Observations and inanities by a second-shift assistant supervisor in the Puppy-Grinding division of the Evil Atheist Conspiracy® (our motto: "Sure it's cruel, but think of the jobs!"), your host, Brent Rasmussen.
Time to lawyer up.
Hoo-boy, has the St. Petersburg Times just asked for a whole world of trouble:
Scientology: The Truth Rundown, Part 1 of 3 in a special report on the Church of Scientology
The leader of the Church of Scientology strode into the room with a boom box and an announcement: Time for a game of musical chairs.
David Miscavige had kept more than 30 members of his church's executive staff cooped up for weeks in a small office building outside Los Angeles, not letting them leave except to grab a shower. They slept on the floor, their food carted in.
* * *
The next evening, early in 2004, Miscavige gathered the group and out of nowhere slapped a manager named Tom De Vocht, threw him to the ground and delivered more blows. De Vocht took the beating and the humiliation in silence — the way other executives always took the leader's attacks.
This account comes from executives who for decades were key figures in Scientology's powerful inner circle. Marty Rathbun and Mike Rinder, the highest-ranking executives to leave the church, are speaking out for the first time.
The Church of Scientology is notoriously lawsuit-happy. I hope that the Times has made sure that they have all their ducks in a row and the lawyers ready - because the first (very long) opening salvo is tantamount to a declaration of war.
Good luck, lads, you're gonna need it.
Jim Downey
(Via Sully.)
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Elron & Co.
If the whole world gets to saying Scientology sucks, they can't sue us all. If juries and judges start to believe that Scientology sucks, they can't win them all. If people at the top of Scientology start defecting and testifying together, that little psychopath at the top might discover that not even he can outrun the massed force of law. Miscavage has all the charm of a corporate attorney, but with an extra helping of grease.
This newspaper story is a real break; the gates of public scrutiny have been opened and the spotlight is on in a big way.
An interesting sidelight I'm seeing in other discussions on this story is that people are saying the knowledge that a famous person is a Scientologist affects one's enjoyment of their art. Actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta are the obvious ones, but Chick Corea and Isaac Hayes have also been mentioned.
Looking at the lists HERE, I'm disturbed personally that Neil Gaiman was or is in Scientology. There went my estimate of HIS intelligence. And Jerry Seinfeld?? Weird.
I respect Brad Pitt and Sharon Stone all the more for apparently getting OUT of it.
There's an open door here somewhere for an actor with a flagging career to make a splash by quitting Scientology and then becoming a tabloid martyr through reporting on all the things they do to attack him/her afterwards.
Interesting
At least Gaiman was in the "unknown status" list. In the additional information it states that he is the son of a prominent leader in Scientology. If he's rejected Scientology then he's potentially no different than many of us who were raised in religious families and went on to reject the irrational beliefs.
I found it interesting that Patrick Swayze was listed as a past adherent. I recent watched the film Donnie Darko and Swayze plays the part of a new age-like author and leader who turns out to have issues.