Moving On Up a Little Higher

We concluded the last post here, Scientology and Misogyny, with the following words:

Regardless, there is little question that the church of Scientology and its 30-year-tenured supreme leader David Miscavige are so misogynist as to qualify as anachronistic, if not outside of the law and boundaries of common societal mores on the subject of the sexes.  We will shed more light on this subject over the next several days.

Now, let’s address some facts.

Lori Hodgson visited with us in April 2011.  She was there on 18 April when the Squirrelbusters (SQBs) first arrived.   I had already just learned quite a bit about the leaders of the original SQB crew prior to their arrival. That is because one of the reasons for Lori’s visit was to heal from the terror they had already individually and collectively visited upon Lori.  I was going to publish this article while Lori was with us, but we held off because Lori considered it might not help at that time in her ongoing efforts to reunite with her two children that had recently been estranged from her.  We both agree that publication is now appropriate.

Hearing Lori’s story in full reminded me quite a bit of the Clint Eastwood directed movie Changeling. Eastwood accurately and brutally depicts early/mid 20th Century psychiatry used as a corrupt, political tool by the powerful and greedy. The movie is based on a true story.  Watching it a second time, and comparing it against what Lori and others have been subjected to by the church of Scientology made me recognize that Scientology has come full circle. In some ways it has become worse than that which it so blindly and aggressively resisted for so long: 1950’s institutional psychiatry.

Lori Hodgson did not have her family knocked apart by random, unfortunate circumstances.  She was subjected to Black Dianetics in the worst sense of the word, including Pain, Drug and Hypnosis techniques.   It was carefully planned, artfully and then overtly and quite intentionally executed.

Two key characters in this story were participants on the bizarre raid on my home conducted on April 18th 2011 (which raids continued unabated daily for 199 days), see Squirrelbusters: Day One.  Mark Warlick, the silent one, with the camera at the bottom of the stairs, was the Director of Special Affairs Los Gatos Scientology Organization that day. John Allender was the gang leader – a go-to OSA (Office of Special Affairs –the dirty tricks and propaganda arm of corporate Scientology) field operative.  Allender’s ‘security rating’ as an OSA operative was certified by Warlick with these words, ‘I trust him with my life.’

Lori’s former husband is a man by the name of Jim Leake.  He is pals with Allender and Warlick, mainly by virtue of being a good, reliable, ‘OSA-volunteering’ Scientologist in the San Jose area. John Allender’s wife Lynda – as “Senior Case Supervisor” was overseeing Lori’s Case Supervisor (the Scientology authority who closely supervises auditing sessions, including the intimate states of her client’s minds) through much of her “auditing” in the church.

These characters – and others – conspired over three years to steal Lori’s daughter and son, protect a dead beat dad (whom many states prosecute and jail for extended periods of time), and intimidate so as to obstruct Lori from exercising her legal rights to remedy the injustices.  All the while they used Scientology ‘philosophy’ and ‘technology’ to cave her in in an effort to make her think it was she that was lacking spiritually and mentally in demanding that truth and justice prevail. Just as institutional psychiatry was used in dealing with the woman portrayed by Angelina Jolie in Changeling.

In late 2008 – while in the middle of her Dianetics auditing program with the Church of Scientology (as supervised by Lynda Allender), Lori required invasive knee surgery.   The first surgery was a gross case of medical malpractice.   The problem that was supposed to be cured was exacerbated, leaving Lori crippled and in chronic pain.  But Lori was discouraged from seeking redress, since the  doctor was a renowned surgeon whose former wife and two kids were on staff at Los Gatos org.   He was known not to be too happy with that state of affairs and apparently the church didn’t want that sleeping dog disturbed.  Lori had the first surgery corrected in 2009 – which involved extremely intense work to remove the previous surgical product and replace it properly.   Both surgeries necessitated Lori taking pain killers over extended periods.

While Lori was being hooked up to IVs with pain killing drugs in preparation for the  (first) extensive knee surgery, her former husband Jim Leake was frantically attempting to solve his several year old potential criminal prosecution for violation of dead beat dad statutes.  Jim had been in continual arrears on child support for the daughter and son Lori had born and raised, since shortly after 2006 (Lori divorced Jim in 2002.) Jim was creating that debt while continually pitching in at every insistence by the likes of the Allenders and Warlick and their Scientology brethren.  Jim’s solution fit hand in glove with the intentions of the Scientology organization.  And pursuant to the Scientology ethics system, since Jim’s aims paralleled the Scientology organization interests, he would be backed by the full power of the organization and Lori would be treated as fair game for personal destruction.

Through brainwashing, coercion and fear tactics Jim was seeking to get Lori’s children into the Sea Org, before they developed the maturity to evaluate right and wrong for themselves. In this scenario Scientology would win netting two new second generation Scientologists for a lifetime of unpaid labor, and Jim would win, ‘because how is Lori going to demand child support when he’s deposited both of their children (without a proper education) into Scientology’s ‘religious’ order?’

Before Lori’s surgery ordeal Jim and the Scientology org had already accomplished this with Lori’s then-15 year old daughter Jessica.  One day she announced to her mother that she would never go to school again. That was when Jessica was an honor student and was clearly enjoying her traditional education.  It was also after high pressure recruitment sessions Jim arranged with Los Gatos org staff.   After 6 months of fighting this Lori finally agreed that her daughter could go to a Scientology school to finish High School.  Little did she know that recruiters had arranged for, and executed, her daughter to ‘graduate’ in 3 months at the age of 16 and signed a five-year Scientology staff contract.  That same year her daughter got home sick while on full-time study at Flag and came home to San Jose; she was straddled with a 12-13,000 dollar debt at age 16.

