We will begin the session now.
You will remain aware
of everything that goes on.
Okay.
We're going to find
an incident in your life
You have
an exact record of.
Then by sending you through it
at the time it happened,
We're going
to reduce it.
We will reduce the pain.
Go to the beginning
of that incident.
Tell me what's happening.
Well, these things
get all so...
I joined in 198--
It was a bunch of young kids,
like i was young...
We were all very heated,
very excited about this.
Can you recall a time
when you were happy?
I think the first time i saw
hubbard, and i was in awe...
We did, because you thought
we were doing good.
I mean, so you had
some gratification.
I felt a tremendous amount
of relief.
I got the answers
for everything
Within the religion.
What are you most afraid of?
It was dark.
3:00 in the morning,
There's a knock
on the hotel-room door.
Stop! I'll say whatever
you want,
I'll write up anything
that you want.
I flipped out.
I started punching holes
in the walls.
Things didn't seem quite right.
And you just feel
so foolish at that point.
Do you have a secret
you're afraid i'll find out?
Yes. Yes.
Go to the beginning
of that incident.
Okay, all right.
Tell me about it.
I was 21 years old,
Living in london,
ontario, canada.
I wanted to be
a documentary filmmaker.
And someone had told me
About what they called--
they said, "there's this cult
"in new york
called scientology,"
Which i'd never heard of.
"and if you give them
all your money,
"they'll make anything
possible in your life."
And about six months later,
i was walking down the street.
This guy was there
selling books.
And i realized
they were all the same book--
"dianetics,"
Which again,
i had never heard of.
He handed me one
and asked me to look at it.
He was talking.
I wasn't really listening
to him.
I opened the cover
and it said--
Stamped on the inside page,
it said "church of scientology."
And i said,
"take me there."
All right.
All right, here we go.
I'm not a great multitasker.
You know, and if i feel
like doing something,
that's what i do.
And, uh,
i was into this shit,
And i was becoming
an auditor.
Like, i was in scientology
probably four months,
And i had done more
than john travolta had done,
And he'd been there
for 85 years or some shit.
My agents called, you know,
"you got an audition."
"eh, fuck it, i don't really--"
you know what i mean?
I was on--
i'm on a spiritual adventure,
And this was like, "whoa,
this is an interesting road."
You know?
So, uh,
what was the question?
So tell me,
how was it you first
got involved in scientology?
Well, i was introduced to it
by some friends.
I don't know if they said it
or if it was just talked about
By others that
they had super powers.
And i-- i was, like,
really young,
But i thought, "i'd like
to have super powers!"
But also i had done
so much...
Political-social work.
So this really looked like--
that it was a solution
To handling a lot
of the world's problems.
Instead of trying
to handle things en masse,
You could deal with it
person by person,
Make each person better,
and thus the world would
get better and surer.
Well, thank you very much,
And welcome
to our whole new world.
It's a world where
the operative phrase reads...
"exceeding all expectations,
"transcending all parameters,
"extending the boundaries
beyond any boundary,
"not to mention
godspeed, lightning speed,
"and a quantum leap
in sheer rapidity of progress
up the bridge."
We're out to make every life
extraordinary.
And if by chance
it ever seems laborious
or a sacrifice,
Then you are looking
at the offramps instead
of the highway.
You are missing
the signpost up ahead,
The one that reads,
"next stop, infinity."
Probably my favorite concept
of scientology
Is a world
without criminality,
A world without war,
and a world without insanity.
And i know
of no other group
That their goals
are that clear.
Look, i don't--
you name me another philosophy,
Religion, or technology
That one of its main goals--
besides the three
i mentioned earlier--
Where joy
is the operative concept.
These are
the times now, people.
Okay? These are the times
we will all remember.
Were you there?
What did you do?
So what do you say?
Can we clean this place up?
Yeah!
Okay.
Because we're counting on you.
okay?
All right?
To lrh!
Hip-hip--
Hooray!
Hip-hip--
Hooray!
Hip-hip--
Hooray!
Scientology is such a subject
of fascination for people.
How did you get engaged
in the story?
Well, i've always
been interested in religions
And why people believe
one idea rather than another.
I've studied jonestown,
radical islam.
They're oftentimes
good-hearted people--
Idealistic, but full of
a kind of crushing certainty
That eliminates doubt.
You know, my goal
wasn't to write an expos.
It was simply
to understand scientology,
Trying to understand
what people get out of it.
You know, why do they
go into it in the first place?
I was
interested in intelligent
and skeptical people
Who are drawn
into a belief system
And wind up acting
on those beliefs
In ways they never
thought they would.
The church of scientology
turned out to be
Two offices
above a woolworth's store.
He asked me,
"what's ruining your life?"
I said,
"oh, i'm in love.
"i'm in love with this woman.
It's impossible.
"i don't know what to do.
I need some help."
And he said,
"we can help you with that."
I said, "really?"
"yes."
And i ran home and got her,
and i said, "we have to
sign up for this.
"it sounds really good.
It could save
our relationship."
So we both signed up
the next day to do a course,
Which i think cost $50.
The thing that
absolutely got me
And stayed with me forever
Was the very first thing
i read when you open
the course pack,
And it said--
i'm paraphrasing--
"don't believe any of this.
If it works for you, great.
"if it doesn't, discard it."
I was troubled by the fact
that they called it a religion,
But i figured,
"oh, it's some tax scam.
It's fine with me.
"i don't really care about that
as long as it works."
The first exercise,
after you do all this reading
and stuff like that,
Is this thing called
o-t-t-r-0,
Which is basically,
you stand-- you sit
Just like this,
eyes closed,
Three feet away
from somebody who's
doing the same thing,
And you basically
confront them.
You know?
And in scientology lingo,
I went exterior.
Exteriorizing
is what they call it.
You know,
you leave your body.
So it was a... Transcendent
experience for me.,
And that made me go,
"holy fucking shit,
"this is-- wow."
I was reading books,
going to lectures,
and going to things--
Different events
at the mission-- at the local
santa clara mission.
And then i knew
i wanted to join the sea org
And get really involved
as soon as i could,
Which would
be right out of high school.
Sea org
is the most fraternal order
of the organization.
It's people who really,
really believe in the cause
And sign
a billion-year contract,
Which i did when i was--
you know, as soon as i could.
I left skid marks getting
to that billion-year contract.
You thought
you were doing something good,
To have a positive effect
on all of mankind.
That's what howard says.
Everything you do for endless
trillions of years
Depends on what you do
here and now within
scientology.
I began to ask this question,
"what is man?"
and i found, oddly enough,
That nobody could tell me
what man was.
What did he consist of?
Where was he going?
What was he doing?
To really know life,
you've got to be part of life.
You must get down and look.
You must get into
the nooks and crannies
of existence,
The-- you have to rub elbows
With all kinds
and types of men
Before you can finally
establish what he is.
And you in fact did this?
Yes, i've slept
with bandits in mongolia,
And i've hunted
with, uh,
Pygmies in the philippines.
Matter of fact,
i've studied 21 different
primitive races,
Including the white race.
And my conclusions were
That man is
a spiritual being
That was pulled down
to the material,
The fleshly interests,
To an interplay in life
that was, in fact,
Too great for him
to confront.
And i concluded, finally,
That he needed a hand.
To understand scientology,
You have to understand
the life and mind
of its inventor,
L. Ron hubbard.
Hubbard was
a prolific writer.
He actually holds
the "guinness book
of world records"
For the number of books
published--
More than 1,000.
Hubbard got his start
in the depression writing
pulp fiction,
Named for
the cheap paper used.
Writers were paid
a penny a word,
So hey had to write a lot
to make money.
Hubbard hammered away
so fast
On long rolls
of butcher paper
That he used to drop sweat
on his typewriter.
Hubbard's career took off
when he began to write
for a magazine
Called "astounding
science fiction."
Along with authors
like isaac asimov
and robert heinlein,
Hubbard wrote stories
with a sense of mission--
To get man to the stars.
He found his true mtier
in science fiction.
And a lot of
what scientology is
He had previously written about
in the form
Of his science fiction.
He had the ability
to fabricate these
amazing tales,
And he transported
those imaginary stories
Into his theology.
After pearl harbor,
hubbard took command
of a sub chaser,
But he was still a man
prone to invention.
He would write that he sunk
two japanese subs,
But, in fact,
just off the coast of oregon,
He opened fire on what
turned out to be a log
And dropped most of
his depth chargers
On underwater
magnetic rocks.
When he accidentally shelled
a mexican island,
He was relieved
of his command.
After the war,
Hubbard ended up
in los angeles
Where he settled in
with a small group
of seekers and visionaries.
A guy named jack parsons,
a fascinating man,
Was one of the founders
of the jet-propulsion
laboratory.
And there's actually
a crater on the moon
named after jack.
He was a significant
scientific figure,
But he was also
the head honcho
In this black magic cult.
It was called the o.T.O.,
Or the ordo templi orientis.
They followed the teachings
of aleister crowley,
A famous sexual magic figure
in england.
Parsons had a mansion
in pasadena.
They would have ceremonies,
And they were seeking
some sort of goddess figure
That he could impregnate
In order to create
the antichrist.
Hubbard moved in
and became parsons' assistant.
One night,
this beautiful redhead
Named marjorie cameron
showed up at the door.
She was perfectly
willing to engage
in this sexual ritual
In order, supposedly,
to produce the antichrist.
She and jack
eventually got married.
That happened after hubbard
ran off with jack's girlfriend,
Sara northrup.
Scientology
and hubbard
Would later refuse
to acknowledge
His relationship
with sara.
But we uncovered
sara's own recollections
Of her time with hubbard.
He was 13 years older
than i was.
I thought
he was a great war hero,
A captain of a ship
that had been downed
in the pacific.
And he was weeks
on a raft,
And he'd been blinded
by the sun,
And his back
had been broken.
All these things
were complete lies,
But i didn't know it
at the time.
I believed
every word of it.
If only sara had seen
hubbard's military records.
In a 900-page file,
Hubbard's activities are laid
out in extraordinary detail.
Hubbard told people
that he had been blinded
and crippled
During the war,
and the practices
that would form
The basis of scientology
had cured him.
But his records show
that his only wounds
Were mild arthritis
and conjunctivitis.
We had this terrible fight,
And he told me he was going
to commit suicide
If i didn't marry him.
I really believed him,
So we got married.
We spent the winter
in that lighthouse on the lake
in the poconos.
I remember one awful night,
When i was asleep
and he was out typing...
and he hit me
across the side of the head
With a .45...
Because i was smiling
in my sleep,
And he said i was thinking
about somebody else.
