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.
Topic | Life After Anti-Scientology
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.
The Scientology Brainwashing Defense
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 […]
Victoria Bretton Has Been Working for 10 Years to Get Answers – Where’s Scientology and the Aftermath?
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?
What Mike Rinder Did As The Head of Scientology’s Office of Special Affairs for 22 Yrs
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.
If Anti-Scientologists Love Science So Much, Why Don’t They Use It?
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 […]
Does Anti-Scientology Deserve Any Criticism?
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?
Post Ex-Scientology
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.
Leah Remini’s Scientology and the Aftermath Has Still Presented No Evidence of Criminal Activity by the Church of Scientology
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 […]
Why Leah Remini Will Never Get Her Federal Investigation
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 […]
Anti-Scientology is a Socially Constructed Nightmare
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 […]
Binded and Blinded By the Tribal Mind
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.
Members of Leah Remini’s Scientology and the Aftermath Go After Critic in Scientology-Style “Dead Agent” Caper
Apparently, 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 hard!
Basic Skepticism for Anti-Scientologists
I’ve been practicing Basic Skepticism on marauding Anti-Scientologists on the Internet. It’s pretty much unstoppable. Here’s how it works.
Anti-Scientologists Display Frenzied Hysteria & Dysfunctional Negativity Over CNN’s “Believer”
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.
Adjusting to Mainstream Society After Scientology is Not “Recovery”
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 & Willie Jones, Anti-Scientology Celebrities for Their Famous “Call Me” Billboards, Chose Not to Speak to Their Own Children
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 […]
Steven Hassan Makes Bizarre Claim for Why Moonie Brainwashing Didn’t Work Whenever Scientists Were in the Room
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, […]
Part Three: Never Go Full Anti
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 […]
Revised & Updated: Alanzo’s Top 5 Criticisms of Tony Ortega & His Underground Bunker
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.
Alarming Rhetoric on Mike Rinder’s Blog
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 […]
Pounding the Intellectual Honesty Out of Aaron Smith-Levin
“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 […]
Embrace Your Inner Scientologist
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.
The Moral Equivalence of Scientology vs. Anti-Scientology Fair Game
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 is Not Afraid of You
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.
Clear Evidence of Bias: Tony Ortega’s Reporting on Danny Masterson Vs Paul Haggis
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 […]
Ron Miscavige Sr Prostrates Himself Before Tony Ortega on Scientology: “I Was Conned”
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: What Percentage of Children Are 2nd Generation Scientologists?
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: The Drama Queen Paradigm of “Cult Recovery”
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 Bans Commenter From His Blog For Posting Link to US Senate Investigation Into BackPage.com
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 […]
Crusader Logic: Leah Remini’s Emotional Manipulation to Create an Army of Anti-Scientologists
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 […]
UPDATED with New Screenshots: Leah Remini & Mike Rinder’s Anti-Scientology Minions Fair Game Monique Rathbun’s Business
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 […]
Tony Ortega & Rachel Bernstein’s Abuse of Scientologist Cathy Tweed
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.
Leah Remini Blames Cathy Tweed for Her Daughter’s Suicide – What if it Was Your Daughter?
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 […]
Skeptics and Pseudo-Skeptics of Scientology
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.
Has Celebrity Anti-Scientology Jumped the Shark?
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 […]
Paul Haggis must face civil rape suit: judge
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. […]
A Question for Tony Ortega & Leah Remini Regarding Scientology Suicide
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 […]
Scientology Fatigue
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 […]
Critics of Scientology Question Direction of Season 2 Scientology and the Aftermath
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 […]
Cathy Tweed, Taylor Tweed’s Mother Speaks About Leah Remini’s Scientology and the Aftermath
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. […]
Tony Ortega Confirms That Leah Remini Got that Out-of-Context “Scientologists Are Pedophiles” Quote From Him
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 […]
Scientology and the Aftermath Season 2 Episode 1: Mike Rinder Completely Silent About the Procedures He Developed to Suppress Victims of Sexual Abuse in Scientology
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 […]
How to Harm Yourself After You’ve Been Harmed by Scientology
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. […]
Guest Post: Gerry Armstrong Doesn’t Need an Apology – He Wants the Truth From Mike Rinder
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.
Girl Fight! Leah’s Tribal Ninnies Go After Stacy Francis. Are They Exposing Scientology’s Crimes?
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!! […]
Scientology and the Aftermath: With a “Friend” Like Tony Ortega, Who Needs Enemies?
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 – […]
Has Anti-Scientology Completely Shot Its Wad?
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 […]
Tony Ortega Proves Once Again Its Not About Scientology ‘Abuse’ for Him, It’s About the Scientologists Themselves
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 […]
Did Mike Rinder or Leah Remini Reach Out To Cathy Tweed, Taylor’s Mom, and Try to Help Her Too?
On Episode 2 of Scientology and the Aftermath, we are taken through the tragic story of Taylor Tweed’s suicide. We are shown the “handlings” that Taylor’s mom tried to perform to try to “get Taylor’s ethics in”, and which now can be seen to be clearly, tragically, catastrophically, the wrong thing to do for Taylor, […]
Mike Rinder – the Biggest Loser in Ex Scientology Legal History – is Trawling for More Business!
Fresh off the catastrophic legal loss of the Garcia case, Mike Rinder put up a post today trawling for any extant legal cases against Scientology. The results of both Headley and Garcia prove how disastrous it is to have Rinder on your side in a legal battle. If you have a civil or criminal case […]
Read Plato
Another excellent discussion over on Mike Rinder’s blog prompted me to post this solution to the endless tribal warfare between “spiritualists” and “scientists”. Although I almost always disagree with her, Marildi, once again does an admirable job making her case. As well as Eclipse-Girl, Roger Hornaday, and the rest. _____________________________________ marildi says June 17, 2015 […]
Marty Rathbun’s 2nd Video on Leah Remini’s Scientology & the Aftermath
Marty brings up the promise of legal action by Mike and Leah at the end of Season 1 of Scientology & the Aftermath. Marty claims that he and Mike went to a top-tier legal firm just like Leah and Mike did in the last episode of the show. Marty says that the legal firm told […]
Was Elizabeth Moss a Brainwashed Cult Member Playing a Brainwashed Cult Member in “The Handmaid’s Tale”?
To hear Anti-Scientologists tell it, Elizabeth Moss was just a clueless & brainwashed Scientologist during her Emmy-winning performance portraying Offred in “The Handmaid’s Tale”. But is thinking with stereotypes about people in minority religions ever going to explain how Elizabeth Moss is such a great actress? Having been a member of Scientology for 16 years, […]
Aaron Smith-Levin Calls Out Tony Ortega for Trying to Undermine Him
Is Tony Ortega is trying to undermine yet another Ex-Scientologist? Ex-Scientologists that Tony Ortega has undermined: Carmen Llewelyn Marty and Monique Rathbun Mike Berman And now Aaron Smith-Levin And those are just the ones I’ve written about. (If there are any others, please let me know in the comments section.) They are all brave […]
