After watching the first episode, I don't know that I learned anything I didn't already know about the organization (I believe that was my review of an HBO documentary on the same subject a couple years ago). All I can do is add to the conversation with my own experiences.
To begin with, I was in the room with a very well known science fiction author as he told the story of standing next to a young, broke, L. Ron Hubbard the day somebody jokingly said to him, "You should start a church; you'd never have to pay taxes." After which Hubbard took one of his failed science fiction novel premises -- that of alien "souls" inhabiting human bodies -- and Dianetics (and Scientology) was born. One of my first jobs in Hollywood was as a runner for a small independent commercial company (that I'm fairly certain was a front for drug smuggling, but that's neither here nor there) based in the Los Feliz neighborhood adjacent to Hollywood. As a low-paid flunky, my lunch hours were typically spent in my car munching whatever fast food didn't have a long line. I'd usually find a street with some shade and park and eat. One street I liked happened to be the street leading to the Scientology Celebrity Centre. Parking, eating, and listening to talk radio, I was approached my two well-dressed goons who told me to drive away. They were Scientology thugs, and the street was a public street, so I refused. They came very close to making it physical when a police car pulled up behind my little Geo Tracker (I did mention I was low-paid). I wasn't sure what to expect, but the police turned immediately to the henchmen and said, "We've already talked to you about harassing people. Go back to your castle and leave this kid alone." There are several buildings in Hollywood owned by Scientology... more than the ones that are labeled as such. I've seen Scientologists walk out of clearly labeled buildings to other unlabeled buildings and use the same key-card to gain entrance to both. It would not surprise me to learn the whole Hollywood & Highland Center (a mall built next to Grauman's Chinese Theater) is owned by Scientology. A few years ago I blogged about visiting a different church every Sunday. One Sunday I chose to head to the big blue Scientology Hollywood headquarters. In the lobby area was a series of displays about the church, including a blatant lie (verified by my Kazakh friends) that Scientology had a large presence in the city of Karaganda, Kazakhstan (a city some might recall I lived in for six months). I was given a test (Scientology is big on tests) to determine what areas I needed to work on. I immediately recognized the test as the Keirsey Temperament Sorter (I've taken it several times, dating all the way back to high school), a famous personality profile best known as boiling people down to four-letter combinations (i.e.-INTJ or ENSP). The Keirsey test isn't designed to make judgments about people, merely pinpoint key facets such as whether a person is introverted or extroverted. However, the Scientology snake-oil salesman who "graded" my test pointed out several problem areas, all of which could be resolved if I paid for a course or paid for a book. When it comes to religion, I'm generally a "live and let live" kind of guy. God has many names, many faces, and many different ways of serving both He and mankind. Generally speaking, I doubt the average low-paid follower of Scientology is going to face some of the harsh abuses or manipulations of the upper-tier "clear" members who rebel, so I'm reluctant to want the whole thing shut down if it provides some sense of comfort or support for people. But as with a pedophile Catholic priest, those who flagrantly abuse the system or their followers need to be stopped, removed from positions of power, respect, and authority at once. Women can claim Bill Cosby raped them and the public is inclined to believe them, but countless reports of physical abuse, sexual abuse, mental abuse, and brainwashing by Scientology has met with no legal action. I don't know if Leah Remini's series will affect any change, but if you somehow aren't aware of how much power and influence Scientology has over its followers, I'd recommend watching it. First episode free on iTunes https://itun.es/us/hSa9fb -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to tvornottv@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to tvornottv-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
