“
By their actions, they will show you who they are.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
Scientology does not teach you. It only reminds you. For the information was yours in the first place.
”
”
L. Ron Hubbard (Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought)
“
First she got Jesus, probably fifteen years ago, and that didn’t work out, so she tried Scientology, and that didn’t help, but it cost a lot of money, so she tried Buddhism and yoga, and those didn’t work, so she started drinking. I think that helped, because she’s still drinking.
”
”
John Sandford (Buried Prey (Lucas Davenport, #21))
“
People say that celebrities stop developing emotionally at the age of their success—which for Tom had been with Risky Business at twenty-one.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
Religion is always an irrational enterprise, no matter how ennobling it may be to the human spirit.
”
”
Lawrence Wright (Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief)
“
In a time of universal deceit—telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
If there is one thing I can brag about and be proud of in my life, it’s my dedication to friendship. If I call you a friend, I mean it. You are now on par with being a family member. Friendships are not made overnight; it takes time, effort, and energy. For me, friendships are tested not in the best of times, but in the worst of times. You don’t always get a second chance to be there for someone when they really need you. So when I say I will be there, I mean it.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
There is no “right” way to be. I am flawed and imperfect, but am uniquely me.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
Scientology, how about that? You hold on to the tin cans and then this guy asks you a bunch of questions, and if you pay enough money you get to join the master race. How's that for a religion?
”
”
Frank Zappa
“
That sums up my problem with Scientology—despite its claims to the contrary, the practice doesn’t help you better the world or even yourself; it only helps you be a better Scientologist.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
There is no “right” way to be. I am flawed and imperfect, but am uniquely me. I don’t fit in and probably never will. And I don’t have to try to anymore. That other person was a lie. And let’s face it, normal is boring. We all have something to offer the world in some way, but by not being our authentic selves, we are robbing the world of something different, something special.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
Scientology always has been a game of power and control. L. Ron Hubbard was the ultimate con man, and it's hard to figure out how much of Scientology was an experiment in brainwashing and controlling people, and how much of it was truly intended to help people.
”
”
Jenna Miscavige Hill (Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape)
“
Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man wants to make a million dollars, the the best way would be to start his own religion.
”
”
L. Ron Hubbard
“
Disney will never make a movie about my life story, and that's a shame--I'd make a really cute animated creature.
”
”
Kate Bornstein (A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The True Story of a Nice Jewish Boy Who Joins the Church of Scientology and Leaves Twelve Years Later to Become the Lovely Lady She is Today)
“
If Scientologists are happy in the church, I say God bless. Honestly, it’s probably better for them to keep getting jerked off in the church, because they will never experience that kind of validation in the real world.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
There's no such thing as hurting someone for their own good. There's only hurting someone for your own good.
”
”
Kate Bornstein (A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The True Story of a Nice Jewish Boy Who Joins the Church of Scientology and Leaves Twelve Years Later to Become the Lovely Lady She is Today)
“
How the fuck did you get into some crazy shit like this?
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
The big mistake I made, however, was in trying to change the system instead of just changing myself.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
Even though Scientology sees itself as the authority on ethics and responsibility, obscuring the truth is built into its core.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
This cult seems like it might have been designed specifically to prey on bookish old people— Scientology for scholarly seniors.
”
”
Robin Sloan (Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore (Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, #1))
“
The baby boom eventually prompted Hubbard to order that no one could get pregnant without his permission; according to several Sea Org members, any woman disobeying his command would be "off-loaded" to another Scientology organization or flown to New York for an abortion.
”
”
Lawrence Wright (Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief)
“
No matter how your world falls apart-and honey, that's what happens: we all build ourselves a world, and then it falls apart-but no matter how that happens, you still have the kind heart you've had since you were a child, and that's all that really counts.
”
”
Kate Bornstein (A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The True Story of a Nice Jewish Boy Who Joins the Church of Scientology and Leaves Twelve Years Later to Become the Lovely Lady She is Today)
“
I am a combative, inquisitive, argumentative person, and I will never allow anyone to change that.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
I mean, I was full on ready to be arrested; you know, I’d just put on a little lipstick, mug shot ready.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
He could easily invent an elaborate, plausible universe. But it is one thing to make that universe believable, and another to believe it. That is the difference between art and religion.
