It turns out that the 4.5 magnitude earthquake which struck Hemet this week may not have been seismic in nature. Speculation persists that it was, in fact, wee David Miscavige, head of the "church" of Scientology, throwing a temper tantrum at Gold Base, the not-so-secret armed compound north of Hemet.
It's been an interesting week for cult watchers. Inside information being leaked suggests that OSA head Mike Rinder has blown, Scieno-speak for "Mikey has left the building."
OSA, or Office of Special Affairs, is Scientology's intelligence gathering and dirty tricks department.
However, Mr. Rinder is still listed on official Scientology pages. The cult is notorious for swiftly making apostates disappear on their extensive websites, and so far, he has not become an unperson. However, these rumors are persistant.
The story that Mr. Rinder flew to the UK to handle the BBC Panorama program and failed to return has not yet been substantiated. The Panorama program did turn out to be a media flap for the cult as reporter John Sweeney was stalked, followed and harassed by Tom Cruise wannabe Tommy Davis and shadowy figures in cars. Panorama included footage of this behavior in their show, making Scientology look more like a creepy cult than the benign social betterment group their brochures portray.
David Miscavige was probably not pleased by the program. John Sweeney lost his temper at one point in the show, screaming, "You were not there!" at Tommy Davis. Immediately after the show aired, the Scientology organization burned thousands of copies of DVDs featuring Sweeney's meltdown, sending them out to opinion leaders who, unfortunately, couldn't help but notice that the selected footage was completely without reference to provocation or context. This action did not do anything to enhance Scientology's reputation.
Mr. Rinder, as a very senior member, might have decided to disappear to avoid being incarcerated in the "SP Hall," a sort of prison camp for higher-ups who cannot be held with the regular members of the Rehabilitation Project Force, where recalcitrant Sea Org members are subjected to hard labor, abuse, and reprogramming until they again love Big Brother.
The list of names of people held in the SP Hall is a who's who of Scientology management. Lawyers, spokespeople, high ranking members, all have been declared as 'Suppressive Persons,' and are being held at a facility in Gold Base near Hemet, California. Failure to "make it go right" is guaranteed to get you labeled a Suppressive Person, a status that used to come with a certificate printed on goldenrod colored paper. In the past decade, this practice has declined, as people tend to use them as badges of honor these days.
Publicly damaging Scientology's image is grounds for declaration. Indeed, nobody could have made them look crazier than Heber Jentzch, President of Scientology International, when he went publicly postal on a KFI radio show a few years back.
Poor Heber! He should have stuck with being a lounge singer.
If Mike Rinder has abandoned the Scientology organization, it will be a huge security risk for the cult. Rinder, as head of OSA, knows where all the bodies are buried. Should he decide to speak out, it will be devastating to David Miscavige's regime. He might choose the path taken by Pat Broeker, the man L. Ron Hubbard chose to succeed him. Following Miscavige's coup, Broeker vanished, while his wife, Annie, was sent to the RPF. Pat Broeker has never surfaced.
Another important event occurred last Saturday. Keith Henson was released early from Riverside County jail, presumably to make room for the flood of miscreants arrested during the Labor Day weekend. His history with the cult has been covered in previous blogs.
And finally, the news that Belgium is considering criminal charges against Scientology and individual Scientologists hit the news a couple days ago.
In 1999, massive raids were launched by law enforcement in France and Belgium, targeting 10 Scientology establishments and securing tens of thousands of documents as well as computer equipment. These raids followed a two year investigation of the cult.
This isn't the first time Scientology has seen such action. In 1978, L. Ron Hubbard was convicted of fraud, fined 35,000 francs and sentenced to four years imprisonment in France.
In 1999, France convicted five Scientologists of fraud. There were originally 16 Scientologists on trial, but critical legal files mysteriously disappeared. Legal evidence also vanished during a similar trial in Marseille the previous year.
Apparently Belgium was able to hold onto its confiscated evidence, as a Belgian prosecutor recommended the cult stand trial for fraud and extortion this week. After a decade-long investigation, the Belgian prosecutor concluded that Scientology should also be tried for practising medicine without a license, illegal business practices, violating privacy laws, and "being a criminal organization."
Scientology ramped up its presence in Belgium starting in 2003, by purchasing a number of buildings in Brussels...some right in between the Ministry of Justice and the Palace of Justice on Brussels' Rue de la Loi (street of law) and the Boulevard de Waterloo. Rue de la Loi is where the Belgian federal parliament and a host of other government buildings are located. Belgians were right to be concerned. At the grand announcement ceremony, attended by several hundred Scientologists, the event was kicked off by a declaration from the podium, "We are at war!"
Should the prosecutor's recommendation be taken, 12 individual Scientologists, the Scientology organization itself, and a front group which promotes Narconon and the Purification Rundown will face charges.
The "European Office of Public Affairs and Human Rights" purportedly addresses the very human rights it denies Scientology ex-members and critics. A Scientology spokesman refers to it as an embassy, a rather overblown term for a vast and expensive public relations facility.
""Our embassy for human rights is a showcase. Every day, we receive members of the EU Commission and the European Parliament, ambassadors and ministers from far and wide. Our aim is to throw light on what Scientology is doing beyond what people see in the newspaper headlines."
http://www.anti-scientologie.ch/...
I am sure that the Rehabilitation Project Force and the SP Hall are also showcases for Scientology's version of "human rights."
It appears that Belgium's aim is to throw light on what Scientology is doing beyond what people see in its slick, glossy brochures and extensive public relations efforts in the media and online.
The Belgian court won't make the decision to proceed until November or December of this year. It is hoped that they will accept the prosecutor's recommendation. Should Scientology be found guilty of these charges, it could have widespread impact in other EU member countries. Should they decide not to proceed, it is still a step in the right direction.
Someday, the Scientology organization is going to reap what it has been sowing for the past fifty years. The trail of destruction it has left behind in its quest for money and power is tragic; stories of broken minds, families and lives, life savings lost, suicide, death, destroyed reputations, immeasurable misery and suffering.
I hope Belgium will be one of many to shine the light of truth on this destructive cult. Under that light, Scientology cannot hope to prevail.
Will the United States be one of those wielding a spotlight?
Probably not, if the mealymouthed response from a State Department spokesman is anything to go by.
"If Belgian authorities have evidence that individuals violated Belgian law, they should take appropriate legal steps, consistent with Belgium's international obligations to protect freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. We would, however, oppose any effort to stigmatize an entire group based solely upon religious beliefs and
would be concerned over infringement of any individual's rights because of religious affiliation."
I don't think I need to deconstruct this for DailyKOS readers.
