters got Marty arrested for assault. The charges were dropped (by the DA) but the story itself is fascinatiing.
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/09/scientology_has.php
@G – i agree with you 100%. Rathburn has the same view about co$ ie that he is happy to remain a co$ even as he practises independently.
@Mich – did he counter sue? It seems to me that the squirrel busters are harrassing him often. Are there no harrassment laws? What about a class action against co$ from all the defecting co$? he knows co$ tactics, so i really fail to see how he can’t counter them except by going on the talk show circuit?
i will continue to rail against him though because he is in a position to do something in a way the ordinary person or even celebrity can’t do.
What celebrity does is simply focus the issue which then allows other factors to come into play. Katie was that celebrity this time, whether she wanted to or not. So he can use this current spotlight not to do the chatshow circuit but go to the authorities. It may take a long time, it may be instantaneous, the point is to keep trying.
it really isn’t enough to just talk about it. something needs to be done beyond all of us ‘becoming aware’.
@ LAK
His primary focus seems to be on helping people leave CO$. The Village Voice explains it well.
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/09/marty_rathbun_top_25_crippling_scientology.php
I’m not sure his pockets are deep enough to take on CO$ in court but he has given what he can to FBI investigations.
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/03/scientology_fbi_investigation_over.php
true dat…
my question is…
1. if there are so many allegations (murder, stalking, abuse, etc., ) than why hasn’t someone spearheaded an investigation?? why doesn’t someone go to the police and say “hey, so and so…murdered, so and so….gone, so and so hide financial records from the IRS, sea org has many reports of physical abuse, forced abortions, etc., etc., etc. )
– why is this ‘church’ not being investigated? because it’s a ‘church?’
I just don’t get it..
let me explain it in real person:
-let’s say i have reason to believe my sister is physically abusing her son (my nephew…farther from truth btw) but I have strong reasons to believe in this abuse.
what do i do? i gather my facts, dates, photos, any other material and head to the police! now, they are aware of the situation and can proceed accordingly…
—WHY isn’t this Church of CO$ under investigation???—-
Tiffany. Thanks for the response. Let me say that, though I’ve been a CB follower for years, I’ve not come across any of your posts on COS until today, which is why I asked for more info from you. I apologize if my asking was upsetting for you. You are very brave and I commend you for speaking out and I wish you and your family well. This is CrAaaaazZZZYYyyy stuff! Let’s hope other mainstream media outlets follow Rock Center’s suit and stay on this to expose COS finally and lead to obliterating the cult.
Nah, you didn’t upset me. I’m beyond that now. Just trying to get the truth out there. My posts are all over these COS postings. I could write a book!
Tiffany. Why not go directly to the national news? I’m a journalist, though not a national one. If you’d like me to help put you in touch with national media, let me know.
@bella, sigh. I would gladly love to do it. However, I don’t think my escaped family would want to. I might speak to my mom, she has more co tact than I do.
I guess I could write as anonymous, not sure how to do it. I have been mightily exposed, me not a member, but saw the strange progression of brainwashing, the espcapes with the cos cars coming to pressure them back in. I know they sent my grandfather to every reprogramming site, we thought he was dead he went missi g for so long.
Can you do something if you have a family story? I just speak out loudly whenever I can.
Not to mention the millions of dollars they spent.
So criminal.
@Tiffany. Yes, you could speak to the media regarding your family and all of your/their experiences with the COS. One would need solid information and specifics for national press, but the local press where your family is from would also be interested in the local angle. It depends what kind of information you’d be willing to share and how many others it affects.
I would suggest people amuse themselves sometime by googling “L. Ron Hubbard” and just one other keyword such as: fraud, scam, gulag, escape, blackmail….
I used to read a lot of science fiction in the 1950s and 1960s, and all the Co$ jargon I’ve seen recently reminds me strongly of that – it’s very science-fictiony, the sci-fi writers used terms like that to give a futuristic/outer space flavor (Hubbard was a sci-fi writer….). I don’t get a real scientific feel from it, though (I’m a real scientist now). All religions have their own jargon to talk about things of importance to them, but the science-fictiony Co$ jargon lacks authenticity to me.
Jesus passed along the Talmudic “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. L. Ron passed along the idea of “fair game”. Add that phrase to your keyword list.
As the Germans discovered with the Nazis, this is what happens when you get a perverted lunatic in charge- he attracts more perverts and sadists who are more than willing to carry out the demented policies. The followers believe they must endure the abuse for the greater good as well as their personal goals, that they are part of a grand project and the abuse is necessary to purify them for the task. They get to the point of easily rationalizing abuse of others, also (mob mentality at work). It’s an old story with many variations on the theme.
The escape stories seem quite consistent and believable. The psychological manipulation (“brainwashing”) techniques, including sleep and food deprivation and physical exhaustion as needed, encourage people to build their own internal prison, and sucking money out if them makes it even harder to get out once they’re in. Some period of real clarity is needed to plan and execute an escape.
And yet they try to claim that psychiatry was the cause of the Holocaust? How do they even justify the lunacy?
His eyes just scream crazy and desperately insecure. .Did Tom Cruise have a crappy childhood or is Co$ solely responsible for his crazy?
Yes, apparently his father was very abusive-and his mother eventually left. I think he’s also dyslexic (although he claims COS “cured him”) and I’m sure that was very difficult as a child.
This is why I have some sympathy for him. He was damaged enough he was easy pickings for them. It also explains his “I will take a bullet for my sisters” attitude as well. It’s also why he doesn’t use his real last name of Mapother, although Tom Cruise sounds sexier than Tom Mapother I have to admit.
i read somewhere that because of his dyxlexia the co$ people worked with him one on one rather than letting him read the doctrines himself.
A lot of people attracted to cults are victims of abuse. Provides community, fake safety, acceptance, and a family. Believe cults see them as vulnerable and they intentionally go after people with a background of abusive childhoods. They are usually already disengaged from family members, resent parents (maybe siblings) and have attachment issues. Perfect candidates for brainwashing & manipulation. Think Tom is a cult victim because of his abusive background, and have some sympathy for him. However, I don’t think its enough to excuse him from giving up his real current family for a bunch of controlling loonies.
It’s a chicken/egg conundrum: Do you have to be crazy to join a cult like the COS, or do they make you crazy once you’re in?
