SP Times Round 2 - Moar speaking out!

[Div6]

http://www.tampabay.com/news/scientology/article1023717.ece


In Print: Sunday, August 2, 2009


They are stepping forward — from Dallas and Denver, Portland, Las Vegas, Montana — talking about what happened, to them and their friends, during their years in the Church of Scientology.

Jackie Wolff wept as she recalled the chaotic night she was ordered to stand at a microphone in the mess hall and confess her "crimes" in front of 300 fellow workers, many jeering and heckling her.

Gary Morehead dredged up his recollection of Scientology leader David Miscavige punishing venerable church leaders by forcing them to live out of tents for days, wash with a garden hose and use an open latrine.

Steve Hall replayed his memory of a meeting when Miscavige grabbed the heads of two church executives and knocked them together. One came away with a bloody ear.

Mark Fisher remembered precisely what he told Miscavige after the punches stopped and Fisher touched his head, looked at his palm and saw blood.

These and other former Scientology staffers are talking now, inspired and emboldened by the raw revelations of four defectors from the church's executive ranks who broke years of silence in stories published recently by the St. Petersburg Times.


Moar at source.

 

[everfree]

Holy sweeeet lordy! Miscavige must be terrified to have his abuses so widely confirmed! Yay, SP Times! Thanks for speaking out, those who have.

This is great, great news.

 

[DCAnon]

Best.

Thing.

EVER.

Lol!

 

[Abaddon]

I'm really impressed by the SP Times.

 

[Martini]

Fantastic.

 

[programmer_guy]

Church spokesman Tommy Davis said the new defectors' accounts of physical abuse by Miscavige are "false and categorically denied."

Tommy is an un-thinking CofS puppet. (Of course, I am not saying anything that most already know.)

It looks to me that it is quite possible that Davey will be in court someday soon to answer to criminal charges.
Then we can play the Bohemian Rhapsody for him.

 

[Div6]

Bump for great justice.

Steve Hall comes across as a very real kind of guy....not like Tommy Davis at all.

 

[everfree]

Steve Hall comes across as a very real kind of guy....not like Tommy Davis at all.

They all do. Very matter of fact, giving great detail without getting pedantic. Contrast it against the foaming at the mouth Freedom mag. I know which one John Q Wog is going to find more credible.

Hopefully the Freedom mag will cause some Scientologists to think they may just need to read those SP Times articles and when reading such real accounts as these they'll start to wake up.

In my experience many, many Scientologists have seen or experienced abuse in the church, they just put it down as an isolated incident rather than the poisonous culture that it is.

 

[Cherished]

I tilt my glass to all those who have spoken up to corroborate the first four. As the headline says - there's strength in numbers. Let's hope the numbers continue to grow as people are freed from fear.

 

[supafreak]

Fantastic! I hope this encourages more exes to speak up!

 

[scooter]

I think this will turn into a tsunami that will sweep the little gnome into oblivion - too many people are saying the same things for it to be continually ignored now.

Go the SP Times!

 

[Iknowtoomuch]

Damn, all kinds of names I know.
Well done.

 

[ChuckNorrisCutsMyLawn]

I think this will turn into a tsunami that will sweep the little gnome into oblivion - too many people are saying the same things for it to be continually ignored now.

Go the SP Times!

This is just the beginning and it is probably going to end one of two ways, either Miscavige is going to cash out, escaping to live his life in luxury in a country with no extradition treaties, or we are going to see Jonestown Guyana 2.0 at the Hemet compound. If Miscavige is as messed as Hubbard it will probably be the latter.

 

[Dulloldfart]

Excellent article. I assume there will be more.

Paul

 

[degraded being]

Fabulous timing with the Freedom magazine.
The Freedom magazine with the "DM Damage Control" cover will only help to stir the pot.

 

[Lulu Belle]

I'm really impressed by the SP Times.

I have a feeling that, when they first published this series, they knew they had to be in it for the long haul. I'm sure they were ready for all of it: the DA packs on those who spoke, the Freedom mag going out to their subscription list, attempts to dig up dirt on the journalists. I'm sure the church will file a lawsuit against them if they haven't already.

Because the church handles this stuff exactly the same way every time there's a negative article about them, the SP Times is sure to know exactly what to expect.

And they must have committed themselves to do it and take it all the way and not back down.

I do kind of wonder why, after all these years of their up and down relationship with COS, they finally decided to take the plunge. They've written negative articles about the church and positive articles about the church and kind of neutral articles about the church.

But never a major full in depth attack like this.

 

[Axiom142]

...

I do kind of wonder why, after all these years of their up and down relationship with COS, they finally decided to take the plunge. They've written negative articles about the church and positive articles about the church and kind of neutral articles about the church.

But never a major full in depth attack like this.

We’ve never had a situation like this before, with so much media coverage.

There was the Andrew Morton bio of Cruise, the ‘Tom Cruise saves the world IAS award video’ leak, the rise of anonymous, Jason Beghe speaking out, all the other media stories about Scientology and Scientologists and the huge rise in popularity of websites like ESMB where ex-Scientologists get to talk about their experiences and the abuses suffered and witnessed.

The more that comes out, the more people will become aware of what is really happening. More people will be encouraged to speak out and other abuses will come to light. Hopefully, we will see the flood gates open and all those who have suffered will speak out, instead of being suppressed into silence.

At some point surely even the CoS PR machine will realise they can’t just keep saying ‘It didn’t happen”, in the face of overwhelming public testimony? The only way that the ‘Church’ of Scientology can survive is for those who care about it to realise that Miscavige has become The Problem and to get rid of him. This way, they can blame all the misdeeds on him and try to make a fresh start.

Axiom142

 

[Feral]

This isn't an attack on the CofS, it's an attack on DM, his bizarre management style and his abuse.

Scientologists will have difficulty in differentiating.

If we as critics can help them see this they may be more willing to throw him under the bus. For the greater good!!

 

[Lulu Belle]

I'll tell you one thing.

Parents who have kids in the Sea Org, both non-Scientology parents and Scientology parents, must be freaking out.

Wondering if their kid is getting beat up or tortured.

I don't think Scientology parents whose kids are in the SO are just blithely thinking this is a fabrication. I really don't.

There must be some interesting sessions and ethics interviews going on in the orgs these days.

 

[Dulloldfart]

I'll tell you one thing.

Parents who have kids in the Sea Org, both non-Scientology parents and Scientology parents, must be freaking out.

Wondering if their kid is getting beat up or tortured.

I don't think Scientology parents whose kids are in the SO are just blithely thinking this is a fabrication. I really don't.

Especially in the light of these quotes from the Freedom Mag the CofS just put out:

[Kingpin] and I were beating people up. I broke someone's ribs and beat him up. The guy got freaked out and then [Kingpin] piled on. There were others who got jumped on. [Fact-Checker] got beaten up by [Kingpin] and me.​

and

The most famous incident came in January 2004 when inexplicably, out of nowhere, no forewarning, [Kingpin] leapt onto [Fact-Checker], tackled him to the ground, straddled him at the chest, grabbed him at the throat, choked him while banging his head into the floor, screaming at him, asking him a question repeatedly, to the point that he was turning purple and requiring him to be peeled off by five grown men, none of whom is shorter than 6 feet tall, some of whom are as much as 6 foot 4.​

I must say that I was never at Int. In my 23 years in the SO I never saw nor heard of anyone getting hit by execs or peers at all while I was there, although someone at ITO kicked her senior in the groin once.

Paul