I got up,
left the house,
And walked
on the ice of the lake.
I was terrified.
He always said
that he would kill me
Rather than
let me leave him.
The only good thing
i got from ron
Was my baby.
We moved
to elizabeth, new jersey,
And he started
writing "dianetics."
The book was conceived
And he started
working on it in 1950.
He said many times
that the only way to make
any real money
Was to have a religion.
That's essentially
what he was trying to do
with "dianetics"--
Get a religion where
he could have an income
And the government wouldn't
take it away from him
In the form of taxes.
"dianetics" was
an immense success.
From the moment
it was published in 1950,
It swept through america
and other countries
around the world.
This book--
that's the background
of all of this.
That's what started
all the trouble.
We expected this to sell
about 6,000 copies,
And it hit the top
of the bestseller list
of "the new york times"
And just stayed there,
month in, month out.
It was like
i started an avalanche.
The modern science
of mental health"
Is considered to be
the fundamental text,
Which is the foundation
upon which all else is built.
One of the theories
of "dianetics"
Is to discover these things
that are very traumatic
Or have been very upsetting
to you,
And if you can observe
Exactly what happened,
The power of that incident
To influence you today
Is removed.
The concept of "dianetics"
Is that you have
two sides of your mind.
There is the analytical side,
Which is a perfect computer.
It remembers everything.
It's flawless.
It never makes a mistake.
And then there's
a reactive side.
And this is where
all your neuroses, anxieties,
And fears are stored.
And where do they come from?
They come from engrams.
An engram
is like a memory.
A man has
an automobile accident.
He has a picture
of an automobile accident.
He has all the sensations
of having been hurt
In the automobile accident.
It takes him a long time
to recover,
Because he's still wearing
the automobile accident.
If you said,
"hey, why don't you take
"this automobile accident
and throw it away?"
Well, all of a sudden,
he recovers
From the automobile accident,
naturally,
Because the thing that's
keeping it impressed upon him
And his body
is his mind.
An auditor is a practitioner
in scientology.
He listens
and he computes.
We have a meter.
A meter simply shows
Where an individual
is aberrated.
The e-meter is
a very powerful instrument.
It's one-third
of a lie detector.
A lie detector would also
measure your respiration
and pulse.
There's two cans
And there's electrical wires
Carrying an undetectable
amount of current
Into a meter
with a needle on it.
According to the church
of scientology,
It actually detects
the mass of your thoughts,
Although there's no evidence
that thoughts have mass.
The current
passes through your body,
And as your mental mass
increases,
So does the resistance
to the circuit.
So the auditor will
ask you a question,
"tell me about
an upset with your mother."
"what's truly bothering you
about being with, you know,
"with your wife's behavior?
What is it?"
"why are you upset today?"
"well, i had a fight
with my wife."
"well, i can see."
"that there--
was that the same thought?"
"say that again."
And gradually, the needle
will have less response.
And in that manner,
you discharge the emotion.
Then you're asked to go back
to earlier incidents
That were like that.
And you might say,
"well, my mother spoke to me
"in the same
scolding tone of voice."
And you recount that story,
And eventually,
you discharge the emotion.
And that's very much
like freudian therapy.
But with scientology,
Then they'll ask further.
"well, that's as far back
as i go."
Well, maybe not.
The auditor might say,
"something just registered
on the meter.
"what was that?"
"i had an image
in my mind."
"well, what was the image?"
"it was a barn."
"are you inside the barn?
Go back to that image.
"okay, open the door.
What do you see?"
"well, it looks like
19th century france."
You walk outside
and you see
The people dressed
in their costumes,
And the e-meter is
saying this is real.
This is a real memory.
It's just as real
as those other memories
that you had.
Beautiful little soft needle,
and everything's good.
Needle's rising, which means
he's getting, you know,
Thinking a lot.
The needle just, like,
goes "pfft,"
Like a lot of shit
blows away.
The theta bop,
which is a very quick little
thing like, "doo doo doo,"
Which means
exteriorization.
When you come out
of an auditing session,
You feel euphoric.
That confessional nature
makes you feel better.
Somebody would say,
"oh, you're going
to have a session."
I would feel better
just hearing that.
Man is asleep.
He is hypnotized.
Now in scientology,
reverse the process,
And you'll make him
wake up.
Such a man
becomes un-brainwashed,
you might say.
He becomes unhypnotized.
This sounds, mr. Hubbard,
in a sense,
Like an extension
of psychology
or psychiatry.
Oh, no, psychiatry
has to do with the insane,
And we have nothing to do
with the insane whatsoever.
Is this is a form
of psychoanalysis?
No, psychoanalysis,
they lay back and--
Don't associate scientology
with such people.
That's terrible.
That's bad manners, you know?
When l. Ron hubbard
first wrote "dianetics,"
He thought it was
a tremendous psychological
breakthrough,
So much so
that he would be recognized.
He wrote letters to
the american psychological
association.
They couldn't make heads
or tail of his ideas.
To them, it was like
psychological folk art.
For instance,
he would talk about "clear."
That means that
the individual
Has erased
his reactive mind--
His unconscious mind
is gone--
And he is totally alert
And totally capable.
Once you've taken away
all these traumatic memories,
From this life
and previous ones,
Then you are clear.
Someone who had
a perfect memory,
Who was never ill.
Your eyesight
would be better.
We tested people
before scientology processing
And after
scientology processing,
And uniformly found
that their iq had raised.
We are making
such individuals,
We're making them regularly,
and we're making
them routinely.
An overt act
is an effort to individuate.
It is a withhold
of oneself...
Ron gave lectures
everywhere
For large amounts of money,
and money just started
pouring in.
I mean, these people
were paying
$500 apiece
in the 1950s
For training
in "dianetics."
I felt that he was stealing
from people
And that he was
hoodwinking them.
All the business of sitting,
holding hands,
And putting
all these false memories
into people's minds...
Then they would finally
come along and say,
"oh, yes,
i can remember it all."
We were surrounded
by sycophants.
He began to believe
that he was a savior and hero,
That he really was
this god figure.
He was absolutely convinced
That he had the cure
for the psychological ills
of mankind,
And that the only reason
that it wasn't being propagated
far and wide
Was that the medical profession
had a vested interest
In keeping people sick.
I think he was afraid
that some psychiatrists
Would pop him
into an institution.
He degenerated into
a really paranoid,
Terrifying person.
Sara threatened
to leave hubbard
Unless he got
psychiatric help.
He responded
by kidnapping their baby
And taking her to cuba.
He was incapable
of taking care of her,
So he put her in the charge
of a mother and daughter
Who were both
mentally retarded.
And they apparently kept her
in some kind of cage.
He called me and told me
that he had killed her.
He said he had cut her
into little pieces
And dropped the pieces
in a river,
And it was my fault.
Then he'd call me back
and say that she
was still alive.
And this went on
and on and on.
When hubbard came back
to the u.S.,
Sara persuaded him
to agree to a divorce
And give her custody
of their daughter.
When i left him,
he cleaned out
All the joint bank accounts
So that i wouldn't
have any money.
Hubbard soon lost
all his money, too.
"dianetics" proved
to be a passing fad,
like the hula hoop.
But hubbard still had
his imagination.
So he repackaged the ideas
of "dianetics"
Into a religion
called scientology.
Hubbard added more science
and more structure.
Along with the e-meters
came a payment plan.
Every step to "clear"
had a price tag.
How would you describe
your business model?
Rapacious.
It's all about making money.
Hubbard, from the beginning,
knew that
People would pay
for this counseling
at a pretty good clip,
And so he continued
to come out with more
and more levels.
The real money
was in paying for these
higher and higher courses.
They were getting
into thousands of dollars.
Those prices
kept going up and up.
That's really
where scientology begins
To create
this indoctrination,
Is, "it's hubbard
that came up with that,
"only hubbard,
and you have to
be a part of our group
"to get
that spiritual satisfaction
you were looking for."
The hubbard college
of scientology,
Qualifications division,
department of certifications
and awards
Does hereby certify
that anthony a. Phillips
Has obtained
the state of clear.
As more members
paid for hubbard's bridge
to total freedom,
The church's coffers
swelled with hundreds
of millions of dollars.
From the beginning,
hubbard tried to shelter
that revenue
From any government taxes.
The founding church
of scientology
Attempted in 1967 to get
a court determination
That it was exempt
from federal taxation
On the basis
that it was a nonprofit
religious organization.
A federal court denied
the founding church
tax exemption,
Saying that some
of the church's earnings
from 1955 to 1959
Were used for
the personal benefit
of private individuals--
L. Ron hubbard
and family.
"abc news" has repeatedly
requested interviews
with mr. Hubbard.
We have been told
that he is unavailable.
It was very exciting.
It was that heady mix
of emotion and belief,
And it's--
you get stuck to it.
It's so strong
that it sticks you like glue,
And there's no way
you can get away from it.
I was deeply convinced
That we were going
to save the world.
I considered myself
tremendously fortunate
To be in that position.
Out of the blue one day,
I received this envelope
With an invitation
to join the sea project.
It was completely
confidential.
I wasn't to tell anyone
about it,
And i was so ecstatic.
Here was a chance
to work with hubbard.
And i signed, "yes!"
I was on my way
to the greatest adventure
in my life.
We had an overnight flight
to las palmas in
the canary islands,
Where we found,
at about 6:00 in the morning,
We were taxied
down to a dock.
We had to climb up
this rickety ladder,
All the way up
to the ship,
And we couldn't believe
this was where we were going.
This ship
was a rusty hulk.
I was given a dirty
old jumpsuit to get into,
Missing one arm
and the other one was
almost half torn off,
And put to work.
We had to scrub the ship
and clean out the ship,
Which was arduous,
strenuous work,
In the heat.
Hubbard came
to the ship every day,
Smoking cigarettes
and surveying his kingdom.
After dinner,
he'd come and join us
On the well deck.
There he was, you know,
right amongst us,
Talking to us.
He would be
his most magnificent self
At those times.
He'd lean back,
he'd look up at the cosmos,
And he'd point out galaxies
And constellations,
And he'd say,
"the fifth invaders
are up there,
"and this is how they dressed
and this is how they talk.
"and see that blip
across the sky over there?"
He'd point it out,
and we were all,
"yes, we see it, we see it."
He'd say, "and that's one
of their space vessels..."
And there was-- the fourth
invader force was here.
The fifth invader force
came in.
And the name
of this solar system
is space station 33.
The fourth invader force
had been there
For god knows how many
skillion years,
Had been sitting down...
...And we'd sit there,
spellbound.
You could hear a pin drop
on that ship.
He had us emotionally
captured and held
Right there
in the palm of his hand
where he wanted us.