Kind of a “gang mentality”. Definitely messed up.
I watched last night and was impressed, this was the best coverage of the cult since this whole divorce went down, at least what I have seen, and admittedly, I am not around a TV very much, but have tried to catch stuff at night on the Co$ cult. I still don’t understand why no one is mentioning much about miscavige and his missing wife and the other missing people and the deaths. I mean that should be super strange that someone hasn’t seen their wife in 5 years. And where is tommy davis? I am glad the Brian Williams and Kate Snow had the courage to air this. And kudos to them for airing the BBC footage of the interviews with that fat crazy kirstie alley and the smirking idiotic juliette lewis and that woman named anne archer, never heard of her, but they all looked really stupid. “Do I look brainwashed to you?”. Uh yes, actually you do. Idiots. And the Co$ cult just constantly puts out ridiculous denials of everything and their go to defense is that everyone is lying. Reminds me of a 3 year old or something. I am so glad Katie made the great escape!
Wasn’t Anne Archer the wife in Fatal Attraction?
I wonder if she knows where her horrible son is now?
Yes, that’s right.
What kind of mother is she?? Is she so brainwashed that she isn’t questioning what’s happened to her son?
Or does she think ‘he’s brought it on himself’? Thats one of their beliefs, right?
Anne Archer was the go to actress in the 80s for that type of wifey role.
As co$ don’t really encourage family relationships perhaps she doesn’t know that he is missing.
or if she knows that he is missing, can’t do anything about it or believes whatever lie they’ve told her in explanation.
I saw the original interviews with alley, archer and lewis and lewis’s response to the questions was the only one that wasn’t over the top. I wanted to smack Kirstie Alley for flipping out and saying “would you ask that of a Jew?” and don’t know why the interviewer (was that Bashir? it’s been a while) didn’t just calmly respond that if you ask a practicing Jew questions about their beliefs, they’d answer you and their “holy books” and educational books are all available to public and studied openly (as well as criticized) by both adherents and non-Jews alike.
edit: @OriginalTiffany – I bet she knows exactly where her Tommy is.
I saw the Brian Williams piece last night, and when Kirstie Alley made that comment about asking the cult question of a Jew, all I could think, as a nice Jewish girl, is “Kirstie, go f**k yourself. Or Xenu. But don’t drag my religion into your cesspool.”
Actually, now that I’ve put it in writing, I feel even BETTER. So, thanks for letting me get that off my (Jewish) chest. 😉
It’s amazing that because they are so litigious they are able to deflect and hide all the horrible things they do. They are a CULT not a religion-and it is astounding that they are able to claim otherwise.
Actually Co$ is first and foremost a profit-making organization. The “religion” label was pasted on to get a tax exemption and hence more profits. But the real purpose is to make boatloads of money for those at the top.
The word cult is slippery and can often be used against religions that are simply competitors of the current mainstream religions in a certain time and place, and the label often falls off eventually (for example, Quakers were once considered a cult. So were Christians in general, actually). Today the cult label allows kidnapping and “deprogramming” of cult members without the usual consequences for such outrageous behavior, for instance. (Sorry if I offend, but people do have the right to be different from their parents no matter how dipstick their new allegiance seems. Concentrate on supporting people who really do want to leave, please.) But the Co$ is really in the same category as the Mafia, not the Lutherans….
Also important to remember that L. Ron Hubbard’s letters over the years have turned up more than one instance of him saying, “Religion is where the real money is” (I’m paraphrasing, but not by much.) He decided to make CO$ a religion when the psychiatric community rejected it, and when he realized he could get all that money tax free.
I suggest anyone interested in the story behind CO$ read “Barefaced Messiah,” a thorough bio of Hubbard. It really says it all.
Ha ha ha, Donald Faison in that last picture is hilarious. I really don’t see how Tom’s career can come back after this, his lawyers should NEVER have emailed NBC-if he wants to stay relevant, he needs to put some space between him and the cult for the time being-although it would be better if he left completely (and yes, I know that will never happen)
Didn’t read the story or anything; just came here to comment on how awesome that photobomb is. Donald for the win!
Very creepy video. Just seeing your picture on a T-shirt with a line through it would be very scary.
The Jersey Shore is the birthplace of Scientology? As a Jersey resident, I can now officially say that everything evil originates friom the Jersey Shore: the jersey devil, Snooki and the situation and Scientology.
As a Jersey resident you should know then that the Jersey Devil originates in the Pine Barrens and Snookie originates from New York. The shore was awesome before reality tv took over and if you stay away from Seaside it’s a totally different experience.
Here, here, snarks! I was born and raised at the shore, and most of those MTV fools are from Staten/Long Island. They just grace us with their presence every summer.
Ironically, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Scientology center here, but you can’t go one block without seeing a Catholic church or a synagogue.
You are right!
I don’t think I have ever seen a Cos center anywhere in NJ, just the one in NYC.
@sirsnark, I was being facetious. Yes I know the Jersey devil is from the pine barrens and that snookie is from NY. I go to Wildwood at least twice a year and thoroughly enjoy it.
@Cindy, I’ve never seen a Scientology center in jersey and I’m curious to know where exactly this home is located.
LOL, it must be a Hellmouth, like Sunnydale High School.
Good to see another Buffy fan on CB 🙂
Likewise, Mort. 😀
I enjoy reading your posts. You have an interesting career, too.
@Minty, thanks! I look forward to hearing more from you 🙂
The photo bomb is the best! I hope legitimate news sources continue to chip away at the cult. People are entitled to their own beliefs but not at the expense of human rights violations.
Oh this is priceless! Tom’s smile is scaring me though!..But hey, he should have no worries..he can FLY!!! LMAO! Or maybe just hover above the ground a foot or two so he can be taller without wearing those ridiculous lifts in his shoes! 😉
I did take note that when they announced their divorce…Katie’s lawyer called her “Katie” and Tom’s referred to her as “Kate.” It was just…odd. She never took to it, so I don’t get why he insisted on it.
It was one of many ways he thought he could exercise control over her.
We know different now!
KATE IS HER ACTUAL FIRST NAME!!!!!!!!! Not “Katie.” Her parents call her KAte still, not just Tom, so I do NOT think it shows his control or anything of the like.
