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Leah Remini is shooting a TV series about Scientology

TheOriginalBigBlue

Gold Meritorious Patron
Bethany offers some constructive criticism. On the other hand, this can be taken as evidence of how effective Disconnection, threat of being declared an SP, threat of litigation and Fair Game, internal coverups and indoctrinated self censorship help the Church by keeping people from exchanging information and causing them to not do anything until much time has passed.

http://thefederalist.com/2017/09/01/leah-reminis-latest-scientology-takedown-attempt-weak/

Leah Remini’s Latest Scientology Takedown Attempt Is Weak

September 1, 2017 By Bethany Mandel
This past June, a surprising case came before a jury in Massachusetts: a woman was charged for her role in the suicide of her boyfriend. In text messages between the two, Michelle Carter cajoled her boyfriend, Conrad Roy III, to kill himself, and he followed through in July 2014. The case sparked a firestorm: is one person responsible for the actions for another? A jury decided in the affirmative, and Carter will serve 15 months for involuntary manslaughter.
The last two weeks of Leah Remini’s “Scientology and the Aftermath” series have posed to viewers a similar ethical question about former members of the cult who have gone on to commit suicide. How much responsibility does the “church” have to the family and friends left behind?
(snipped)
 
In a normal cult, perhaps her article would make sense, if there are any normal cults, but we are talking Scientology and the industrial strength brainwashing it engenders which is harder to shake. I don't tweet but perhaps someone who does can point this out to her. Thanks Mimsey

Bethany Mandel is a stay-at-home mother of three children under four and a writer on politics and culture. She is a senior contributor to The Federalist, a columnist for the Jewish Daily Forward, and a contributor at Acculturated. She lives with her husband, Seth, in New Jersey. You can follow her on Twitter @BethanyShondark.
 

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Bethany offers some constructive criticism. On the other hand, this can be taken as evidence of how effective Disconnection, threat of being declared an SP, threat of litigation and Fair Game, internal coverups and indoctrinated self censorship help the Church by keeping people from exchanging information and causing them to not do anything until much time has passed.

http://thefederalist.com/2017/09/01/leah-reminis-latest-scientology-takedown-attempt-weak/

Leah Remini’s Latest Scientology Takedown Attempt Is Weak

September 1, 2017 By Bethany Mandel
This past June, a surprising case came before a jury in Massachusetts: a woman was charged for her role in the suicide of her boyfriend. In text messages between the two, Michelle Carter cajoled her boyfriend, Conrad Roy III, to kill himself, and he followed through in July 2014. The case sparked a firestorm: is one person responsible for the actions for another? A jury decided in the affirmative, and Carter will serve 15 months for involuntary manslaughter.
The last two weeks of Leah Remini’s “Scientology and the Aftermath” series have posed to viewers a similar ethical question about former members of the cult who have gone on to commit suicide. How much responsibility does the “church” have to the family and friends left behind?
(snipped)

Bethany Mandel's takedown attempt is (what is actually) weak.

Her previous review was very good. But she tried to stretch out on the 2nd installment by attempting to neatly tie Leah's show into a trendy online legal news story that's entirely unrelated. This is what happens when writers are trying to find content for their weekly Blog and they attempt to opine about subjects that they haven't done enough homework on.

Mandel has no clue whatsoever what she's writing about on the multiplicity of suicides by Scientologists and especially the CHILDREN of Scientologists who have been trapped in the oppressive cult prison since early childhood or birth. If Mandel had done a modicum of research she would have very quickly bumped into the objective and subjective forms of terrorism that the cult engages in against its "enemies"--anyone who dares disagree and/or tell reveal the cult's dirty secrets. All that, obviously, is under the banner of Hubbards hundreds of policies/directives originating from the FAIR GAME doctrine.

It would be well worth her while if Mandel read one or more accounts of Scientology's vicious pathological stalking and black ops--like reading Tony Ortega's outstanding book on Paulette Cooper (LINK HERE):

51zxSW6HdPL._SX326_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg



Hubbard had his fanatical Scn goons trying to destroy Paulette in multiple ways, including the plot to drive her to commit suicide--an unspeakably evil conspiracy that almost succeeded. By Mandel's woefully ill-informed logic, we are to concern ourselves with "how much responsibility the church" and Hubbard would have had, if Paulette had killed herself.

