British journalist goes ballistic on Scientologist

BBC reporter John Sweeney got into a shouting match with a member of the "Church" of Scientology.

Sweeney was reporting on Scientology for the BBC television program Panorama. He reports that he was tracked by no fewer than 13 strangers over the course of a week-long stint in Los Angeles.

The video footage was captured by a Scientology camera crew who surprised Sweeney with a late-night visit to his hotel. Scientology official Tom Davis started screaming at Sweeney, who yelled back. Scientology put the footage up on YouTube in an attempt to discredit Sweeney. The BBC reporter had been speaking to Scientology dropouts who told him that the group was a cult that bilked them out of huge sums of money and ordered them to sever ties to their families.

Sweeney's a brave man to take on Scientology.

Comments

[ptcruiser100]

One of the reasons I'm glad that I'm an African American is that people who pass out Scientology literature and encourage people to attend their meetings never, never approach me or members of my family. They act as if we are invisible and, in this case, I have no reason to complain.

[MikeEss]

I'm glad whenever someone steps up to take on Scientology, but I feel sorry for the hell they are going to be put through for daring to expose Scientology.

Those people are insane.

BTW, I was shocked to see that Wiki had some good articles about Scientology. I'm wondering when they will be sued/attacked/eliminated for the crime of showing the world what that "religion" is about...

[togolosh]

Scientology has a loooong history of harassment. I've been following their exploits since the mid-80s as part of my general obsession with oddball religious movements, but they really kicked themselves up on my radar when they forged an rmgroup for alt.religion.scientology. Boy, oh boy was that a mistake. As a direct result several hundred thousand people who'd never given them much thought became immediate enemies. The really funny thing is that the rmgroup was issued in an attempt to suppress publication of OT III (Teh Sooper Sekrit Skriptures), but their actions lead to the document being spread far and wide to the point where pretty much anyone can get a copy. It's hard to do OT III justice. Anyone who wants a laugh at the nut-cult's expense should google "Operating Thetan III".

[Randomfactor]

Good place to start is http:\\www.xenu.net.

As we used to say when picketing the cult, "it's not only worse than you think, it's probably worse than WE think."

[norbizness]

Poor guy, living with an undiagnosed Thetan infestation like that. Nothing a 12-hour marathon viewing of Battlefield Earth with 2 hours of John Travolta outtakes won't fix.

[soullite]

While I do detest the Church of Scientology's practices and attempts to shut down criticism, I do find it a little abhorrent that everyone thinks it's okay to belittle their beliefs. They're beliefs aren't really any more insane than those of fundamentalist Christians. their religion isn't that much newer than Mormonism in the grand scheme of organized religion. It's no more financially exploitative than most religious organizations were at their founding. OOOOOO, it sues people a lot! The dominant religion in this country KILLED people for disagreeing with it at this stage in it's development. Burned them at the stake for being witches, werewolves, or vampires. At least they don't kill people they think are Thetan controlled.

And no, weirdo mind controlling alien slavemasters are no weirder than magical men in the "the heavens"(outer space), rising from the dead, the red sea parting, or mysterious mummy tablets and visitations by angels. It's not, and you only think it is because you've been raised to conceive of all that other weirdo bullshit as being normal. It's not.

[Lindsay Beyerstein]

I'm not going to defend the tabloid press's coverage of Scientology as it pertains to Tom Cruise, etc. The tabs just want to play up the "freaky religion" aspect at the expense of the "oppressive cartel" angle--likely because Scientology won't sue them for playing up the kooky metaphysics.

Scientology deserves to be castigated for its oppressive organizational structure and its harassment of its critics. To me, Scientology is just another evil corporation. I don't care what Wal-Mart says in its mission statement, what matters is how it actually behaves as an organization. Ditto Scientology. Scientology has a long history of isolating adherents from their families, charging exorbitant fees, intimidating and harassing its critics, etc.

