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Blogs
September 12, 2012
Scientology Chooses an Odd Time to Open a "National Affairs" Office in DC
Today at 6 pm, Scientology will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a building in Washington DC's Dupont Circle neighborhood. For the last couple of years, Scientology has opened "Ideal Orgs" -- fancy, superfluous new churches in cities around the world in an expensive ploy to make it look like the ... More >>
Blogs
September 5, 2012
Scientology's Obsession With Hollywood Proving Costly In Its Time of Crisis
In 1955, Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard announced "Project Celebrity," coming up with a list of Hollywood stars he wanted his followers to treat as "game" to hunt down for the church. And while Hubbard didn't succeed in bagging Danny Kaye, Sid Caesar, or Liberace (!), his organization did event ... More >>
Blogs
September 5, 2012
The Voice Reads Maureen Orth's Story about Scientology in Vanity Fair
See also our Voice Exclusive: Paul Haggis reacts to Scientology's attack on Nazanin Boniadi We managed to find a copy of the new Vanity Fair today, and we've read Maureen Orth's story, "What Katie Didn't Know," about Tom Cruise and his Scientology-approved search for a new wife. As advertised, the ... More >>
Blogs
September 2, 2012
Scientology's Homophobia: Even the Church's Token Gay Guy Was Disgusted
One of Scientology's enduring mysteries is that it has attracted Hollywood stars when it has such a reputation for homophobia. The sexual orientation of its top celebrities is always a matter of popular speculation, and even those with the barest understanding of Scientology seem to know that if cel ... More >>
Blogs
August 31, 2012
The Secret to Eternal Youth! Now Available on the Cruise Ship Freewinds!
Scientology watchers, we have a treat for you this morning. This video has been making the rounds the last couple of days, and we can see why it's generating so much interest. Mike Napier, the captain of Scientology's private cruise ship, the Freewinds, stars in this film and tells us about the bene ... More >>
Blogs
August 20, 2012
Scientology's Grip on the Mind: An Ex-Sea Org Member Explains It For Us
In December, we brought you the story of Melissa Paris, a former Scientologist who we got to know after her sister Valeska's stunning claims that she'd been a virtual prisoner on Scientology's private cruise ship from 1996 to 2007. Melissa had her own shocking tales of growing up in Scientology's " ... More >>
Blogs
August 18, 2012
Former President of Narconon Oklahoma Now Calls It "Watered-Down Version of Introductory Scientology"
A week ago, we reported that a former "employee" at Scientology's flagship drug treatment center in Oklahoma -- Narconon Arrowhead -- told us that the controversial center was delivering Scientology training rather than drug education, and that its officials have been concerned for years that its st ... More >>
Blogs
August 17, 2012
The Top 25 People Crippling Scientology -- 2012 Edition!
In the doldrums of August last year, we put together a little list that took on a life of its own. We counted down the 25 people and groups who had been doing the most to get word out to the wider world about the Church of Scientology's many alleged abuses, and who have contributed to its steep rec ... More >>
Blogs
August 16, 2012
Scientology's Oklahoma Nemesis, Bob Lobsinger: "They Lied Every Step of the Way"
On Saturday and Tuesday, we gave readers some background on the Scientology drug treatment center in Oklahoma -- called Narconon Arrowhead -- that is now the center of controversy after four recent deaths which are under investigation, three just since October. Tonight, a report by Rock Center's H ... More >>
Blogs
August 14, 2012
Narconon Not Scientology? Then Why Is Its Leader in the Church's Concentration Camp?
