Going Clear Movie Part 7, Propaganda re IRS and Scientology
transcript
Mark Rathbun:
Tony Ortega Propaganda on IRS and Scientology
At 1:05 they hit the IRS and they kick it off with Tony Ortega who says “there were 2,400 lawsuits, no only against the IRS but against individual IRS employees.” And so, the impression you get is that this was for harassment purposes because we’re doing this to hit the pocket books of individuals. Wrong. Federal law dictates the way you have to plead your lawsuit in the types of lawsuits dealt with. Freedom of Information Act, Privacy Act, etc. Under certain statutes you must name the agents individually. That doesn’t mean the guy has to go off and defend the lawsuit. He is defended by the government lawyers. But, he makes it sound in his tonality, like it is some important distinction (suing agents by name). No, it isn’t. It is a distinction with no difference. It is dictated by statute and it is meaningless. It doesn’t create any further inconvenience or expense for the individual who gets named.
Tax Exemption and Question of Religion
Lawrence Wright says at 1:09:20 says “this all leads to the question, how do you define religion?” It is a total non-sequitur because it is not even a question to be resolved in the tax exemption proceedings. That issue had already been dealt with for twenty years by the courts. Lawrence Wright says this, “the only organization entitled to make those distinctions is the IRS.” Lie. Any agency anywhere, state, federal, local has to make that distinction all the time. It is not just taxation. There are labor laws, there are ordinances in cities. It is common throughout the woof and warp of government from the lowest level to the highest federal level. The IRS does not have some special mandate from Congress that says, ‘you are the determiner of religion.’ And that is what Larry said here, and it is just an invention. It is a lie. He goes on, “its an agency very poorly equipped to do that. I mean, they are mainly accountants and lawyers. They are not theologians.” I just note an irony, nor is Larry Wright a theologian, right? But, he can riff all he wants to and he can set the anti Scientology narrative and the accepted narrative in the public’s mind as to religion in America. But, according to Wright, the IRS can’t and they are not equipped to make that determination. But, he goes on, “but, it’s the only opinion that matters.” He’s talking about the IRS. Untrue, the IRS’ opinion has not mattered since 1967 when they lost in Federal Court in the Hawaii Church of Scientology tax case and there has been an accumulating number of court precedents from Federal District Courts to Federal Appellate Courts to the United States Supreme Court to Supreme Courts in many lands that have made that question moot. It has been decided. They are like the regressives they want to roll this back to 1950. That’s what he is trying to do here. It is done. You can’t undo it. You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube. The IRS’ opinion is meaningless now (as in 1992/3) on whether Scientology is a religion or not. It is meaningless. It is res judicata. It has already been decided. And then Wright goes on, “Once the IRS has decided that you are a religion, then you are protected by the vast protections of the First Amendment.” False! And he’s sitting there like he’s taking the audience to school, because he is the expert and he knows it; yet everything he is saying here is just absolutely false. And he knows it is false, because I spent hours going through this with him and showing him and citing to him the decisions that I am talking about here.
Alex Gibney piles on like a three stooges skit
So, with that profundity, Alex Gibney piles on with, at 1:10:30 “the war ended (between the IRS and Scientology) because the IRS surrendered.” Like they literally got in their bunkered and waved a white flag. I went through this for days and gave Wright tomes of material, and specific facts, and the whole timeline to show that this was utter and complete horse shit.
Moving On Up a Little Higher 
I have it on good authority that Miscavige and the CoS have WMDs. Doesn’t that call for an invasion and toppling of the regime? 🙂
It’s apparently like beating one’s head against a brick wall to try to correct the false claims in the propaganda concerning the operations of the Church of Scientology. The same has long been true of trying to point out the falsehoods in the propaganda regarding the core subject of Scientology – its principles and tech.
A classic example of errors and falsehoods regarding the tech is Mike Rinder’s blog post today (written by a guest host). It’s filled with misunderstandings and misinterpretations.
I hear that it is bad luck when a black cat or a Scientologist crosses your path.
Everybody loved Lucy — except the IRS! (from a USA Today ad)
What gets me is the IRS is not a government agency in the first place. They are a private corporation with the purpose of collecting income taxes to pay the interest on the U.S. debt to the Federal Reserve. The Fed doesn’t print U.S. money — it loans money to the U.S. government from its owners, foreign and domestic banks, with interest.
Why do banks and their collection agencies have any authority over religious matters at all? (Didn’t Jesus physically attack the moneylenders on the steps of the temple?)
The IRS is a bureau of the Department of Treasury. It is absolutely a government agency. So….
Does the Department of the Treasury answer to the elected U.S. President or does it answer directly to the privately-owned Federal Reserve banks?
As a comparison, I recall working at a Class V Org where the Flag Banking Officer sent money uplines that the Executive Director intended to use elsewhere. The FBO is an org post under the ED — but actually answers to the FBO Network.
That question, dear Sir, can be answered with a 2 second Google search.
That’s Terra Cognitive Dissonance as I call whoever it is. Last week they contradicted their own argument that nobody was holding a gun to anyone’s head to embrace Scientology.
Now Terra is attacking Scientology processing’s end phenomena with their twisted “logic”.
“Terra Cognita” outdid himself this time. I was considering posting a comment to the effect that I didn’t even know where to begin – which I didn’t. It was that bad – even for him. But then I saw a post by “Bob G,” who I think is Bob Grant, a highly experienced old Class 8 who I recognize from his posts here on Marty’s. Bob started out by saying “I feel compelled to comment,” and then proceeded to quote and list out all the “nonsense,” as he termed it – adding more than once “and I believe you know it.” That was the impression I got, too – that the guy was knowingly distorting things.
Another interesting thing occurred on that thread. In response to Bob’s comment, several other posters started commenting positively on the tech – and there was very little piling on. That was highly unusual over there and I couldn’t help but think Mike must have deleted them (the piling on comments) – especially since I already had the feeling that Marty has impinged on him and made him more aware of the obvious ASC narrative he has been forwarding, perhaps willy-nilly, to whatever degree.
Most of what Terra writes goes from the absurd to the ridiculous.
I’ve stopped taking him seriously because he is so far out there.
I honestly think a tin foil hat is part of his wardrobe.
They ironically call it a “service” as opposed to a “bureau”. Go figure.
On the plus side, the stupidity of the “essay” allowed several people to tear it apart. The glass is half full!
Agreed.
Funny about the tin foil hat. 🙂
Right. I just looked through the thread again, and I see that there are quite a few comments “tearing it apart,” as you say. And Mike hasn’t put a stop to it yet, like he usually does, by telling posters to stop because “it’s never going to get anywhere,” or words to that effect. This is the kind of thing I had in mind in the comment above about Mike having made a change.
Marty Ratbun you rascall, I still love you
Former Scientology Film Director Mitch Brisker Speaks Out