”
”
Lawrence Wright (Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief)
“
Science fiction invites the writer to grandly explore alternative worlds and pose questions about meaning and destiny.
”
”
Lawrence Wright (Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief)
“
I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT when this book comes out, Scientologists will scream about religious intolerance, say that I am a liar, that I was kicked out of the church, and call Troublemaker the work of a hateful bigot or a self-absorbed person with an “insatiable craving for attention.” (That last part might not be totally untrue; I am an actress, after all.) What they will likely not do, however, is actually read this book, because that would be going against one of the basic tenets of Scientology. A member should not read or watch anything generated by someone whom the church
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
Dianetics, Hayakawa noted, was neither science nor fiction, but something else: “fictional science.
”
”
Lawrence Wright (Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief)
“
I get fairly frantic when I contemplate the idiocy of these two goats [Jack Parsons and L. Ron Hubbard].
”
”
Aleister Crowley
“
I know now that people who have been abandoned feel the need to test people in their lives by seeing what they will do, seeing if they will abandon them like everyone else if pushed hard enough.
”
”
Jenna Miscavige Hill (Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape)
“
Tom Cruise, the church’s most coveted, celebrated, and protected celebrity member, and David Miscavige, the tyrannical leader and current head of the church. Ironically, for me and for most other people who have left the church and spoken out against it, the very qualities that we’ve been penalized for—defying, questioning, thinking independently—are the same qualities that made us prime candidates for Scientology in the first place.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
The fear of psychiatry is one of the hardest ideas to shake when you escape from the mind-prison.
”
”
Mike Rinder (A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology)
“
Of course, the tricky thing about these little questions was that, once I started asking them, it was hard to stop.
”
”
Jenna Miscavige Hill
“
Belief and faith are great, but very few people
have been led astray by thinking for themselves.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
You were either all in or all out. It is an extremist religion. There is no middle ground. And there within its structure lies the danger.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
He wasn't attached to Scientology like I was. For him it was simply a tool to better your life. Then, if it wasn't doing that, it was time to leave the church.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
as a Scientologist you are expected to spend a minimum of two and a half hours a day, every day, seven days a week, at church, studying and/or in counseling.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
Pot saved me from Scientology.
”
”
James Wasserman (In the Center of the Fire: A Memoir of the Occult 1966-1989)
“
The weirdness of the night was starting to get to me. When tears started to form in the corners of my eyes, it was Brooke Shields, of all people, who asked me if everything was all right.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
Although the church publicly claims that it will simply return funds to anyone who is dissatisfied, the reality of this policy is quite different. In fact, requesting a return of money from the church is classified as a Scientology “High Crime” or “Suppressive Act,” which qualifies one to be declared a Suppressive Person. And in an even more bizarre twist, once the church declares you an SP, according to its policy you are no longer eligible for a return of your money.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
I was more than aware of the Fair Game policy, which stipulates that anyone against Scientology “may be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed.” This policy essentially allows Scientologists to punish and harass “enemies” using any and all means necessary. The church has stated that this policy was canceled, but there is an exception: “If the person is an SP, this applies.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
...for all that people have tried to abuse it and disown it. "feminism" is still the word we need. No other word will do. And let's face it, there has been no other word, save "Girl Power" -- which makes you sound like you're into some branch of Scientology owned by Geri Halliwell. That "Girl Power" has been the sole rival to the word "feminism" in the last 50 years is a cause for much sorrow on behalf of the women. After all, P. Diddy has had four different names, and he's just one man.
”
”
Caitlin Moran (How to Be a Woman)
“
In the United States, constitutional guarantees of religious liberty protect the church from actions that might otherwise be considered abusive or in violation of laws in human trafficking or labor standards.
”
”
Lawrence Wright (Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief)
“
I was once a big fan of Tom’s—before I got to know him. I’m sure many people could say the same thing about me or any other celebrity. But this is different; most actors are not in charge of your faith. I don’t doubt that Tom is in Scientology because he believes in it, but to me he has simply been given too much power by his church.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
by its founder, L. Ron Hubbard (LRH), is incredibly alluring. Scientology offers a clearly laid out scientific process that helps you to overcome your limitations and realize your full potential for greatness. It is presented as a well-defined path to achieving total spiritual freedom and enlightenment and a full understanding of yourself and others.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
The absolute conviction that what you are doing is right and just and saving mankind provides enormous strength to persist and overcome incredible odds. It’s almost a superpower.