The sheer ignorance of Scientology's LYING and TREACHERY left Mandel wandering off into arcane legal concerns about whether a case is prosecutable--a subject she knows as little about as Scientology.

If Mandel reads this thread, she should seriously consider doing a little homework and then making another effort to inform readers properly about the psychological terror that Scientology PRIDES ITSELF on, which leaves a horrifying wake of destruction and death, in many forms.

So, Ms. Mandel, answer that one. If Hubbard had succeeded in driving Paulette Cooper to suicide "...how much responsibility does the church have?" Your blog states that you are a "stay-at-home" mom. What if one of your precious children was regularly being terrorized by their school teacher to the point of suicide? Would you still be so utterly confused, pained and reluctant to assign "responsibility"?
 
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Churchill

Gold Meritorious Patron
Part of the problem rests with the fact that the Scientology "religion" is so brazenly abusive, so volubly dishonest, and utterly lacking in basic human decency that the credulity of critics is sometimes called into question rather than the more difficult task of examining Scientology's genuinely evil behavior.

It's akin to searching for rationality in the mind of a serial killer
 

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Part of the problem rests with the fact that the Scientology "religion" is so brazenly abusive, so volubly dishonest, and utterly lacking in basic human decency that the credulity of critics is sometimes called into question rather than the more difficult task of examining Scientology's genuinely evil behavior.

It's akin to searching for rationality in the mind of a serial killer

Yeah, it's hard for observers to know what the hell is going on when:

--Scientology commits a horrific crime vs. its imagined "enemy".

--The VICTIM and WITNESSES come forth to testify about it.

--Scientology then unleashes a tsunami of lies to bury the truth by any means possible.

Once upon a time, there were still a few "particles" of decency within Scientology--and they would try with all their might to fend off whistleblowers with "ACCEPTIBLE TRUTHS". At least they made a modest effort to try (if possible) to at least stay somewhat close to the same time zone as the truth!

But, this is 2017 and Scientology has become what was always within its DNA to become. Nowadays, the cult doesn't even concern itself with mere shore stories or "acceptable truths"--as those are circuitous "Q&A" that only result in DevT. No attempt is made to tie any coverup to reality.

THE NEW TECH IS TO:

A) Assess the damage caused by the truth escaping.

B) Conceive of any lie (however outlandish and provably insane/false) that might make a third party observer wonder for a moment or more about the allegations.

C) Blinklessly and endlessly promote whichever lie would cause the most doubt or hesitation in the listener.


If (for example) the evidence was completely and compellingly damning vs. the cult, they would simply find some wild story that might make a person slightly pause to consider it. That, for the cult, is a huge win. They only need to cause enough confusion, misdirection and doubt to last a few moments. That's how their "knowing how to know" tech works. After that they move on to the next moment and repeat whatever momentary lie will best buy them an extra few moments.

Let's say that a Scientology security guard raped a young Scientologist. COS would say that it's a lie--always their first gambit.

Then some witnesses come forward who testify. COS lies about them, makes up crazy charges against them and how many times they lied in the past. Perhaps COS even adds that they were sued and lost multiple libel suits and got sent to prison. All untrue, but it doesn't matter if it buys a few moments of doubt.

Then the VICTIM herself testifies. COS makes up lies that she could not have been raped because she bragged in an auditing session that she had a huge win when she finally was able to seduce the security guard to have sex with her. COS even has fake worksheets dummied up and both the auditor and CS do videos saying that the victim was actually a sexual predator and that the COS had been trying to help her with counseling to stop this self-destructive and abhorrent behavior. None of it true, but another few moments of doubt successfully purchased by simply making up stories.

Then the VIDEO SURVEILLANCE surfaces! Now the COS has to make people doubt the truth of what they are looking at. So, the COS produces several videos with the victims "former lovers". They each testify in front of the cameras that the victim loved to dramatize her rape fantasies during sex, pretending she was being raped. That's what all the screaming was about. They say they refused to wrestle and beat her the way she demanded, so she would beat herself until she had cuts and bruises. That was all part of her fantasy, they blinklessly report.

The gimmick is to say ANYTHING that makes a person doubt the truth for just a moment or two.

