Tony Ortega continues on a roll of excellent reporting on the Leah Remini story, and again this morning has another very worthwhile piece. Whatever you may think of his personal views of Scientology (which after all, he IS entitled to), you have to admire his courage, his persistence and the network of sources he has built up over many years who feel he is a safe and reliable outlet for their information. He also writes clearly and well and takes the time to explain and include information to make understandable what can often be an impossibly arcane and confusing subject to the uninitiated.
His reporting this morning on
Shelly Miscavige should be read by anyone interested in Scientology.
It is most fortunate that Tony has been providing such good reading as I have been otherwise occupied over the past couple of days, but should be back to normal tomorrow.
One additional note about the situation with Shelly.
It is highly unlikely after this amount of time that even if someone could talk to her that she would say she wants to leave. Typical for this situation, she has been indoctrinated since early childhood to believe that whatever circumstances she finds herself in are HER DOING. That she is responsible for being sent away to live in purgatory for years, and that only when SHE has resolved HER own transgressions will all be well. And of course, part of that in her mind is convincing herself she no longer wants to leave — it is the first step “I must be getting my overts off as I no longer want to leave.”
This question — why do people stay in the Sea Org/church even though they are abused and treated like emaciated cattle is one of the hardest things to explain to those who have not been there. I tried to cover this in a response to a question on Marty Rathbun’s blog in February 2012. I reprint it here as I think it helps explain the mindset: