"Getting out of a 'cult' is not something that you recover from, it is something you are strengthened by." -- Alanzo
Scientologists, and Ex/Anti-Scientologists, have been on the Internet since the Internet was born. Thus there is a substantial post-Scientology internet culture. These posts are about what I’ve learned after Anti-Scientology.
A conspiracy theory is a kind of escape hatch any believer can retreat to whenever his belief system is challenged. They are a kind of catch-all defense. And the best part of a conspiracy theory is that the lack of evidence to support it PROVES it’s true! For instance: “NASA faked the moon landing.” This […]
Gerry Armstrong & Mike Rinder have a long history. Gerry thinks it’s time for Mike Rinder to come clean about all the OSA Fair Game Operations he ran against him and all the other critics of Scientology when Mike Rinder ran the dirty tricks arm of the Church of Scientology.
Read over this very quick selection of tweets by Anti-Scientologists on the subject, and see all the support they are giving to a murderer.
I used to think that as long as I was not in the cult of Scientology any more, I would never fall into the unquestioning, partisan mindset that I had adopted when I was a Scientologist.
The Church of Scientology isn’t the only group to go after their critics: Leah Remini’s Scientology and the Aftermath goes after their critics just as dishonestly!
One of the most hysterical and unscientific beliefs of the Anti-Cult movement is that “brainwashing” and “Mind Control” is at work whenever anyone becomes a member of a “cult”. These ideas are assumed and unquestioned by members of the anti-Cult Movement. They’re the basis of their anti-cult beliefs. But when asked for any study that […]
Rinder & Remini’s Where’s Shelly? campaign is a hoax to get their revenge on Miscavige. They know that she isn’t missing & never was. Here’s how I know.
After WWII, a series of trials were held by the victors to prosecute war crimes by German soldiers. During these trials, over and over again, “I was only following orders” came up as a defense for these soldiers’ actions. This defense was roundly rejected by the prosecutors and the judges because: “The fact that a […]
So far the series has stayed away from the most important Scientology stories, such as Mike Rinder’s OSA involvement in the cover-up of the Danny Masterson rape cases. So when will Scientology and the Aftermath have an episode on the Death of Kyle Brennan?
This affidavit, filed in the Ken Dandar case, shows the daily routine that Mike Rinder lived as the Commanding Officer of the Office of Special Affairs for 22 years under David Miscavige.
During both Seasons of Leah Remini’s Scientology and the Aftermath, Leah and Mike have sought to make anyone who criticizes them out to be a Scientologist. Because who could possibly criticize the holy work that they are doing but a Scientologist?
A Post-Ex has integrated the arguments, and “truths”, he made as a Scientologist with the arguments, and “truths”, he made as an Ex/Anti-Scientologist. He has seen the disconnects and the contradictions there, and repaired them. He no longer walks around with an opposite self inside him, with which he is at war.
Last night’s episode of Leah Remini’s Scientology and the Aftermath was a round table discussion of former Scientologists, and independent Scientologists, exposing the upper levels of Scientology so that people can make more informed decisions about their involvement. For that reason, it was a very valuable episode. And Tony Ortega has gotten people who have […]
Social scientists who study minority religions have observed that the main activity of the anti-cult movement is to create a moral panic around a targeted minority religion strong enough to make governments react. Members of the anti-cult movement accomplished this in Waco in the 1990’s, and the resulting catastrophe woke up people in government to their responsibility […]
When any Ex-Scientologist uses disciplined and reasoned analysis, he finds that the hysteria being generated by anti-scientology is just that – hysteria. Leah Remini, and some of the most abusive and fanatical people to ever to be in Scientology, are going through this phase of adjustment. It happens to some people when they experience a […]
Once I’d spotted that my thinking was tribal, I was no longer consumed by my tribe’s survival. I resented that the tribe had taken over my thinking. I could finally see the eclipsed and thoughtless cruelty of my former tribe.
I’ve been practicing Basic Skepticism on marauding Anti-Scientologists on the Internet. It’s pretty much unstoppable. Here’s how it works.
Reza Aslan’s episode of “Believer” on CNN regarding Independent Scientology changed my life for the better. It reminded me of an approach to belief and spiritual pursuits that is positive, constructive, and life-giving.
The cult recovery paradigm of Ex-Scientology sets up a whole bunch of things you think you need to “recover” from because you were in Scientology. This is a dysfunctional view. Paradigms are insidious things. They can hide all the assumptions and viewpoints and framing you are using to “understand” something. It’s always a good critical […]
Phil wrote this in a comment on Tony Ortega’s blog: Phil Jones wrote “At one point Scientology offered to let us have contact with our kids if we stopped doing billboards and no longer criticized them. One of the most difficult things I ever did was to tell them “no, not unless all families are […]
In his latest video with Jon Atack, they discuss social scientists like Eileen Barker, who traveled to Moonie recruitment seminars where brainwashing and mind control techniques were claimed to be in use. These social scientists found that more than 90% of the people in those brainwashing seminars did not sign up to be a Moonie, […]
I’ve reached out to Tony Ortega via email for a comment about what kind of hatred of Christians was going through his mind, or if there was anything they did or said in the real world that set him off.