”
”
Mike Rinder (A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology)
“
King of Queens was unpretentious and, most important, funny.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
When I look back and consider why I didn’t rebel, the reality was that doing so would have just made life harder.
”
”
Jenna Miscavige Hill (Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape)
“
And to all my fellow troublemakers, I say, "Carry on.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
Now, Kendra realized, leaving Scientology was about much more than simply deciding not go to church or use language developed by L. Ron Hubbard. It was about learning to live in a world that hadn't in some way been designed by L. Ron Hubbard.
”
”
Janet Reitman (Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion)
“
For me, friendships are tested not in the best of times, but in the worst of times. You don’t always get a second chance to be there for someone when they really need you. So when I say I will be there, I mean it. And when I need you, you better be there. Everyone has deal breakers and this is one of mine.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
Then the last item on the checklist: shoes and socks. I was petrified as I looked down, because if you have white socks on, you’re dead to me. Dead to me. There’s no fixing you. You’re beyond help. As a person, there are certain things you should know, and one of them is black pants, black socks, black shoes.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
There is no question that a belief system can have positive, transformative effects on people's lives. Many current and former Scientologists have attested to the value of their training and the insight they derived from their study of the religion. They have the right to believe whatever they choose. But it is a different matter to use the protections afforded a religion by the First Amendment to falsify history, to propagate forgeries, and to cover up human-rights abuses.
”
”
Lawrence Wright (Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief)
“
While Crowley struggled throughout his life to popularize the OTO, the Church of Scientology became hugely successful, and now claims over eight million members in some 3,000 churches spread across fifty-four countries. It is said to make more than $300 million a year, and Hubbard’s numerous writings are central to its success.
”
”
George Pendle (Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons)
“
As with Jakobson, I queried Poston as to the source of Manson's philosophy. Scientology, the Bible, and the Beatles. These three were the only ones he knew.
A peculiar triumvirate. Yet by now I was beginning to suspect the existence of at least a fourth influence. The old magazines I'd found at Barker, Gregg's mention that Charlie claimed to have read Nietzsche and that he believed in a master race, pus the emergence of a startling number of disturbing parallels between Manson and the leader of the Third Reich, led me to ask Poston: "Did Manson ever say anything about Hitler?"
Poston's reply was short and incredibly chilling.
A. "He said that Hitler was a tuned-in guy who had leveled the karma of the Jews.
”
”
Vincent Bugliosi (Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders)
“
They antagonised Julian Assange over six lines from OT VII and he ended up releasing 612 pages’ worth of all the OT levels. In
”
”
Steve Cannane (Fair Game: The Incredible Untold Story of Scientology in Australia)
“
I do things that bring me joy, learning to love the one person I didn’t like very much—myself.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
I got it: You didn’t have to do shit to be an actor. You didn’t even have to necessarily believe in yourself. You just had to have the confidence to say it out loud.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
Drag queen is a gender like no other, and with practice I'd learned to rise to it.
”
”
Kate Bornstein (A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The True Story of a Nice Jewish Boy Who Joins the Church of Scientology and Leaves Twelve Years Later to Become the Lovely Lady She is Today)
“
And to all my fellow troublemakers, I say, “Carry on.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
Life without her would be an endless succession of purposeless days lived with a heavy hopelessness
”
”
L. Ron Hubbard (Fear)
“
Stupidly perhaps, and sometimes at the cost of my own job, or being labeled “difficult,” I’m willing to say shit to people no matter who they are and what the consequences may be. And yes, in the end, I’m probably cutting off my nose to spite my face. But that’s who I am.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
The real and, to me, inexcusable danger in Dianetics lies in its conception of the amoral, detached, 100 per cent efficient mechanical man—superbly free-floating, unemotional, and unrelated to anything. This is the authoritarian dream, a population of zombies, free to be manipulated by the great brains of the founder, the leader of the inner manipulative clique.
”
”
Janet Reitman (Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion)
“
Maybe it’s an insanity test, Haggis thought—if you believe it, you’re automatically kicked out. He considered that possibility. But when he read it again, he decided, “This is madness.
