This week, we went live and had some great questions about many different aspects of Scientology and QAnon, my uni studies and cult principles in general. Enjoy!

This week, it’s answers about how Scientologists find comfort during hard times, a logical fallacy we all commit every day and which is key to understanding cults, cleaning in the Sea Org and a lot more. Enjoy!

(1) My question has to do with what Scientologists do when they become emotionally distressed, angry, down, hopeless, etc. in the face of everyday, normal human challenges of life. For example, in the monotheistic religions like Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, practitioners will pray to a higher power for guidance, support, etc, or consult with a pastor/priest. What is the usual Scientologist response? Do they immediately contact their auditor and go to their local org? Read LRH? Are there more immediate interventions they employ? I don’t believe they are totally incapable of emotions, despite their attempts to bury their humanity with TRs, auditing, and other processes.

(2) In reference to the recent events at the Capitol, it seems like the broader Trump base was attracted to him for his self-confidence, broad statements, and his image of being high energy (in part probably projected by his repeating redundant words instead of pausing to think). Of the people who showed up to his rallies recently, they were probably among those who most clung to him as a saviour rather than as a regular politician.

Something was already unhealthy with the thinking of the people who showed up. Somehow they weren’t treating politics as a complicated series of long and short term calculations and negotiations. Somehow they reduced it to individual personalities. That is a perspective that seems rather strange to some observers.

You had previously mentioned that LRH had presented all politics as being controlled by less than 12 men. There seems to be some weird habit of treating the massive scale and complexity of society as if it was merely the will of an individual instead of a diffuse network where a handful of people serve as connecting nodes for information streams. Could you comment on this?

(3) In one of your recent Q&As, you mentioned how strictly Sea Org members are taught how to clean. As I was cleaning my home, I thought of how triggering it might be for an ex-Sea Org member to do things as banal as cleaning. Was that the case for you? Or were there any other “everyday life” things that were actually hard for you to do or even triggering you after you left?

(4) Some high control groups turn you into a “project” so to speak to bring you back into the fold once you leave. I realize declared people are completely cut off from other Scientologists but aside from that are there other situations in which people who are still active Scientologists would contact you if you suddenly decided to become less active than you once were?

(5) Do you know much about secret cameras in ideal orgs? I was thinking of going to visit an org in the UK during my next trip to England but I hear they have cameras all over the place and they have a huge database of SPs and can do facial recognition?

(6) Does the CoS have a way for current members who are on the OT levels a method to avoid implant stations when they drop their body? Otherwise wouldn’t they have to start totally over once again? Did you witness any credible evidence of OT spiritual abilities while you were a practicing Scientologist? It’s an easy thing to claim but a difficult phenomena to prove. 

This week, it’s answers about how Sea Org members are expected to handle their jobs even if they aren’t trained for them, some comments on cultism in The Mandalorian, Scientologists’ capacity for cognitive dissonance and a lot more. Enjoy!

(1) Scientology seems to quite happily move people around jobs or chuck them in the RPF. What happens when work needs to be done but their members who are builders, electricians, computer programmers or whatever other skilled people are all shifted to other positions or thrown in the RPF? Do they expect completely unskilled replacements from elsewhere in the Sea Org to take over to do complex technical or dangerous tasks with no training? Would they shove qualified electricians into PR or management roles where they would not be suitable either?

(2) Earlier on in the current season of The Mandalorian we learn that the whole masked creed thing is connected to a terrorist cult on the Mandalorian home world. In your opinion how closely related is Din Djarin’s experience to finding out that there are many more of his kind who freely show their faces to anyone, to one’s real world experience of coming out of a cult mindset? 

(3) Hubbard clearly states that if anything is not right in your life, Scientology can fix it. If it is not fixed, it is because you are “pulling it in.” Nothing can be Scientology’s fault, it can only be yours. If you are unable to discover the cause of whatever your problems might be, Scientology will tell you that it must be because you created this issue in a past life (how convenient!) So how was it that LRH was unable to handle his own demons? It is now common knowledge that he had multiple strokes, needed medications, suffered from dementia and, in the end, hid away living in a paranoid and lonely small world of his own making. In short, Scientology completely and utterly failed to save him. What do Scientologists make of this incredible fact? 

