1.043 million viewers tuned in to see Season 2, Episode 7 of Leah Remini’s Scientology and the Aftermath on the A&E Network at 10pm on Tuesday night, per TV BY the Numbers.
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"Getting out of a 'cult' is not something that you recover from, it is something you are strengthened by." -- Alanzo
About Alanzo
Alanzo was a Scientologist for 16 years.
He reached the state of "Clear" and was on staff as an Executive Director and Course Supervisor in Scientology missions in the Midwest and Los Angeles.
When Alanzo had experienced enough in Scientology to see the extent to which he had been deceived, he left and immediately began speaking out on the Internet to expose its lies and abuse. Alanzo first began speaking out against Scientology on the Internet as "Poopsy Charmichael" in the alt.religion.scientology newsgroup in the late 1990's.
As the main Internet battleground between the Church and its critics, ARS soon became too negative and so Alanzo moved to Beliefnet.com and elsewhere on the Internet to engage with actual Scientologists, providing them with the information they needed to make informed decisions about their own involvement in Scientology. He spent many years in the early to mid 2000s presenting Scientologists with LRH's real biography & other information that the Church had been hiding from them. Alanzo saw many Scientologists "wake up" around the Internet, after finally getting the information they needed.
In January/February of 2007, Alanzo then moved to the brand new Ex-Scientologists Message Board (ESMB), where Exes were gathering to tell their stories in Scientology. From there, Alanzo witnessed the rise of Anonymous, and was in attendance when Marty Rathbun, in the summer of 2009, kicked the hornet's nest with his announcement that he had started up his new website, and thus the great 2nd Exodus of Independents had begun.
Alanzo found more Scientologists to engage on Marty's website in the Independent movement. Also, Alanzo spent a few years at Geir Isene's blog, where he engaged many very intelligent and free thinking Scientologists and Exes who had retained constructive and positive views of their time in Scientology. This influenced Alanzo greatly by reminding him of things that he had conveniently forgotten about himself and his time in Scientology while becoming an "Anti-Scientology critic".
Then, an unknown critic emerged onto the scene from the Village Voice, Tony Ortega. Alanzo posted often to the Underground Bunker and was one of its most frequently upvoted Anti-Scientology critics there.
That's where Alanzo was exposed to more "never-in" critics of Scientology he'd seen yet on the Internet. And with its mix of the cruelty of Anonymous and the disrespect and disgust for Scientologists, Alanzo began to see tribal behavior that was very reminiscent of the worst of the Sea Org. When Tony Ortega repeatedly went after a woman, a Scientologist whose daughter had committed suicide, he saw the cruelty that all those anti-Scientologsts whipped up in each other. This caused Alanzo to have yet another turning point.
He realized that the deeper he became involved in the Anti-Cult/Anti-Scientology Movement, the more he began to notice very similar tribal behavior to the most fanatical of Scientologists. Alanzo saw a rise of some of the same tribalism from Anti-Scientologists that he was trying to escape by getting himself out of Scientology.
It was like being stuck in a nightmare, and after finally wrenching yourself awake, you're relieved to have escaped that nightmare - only to realize that the nightmare is still going on! ☺
That's when Alanzo began applying the same critical thinking skills to the underlying beliefs of Anti-Scientology that he had earlier applied to Scientology. And that's when his anti-Scientology mindset collapsed on Alanzo, just like his Scientology mindset had collapsed on him so long ago.
And this is where Alanzo is today - applying basic skepticism to both Scientology and anti-Scientology beliefs. He has come to realize that this position of skepticism toward both Scientology & Anti-Scientology is the only sustainable view.
Alanzo's experience of the previous 18 years has led him to conclude that, as long as you continue to think critically and you remain loyal to the truth instead of any person or group, getting out of a 'cult' is not something that you recover from, it is something that you are strengthened by.Alanzo's purpose is to provide the information necessary for people to make informed decisions about Scientology & Anti-Scientology.
