S1 Ep 6 Auditing - A&E Leah Remini - Scientology and the Aftermath

[Tricia]

Last night's episode was the most heartbreaking.

Basically, one twin brother was immersed in Scientology and the other twin was not.

Scientology brother separated from his non-Scientology brother because he was an S. P. Cut him totally out of his life.

The non-Scientology brother was killed in a car accident.

The regret the twin feels was palpable I couldn't stop crying.

[mrssunshine]

Agreed this was a heartbreaking episode.

I can't even believe people are willing to live like that. Hats off to Leah Remini and Mike Rinder for bringing this out to the public!

[AuntB]

I agree. It was so very sad. Aaron seemed like such a likable guy and funny, too--that bit about the neighbor who was willing to break off her relationships with his kids but not the dog was seriously messed up... and hilarious.

I love this series I had heard that Scientology was mostly a business/about money, but I had NO idea about this other stuff... coerced abortions. Unbelievable.

[Madeleine74]

Both brothers were deeply immersed in $cientology and from a young age of 11, when their single mother, looking for something more in her life, joined the cult. The boys started taking auditing classes at the FL Flag center and excelled at the training. One twin was the first ever to complete a new video training regimen.

Then the evil warlord (David Miscavage) decided to change the auditing training, making it much harder and longer and everyone had to retake all the training again. The one twin who had excelled could not complete the harder course successfully and this was a huge big deal. That twin decided he was done so he arranged to get his father (who was not in $cientology) to fly him to MN. The mother flew to MN and got the son to return. But the son was never treated the same in the cult and he was eventually booted to Philly, alone, to work in the cult there.

The other son/twin, kept going in $cientology in FL, and stayed in the cult for 29 years, eventually joining the SeaOrg and marrying a woman he met there. The twins became estranged because the one in Philly dropped out completely, got his GED and went to college and of course was summarily booted from the cult and declared a SP (suppressive person). That twin tragically died in a car accident some years later and the 2 brothers had been estranged all that time.

Just another example of how this cult tears apart families and generations of family members.

[Madeleine74]

Some of the techniques this cult uses on its members is similar to things the Nazi's did during WWII. Especially where they turn people against each other, have them tattle/rat each other out because they're told if they don't they will be in trouble. The separation of family members, the living and working in barrack type structures from sunup to sundown, the constant threat of being in trouble and being watched....

Horrible.

David Miscavage is a little Hitler. Evil, diabolical, dangerous, sociopath.

[AlwaysShocked]

One thing I am noticing that I did not know before is that it seems a lot of these stories include a woman on her own with children to support. And I believe this was the case for Leah Remini's mother also.

So this "church" was supplying these (likely uneducated and incapable of self-support) single mothers with a job, a place to live, and free babysitting services for their children. It is easy enough to see the appeal.

[Splenda]

This week was the first time I've seen the attorney representing the church. She just repeatedly replied she didn't believe any of the statements held any validity. Deny, deny, deny. A good lawyer appears comfortable & confident, not defensive or off putting through words or body language, and certainly not through sarcasm. In this particular case, she absolutely didn't want to appear bullyish, which is a main allegation made by prior members. A good lawyer gives facts to validate their clients' stand on things, statements to suggest why the accuser would choose to bring an action at all, other than some fault of the client. This attorney seemed snarky, unprofessional. I was surprised that the high standards boasted by the church wasn't reflected in their selection of a legal spokesperson in my opinion.

[tlcya]

The attorney's answers did not impress me or alleviate my concerns about this organization. That is the most professional way I can put it.

[Dmacky]

This week was the first time I've seen the attorney representing the church. She just repeatedly replied she didn't believe any of the statements held any validity. Deny, deny, deny. A good lawyer appears comfortable & confident, not defensive or off putting through words or body language, and certainly not through sarcasm. In this particular case, she absolutely didn't want to appear bullyish, which is a main allegation made by prior members. A good lawyer gives facts to validate their clients' stand on things, statements to suggest why the accuser would choose to bring an action at all, other than some fault of the client. This attorney seemed snarky, unprofessional. I was surprised that the high standards boasted by the church wasn't reflected in their selection of a legal spokesperson in my opinion.

The attorney's answers did not impress me or alleviate my concerns about this organization. That is the most professional way I can put it.

Their "paid (big bucks, in cash) for attorney" did a lot of BLINKING while she was answering questions. Eye think that's a sure sign of lying not being truthful. wink wink, blink blink. MOO

[beach]

This week was the first time I've seen the attorney representing the church. She just repeatedly replied she didn't believe any of the statements held any validity. Deny, deny, deny. A good lawyer appears comfortable & confident, not defensive or off putting through words or body language, and certainly not through sarcasm. In this particular case, she absolutely didn't want to appear bullyish, which is a main allegation made by prior members. A good lawyer gives facts to validate their clients' stand on things, statements to suggest why the accuser would choose to bring an action at all, other than some fault of the client. This attorney seemed snarky, unprofessional. I was surprised that the high standards boasted by the church wasn't reflected in their selection of a legal spokesperson in my opinion.

The attorney's answers did not impress me or alleviate my concerns about this organization. That is the most professional way I can put it.

Their "paid (big bucks, in cash) for attorney" did a lot of BLINKING while she was answering questions. Eye think that's a sure sign of lying not being truthful. wink wink, blink blink. MOO

These posts I quoted -
Are y'all referring to the 20/20 episode that aired on ABC this past Friday? If so, I want to start a topical thread on that show because it was promoted as "The Church speaks out"..... HA!

Let me know because if so, I will move these posts and generate a new thread on that show. It was VERY enlightening.

[MsArk]

I missed the 20/20 atty interview but have seen all of the A&E series. Scary organization, Scientology. I had no real idea of the total brainwashing/scamming/abuse of the members until A&E.
So sad that many of the 2nd and 3rd generation members have no real education or skills, even if they wanted to leave but like in the twin bro episode last night, most are forced to do so. It seems leaving on one's own accord could prove dangerous as well.

ETA- I am pretty confident in saying I will never see another film with Cruise or Travolta featured. I'm sure there are others but gosh- Cruise must know of inner workings. If so, shame on him.
Obviously this is JMO and speculation on my part.

[Hollyjo_1985]

Their "paid (big bucks, in cash) for attorney" did a lot of BLINKING while she was answering questions. Eye think that's a sure sign of lying not being truthful. wink wink, blink blink. MOO

That is all she did! blink blink blink

[stx722]

That is all she did! blink blink blink

So, I wasn't the only one that noticed.

[Madeleine74]

She had nothing substantive to say since she didn't witness anything and can only repeat the lies she's being paid to tell. <blink, blink>

If you notice, at the beginning of each episode Leah reads a letter from the cult disparaging the person who is going to be featured in that episode. Every single letter has the same basic boilerplate text, with the only text changed the "crimes" each person is being accused of committing.

If $cientology has members who they claim committed all these "crimes," then why does the "church" allow them to stay in the church in the first place? (answer: $$$$$$$$$$$).

[SolwayFirth]

My question is: Is she being required to read these letters at the request of A&E? It almost seems to me she is doing it begrudgingly...