He had us right there.
In the early '60s,
Hubbard was
under investigation
in various countries.
His solution was to take
to the high seas.
He made himself commodore
of a fleet of three ships,
A scientology navy.
To crew the vessels,
He created
the sea organization.
The members of
this so-called sea org
Would become
the church's clergy.
They began going
from port to port
In the mediterranean,
show up for a few days,
And then go off-- sail off
in some other direction.
And a very enterprising
reporter
For grenada television
in britain
Tracked him down...
Slate one,
take one.
That's one
of the very few instances
Where hubbard has actually
appeared on camera.
What are you actually doing
On this ship now?
I am studying
ancient civilizations,
Trying to find
what happened to them,
Finding out
why they went...
Into a decline,
why they died.
Hubbard believed that
he had lived various lives
In the mediterranean area
as a venetian prince,
As an italian prince.
As a matter of fact,
it's quite interesting
That exercises
can be conducted,
Which demonstrate conclusively
that there are memories
Which exist prior
to this life.
He had buried treasure
all around the coastline,
And he wanted to go find
all these caches of treasure.
We were all very heated,
very excited about this.
Whatever was
his whim, we did.
We would have died
for the old man.
Don't you wake up
sometimes
In the middle of the night
and think to yourself,
"well, i've been on this ship
with a whole lot
"of scientologists
who believe i'm fantastic..."
They don't believe
i'm fantastic.
If you saw the number of times
they don't follow my orders...
Lrh started to devise
A system of penalties
or punishments
Or what he called ethics.
And one of the penalties
for the auditors
Making mistakes
in their auditing sessions
Was to be tossed
overboard.
"you have done such and such
and such and such,
"and we commit your errors
to the deep."
And then just pushed
overboard.
30 feet, 35 feet,
Do you ever think that
you might be quite mad?
Oh, yes!
The one man in the world
who never believes he's mad
Is the madman.
So we got married a year
and a half after we joined
And moved to california.
I wanted to be a writer,
And my wife--
she was studying scientology.
We had a baby right away,
and the only people
We knew there
were scientologists.
I was working
as a furniture mover
during the day
And writing spec scripts
at night.
Then on the weekends, i'd be,
you know, doing some auditing.
Can you recall a time
when you were happy?
There was
a social aspect to it too.
You got to hang out
with people.
And there were some
interesting people,
nice people.
These are all people
who are looking to improve
their life.
While hubbard was hiding
from public view,
He was very active
in directing the operations
of the church,
Particularly
in hollywood.
This was just after
the haight-ashbury era.
And what scientology
was selling itself is,
"get high
without drugs."
It was a place
where people went
and explored ideas,
And you would often see
famous people--
Leonard cohen,
members of the grateful dead,
Rock hudson.
So they built
the celebrity centre.
The idea was to draw in
these famous entertainers
And use them as pitchmen
for the religion.
In an industry
like hollywood,
Where stardom is such--
such an illusive quality,
Scientology would offer
a route to maybe feel
a little bit more secure.
And when you're
trying to break in,
you're also dealing with
Relentless rejection.
And something
that helps you stay focused
And feel that
you're improving yourself
And becoming more clear,
you can see the appeal of that.
The beliefs and practices
that i have studied
in scientology
Have been invaluable to me.
Have you ever met
ron hubbard?
I'd love to.
I'd be honored, because
i think he's so brilliant.
So when i worked
at the celebrity centre,
I would just, you know,
recruit various people.
Like priscilla presley
and of course john travolta.
Johnny-- he came,
he started on course,
And he was so fun
and outrageous.
And he just made a party
wherever he was.
John travolta
was a young actor
In his very first movie.
He was a troubled young man,
And he was looking
for help.
A fellow actor gave him
a little bit of scientology
counseling.
She gave him a copy
of "dianetics,"
And he was transported
by this.
He would go out
on his auditions,
And no matter
what he went out for,
He would get it.
A band-aid commercial,
right away he booked that.
Now the army starts you...
He was booking everything,
And then he went up
for a series.
Of course, he books it.
And it's a big series--
"welcome back, kotter."
Up your nose
with a rubber hose!
In the late '70s
and early '80s,
John travolta
was scientology's
biggest star.
Spanky was assigned to be
travolta's key contact
with the church,
And she helped out
with producers, fans,
and the press.
They became close,
and when spanky got married,
Travolta was there.
When johnny first
got into scientology,
He didn't even believe in
himself that much.
But he got injected
with a lot of confidence,
And then you get
this phobia inducement
That "if i leave,
it's all going to go
down the tubes."
When you're in
the organization,
All the good
that happens to you
Is because of scientology,
And everything that doesn't,
that isn't good, is your fault.
They sell it all
in the beginning as something
quite logical.
Everything makes sense.
And you're going up
what they call the bridge,
You're dong this auditing,
and this is good.
And the next one,
well, it's not quite as good.
It didn't quite make sense
to you, but...
You know, you've already
paid for the next one,
so you'll do that one.
The bridge--
it's a metaphor.
You start here
at the bottom of the bridge
And then you go to the top,
so where it is--
It's an awareness scale.
You start down here
and you're not aware
of anything,
Then you go up here
and you're a lot more aware
Of who you are,
Your spirituality,
your relationship to others.
A person is supposed to
become more able
As they go up the bridge.
And then there are
the ot levels--
Operating thetan.
And a thetan
is a spiritual being.
That's the soul
of the person.
And what level, over time,
did you achieve?
Ot eight.
That's the highest there is.
You can't get any higher
than ot eight.
From the beginning,
you hear these stories
People tell of these abilities
they've been able to gain.
It was always talked about,
the people who were ot
could read your mind,
And they could
move objects at will,
And they could--
they were cause over matter,
energy, space, and time,
So it sounded
damn good to me.
I mean, i thought,
"wow, this is great."
I finally get to ot three,
And they give me
the secret materials,
Which i've been hearing about
all this time.
They're handwritten
by hubbard.
You have to keep them
in a locked briefcase,
Be very cautious,
because they always said,
"if this gets out,
it's dangerous to people.
"it could actually
do them harm if they
are not adequately prepared."
And i read it.
And...
It doesn't make any sense.
This gobbled story
that didn't make sense.
I remember for
one fleeting second thinking,
"maybe it's an insanity test.
"maybe if you believe this,
they kick you out.
"you know, maybe that's it."
that, of course,
is not the case.
They talk about, you know,
the fact that the earth
was created
In such-and-such trillions
of years ago,
And this guy--
space guy--
Galactic overlord--
this was a prison planet,
And people being
caught, captured,
And being brought
to planet earth...
And put them in volcanoes
and blowing them up
with a-bombs.
Whoa!
I studied geography
in school.
Those volcanoes didn't exist
75 million years ago.
And we have these lost souls
all over us
And we have
to get rid of them,
and i'm going,
"what... The fuck
are you talking about?
"i mean, i'm down
for the self-help stuff.
"i'm down for--
okay, i can be clear.
"i can get rid of
the negative emotions.
"but what the fuck is this?"
When you get
to the upper levels
of scientology,
The creation myth
is explained to you.
The story is that
75 million years ago,
People lived in a world
very much like the world
Of america
in the 1950s.
People, at that particular
time and space,
Were walking around
in clothes which looked
Very remarkably like
the clothes they wear
in this very minute.
And the cars they drove
looked exactly the same,
And they walked down streets
that looked like these streets.
It was a very similar world
And similar problems,
One of which
was overpopulation.
They had elected a fellow
By the name of xenu
to the supreme ruler.
There was a tyrannical overlord
Of the galactic confederacy
named xenu.
In order
to resolve this problem
of overpopulation,
He called people in,
Ostensibly for tax audits,
And had them frozen
with injections
Of glycol to their heart.
Boxed them up in boxes,
threw 'em into space planes--
Dc-8 airplane
is the exact copy
Of the space plane
of that day.
They were flown to
the prison planet, teegeeack--
It's actually
the planet earth--
And these frozen bodies
were then dropped
into volcanoes.
And then they set off
hydrogen bombs
On the top of each volcano.
And their
disembodied spirits--
These are called thetans--
Floated out,
and they were captured
And forced to sit
in front of movie screens.
With a 3d, super colossal,
motion picture.
They were shown images--
Implants,
as hubbard would have it.
Every man is shown crucified,
So is the psychiatrist
shown crucified.
And that's how he gets away
with what he gets away with.
He electric-shocks people.
And when a child is born,
A thetan will leap inside
the child's body
At that very instant,
and it becomes like
the child's soul.
More than one thetan
might crowd into the body--
Hundreds,
or thousands, might.
They're the source
of all of our neurosis,
Fears, and anxieties.
Then you are
on the e-meter,
By yourself, now.
You're soloing.
You're supposed
to scan, mentally,
From your top of your head
to your toes,
To see if you can locate
any alien beings.
And when you do,
you tell them to go away.
I kept on trying to audit.
I could not figure out
how i could have
All these spirits
of dead people
attached to me,
Inside me, on me.
I was clear.
For god's sake,
i was clear.
People actually
have breakdowns,
You know,
nervous breakdowns,
Because they spend
so much time thinking
About being infested
by these creatures.
If you're
really believing that,
it can drive you crazy.
Those years of introspection
Eventually led me
to sincerely considering
That i was so bad,
That i couldn't confront
how bad i was.
I didn't know it
at the time,
But a depression set in
that was with me for years,
And the worst thing was
That lrh kept ordering me
to more auditing.
I had to find swords
that were stuck in me--
Hypothetical swords,
Imaginary swords that
were causing all this pain.
This auditing
went on and on.
It wasn't doing any good.
I should have been
left alone.
But everything
that i took offense with,
I rationalized
almost immediately.
I had to.
I could not continue
in this game of scientology
Without explaining away
what he was doing.
It got to be
a way of believing,
And every one of us
got into that.
It was part
of the mind control.
It was part of
the cultic manipulation.
He was the master
who did it to us,
And we took it on
and then we did it
to ourselves.
And i learned from it,
That i would
never ever again,
You know, go--
do the bidding of a tyrant.
Hubbard questioned
his own sanity
And actually wrote a letter
to the veteran's administration
Asking for psychiatric help
That he seems
never to have been given.
I think
that his whole creation
of scientology
Really was a form
of self-therapy.
If he were just a fraud,
then at some point,
He would have
taken the money and run,
But he never did that.
He spent much of his day
on the e-meter,
Trying to understand
what was going on
Inside his own mind.
Hubbard became
increasingly paranoid
That a powerful thetan
had infected his body
And that regular auditing
Wasn't strong enough
to make it leave.