”
”
Lawrence Wright (Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief)
“
There is no shortage of people who would be willing to say “Leah can be an asshole”—my own mother can attest to that. And if I am all these things the church may claim, then isn’t it also accurate to say that in the end, thirty-plus years of dedication, millions of dollars spent, and countless hours of study and training didn’t really “fix” me? Perhaps Scientology doesn’t work.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
Angelo and I had the nastiest “deaf fights” where instead of speaking, we mouthed the words—“Fuck you” or “I want a divorce”—because we didn’t want the baby to be any more upset than she already was.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
To me, it's a structural flaw of the faith that its adherents are forbidden from challenging the leader (and its policies) at all costs. And right behind the current leader is another of the same kind.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
Hubbard had issued a 12-point policy governing Scientology Finances. Points A and J were both ‘MAKE MONEY’, point K was ‘MAKE MORE MONEY’, the final point was ‘MAKE OTHER PEOPLE PRODUCE SO AS TO MAKE MONEY’.46
”
”
Steve Cannane (Fair Game: The Incredible Untold Story of Scientology in Australia)
“
What is true is what is true for you. No one has any right to force data on you and command you to believe it or else. If it is not true for you, it isn’t true. Think your own way through things, accept what is true for you, discard the rest. There is nothing unhappier than one who tries to live in a chaos of lies.
”
”
Lawrence Wright (Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief)
“
It's very, very subtle stuff, changing words and giving them a whole different meaning—it creates an artificial reality," said Walter. "What happens is this new linguistic system undermines your ability to even monitor your own thoughts because nothing means what it used to mean. I couldn't believe that I could get taken over like that. I was the most independent-minded idiot that ever walked the planet. But that's what happened.
”
”
Janet Reitman (Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion)
“
Hubbard mentions an organization he calls SMERSH, a name taken from James Bond novels. Hubbard describes it as a “hidden government …that aspired to world domination!” Psychiatry is the dominating force behind this sinister institution.
”
”
Lawrence Wright (Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief)
“
When I was nineteen, approaching my fourth hour behind those Scientology HQ doors, I had no idea the millions of dollars and psychological trauma this “church” had wrung out of everyday people under false promises that started with $35 self-improvement workshops. All I knew was that this felt like a timeshare sell. And I couldn’t let them take us to that next room. So I stood up. I said, “NO THANK YOU. WE ARE NOT YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE. PLEASE LET US GO. MANI, WE’RE LEAVING.
”
”
Amanda Montell (Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism)
“
The law of manifestation operates like a triangle: First, know what you want and visualize it as if you already had it; Second, see it behind the illusion of reality, practice it in your decisions, choose the people you hang out with, etc; Third, believe, have faith and work on your emotions to be at the right frequency. This triangle of manifestation is one of the secrets of many religions: Christianity, Scientology, and Freemasonry. In Masonry is seen as "heart, mind and desire"; in Scientology is perceived as "reality, communication and affinity"; in Christianity is understood as "Father, son and holy ghost"; basically, "actions, learnings and emotions". In Christianity, the Father equals reality or the Creator of the illusion, the son is the way, the path, he road of our decisions and actions, and the holy ghost is our heart, instincts and desires manifested in that same path. In word words, through Jesus, and with the power of the holy ghost, you reach God. This is an allegory that not many Christians can understand. Jesus represent behavior - right and wrong, the holy ghost is our faith, your heart and emotions reflecting back at you what you attract, it's the energy that connects you to your dreams, and God represents the Architect of Reality. So, through moral behavior and positive emotions, your understand God and life, and then you receive "paradise". This paradise is whatever you dream for yourself. Furthermore, if someone has shown you this way, he has been as an angel to you, a messenger of God; if someone stopped you from reaching it, he has been as a demon, a worker for Satan, the enemy, if you failed in seeing this path, you have redirected yourself towards hell. And if you hate your life, you are already in hell. If you want to get out of hell, you must accept the truth, and this truth is that you must know God, for He is the truth. He and the truth are one and the same.