On Saturday, we took you inside the troubled Scientology drug treatment center in eastern Oklahoma, Narconon Arrowhead. Three deaths have occurred at the center since October, and the most recent of them, Stacy Murphy, 20, was found on the morning of July 19. A former patient of the center who kn ... More >>
Blogs
August 11, 2012
Scientology Drug Program Narconon's Licensing "Extremely Vulnerable" After Oklahoma Deaths, Says Insider
Scientology is facing crises on several fronts: flagging membership, internal schisms, relentless Internet exposure, and whole new levels of public consciousness and mocking because of a celebrity divorce and an upcoming movie with Oscar buzz. But perhaps the most surprising component of the church ... More >>
Blogs
August 10, 2012
Scientology's Idea of a Rollicking Sermon: Watch This Gem From 1984
Here at Scientology Watching Central, we often get asked, is Scientology really a religion? In general, we tend not to get into a debate about that -- Scientology calls itself a "church," so we do the same. We find that it only makes the organization's alleged abuses -- including ripping apart famil ... More >>
Blogs
August 8, 2012
VOICE EXCLUSIVE -- VH1'S Mimi Faust On Scientology: "At 13, They Told Me I Was a Freeloader"
Oluremi "Mimi" Faust is one of the stars of VH1's popular show Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, which runs on Monday nights. A week ago, Mimi stunned the show's largely African-American audience when she revealed that she had been abandoned at 13 by her mother, who was a Scientologist. With the help of ou ... More >>
Blogs
August 7, 2012
Scientology's Recruitment Film: The Version They Don't Want You to See
On Sunday, we wrote about our trip to Scientology's New York "org." We were invited inside to see a short movie about the origin of L. Ron Hubbard's 1950 book, Dianetics. An alert reader noticed that a film fitting our description could be found on YouTube and brought it to our attention. Yes! This ... More >>
Blogs
August 4, 2012
Chick Corea, Heber Jentzsch, Ingo Swann, and Scientology's 1977 OT Summit!
Scientology has been rocked by so much bad news lately, with all of the divorces and disappearances and defections and schisms and death investigations and torture programs and unnatural relationships and forced abortions and space opera and weird kids and weirder movies, we thought it might be tim ... More >>
Blogs
July 29, 2012
"Tom Cruise Worships David Miscavige Like a God": The John Brousseau Story, Part Two
Yesterday, we published the first part of our conversation with John Brousseau, a 32-year veteran of Scientology's "Sea Org" who escaped from the church's International Base east of Los Angeles in 2010. In our first part, Brousseau described his work in the Tom Cruise household with Katie Holmes an ... More >>
Blogs
July 28, 2012
"Tom Cruise Worships David Miscavige Like a God": A Scientology Insider Gives First Full-Length Interview to the Voice
I've spoken to John Brousseau numerous times over the past couple of years. In 2011, I reported about the photographs he smuggled out of Scientology's International Base east of Los Angeles which documented the work he did customizing a motorcycle, a Ford Excursion, and an airplane hangar for Tom Cr ... More >>
Blogs
July 22, 2012
Neil Gaiman, 7, Interviewed About Scientology by the BBC in 1968
Former Scientologist Patty Moher was going through her collection of old church magazines and other materials when she spotted something pretty remarkable. I visited her this weekend at a gathering of other ex-Scientologists and Scientology researchers, and several of us marveled at her find. It w ... More >>
Blogs
July 21, 2012
Why Do Scientologists Accept the Xenu Story?
