So it seems that the folks living in Haiti have had quite a bad streak of luck lately. First, they get hammered with a devastating earthquake which kills thousands and leaves millions homeless, and in the process their government – for all practical purposes – collapses & is virtually non-existent to deal with the crisis that follows. After that, Uber-Asshole Pat Robertson heaps scorn upon them for their cultural heritage, and now this… the Church of Scientology has arrived to “save” the Haitians.
Our Scientology sources tell us there’s an interesting reason that some members of the church are swarming into Haiti. And it’s even more appalling than you might have thought — tragedy profiteering.
John Travolta arranged for one plane of supplies to get to Port-au-Prince, and personally flew another Boeing 707 there himself. Those planes contained much needed food and equipment and genuine doctors. But they also contained volunteer ministers, ready to spread the word of Scientology.
Many Scientologists, says one of our sources, a longtime veteran of the church, “genuinely think that only they can help in an emergency.” They are misguided, but well-intentioned. But there are others who “are just total buzzards.” Those, he says, are engaging in a vain attempt to profit from the tragedy — a tale corroborated by another former church member. This email is doing the rounds:
By ‘help’, they mean money. And if those seminars result in confused and vulnerable Haitians signing up for any further courses in Scientology — unlikely as that seems, given the poverty in that country — these Global Pioneers get a 12 per cent cut of their future course fees. Our source says that over 100 plan to go to Port-au-Prince, and that he gets email and Facebook spam all day from ‘Pioneers’ seeking donations.
UPDATE: It seems, according to a tipster, that this email had done the rounds before the earthquake as well, apparently, as after. As such it’s not the smoking gun we first thought. But this may be. It’s a press release from the Global Pioneers, sent by the same man who sent the above missive — a Cary Goulston — outlining their achievements in Haiti since the earthquake:
I’m all for people helping out the Haitians in their hour of need, but from these documents I get the eerie sense that the Scientologists are looking to use this tragedy as a way of 1) raising money for non-relief efforts, and 2) spreading their twisted ideology. One reason I say this is the constant reference in the above documents to VMs – also known as “volunteer ministers”. The VMs are the folks who will be spreading the Scientology doctrine among the vulnerable population in Haiti.
My advice: people of Haiti, beware. Fortunately, there is a silver lining, because it seems that Anonymous is on the case.
Many Anonymous protesters wear the Guy Fawkes mask when peacefully picketing CoS centers & passing out information to passersby about the cultish practices of the Church. Contrary to CoS propaganda, these are peaceful protests which are designed to get out the truth about the Church and its practices; in no way, shape, or form do I, nor does Anonymous, encourage or condone any kind of violent or illegal action against the Church of Scientology!
So what’s with the Anonymous wearing the Guy Fawkes masks? The answer is twofold: they do this not only to make a statement but also to protect themselves from the Scientologists who would attempt to ID them & label them as “suppressive persons” (SPs) and therefore target them for harassment. Believe me, even though I’ve never participated in an Anonymous event nor have I ever had a run-in with the CoS, from what I understand you do not want to be on that SP hit list. So if you’re going to participate in one of these events, protect yourself (and others) and conceal your identity.
Anonymous tends to get its message out via the Internet, specifically through using online video. For example, below are two Youtube videos: one of the first videos ever released by Anonymous back in January 2008…
… and a very recent video about the upcoming worldwide protests of the Church of Scientology on November 5th…
If you want more information regarding these protests, then check out the WhyWeProtest.net website. For more information on Scientology in general, it’s hard to find a better site than Xenu.net, also known as Operation Clambake. Spread the word.
Last May, I blogged about a story on how the French government was pursuing a court case against the Church of Scientology for fraud. Well, today the verdict is in: guilty. And what was revealed during the course of the trial was very interesting…
A French court has convicted the Church of Scientology of fraud, but stopped short of banning the group from operating in France.
Two branches of the group’s operations and several of its leaders in France have been fined.
The case came after complaints from two women, one of whom said she was manipulated into paying more than 20,000 euros (£18,100) in the 1990s.
A Scientology spokesman told the BBC the verdict was “all bark and no bite”.
France regards Scientology as a sect, not a religion.
Prosecutors had asked for the group’s French operations to be dissolved and more heavily fined, but a legal loophole prevented any ban.
Instead, a Paris judge ordered the Church’s Celebrity Centre and a bookshop to pay a 600,000-euro fine.
Alain Rosenberg, the group’s head in France, was handed a two-year suspended jail sentence and fined 30,000 euros.
Three other leading members of the group were also fined.
I have to admit, given the Church of Scientology’s overly litigious nature and proclivity for targeting their critics as “fair game” for a number of aggressive strong-arm tactics, it is refreshing to see someone stand up so strongly to them. I suppose that more and more people are getting tired of the CoS cult and their quest for brainwashing & manipulating their members. But, you can expect the CoS to continue their loathsome practices for as long as they are able.
Most recently, there was an embarassing batch of news coverage from a recent ABC Nightline investigation which featured a lot of things about the organization that the CoS wishes people didn’t know. Here’s a Youtube link to the Nightline story…
Worse yet, just in the last few days there was the defection of high-level Scientologist and Oscar-winning director Paul Haggis from the Church. And, from all appearances, he’s publicly digging up lots of dirt in the process; below is a blog post by Marty Rathbun, also an ex-Church member, which outlines the letter that Haggis sent to the Church announcing his plan to leave. I have reproduced the text of Haggis’s letter below in its entirety…
An interesting bit of news… apparently, the leaders of the “Church” of Scientology (CoS) are on trial in France for fraud. Here’s a news clip I saw from the BBC about it…
Now those of you who are familiar with the CoS won’t be surprised by this in the least. But just in case you weren’t convinced by Tom Cruise’s public displays of frothing insanity that the CoS was nothing more than an international money grubbing, brainwashing cult, I suggest you check out Xenu.net (also known as “Operation Clambake” 🙂 ) for more info. If you know anyone who is expressing even a passing interest in Scientology and/or Dianetics, tell them to look at Xenu.net first, and that will set them straight!
I agree with the prosecuting lawyer in the case in that the fact that the CoS is being taken to court at all is a victory of sorts. This is because the CoS has a history of attempting to silence their critics through a variety of intimidating tactics.
In any case, stay tuned for more info. Apparently, the ruling from the French court will be handed down June 17th – it will certainly be interesting to see what happens.
The Skeptical Teacher 