Her professional name is Katie, not Kate. Which is the one that resonates with the public.
Remember a few years ago when Kidman’s bodyguard beat up the pap. It’s now making more sense. I’m not saying it was right, but if Nicole had been followed by COS for years paranoia might set it. This would be a good time for Nicole Kidman to speak out. The more COS is exposed the weaker they become.
I just hope Kate and co. can keep Suri away from the cult.
That has occurred to me too.
I thought tiny tom got braces to fix his teeth? If you look, one of his front teeth is squarely below his nose. Not under the nostril like normal people’s teeth are. Celebitchy can you find some pictures of the braces???
I read a while back that he was born with only 1 front tooth, so they had to make another one so he’d have a pair, and they could only move his existing one over so far. Something about a median line aberration or something. Anybody know about dentistry out there?
All this aside, I’m still laughing at the Donald Faison photo bomb at the end. 🙂
I thought that’s who it was! Haha!
Trying to kill a CO$ story on Brian Williams’ show. Oh hell nay. Brian will not be intimidated bitches. Go NBC.
I wish Rock Center had spent the whole hour covering Scientology. They should have discussed Miscavige’s missing wife and other missing members. They should have spent time on the death of Lisa McPherson. They only scratched the surface. Heck, I learned more about this evil cult from reading Celebitchy than from any TV news coverage.
exactly!! and i wish i had known it was on last night… i’d have watched w/ a nice fat cocktail beside me! thanx CB for at least posting the clips, etc. maybe they kept the segment short because they’re gonna bring it for real on a future episode!
You can still watch it online (on msnbc, I think). With the pause button, you have more time to savor your cocktail. 😉
Thanks CB, for helping throw light on Scientology’s sinister shade.
There you go. Over an hour of A&E on Scientology. Plus you get some stars talking and $cions. Mike Rinder does lots of talking, he was still inside. First part has been taken down, I’m linking the second one, there’s 12 I believe.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wnsh8V1H9SU&feature=bf_next&list=PLE6F5F6C2C3CBFCDA
OOoohhhh!! My Friday the 13th just got fun 🙂 I’m such a loser, I’m happily staying in tonite to sit at the computer watching this….
(w/ cocktails & feet up)
LA cartel eh? That’s what it sounds like, them intimidating every LA-based print.
Does a movie star have that much power, to influence a MAJOR television network?
Its not the movie star, so much as the web of powerful cult members behind him, the vast amounts of money, the legion of litigious lawyers and the backing of the huge film studios who want this story to die so that their upcoming movies will do well.
If he wasn’t so crazy into the CO$ I’d be hot for him. I feel like I grew up with him and the sound of his voice is very familiar and comfy. I remember him in “The Outsiders,” when his teeth were all gnarly. And those scenes in “Jerry McGuire” after their date and when she opens the bathroom door to see him standing in his undershirt – very sexy. Don’t hate on me, bitches.
The Outsiders came out before Tommy became a Sci, and Jerry Maguire was made when Tommy was non active in CO$, so ur crush on him is justified.
I still am befuddled how a science fiction writer started a religion.
It scares me in a way.
LRH started this cult to get rich, the way the founders/owners of those megachurches are rich, drive the biggest cars, live in big houses, travel first class.
Or look at the Vatican, owner of immense treasures, the pope wearing handmade Gucci shoes, the cardinals living in palaces while so many dioceses everywhere struggle.
Comparison with the Vatican isn’t appropriate. That isn’t personal wealth and if the Pope wears handmade shoes my bet is that they were a gift. Not a fan, but he doesn’t seem into an extravagant personal lifestyle. The surroundings come along with the title, just as the US President lives in the White House and state governors live in mansions. At one time church and state were closely linked and being a Cardinal was a political position that rich nobles bought for their sons. But not today. The existence of Vatican City as a political entity is a small remnant and is of historical and artistic value. Selling off 2000 years of history is not the only way to support cash-poor parishes.
Jedi is the religious denomination experiencing the most growth in Australia. You read that right, Jedi. . .as in yoda and Obi wan kenobe
I could get on board w/ Jedi. Plus you get cool robes.
And light sabers. Mine’s blue.
I am in. And now I am out. Oh wait, are other Jedis going to coming after me to harass me, go through my trash, blackmail me, run me off the road, and kidnap me and throw me into a hole where I am forced to sign away my life savings to them, while cleaning toilets with a toothbrush? Oh right thats just Scientology. The suffocating embrace of Scientology.
I am back in then. Jedi all the way!
Lol!!!
You guys are crackin’ me up here!!
In the 2001 uk wide census a lot of people put Jedi as their religion ( I did too) the government now has to recognise it as a religion
The problem isn’t the sci-fi. The problems are that L. Ron Hubbard was an evil person who started the whole thing to make money and get power, and that he was a CRAPPY sci-fi writer. A good sci-fi writer would have made up far better stuff than engrams and thetans and Xenu.
L. Ron Hubbards great-grandson, Jamie DeWolf speaks out against his grandfather publicly. Even his own family knew he was a sham and a con artist. Excellent video of Jamie talking about his great-grandfather and his delusions of grandeur.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciupsqkLLkQ
Kaiser – Can You Do an article about Tom Cruise’s obvious plugs. Look how his hairline changed over the years. About 5 years ago, he was experiencing normal hair loss at the temples, now, strangely his hairline is completely different.
Tom Cruise started messing with his face in 1985, if not earlier after his film TAPS came out.
It’s really good to know that NBC wouldn’t back down to these kind of threats from the cult.
I hope it encourages other media outlets (press and TV) to do the same.
Who owns NBC? Cause don’t forget, Murdoch aint playin’! He’s not afraid of CO$. Someone’s gonna smoke em out… I wish “FrontLine” would do it – Frontline is so A-W-E-S-O-M-E.
Murdoch owns FOX
I think NBC universal is owned by comcast, isn’t it?
Amen to that! Frontline is the pinnacle of investigative journalism. They’re on PBS, so they don’t have to kiss advertiser ass.
Frontline would kick their balls and stomp on them. I’d watch that one, and I hope they do it.
It’s times like this I miss Mike Wallace.
And Viacom owns NBC I think. They own comcast too.
bluhare – if viacom and comcast own NBC, then you will only see softly softly criticism of Cruise and Co$.