When larry wright
was researching his book,
He videotaped an interview
with a scientologist
Who was asked
to help hubbard
expel the thetan.
He was having,
uh, problems
Getting rid of a bt--
body thetan--
So he wanted me
to build a machine,
And basically
blow the thetan away,
Just get him out of there.
Blow him out.
And also kill the body.
Basically, yeah.
Yeah.
But i didn't
want to kill him.
I just wanted
to scare him.
So i had read some books
about nikola tesla and stuff,
And i figured maybe
buildin' a tesla coil
Would probably be
the best route to go.
I had little electrodes
That you hook it up
to the e-meter,
So when he's on the cans,
Then, uh, he would
just flip the button,
And it would do its thing.
As far as i know.
He blew up my e-meter.
Burned it up.
Scientology
really is a journey
Into the mind
of l. Ron hubbard.
And the further
you get into it,
The more like
l. Ron hubbard
you become.
Thank you.
In 1980,
lrh moved off the lines
So that he could
continue his writings
And researches
without any distractions.
He has now moved on
to his next ot--
Level of ot research.
This level is beyond anything
any one of us ever imagined.
This level is in fact done
In an exterior state,
Meaning that it is done
completely exterior
From the body.
At this level of ot,
The body is nothing more
Than an impediment
and encumbrance
To any further gain
as an ot.
Thus...
Thus, at 2000 hours,
Friday,
the 24th of january,
A.D. 36,
L. Ron hubbard
discarded the body
He had used
in this lifetime
For 74 years,
10 months, and 11 days.
Although you may feel grief,
Understand that he did not,
and does not now.
Hubbard died
of a stroke in 1986,
But he left no plan
for succession.
The ambitious david miscavige
stepped forward,
And by bending arms
and making deals,
Took control of the church
And installed
a new generation
of lieutenants.
We want to make sure
That all of us end cycle
on this completely,
So we can get on
with the job
That is ahead of us.
The first time i met
miscavige was in '83.
He was a guy
running back and forth
Between hubbard
and the property
in hemet in a van--
Back and forth,
delivering messages.
Worked my way
through the organization.
Miscavige would
come down to florida,
Where i was
running the place,
And we slowly
but surely became friends.
By 2001,
i was working directly
for miscavige.
We'd sit and drink
a bottle of scotch,
And i'd hear
everything he had to say
about the church,
And about the people involved,
from his perspective.
And honestly, it was--
it was, uh, horrifying.
It was scary.
In scientology,
there was a concept
That 98% of the people
are good and 2% are evil.
Well, he worked very hard
to convince me
That it was
the other way around.
2.5% were okay
and the rest were
very evil and bad.
And somehow,
they'd all been dumped
on that base
So they could be around him.
He was--
he was extremely paranoid.
So, marty, is miscavige
a true believer?
Uh, yes.
He has to
continue to believe,
Because if he looks
at it rationally
And he sees that it
is as i say,
It will destroy him.
You know,
he'll just realize that--
Because he's done
a lot worse than i've done.
He's abused people
on a personal level,
Um, as a-- as a--
that's how he got to the top,
And that's how
he stayed at the top.
At the age of 11,
David miscavige
joined the church
with his parents.
As a child, his ambition
caught hubbard's eye.
So when hubbard wanted
to become a filmmaker,
Miscavige was
his assistant cameraman.
An auditing prodigy,
He claimed scientology
cured his asthma.
He became a sort of
general contractor
for the church,
And was soon named
action chief--
The man who did
whatever needed doing
for a church
That developed
a scary reputation
For attacking its critics.
Scientology has been
in the headlines
Off and on
for 25 years now,
Almost since the time
it was founded as a religion.
Scientology's story
is one of a church
Embittered by what
it perceives as harassment.
We're talking about attacks
From multi-billion dollar
media conglomerates,
World governments--
real powers of the world.
They take enemies
very seriously.
This comes right out
of hubbard's own policies
From the '60s,
saying, "we never defend,
we always attack."
And they have followed it
ever since.
They call it "fair game,"
And anybody who criticizes
scientology is fair game.
Whatever you're told,
Whatever needs to be done,
If it's against the law,
it doesn't matter.
The best example is,
in the mid '70s,
Scientologists were
walking in to these
department of justice offices
And irs offices
and taking documents
out by the yard.
The fbi raided
the church of scientology--
The largest raid
in fbi history
at that time.
Oh my god.
The building
is filled with fbi,
And they're--
they're taking things.
It was craziness.
Clearly, l. Ron hubbard
was in charge of all of that,
But he was only named
an unindicted co-conspirator.
And mary sue hubbard,
hubbard's wife,
She went to prison,
10 others went to prison.
This was where
i cut my teeth.
I was in my early 20s,
Miscavige
was in his early 20s.
We were taking over
for this group
That had created
the largest domestic
espionage operation
In the history
of the united states.
They were
breaking into offices,
Framing people.
This is the activities
of a church?
There was a guy who,
uh, you know,
Was a reporter
for "the la times,"
Whose dog was poisoned
While he was working
on a scientology story.
Again and again
while reporting the story,
We met many former members
who describe scientology
As a dangerous and deeply
paranoid organization.
They hired private detectives
to harass people.
I have been sued twice.
Financial ruin.
Years of harassment.
Their homes broken into,
have them beaten.
We chased her around.
We followed her
to the airport.
Gotten ahold of
personal phone records.
Slashed their tires,
break their car windows.
I was locked
in a chicken wire cage.
Dangerous, horrifying,
terrifying fraud.
A nightmare.
Many of their stories
are corroborated
In sworn court testimony
by up to a dozen other people.
Are they all lying?
They sat in a room,
They figured out
what they were going to say...
My position,
as the spokesperson,
Was to evade
the question,
Or sleaze around some way,
Or give what
was an acceptable answer,
Or something
that i believed at the time.
Please welcome
mr. Mike rinder.
Because scientology
is perceived
And conceived
by scientologists
As being the salvation
for mankind,
You can have people
that lie
With a very straight face
If they believe
that what they are doing
Is protecting
the church of scientology.
L. Ron hubbard says,
"we do not find critics
of scientology
"who do not
have criminal pasts."
Do you believe that?
Sure.
People who oppose you
are undoubtedly criminals?
I believe that, yeah.
You know, there isn't
and hasn't been
Any effort
which has been taken to,
Quote,
"silence critics."
"no, that doesn't happen.
"oh, we would never do that."
But according
to many insiders,
Hubbard was growing
more and more vindictive
Toward those
who stood in his way.
He created what he called
the rehabilitation
project force.
The rpf was
what we called it.
It was the prison camp,
Where you'd go
for re-indoctrination.
It was on the 7th floor
Of the hollywood
headquarters,
A confined space
to rehabilitate members
Who might be harboring
subversive thoughts.
Spanky was sent to the rpf
When she objected
to the way the church
Had denied medical treatment
to her boss.
I went thinking, of course,
This is a big mistake.
And then i got there,
and there were like
200 of us.
So much of the exec strata
of the organization there
Hit the skids
simultaneously.
Rpf stands for
rehabilitation project force.
It is a program
that is exclusively
For the benefit
of sea organization members.
If they are stressed out,
If they're not doing well
on their job,
Have them do
menial-type work,
And five hours a day
of auditing
And scientology training.
It's a fabulous program.
We were working--
cross my heart--
30 hours on,
three hours off.
Doing, like, hard labor,
Like having wire brushes
on windowsills,
And sanding
and sanding and sanding.
Breathing paint fumes.
The regular crew
would eat first,
And then we'd get
what was left.
It was kinda
like table scraps.
There was mattresses
out there on the roof,
And they were wet
and soggy and gross.
And if you got to sleep
for three hours,
Sometimes you'd just have to
up there and crash out.
And i had a young child
at that time,
Who was 10 months old
when i went to the rpf.
She got taken
and put in the cadet org,
The organization
for the children.
And then i--
i got pregnant
When i was in the rpf.
So now i'm sanding walls,
eating table scraps,
Pregnant,
and worrying myself sick
about my child.
In spanky's time,
the children
Of sea org members
were separated
From their parents
and raised in the cadet org
To remove all distractions
From their parent's
ultimate responsibility,
To clear the planet.
Sea org members
were often pressured
to have abortions,
Because the church
viewed "getting children"
As an unpractical burden.
Initially, you're like,
"this is absurd.
"this is nuts."
And then you kinda
settle in and go, "well...
"obviously, i need
to deal with something
"that i'm not facing.
"so perhaps this is--
"they're doing this
to make me better."
There are so many
bizarre stories that you--
Just hard
to believe stuff.
They asked
if i could arrange
a private screening
Of "saturday night fever."
And i was like, "what?"
"i had disappeared
from this man's life.
"i abandoned him,
"and now you
want me to arrange
a private screening?
"what are you--"
I said,
"is there anything else?
Maybe a beatles reunion?"
Travolta had been wondering
where spanky was.
When she was sent
to the rpf,
She was not allowed
to contact him
or anyone else.
But now,
under the watch of a guard,
She was permitted
to call travolta's assistant.
She said we could
use john's personal print
of the film,
Under one condition--
that you will see john.
I was so excited.
I hadn't had dialogue
with him for many months.
We had the screening
of the film,
And on the next night,
I was supposed
to have dinner with johnny.
And after
the screening,
I was abruptly told
i wasn't going to see him,
And i needed
to call and cancel.
He was truly angry
at me for-- for--
For having allowed this abuse
of myself, you know,
And for having that--
so little of myself...
That i would allow
this degree of degradation,
And, and um--
and--
And he was my good friend,
And i knew that he was
telling me the truth.
Those words were
such a wakeup call for me.
And i went over there,
to the cadet org.
There were so many
sick children in there,
And my daughter
was very, very ill--
Burning up with fever,
completely neglected,
In a urine-soaked crib.
Her eyes were
so filled with mucus,
They were welded shut.
She had fruit flies
on her body.
And i just--
i couldn't bear it.
I just went,
"no, mmm-mmm, i'm done."
I mean, i just knew
i could make these choices
for me.
I could decide
to give up my life
And do this
to help the world,
But i couldn't
make these choices
for my children.
I just had to get her out.
I told them
that i was having problems
with my pregnancy,
And i needed
to use the phone,
So they sent
a bodyguard with me.
I called one of the few
non-scientologists i knew,
A wonderful woman who happened
to work for john travolta.
I said,
"meet me at this address."
I gave her a time
and i hung up.
I go up to my daughter's room,
and i wrapped her up.
And there's
that bodyguard with me.
I said,
"oh, my sister-in-law
is in that car
"and she's gonna
take the baby to the doctor."
He said, "well,
has this been approved?"
