We had a great time today answering a variety of questions dealing with Scientology and coercive control and I got to give some renewed promises on long-awaited content. Enjoy!

For our final episode of 2022, I’m giving you all a rundown on Scientology’s religious rituals, the rules around auditing of children, what are weaponized empaths and a lot more. Enjoy!

(1) People have been asking about funeral rites in Scientology recently. Is there a method of body disposal (funeral, with or without embalming, cremation, etc.) Scientology prefers? Conversely, is there a method it prohibits or rejects? I have a hard time imagining that Scientology, with its understanding of the body as merely a temporary vessel for an eternal thetan, would care, but I’d rather know than guess…

(2) Have you talked about baby auditing yet? I was just reading about it at the Mace-Kingsley Scientology school website where Hubbard says: “You process a one-day-old baby; start the session! Doesn’t matter that the kid can’t answer you. That has no bearing on it at all. Start the session. Audit the child in a proper auditing room. Use communication bridges when you change the process. Bridge out of the session and end the session smoothly when the process is flat.” What does this mean? How common is it for Scientologists to have their babies audited?

(3) I’m listening to your recent interview of an ex-Scientologist from London, which prompted me to ask how come you only hear people speaking out about Scientology publicly mainly from the United States? I don’t believe other countries have such a united front about exposing Scientology in the way that happens here in the US.

(4) You spoke recently about one particular aspect of your cultic experience in Scientology: how getting along meant trying to please other people who you somehow thought of as authority figures. Saving the world meant making everyone happy, bringing joy and bliss to the world. A grand sacrifice to give one’s life meaning and purpose. As Hubbard himself said, a being is only as valuable as he can serve others (which in itself is a mindtrap of slavery). And also thinking of yourself as a 2nd class citizen, a feeling of inadequacy that Scientology very much served to reinforce. Is what you are referring to weaponised empathy? In other words, did you fall into the role of ‘weaponised empath’? And a broader question: in Scientology and other destructive cults, would you say most people are weaponised empaths? Have there been any studies on the proportions of different types of people that are in destructive cults?

(5) When it comes to conspiratorial thinking, one of the things that constantly pops up is anti-Semitic tropes. I’ve looked into 9/11 conspiracies and the ‘international banking’ conspiracy, and the finger always tends to point at the Jewish community (look at Kanye West’s recent outbursts, for example).  With Scientology engaging in conspiratorial thinking, do they also engage in anti-Semitism? I know the Nation of Islam is intertwined with Scientology, and that group also engages in anti-Semitisc conspiratorial thinking.

(6) What’s your new dog’s favourite food/toy?

(7) Would it bother Scientology if a person took a painfully long time to complete a course that cost a flat fee, while quickly finishing courses that are charged hourly?

(8) I have always heard it posited that Hubbard did “research,” such as old photos of him with rudimentary electronics attached to tomato plants, etc. His debunked claims of being a physicist, ad nauseum, adds to this mystique of having done actual research. Being a scientist myself, I am wondering has there ever been published research by Hubbard, or any attempt to prove he did any?  I ask this because it seems to me his research claims have always been glossed over.  I can show you my research work, did Hubbard ever publish his?  If not, how does Scientology treat this blatant gap in truth?

We went live today to answer a load of questions related to Scientology, Masterson, Miscavige and all the usual suspects. In the midst of this, I got to go a little deep on my exit from Scientology and had some choice words for some of my real critics out there. Enjoy!

This week, it’s answers about the Xenu story killing people, Hubbard’s obsession with scents, auditing and memory, and a lot more. Enjoy!

(1) If Hubbard said (and believed) that exposure to OT III was harmful or even deadly to people, how on Earth could the man justify writing Revolt in the Stars, which is obviously the subject of that screenplay? Did he seriously not consider that the Scientologists who paid thousands of dollars to reach OT III would be extremely surprised, angry and confused that he was now selling this pitch to Hollywood? What if the film blew up like Star Trek or Star Wars and the “Wall of Fire” was now something everyone knew about?

(2) I know a Scientologist who is completely anti-perfume and cologne but he was not like this before becoming a Scientologist, which led me to write to you about this topic. I seem to remember, and it may have been on your show that Hubbard had some totally strange ideas about perfumes and colognes and was absolutely against them. Can you shed some light on this very strange topic?

(3) I understand that auditing changes your memory. How and how much would auditing change your memory? Would Masterson have a truer memory of the events than the Jane Doe’s that had auditing? I am really out of date on how hypnotism works but it used to be that you could not testify in court if you had used hypnotism to remember something. Also, there are times when you have sounded like I can’t trust any of my own childhood memories.

(4) I heard today of the passing of Kirstie Alley. I was surprised that she was only 71 (which is considered pretty young nowadays in my opinion) and that she died of cancer. Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t Kirstie OT 8? Why are so many established Scientologists dying of cancer? Is it something to do with their “training” or perhaps the underlying stress of being part of that cult? I would love to hear your opinion on this matter. 

