Tag Archives: Scientology Inc

Steve and Ariel Spargo Declare Independence

To:  All Scientologists

From: Steve and Ariel Spargo

Date:   10 Sept 2012

Subject:       Resignation From Church of Scientology

 

Earlier this year I woke up to the fact that our Church management has over time departed wildly from LRH policy and HCOB’s and that the entire spirit and survival of the movement is under threat

Ariel and I believe that the Church of Scientology has become a totalitarian activity dominated by RTC, where parishioners ignore policies like Safeguarding Technology and Keeping Scientology Working in the interest of avoiding trouble.  There is no freedom within the Church to discuss whether or not a particular program adheres to policy.  Current programs have serious flaws and will not take the Church where we want it to go.

Unquestioning acceptance and money are now the priorities in Scientology and we don’t like it.

It’s obvious that management feel free to alter successful LRH programs and come up with travesties  like GAT.  It feels like fingernails on a blackboard when my friends cheerfully say “Yes, but GAT 2 is going to fix that.”  They are right back where I was for most of the last 35 years.  I had an excuse for everything.

I have never thought it necessary to say this before. But I require my Church to be motivated by the Aims of Scientology and to adhere to LRH policy and tech.  That has always been the condition of my support.

In view of the major departures we are witnessing, and the antipathy towards doing anything about it, I and my wife Ariel have decided to withdraw our support and resign from the Church.

What Now?

Although we no longer support the Church of Scientology, my wife and I are Scientologists and wish to continue practising our religion.  However we know that the Church will now call us “squirrels” and say we are not allowed to practise Scientology without their permission.

In the past, I have been completely taken in by the Church appearing to strongly support Human Rights.  Now I know it was just a public relations sham.  In fact, there is no freedom of religion in Scientology.   It’s completely authoritarian.

I would rather let bygones be bygones and leave the Church to its own devices.  Live and let live.

But we all know that the Church routinely uses legal action, infiltration and public attacks to insist dissenting Scientologists either give up practising their religion or forge an alliance with Scientology critics.  For Ariel and I, it’s a choice we should not be forced to make.

Ron always said that wisdom was for anyone who reached for it and that there should be no monopoly on the subject.  This is just one more point where the current Church management disagrees with Ron.

To Church management we have only one thing left to say.  Don’t call us, we’ll call you.

Steve and Ariel Spargo
Independent Scientologists

PS:  I have published my review of the Church at http://spargostory.wordpress.com

Miscavige Still Lying About the Headleys

Well, they even gotta lie when the truth would serve them better.

Please see the Tampa Bay Times coverage of the Headley suit fiasco reported on here and the Village Voice earlier today.

In particular see this statement by David Miscavige church of Scientology Inc. spokesperson Karin Pouw:

The Headleys asked the church to allow them to pay the fee in four monthly installments, but the church said no, they said. The church received no such proposal, Pouw said.

Now, please compare that to a letter the same Karin Pouw sent on church of Scientology Inc. letterhead to Vanity Fair a few days earlier, and particularly this passage here:

 Mr. Headley claimed he was incapable of paying the court-ordered costs to the Church.  Within days of losing his case, Mr. Headley’s attorney represented that his client could only pay $1,000 in total. Then he offered $1,000 a month for 30 months, reflecting Mr. Headley’s lack of funds.
Miscavige, did Marc make an installment proposal?

Or, Dave, didn’t he make an installment proposal?

As the late great Earle Cooley would say, how do you want to leave it?

…pause…

you can’t even lie straight in bed, can you?

The $43,000 Bounty

As reported last month, the Marc and Claire Headley vs. Scientology Inc lawsuit dismissal was upheld on appeal, see Headley Case Dissmissal Upheld.  The case however is not over.

While using the litigation process to make things as painful financially for the Headley’s as possible, Scientology Inc lawyers very carefully racked up a ‘costs bill’ designed to ruin the Headleys.   A cost bill lists those costs associated with litigation (filing fees, deposition and hearing transcript orders, etc.) that a prevailing party may collect from the defeated party at the end of the case.

