The Truth Rundown
Talk about flaps. David Miscavige must be packing his bags to go live in that cave with Osama Bin Laden. Marty Rathbun is spilling the beans.
This account comes from executives who for decades were key figures in Scientology’s powerful inner circle. Marty Rathbun and Mike Rinder, the highest-ranking executives to leave the church, are speaking out for the first time.
Two other former executives who defected also agreed to interviews with the St. Petersburg Times: De Vocht, who for years oversaw the church’s spiritual headquarters in Clearwater, and Amy Scobee, who helped create Scientology’s celebrity network, which caters to the likes of John Travolta and Tom Cruise.
One by one, the four defectors walked away from the only life they knew. That Rathbun and Rinder are speaking out is a stunning reversal because they were among Miscavige’s closest associates, Haldeman and Ehrlichman to his Nixon.
Now they provide an unprecedented look inside the upper reaches of the tightly controlled organization.
There’s terrific video, too. Go and read. Watch. It’s Miscavige’s nightmare coming true.
UPDATE: Part 2 – Death in Slow Motion
The second installment covers the Lisa McPherson case. Rathbun admits he ordered the destruction of evidence. And creepy new revelations that not only are auditing sessions videotaped, but David Miscavige can watch the seesions live any time he chooses.
Do the parishioners find this unsettling? Or will they simply excuse it as they have so many other abuses?
June 21, 2009 at 2:14 am
Yippee!
June 21, 2009 at 2:52 am
I’m happy to see more and more press reporting on what’s going on.
There are a couple of disgusting parts in the report.
“Catalog of confessions
The church prepared binders of indexed material that included confessions the defectors wrote during their time in Scientology.
A key tenet of Scientology is that an individual who admits and takes responsibility for his bad thoughts and acts feels unburdened and joyful. Church members write confessions, which go into “ethics files” that are supposed to remain secret. But to rebut the defectors’ allegations about David Miscavige, church officials took the extraordinary step of releasing excerpts from the files. In them, the defectors admit transgressions and praise the leader. The church says the files undercut the credibility of those attacking Miscavige. The defectors say the “confessions” are given under pressure, and writing them is the only way to survive inside Scientology.”
The article goes about with the excerpts which I’ll pass on posting for the ex’s sake.
But reading this made a chill go up my spine. Horrible horrible horrible.
Do any scientologist need anymore proof that their PC folders are fair game? That their PC folders are not confidential?
If it’s convienient for the church, you betcha they’ll open up your folder, created with the use of a lie detector (rolls eyes) and a script made to find your ruin. Which just happens to usually be the one thing you don’t want made public.
Every scientologist needs to ask what the hell is going on.
Scary times for scientologist. Scary times indeed.
June 21, 2009 at 3:48 am
Sunlight is such a good disinfectant.
I love the way the cult responds to the issue. It actually concedes such activities occured – just not by their leader. To ordinary members of the public, something just won’t seem right about all this. What kind of church allows such things to happen?
If this story goes global, the RTC will have a serious PR problem to deal with.
June 21, 2009 at 5:18 am
SP Times! This is great stuff.
June 21, 2009 at 9:23 am
Awesome. Just awesome. Abt time…
June 21, 2009 at 12:03 pm
I smell another Pulltzer.
June 21, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Pullitzer, that is.
June 21, 2009 at 6:35 pm
Rinder speaking out?!
All that remains is a big name celeb, then it all crumbles fast. Hooray!
June 21, 2009 at 7:58 pm
tick tock DM. you reap what you sow.
June 21, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Woot!
You know why Rinder’s speaking out? It’s his conscience.
Scientology couldn’t exist if they weren’t duping good and well-meaning people into spending millions of dollars and devoting years of their lives to “clear the planet”.
When good and well-meaning people wise up, you get whistle blowers.
And congratulations to Marc Headley-they’re confirming everything he’s suing the Church for.
Tick Tock indeed…
June 21, 2009 at 10:12 pm
Way to go all these guys for exposing DM and the con. There are some really nice people who are being taken advantage of, abused, etc etc by the CoS, and DM is the Svengali at the head of the table. The cards are about to fall in place against DM and CoS will undergo some serious self analysis of it’s own.
Per a new celeb, I could seriously see John Travolta on the brink. He’s already admitted what his brother said for years (and he and Kelley had denied), which is that Jett (RIP) had autism.
Furthermore, how stupid do DM and TD think people are? Of course people under duress will lie. How many abused women speak praise for their husbands? How many die in those situations because they don’t leave? CoS isn’t an analog for abuse, it is abuse, and DM is the greatest abuser our there. Hell has a special place for him up there with Osama Bin Laden. He may have not killed countless innocents, but he knowingly defrauds tens of thousands of people from pursuing life, liberty, and happiness. That is a crime against humanity.
BTW I’d made a comment months before Rinder blew that he had to be on the brink. For some reason his personal story (death of his child, Robert V Young story, etc) struck me as that of the fallen Anakin Skywalker, in that there was still good in him as Robert V Young had hoped. I hope he’s found the strength he needs the last 2 years. Hang in there Mike and everyone else who’s been taken for a ride by DM. This is a tough economy to be out on your own but you will all prevail.
God Bless
June 22, 2009 at 1:36 am
I’ve been waiting for these days of delicious enturbulation since 1995. $cientology’s hare-brained “tech” is already a laughingstock around the world, now the inept, criminal management is being exposed for the totalitarian wannabes that they are. I can’t wait for parts 2 and 3.
June 22, 2009 at 1:40 am
One more thing: If the clam’s “tech” is so awesome, and Rinder and Rathbun were so inept, how could they keep the tow of them in positions of such importance for TWENTY YEARS?
June 22, 2009 at 4:42 am
Winston Churchill said after one victory during WW2, (whilst Hubbard was playing with boats in the US Navy securely out of danger) : “This is not the end, this is not the beginning of the end, but it is the end of the beginning.”
June 22, 2009 at 6:44 am
The AP picked up on the Tampa series and it is spreading fast.
Although it is somewhat tabloid-like, I don’t see how the major media could resist FOUR former ex-executives speaking out like this.
The image of the midget slapping around much larger subordinates is made for TV, and the stuff of Jonestown-in-the-making. All this in a cult with Cruise/Travolta/Allie as members, and Anne Archer’s son playing the loon as spokesperson.
June 22, 2009 at 12:47 pm
I just read Part 2 . . . This article is big, really big. Back in the day, the press was scared shitless of the cult. It was the old-line critics took the worst of what the cult’s lawyers dished out. Then came the internet and a second generation of critics carried the banner further. Then came South Park . . . and the third generation: Anonymous. Those of us who could hide behind the anonymity of the internet stood on the shoulders of giants who faced financial and physical threats that were really serious. From first shots fired by Paulette Cooper to Richard Behar, Lerma, Wollershiem, Minton, our gracious host Mr. Bunker, Young (and too many other’s to mention in a post), these folks faced private goons, hack lawyers and ruined reputations. Nobody believed that a “church” would sink to such abusive tactics, so they were branded as apostates or conspiracy nuts. Turns out they were right. I was skeptical of Anonymous at first, but they proved themselves in the streets around the world, but I hope these first generation critics who put life and limb in harms way get the credit they deserve for their contribution to bringing this massive con to its knees.
June 25, 2009 at 11:48 pm
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