Wednesday, March 10, 2010

ABC Four Corners | Scientology: The Ex-Files


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Aired March 8, 2010 on ABC's 4 Corners (Australia)

4 comments:

  1. The Australian government has refused to instigate a Senate Inquiry in to claims of abuse by the Church of Scientology thanks to the two major parties realising if such a move was made they would have no recourse except hypocrisy in preventing similar inquiries for other religions.

    Religion still has a free ticket in a country where less than 10% attend a place of worship regularly. Fucking disgrace.

    http://www.theaustralian.com.au/politics/xenophons-scientology-inquiry-defeated-in-senate/story-e6frgczf-1225839574899

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  2. More than anything, I think this feature really raises a question of whether we have a responsibility and more importantly a right to save people from themselves. I think this would go for all religions. I understand that indoctrination can be a very powerful thing. Like some of the people in this video said, they knew what was going on was bullshit, but they put up with it anyways. Do we have the right to step in and call bullshit where we see it, even though the person being affected is complient?

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  3. I may not be an athiest, however I welcome an inquiry.  Churches, by virtue of being a religious institution should not have all their enterprises presumed to be in the public good.  If they are not, then they should be taxed, so that the funds can be spent to the benefit of ALL citizens regardless of their beliefs.

    I may consider my world-view informed by a religeous upbringing, however so too has science and philosophy.  Faith is in the domain of things which cannot be proven or disproved, and science is that which CAN be.  Scientology presents itself as a SCIENCE and RELIGION simultaneously, and in reality it is neither, yet capitolizes on it's "scientific" and "religious" philosophy to mobilize people towards it's own political and entrepreneurial ends.

    In Scientology's case NOTHING they do is in the public interest, and their supposed good-work are cynical PR ploys and/or for the purpose of infiltrating public institutions (if you read through leaked documents this becomes extremely, and frighteningly apparent - but don't take my word for it, reasearch it and you'll likely come to the same conclusion).

    Worse still, is that Scientology is extremely anti-democratic - and arguably fascist.  Their aim to "clear the planet" is code for "a world under total scientology rule".  Find yourself a leaked copy of the book "Introduction to Scientology Ethics" if you want a taste of how this might be.  There is nothing moral or ethical about this system - if it doesn't protect and further the dissemination of Scientology it's EVIL and CRIMINAL, and if it does (regardless of the law) then it's good.

    Many horrendous acts have been, and continue to be perpetrated to this end and they are SYSTEMIC.  It's high time an inquiry was initiated.  Our general beliefs may differ, but on this point everyone has a stake.  The democracy that protects our right to believe or not to believe is being subverted by a dangerous and abusive cult and that is simply not on.

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  4. We always have the right to call bullshit - and have the right to ignore that if it's been called on us.

    On matters of belief, this is somewhat inconseqential to our democratic system and the rule of law.

    When it comes to human rights abuses - How people BEHAVE, then we have more than a right to call bullshit, we have the right to demand legislative and legal justice.

    Also, "complient" is a murky term when one is talking about Scientology.  Their entire pyramid scheme works on (what they call) the "gradient scale".  At the start their courses are quite reasonable, even helpful - but little by little people are transitioned away from wider reality, and society, all while their wallets are being emptied.  It's not unlike drug addiction when people chase after than initial high...only it's not there to be had.  By the time people realize that the promises will never be delivered they can be trapped, if not physically then psychologically.  All their friends are Scientologists, their family...if they're there from birth there's a good likelyhood they lack (or believe they lack) the skills to survive in the outside world - stunted education, no qualifications, no social security/tax-file number, nowhere to live, no savings.  They may believe that if they leave they'll be on the streets or end up dead.

    Their initial idealistic aim to become a better person and to help mankind is subverted and turned to something completely unacceptable under our rule of law.  It's psychologically abusive, and done in such a covert and underhanded way that the issue of "willing participation" is called into question.

    Their auditing sessions, which produce large "case files" of all sorts of embarrasing information are used with impunity by the CoS when people leave - both to turn family and friends against them, or to try to sully their names when they attempt to publicly speak out about what they have witnessed.  See what happened to those who appeared in the St Petersburg Times expose for evidence of this.

    There's also the RPF (rehabilitation project force) which has been likened to slave labor camps - and yes, people are held against their will PHYSICALLY, and pursued and dragged back when they try to escape.  Seeing attempted escapees being dragged back and then subjected to even worse conditions acts to discourage others from trying.  Google this if you're in any doubt.

    We may also fail to realize that when people got into Scientology these abuses, the wacky Xenu story was NOT common knowledge.  We are extremely lucky to know better, but had we been targeted by this cult 10 or 20 years ago while at a vulnerable point in our lives, we too could be in the shoes of these cult-victims.

    They may once have been compliant, but I think the evidence says that this is hardly straightfoward particularly when you're talking about a system DESIGNED to COVERTLY undermine the free-will of it's followers, in the same breath as promising a "total freedom" that is unobtainable outside of the cult.  Truly disgusting.

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