And the COS will spend millions and an entire lifetime creating those insane lies--something normal people do not have the time nor the maniacal fanaticism to do. Normal folks will eventually become exhausted with the cult's craziness and willingness to act out these demented charades for decades. Normal people want to return to their life, or whatever is left of it. That's what the cult is banking on. Attrition. And that's why the cult is always very happy to just buy another delay or doubt. Because it adds TIME which the victims usually run out of eventually, even if their money doesn't.

In short, the cult is now fully UNHINGED and makes up lies in volumes that only a raving lunatic would be capable of.

I have describe some of it, but I know I haven't yet fully captured the diabolical nonchalance that accompanies a Scientologist happily making up lies to trick others and escape legal consequences. Give me time, I'll work more on that one. LOL
 

TheOriginalBigBlue

Gold Meritorious Patron
Thank you all for the excellent commentary on Bethany's Federalist article. I think this underscores the challenge that Leah has in trying to present these episodes to the general public while educating them on the bigger picture in such limited time segments. She is focusing on the abuse but there needs to be more about the behavioral control techniques and how this is integral to controlling PR and avoiding litigation. For those of us who have been in it this seems so self evident but to the average person it must be extremely difficult to understand. We know LRH was aware that by making it so complicated and bizarre that that provided a kind of defense and I think this is very true.
 

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.

Is this still the thread for Leah's show?

I just saw the current "ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION" episode that digs right into the greatest presentation I have ever seen that debunks "The Bridge To Total Freedom" in way that is both riveting entertainment and absolutely hilarious.

At appx. minute 29 Rinder begins reading an OT Success Story while we watch Leah's disbelieving deadpan expression. When he tops it off with a supernatural OT power (regarding cats) Leah finally reacted. You.Do.Not.Want.To.Miss.That.Moment.

Because the nanosecond I saw it----


I JUST BURST OUT LAUGHING...
And moments later--I laughed again.
And then, after a few moments--again.

BEST LAUGH I HAD IN THE PAST YEAR OR MORE!
 
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I liked this episode the best.
The very best.
Excellent.
Hi, Bruce.

Were you addressing my post? I'm not Bruce, nor any ex-Scientologist; I did enjoy this past "special episode" with the educational format, debunking the whole Bridge deal. I thought it was the most valuable episode yet, even though all of the personal stories are fascinating and heartbreaking. I got hooked on the series when I caught it in Season 1.
 

hummingbird

Patron with Honors
What a great episode that was! I loved the guy and his "saline content." OMG, I laughed and laughed. And, I had a win! This morning I realized that since I started watching the show, the dreams have stopped. I think having it all put out there helped me let go of the internal processing I've probably been doing for the last 30+ years. I'll attest!!
 

ThetanExterior

Gold Meritorious Patron
The only negative about that latest episode was Leah saying Hubbard invented the emeter. He didn't - he took someone else's idea and put his name on it just like he did with most things in Scientology.

Apart from that I loved this episode.
 

wogX

Patron
At the end of last week's episodes, didn't the scenes for the following week seem to show an episode about David Miscavage? I loved this week's Roundtable, but I am curious about the apparent change.
 

TheOriginalBigBlue

Gold Meritorious Patron
The timing for this episode about the Bridge was perfect. Having covered the abuse, they are now delving into the rational behind the abuse. I loved how they put the testimonials and wins on display and explained how people really don't have much choice but to blather on like that or they will have to redo courses and auditing or additional corrective actions at great expense and inconvenience. Scientologists become complicit in their own fraud.

They should do an episode on the PTS/SP Course. I very much like Gerry's take that the expression "SP" is the Nazi equivalent of "Vermin". The PTS/SP Technology is essentially a pogrom and constitutes Scientology as fundamentalist bigotry. They could do an episode just going down the list of errors, misdemeanors, high crimes and everything that could get you declared an SP. People would be shocked to see this kind of internal disciplinary regimen. So much of it is completely arbitrary and self serving with so little concern for the individual - just a few token PR bits tossed in for plausible deniability. It reads like Clubhouse rules for Lord of the Flies or a Mafia initiation pledge.