What some people do not know is that when the case was dismissed by the lower court in 2010, and while the Headleys were preparing their appeal, Scientology Inc took the unusual course of aggressively pursuing collection of their $40,000 plus cost bill from the Headleys.   The Headleys had to prepare and argue more costly motions to stay collection pending appeal.  The lower court denied their motion, but the court of appeal granted it – putting collection of costs on hold pending the appeal.

Now that the appeal has run its course, and Scientology Inc has prevailed, they have added costs associated with the appeal to their bill and threatened the Headleys with aggressive collection tactics should they not cough up $43,000  pronto.

If the Headleys did not pay within a reasonable time, Scientology Inc promised it would put liens on their property, perhaps even repossess their vehicles. With two small children, and a third one on the way, the church promised no quarter would be given.

When Marc asked for a grace period or a payment plan, he was sent the following proposal:

See the full story at the Village Voice.

When Marc told me about this I suggested that based on other recent Miscavige pay outs for information on me – including one in the high six figures – Marc should take the deal, but ask for six or seven figures himself.  Marc, being the man he is, would hear nothing of it.  He told Miscavige to take his offer and shove it.

Marc went out and sold anything of value he owned that wasn’t absolutely esssential for the surival of his family.  He scraped and I bet, though he’s not the kind of guy to ever admit it, borrowed enough to pay the cult on the barrelhead.

Though Marc clearly doesn’t see eye to eye with me on Scientology technology, there are bonds of brotherhood between former members of the cult that are a heck of a lot thicker than money.   When Marc made it clear he was going to get the money to pay the bill come hell or high water, I told him I was going to recommend to the contributors to the Indie Defense Fund that we forward the balance in the fund to him to defray the hardship.

Marc was the first to expose the house of horrors that David Miscavige created, the hole at Scientology Inc headquarters outside Hemet, California.  Many have validated me for having courage to stand and speak out about those same abuses.   However,  my decision was relatively easy compared to Marc’s and Claire’s.  They preceeded me (with very little knowledge of Scientology Inc critic destruction techniques) and in fact their actions in doing so tweeked my conscience to speak out in the first place.  Marc and Claire have also given their continuing support in many ways to refugees from Scientology Inc at every level.

I think Marc and Claire are worthy of and are entitled to our support.

There is an $8,500.00 balance in the Indie Defense Fund.  Virtually all of it was donated for the purpose of handling Scientology Inc.’s lawsuit against Debbie Cook.   In keeping with my policy on donated funds, I will give people whose money remains in the fund an opportunity to participate in decisions as to how it is expended.  It is my intention to provide Marc and Claire with the $8,500 dollars remaining to help handle the hardship caused by raising the funds necessary to pay the costs bill from the litigation.  If anyone who did not already receive a refund from the Debbie Cook case litigation – whose funds therefore are still in the Indies Defense Fund – does not agree with this intended disposition of the remaining funds, please write to me at casablancatx@hushmail.com.   Tell Mosey how much you donated, when, and where to return the funds to.   Otherwise, my intention is to write a check for $8,500 to Marc and Claire.   The check will be written and sent on Monday 17 September.  So, if you have an objection write to us no later than  Sunday 16 September.

For those who want to contribute more directly to the Headleys, click here.

Who is Nazanin Boniadi?

ABC News did a pretty good job answering that question this morning:

ABC News ‘Who is Nazanin Boniadi?’

ABC’s original story on Nazanin (5 Sept 2012)

reference:  Scientology Inc. reaction.

Miscavige Gone Mad Over Vanity Fair

David Miscavige’s personal counsel has promised Vanity Fair:

The sting of the jury verdict will last longer still; far longer than any pleasure from racing to publish a poorly researched and sourced story.

Dave Miscavige, if you follow through on your threat, I will grant you power of forgiveness.   Don’t bother retaining a process server to deliver my deposition subpoena.  Save the parishioner donations, and send it FED EX cash-on-delivery.  My treat.

All joking aside, the final meltdown has become divine comedy.

The ‘church’ of Scientology has proudly posted their serial threat letters to Vanity Fair on their own website.  Miscavige is so out of touch he thinks people will think better of him for it…apparently.