Guess who owns them? Sumner Redstone AKA Tom Cruise’s boss. Whilst he was happy to fire Cruise the last time this co$ business was tabloid fodder, he has now gone on record, to Vanity Fair no less, that he is happy to have Tom Cruise back in Paramount stable.
Mind you, this was a few weeks before the divorce.
If Tom Cruise pisses him off again, then that’s when you will see out and out criticism from his networks.
I absolutely love the “Frontline” narrator’s voice. I just sink into my chair in anticipation. Every single show will captivate you, and he’s a fabulous narrator.
Olcranky- Comcast owns NBC? So that explains why my cable tv has been so flakey lately! Retaliation by the Co$ definitely. Omigosh – the problem is usually squirrels chomping on their lines! Squirrels! How clever, enlisting real squirrels in their anti-squirrel campaign. Will have to watch out for squirrels with t-shirts and placards.
Doesn’t that guy in the photo bomb resemble donald faison from scrubs????
i was hoping it was Dave Chappelle at first – hahahahaaaaa!!
Ohh I miss David Chappelle!
Really wish you would stop posting that first picture of Tom. It is scaring me….. haha!
I LOVE that picture of Tom.
I see it and I can hear that manic laughter of his… every time I look at it.
And then I get the giggles. I love that picture.
I had mention the other day… that Dateline/NBC had ran a story about Katie and her divorce this past Sunday.
And it was not online to watch. Which was odd. Dateline always loads up their shows to view.
Well, I found that Dateline show re-airing this morning on TV.
E! seems to have got the footage for their use now.
And E! is running the 30 minute Dateline show later on today. I think at 5pm CST.
So it looks like NBC is having a little fun screwing with that Cult.
Not only did they do that 30 minute report on Sunday. They had a fresh new show about them on Thursday!
I bet those Cult lawyers have not slept in a week. Just sitting up writing hate letters to NBC. 24/7.
Yep. Their job is to threaten in the most forceful way they can muster, and never back down.
‘I bet those Cult lawyers have not slept in a week. Just sitting up writing hate letters to NBC. 24/7.’
Now they know what life is like for the cult minions.
I’m hoping that, the more media refuses to back down, the more Co$ will be revealed for what it truly is. I remember, some years ago, Jenna Elfman going off on someone in the street who had criticized Co$ and calling them a baby killer, but it was brushed under the rug since Dharma and Greg was still big time. It seems like all the famous people they rope into it are either a bit unstable to start with or easily pushed in that direction.
OK, posting this again if anyone’s interested. It’s the BEST DOCumentary out there on TC & CO$. TC’s uprbringing, reasons for joining, NK affair, & recruiting KH. I’m posting the 1st part. It’s in French and it aired on national French TV, it has English subtitles. It’s a MUST SEE.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg761d-WxQQ
Wow that is quite the video! Just can’t imagine getting that brainwashed…
yay!
The one I posted upthread in reply to you stinky is good, particularly on LRH and the “religion”, but this one on TC is super juicy. They’re long too. Have a great night 🙂
ok i watched the frenchy clips 1 & 2. oh my goodness, TCs breakthrough interview in hollywood was w/ rona barrett ……… that made me a lil misty for the good ol days. i was in h.s. when risky business came out. shooeee.
Thanks for the link. I watched it but it seems so short. Is there more to be found somewhere?
There’s 8 of them. Here’s the second one. Just copy paste the title, change the number of the episode and search. Next episodes also normally appear at the end of each video. Enjoy the rest 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=poT0v3ifL9Q&NR=1
Thanks for the video links, ontheraw. It’s very interesting. The sad part is that his family – mom and sisters – also turned themselves in. Else they could have counterbalanced DM’s influence on him. It’s obvious that the influence was one-sided, from DM and it was very strong. Without a countering voice, TC submitted himself mind, body and spirit to CO$. The irony is that TC believes wholeheartedly in Scientology whereas DM has always used him as a poster boy. The day TC realizes the betrayal, if at all, I’m sure he’ll suffer a massive breakdown.
I find it interesting that the methods they’ve used in the past to hush things up aren’t working anymore, thanks to the internet and all the stories, blogs, and even tabloids. The truth about them has spread mainstream and it’s too big to squash. Even if they aren’t brought down spectacularly, I would bet they have a hard time recruiting new people in from now on. What was once a mystery with celebs is now openly seen as a dangerous cult.
Somewhere I bet Travolta & his handlers are secretly thanking Katie for taking the spotlight off him.
He’s probably celebrating with a massage.
That IS Donald Faison photobombing, it’s just so awesome…
http://www.mptvimages.com/cgi-bin/imageFolio.cgi?action=view&link=Licensed/Non-Restricted/Red_Carpet/Recent_Events/Events_S_thru_U/Super_8_Premiere_6_8_2011&image=24072_0328.jpg&img=0&search=Super%208%20Premiere&cat=Licensed/Non-Restricted&tt=&bool=and
proof..
There is a quote from a Kids in the Hall sketch that I always remember, “The cute as a species don’t age well.”
Tom Cruise has developed a schnozz as he coasts into middle age. Not attractive.
I predict it will mysteriously start disappearing. I would love it if he ended up looking like MJ.
I LOVED Kids in the Hall. So funny – they were great. I even loved the opening credits’ song. For some reason the Chicken Lady popped into my head a few days ago. LOL!
Mark McKinney was in my husband’s office a few months ago.
No one is afraid of the CoS anymore. How ridiculous is it to be afraid of a “religion” anyway. I hope more mainstream media outlets continue to run stories about these people.
“How ridiculous is it to be afraid of a “religion”
There is actually a few out there that scare me.
If you’re out there protesting, you’d do well to maintain caution. There might be so much going on that OSA is spread too thin to really heap abuse on your head, but they can still take a swing at you.
And while right now you could probably find an audience with the media if they got you fired or slandered you, that doesn’t mean that damage wouldn’t hurt.
Don’t call the creature defanged while it’s really just wounded and backed into a corner.
Nobody would care about Scientology if they weren’t so aggressive. If their focus really is about becoming ‘enlightened’, maybe they should take a page from the Dalai Lama and look into non-violence and kindness….
