"Getting out of a 'cult' is not something that you recover from, it is something you are strengthened by." -- Alanzo
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
Recently Mike Rinder called a poster to his blog a “dupe” and banned her for posting a link to a US Senate investigation on Backpage.com because it had information in it that exposed his fellow anti-Scientologist Tony Ortega as defending, endorsing, and condoning sex trafficking and pedophilia while he worked at the Village Voice. Both Mike […]
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 […]
With all the episodes of family members fighting with each other on Scientology and the Aftermath, which have nothing to do with David Miscavige or any of the people who are actually responsible for abuse in Scientology, there is one story that doesn’t seem to be worthy of the “brave” TV series. But this story […]
“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 […]
Yesterday, in the comments section of my blog, I provided the link to a post that Marty Rathbun wrote in December of 2009 about his wordpress blog account being hacked. That post was written four months after Marty and “collero’s” email exchanges. And if Marty’s wordpress.com blog was hacked, that means the hackers got his […]
This comment appeared on Mike’s blog yesterday: Mike Rinder wrote: “So you and everyone else knows — next week is NOT a new show. Nor the week after. The next NEW SHOW IS 10 OCTOBER and it is one that is very hard to watch. There needs to be a couple of weeks respite (according […]
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 […]
Here, Marty is describing a scene that appears to be an impromptu discussion in a car between Mike Rinder and Leah Remini in the final episode of Season 1 of Scientology and the Aftermath. But Marty is claiming here that it was actually a discussion in a car between Marty and Mike, in reality, 8 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
After calling it her religion for 34 years, Leah Remini now claims that Scientology is not a religion. Many anti-Scientologists promote the fact that the Church of Scientology went through a very intentional and detailed overhaul of all its missions and orgs to make Scientology look like more of what people expect a religion to […]
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 […]
When I got out of Scientology and began exposing them on the Internet 17 years ago, it was because I had discovered how cruel that the leadership in the Church of Scientology had been to too many people. And I realized this had to be stopped. And so, along with many others, at great risk […]
Mike Rinder should use Season 2 of Scientology and The Aftermath to provide a Truth and Reconciliation commission on the people he has fair-gamed as the head of OSA.
GO LEAH!!! Read her letter to Scientology here Watch her show “Scientology and Its Aftermath” on A&E Network Premiering on November 29th, 9/10C
This video appeared on youtube on October 23, 2016. I think it might be a tease for Leah Remini’s new show on A&E. Maybe? Or maybe not. You can see that Leah disagreed with the Scientology way that Tommy Davis and Mike Rinder were treating John Sweeney, and that she actually refused to sign her […]
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.
Last night’s episode of Scientology and the Aftermath The Ranches featured two more heartbreaking case studies of Scientology abuse. But it had no information in it that law enforcement can use to bring criminal charges to David Miscavige or anyone in the Church of Scientology. It exposed important stories of abuse to a wider TV […]
Is Leah preparing to jump the shark? After two missed episodes in the middle of a season, leaving the A&E Network’s Tuesday night 8pm slot with re-runs 2 weeks in a row, Aftermath returns with what appears to be more acting than ever. Leah’s hamming acting here actually does a disservice to the people she […]
As you can see, viewers for the first night viewing for Season 2 Episode 8 of Leah Remini’s Scientology and the Aftermath dropped by another 70,000 for “Lifetime of Healing”. If we are to get the federal investigation that Leah said she wanted out of Season 2, we can’t just sit around with old friends […]
It is the goal of every Scientology Celebrity to get Scientology onto the cover of People Magazine. Leah Remini has now done it. This is an interview with the journalist who spoke to Leah for People Magazine. If you’ve never purchased a copy of People Magazine, now is the time.
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.