”
”
Robin Sacredfire
“
Down the road you may question why you didn’t leave sooner, but it’s because you simply weren’t ready, that’s all. When the veil comes off, it comes off. No matter how old you are, you still have a life ahead of you and you can still make a change.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
On the contrary, I’m too weak for it. I mean, everyone is, but I am especially susceptible to its false rewards, you know? It’s designed to addict you, to prey on your insecurities and use them to make you stay. It exploits everybody’s loneliness and promises us community, approval, friendship. Honestly, in that sense, social media is a lot like the Church of Scientology. Or QAnon. Or Charles Manson. And then on top of that—weaponizing a person’s isolation—it convinces every user that she is a minor celebrity, forcing her to curate some sparkly and artificial sampling of her best experiences, demanding a nonstop social performance that has little in common with her inner life, intensifying her narcissism, multiplying her anxieties, narrowing her worldview. All while commodifying her, harvesting her data, and selling it to nefarious corporations so that they can peddle more shit that promises to make her prettier, smarter, more productive, more successful, more beloved. And throughout all this, you have to act stupefied by your own good luck. Everybody’s like, Words cannot express how fortunate I feel to have met this amazing group of people, blah blah blah. It makes me sick. Everybody influencing, everybody under the influence, everybody staring at their own godforsaken profile, searching for proof that they’re lovable. And then, once you’re nice and distracted by the hard work of tallying up your failures and comparing them to other people’s triumphs, that’s when the algorithmic predators of late capitalism can pounce, enticing you to partake in consumeristic, financially irresponsible forms of so-called self-care, which is really just advanced selfishness. Facials! Pedicures! Smoothie packs delivered to your door! And like, this is just the surface stuff. The stuff that oxidizes you, personally. But a thousand little obliterations add up, you know? The macro damage that results is even scarier. The hacking, the politically nefarious robots, opinion echo chambers, fearmongering, erosion of truth, etcetera, etcetera. And don’t get me started on the destruction of public discourse. I mean, that’s just my view. Obviously to each her own. But personally, I don’t need it. Any of it.” Blandine cracks her neck. “I’m corrupt enough.
”
”
Tess Gunty (The Rabbit Hutch)
“
The ceremony, likely aided by narcotics and hallucinogens, required Hubbard to channel the female deity of Babalon as Parsons performed the “invocation of wand with material basis on talisman”—in other words, masturbating on a piece of parchment. He typically invoked twice a night.
”
”
Lawrence Wright (Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief)
“
Miscavige keeps a number of dogs, including five beagles. He had blue vests made up for each of them, with four stripes on the shoulder epaulets, indicating the rank of Sea Org Captain. He insists that people salute the dogs as they parade by. The dogs have a mini-treadmill where they work out.
”
”
Lawrence Wright (Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief)
“
Virtually every meeting with Miscavige involved an element of fear: the initial summons required that those called to it drop whatever they were doing and sprint to the assignation place; there they would wait until the leader, who'd often be playing Nintendo in his private lounge, decided to show up.
”
”
Janet Reitman (Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion)
“
VERY EARLY ONE MORNING in July 1977, the FBI, having been tipped off about Operation Snow White, carried out raids on Scientology offices in Los Angeles and Washington, DC, carting off nearly fifty thousand documents. One of the files was titled “Operation Freakout.” It concerned the treatment of Paulette Cooper, the journalist who had published an exposé of Scientology, The Scandal of Scientology, six years earlier. After having been indicted for perjury and making bomb threats against Scientology, Cooper had gone into a deep depression. She stopped eating. At one point, she weighed just eighty-three pounds. She considered suicide. Finally, she persuaded a doctor to give her sodium pentothal, or “truth serum,” and question her under the anesthesia. The government was sufficiently impressed that the prosecutor dropped the case against her, but her reputation was ruined, she was broke, and her health was uncertain. The day after the FBI raid on the Scientology headquarters, Cooper was flying back from Africa, on assignment for a travel magazine, when she read a story in the International Herald Tribune about the raid. One of the files the federal agents discovered was titled “Operation Freakout.” The goal of the operation was to get Cooper “incarcerated in a mental institution or jail.
”
”
Lawrence Wright (Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief)
“
A truly Suppressive Person or Group has no rights of any kind, and actions taken against them are not punishable," Hubbard wrote. He later explained that such enemies "may be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed.
”
”
Janet Reitman (Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion)
“
The Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu conjectured that you cannot grow until you confront the void within.