No doubt! This is why they call it the Cult of Greed and Power.
I have heard of some ex-scientologists talking about an effort to reform the “church” and keep the parts that “work” and do away with the scary and abusive parts. It seems the parts that “work” are really just a type of psychotherapy, which kind of makes sense about why people get so drawn in. Is it possible to be a part of the good parts of the church, as in a more casual member? Or is it really an all in or all out kind of thing?
It’s all or nothing at the moment. The rest of it, minus the stupid machine you have to hold the cans connected to, seems like they’re trying to achieve the things Buddhism does: How to let go of certain elements of western thought that we have inherited that hold you back, i.e., guilt, shame, insecurity, tension, anxiety, irrational fears, etc.
I say check out Buddhism instead if you want those things.
The “good parts” were stolen from other traditions and from psychology, then warped to suit L. Ron Hubbard’s purposes.
The way to get the “good” parts is to see a good therapist with actual training in psychology, and to study Eastern philosophical and religious practices like Taoism and Buddhism.
It’s fairly all or nothing currently. I hope that the Indie movement can navigate its way toward keeping the stuff that works for them and dumping the toxic parts – but that in part also requires letting go of the staunch literal adherence to Hubses word.
For most of them things are still very new and the concept of being outside the official cult is already so radical that I believe it will take at least 10 years for the movement to find a path toward moderation. It helps to think of it as deprogramming.
Stripped of the toxic parts and the cultish elements of the current Co$, it’ll just be another group of people with odd religious practises, and that I have no problem with.
if it truly is a cult ( and I believe that it IS) then after a certain point there really is an “All or nothing” type of mentality. This means that you can observe the “hook” of people with “better lives”, but to learn how they got there you need to empty your wallet and cut off all contact. I am Catholic, I grew up hard core baptist. My baptist upbringing bordered on cultism. They would not and out say that my mother couldn’t’ send me to my grandparent’s place for the summer, but they would say that I was missing out on things like vacation bible school and what not. Which I always did attend. At a certain point if I wasn’t baptized, they wanted to know what was disrupting me from believing fully and being baptized. There is Christianity, and there is cult behaviour, at the end of the day. And sometimes these things overlap a little bit. I still (I am Christian and Catholic) find myself saying things that make ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE. This is my upbringing in the fringes of the baptist faith and the same curriculum that the Duggars use to educate their children. It is so hard to explain it in a few sentences being read by people who so not know me. I am a smart person, who in my early life have had a portion of my critical thinking stripped away, JUST LIKE A CULT. It happens even in truly Christian faiths as well as known cults and scientologists.
There are two types of people who are drawn into cult-like behaviour: broken people (there are LOTS and no amount of intelligence prepares for this) who are sucked in by promises of a better, more enlightened life – and those who are either born into it or brought into it by their parents. Think about this: as intelligent as a person may be, how are they going to believe if cut off from all or most outside influence and only taught cult propaganda from the time they have a consciousness?
Very good points. I would think that like most people, they’re comfortable with what they’re brought up with. I think it’ll be a process, the co$ reforming. It can’t be made illegal to do their thing in the US if they’re not doing anything against the law, and there will be people who will refuse to denounce it as their religion. I think they’ll have to go off and do their own communities like extreme mormonism.
Ironically, if Tom decided to leave COS, he would actually get the respect from hollywood and the public that has eluded him for so many years..it would be a huge (and positive) story. But I think COS has got the goods on Tom and because of that, he can never leave.
Methinks the lady (Tom, obvs) doth protest too much … 😉
Tommygirl protesting too much? NEVAH!
(lol)
The video is actually kind of funny in a sad way, the squirrel busters thing. And Rathburn calling them clowns.
Donald Faison Photobomb is awesome, yo!
He looks like the love child of Donald Faison and Dave Chappelle, and I want to know where the line begins to be his best friend.
ETA: Wait, that’s 100% actually Donald Faison! OMG as if I could love the man more.
I think the media is figuring out that the lawyers’ threats are all bark and no bite.
Remember when Tom and Katie sued “Star” last year? They settled the lawsuit against Star LESS THAN 2 MONTHS after filing the suit. That means they settled before Star could start deposing Katie or making a demand for documents, admissions, etc.
And Tom settled his divorce within DAYS.
I think it’s pretty clear by now that scientology will NOT allow lawyers to start snooping around Tom Cruise or the other higher-ups in the cult. They don’t want their people deposed or have to respond to document requests or other court-ordered discovery. They have too much to hide.
So I guess it’s open season on them now, because their threat of “lawsuit” no longer carries any weight.
Agreed, benny. And let’s just see if Tom sues Marty Rathbun, who just said on national TV that Tom got reports of Connor’s and Bella’s indoctrination against Nicole with Marty standing there. That’s a pretty hot allegation, if you ask me.
I wonder if CoS has a special appeal to short guys looking for an edge: Tiny Tom and Dainty David.
Well since they tell them they can fly, they appear taller that way.
totally donald faison……
& now, i love him more.
http://www.mptvimages.com/cgi-bin/imageFolio.cgi?search=Super%208%20Premiere&img=0&cat=Licensed/Non-Restricted&bool=and
That photobomb is hysterical! Love it. I think I’ve said all I can say about Co$. It looks like they are finally being exposed for what they really are. I’m glad about that.
HEy David, where’s your wife?
Where is Shelly Miscavige?
Tom Cruise getting lured into Co$ by Mimi Rogers was the perfect storm. She was the spider luring the fly into her web and to do so she preyed upon his childhood troubles. But little did she or anyone realize that he would eventually become the poster boy for an evil, controlling, slave-driving cult that abuses a person’s deepest fears, weaknesses and vanities to gain control.
Tom, get out now while you still have some credibility left in Hollywood. You can no longer associate with people who casually send people into banishment and hard labour – this is not 1950’s Russia, it’s the 21st century, an age of acceptance, toleration and enlightenment, and Co$ is none of those. It is an out-and-out brainwashing, money-sucking farce and you are quickly losing the respect of your peers and the public who once respected you.
Is Mimi still involved with CO$? Anyone know?
I think she left the cult.
It’s reported that she’s now a “former” member. Well done Mimi. Now get your former husband out of the mess you got him into.
