Scientology insider says she was online trying to stop detractors

tory.gifWhenever we write anything remotely critical of Scientology we invariably have new commentors chiming in saying that there’s some sort of religious bigotry involved and attacking other people on the thread and the authors. It’s pretty obvious these people are cult members although they deny it when questioned. We now may have our answer with insider information about how Scientology goes about trying to silence critics on the Internet.

Tory Christman was a member of the “church” of Scientology from 1969 to 2000, and reached the upper levels of the organization, having achieved OT7, or Operating Thetan Level 7. She said she worked her way up through Scientology and was able to pay for courses through an inheritance from her mother in law, who was also a cult member. She was cut off and declared a suppressive person when she started to question the way the cult operates, including limiting the reading material of members and ordering her to stop taking her epilepsy medication, which resulted in Grand Mal seizures. She’s dedicated to exposing the abuses of the cult, and although she’s not a member of the group anonymous who is currently organizing worldwide protests against Scientology, she’s encouraged by their efforts.

Christman has been interviewed by CNN and NPR and has been quoted in the LA Times. In a radio interview with “Point of Inquiry,” a weekly show produced by the Center for Inquiry in Buffalo, NY, Christman described how she was actively involved in silencing detractors on the Internet using multiple screen names and accounts:

You were part of the opposition to free speech [on the Internet]
Exactly, I didn’t know it, because they’re very good at lying and tricking people and that’s how they get people to do things, and they said “We can’t tell you, ’cause you’ll end up in deposition if we tell you. So you just go open these anonymous accounts and we’re going to do what we’re going to do to handle these evil, horrible people,” and I was like “ok” and I was kind of like, It was my best friend, I trusted this guy implicitly, right? So I was doing it, I’m opening these accounts, they had scared all Scientologists off of the Internet, so no one was reading the Internet, and really frankly they put a Net Nanny on the Internet so none of us could read the Internet. If you typed in anything the bad stuff wouldn’t come up.

In the 90s, I was part of that. They tried to shut down a newsgroup where people who had left Scientology were talking about Scientology, and Scientology themselves tried to crash that newsgroup…

I was OT 7 and I was in their top secret gang, right? Which is on the Internet and still is to this day I’m pretty sure covertly lying about trying to distract free speech off the Internet that had anything they didn’t want seen on the ‘net, they’re trying to drive it off the ‘net or put down anybody who says anything negative about Scientology…

I was in their top secret gang, where I was opening up these phony accounts… They’re complaining about anonymous. It’s like Hang on! These guys are way more covert, doing way more nastier things.

[Transcribed from mp3 of interview on Point of Inquiry’s web site]

Christman came off as sincere and dedicated to exposing Scientology’s abuses. She said it’s not about the belief system, which isn’t any stranger than any other religion as many people point out, but about the way the cult cuts people off from their family members, denies them needed medication, and threatens and harasses detractors. Scientologists regularly make up wild claims and spread rumors trying to discredit anyone that dares to question them, and sue and threaten people they consider enemies under the “fair game” doctrine proposed by failed science fiction writer and founder, L Ron Hubbard. There are also many suspicious deaths and suicides of former cult members and critics, as Christman points out in her interview.

As for Scientology members themselves, Christman said that of course there were kind and friendly people involved in the cult. She compared their situation to the movie “The Truman Show,” in which you’re going through the motions in a closed set without knowing what’s going on behind the scenes. She told interviewer D.J. Groethe that she never had any kind of discussion with fellow members questioning the tactics of the organization during her 30 years of involvement. She said “It’s a high crime to speak about Xenu in Scientology. They can declare me an SP [suppressive person.]” Once you’re declared a suppressive person, you’re cut off entirely.

The group Anonymous continues to fight the abuses of Scientology, with particular attention to the way the cult tries to cut free speech online. In a press released they declared:

The so-called Church of Scientology actively misused copyright and trademark law in pursuit of its own agenda … They attempted not only to subvert free speech, but to recklessly pervert justice to silence those who spoke out against them.

Update:
Here’s a link to Tory Christman’s Website and her YouTube Channel
And to Enturbulation.org, where you can learn more about Scientology. The next major protest is planned for March 15.

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