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

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!

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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

 

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.

 

That is all she did! blink blink blink :laughing:

 

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

 

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: $$$$$$$$$$$).

 

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...

 

I missed the last few episodes but taped them so I need to catch up and watch them from my DVR.

Here are some observations from some of the others i did see.

---What is amazingly sad to me is when this organization (cult) talks about people's "crimes" against their organization there really is nothing the person did. Absolutely nothing of any seriousness. And yet they put them in punishments that make it seem the person committed a serious crime or something. Its insane.

There is talk of putting people in the solitary confinement type buildings like where his wife is and I am thinking what the heck did they do? They didnt even do anything much wrong. Maybe just disagreed with something but nothing serious to warrant that punishment.

Its a true sign of serious brainwashing since the people must think they really did crimes against the organization. Normal folks would say "this is not right" and get out as fast as they could.

---Another sign of some serious brainwashing. When you saw some of the episodes of the scientology people harrassing other people they do it with such evilness and meanness. You can sense they are filled with rage against outside folks that disagree with them. That is not normal.

Most people who disagree with someone would just kindly ignore the other persons views but this group gets violent and mean against people who disagree with them. That is a true sign of some serious brainwashing.

They cant be wrong in their minds or their whole existence is for nothing.

---I didnt realize there is a lifetime contract and the organization tries to force people to stay with the threat of owing the money for the classes. WTH Its a way of controlling the people to force them to stay in the group. Give it free at first but then you cant leave unless you had tons of money that most do not have. That is so messed up.

This is no church by any stretch of the definition.

---Their books and classes that they force their members to take give them nothing of value in the real world if a member wants to leave.

Its not like they can list anything on a resume that they graduated with a college degree or anything. Their teachings are their own and are not recognized by companies so its useless all that training to members that want to leave the group.

They must feel so helpless and feel forced to stay since they have no real skills or training that can help them get a job on the outside world.

Its another form of control the group uses on its members.

 

I've been watching youtube and reading a lot of blogs about people who have escaped scientology. When I watched the tom cruise video where he won the 'blah, blah' medal, I was so disgusted. He totally made no sense. They all talk about the good they are doing for the planet, but they never explain exactly how they are helping anyone. Tom cruise got all these accolades because he talked to billions of people about scientology????

 

Tom Cruise gets accolades because he gives Million$ to the cult, and like any generous and famous benefactor, he gets showered with attention and acclaim. He's their prize calf and they intend to keep him well controlled and in the fold. He doesn't see the treatment that happens to others, most of these celebs don't see it because they are coddled.

 

Like lots of cults, they prey on vulnerable people. Young people who are naive, people who are having a hard time with a career or their personal lives, single parents that are struggling. If your life is going the exact way you want it to, you are just not going to go looking for answers Scientology says they provide.

 

I cannot tell you how much I admire and respect Leah Remini for doing this. She knows the risks- and does it anyway. Kudos.