Thanks for the replies:) Glad she’s out. Seems like all of Tom’s wives/ex-wives are wiser than him and had the inner strength to leave COS.
Jaded,
And do you know what’s sad?
I’ve read somewhere over the past few weeks that it can take between 10 and 12 years to be completely de-programmed from a cult. I guess that’s based on someone being completely brainwashed.
So even if Cruise left now, he would be 60, maybe 62 years old before he was really free. Staggering, huh?
While I think that you can gain back your ability to conduct critical thinking, I do not think that once programmed you will ever be totally free of thinking like they (any cult or fringe religion) has taught you how to think. what I mean is this: you can take an issue and think on it critically, but the issues that float beneath your ken, as it were, well, you don’t really ever control how you think about things unless you do so with a fully conscious mind. So there will always be things that a programmed person will be dragging to the surface for inspection years or decades even after officially leaving the organization or fringe church.
well said “jaded”
If you go by the French documentary (links provided by ontheraw), Mimi was a recruiter for CO$ and her profile was to get hollywood celebrities into CO$. Her marriage to Cruise was strategic according to the documentary.
So great that CO$ is finally being exposed – and by former higher up CO$ members no less…
why is there a crucifix in the scientology logo?
are they trying to imply a link to christianity?
I’ve wondered about that too – perhaps the cross is to lend legitimacy to their claim to be a real “religion”?
they incorporated a lot of christian and jewish (and probably other as well) symbology into their “doctrine” when they were striving for public acceptance and tax-exempt status. There is no part of their doctrine (to my knowledge) that is Christian in the slightest. they just want to use the word “church” in place of “diantetics” and “organization”
They’ve stolen the rosicrucian cross and used a broken Star of David in their logos to make themselves look legit to the taxman.
Some state AG who wants to make a name for him/herself needs to bring a RICO action against CO$. Among other things, Rathbun is alleging the corrupt enterprise conspired to violate U.S. credit card law by violating privacy restrictions. That’s not some private civil action for damages, that’s a federal felony. Plenty of states have laws that mirror RICO, so let’s see if CO$ can buy off EVERYBODY, and not just the Justice Department.
Also, I have no sympathy whatsoever for Rathbun and Rinder, and they have plenty of legal exposure as well. Maybe a plea deal would have to be struck to keep them singing, but they are slimy to the core. Lie down with dogs, get up with fleas, fellas.
Mike Rinder was “either 5 or 6 years old when his parents got into Scientology.” http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/09/mike_rinder_top_25_crippling_scientology.php
Marty Rathbun’s blog has actually helped people leave Scientology, according to former Scientologists. http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/09/marty_rathbun_top_25_crippling_scientology.php
They both did horrible things while in the Co$ cult, but they’ve left and they are speaking out, putting themselves on the line. I don’t have to like them to respect that.
@ Lizzy K – Word.
@Emily – don’t forget these two guys were 2nd and 3rd behind the munchkin David. They implemented or approved alot of what is happening to rank and file.
Like repentant mafioso, they need to be brought to justice too. i have no sympathy for them.
Will you be forgiving of Tom Cruise should he repent his co$ ways knowing that whilst he was in co$ he was happy to use the slave labour? and all that co$ did for him??
If the reports are true (and I think they are), Mike Rinder was regularly assaulted by Miscavige.
http://markrathbun.wordpress.com/2011/09/14/mike-rinder-the-antithesis-of-david-miscavige/
Would I be forgiving of Tom Cruise if he publicly left the Co$ and did as much as Rinder or Rathbun have done to bring it down? Well, I don’t think “forgiving” is the right word, either for Rinder and Rathbun or for the hypothetical regarding Cruise. I would never exactly “forgive” any of them — it’s not my place, for one thing. Nor would I ever have them over for tea. I think Rathbun and Cruise in particular will always be jerks. I have a lot more sympathy for Rinder, stuck in the cult since he was a child.
But would I say that Cruise was doing the right thing, and be happy that he was, and hope that he succeeded in anything that helped bring down the Co$? You bet! I don’t think he ever will leave, though. I give credit to anyone who does the right thing, whatever their past actions — but I will also hold them accountable for their present and future actions. And I really wish Rathbun in particular would apologize.
Cults screw up people’s sense of morality. Scientology in particular is designed to confuse and corrupt people until they no longer think the way the rest of us out here do. I prefer Amy Scobee, the Headleys, Jefferson Hawkins, and Valeska Paris to Rathbun and Rinder and Cook. But I think Rathbun and Rinder and Cook have done much more damage to the Co$ than the people I find more palatable.
There is no “I” in Kate. Thank God Katie’s back…
I like that..How symbolic his changing her name and trying to strip her of her sense of self.
Again. KATE is her real first name, no “I” in that.
Such a shame as Tom Cruise is still super hot for his age and he was so cool when I was a kid. How does he not see that this Scientology crap makes him and all the celebrities weird! Too bad Tom, too bad.
Hahahah… I clicked on this to find out why D. Faison was standing in the corner of a Tom Cruise pic…lolz
You sure that’s random fan? It sure looks like the guy from Scrubs!
Maintain the rage against this good-for–nothing Cult. With a Capital C. Team Katie & Suri. Yes the guy in the background is awesome “OMG that’s Tom Cruise!”.
cruise isn’t just nutso — he’s evil.
established email/phone accounts for holmes;
his efforts to restrict when she could see her parents;
holmes gradual introduction into xenu-world;
but renaming her and insisting that everyone call her ‘kate’ is so effed up — taking her friggin identity.
her parents must have been horrified during the dark days of her marriage to that short, creepy man. i often wondered about them; and all that time dad and mom were plotting to bring her back. i can’t wait for the vanity fair piece that details one of the most brilliant rescues evah…
And he restricted her ability to parent that is important too. I have been thinking too that Vanity Fair will be able to do an awesome article on this if they want. They are the best at in depth coverage of a story.
Isn’t that Turk from Scrubs?
c’mon steve kroft, get in there with your 60 minutes cameras. that would be fabulous.
I watched this last night with my sister. I do believe this is the first time a mainstream reporting show has done something so in depth on Scientology–something very critical. I was so happy to see Brian Williams covering it! And I was glad they mentioned the channel was harassed for covering it.