While Lori was flat on her back recovering from (her 1st) surgery, Jim took Lori’s 15 year old son Jeremy to a three hour high-pressure session with Sea Org recruiters.  Following the event, Jim and Scientology recruiters sent Jeremy to Lori’s house demanding that she sign away her parental rights so that he could join the Sea Org.  While Lori was recovering, in intense pain and while on heavy pain killers, Jim and the recruiters kept sending Jeremy after Lori pestering her to sign the papers.  Finally, a group of Sea Org recruiters arrived unannounced at Lori’s home, and while she was in excruciating pain in the bathroom, they pounded on her front door shouting and demanding entry (much like the Allender crew did at my home on April 18th 2011).  Lori attempted to protest this activity, but her own auditor – the one working under the Snr C/S Lynda Allender – persuaded her to shut up. Lori continued to protest, but Lynda Allender (Senior C/S) ignored her pleas and ordered her to focus on her ‘Scientology assists.’

Just two weeks before the second surgery Lori finally succumbed to the collective pressure and complied with demands that she sign parental consent for Jeremy to join the Sea Org.

After the messy, complicated second knee surgery, on day two in recovery at the hospital, Lori’s daughter was sent in to tell her mother ‘good bye’, informing she was leaving for the Sea Organization (to fulfill a billion year contract she had signed).

Jeremy  lasted only 7 months in the Sea Org.  He cried many nights to come home, but never was allowed to tell his mom.  He finally did come home.  But when she tried to remedy whatever he had experienced in the Sea Org that caused him so much terror and grief, she was rebuffed because Jeremy was forced to sign a non-disclosure bond that threatened him with a $3 million fine if he told his mother anything about his Sea Org experience.

Jessica lasted even less time in the Sea Org.

After recovering, Lori attempted to pursue Jim Leake for his nearly two years of delinquent child support payments.  The Director of Special Affairs Mark Warlick stalled her from going to court using Scientology policy against ‘suing’ fellow Scientologists as authority. Finally, in 2010 Lori began to educate herself on the Black Dianetics nature of the Scientologist church.  She traveled to Corpus Christi for a few day visit with Carol Kramer, Mosey and myself.   She resolved to return to utilize Dianetics and Scientology techniques to remedy her engrammic Scientology church experiences.

Lori with Monique and Carol at Casablanca

Within a day of her return to San Jose Lori was stalked, assaulted, and threatened by John Allender.   Allender hid in the (parking lot) by her office and spied on her for hours. When he saw her leave for the day and that she was alone, he assaulted her and threatened her in the parking lot, asking ‘how do you like beatings?’

Lori’s daughter Jessica and son Jeremy were then put into long, mind control sessions with Rick Melrose at the San Jose Mission.  Rick with the help of Jim Leake, convinced Jessica and Jeremy to disconnect from their mother.  They also convinced them that Lori was “imagining” that John Allender had assaulted her, that there was something wrong mentally with Lori. Jeremy was so viciously brainwashed that he coolly looked Lori in the eye and told her that it was her reactive mind telling her that Allender had assaulted her. Taking the pre-1950s psychiatric abuse of Changeling to a whole new level, not only the ‘practitioners’, but the child of the target was recruited  to convince his truth-telling mother that she was crazy.

On the morning of 18 April 2011, Lori and I had a long counseling session where we addressed all of the above – attempting to mitigate and repair the pain and suffering she had been subjected to.   When we broke for lunch, the Scientology team of Allender, Warlick and two other thugs with cameras – dressed out of some ugly, nightmarish implant – stormed my home.   The very day of the raid Lori received papers from Jim Leake’s attorney – clearly paid for by the church or at its direction – since Leake cannot even see fit to pay for his children’s upbringing.  The papers announced Jim was going to vigorously oppose Lori’s attempt to have her rights vindicated in court.   The four creeps being sent to Corpus Christi was clearly timed to prevent Lori’s personal recovery and also to intimidate her into dropping charges that were pending – an attempt to cut her  trip short so that she would have to return home to continue her legal battle against dead beat Leake.

Many people have speculated why I momentarily appeared to lose my temper during this incident and rip the microphone out of Allender’s hand when I learned his identity.   Perhaps this sheds more light on the context.  Less than ten minutes earlier Lori had run through Allender’s previous stalking and threats leveled against her in San Jose. Lori was frighteningly watching and listening to this entire incident as it was happening right outside her window in the downstairs apartment just behind me in the video.

Lori pursued the court action to remedy the law mandated 60% child custody Lori was deprived of by Scientology and Leake’s causing Jeremy and Jessica to disconnect from their mother.  Lori also sought to raise the issue of her son being made to sign a $3 million gag order upon leaving the Sea Org. Scientology and Leake ultimately dragged out the war against Lori until after her son Jeremy turned 18.  While Lori was awarded financial restitution, by the time Jeremy turned eighteen the court was powerless to do anything about the forced disconnection of her children.

To appreciate how Scientology has come to the complete dramatization of becoming that which it so vigorously resisted, please watch the movie Changeling.  Please review the facts here.  Please confront what has happened to your erstwhile “church.” It has apparently become an institution resembling the mid 20th century state institutional psychiatry it spends millions railing against. Wake up.