This scene, from the hilarious and insightful movie on actors and acting – Tropic Thunder – shows 2 actors (Ben Stiller and Robert Downey, Jr) dialoguing about the dangers of playing a mentally retarded character, and the serious damage (LOL) it can do to you if you get too immersed in it. The message of […]
Tony Ortega is one of the most valuable critics of Scientology ever. But is he so biased that, over time, you can start to live in a delusional world about Scientology? I think so.
Ask yourself: Is Tony Ortega biased on the subject of Scientology, on L. Ron Hubbard, on David Miscavige, or even on minority religions themselves? As a staunch atheist, might he be biased in the area of religious and spiritual pursuits generally? Really. Ask yourself these questions. Then consider my argument below. Video Transcript: Hi. It’s […]
Yesterday, Mike Rinder wrote a post that he hoped would whip all his commenters up into a lather against Scientologists in the entertainment industry. Here are his final paragraphs of that post: “But of course they ignore the huge failures that are stinking up the lobby at CC: Jenna Elfman has not been able to […]
“Asked to explain these “abusive practices,” Remini takes a deep breath, then lays out some foundational principles. “Scientology policy dictates that children are grown men and women in little bodies. They believe a 7-year-old girl should not shudder at being passionately kissed. That’s in Dianetics,” she says, referencing L. Ron Hubbard’s 1950 book that establishes […]
To dismiss that part of your life, to wall it off under labels of “delusional Scientologist” or “weak” or “crazy loon” is to remain in a dissociative state – to continue living a fractured life with some of the best parts of you buried underneath a wall of self-hatred and shame.
In my opinion, Tony Ortega’s continued use of his blog to attack Cathy Tweed very much crosses the line of ethical journalism. And Rachel Bernstein’s use of her standing as a licensed psychologist to publicly shame a mother who has lost her daughter to suicide is, quite possibly, a breach of her license.
There is a claim made by many anti-Scientologists, such as Tony Ortega, Mike Rinder, Chris Shelton and others, that the Church of Scientology paid social scientists and other academics in the field of religion to alter their research and to write articles favorable to Scientology. Since objective scientific research is important to critical thinking about […]
Is Fair Game better when it’s applied to Scientology? Can there be an immoral equivalence when what Scientology does is then done back to them?
Elizabeth Moss a marauding work of art. In any production, she chews up anything and everything in her path. All that’s left is the soul of the character she presents to you. That’s why none of this has anything to do with Scientology.
Tony Ortega writes a blog post with a clear bias against Scientology every day, sometimes more than one. And so it really is tiresome for me to be talking about Tony Ortega’s bias against Scientology every day, but the latest accusations of rape against Paul Haggis, a recent poster boy for anti-Scientology, show Tony Ortega’s […]
Why has this community of Ex-Scientologists let this kind of boorish oppression happen to the most vulnerable Exes at the most vulnerable times of their lives? There is more to the idea of who you were as a Scientologist than “I was conned”.
Critical thinking is good, right? So how many 2nd generation Scientologists followed their parents into Scientology? In the same way that asking critical thinking questions can get you out of Scientology, asking critical thinking questions can get you out of Anti-Scientology, too. It can restore a lot of an Ex-Scientologist’s self-worth after becoming emotionally manipulated […]
Celebrity anti-Scientology is a hell of a drug. Presenting all your trauma, over and over to a sympathetic audience on TV can create and maintain your whole self-identity for you. And it can get you all the status & fame you desire. But is it good for you?
Mike Rinder Anti-Scientology vs. Mike Rinder Scientology: a great real life example of what happens when your friends and your group are more important than the truth. If you would like to see the same kind of information control that the Church of Scientology uses to squash criticism, just go over to Mike Rinder’s Anti-Scientology […]
Leah Remini began her emotional manipulation in Season 2 of “Scientology and the Aftermath” before the first episode aired with a promotional article in the Hollywood Reporter claiming that she wanted a federal investigation of Scientology, and then falsely accusing Scientologists of believing in pedophilia. Since then, every emotionally manipulative episode has contained specious suggestions […]
If you’ll read the posts below, you’ll see that many leading Ex-Scientologists and critics of the Church of Scientology, myself included, do not approve of fair game in any form. But for Mike Rinder’s minions, who know that their leader RAN fair game for the Church of Scientology against its critics for 22 years, fair […]
Please Leah. I used to believe that you were one of the most level-headed and powerful critics of Scientology in their history. But ever since you knowingly mis-characterized a quote from Dianetics to make it seem like Scientologists believed in pedophilia, and now you have publicly blamed a mother for her own daughter’s suicide to […]
The key characteristic of a pseudo-skeptic of Scientology is the furious and dedicated certainty of their position, and their squinting suspicion that anyone who would question them must be an OSA agent.