(4) One thing every ex-Scientologist I’ve seen seems to agree about is that one good and useful thing is the Communications Course.  What do they teach and what makes it so effective? 

(5) I’m wondering if you have any background on the truly strange and cartoony book covers the Church of Scientology used back in the 70s? Surely Hubbard was involved in the design in some way but if he was trying to present his ideas as a serious science, why go with such weird covers? Honestly, though, some of them are still preferable to the spooky and severe covers that the books have now.

(6) If you had made it to OT 3 as a Scientologist, would you have believed it?

(7) I have noticed that a lot of married people in Scientology have different last names. Is there a reason for that or just a random thing? 

(8) What is your estimate of the number of active Scientologists currently? Is the COS shrinking or is it remaining static? Does Scientology still have a strong presence in Hollywood or has that changed?

This week we went live to answer viewer questions and they were great. I gave a little update on my university studies, we got to talk about Tom Cruise (of course) and many other Scientology and cult-related questions. Enjoy!

This week, I go on a roll about Tom Cruise, talk the nature of existence, clarify what “missions” are in Scientology and more. Enjoy!

(1) You’ve probably had a ton of feedback on this, but I would like to hear more about your thoughts about Tom Cruise’s supposedly ‘leaked’ audio where he berated some of the film crew of his Mission Impossible 7 movie. A lot of the public who are not aware of his narcissistic tendencies have applauded his threats and actions as taking a hard stance on COVID precautions, which is understandable if they are not aware of his close relationship to David Miscavige. I have also seen from quite a few ex-Scientologists that his “Tone 40” and delivery, shouting and threats of termination were pretty much what would encompass a Miscavige-style rant to Sea-Org members.

Today, there are reports that at least 5 of the crew members have quit as a result of this leaked rant being made public. Do you think that the audio was intended for the public to hear, to paint Cruise in a favorable light of being a tough leader and concerned for the health of the crew? It seemed to me like it was more for the benefit of his own production company and future career. Also, do you think the crew left of their own volition? I know he is surrounded 24/7 by Scientologists, so were the crew members members of the Church? Or were they heavily investigated and vetted before being hired to work in such close proximity to Cruise? Could they have been put through some sort of unofficial “light auditing” by Cruise’s staff to see about their possible PTS-ness? If they quit on their own, could they have been “encouraged” to leave by Cruise’s people if the Church felt that they would speak out, or would they have to sign more NDAs on the way out? I have so many questions about this situation, just because I imagine that with COVID precautions on top of lockdowns, quarantines, and the general tightness of film production, that this situation could even be leaked out in the first place. 

(2) There is a Scientology mission just south of me in Battle Creek, Michigan. I know you said missions are established for a specific task or purpose.  What specific task would they be performing in a small city in a part of the state that has most likely less than a handful of practicing Scientologists? 

(3) THERE NEVER WAS A BEGINNING!

We living, thinking, conscious beings are used to a reality of cause and effect. In our attempts to explain the realities we face we have invented two basic explanations.

The first explanation lays the responsibility for existence on a supreme being: God or whatever other name.

If such a being exists, there can be no search for its source. That leads to an infinite regression of causes and effects until the original cause is identified. Such a force would have a nature that drove it to create whatever we experience as reality, including ourselves, our identities and consciousness.

A second explanation postulates a condition wherein the elements of existence interact and undergo changes, resulting in the reality we face, including identity and consciousness.

Either way, there is — and always was — something INTRINSIC in reality that exists — and always has existed — without prior cause.

Obviously, the first explanation is Religion, with its system of explanations being called INTELLIGENT DESIGN which you must call a BELIEF.

The second explanation is some variation of EVOLUTION. The difference is small: with evolution, the intelligence is built-in to the intrinsic elements, ultimately a form of which has always existed — NO BEGINNING. Subscribing to this explanation would also be a BELIEF.

Can either of these explanations ever be proved?

(4) Happy belated Birthday! 

I love your channel; came for the Scientology, stayed for the critical thinking!

As I’m sure many people are, I’m frustrated by the conversations I’m having with the Trump supporters in my life. Specifically, people who find ways to defend his bullying, inappropriate tweets, handling of the pandemic, name calling, all of it.  I believe If there’s to be any healing, we need to find ways to hang in there with those we disagree with the most. I need a strategy.  Could you share how you’re handling this?   