Right now my sister is now watching something on E–this show seems to be covering the Scientology aspect of the Katie Holmes/Tom Cruise divorce and exactly how sneaky Katie had to be to file for divorce.
Scientology is in the spotlight and it doesn’t like it. Hopefully this will help bring an end to this cult.
Have you noticed that whenever a Scientologist is questioned about his ‘religion’, he goes right on the attack? They don’t defend, they just start attacking the other person. And they all seem to do it. It must be their credo or something.
I also do not understand how all these celebs can just stand by and not care that all these abuses are happening. What is the deal with that? Do they not care? Do they not believe it? Do they even know about it? They must, cause they’re in the media everywhere. I just don’t get it.
It is their credo.
“Never defend, always attack, and do it often enough so the people remember.” — L. Ron Hubbard.
It’s probably part of a script they’re given for how to deal with such questions without revealing anything allowed only to people at their level. Not necessarily nefarious, it’s common to provide “talking points” on issues in such cases in benign organizations also. The weird thing is that stuff is hidden until a certain level is achieved. I know a lot of religions, but don’t know any that operate that way. Celebrities are treated differently and so it’s quite possible that most of them really don’t know or don’t believe what they hear about abuses. They don’t end up sucked dry financially and so continue to live quite comfortably. That’s really not hard to understand. Most Americans don’t know about or believe the kind of awful stuff our government has done to people elsewhere. Even when they hear about civilian death tolls due to bombings we’ve paid for or elected governments our taxes have paid to overthrow or manipulate, they still rationalize it as “necessary” while they certainly would feel differently if their neighborhoods were bombed or we were invaded or our politicians were bribed by foreigners for analogous reasons. It’s just the way humans are, they put up with all sorts of bad behavior as long as their own ox isn’t being gored.
I think we’ve established that it’s not a religion; it’s a cult. A dangerous, hypocritical, laughable, pathetic, awful CULT.
Check out this brief history of Hubbard. It’s astounding…and I don’t mean in a good way. He’s a complete con artist. During the early 1970s the IRS “proved that Hubbard was skimming millions of dollars from the church, laundering the money through dummy corporations in Panama and stashing it in Swiss bank accounts. Moreover, church members stole IRS documents, filed false tax returns and harassed the agency’s employees.” A US federal court in 1971 ruled that Hubbard’s medical claims were bogus and that E-meter auditing could not be called a scientific treatment. The Co$ responded by “going fully religious, seeking First Amendment protection…counselors started sporting clerical collars. Chapels were built, franchises became ‘missions,’ fees became ‘fixed donations,’ and Hubbard’s comic-book cosmology became ‘sacred scriptures
http://www.xenu.net/archive/infopack/8.htm
I’m sorry, but that is just INSANE.
It’s amazing how well LRH was able to manipulate considering he was diagnosed as schizophrenic. I guess that explains the paranoia.
Not to mention that Xenu could have been one his other personalities. I’m not being facetious, but think about it. Schizophrenics hear voices in their heads and have multiple personalities.
That would explain a LOT. Except why “normal” people would actually believe (or choose to believe) the rantings of a mentally ill man.
Interesting to see that they picked up highlights of the Brian Williams piece on Access Hollywood. Not the edit I would have expected to see on something so celeb-friendly, but a pleasant surprise.
People magazine is saying Scientology has nothing to do with the split. That Katie was unhappy, but nothing specific is mentioned other than her career. She thought Tom would help with that, which obviously didn’t work out since she is no better off career wise than she was before.
I don’t know if People is drinking the Scientology kool aid or they are correct. What I do know is if you have to blind side your spouse to get a divorce, something is really, really wrong somewhere other than just being unhappy in your marriage.
On top of that, if you set a record for the speediest divorce settlement of uber celebrities on the planet, there is much more than meets the eye going on behind the scenes.
Every article I’ve read on People’s site about this has been sympathetic to Tom. If that weren’t bad enough, the comments there become completely controlled by C0$ trolls. Pathetic really.
I’ve got a great idea!
I think Tom should hookup with Kirstie Alley, she is in the “church”, they’re around the same age. And they can feed each others ego with…. “Oh Kirstie you are a size 2” and she can “Oh Tom, you are so tall”
LOL
Kirstie Ally is as involved in the cult as he is. They would be perfect together. They could audit each other. What toal freaks.
Wanna know what’s really funny? She’s in charge of the Narcotics division of Scientology. She brags that Scientology can “get you off heroin quicker than anything else.” OK, why are you still smoking? LOL Nicotine is a drug addiction. What’s up with that? The whole thing makes me want to wretch.
OK so who else is cracked up as sh*t by David Miscavige’s hilarious lisp and short stature? he looks like some kid that got bullied and wants revenge. Hilarious. Whenever he says an “s” word his lisp shows. It’s funniest when he says “Scientology”. LOL.
He makes me nauseous looking at a still picture. I can’t watch him speak and move, it’ll make me sick. He is horrible.
If someone asked me to conjure up an image of Satan as a human, I’d say Miss Cabbage is a pretty good likeness. 😀
In other news, I want to get a button-making machine and create a bunch of “Suppressive Person” buttons for all of us to wear. We could do a Cafe Press thing. How hilarious would that be?!
tmbg – We could arrange massive SP flashmobs! 😀 I like it…
YES! Want button now!
Guys! Tommy C. is NO longer the GREATEST movie star in the WORLD!!!
don’t y’all think so?
brad pitt, george clooney, johnny depp
have any of the fellas listed above PISSED you off?
He’s getting tired and more so, people are getting tired of the bulls*t too. seems of late he does the SAME kind of movie OVER and OVER! Mission, mr/mrs right, mission, blah blah, mission, woopee dooo, blah blah, mission…
and I, have kept my vow to NOT WATCH any movie w/ TC. I have kept that since 2005 when he declared his love like he’s the ONLY man in history to have ever fallen in love…and more so, for the bashing of psychology/anti-depressants. If someone is severly depressed, in danger of hurting themselves/baby, etc., than there is courage in asking/receiving help.
He’s sick. i won’t give him a penny.
Same for tv, if i’m flipping channels, i keep on flipping, it’s that severe
Yep. A smarmy, phoney, lift-wearing midget. If Scientology can make you fly (lol :D) why can’t it make you taller?
ohhhh, that’s ripe!!!