"of course
it was approved!"
She's in my arms,
and i got in the car.
My friend,
she just nods her head.
Boom! With that,
i pull my leg in,
shut that door.
She hits the locks,
and we drive.
And people
are yelling my name,
Saying, "spanky, no! No!"
I mean, just freaked out.
I'm thinkin'
"i'm a dead person,
"something terrible
is gonna happen to me."
I was just so frightened
That they would come
to fetch me up.
One of the turning points
In travolta's relationship
with the church
Is when he understood
what was happening to spanky,
He didn't
do anything about it.
I know that
he certainly got exposed
To the fact
that not everything
was on the up and up.
Why that wasn't sufficient
for him to leave,
I don't know.
I often wonder what--
what could possibly
keep him there?
Can you recall an incident
Which occurred
when your mother
looked younger?
An auditor learns to
keep notes contemporaneously
As he is doing a session,
About every detail
of the person's life,
Back to birth and beyond.
If you do the whole program,
You end up with
up to a file cabinet full
Of pre-clear folders
on notations about your life,
Your thoughts,
and your considerations
about your life.
It's the most
intimate detail.
You're always encouraged,
you're always threatened,
To disclose more
and more and more.
And all of it's recorded.
All of this material,
Which is represented to you
to be held sacrosanct--
In fact, any information
That might do some harm
to the organization,
Gets unclassified
automatically
And gets reported
to another branch
of the church
That deals with "ethics."
Travolta was down
in clearwater.
We'd finished
the renovations.
Every auditing room
had two cameras--
One on the meter,
and one on the guy
getting auditing.
Miscavige would sit
in this 15x15 room,
Cameras of every session.
You can flip in between 'em,
And he was watching
these things.
And it was
for "training purposes."
Well, travolta saw that,
And he said,
"i will not be videoed."
So i was there when
they were setting it up,
And miscavige
was directing it.
"get him
into a hotel room,
"hook up secret,
private videos."
There were rumors
That he was
threatening to leave,
And another scientologist
told me that he was delegated
To create a black pr package--
all the damaging material
They could use
against travolta,
Which came
from his auditing sessions.
I know this
because i used to do it
When i was the head
of the office of
special affairs.
We would
put a team of people
Onto going through
all of these pc folders
And finding things
that they believe.
By exposing them
or threatening to expose them,
They will cower the person
That they're worried about
into silence.
There is a particular writing
Where hubbard
is training these office
of special affairs people
On how, when you use
private information
To control somebody
to do what you want them
to do,
And to silence them
from speaking out
against scientology,
It's really not blackmail,
because you're not
asking for money.
But you're holding
this secret information
Over the person's head
to silence them.
As far as travolta
is concerned,
People say, well, he--
there's all these things
that we know about
That have been rumored
in the tabloids.
But in fact,
it's more of
a two-way street.
You know, he's provided
with an auditor
Whose shoulder
he can cry on,
But he's also
provided with the muscle
of the church,
In the form of myself
and mike rinder.
On many occasions,
We were sent out
to get with his publicist,
To get with his lawyer,
And to help squash
or intimidate these people
That are making accusations
against him.
Once that happened,
I think he was really
the church's captive.
Mr. John travolta!
When they were facing lawsuits
and stuff like that,
He'd be brought forward,
And make his testimony
about how great
scientology is.
He had the opportunity
To affect
the behavior of the church,
and he chose not to.
Now i've been a scientologist
for 23 years.
I've felt like a pioneer
in many-- in many ways,
And i've--
i've seen my efforts
come to fruition...
In various ways.
I think very few people
can say that.
I've-- i'm part of a--
of a frontier in a way,
You know, that,
that very few people
ever get to be part of.
Thank you.
Welcome to church!
It was the biggest event
in scientology history,
And of course,
miscavige wanted to milk it
for everything he had.
It's this
grand, produced thing,
Where it's all
a single person
on a gigantic stage,
All this sort of
nazi symbolism.
I clearly recall
getting prepared
for the event
And miscavige
up in that office,
You know,
going 18-20 hours a day
Writing this speech,
and thinking to myself,
"my god, you know?
This is not just
"a victory celebration,
"this is a--
this is a coup."
What we are going
to talk about
Is the war
to end all wars.
When you are in scientology,
you are in all the way.
There's no half in
and half out.
A decade into
miscavige's leadership,
A simmering crisis
finally came to a boil.
For years hubbard had
insisted that scientology
was a religion
And should be tax-exempt,
So he had refused
to pay any taxes.
We were facing a tax bill
Of over a billion dollars,
and the total assets,
Liquid and material,
and property of the church
Was about a quarter of that
at the time, in the '80s.
And so just
from a real simple
accounting basis,
It was life and death.
If we don't
get exemption, we die.
If we get it, we survive.
As lrh said,
"one certainly
couldn't contest anyone
"as holy as the commissioner
of the irs,
"whom i believe gives god
his orders." lrh.
Faced with this crisis,
David miscavige
formulated a strategy.
Think of the nerve
that it takes
To decide to take on a war
with the irs.
The church of scientology
Has been crucifying
the federal agency
For its sins
on a regular basis,
Both in and out of courts.
Thousands of scientologists
all filed lawsuits,
Not just against the irs,
But against
individual irs employees.
2400 total lawsuits,
All going at the irs
at one time.
It was
a litigation nightmare.
Being miscavige's
right-hand man,
I was in charge
of all those efforts.
We were not only
suing them in every possible
jurisdiction there was,
We were investigating
the irs for crimes generally,
Or things that would
offend the public.
...These hearings
into irs integrity...
In the late '80s,
There were hearings
about irs abuses
That had nothing to do
with scientology,
Had nothing to do
with nonprofits,
Had nothing
to do with churches.
They had to do
with joe taxpayer.
And they we were publishing
these glossy,
Expensive magazines.
In fact, the exposs
of irs crimes
Were so hated
that possession
of "freedom" magazine
Was banned by irs officials
in the irs building.
There is going to be
a irs conference
in the catskills.
Right?
And so we would send a pi,
Find out which hotel
it's gonna be at,
Get down there
during happy hour,
socialize.
And this guy's tallying
who's drinkin' what.
And so we go through
freedom of information act
To find out
that the taxpayers
are paying the bar bill,
And it's so much money.
And of course, you know,
In the scheme of things,
it's nothing.
But from a pr perspective,
it's everything.
Irs officials told me
to my face
They weren't interested
in hearing anything
I had to say
because, and i quote,
"you are a scientologist.
"you are a mindless robot."
Well, those who know me
can imagine my response.
It was short,
but certainly made the point.
A negotiation
began to take place
Between the irs
and the church
of scientology.
How do you define
a religion?
It's not so easy.
Why is one body
of thinking a religion
And another body not?
The only organization
entitled to make
those distinctions
Is the irs as an agency--
Very poorly equipped
to do that.
I mean, they're mainly
accountants and lawyers,
They're not theologians.
But it's the only opinion
that matters.
Once the irs has decided
that you are a religion,
Then you are protected
by the vast protections
Of the first amendment.
And, as the saying goes,
The rest is history.
On october the first, 1993,
At 8:37 pm
eastern standard time,
The irs issued letters
recognizing scientology
And every one
of its organizations
As fully tax-exempt!
The war is over!
The war ended
Because the irs surrendered.
It forgave
the billion-dollar tax bill
And granted scientology
its tax exemption.
Even hubbard's novels
were declared religious texts,
Their sales
exempt from taxes.
What happened
is that fred goldberg,
Who was the irs commissioner
at that time--
Miscavige let goldberg know
that if we could find a way
To get tax-exempt status,
All those lawsuits
will go away overnight.
And as we were going
out the door,
Fred goldberg goes,
"is he serious?"
And i said, "yeah."
And he sort of breathed
this sigh of relief,
Kind of nodded,
and smiled.
At the church's
victory party,
Miscavige projected photos
of the church's executives
Celebrating
with irs officials.
It created
this tremendous juggernaut
Of tight conspiracy
of the membership
that then existed,
But what it really did
was enable miscavige
To milk every last dime
Out of that core membership.
I am proud to announce
the discrimination is over.
Your tax dona--
Deductions on donations
to scientology
Will no longer be disallowed
by the internal revenue service.
In the '80s,
while hubbard was in hiding,
Scientology was going through
some very severe litigation,
In particular,
a lawsuit in oregon,
And one in los angeles.
One of them did produce
a $30 million judgment.
This scared scientology.
They realized
they were vulnerable.
And so they
asked scientologists,
"okay, give us
a few thousand dollars.
"you'll get a nice ribbon
or something.
"you're not gonna get
any courses from it."
and this was new,
The idea that you would
give them money
Just to defend
against lawsuits.
And that grew and grew.
Now scientologists
are constantly
Under intense pressure
just to hand money over.
They pitch themselves
as being the underdog,
As being the victim.
And you identify with that.
But then they start
hitting you up
For bigger donations,
and bigger-- and i got
a lot of pressure.
And i think
i donated another $250,000
to them under pressure.
They really know
how to do it.
They really know how to do it,
and he just was after me
and after me.
And they said,
"we're under attack, paul."
This one guy who donated
$25 million,
For no-- you know,
just straight donation,
To this--
to the scientology war chest.
Churches are tax-exempt
Because they're supposed
to provide a public good.
To prove that good
to the irs,
Churches aren't supposed
to hoard their money.
They're supposed to spend it
on services for the faithful.
Under this pretense,
the church had made
massive investments
In tax-free real estate
all over the world.
And when it comes
to labor costs,
They are almost free.
The max i got paid,
you know,
On a weekly basis
was 50 bucks,
Um, for 28 years.
Sea org workers
take home something
Between six and 40 cents
an hour.
So if you've got
very low labor costs,
No taxes to pay,
and wealthy people
giving you donations,
You can see why
scientology has amassed
huge piles of money.
How much are they worth?
This was a bit of a mystery,
but just recently,
I obtained tax records
that scientology
Does have to turn in.
Three of the main entities
of scientology--
And there are 20
or 30 of them--
But the top three,
just on their own,
Have a book value
of $1.5 billion.
It's stunning how much money
a nonprofit
Has been able to amass.
It is a crime
that we've given them
religious recognition
And that
they can hide behind it.
Meanwhile, you got
very good people in there,
And their lives
are being destroyed.
When i started
this story,
I stumbled across
an fbi investigation
of the church.
They were investigating
human trafficking.
It seemed that people
were being confined
against their will.
There were lots
of reports of people
being physically abused,
And the exploitation
of labor and child labor.
All of these things
were questions that
the fbi had.