A cursory read of the letters – a thorough read is impossible for someone with important work to do – demonstrates to me one thing and one thing alone.  That is, the words of one-time popular guru gone bad da Free John, describing why he left Scientology after completing its highest level of spiritual attainment, were prophesy.  He said he had to leave because the church of scientology’s:

MENTALITY OF POWER AND PARANOID, COSMIC POLITICS.

Check them out yourselves.  No other seven words can possibly describe the mentality behind them:

The letters on Scientology Inc’s website.

Previous posts for reference: click here.

More On Vanity Fair on Cruise/Miscavige

Second Vanity Fair tease on the story:  Video Taping of Scientology Celeb sessions.

The Tony Ortega Village Voice summary, including Claire Headley and Tom Devocht on Miscavige joking about the confessionals of Lisa Marie Presley, Kirstie Alley, and Tom Cruise.  Also includes Mike Rinder’s potential quote of the year:   Village Voice.

previous posts:  Cruise/Miscavige, Big Pimpin’

Maureen Orth Smokes Tom Cruise and David Miscavige

Mat Lauer of the NBC Today show went full frontal on behalf of Tom Cruise trying to put a crack in Maureen Orth’s Vanity Fair story on Nazanin Boniadi.   As you can see, Maureen just decimated Cruise and Miscavige’s best shot at covering up the truth Orth reported.

see it here: Maureen Orth on NBC Today

For back story, and more on Scientology Inc’s cover-up network, click here.

Other breaking news:

Paul Haggis decries Scientology Inc attacks on Nazanin   at Village Voice

Miscavige Orders Body Alterations for Tom Cruise’s Scientology-order Bride on ABC Good Morning America.

Nazanin and Cruise – False Report Correction #1

NBC Today ran a story about the coming Vanity Fair story on Tom Cruise and David Miscavige’s unnatural and twisted relationship.  They focused on the one aspect of the in-depth piece, the Nazanin Boniadi story, that VF has thus far teased about.  As noted Saturday, I will be correcting inaccuracies as they are published and aired by the media.

The NBC Today piece  asserted “…Cruise allegedly grew tired of her…”

Wrong.

Tom Cruise and David Miscavige had Tommy Davis and Jessica Feschback Rodriguez Davis ship Nazanin to the ‘church’ of Scientology for behavior modification because Nazanin began to put Tom Cruise into an extreme state of anxiety.  Scientologists understand this state as the ‘missed withhold phenomena’.  It is intense mental agitation caused when another person nearly finds out about a crime one has committed and carefully kept  a secret.  In Cruise’s case, Naz began to question whether her relationship with Cruise was an elaborate set-up operation personally directed by the supreme leader of corporate Scientology, David Miscavige.

Of course, we now know that Naz was right on the money.  And apparently it was Naz’ nearly finding that out that sent Top Gun into orbit.   Miscavige came to the rescue to have Naz hauled into Scientology Inc premises for behavior modification in the form of weeks of intense, overwhelming, and introverting forced confessions interspersed with hard, demeaning labor.

End of False Report Correction #1.