(5) So when you’re in the Scientology bubble, you see Hubbard as Source, which takes on a monumental stature. It’s as if he’s the grand architect of culture, the most influential person ever, and one can start to think that he was behind stuff he wasn’t. It can seem that a lot of other movements and media products and games, even academic subjects, were created as derivatives and offshoots from his groundbreaking research. Scientologists can start to even see proof of his genius in new inventions and discoveries, inwardly crediting Ron. It seems this is a point of cult-think that is common but not necessarily mentioned that often, the subtle way that psychological totalism can make one nutty, likely even pathologically so. What are some things you used to think Ron influenced or made that he wasn’t credited for? Did you ever have this thinking pattern?

(6) Scientology has the cross-like symbol on the top of the facility but they also have the 2 triangles with the S through them. Is there a special meaning to that symbol?

(7) Hubbard was very vague about things but I’m curious if he ever described what some of the Invader Force aliens looked like. Did he just leave it up to your own imagination or did he ever mention that in lectures or the OT levels? I would assume there would have been many species in his reality.

(8) At some point while traveling Scientology’s Bridge to Total Freedom, a person has full cause over the MEST universe. Do Scientologists think these people can move the E-meter needle? How do they square these abilities with the “infallibility” of the E-meter?

This week we went live with a combination of some pre-chosen questions and taking them live from the chat, almost all focused around various aspects of Scientology, cult recruitment and current events. Enjoy!

We did a bonus Q&A episode to help catch up on some backlog of questions I’ve received over the years and we had a good time doing it, discussing cult recovery and, as always, a bunch of Scientology stuff. Enjoy!

This week, it’s my deepest answer yet about dealing with post-cult guilt, a breakdown on Hubbard’s pseudoscientific approach to Scientology, a rundown on Heber Jentzsch and a lot more. Enjoy!

(1) After seeing how Scientology is a deceptive, evil organization and accepting that all of us are imperfect (me included), the question that comes to mind is how do you deal with the feelings of guilt? I can only imagine it must be there for all the efforts you made to attract people in, keep people in, etc. It must be a huge burden which I hope you are relieved of by whatever method you choose. There is little doubt that you were a victim, not a perpetrator, but in the course of your service you caused the chain of perpetration to continue. Any thoughts on this? 

(2) While we are aware of Shelly Miscavige’s supposed whereabouts at CST, I am curious if there has been any information relating to the location of myriad other notable Scientology management figures. We know these people have been run through the Hole, degraded by Miscavige and removed from post over time. While Heber Jentzsch is still living like a prisoner at Gold, where are Norman Starkey, Guillaume Lesevre, Marc Yager, Ray Mithoff?  While some appear every few years to do smear videos, others have just fallen off the face of the Earth.

Are they all stuck at Gold? Are they digging ditches or washing dishes all day?  There is no reference to any of these people on the official website.  Does nobody within the Scientology membership even actually ask or even wonder where these people are?

(3) In an old 1950s lecture on Scientology (I am unsure what it is called), Hubbard goes on and on about how engrams are stored on the cellular level and replicated when cells divide. Let’s assume for a moment that this is true (obviously it is not). Would this not suggest that if one received a blood transfusion or an organ transplant that one would receive the engrams stored in the transplanted cells? Might the blood/organs contain some of the body thetans that were allegedly stuck to the body? This is largely academic and probably a little silly. However, I am curious.

(4) Could you please speak a little in depth on Heber Jentzsch? I know he was the President of the Church many years ago and from what I’ve seen on Youtube he gave the church credibility. Was he a threat to David Miscavige? How was he viewed in the Scientology community? I also know at a later age he was sent to the RPF or The Hole and I find that horrifying, someone of his age getting sent there when he gave his life to the church. 

(5) Can a Scientologist be an alcoholic or a drug addict and if so how does Scientology deal with addiction and alcoholism?

(6) Do you play or have you ever played a musical instrument?

(7) What was the first thing you did for fun once you were emancipated from the sea organization?

We had a lot of fun today talking about the events of this last week in the legal arena of Scientology-related stuff, the election, a deeper dive into the history of thetans in this world and what they’re doing here, and a lot more. Enjoy!

This week, it’s answers about loaded language in Scientology, how group processing reinforces group controls, a breakdown on body thetans and a lot more. Enjoy!

(1) Did Hubbard create an additional language for Scientology as just another form of coercive control? In other words, would you say that all of those words that only make sense in Scientology are just another way to control those within its grasp? For example, there’s a famous interview in Australia, where Tom Cruise is talking to a journalist and tells the journalist to “Put your manners in now.” No one outside of Scientology speaks like that. Then there’s all the acronyms. What do you think?

(2) I was listening to a group auditing session by LRH and have a question about trance induction and control on a broader level. At the beginning of the session, people were relaxed and giggling at different commands. “Talk to the front wall. Okay, now talk to the back wall. Okay, now talk to the right wall. Okay…” and it went on and on with different commands, over and over. 