While that investigation
was going on,
A case was being heard
in colorado--
The headleys,
who were suing the church
For many
of these same violations.
And the court
ruled in that case
That these are all
essentially practices
That are protected
by the religious clause
Of the first amendment.
Once that ruling came out,
The fbi dropped
its investigation.
I think it was an indication
that the church is protected.
Before ending cycle
completely on the irs,
There is one thing
i do wish to do.
Sir. Done.
The "we stand tall" thing--
This again was part
of this whole irs thing.
And miscavige kind of
had this song composed
By the musician group
they had up at the studio.
He was trying
to turn this into--
This was a result of the power
of this movement...
...Which was such bullshit,
Because it was
all about control.
When he got absolute control,
he went absolutely bonkers.
You know, most religions
are tax-exempt
And many have beliefs
and practices
That in the modern context
would be considered strange.
Is scientology any different?
I mean,
if you go to a christian
Or a jew or a muslim,
and ask them,
"what do you believe?",
They can basically describe
The most important parts
of their religion
In a minute or two.
Well, what does
a scientologist believe?
You need to be in scientology
for seven or eight years,
And in for a couple hundred
thousand dollars,
Before you finally
learn this backstory
Of xenu
the galactic overlord.
Now, if you were told that
on day one,
How many people would join?
But if they were
upfront about it,
I'd have more respect
for them.
But it's that sort of
bait and switch
That people are told,
"oh, it's an applied philosophy
"to help you
with your communication."
Oh, yeah?
So why is tom cruise
paying 1,000 bucks
To have invisible aliens
pulled out of his body?
What happens when
your zone of influence
Is the global stage?
How much must one do
to call themselves
a scientologist?
How much so that
when their head
hits the pillow,
They can live
with themselves,
Knowing they did
all they could do?
That is our final story
this evening.
It's a story that affects
every scientologist,
For all of us
are the beneficiaries
of what he presents.
Tom cruise was the guy.
Miscavige and cruise
had been pretty buddy-buddy,
Way back
to "days of thunder."
He was on the set with him,
he went skydiving with him,
Was hangin' out with him
all the time.
And that was when
tom first met nicole.
He had really fallen for her.
They got married,
And this posed
a dilemma for the church,
Because her father
Is a well-known psychologist
in australia.
From the church's perspective,
he's the enemy.
He's a suppressive person.
How could you ignore me
like this?
Because nicole is still
In a relationship
with her father,
That makes her dangerous.
She's a potential
trouble source, pts.
And because tom
is related to her,
This all causes trouble
from the church's perspective.
You have to
break that dynamic.
Nicole-- her biggest beef
Was that tom was becoming
increasingly like dave.
She really got him
to drift away from the church,
And tom was not
really actively involved
in scientology
Between '92-ish
all the way up until 2001.
They were away
for more than a year
Shooting "eyes wide shut"
in the uk.
And cruise was not in touch
with miscavige,
And this
drove miscavige crazy.
I was assigned to, um,
get him back in.
And that was coincident with,
and-- and i was to facilitate
The breakup
with nicole kidman.
And how'd you do that?
Uh, well,
through a lot of auditing.
And every session
i ever gave to tom cruise--
And there was dozens
upon dozens of them
over a three-year period--
I had to write
detailed reports
And send them directly
to david miscavige.
I would sit there every night
with our scotch
And watch and listen
to miscavige comment
About cruise's sex life,
and what-- yeah,
How perverted he was.
Why is he gettin'
daily reports on cruise?
Miscavige really wanted
to get him back
Into being somebody
that he could use
To lure people
into scientology
and increase his own status.
And i was also involved
in the legal team
And actually
hiring investigators
to investigate nicole.
Men have to stick it in
every place they can,
But for women--
women, it is just about
Security and commitment--
Tom wanted to know exactly
who she was talking to,
And so he wanted
to tap her phone.
If you men only knew.
When i reported that day
to miscavige,
I reported it,
like, "i mean, he wants
to tap her phone."
He said,
"god damn it, get it done."
And so i arranged,
through the scientology's
consigliere,
To get
a private investigator
Who physically installed
a wiretap on her home.
And those tapes
would come in,
And i forwarded them
to dave miscavige.
The church then turned
its attention
To their adopted children,
to turn them against
their mother
And make sure
that the custody went to tom.
Tommy davis,
he was my liaison
Who had to do all the things
that are required
To please tom cruise
While he was being put through
the scientology hoops by me.
He also was
part of this whole
reeducation program,
So that they would conclude
that their mother
Was a suppressive person.
And that was successful.
It was all going
according to plan.
And of course,
miscavige would really
Pump the oxygen
into that little fire,
you know.
Miscavige was brilliant
at flaming people's fears,
And building up their egos.
So you were
being audited by marty
At the same time
he was auditing cruise?
Oh, yeah, yeah, i was--
yeah, tom cruise.
Tom would go in,
and i would go in,
and tom would go in,
And i would go in,
and so, you know...
And i had been audited
by the best auditors
on the planet.
The best auditor,
hands down,
I mean, like--
like kinda michael jordan,
Wayne gretsky,
kinda auditor is marty.
They stole him,
you know?
Tom thinks he's supposed
to be david miscavige.
By 2004, tom cruise
was the most gung-ho
scientologist in the world,
And miscavige wanted
to recognize him for it.
He called it
the freedom medal of valor
And they put together
this 35-minute video.
Ias freedom medal
of valor winner, tom cruise!
In it, they just
pump up this idea
That tom cruise
is the ambassador
of scientology to the world.
He's known as
the biggest movie star ever.
Tom cruise
travels this world,
Meeting with ministers,
ambassadors,
And the american
state department,
Advancing lrh technology
straight into the corridors
of power.
It's about
improving conditions.
It allows you to find out
for yourself.
There's things
that we can do to help.
They even did
a calculation,
Where they figured
between his films
And all the "opinion leaders"
that he had met
And all the travel
he had done...
Tom cruise has introduced
lrh technology
To over one billion people
of earth.
No question,
he has been a huge asset
to them.
Which is why the story
of tom cruise,
Scientologist,
has only just begun.
I think it's a privilege
to call yourself
a scientologist,
And it's something
that you have to earn.
Scientology loves to use
this word "end phenomena."
Every level
has an end phenomena,
You know, that you attain,
And tom cruise shows that.
That video
with him in the black
turtleneck sweater?
A scientologist is someone
who can look at the world
And really see what it is.
Not only
look at it and see it,
but be able to go,
Poof, and be effective,
and do something about it.
And he's as arrogant
and as untouchable
As could possibly be.
At the same time,
he looks like an utter
crazy paranoiac.
And, uh...
I know-- you know, she...
They, said, "so, like
have you met an sp?"
And i looked at her,
And i thought, "oh,
what a beautiful thing,"
Because maybe one day,
it'll be like that.
You know what i'm saying?
Maybe one day,
It will be that--
"wow. Sp's?"
Like, they'll just
read about those
In the history books,
you know?
That's where it takes you.
That's the end phenomena
of the scientology bridge.
All scientologists
are full of shit.
You know, they lie.
"aw, i'm doing great!
"you gotta get on seven."
You know,
and they're fucking--
"i've got a fucking migraine
right now,
"and i've never
felt so shitty!"
You know,
that's the fucking life.
There's nothing
part of the way for me!
It's just-- whoo!
He drank the kool-aid.
And in the eyes of miscavige,
Tom cruise is the perfect
scientology celebrity.
And nobody's benefited more
from his membership.
I mean, the amount
of free sea org labor.
Sea org members make
40 cents an hour,
And i don't think
there's any way
Tom cruise
is not aware of that.
The church
has done so much for him.
They tricked out all his cars
and his motorcycles.
"oh, i want a new limo."
"we'll build it for you."
Decked out tom cruise's hangar
in santa monica.
Installed all
the audiovisual stuff
in cruise's home.
Tom cruise had expressed
this fantasy
Of wanting
to run through a meadow
with nicole kidman.
And so everybody had to work,
and till the soil.
And then david miscavige
didn't like it,
And so the whole thing
had to be ripped up again.
This was at the gold facility,
Which is this desert facility,
Where this is all kinds
of great stuff,
If you're tom cruise,
you know?
Wonderful living quarters
and a gym.
When cruise comes up,
everyone's told in advance,
"you better have
a fucking smile on your face."
Everyone had to
call cruise "sir."
Thank you.
It's this
side-by-side world.
There are celebrities
like cruise and travolta,
And then, you know,
there are people
Who tell terrible tales
of what happened to them
in the church--
Being imprisoned
and really horrible
psychological games.
Tom was in spain.
They were opening up
a new scientology church
in madrid.
And he was overheard
to complain
That he needed
a new girlfriend.
Soon after that,
a young scientologist
premed student
Named nazanin boniadi--
she was told
That she was going to get
a special assignment.
...Number of transactions
increase...
Years later, nazanin became
a successful tv actress
And she would
have a small part
in a paul haggis film.
But at the time,
she was a dedicated
young scientologist
Who believed
in the church's claims
For its humanitarian
mission.
In fact,
she set a monthly record
For selling books
for the church.
Nazanin may not
speak publicly
about her experiences
Because of an nda
the church pressured her
to sign,
But i discovered details
from fbi testimony
Regarding her ordeal.
David miscavige
assigned nazanin's case
To a key church official,
greg wilhere.
He put her through
a one-month program
Of on-camera interviews,
intensive auditing,
and security checks.
She was moved
into the celebrity center,
Separated from her family,
and certain problems
were addressed
During this period of time.
One was,
she had a boyfriend.
She is handed a transcript
of his auditing session,
In which he admitted
that he had an affair.
And so she broke up
with him.
Then wilhere took her
to an orthodontist
To have her braces removed.
At burberry and other stores
in beverly hills,
He bought her $20,000
worth of clothes.
At the celebrity centre,
a man who worked
For cruise's hair stylist
Colored nazanin's hair
to cruise's liking.
Nazanin was told
that her makeover
Was a part
of the church's
humanitarian mission.
She had to look
her best for conferences
with world leaders.
Only after she was flown
first class to new york
Did she discover
the actual role
That the church
wanted her to play.
She was to be the girlfriend
of scientology's biggest star.
Within a month,
nazanin was living
with cruise.
While at his house
in telluride,
Miscavige came to visit.
Overcome
by a severe headache,
Nazanin had a hard time
understanding miscavige,
Which infuriated him.
The next day, cruise,
inches from her face,
Pounded his fist on the table
and screamed at her
For insulting the head
of the church.
Two weeks later,
church henchman tommy davis
Delivered
the news to nazanin--
The relationship with cruise
was over.