[Dock Miles]

>And no, weirdo mind controlling alien slavemasters are no weirder than magical men in the "the heavens"(outer space), rising from the dead, the red sea parting, or mysterious mummy tablets and visitations by angels. It's not, and you only think it is because you've been raised to conceive of all that other weirdo bullshit as being normal. It's not.

No, no, no -- it IS weirder. It was cooked up in the middle of the 20th century in the midst of the age of science. The ancients, and even the Mormon founders to a degree, have much better excuses for mystagogery.

[MikeEss]

soullite, I think you underestimate the harm that suing people can do in a culture like the one we live in.

I do agree that Scientology's beliefs are really no weirder than any other religion's - seen from a truly neutral standpoint.

I think what made me take notice was when the #1 anti-cult site, Cult Awareness Network (CAN), which had described Scientology as a cult, was first attacked, and then bought-out by Scientology to quiet CAN's work against Scientology while keeping up the pressure on all the other "cults".

That was creepy...

No one should be able to shut down critics by using the legal and financial system to punish them.

BTW, I felt the same way about the Bill Donohue attacks on Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan...

[Lesley]

Tom Cruise appeared on Inside the Actor's Studio recently and not once did he mention scientology and not once did the interviewer ask him about it. I'm guessing every question was vetted before the actor appeared.

[Lesley]

Just watched the episode. John Sweeney's reaction is healthy as far as I'm concerned.

[cfrost]

Scientology dropouts who told him that the group was a cult that bilked them out of huge sums of money and ordered them to sever ties to their families.

How else are you going to run a church, er, cult?

[Dunc]

While I do detest the Church of Scientology's practices and attempts to shut down criticism, I do find it a little abhorrent that everyone thinks it's okay to belittle their beliefs. They're beliefs aren't really any more insane than those of fundamentalist Christians. their religion isn't that much newer than Mormonism in the grand scheme of organized religion.

Many of us are perfectly happy to belittle their beliefs too. I'm a proud equal-opportunity belief-belittler. :)

[Sock Puppet of the Great Satan]

'I think what made me take notice was when the #1 anti-cult site, Cult Awareness Network (CAN), which had described Scientology as a cult, was first attacked, and then bought-out by Scientology to quiet CAN's work against Scientology while keeping up the pressure on all the other "cults".'

It's a bit unclear from your account, but CAN wasn't 'bought out' by CoS. Instead, CoS sued 'em for, errm, breach of copyright or something like that, and CAN had to declare bankruptcy. CoS, because of the unpaid civil penalties, became CAN's biggest creditor, and so got control over CAN's assets, which included CAN's website.

[mudkitty]

While I don't think that what Scientologists "believe" is any crazier than virgin birth, etc...Scientologists have adopted the fascist tactics that Catholics, with their evolutional control of western real estate, used to employ overtly, and now only pull out in Europe and in Latin American Countries. Hubbard was a student of religion itself. He learned a lot.

[Count Zero]

To me Scientology is the next scariest thing to, well, nothing. I cannot think of a group that is as radical and aggressive, except maybe Islamic Jihadists. Though I realize that America was founded on the freedom of religous expression, I think that freedom at times crosses many unwritten boundries. I think Scientology has used every means available to suppress expression, and take advantage of the huge financial benefits other religions enjoy.

While I also find the Mormon relgion to be farfetched and kooky, most of their followers join by choice and aren't required to make huge finanical divestitures to retain membership. I think that financial requirement alone should remove any and all religious benefits Scientology enjoys.

[Pennant]

To me Scientology is the next scariest thing to, well, nothing. I cannot think of a group that is as radical and aggressive, except maybe Islamic Jihadists. Though I realize that America was founded on the freedom of religious expression, I think that freedom at times crosses many unwritten boundaries. I think Scientology has used every means available to suppress expression, and take advantage of the huge financial benefits other religions enjoy.