(5) Many years ago, I worked with a Scientology recruiter who was always trying to get co-workers (myself included) to come with him to the New York City Church.  Aside from his rather unique belief system, which I now recognize in retrospect as pure Scientology, I remember him always recommending that, if you injure yourself that you should always go back and touch the point of injury on your body back to the point of contact for its healing qualities.  For example, if you stub your toe on a table, you should touch your toe to the point of impact to take away the pain.   In all of my reading and viewing on the topic of Scientology, I have never seen this mentioned.  Is this a Scientology belief?

(6) Have you seen the 2nd season of “The Boys”? If so, what do you think of the Scientology type organization one member joins to rehabilitate his public image?

(7) Why do you think David Miscavige had a dog dressed up in uniform and he forced other Sea Org members to salute it? Does the fact he used a dog have any relevance to Scientology?

(8) I am not a scientologist, but I have heard about scientology through various media such as South Park. Do you recall there being a large reaction inside the church that the public scientologists were aware about? Did you hear about South Park’s scuffles with scientology when you were inside, or did you hear about the events after leaving? 

This week, it’s answers about what responsibility cult members have for their actions (with a little rant about our prison system), how Scientologists really view physical illness, my thoughts on Falon Gong and a lot more. Enjoy!

(1) In season 2 of Scientology and the Aftermath, Leah and Paul Haggis were talking about the celebrities that are still in Scientology, and if I understood it well, they were holding these celebrities accountable for not stepping up against Scientology’s practices (or for not wanting to look into it). Leah also talked about how she didn’t do the right thing as a Scientologist, meaning she didn’t want to confront what her best friend was telling her about her brother’s experience as a Sea Org member at the time and didn’t want to confront what Paul was saying too when heleft. Now, I know Leah was asking questions and got punished for it, and I assume the same happened to Paul at some point.

The thing I’m unsure about and wanted to ask you is: how much ”blame” or accountability can we give to cult members when they don’t look into allegations of abuse or whatnot in their group, or even not speaking out? Isn’t this one of the main points of not ‘owning your mind’ as a cult member?

I don’t want my question to sound like people shouldn’t be accountable for what they do: I’m a firm believer in taking responsibility for your actions. My only ‘but’ is: how does that apply to cult members?

(2) How does Scientology treat global pandemics such as what we are experiencing now? According to them, is this something that can be cured through auditing? Are medical and science issues such as this considered thetans? 

(3) What, if any, are your thoughts on the suppression of Falun Gong by the Chinese government? 

(4) It has been documented that LRH said that through auditing, one can go back millions and trillions of years. This would mean, however, before human life was even on Earth. Therefore, was it ever explained where people were during this time frame? Did he ever explain this anomaly or has no one ever asked or thought about it?

(5) I like your focus on PTSD & related effects of cults/abuse. Does one of your videos discuss strategies for trauma survivors to connect/date when we feel/think so different? I’m 49 years old.

(6) On my reading of “Introduction to Scientology Ethics,” it seemed to be the case that Scientology methods and materials are perfect, so a failure for the Church to grow steadily can only be explained by staff not knowing their roles, having withholds or being PTS or SP. Given that they clearly are not growing steadily, has this policy been sidelined or are orgs in a constant state of interrogation?  

This week, I give a mini-seminar in the Hubbard management system and what we did with the weekly statistics each week, plus there are answers about Scientology businesses, recovering from bad decisions and a lot more. Enjoy!

(1) Do management staff really go through EVERY org’s stats every week, and pay close attention to each one?  It seems like it would be a mountain of data every week, so I wonder how management would handle it.

(2) Just watched your critical clip video about  businesses run by Scientology or by Scientologists and it got me wondering: would you have a problem using one  of these businesses given your experiences?

Also if the business owner knew who you were, a declared SP, would they be willing to deal with you?  Would a Scientologist dentist refuse to treat an urgent dental issue you may have simply due to your public stance on Scientology?

I hate to not support small businesses, but I wouldn’t like to know my money would indirectly end up with Scientology when this parishioner donates it or buys courses with it.

(3) What advice would you give people to help break out of self hating or victim mentality behaviour over poor life choices?