What’s Good in Scientology: Early Emphasis on Communication & Understanding
The Scientology Brainwashing Defense
Evidence in Reasoning With Scientology & Anti-Scientology Beliefs
Does Science Refute God?
Anti-Scn Cruelty: Tony Ortega & Rachel Bernstein’s Abuse of Scientologist Cathy Tweed
What’s Good In Scientology: The Early Emphasis on Present Time
Undercover as an Agent for the Office of Special Affairs
Mike Rinder on AlanzosBlog
Embrace Your Inner Scientologist
If Anti-Scientologists Love Science So Much, Why Don’t They Use It?
Binded and Blinded by the Tribal Mind
In Defense of J Gordon Melton
The Anti-Cult Movement
What Did Mike Rinder Do When He Worked for the Office of Special Affairs?
Apostasy – What is That, Exactly?
Great Doco for Exes – DEPROGRAMMED
Consonance and Dissonance in Thinking About Scientology
Catastrophizing Scientology
Notes of the Phases Into & Out of Scientology & Ex-Scientology
Thinking the Worst of Yourself as a Scientologist
Basic Skepticism for Anti-Scientologists
If the number of viewers levels off at one million that might be sufficient to keep the show running for another season. If the downward trend continues then Season 3 would be a management decision. Bringing in other cults or religions into the discussion might stir up interest. Mike and Leah could compare notes with other escapees.
I actually had the opportunity to “compare notes” in real life. Soon after I left scn I hooked up with a gal who was an escapee from The Center For Feeling Therapy which was an offshoot of Primal (Scream) Therapy. We had lots of bases for comparison. As well as comparing stupidities we would also compare the “good stuff” we still believed in – laughter
Great example, I think that Scientology should be compared to psychological approaches, not religion.
In my eight years of pre-Miscavige scn I only met one person who referred to scn as their religion. I don’t know if current scn-ists speak among themselves about scn as their religion.
Hubbard methodically discredited religions, particularly Eastern religions, as falling short and that he (scn) had figured things out. It wasn’t until after I left that I looked back and realized I had believed *everyone* should someday become a scn-ist. I didn’t proselytize and wasn’t persistent like a Jesus freak, but my conviction was just as strong so I conceded that it had been my “faith”.
My lady friend probably felt likewise to some degree when she was in Feeling Therapy. So there you go – a combination of practice and belief.
When people leave a psychological therapy (whether it is psychoanalysis or cognitive therapy or even medication) they tend to be able to evaluate what happened for both positive and negative effect. No big deal.
Maybe that is what Alanzo is trying to do.
Who the hell knows what Alanzo is trying to do.
Does he even know?
Sometimes I want to ring his neck, sometimes I want to hug him and tell him it’s gonna be okay.
Hi Eileen – I’m glad you mentioned this. It brings to mind some similarities and differences. Even though I suffered little “damage” from scn, I still worked through some emotions of anger and betrayal when I began reexamining my experience of long ago.
If someone had gone into some traditional therapy for some malady and eventually discontinued it, regardless of how much or little they benefited from it, they probably wouldn’t feel any sense of being duped, betrayed, taken advantage of and so on,
Now compare that with someone who spent the greater part of their life in scn, experienced bankrupty, disconnection, slighted their children and so on and I can sympathize with some people who want to see the “church” eradicated. Make any sense?
People inflaming each other by comparing atrocities doesn’t provide relief in my opinion. Some people might feel eradicating the Church of Scientology and even the subject itself will provide relief. In some sense I think this blog is pointing that out.
Speaking of the current state of the CoS, most estimates are that there are ten to twenty thousand scn-ists worldwide. For whatever reasons they apparently feel the the CoS is satisfactory as it is and continue to participate. Forewarning the public from joining and eradicating what’s left are different viewpoints.
P.S. The October 24 episode of the Aftermath was worthwhile. It stuck to facts rather than emotions, pointing out how the CoS cons money out of people and gets away with it.