For going on 17 years I've been writing about Scientology, and over that time there's one question that has come up again and again. Why don't Scientologists, when they've been in the organization long enough to reach the legendary material in "Operating Thetan Level Three" -- the stuff about Xenu ... More >>
Blogs
July 21, 2012
After Voice Story, Scientology President Heber Jentzsch Calls Brother To Complain
Friday morning, the Voice published an interview with David Jentzsch, 80, who said that it's been more than three years since he's heard any word from his brother, Heber Jentzsch, 76, the president of the Church of Scientology. As we've been reporting, Heber, although he's been the president of the ... More >>
Blogs
July 19, 2012
Case Closed: Paul Thomas Anderson's Script for The Master is Nothing But Scientology
Former Scientologist Marc Headley, who first revealed to the Voice in 2009 that Tom Cruise talked to ashtrays and beverage bottles as part of his Scientology training, has a stunning article in the Daily Beast today that settles, once and for all, what Paul Thomas Anderson's film The Master is all a ... More >>
Blogs
July 18, 2012
Scientology and Forced Abortion: Laura DeCrescenzo's Three-Year Legal Odyssey
Laura DeCrescenzo had just got out of a two and a half hour deposition with attorneys for the Church of Scientology when I talked to her on the telephone yesterday at her home in Albuquerque. All told, over the three years she's been suing Scientology for the way she was treated as a young Sea Org ... More >>
Blogs
July 16, 2012
Breaking Away from the Church of Scientology: Reading Marty Rathbun's Manifesto
Between 2004 and 2007, Scientology experienced several defections by high-ranking executives who later wrote books about breaking away from what they characterized as a dangerous and pathological organization. But for many of us who watch Scientology, it is one defector in particular whose story we ... More >>
Blogs
July 10, 2012
Scientology Reacts to TomKat Divorce from Nixon-Era Playbook
On Sunday, we talked to former Scientology executive Marty Rathbun and agreed with his predictions for how the Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes divorce would go. The next day, the former couple announced that they had reached a settlement. So how did we do? Prediction 1: Katie would get sole custody of Suri ... More >>
Blogs
July 9, 2012
10,000 Scientologists Got This E-Mail Today About "Disconnection," their Church President, and a Mysterious Death
This morning, more than 10,000 Scientologists found an e-mail from Karen de la Carriere in their inboxes, written in jargon that they will understand, and informing them of the controversy surrounding the death of her son Alexander Jentzsch. As we reported first on Thursday night, de la Carriere le ... More >>
Blogs
July 5, 2012
Scientology Leader David Miscavige's Disappeared Wife Shelly: What We Know
One of Scientology's many intriguing mysteries is the disappearance of church leader David Miscavige's wife, Michelle "Shelly" Barnett, who hasn't been seen in public since around 2007. We've written about Shelly Miscavige in the past, about her strange disappearance, and about the equally mysterio ... More >>
Blogs
July 2, 2012
Tom Cruise's Former Scientology Auditor: "He Should Let Katie Have Everything She Wants"
As we wait to see how nasty the Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes divorce becomes, we asked Tom's former Scientology auditor and legal affairs adviser, Marty Rathbun, to speak to us about the last time Cruise was in this position. In 2001, Cruise and Nicole Kidman ended their 10-year marriage, and it was Rat ... More >>
Blogs
June 26, 2012
Luka Magnotta's Scientology Screed: "I Wished Every Night That Tom Cruise Would Adopt Me"
Luka Rocco Magnotta is in custody now and has pleaded not guilty to charges that he killed, dismembered, and even ate some of his Montreal boyfriend before absconding to Berlin, where he was apprehended. Meanwhile, Magnotta's extensive online legacy is still being mined by the curious, and our tips ... More >>
Blogs
June 18, 2012
Enrique Iglesias's "Hero" Needs To Be Saved From Its Syrupy Balladry
This month, to celebrate the Internet's unbridled love for wallowing in nostalgia and even greater relishing of talking about why certain cultural artifacts are horrible, Sound of the City presents First Worsts, a series in which our writers remember the first time... they ever hated a song enough t ... More >>
Blogs
June 17, 2012
Scientology Sunday Funnies: Neil Gaiman's Mum Builds a Civilization!
Scientologists don't really have a Sunday service. They like to say that they do, because they crave mainstream acceptance. But unless Xenu rested after six days and L. Ron Hubbard just forgot to mention it, there's no reason for Scientologists to treat Sunday any differently than every other day of ... More >>
Blogs
May 25, 2012
VIDEO: Dianetics Day 2012! See People Who Can't Wait to Go "Clear"!
Our tipsters continue to funnel us the best Scientology material at a rapid rate. May 9 was Dianetics Day -- 62 years since the day in 1950 when L. Ron Hubbard first published Scientology's Ur-text, Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health -- and already we have in our hot little hands the vid ... More >>
Blogs
May 22, 2012
L. Ron Hubbard in his Own Words: Mr. Charisma?
In March, we brought you excerpts from this year's big LRH Birthday Event held in Clearwater, Florida. We'd been sent a copy of the three-hour presentation, and pulled out what we felt were the best portions to share with you. In the time since, we're kind of surprised that a full version of the vi ... More >>
Blogs
May 6, 2012
Sunday Funnies: Birmingham Raises the Odds on Ideal Orgs!