+1^ I’m in the same club.
I posted this link yesterday, but it’s a good read (in case you missed it):
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/inside-scientology-20110208
“This photobomb is awesome, right?”
Hahaha WTF is that Turkleton?? Oh sorry I guess 50 other people have asked that question. Definitely looks like Turkleton to me though.
With Scientology under so much scrutiny for its truly laughable claims as to the supernatural and the “hereafter,” it might be time to look at the other world religions and their equally ridiculous claims of miracles (Tom Cruise isn’t the only one who can fly! Christ & the Prophet Muhammad reportedly did too, and no one seems to find this sketchy.) and the supernatural.
a 2000 year old tale that was word of mouth for a long time is meant to be different from a uhhh…50 year old one? And written by a known con-artist?
it’s not their beliefs I have a problem with its their actions. Even though I think those beliefs are completely made up and basically just a big old science fiction story, I also believe everyone has the right to believe in whatever deity they choose. However, this isn’t a religion this is a cult, one that enslaves people and forces them to do manual labor for no money and little food, they are cut off from their family, if they brake away they stalk them, they defame them and attempt to ruin their lives. Heck in some chases it looks like they’ve killed people.
All I get out of this is how much I love Donald Faison
omg, I just have to say I am SO glad Katie & Suri are hidden in plain site in NYC with an army of bodyguards. I agree with what another poster said; I don’t think TC is just crazy, I think he’s evil.
I also agree with Lizzie K, a major political career could be made by an attorney general who wants to go after this cult with the RICO statutes. They did it with the mob, the Catholic Church and now for Scientology. Take em down, all the way. This cult is not only kidnapping, torturing, physically abusing adults and children, they are moving people around and covering up the evidence of it. The same way the Catholic hierarchy did with pedophile priests. There is a conspiracy to cover up crimes here. My guess is that they are breaking several federal laws and probably many tax reporting laws as well. Holder might even salvage his career if he could take this cult down.
I just watched a video link provided by one of our beloved friends. How the hell could Katie not know how intense and controlling Tom is? Referring to the Peter Overton interview-2005. His couch jumping does not freak me out..it is Tommy’s frightening stare down & insulting Peter to “find some manners”. Tom has an incredible amount of power & fame. Katie and Suri will be looked after financially, then Tom will marry again.
I also watched the Overton /60minutes interview again; Tom showed his true colours then for sure; total egomaniac and he doesn’t react well if asked about Nicole and their kids…. Nasty little man.
Fair, Clear and Terrible is a book about the Kingdom..a religious cult in Shiloh, Maine. It began in the mid to late 1800s..and sort of disbanded after its leader was imprisoned for manslaughter. The book really documents what is probably the first religious cult in America. But, all of the techniques, bizarreness, cult-ness is the same!!! as what this story describes. How bizarre, sad, and scary for anyone lost in a cult.
Not sure if anyone has commented on this above, I am still reviewing all the comments but I just saw on People.com that tom thumb’s lawyer has yet again put out a public protest that the cult had nothing to do with the divorce negotations and that he was never on the phone with a cult member. Of course the second part of that statement could be true since tom thumb is the one controlled by the cult and not the lawyer. Me thinks the lawyer doth protest too much. LOL Everybody knows the cult and tom thumb’s controlling ways was the reason katie escaped there is no other reason and they know it. They should just shut up. Everybody knows tom thumb is controlled by missy cabbage.
A lawyer’s public statement has the sme weight as a publicist’s statement: they both can lie and frequently do.
Oh and I do think they whine too much about it. They can’t control how the public feels about certain things, to be blunt it’s none of their business. And his “religion” is definitely a big one, since it has consequences in RL, not just celeb world.
Bert Fields IS WORKING for the cult – Marty Rathbun outed him 3 years ago for representing Miscavige.
http://markrathbun.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/cruise-counsel-bert-fields-works-for-scientology-inc/
So basically, believe the OPPOSITE of everything he says.
I don’t believe Suri is Tiny Tom’s child. Star magazine published a photo this week of Katie Holmes pregnant dated early October 2005 – about 6 months before Suri was supposedly born in April 2006. There is no way Katie is in early pregnancy in this photo. She is much further along than 3-4 months! I think Suri was born earlier than April and that’s why no one saw a picture of her until she was over 5 months old. Katie’s belly button is already popped out…that doesn’t happen first trimester. In the Mail online they have the photo it is the 6th photo down.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2166744/Tom-Cruise-Katie-Holmes-divorce-The-doomed-love-affair-pictures.html
IMO,Tom Cruise is an actor who’s playing a human being.
And Katie Holmes was mentally & emotionally abused in this marriage.
I didn’t know that much about Scientology over the years, until I watched a South Park episode (one of my comedic escpaism’s) and I was amazed at the doctrine. The video of Tom’s support of his religion didn’t help either.
It’s really sad to of watched this episode of Rock Center because of an ex-member being completely cut off from his entire family, wife of 30 years, and his kids. I was literally taken aback. Then the harassment and smear campaign by Scientology against ex-members is breathtakingly evil.
I like Tom and Katie individually, but this entire situation makes me see Tom in a different way given how he divorced his previous ex-wives and alienated Nicole from their kids. And I know that Tom’s astrological sign is a Cancer, UGH! I’ve had my experiences with quite a few, and it’s heaven when they love you generously, and hell when they want nothing more to do with you.
Lastly, Donald Fiason’s photobomb was E P I C!!!! A great laugh to top off such a sad story.
And where is the president of Scientology’s wife?
I like that sentence “Tom Cruise’s lawyers warned them”.. like he controls the universe? I guess he thinks he does, and he was wrong!
E is currently airing a segment about the split, with a focus on COS. They had a former member claim he was part of the “girlfriend/wife auditioning process” and that after they looked at all COS actresses and didn’t choose one, they saw the article where Katie talked about her teenage crush and went for her there. We’ve heard this a bunch, but this was the first time I saw someone come forward and say they were involved, and that it was the audition process much rumored about.
There was also a segment about Nicole being label SP and cut off from her kids, and Jason Lee’s ex-wife describing her ordeal.
Pretty bold for E, I think, though they had one of their “correspondents” give a more general, non COS related opinion of the split to counter balance it, I think.
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