Scientology insider's nightmare childhood
Scientology insider's nightmare childhood By Sarah Collerton 3/12/10 A
former Scientologist who says she was a "child slave" and alleges she saw a
six-year-old boy chained up in a ship's hold is disappointed the Senate has
blocked a full inquiry into the religious organisation.
Independent Senator Nick Xenophon has been calling for a full inquiry into
the church since revealing claims of forced abortions and other abuses in
Parliament last year. Keryn, 54, grew up in the church and has asked the
ABC to identify her only by her first name. She says she was a victim of
"hard labour, mental brutality and separation" on Scientology ships, which
were
used for the Church's elite band of followers in the 1960s to 1970s. She
is angry the motion for a Scientology probe has been blocked in
Parliament....
Keryn's decision to speak openly about her experiences comes after ABC1's
Four Corners program, The Ex-Files, in which former members told of forced
abortions, pressure to work extreme hours and being forced to hand over
large sums of money. Members of Scientology's elite unit of full-time staffers
the Sea Organisation - or Sea Org - detailed allegations of a strict
regime of discipline and punishment in place during the 1960s. Scientology has
denied the claims, but Keryn says she can back up the allegations. She says
she signed a billion-year contract as a 12-year-old, lived on the
Scientology vessels The Royal Scotman and The Athena, and was in effect a
"child
slave". "When we were on the ship, we had people working 20 hours a day, seven
days a week," she said.
_http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/12/2844150.htm_
(http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/12/2844150.htm)
Scientology: The Ex-Files Reporter: Quentin McDermott Broadcast:
08/03/2010 Reporter Quentin McDermott talks to men and women who were members
of an
elite unit inside the Church in Australia and the United States. They
explain why they joined, how they worked tirelessly for Scientology, and how,
in
some cases, they were pressured, and pressured others, to hand over
hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Church.
_http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2010/s2837513.htm_
(http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2010/s2837513.htm)