And they, according to her,
Came to her apartment
with her mom
And found every photograph
of the two of them together,
And took them away.
Every scrap, every letter,
everything,
They...
As if it never existed.
And she was really upset,
Because she
had been really hurt
by the whole thing.
And she made the mistake
of telling her friend,
Who immediately went to tell
someone in the church.
She agreed
to do punishments,
Like cleaning out
the public bathrooms
On her hands and knees
with a toothbrush,
While other people she knew
were stepping over her.
She did nothing wrong,
other than tell her friend
That she was heartbroken,
and this is the way
she was treated?
The church claims that
miscavige has no involvement
In cruise's personal life
And that the search
for cruise's girlfriend
never existed.
I wanna tell you something.
I have never met
a more competent,
A more intelligent,
a more tolerant,
A more compassionate being,
Outside of what
i've experienced from lrh.
And i've met the leaders
of leaders.
Okay? I've met them all.
And so i say to you,
sir, cob,
We are lucky to have you
and thank you very much.
While miscavige
would do anything
For the church's
most famous celebrity,
Miscavige began
to turn against
The sea org's
highest-ranking executives.
He pretty much
had international management
shut down.
He was into
this deep paranoia thing
About everybody is
out to get him.
He very definitely
Wiped out
that organizational pattern
In order to be able
to have ultimate power.
In 2004,
Miscavige ordered
the top officers
of the sea org
To the scientology's
gold base
In southern california.
He forced them
to live in a pair
of double-wide trailers
That came to be called
"the hole."
The doors had bars
put on them,
The windows all had bars
put on them,
And there was
one entrance door
That a security guard
sat at 24 hours a day.
They had to stay there,
sleep there.
It stunk and,
you know, there were ants
crawling around.
You'd sleep about an hour
or two hours a night.
Um, you were
in such a mental state
That you're very controllable,
very suggestible.
We were told
we needed to come up
With what
each other's crimes were
Against miscavige and hubbard,
So that we could eventually
get out of the hole.
Scientology is really good
At making you think
that you are a scoundrel.
"confess your crimes!
Confess your crimes!
What have you done?"
Fights would break out.
Miscavige would get me
all riled up.
And i remember one time,
mike had done something,
Or not done something,
i don't remember,
And i was supposed to
go beat him up.
One executive was made
to mop up
The bathroom floor
with his tongue.
Another was put
into a bucket,
And pummeled
by some of the women,
and called a lesbian.
There was a very powerful
air conditioner,
Which blew straight down,
It was set
on maximum cold,
And a guy was
made to sit in a chair,
And had water
poured on his head
Until he literally
turned blue.
Miscavige slapped me
across the face,
Knocked me on the ground,
kicked me a couple times.
Flailing fists,
kneeing him in the stomach,
Getting him on the floor.
And you think,
you want to get up
and retaliate,
But you also think,
"i got 75 other people
"who are all likely
to tackle me if i did"...
And then you got
the sheer shock of it.
Here's the equivalent
of the pope
Suddenly knocking you
on the ground,
And you're thinking,
"i must have
really screwed up."
It was
a poisonous environment.
People were
really frightened.
And this went on for years.
This isn't a couple of days.
The nominal president
of the church,
This man
named heber jentszch,
He was in there
for seven years.
What is the statement?
"god helps those
who help themselves."
Well, in scientology,
we're engaged
In helping people
help themselves,
So they can
fully comprehend
and understand god.
One night,
Miscavige comes
into the hole with a boom box.
He said, "i'm gonna
teach you all a lesson.
"we're all gonna play
musical chairs."
And musical chairs
is a scientology
Administrative term
for when you move people
From different posts rapidly,
and you create instability.
They played
the damned music.
He said,
"we're gonna play it
To 'bohemian rhapsody'
by queen."
And he emphasized the line...
..."nothing matters anymore."
and that's your whole attitude,
That's where you live,
that's who you are.
Playing that music,
and stop it,
And everyone would
have to grab a chair.
And there's one person
left standing.
What miscavige
has warned them
Is that the last person
who remains gets to stay.
"everybody else,
you're expelled.
"you're going to be thrown out
of the sea org."
These people were fighting
to stay in the hole.
Throwing people around,
scratching, kicking.
They're tearing chairs apart,
they're ripping clothing.
And whatever it took.
But then nothing happens.
"out of the goodness
of my heart, you can stay.
"but you better come clean.
You better--
"i better have some good
confessions out of you."
I-- i mean, you--
you know...
As much as they
get into everything
that you ever think or do,
They never got into my think
on this score,
That i would never
go to prison.
And so it was inevitable,
when i got-- when i--
He literally created
this prison camp.
Um, it was inevitable
that i wasn't gonna
last there.
It's embarrassing to have
ever been involved with,
To think about it.
"god, i can't even believe
i'm talkin' about it."
But it was bad.
Let's say the fbi
showed up at the hole,
And said, "this is the fbi.
We're lettin' everyone out."
Do you think everyone
would have said, "oh,
thank god, the fbi's here"?
No. I think that everybody,
one for one,
Would have gone,
"what do you mean?
"we-- we're doing this
voluntarily.
"we like living
in these conditions."
Over the past week,
We've been reporting on
allegations of physical abuse
Inside
the church of scientology.
We spoke with the ex-wives
of some of the men
Making the claims of abuse.
I read all of your affidavits.
Obviously, your ex-husbands
have made charges
Against david miscavige,
Saying that
they have seen repeated acts
of physical violence
Perpetrated by mr. Miscavige.
Is-- is any of that true?
No. No.
Not one ounce of it.
That's not the character
of mr. David miscavige.
My ex-wife,
marty rathbun's ex-wife,
Tom de vocht's ex-wife,
that were on "anderson cooper,"
They all came out of the hole!
They were all sent there
to do that.
They went back to the hole!
It's just ridiculous.
This line
that my ex-wife said...
I lived with mike rinder
for over 35 years.
I know every square inch
of mike rinder's body.
She said it
because she was told
to say it by miscavige.
And the proof of that is,
when tom de vocht's ex-wife
Then repeated the same thing
over again...
I know every inch of him.
You gotta be kidding me!
Everything that happens
From the church of scientology
is scripted.
Don't ever turn
the other cheek and acquiesce,
Hit 'em back.
Marty rathbun
suddenly went and leapt
on top of mike rinder
And fought him to the ground
And started choking him
and beating him.
And nothing seems
to have been done about it.
Mr. Miscavige was not
at the property at the time.
Do you not have telephones?
Of course we have telephones.
I think
you're being quite rude
and quite insulting.
Here's the bottom line.
Here's the bottom line--
There is no history
of violence in the church.
As somebody who ran pr
for the church for a long time,
Do you have any regret
for anything that you did
in that capacity?
Well,
i think the biggest regret
Is when john sweeney
at "panorama" was doing
his program,
It was the culmination
of a lot--
I mean, i'd been
in the hole for a year.
And i ended up
being sent to england.
Hi, mike.
He was
constantly going,
"well, why do you
have private investigators
following me?"
I'm like...
That never happened!
Ever, ever happened!
And of course there were.
I was following john sweeney.
Oh, there it is.
Okay, there we are.
He's got his camera,
He's standing there
and he's saying,
"i want a response.
I have credible witnesses.
"did david miscavige
physically assault you?"
And i said...
Those allegations
are absolute, utter rubbish.
Absolute, utter rubbish.
You have been assaulted
by miscavige?
Many times, many times.
Perhaps more
than anybody else.
I was now sort of
At the end of my rope.
It was a real moment
of clarity for me--
"i don't want
to be doing this anymore.
"this is nuts!"
That was actually
the last thing that i did
before i left.
So i'd been in scientology
about two and a half years.
I am kickin' ass.
I felt like i had gotten out
of the fuckin' trap.
I didn't have to
have a problem.
I said,
"i'm done with auditing."
But they insisted
on gettin' me back,
And said just,
"believe us, believe us,
believe us."
I got so fucked up.
I mean, they-- they--
i went insane.
I was, like,
stuck somewhere
In a tiny spot
behind my eyeballs,
Looking this way.
I mean, i--
i'd never experienced
anything like it.
10 fuckin' years!
I was worse than the day
that i walked in.
It was by design,
'cause they needed to--
To keep me in there.
So basically, they had to
Put a whole new case on me,
so they could run it.
And they just kept tryin'
to fuckin' keep me stuck in.
It was crazy!
So i finally said,
"i'm going my way.
You guys go yours."
I was pissed. I was sad.
I was disillusioned.
And i thought,
"maybe somebody
could interview me,
"ask me some questions
about scientology."
How i got into scientology,
and why i got out.
Post this two-hour thing,
And it was the #1 thing
on youtube for two days
Before
it "mysteriously" disappeared.
The best traps--
You get a guy to just
keep himself in jail.
Right? And that's
what scientology does.
I started getting
all this communication
Because of that video.
You know,
"you saved my family."
You know, "you've--
i finally had the courage
"to leave
after i watched your thing."
You know?
I mean, like,
there's blood and tears.
And then
i started to find out,
You know, all the stuff
that was really happening.
You know, i lost money,
i got fucked,
But then i found out
about the abuse
in the sea org.
And i felt like, "fuck me,
i gotta do somethin' about it."
And i finally
tracked down marty rathbun.
Everybody thought
he was dead.
He was in fuckin' mexico.
And i went down there,
And i basically
convinced him to talk.
And, like,
"we gotta do somethin'."
And then he started his blog.
There was
a beating every day.
And if it wasn't him doin' it,
It was from him inciting others
to do it to others.
I think that it's a cult.
I'm doin' my own thing,
i want to get on with my life.
I am telling the truth.
Suddenly i heard
senior members of the church
Were speaking out,
So i started to look,
and i started to read.
And then i started
to reach out to people.
Two of my daughters are gay,
and told me
How they'd been treated
within the church.
I didn't know.
Paul haggis's daughters
were openly harassed
By church members
for being gay.
Investigating further,
haggis discovered
That church doctrine
viewed homosexuality
as a disease
That only hubbard's teachings
could cure.
And a california
chapter of scientology
Had supported a ban
on gay marriage.
I can't be part
of an organization
That doesn't support
Human rights for everyone.
So i sent a letter
to 25 friends in the church
That i was resigning.
And i'd hoped
they'd read this letter
And be horrified
by the things i'd found out.
A few days later,
i drive home.
There have to be 10 people
standing in my front yard.
I recognize them.
They're my friends.
They said, "paul,
we need you to tear up
this letter.
"and we need you
to get all the copies
and tear them up,
"and resign quietly."
I said, "i don't do that."
you know?
"i'm sorry.
I don't do that."
I sent a copy
to marty rathbun.