”
”
Michelle LeClair (Perfectly Clear: Escaping Scientology and Fighting for the Woman I Love)
“
Hubbard’s stint in Queensland is better characterised as overbearing, overzealous and over too soon. Hubbard would end up portraying himself as a war hero who helped save Australia from the Japanese. His arrival, his stay and his departure would all become subject of Scientology mythmaking. But the truth is that Hubbard was sent home from Brisbane in disgrace. When
”
”
Steve Cannane (Fair Game: The Incredible Untold Story of Scientology in Australia)
“
Success in the pulps depended on speed and imagination, and Hubbard had both in abundance. The church estimates that between 1934 and 1936, he was turning out a hundred thousand words of fiction a month. He was writing so fast that he began typing on a roll of butcher paper to save time. When a story was finished, he would tear off the sheet using a T-square and mail it to the publisher.
”
”
Lawrence Wright (Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief)
“
Scientology doesn’t exactly put a premium on the sanctity of marriage. Or on relationships between parents and children, for that matter. The church demands that rather than placing value in your own future or your future as a married couple, or a family, you place value and focus only back to Scientology. Divorce is rampant among church and Sea Org members, as is the dissolution of families.
”
”
Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
“
Back in the day, the story goes, four science fiction writers - Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Frank Herbert and L Ron Hubbard - were hanging out late at night in 1940 in LA, drinking and putting the world to rights. They made a bet, who could dream up the best religion? Asimov explained in a TV interview in the 1980s that it was more of a dare than a true bet, and the goal was not a religion proper but ‘who can make the best religious story.’ The results were ‘Nightfall’ by Asimov, ‘Dune’ by Herbert, ‘Job’ by Heinlein and ‘Dianetics’ by Hubbard. If the first version of the story is true, Hubbard won the bet. They
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John Sweeney (The Church of Fear: Inside the Weird World of Scientology)
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a myth that the church has very successfully used to its advantage. Many people were under the same impression that there are tons of Scientologists in the film and television business and that we all help each other out. The real truth is that while the church would like you to believe it wields a tremendous amount of influence in Hollywood, that is simply not the case. Throughout my career I knew of one minor casting director who was a Scientologist, but other than that, no real movers and shakers. As a matter of fact, I think identifying myself publicly as a Scientologist probably hurt my career more than it helped it as far as perception was concerned. And while some of the courses the church offered provided me with better communication skills to help land roles, the time, money, and effort I invested certainly didn’t outweigh the benefit for me.
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Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
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I knew without a doubt that I was a good person, and, no matter what anyone else thought or said about me, no matter who they were or how important, I didn’t care. When I realized this, down to the moment, the clouds opened up. This realization was the beginning of personal integrity, when, instead of dismissing my feelings or my intuition, I found myself following them, even if they led me to a place that Scientology said was wrong.
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Jenna Miscavige Hill (Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape)
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Crap food. Toxic music. Even pop psychology and religion. We take the human impulse toward self-knowledge, and reconstitute it as EST, The Forum, and Scientology. We pervert the 5000-year-old spiritual discipline of Yoga into a weight loss regimen and an excuse to buy cute, clingy stretch pants. And then there’s our affectation for New Age religion, which is to actual religion as light jazz is to Coltrane: Astrology, palm reading, Phrenology, past life regression, astral projection, tarot, numerology, crystals, psychics, and mediums who talk to the dead.
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Ian Gurvitz (WELCOME TO DUMBFUCKISTAN: The Dumbed-Down, Disinformed, Dysfunctional, Disunited States of America)
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No matter how your world falls apart—and honey, that’s what happens: we all build ourselves a world, and then it falls apart—but no matter how that happens, you still have the kind heart you’ve had since you were a child, and that’s what really counts. And I will always be here for you, my butzalah. I love you, Katherine.
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Kate Bornstein (A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The true story of a nice Jewish boy who joins the Church of Scientology and leaves twelve years later to become the lovely lady she is today)
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...if any single religion were in fact true, the Observer would have - indeed _should have_ already seen that religion emerge naturally and entirely unassisted wherever human beings were found, regardless of their isolation or epoch. It's deity (or deities) would wear a single hat, carry a single name and speak a single language audible to the deaf, coherent to infants, understood by the demented, and intelligible to the senile. [...] No religion has however emerged twice anywhere on the planet [...] not a solitary person in history has arrived independently at Mithraism, Christianity, Islam, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Scientology or Judaism without if first being taught to them.
