The weekly show where I answer viewer questions left in the comment sections of my Q&A videos or sent to me by email at [email protected]. This week, the questions I answer are:

(1) Could you please talk a little bit about the hypocrisy of Scientology and their take on human rights, especially in light of the Kashoggi murder? A recent conversation with my Scientologist relative made it clear to me that there was no care whether Kashoggi, a journalist for the Washington Post, was slain and dismembered after walking into the Saudi consulate in Turkey a few weeks ago. The basic nonchalant reaction to my bringing up the topic seemed to be that it was basically Kashoggi’s own fault for having put himself in that situation, both from having been an outspoken critic of his government and having been naïve enough to walk in to the consulate in the first place. This seems like a slippery slope to me in light of the current administration’s hostility towards the press. I realize Scientologists don’t hold journalists in high esteem and think news is “entheta” to be avoided. Is this not hypocrisy when they in the same breath claim to hold human rights near and dear to their hearts with Scientology front groups like the Citizen’s Commission for Human Rights and their Youth for Human Rights initiative at the United Nations? How do Scientologists even sleep at night? Where do they get their news if they don’t value journalists’ lives? Do they just chalk it up to “gotta clear the planet of insanity, that’s the one way forward”? Is there no outrage?

(2) As you know the course room supervisor is called “sup” which is a really silly name. It sounds like soup! Anyways, I remember how this individual seemed cold, unemotional and unloving, almost like a soulless robot. I asked myself, am I going to become that? If getting trained morphs me into a soulless ice cold person, I don’t want to pursue this path. How’s been your experience?

(3) In last week’s Critical Q&A, you made a reference about the older RPFers being more prone to spending their money on cigarettes, and then a statement that made me think less physical exertion was expected of them because they were older. Did I hear that right? Being in my mid 60s, the thought of running everywhere, let alone up 7 flights of steps, makes me hurt. The idea of losing some weight is appealing but I would probably die if I were put on the RPF and expected to keep up with the 20-30 year old crowd. Is some deference given to those less physically able?

(4) I was just wondering if you ever find yourself using Scientology”reasoning” (or whatever you want to call it) inadvertently in everyday life, and then catch yourself? I’ve been out of the cult for decades and I just caught myself thinking that “my havingness must be low” when I spent a bunch of money I shouldn’t have spent. Such BS! Strange, right? What about you?

(5) You’ve talked about when you were in the RPF and trying to balance your meager income ($11 per week) in order to supplement your diet against the provided meals. How is the food prepared in the Sea Org? There’s obviously a difference between food prepared at the Celebrity Centre, Flag and Big Blue, for instance. Who decides budgets and menus and who actually prepares the food (Scientologists or contractors)? Is food also made available in Orgs?

(6) In college I ended my test anxiety using aroma, associative symbolic redefinition, and vivid mental imagery. That was 2005 and it remains gone.

(7) A few weeks back, you mentioned getting married in Las Vegas while in the Sea Org. And I’ve seen other ex-SO mention taking trips or doing fun things. But they all talk about 112-hour weeks, pretty much never getting the promised days off, working on Christmas, and so on. How do they take these trips and where do they get the money?

(8) Do you find yourself using Scientology words by mistake in regular conversations and then have to explain what just happened? (It’s called making a MESTake. See what I did there?)