Scientologists don't really have a Sunday service. They like to say that they do, because they crave mainstream acceptance. But unless Xenu rested after six days and L. Ron Hubbard just forgot to mention it, there's no reason for Scientologists to treat Sunday any differently than every other day of ... More >>
Blogs
April 29, 2012
Sunday Funnies: Librarians Under Assault!
Scientologists don't really have a Sunday service. They like to say that they do, because they crave mainstream acceptance. But unless Xenu rested after six days and L. Ron Hubbard just forgot to mention it, there's no reason for Scientologists to treat Sunday any differently than every other day of ... More >>
Blogs
April 24, 2012
SCIENTOLOGY SETTLES WITH DEBBIE COOK
It's turning into quite a day of revelations for Scientology Watchers. Earlier this morning we reported that charges had been dropped against Scientology executive Jan Eastgate in Australia. And now, another stunning development: Marty Rathbun just reported at his blog that the Church of Scientolo ... More >>
Blogs
April 22, 2012
Scientology Sunday Funnies: Jake and Elwood Want Your Cash!
Scientologists don't really have a Sunday service. They like to say that they do, because they crave mainstream acceptance. But unless Xenu rested after six days and L. Ron Hubbard just forgot to mention it, there's no reason for Scientologists to treat Sunday any differently than every other day of ... More >>
Blogs
April 18, 2012
One Year Ago Today: Did the Squirrel Busters Mark the Beginning of the End of Scientology?
On April 18 last year, a man named Marty Rathbun opened his door at the sound of knocking and was presented with the sight you see here. Three men on his porch holding video cameras, and with backup cameras strapped to their foreheads. They were each wearing sky blue T-shirts that featured the same ... More >>
Blogs
April 13, 2012
Scientology Admits Connection to Slimy Anonymous Attack Websites
We've pointed out in the past that Karin Pouw, the Church of Scientology's spokeswoman, appears to be struggling, having been thrust into the role of chief mouthpiece since Tommy Davis vanished sometime last year. But her latest gaffe is more than simply an embarrassing moment for her and the churc ... More >>
Blogs
March 25, 2012
Scientology Sunday Funnies: RON the Encyclopedia -- THE VIDEO!
Scientologists don't really have a Sunday service. They like to say that they do, because they crave mainstream acceptance. But unless Xenu rested after six days and L. Ron Hubbard just forgot to mention it, there's no reason for Scientologists to treat Sunday any differently than every other day of ... More >>
Blogs
March 19, 2012
FBI Investigation of Scientology: Already Over Before We Even Heard of It
In February 2011, the New Yorker published Lawrence Wright's superb 24,000-word piece about director Paul Haggis and the Church of Scientology, "The Apostate." One of the most interesting things in the story was a revelation that made news all on its own: Wright reported that the FBI was investiga ... More >>
Blogs
March 18, 2012
Scientology Sunday Funnies: RON the Encyclopedia -- Get Yours Now!
Scientologists don't really have a Sunday service. They like to say that they do, because they crave mainstream acceptance. But unless Xenu rested after six days and L. Ron Hubbard just forgot to mention it, there's no reason for Scientologists to treat Sunday any differently than every other day of ... More >>
Blogs
March 15, 2012
Scientology's Future History! A Vision from 1969, and our Stats Roundup
On Thursdays, Scientologists race to turn in their weekly stats, and we like to do the same, looking at how the church has fared around the world. This week, before we get to a couple of press items, we're going to start with something special. One of our tipsters sent us something that we always ... More >>
Blogs
March 12, 2012
Scientology's Writers of the Future Contest: Troubling Ties to Abuse in the Church
On the eve of L. Ron Hubbard's 101st birthday, we have a story which brings together several themes we've been dealing with here lately -- Scientology's alleged abuses, its "secular" front groups, and its attempts to promote the reputation of its founder. In February, I noticed an interesting blog ... More >>

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