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John Zande (The Owner of All Infernal Names: An Introductory Treatise on the Existence, Nature & Government of our Omnimalevolent Creator)
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But rather than indoctrinate them more deeply, Donna Henderson, a plainspoken woman, said the Sea Org experience served to "wake us up." Public members, and notably those who've paid enough to become Operating Thetans, are assiduously kept in the dark about how the Sea Org, and the overall church hierarchy, actually functions. "You truly have no idea that things are as bad as they are within the organization," said Donna. "But once you're in, it's like the curtain just drops, and all of a sudden there's absolutely no pretense. You're not there to save the planet, you're not there to help anybody—you're there to get money from people. And you don't have money anymore, so you're a slave.
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Janet Reitman (Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion)
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So how did it come to this? Why did the Australian government have to provide a protection visa for José on the grounds that a religious organisation it deems a tax-exempt charity had trafficked him? How could a church that claims to believe in freedom and human rights enslave and traffic its members? How could a church that in its own religious creed says ‘that all men have inalienable rights to their own lives’ separate a loving couple who wanted to get married and have a child, and force the woman to have an abortion? How could a church use Australia as a penal colony in the 21st century? To understand the madness of modern-day Scientology, you need to go back to the source, and the thinking that marked its very beginning.
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Steve Cannane (Fair Game: The Incredible Untold Story of Scientology in Australia)
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Scientology, a fundamentally narcissistic philosophy that demonizes doubt and insecurity as products of the "reactive mind," is a belief system tailor-made for actors. The Training Routines that are part of early Scientology indoctrination have been compared to acting exercises: students are taught to "duplicate," or mirror, a partner's actions; project their "intention," or thoughts, onto inanimate objects; experiment with vocal tones, the most dominant being a commanding bark known as "tone 40"; and deepen their ability to "be in their bodies" without reacting to outside stimuli. In auditing, Scientologists re-create scenes from past lives. Some processes focus directly on members "mocking up," or visualizing themselves, in different scenarios.
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Janet Reitman (Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion)
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No longer was a defection, a leaked document, or some other treasonous act a prerequisite for being deemed an SP, though only serious offenses like those would seem to merit such severe condemnation. It meant, after all, expulsion from the church and the loss of salvation—a severe penalty. But now anyone who expressed even the smallest criticism of church policy or leadership was in danger of being cast out.
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Janet Reitman (Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion)
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Thus, at twenty hundred hours Friday, the twenty-fourth of January, AD 36 [Hubbard’s calendar: ‘after Dianetics’], L. Ron Hubbard discarded the body he had used in this lifetime for seventy-four years, ten months, and eleven days. The body he had used to facilitate his existence in this MEST universe had ceased to be useful and in fact had become an impediment to the work he now must do outside of its confines.
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Mike Rinder (A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology)
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Let me start with this: I am an apostate. I have lied. I have cheated. I have done things in my life that I am not proud of, including but not limited to: • falling in love with a married man nineteen years ago • being selfish and self-centered • fighting with virtually everyone I have ever known (via hateful emails, texts, and spoken words) • physically threatening people (from parking ticket meter maids to parents who hit their kids in public) • not showing up at funerals of people I loved (because I don’t deal well with death) • being, on occasion, a horrible daughter, mother, sister, aunt, stepmother, wife (this list goes on and on). The same goes for every single person in my family: • My husband, also a serial cheater, sold drugs when he was young. • My mother was a self-admitted slut in her younger days (we’re talking the 1960s, before she got married). • My dad sold cocaine (and committed various other crimes), and then served time at Rikers Island. Why am I revealing all this? Because after the Church of Scientology gets hold of this book, it may well spend an obscene amount of money running ads, creating websites, and trotting out celebrities to make public statements that their religious beliefs are being attacked—all in an attempt to discredit me by disparaging my reputation and that of anyone close to me. So let me save them some money. There is no shortage of people who would be willing to say “Leah can be an asshole”—my own mother can attest to that. And if I am all these things the church may claim, then isn’t it also accurate to say that in the end, thirty-plus years of dedication, millions of dollars spent, and countless hours of study and
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Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
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The only thing secretive about secret societies is the fear that the arrogant inside these groups have of sharing the little they know, because they often don't even understand their own books and struggle with little. Their real fear is that someone may come along, understand everything better and faster than they do and before they can, and then, by default, lead them to exclusion by ignorance. On the other hand, their fear blinds them from knowing more and identifying those who can take them to a higher level, the same individuals that they clame to be waiting for and that only appear every couple of hundred years or thousand. This paradox is what leads their groups to extinction by self-imposed destructive behavior or to practices that are in complete contradiction towards what their founder or founders intended. As a matter of fact, the more this reality manifests before our eyes, the easier it is to find quotes in books written by founders of such groups in complete contradiction with what you hear everyone inside these groups speaking. What I’m really saying here is that Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, Scientology, and many other groups out there, have long lost their entitlement to ownership of their own name, and as much as Christianity is today more in tune to an evil God than a benevolent one. Their real intention, even if manifested mostly at a subconscious level, is to keep away anyone that contradicts what they want to see, rather than what they should be seeing. Ironically, they are doing exactly what was done unto them by the Inquisition, the Nazis, the Egyptians, and any other group that once opposed them. They are their own enemy. And when their Jesus comes, they neglect him, ridicule him, ignore him and even conspire against him. They are the greatest shame of their own ancestors. They are the poison they fear. They are the real enemy of their own group.