The Church of Scientology’s Control Over Narconon Arrowhead

Do you want to know how Narconon was really destroyed?    Here it is from somebody who witnessed it.
The Church of Scientology’s Control Over Narconon Arrowhead
by Luke Catton
Narconon in Oklahoma was the brainchild of the Church of Scientology from its inception in 1989 at the old Chilocco Indian School.  It was destined to be a PR nightmare from the start because it was a contrived centerpiece designed to showcase to the rest of the world how “superior” they were to “wog” and psych-based programs.
It was a make-wrong from the very beginning and they paid dearly with the legal battles with the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.  The temporary cease-fire of the CARF accreditation (Commisson on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities) and the ingenuity of some staff members on the Internet helped Narconon Chilocco really start to grow from the mid 90’s all the way up to about 2005.
I was sent their for underage drinking and generaly adolescent irresponsibility in 1998 and then did a program review in 1999.  There were approximately 50 and 70 students there at those times, respectively.  After training with Bobby Wiggins to give drug prevention lecutres in Boston in the fall of 2000, I officially joined staff at Narconon in Oklahoma in December of 2000.
In late July of 2001 Chilocco transferred to the IAS-funded facility on Lake Eufaula, which is now known as Narconon Arrowhead.  When we moved there were 99 students on the program.  We did everything in our power to legitemize the program in the eyes of media and government officials.  We also tried integrating more with other rehabilitation philosophies to gain acceptance, including when I joined OSASA (the Oklahoma Substance Abuse Services Alliance), and was subsequently elected by them as an executive board member representing all of the members of the group.  I requested to step down from my role as president at Narconon Arrowhead in 2004 after a little over two years holding that post, primarily because there were constant cross orders and purposes of what Arrowhead was supposed to be and do.  There was what was needed and wanted locally, what Narconon International wanted, what ABLE International wanted, and what the Church of Scientology International and RTC wanted.
These cross orders created great confusion and disruption at times. Examples include when we were supposed to host dignitaries from other states and countries, whenever Gold wanted to come shoot new footage for event videos (Miscavige loved to use Arrowhead to get more money for the IAS) and whenever someone tied to a church celebrity came to tour or for services.  For the latter, we would be forced by Celebrity Centre to write daily progress reports to them on anyone connected to high-profile CC public.  This is actually against the confidentiality law that Arrowhead now uses to avoid speaking about the current tragedies there involving the deaths of recent students.  These friends and family members of celebrities were unaware that any information about them was being forwarded to the Church.
Speaking of the IAS events, there was one where a photo of me speaking at an event was doctored with a sign to make it look like I was somewhere else. That also appeared in an Impact magazine with a caption “Narconon Takes the Lead”, regarding our involvement in OSASA.  Whenever the event data requests came in, we always had to find something positive, because if the real stats were down then those wouldn’t be reported. I had even gotten so tired of the data requests that I tried reporting the actual stats, and it confused the lower-level people at Gold who were under the assumption all was wonderful! They of course came back and said we had to find something else to spin into a positive.  In its prime, Arrowhead peaked at 258 students, 220 staff members and nearly half a million in Gross Income one week.  It then plumetted to below 100 students at one point before slowly rising to the level it was at just before NBC’s Rock Center show aired, which was roughly 170 students in my estimation, or still only about 65% of the number it once was.  Now I’d guess it’s below 150.
Regarding the deaths, Gary Smith and the executive council at Arrowhead had plans to put a medical detox center on site to have more medical oversight, and the carrot was dangled that more IAS funding would be provided for that expansion as well as a training center and expanded withdrawal area back in 2003.  Marty recently indicated that it was approved up through him and then denied by Miscavige.  After the money was denied, Arrowhead had secured pre-qualification for a loan to build the new facilities itself, but this was forbidden since the property is actually owned by a separate holding company controlled by the church.  That led to the unusual solution of purchasing an old motel in McAlester around 2006 for a training facility that never really opened and a medical detox center that just gained temporary approval from the state this year and is yet to be determined if it will get a permanent license to operate.
My point is that there is no real separation from the Church and Narconon Arrowhead whenever David Miscavige or one of his cronies decides to bypass or override something on a whim.  I firmly believe that the families currently suing or about to file suit against Narconon Arrowhead should also look at getting money from the Church because of its control.  I guarantee that any public statement currently made by anyone at Arrowhead regarding the situation there, as well as the current emergency PR and legal programs running, must get OSA approval.  That alone shows there is no real separation other than on paper. In order for justice to actually be carried out, there must be accountability and transparency.  If Narconon is going to survive, it must get back to its roots and getting real products – people no longer addicted and doing well in life – rather than focusing on money and PR.  Word of mouth is much more valuable than a photo op with a Christian minister any day.
You can read more from Luke at his blog, The Truth (As I See It).

Aggravated Assault and Battery by David Miscavige

Lest we forget what happened to Scientology Inc., watch Steve Hall on David Miscavige:

Learn more about Steve Hall at his website, scientology-cult.com.