(4) I learned that in Phoenix Arizona we have a Scientology “historical site” which is a modest home from about the 60’s that has been preserved as a time capsule by the group. No visitors or tours are given, it is just maintained as-is, complete with a vintage car and lawn chair.

I’ve now come to find out that LRH lived all over the place and the Phoenix home must not be that special! Just how many sites are “LRH historical homes” and being maintained, and for what purpose? Might David Miscavige or other big whigs have their personal items memorialized too? Does it cost Scientology very much to maintain all these empty homes that LRH lived in? Are there other LRH memorabilia items preserved? Do these have any similarities to relics like in Christianity, e.g. the toe of a saint?

(5) When I was in Scientology back in the early 70s, Hubbard’s first wives were fairly well known about though not often discussed. The same was true for his eldest son, LRH Jr. (aka Nibs). From what I am seeing now it looks as though much of this part of Hubbard’s life has been erased or covered up to those who are active members now. Am I seeing this correctly? Also, even when I was still in, other people seemed to get erased after they were declared. I am curious how Hubbard’s children, Mary Sue and other prominent past Scientology leaders are presented now, such as Yvonne Jentzsch, founder of the Celebrity Centre network.

(6) In your best estimate, what percentage of Sea Org members have college degrees and hopefully have learned critical thinking skills?

(7) When a Sea Org member leaves, do they get to keep their uniform or do they have to give it back?

(8) Let’s hypothetically say that the planet is cleared and every single person is an OT 8. What happens next?

We did a live Q&A show this week, with some great questions about Scientology, destructive cults, some stuff from my university study and a lot more. Enjoy!

This week, it’s answers about how belief works, why Scientology tries to appear “normal” on its public face, the public image of the Church these days and a lot more. Enjoy!

(1) I learned from one of your previous programs that there was without doubt a hostile takeover when Hubbard died and his supporters Mark Jaeger, Ron Mittoff, Mark Ingber, Heber Jentz, Norm Starkey and Guillaume Leseve were all eventually dumped into The Hole and constantly abused and mistreated by Miscavage. Assuming that is the case, I would like to know what on earth do those people do every single day and at what point do they stop and think, well we’re saving the planet. But assuming they do think that, does it ever cross their mind that they aren’t saving the planet at all but seem to be living on a prison planet, the very same thing they were in charge of saving mankind from? Surely it must cross their minds that something’s not right here or are they so far gone and as good Scientologists they fully believe they brought all of this upon themselves. Because as we all know and you have told us, Scientology can never be in the wrong. I would be fascinated to hear your take on this Chris

(2) I am a critic of Scientology and I have followed your show and others for some time now. I decided that I would sign up for their free pamphlet “A Description of Scientology” so that I could see firsthand just what they were trying to peddle to those curious in their cult.

I notice that in the section “About L. Ron Hubbard” it says that he was injured but it does not claim that he healed himself using Dianetics. It does say that he used Dianetics on other injured people, but at no point does it clearly state that he healed himself using Dianetics.

This is interesting. I know that Hubbard and the Church have historically alleged that Hubbard claimed to have healed himself with Dianetics. Representatives of the Church have gone on record stating that if this is not true, then Dianetics is not true and therefore Scientology itself is less credible. Or something to that effect.

Yet this book does not make the claim that Hubbard healed himself with Dianetics, even though Hubbard himself made a big deal about this and I believe the Church used to push this lie quite a lot.

Is this something that they have never pushed hard to new recruits? Is there a time where such a pamphlet would have made the claim that Hubbard healed himself. If not, do you think the fact that they are not doing so now is a result of the fact that the Church knows that they cannot get away with making this claim? After all, anyone can check his war records these days.

The Church seems as though it is far too out of touch with reality in general to realize that they should stop making such claims. Yet, in this pamphlet they do not. What do you make of this?

(3) I’ve got the news today that Leah’s documentary series is now available on Netflix. This is great news. Do you think this reflects the media/hollywood/entertainment industry moving even further away from Scientology? The disenchantment isn’t quite gone from Tom Cruise yet. However, on top of Danny Masterson’s recent prosecution, do you think the general view of the Co$ is going in the right direction (exposing their true intentions and negativity)?