http://www.gerryarmstrong.org/50grand/legal/a8/complaint-rpt-doj-2004-02-16.html

///
228. The determination of SPs by “religious” and “racial” criteria parallels the Nazis’
determination of the Jews as the chosen targets of Nazi vilification and persecution, since
the Jews also formed both a religious and racial group and class. As the Nazis did with
the Jews, Scientology claims that its determination of the racial inferiority and
“antisocial” characteristics of its target class, the SPs, is completely scientific, based, in
Scientology’s case, on the exacting scientific research of the great scientist L. Ron
Hubbard. Scientology, of course, refuses to submit its “science” for classifying people as
SPs, or its “science” for the treatment SPs, to any scientific body or to any scientists to
review the organization’s “research” and “conclusions.” And, while continuing to call its
pronouncements about SPs “science,” Scientology shields this “science” from review or
criticism by calling it “religious scriptures,” and, consequently, attacking the critics of the
“science” as “anti-religious extremists” and, naturally, “Suppressive Persons.”
///
 

ThetanExterior

Gold Meritorious Patron
At the end of last week's episodes, didn't the scenes for the following week seem to show an episode about David Miscavage? I loved this week's Roundtable, but I am curious about the apparent change.

Mike Rinder explained this on his blog. Apparently they have made a few "specials" to be spread throughout the series. This was one of them. The David Miscavige episode will be next week.

Mike said he doesn't know when the "specials" are being aired.
 

Enthetan

Master of Disaster

Leah at the Emmy awards last night

Leah Remini Wins Emmy, Forgives Mom For Introducing Her To ‘Cult’ That Is Scientology

Leah Remini forgave her mom for getting her into the Scientology “cult,” while accepting her Creative Arts Emmy Award on Saturday night.

Mom, thank you. You are officially forgiven,” Deadline reports Remini said after accepting her award for Best Informational Series or Special for her A&E docuseries Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath.

Remini infamously left the Church of Scientology, a religion that she had been a member of since she was teenager, in 2013. Aftermath focuses on the lives of those who contend their lives have been adversely impacted by the religion and its stringent list of guidelines.

The former King of Queens star went on dedicate her award to “our brave contributors who, despite ongoing risk and repercussion, spoke out and told their stories.”​
 

wogX

Patron
Mike Rinder explained this on his blog. Apparently they have made a few "specials" to be spread throughout the series. This was one of them. The David Miscavige episode will be next week.

Mike said he doesn't know when the "specials" are being aired.
Thanks for the info!
 

CommunicatorIC

@IndieScieNews on Twitter
Leah Remini Trains The Big Guns On Scientology In Latest Episode.

Federalist: Leah Remini Trains The Big Guns On Scientology In Latest Episode

http://thefederalist.com/2017/09/15/leah-remini-trains-big-guns-scientology-latest-episode/

By Bethany Mandel

* * * * * BEGIN CONCLUSION * * * * *

A Forced Abortion Was the Last Straw

After years of acting as the Gold Base enforcer, it was his wife’s coerced abortion that “broke” Morehead’s connection to Scientology. Sea Org members were banned from having children, so when members found themselves pregnant, pressure to abort came not only from the organization, but often also the other party to the couple. Talking to Remini and Rinder about his wife’s abortion, Morehead broke down in tears, describing his shame at pressuring his wife to abort their child. Had they decided to keep the baby, they would have “had to leave their whole life, leave their friends,” he said.

Morehead objected to his wife’s treatment, and soon, he says, was subjected to a year of intense interrogations and monitoring, with the goal of destroying his marriage (which was successful). His wife’s abortion and the subsequent abusive treatment Morehead was subjected to afterwards was enough to inspire his defection.

The intended goal of the second season of “Scientology and the Aftermath” was to spark officials’ interest in the goings-on behind the scenes of the cult. Local law enforcement can and should be conducting raids at the Gold Base and asking every occupant, alone, if they wish to stay.

After the latest episode aired, a viewer remarked “Forced abortions? Why haven’t the GOP declared war on them?” A prominent Scientology-watching journalist, Tony Ortega, echoed this question, as do I, as a pro-life journalist. With both the House and the Senate Republican-controlled, inquiries into Scientology’s policy of coerced abortions should also begin given how many individuals have described its existence both on and off camera on the A&E special.

Bethany Mandel is a stay-at-home mother of three children under four and a writer on politics and culture. She is a senior contributor to The Federalist, a columnist for the Jewish Daily Forward, and a contributor at Acculturated. She lives with her husband, Seth, in New Jersey. You can follow her on Twitter @BethanyShondark.

* * * * * END CONCLUSION * * * * *
 
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