"Nightline" Takes on Scientology!
Ex-Members Say Leader David Miscavige Hit Subordinates; Church Denies Accusations

Some call it a manipulative cult. Others say it's a well-established religion that helps people reach their potential.

Since its inception in the 1950s, the Church of Scientology has rarely been far from controversy. And now the Church is under attack again. Former senior insiders claim the Church's current leader, David Miscavige, has created and encouraged a climate of violence within senior staff and was frequently violent himself.

Marty Rathbun was an "Inspector General," a top lieutenant to David Miscavige, and oversaw the Church's legal affairs.

"[Miscavige] viciously beat him, knocked him to the ground," said Rathbun, describing one attack.

Amy Scobee was a Church executive who helped expand Scientology's outreach to celebrities.

"And then [Miscavige] knocked him down in his chair. Um ... to the ground, and he fell down on his back and he was laying on the ground," she said.

Bruce Hines says he was a high level auditor, a kind of therapeutic counselor.

"[Miscavige] just walked up and he hit me on the side of the head..." Hines said.

And supporting their allegations is Mike Rinder, who for many years was Scientology's main spokesman. He is now speaking out against the Church, the same Church he defended to ABC News in 1998.

"I think that there isn't a person on this earth that couldn't benefit from the teachings of Scientology," he said at the time.

Complete article at the link above.

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darksumomo
2009-10-25 03:48 pm UTC (link)

Oh, Marty Rathbun is telling stories out of school? That's very interesting. Now I'll have to read alt.religion.scientology to see if Barbara Schwarz, who was briefly the head of the Co$ in Germany, has a reaction to that. Babbles has long claimed to be married to ~~Snape on the Astral Plane~~ Marty, even though the two have apparently never met, and might be upset that he's betraying the cause.

While I'm here, I'll drop off this present from the Huffington Post.

Christian Bale's 'American Psycho' Inspiration: Tom Cruise

We talked about how Martian-like Patrick Bateman was, how he was looking at the world like somebody from another planet, watching what people did and trying to work out the right way to behave. And then one day he called me and he had been watching Tom Cruise on David Letterman, and he just had this very intense friendliness with nothing behind the eyes, and he was really taken with this energy.

So, did that "very intense friendliness with nothing behind the eyes" begin before or after Tom became a member of the Co$? If after, then we can blame it on the clams. If before, then we can't. However, it might explain why he fit in so well with them.

(Reply to this)

	talec 2009-10-26 02:05 am UTC (link)
	A+ article, would read again! Oh wow, I never saw this article from our old friends the SP Times. :o reads (Reply to this)(Thread)

darksumomo
2009-10-28 07:01 am UTC (link)

Follow up.

New York Post: Scientology flack strikes out

LESS than an hour before a damaging piece on the Church of Scientology was set to air on ABC's "Nightline," the controversial faith's spokesman, Tommy Davis, showed up unannounced at the studio and tried to get the segment spiked.

...

After telling Bashir he wouldn't discuss "disgusting perversions" of the religion, Davis, with the camera still rolling, removed his microphone and stormed off the set. The dust-up was included in the piece.

But just 45 minutes before the segment was to air on Thursday, Davis showed up at ABC headquarters on West 67th Street and asked to speak to Bashir and the show's executive producer about the interview.

"He demanded to a security guard that he be let in," a network insider told Page Six. "The guard called 'Nightline' staffers down to come deal with him. He was told as politely as possible that the piece was cut and in the can and could not be changed and that Martin would be unable to see him. He was then asked to leave." Adds our source, "He was not happy."

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	talec 2009-10-28 08:36 pm UTC (link)
	Oho, nice. On Sunday, it was reported that Oscar-winning "Crash" director Paul Haggis quit the church in a strongly worded letter to Davis over Scientology's support of the anti-gay marriage bill Proposition 8 in California. <3 (Reply to this)(Parent)