He put it on his blog,
one page on a day,
And didn't reveal my name
until the friday.
Monday morning, i woke up.
600 of the top newspapers
of the world had it.
You know,
it was in bulgaria.
i mean, it was reprinted
in seven languages.
I went, "oh my god,
what have i done?"
I mean-- it did garner
a lot of interest.
People will judge you,
one way or the other.
I figured
people would judge me
as really stupid.
But then,
i was really stupid.
I was a part of this
for 30 years before
i spoke out.
I felt deeply ashamed.
Why didn't i do it earlier?
Why didn't i look earlier?
People are so indoctrinated,
And have been in scientology
a really long, long time.
Or they've grown up in it,
and they don't know
anything else.
It's so scary to them
to have to start all over,
And it takes
a really strong person
To stand up to them
and say no.
In 2009,
My son was on staff
at the church.
And "the truth rundown"
came out in the
"st. Pete times,"
Exposing what was going on
With the beatings,
people in the hole.
The church was very mad
at my son,
Because he knew
it was going to happen,
And he didn't tell them.
And he didn't tell them
because he had a good friend
That became friends
with mike rinder
And marty rathbun,
And he believed
what they were saying
in "the truth rundown."
The church was threatening,
That he was gonna get declared
a suppressive person
If he didn't disconnect
from his friend.
My son, he was raised
a scientologist,
You know,
and he'd been on staff.
He made 30 bucks a week.
He headed up
their boy scout troop.
He was like
this consummate youth
of scientology.
The continental justice chief
called him on the phone.
And it was after that
the declare came down,
And he was just devastated.
The church told his friends
everything they could find
In his pc folder
to ruin his reputation.
I wrote this petition.
I tried to put in everything
good that my son had done.
"dear sarah,
thank you for the letter
"that you sent
regarding the situation
with nick lister.
"i cannot approve
that you continue
your connection with nick."
No one's gonna tell me
when i can and can't
speak to him.
No one, but me.
"your committee
of evidence findings
and recommendations
"recommended you
be labeled suppressive,
"engaging in malicious
rumor mongering
"to destroy the authority
or repute of higher officers
"or the leading names
of scientology."
My husband
was charged with that one,
Because he was telling me
What he read on the internet
about david miscavige.
They say,
"don't go on the internet,
don't read.
"don't go to these sites."
From the time
that i got in,
For 30 years, i never read
one critical thing
about scientology.
When i finally decided
to open my eyes and look,
I was shocked,
just shocked.
But if you're a member
of the church of scientology,
And someone in your family,
or a friend, or your spouse,
Is skeptical or critical
of the church of scientology,
You are supposed to disconnect
yourself from that person...
Tommy davis,
who was the spokesperson
for the church,
He's being asked about
the policy of disconnection.
Anything that's characterized
as disconnection
Or this kinda thing,
it's just-- it's just not true.
There isn't...
I confronted him
about this.
And i said,
"tommy, i don't need
to search outside to ask for--
"to check research
and see if other--
"this has happened
to other people.
This happened to my wife.
"you asked her and me
to disconnect from her parents
"because of something trivial
they did years ago."
My wife disconnected from me,
My daughter,
my son, my brother,
My sister, my mother,
All of my nieces
and nephews.
And that is the only family
that i have.
You know, you label
these people suppressive
So that, you know,
everybody automatically--
They're discredited,
and they must disconnect
from them.
And that's how you keep
people in a bubble.
And that's what they do.
I mean, my son was declared
Because he wouldn't disconnect
from his friend.
I was declared,
and my husband was declared
Because we wouldn't
disconnect from my son.
And now guess what happened?
Everyone connected to us
just scatters to the wind.
Through all of this time,
I have a daughter
who's very much
into the church.
I have a granddaughter
Who's the love of my life,
and who loves her nana.
I was planning on talking
to my daughter,
And trying to tell her
what was really happening.
She hugged me,
she told me she loved me.
She said, "i have to
disconnect from you."
So, um...
I just was concentrating
on smelling her hair
And seeing the way she felt,
Touching her skin
on my face.
That's the last time
i saw them.
It really is the crux
Of how controlling
is any religion
Over its adherents,
And scientology
has perfected
A lot of
techniques of control.
There is
no logical explanation
As to why,
other than faith.
Your future, your eternity,
All depends on
you going up the bridge.
It's scary.
It's kinda like
christianity with hell.
If they don't have the bridge,
they can't go free.
They don't believe
they can get it anywhere else.
It's like brainwashing.
Really simple.
I mean,
that's a scary word,
And it took me a long time
To come to that conclusion,
that that's what's occurred.
You take on
A kind of a--
a matrix of thought
That is not your own.
I think that's how i
and other people got involved
And stuck through it
for so long.
Because when you're out,
you look at it,
And you go,
"what the crap
was i thinking," you know?
It's such a hard thing
when you do wake up.
You go, "oh my god."
Because you have this wave
of regrets.
I just started to think
that maybe my entire life
Has been a lie.
You just don't see it
happening to you.
You justify so much.
Cults, they prey on people,
suggesting that, you know,
You should be able
to think for yourself
And then tell you exactly
how you have to think,
or get out.
And if you get out,
there will be consequences.
Come on, marty.
Got anything to say?
What's your name?
Why don't you answer
his question?
Beat it. I said get off
my property, boy.
The real sustained campaign
Began in early 2009
When i spoke to
the "st. Petersburg times."
And i'd been hounded
and hunted like wild prey.
It's a policy of
the office of special affairs
Authored by l. Ron hubbard.
When somebody's speaking out
against scientology,
Investigate to find out
who the instigator is.
I started getting calls
from the church,
And they're-- they're really,
uh, comin' after me.
They showed up
at my mother's house.
The feeling in the pit
of your stomach
Knowing that scientology's
chief dirty-tricks pi
Was just
on my mother's front step.
They've tried to destroy me,
there's no question.
They create
anonymous websites about me,
And smear me
with a lot of garbage.
Www.Whoistomdevocht.Com.
Whoispaulhaggis.Com.
"paul haggis,
the hypocrite of hollywood."
"this guy is a sex pervert,"
or "this guy's a drug dealer."
In the meantime,
Survey carefully
to find out what
he most values and protects.
Immediately draw up
a three-prong program
To threaten it effectively.
I don't value anything
more than monique.
That's why this campaign
ended up on our doorstep.
Was she there?
I knew they had
their goons around.
And then the guy
rolls down in window
and i saw the truck.
And he starts filming,
and i go,
"okay, this is not good."
What's goin' on?
Oh, we're just doing
a documentary.
A documentary?
Oh, a former
scientology deal.
But it would
probably be a good idea
if y'all went ahead--
Now that you've gotten
what you need,
Go ahead and leave the area.
Sure.
Okay?
I don't know
who these people are.
I don't know
what they're capable of.
And now that i have my son...
I have
a little louisville slugger
i keep next to me.
It's been a nonstop onslaught,
for five years.
I told you to leave.
Get out of here.
Oh no, i'm leaving.
You can't even
defend yourself
on this can you?
What's your name?
I gave you my name, marty.
What's your name?
Marty, i gave you my name.
The people on marty's doorstep
were sent by scientology
Because the church
had branded marty a "squirrel,"
A term invented by hubbard
for former members
Who threatened
church teachings.
David miscavige had you
come all the way from...
Marty.
...San jose.
Marty!
Man #2: You can't do that.
You can't do that, marty!
I just did it.
No, that's my
personal property, marty.
Yeah, that's right.
I got arrested, man.
I got arrested for grabbing
this guy's glasses.
I said, "don't look at her."
you understand that?
Yeah.
I heard her.
Of course, the guy had been
stalking monique for two years.
He looks
like a leering pervert,
Like norman bates
from "psycho."
I didn't break his glasses.
I just removed them
from his-- from his face.
They got it all on videotape
from their surveillance house
That was filming 24/7, 365,
For five years,
across the street from us.
This lawsuit
with monique rathbun--
It's a brilliant
legal strategy.
If marty sues,
the church just says,
"this is
a first amendment fight.
"this should not be
in a court of law."
But monique
was never in scientology.
She's suing david miscavige
and asking to depose him.
And scientology
will do anything to keep him
out of that situation.
And the point is, judge,
If you let me
make my presentation,
On first amendment law
That comes from
the united states
supreme court...
For every court date,
The church hires a bevy
of high-priced lawyers.
They are determined
to use every legal trick
in the book
To keep miscavige
from having to testify
About church abuses
or whether the religion
of scientology
Is actually operated
like a business,
Controlled by the whims
of a single individual.
In 2014,
miscavige celebrated
The ongoing expansion
of the church,
But he was hiding
a terrible secret.
Good evening!
The church's
active membership
has dropped
To fewer
than 50,000 people,
Yet the financial value
of scientology is soaring.
How about we just say,
2013 is the year
we went stratospheric?
The church
is making investments
And buying
valuable real estate
all over the world.
That financial clout
gives scientology
enormous power.
It's a kind of
tax-free shell company
Growing past $3 billion
in assets.
The church now
no longer has a public face.
There's no spokespeople,
They don't do
media interviews,
And that suits miscavige.
There is nobody
that he is willing
To have be
the face of scientology
other than himself,
But he's afraid to
be interviewed by anybody
For fear that they're
gonna ask him questions
That he can't answer,
or doesn't want to answer.
Where are the checks
and balances on his power?
There is none.
So there are two things
that could happen.
One is, the irs
would reconsider
its tax exemption.
The only other thing
is that some of these
celebrity megaphones
Could turn
against the church.
And tom cruise
should be leading
that chorus.
Is there anything
that you look back on,
In terms of your own career
in the church,
And think, "wow,
i wish i hadn't done that?"
You know, we talked
about karma earlier.
And, you know,
it still happens that
it's like it's just this--
I constantly get presented
with who i was,
And, you know,
and i constantly
don't like what i see,
And i sort of constantly
keep dying deaths.
Um, and--
I don't know how many
more deaths i have left,
But i-- but i--
But i regret
And i'm ashamed of, uh...
The entire experience,
you know?
What i take away from it
is that we--
We lock up a portion
of our own mind.
We-- we willingly
put cuffs on.
We willingly avoid things
That will--
could cause us pain,
If we just--
if we looked.
If we can just
believe something,
Then we don't have to really
think for ourselves, do we?
And so i can't
damn these people
who aren't coming out,
Or who are hiding
once they come out
because they're ashamed.
You know, i--
I-- i feel the same shame.
And i just--
i'm fighting back
By communicating, you know?
It's a peaceful protest.
I want the truth to be known,
And...
Thank you.
You're welcome.