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Robin Sacredfire
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Economics are as simple as they are not obscured. And as confused as they are made to serve a selfish purpose. Any child can understand—and practice—the basic principles of economics. But grown men, huge with the stature of Government or Chain Banks, find it very useful to obscure the subject beyond all comprehension. The things that are done in the name of 'economic necessity' would shame Satan. For they are done by the selfish few to deny the many. Economics easily evolve into the science of making people miserable. Nine-tenths of life are economic. The remaining one-tenth is social-political. If there is this fruitful source of suppression loose upon the world and if it makes people unhappy, then it is a legitimate field for comment in Scientology as it must form a large 'misunderstood' in our daily lives. Let us see how involved it can be made. If Mankind increases in number and if property and goods increase, then money must also increase unless we are to arrive at a point where none can buy. Yet money is pegged to a metal of which there is just so much and no more—gold. So if Man's expansion is to be checked, it will be checked simply by running out of this metal. And aside from art uses and superstition, the metal, gold, has almost no practical value. Iron is far more useful, but as it is one of the most common elements about, it would not serve the purpose of suppression of Man's growth. MONEY IS SIMPLY A SYMBOL THAT PEOPLE ARE CONFIDENT CAN BE CONVERTED INTO GOODS.
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L. Ron Hubbard
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In the end, change is never easy. Living with a core set of beliefs that completely unravel is unsettling, to say the least. We all have to decide, do we want to live in regret, suffer pain, and demonize ourselves for believing in and carrying out the tenets of the church, or do we want to look at what we gained? The “bad” had to happen. If it didn’t, we would still be walking around with blinders on, not seeing the world at large. We wouldn’t have been given the gift to explore new ideas, new ways of being, thinking, open to the possibilities that there are other beliefs, different paths that can bring us closer to others. We would not be able to be more solid than ever in our belief that “what is true for you is true because you yourself have observed it to be true.
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Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology)
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The law of manifestation operates like a triangle: First, know what you want and visualize it as if you already had it; Second, see it behind the illusion of reality, practice it in your decisions, choose the people you hang out with, etc; Third, believe, have faith and work on your emotions to be at the right frequency. This triangle of manifestation is one of the secrets of many religions: Christianity, Scientology, and Freemasonry. In Masonry is seen as "heart, mind and desire"; in Scientology is perceived as "reality, communication and affinity"; in Christianity is understood as "Father, son and holy ghost"; basically, "actions, learnings and emotions". In Christianity, the Father equals reality or the Creator of the illusion, the son is the way, the path, the road of our decisions and actions, and the holy ghost is our heart, instincts and desires manifested in that same path. In other words, through Jesus, and with the power of the holy ghost, you reach God. This is an allegory that not many Christians can understand. Jesus represents behavior - right and wrong, the holy ghost is our faith, your heart and emotions reflecting back at you what you attract, it's the energy that connects you to your dreams, and God represents the Architect of Reality. So, through moral behavior and positive emotions, your understand God and life, and then you receive "paradise". This paradise is whatever you dream for yourself. Furthermore, if someone has shown you this way, he has been as an angel to you, a messenger of God; if someone stopped you from reaching it, he has been as a demon, a worker for Satan, the enemy; if you failed in seeing this path, you have redirected yourself towards hell. And if you hate your life, you are already in hell. If you want to get out of hell, you must accept the truth, and this truth is that you must know God, for He is the truth. He and the truth are one and the same.
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Robin Sacredfire