Yesterday, up and coming celebrity anti-Scientologist Brendan Tighe was on Meghan Kelly’s chat show, where he claimed that Scarlett Johansson auditioned with the Church of Scientology to be Tom Cruise’s girlfriend. Johanssen released a statement to the magazine INSIDER regarding Brendan’s claim: This caused celebrity Anti-Scientologist Aaron Smith Levin to take to twitter this morning […]
A Manhattan judge said “Million Dollar Baby” screenwriter Paul Haggis must face a civil rape lawsuit by a publicist after hearing a graphic account of the alleged assaults. “What Mr. Haggis did is forcibly removed her clothing, forcibly kissed her, forcibly penetrated her vagina,” an attorney for Haleigh Breest said in Manhattan Supreme Court Thursday. […]
Tony Ortega loves it when a Scientologist commits suicide. He jumps all over every Scientology suicide he hears about. He even blames Scientology mothers for their daughter’s suicide. It’s where Tony Ortega’s cruelty against Scientologists who have nothing to do with the abuses in Scientology really shines. Ortega recently published an article on his blog […]
In all my 19 years of being out of Scientology and watching what other Scientology watchers are saying, and how they are faring – I have never seen so much boredom with the subject of Scientology. I do believe that A&E is going to have to survive ratings crashes for any time slot they insert […]
A few days ago, Mike Rinder, as is his wont, asked for comments on Scientology and the Aftermath S2E2 featuring two tragic suicides by Scientologists. So I posted my thoughts on it: “Alanzo says August 23, 2017 at 12:29 pm I personally can not believe that you and Leah have gone down the road of […]
This is Taylor Tweed’s mother and brother speaking out about how they feel about Taylor’s suicide being featured on A&E’s Scientology and the Aftermath. I think A&E should interview Cathy Tweed – and give her time on their network after what has been done to her. Cathy Tweed speaks. And she deserves to be heard. […]
If Leah Remini and Mike Rinder can help get one criminal conviction on the Church of Scientology through their “Scientology and The Aftermath” reality series, or help one lawsuit succeed against them for real injustices, no one will be happier than I. But when I see another Ex-Scientologist flip into nightmare mode on who they […]
As the head of the Office of Special Affairs for 20 years, Mike Rinder met with attorneys and helped to develop all the contracts and procedures which were used to suppress the 2 victims of sexual abuse, and others like them, who were profiled in Season 2 Episode 1 of Scientology and the Aftermath. Why […]
Carmen K. Sisson | Photographer Here’s the recipe which has been followed by 1000s of people before you: Make the harm 100 times worse than it actually was. Keep repeating the harm you experienced over & over to yourself and others. Become a member of a group that identifies you by the harm you suffered. […]
Scientology Girl Fight! Leah Remini vs Stacy Francis! Girlfriend Jeffrey Augustine breaks it down. For Chris Shelton, the “Critical Thinker At Large”, this sure seems like one hell of an Ad Hominem Logical Fallacy to me. But who needs logic when you can into a GIRL FIGHT??? Right Aaron and Marc?? Get on it, girlfriends!! […]
Aaron Smith Levin visited Tony Ortega’s blog this morning in an effort to enlighten us on what’s going on behind the scenes of Season Three of “Scientology and the Aftermath”. It looks like Ortega’s blog post this morning, “SHOCKING MOLESTATION CLAIMS LEAKING OUT BEFORE AFTERMATH EPISODE”” gives details of a young Ex-Scientologist’s life that – […]
There’s nothing like finally getting what you’ve wished for. The last few years have been an Anti-Scientology spooge dream: A Pulitzer Prize winning journalist writes a best-selling expose’ on Scientology, which turns into an Emmy-winning, Oscar nominated movie, followed by a Louis Theroux smarmy send-up, followed by 2 Seasons of an Emmy-winning TV reality show […]
Dax Shepard should understand: Tony Ortega thinks Scientology poisoned his cat. And Scientology has erected websites devoted to exposing the least admirable parts of Ortega’s career as a journalist, just as he posts the least admirable parts of Scientology philosophy, and their history, every single day. So maybe you can understand why Tony Ortega seems […]
Alanzo is an Ex-Scientologist who sees the same tribalism he escaped in Scientology rising up in Anti-Scientology.
Out of all the lessons he learned by escaping Scientology, he learned one lesson harder than any other: Never let your tribe do your thinking for you.
Alanzo writes from the battlefield of the war between Scientology & Anti-Scientology.