Oh yeah? Look up the Reverend Sung Myung Moon's investments and controlling interests in various US news media outlets like the Washington Times. Then look up Holy Handkerchief for an example of how far out there he is. Moonies and Scientology have a lot of common pages in their playbooks.

[Count Zero]

Oh yeah? Look up the Reverend Sung Myung Moon's investments and controlling interests in various US news media outlets like the Washington Times. Then look up Holy Handkerchief for an example of how far out there he is. Moonies and Scientology have a lot of common pages in their playbooks.

I agree the Unitarian Church is scary too, no doubt, however, it doesn't seem as "popular" as Scientology is, which to me means it's scarier. The Moonies weren't able to fight off the cult perception in the way Scientology has, namely because they are so pervasive in Hollywood.

[Pete]

Why is "Church" in quotation marks? That seems to suggest that "real" churches are something better, and the Church of Scientology is just masquerading. If every church that endorsed crazy made-up propositions, bilked people out of money and discouraged extra-church socialization were put in quotation marks, there would be very few unquoted churches left.

[B-Money]

Good point Pete. As a disillusioned Roman Catholic, I would suggest that there be quotes around church after Roman Catholic. They are the biggest purveyors of bilking people out of money based on crazy propositions.

[Count Zero]

Good point Pete. As a disillusioned Roman Catholic, I would suggest that there be quotes around church after Roman Catholic. They are the biggest purveyors of bilking people out of money based on crazy propositions.

Well I think that's not completley true. Don't most churches cap the limit of tithing to 10% of your income? I do think that's asking alot, however, it's not anywhere close to the complete wealth a person has like other organizations such as the Moonies, Scientology, or the HK's. Many Church's just ask for donations - giving is purley optional, and I don't think they use the same high pressure sales tactics that organizations I've mentioned previously use to acquire funds from members.

[B-Money]

Count: Really? Have you ever been a member of a Catholic parish? Tithing 10% is EXPECTED!! Not capped. I do agree that they do not use the tactics of other religions, but that is because they feel that you should just do it. No coersion should be necessary.

[Dan Garvin]

Scientology has a set of drills ("Reporter TRs" -- Training Routines) designed to make journalists fly off the handle as Sweeney did, so the reaction can be used to discredit the bad story and get the journalist fired. That's how they think and how they're trained to think.

They aren't insane, as one poster suggested. They're deluded. Part of their belief system is that nothing -- not life, limb, property, reputation, career, nor anything else -- is as important as "saving" the world by turning everybody in it into Scientologists and, even more, defending Scientology from attack (including criticism). Also, one of the worst "sins" in Scientology is to stray from or alter anything L. Ron Hubbard ever said or wrote. In other words, every true Scientologist is a fundamentalist Scientologist.

At this time, Scientologists and their organizations are constrained by the laws of the states they operate in. If there existed Scientologist states, we would see things similar to those we now see in (or sponsored by) Islamic theocracies. I worked for many years for Scientology before overcoming the brainwashing, and I personally witnessed a high-level Scientology official offering to murder a successful plaintiff in a civil case against Scientology. The offer was declined but not decried (at least not in my presence), and the official was soon afterward promoted.

Scientology has programs in place to achieve more political influence. They have already been partially successful. It remains to be seen how much power they will ultimately attain.

The (possible) good news is that in their quest for recognition as a mainstream religion they seem to be slowly backing away from some of their worst practices. Perhaps with sufficient encouragement they will learn to become fit company for decent humans. A good starting place would be tolerating criticism and humor and ending their policies of family destruction by "disconnection."

I wouldn't worry about their wacky beliefs. Pretty much every religion has wacky beliefs. Worry instead about teaching these true believers till they know better than to bite the society that feeds their tax-exempt organization.

[Chris]

"I agree the Unitarian Church is scary too!"

Those evil, tolerant Unitarians! The chalice is the focus of their evil! I think you might mean the Unification church.