What I noticed from the group was that the more they complied with the commands, the giggling stopped quickly and everyone spoke in unison. It was disturbing (like something out of the book 1984). What happens for people in coercive situations with this type of trance induction and control? Not just with Scientology but with other group situations?

(3) I’ve always wondered how Scientologists think about body thetans. We all *are* thetans and we *have* bodies. So far so good. We’re also all infested by body thetans, which are thetans that are somehow not in a very good state. Thetans have lived for a very long time so we have basically done everything: created civilizations, destroyed them, yadda yadda. So, shouldn’t we also assume that at some point along our track we had been in this degraded state of being a body thetan? Shouldn’t I come up with memories that a gazillion lifetimes ago, I had been a body thetan infesting the little toe of Leonardo Da Vinci or something?!  Or, let’s say I give birth. Couldn’t it be that the thetan running my little baby is the body thetan I expelled last year from my liver? Would a Scientologist think about it that way?

(4) Since you always have some movie wallpapers on your screens and your LEGO models standing around I was wondering if you ever did a video on that in terms of how you view super heroes as a way of cultism and glorification of even bad character traits, indoctrination of the masses as in “Superman knows what’s good for you!” and similar? I’m not much a fan of most of the Marvel stuff since it’s always so over the top, but I can see some value for this discussion in some of the “Batman” movies for instance or “The Boyz”‘ satirical/ cynical take on the subject. And completely unrelated: Is your LEGO obsession just tied to building stuff from the films or do you consider yourself a real AFOL (adult fan of LEGO)?

(5) While you were in the Sea Org, were there ever times when subordinates would talk negatively about superior officers? Were you in any sort of cliques where you felt comfortable criticizing things without fear of having a knowledge report written up on you? Can you think of anyone that you were in with that would regularly scrutinize the way things were going that you could envision potentially ‘blowing’ in the future? Thanks! 

(6) Why do you think Tom Cruise hasn’t gotten married since he and Katie Holmes got divorced in 2012? It’s not like he has a shortage of women that would be interested.

(7) Why are seniors in the Sea Org called “sir” regardless of their gender?  Hubbard certainly wouldn’t have learned that during his time in the Navy, nor would a female officer today be called “sir.”  In fact, to do so deliberately would almost certainly result in a reprimand or more severe disciplinary action for blatant insubordination or disrespect. While we’re on the subject, what would happen in the Sea Org if one purposefully dropped or omitted “sir”?

(8) It took me a couple of years after getting out of the cult I was in to stop believing in re-incarnation, long after dropping other beliefs. Did you continue to believe in that after leaving Scientology, since they also believe in it (albeit in a different way)?

This week it’s answers about how Scientology is stuck in the past, some more thoughts about Tom Cruise as a Scientologist, the kind of people who end up in OSA and a lot more. Enjoy!

(1) I remember during my short experience with Scientology that emails are called telexes. The reason was because that was the technology that was used during the time when Hubbard ran things. I was wondering if it took Scientology a long time to convert over to email, or if they made the switch the moment email became popular? If they did delay the process, did they do so for fear of violating the KSW principle? If this is indeed the case, how did Miscavige justify violating the KSW principle for this instance? Do you know of any other outdated practices/technology that Scientology uses because they’re resistant to change?

(2) Do you consider Tom Cruise to be in a near command-and-control position of power within the Church of Scientology? If not, how would you define his level of power and authority and influence within the organization?

(3) In the Sea Org, who was the highest level person you met with aside from David  Miscavige? What was this person like?

(4) What kind of people get selected to be members of the Office of Special Affairs (OSA), what type of skills or behaviors do they look for and what is the process?

(5) What is the point of the harsh conditions for Sea Org members? Is it institutional culture, as in “it’s always been this way, why change?” or is it a cost-saving measure? A control mechanism? Sadism? It seems to me that they would have an easier time recruiting and keeping Sea Org members by making very minor changes such as better food, more time to get up the Bridge, better health care, a retirement home for elderly members, etc. Sure, it would cost more but they have the money and it seems like even a marginal investment to the SO budget would have significant dividends in worker production, retention, etc. Hell, that could even be a new fundraising campaign, “Fund the Sea Org Foundation”! As it is, it seems like the Sea Org and its conditions are actually creating many of the church’s most vocal detractors.

(6) Do Sea Org members that come from wealthy families accept money from their families to subsidize their small paycheck and, if so, do the other Sea Org members get jealous?

(7) Have you ever heard of STOSA? It is an online platform for some basic courses for independent Scientologists. I was considering taking some, but I am skeptical of this site being a rabbit hole for regular Scientology. Do you know anything about it?

(8) You mentioned in a previous video that some years ago the Church was teasing the release of an E-meter which could ‘register a thetan’.  While it was clearly nonsense to extort more money from the membership, I’m curious if you have any information on what this E-meter was supposed to do?