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

(1) What would happen if Scientology, with all of their buildings and members, decided all of a sudden to do only good things? Say for instance, David Miscavige gets attacked by a pack of wild dingoes and is no longer able to manage Scientology because they ate his face off (John Travolta reference). One of the management members steps up and takes over, turning Scientology into an actual organization that dedicates its buildings to local programs and keeping kids off the streets; opens a food bank; opens some of the berthing to homeless; let’s the children in some of these rural areas, vacation to some of the wonderful places that Scientology has property; or take some of the money that they have stored away and spend it on charitable causes or help with natural disasters in a way that is obvious and real. Maybe even let some of the Sea Org members play tennis on the tennis courts or swim in the pools. Pay the Sea Org members a minimum wage. Cut out the disconnection policy. What I’m trying to say is, what if Scientology decides to actually go legit? Too legit? Too legit to quit? They have the money, they have the property, they have the people who want and need to do a good thing for society. Let’s face it, everybody I’ve heard asked what was the draw, then they get out of Scientology, says the reason they stayed is because they thought they were doing good for the world. Do you think that’s a possibility? If Scientology goes away, it seems like such a waste. People that are involved want to help humanity. It just seems to me, and I’m just a lonely old wog, it would be a reasonable transition.

(2) I just saw a video with you in a very fancy Sea Org uniform with lots of medals, and I gotta say I got a good chuckle out of it. I always do when I see those uniforms. Are SO members embarrassed to wear those in public? Were you? It strikes me almost like playing dress-up.

(3) When you were still in the group (or even now) how difficult was it to tell through the way a person talked and their conduct what level of the Bridge they were on? Could you pick a Class VA auditor from a Class III, a Clear from and OT II or was it something you could only know through bracelets or literally being told?  

(4) If a Scientologist were to leave one area to get services in another area at lower costs (let’s say due to money exchange rates), do they receive any type of talking to, retribution, pressure or the like for that? If so, will reges or other people try and “recoup” or sell them more services because they may have saved money? Could this calculated monetary saving measure be viewed not only negatively, but result in any ethics actions?

(5) What are your thoughts on Scientology outing names of Scientologists that write critical articles about Scientology anonymously or with pseudonyms, as they did with Jeremy Gold writing as Terra Cognita on Mike Rinder’s blog? This happened in court documents as part of the IJC’s statement of why he wasn’t a member “in good standing” to qualify as an arbiter in the Garcia case. By the way, Jeremy is mentioned as having worked at the Santa Barbara Org and his Scientology course completions go back to 1990. Did you work with him and do you like his articles?

(6) Among Independent Scientologists, what has been the reception of documentaries and TV series that have exposed the abuses of Scientology and the Church of Scientology, such as Going Clear and Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath? I am interested to know whether Independent Scientologists are sometimes uncomfortable with the criticisms made of L Ron Hubbard and Scientological beliefs, as opposed to criticisms simply made of the practices of the current Church of Scientology under the leadership of David Miscavige. Going Clear went into great detail on LRH’s very questionable background, and the second season of Leah Remini’s show demonstrated how some Scientological beliefs, by their very nature, lead to abusive practices. Are you aware of any examples? All I know is that two Independent Scientologists did appear on Leah’s show, but I remember reading on Tony Ortega’s blog that Marty Rathbun, still then an Independent Scientologist, was unhappy with some of the commentary in Going Clear on Hubbard.