(4) When you discuss Scientology and other groups, the phrase “Cult playbook” often comes up. This suggests that the founders have carefully and deliberately selected mechanisms in order to create an effective high control group. I wonder how often it is actually more random. Let’s say, we look at a hundred religious groups, martial arts dojos, knitting circles, etc. One has a lot of terminology, practically their own language. Others develop a strong shunning mechanism. Yet other groups will have traits of us-vs-them thinking, trance inducing and thought stopping practices, magical thinking, etc. Every now and then, there will be a group that is the perfect storm of lure and abuse. Eventually this group will make it into the headlines and then we will count how many the cult-playbook checkboxes it ticks. I think by now we have a rather complete set of traits of high control groups, so we know what to expect. But was it deliberate *design* on the part of the founders, or is it an effect of *selection*, because we tend to look at the most effective abusers.

(5) I was wondering what you think of Tony Ortega’s unease at the US government saying that Scientologists being prosecuted in Russia are prisoners of conscience. I know that hasn’t gone down well with everyone; “Alonzo” for instance has tried to accuse him of hypocrisy and even “becoming what he sought to destroy”! Personally I think that view is pretty ridiculous, and I agree with Tony on this. I think you can be consistent in opposing authoritarian governments like Russia’s while not wanting to speak out effectively in favour of Scientology just as I think you can oppose the death penalty while also not wanting to attend protests against the executions of people like John Wayne Gacy. I’m interested to hear your opinion on this.

(6) Hubbard went into hiding in his later years and relied on messengers to control the CoS. Did the fact that he was unable to exert day-to-day control over the Church result in a less authoritarian and more ‘spiritual’ environment?

This week, I really took some time to breakdown the thought process of people who have radically different ideas from the norm and why that is, why Miscavige is running Scientology the way he does, using the BITE model to assess cults and a lot more. Enjoy!

(1) Why is it that some people have such a grave misunderstanding regarding how paper and cloth masks are designed to work? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to explain that these types of masks were designed to keep the wearer from slinging spittle as far as possible without them and not to protect the wearer from becoming infected. Even then most still don’t get it. Is this a big case of cognitive dissonance or are there other factors also at play? 

(2) A few weeks ago you were speaking about the state of a mission or an org in Vancouver Canada. You explained that it was totally in the wrong part of town, it was shockingly run down and poorly decorated, more often than not the staff often did not get paid and any self-respecting person would probably not wish to be there let alone go inside and study Scientology. 

I then heard you talk about the billions of dollars, yes billions, that David Miscavage has access to so my question is why would he not use a fraction of that enormous wealth to fix this issue which I have heard you mention time and time again about the state of some of these missions. 

Again the cynic in me has a really simple answer and that is Miscavage has no interest in the rank and file signing up for Scientology when he can rub shoulders with the powerful rich wealthy donors who from what I believe are almost entirely responsible for the continued wealth Scientology has amassed which is used to purchase real estate, albeit empty real estate. 

(3) Your work led me to learning about Steven Hassan’s BITE model. For the benefit of the viewers who are not familiar with it, the BITE model is a list of several dozen practices that are typical of destructive cults. They are divided into four groups, those used to control Behavior, Information, Thought, and Emotions (hence, BITE). I’ve been tempted to use the BITE model as a quantitative scorecard. Say, a group that fits 30 criteria of the model is “cultier” than a group that fits 20; a group that fits only 5 is more likely than not to be benign. I’ve seen Owen at Telltale Atheist do something similar. Do you think this is a legitimate use of the model? If so, why so? If not, why not?

(4) Does the hyperbolic optimism about the limits of human achievement create the need for scapegoats to explain when predictions don’t turn out as hoped?

(5) I was wondering if you have looked into the Stanford Prison Experiment and, if so,what do you think about it?

(6) When you were in Minnesota, was the Church of Scientology in their current location (the old Science Museum building)? Seems like a nice building, and as I recall from the museum days, it is pretty big. How many people work there (staff) and about how many Scientologists are there actually in the Twin Cities area? It seems like a waste of space.

(7) Do you think that David Miscavige is a psychopath without the  promiscuous sexual behavior and could that be because Hubbard and the Sea Org basically raised him?

(8) What is the best way for us to listen to your podcasts? I was used to watching them on YouTube, but these days I enjoy listening to them on Google Podcast. Am I actually harming your stats for future sponsorships or for ad revenue by doing so?