Tag Archives: The Underground Bunker

Monique Rathbun vs. Church of Scientology

 

In January 2016 Tony Ortega, Ray Jeffrey, and Mike Rinder began a campaign of vilifying Monique Rathbun and me. Aided and abetted by the latter two Ortega falsely accused Monique (and then later me) of settling her lawsuit against the Church of Scientology. For those many who considered that a logical result for a lawsuit, he converted a mundane alleged development into the crime of the century by positioning Ray Jeffrey as a knight in shining Underground Bunker armor who was ‘backstabbed’ by Monique by “fir[ing] her entire legal team, seek[ing] settlement” and “shitting” on Jeffrey and Krew. Jeffrey attempted to corroborate the myth with friendly Ortega “interviews”, false statements to legitimate media, and ‘leaks’ of false information. Consequently, the ASC faithful swallowed the idea that we illicitly settled with Scientology as an article of faith. Long ago, I gave Ortega and krew several opportunities to correct the record. When they didn’t, but seemed to move off the subject, I allowed bygones to be bygones. But, there apparently are no bygones for one-trick-ponies. Recently Ortega was on the podcast trail regurgitating the same rot. His assclown confederates Mike Rinder and Leah Remini joined him, piling on in their own podcast and even dragged Jeffrey out from the boondocks and into the fire. As intended, all of this has resulted in yet more Remini/Rinder/Ortega/Jeffrey inspired vandalism directed at Monique.

So, as clearly invited by the troika and their lawyer, we will expose the falsity of the propaganda campaign and the ASC dirty tricks it was designed to conceal. Before I get to the meat and potatoes of the happenings of 2015/16, I’ll spend this first post addressing the freshest lies of Rinder, Remini and Jeffrey in their podcast and Rinder’s recent post on the subject. They lie at such a blinding clip it is difficult to keep up.

Rinder introduced the Jeffrey podcast on his blog with what served as the foundation for Ortega’s 4 year big lie campaign:

“While the matter was pending before the Texas Supreme Court, Monique Rathbun fired her lawyers and dismissed the lawsuit…

It came as a complete surprise to everyone.

Soon thereafter the Rathbun’s purchased a new home.”

The foundation and the narrative was completely fabricated. When Ray Jeffrey told Ortega in January 2016, and Remini and Rinder in 2020, that he was blinded by surprise with his removal, he was lying like a flatfish. When he pled that he had no idea why he was fired, he was intentionally lying. In 2016 when Ortega reported that Rinder was as surprised as anyone else by the firing, Rinder was lying through his teeth. And Ortega was lying when he quipped about Rinder’s ignorance, “and I believe him.”  In 2016 when Jeffrey dramatically pled to Ortega that he spoke out to assure the ASC bots that he did not abandon Monique Rathbun, he was flat out lying.

Their scientology home purchase tin-foil-hat conspiracy theory is absurd on its face to anyone with a single-digit IQ.  In his post promoting the Jeffrey podcast interview, Rinder discloses the deed to our home.  He states – and restates on the podcast – that we purchased it after Monique’s January 2016 firing of Jeffrey and krew; prima facie ‘evidence’ Scientology paid for our house.  He just invents a false sequence, trusting the bots will ignore their own lying eyes. Take a close look at the document. It is dated nearly an entire year before the krew was fired. This is a perfect example of what Rinder does day in and day out with ‘facts’. That he continuously gets away with it with ASC bot adoration is testament to the cult-like nature of the sect.

Remini and Rinder repeat the oft-repeated Ortega line that yours truly was unemployed and that’s the double proof of pay off. In fact, unlike Rinder, I have been continuously employed in a self-employed capacity since I left Scientology in 2004.  In fact, every penny of the down payment for our home was paid by proceeds of my employment – which had no connection whatsoever with anything even remotely related to Scientology.

What is more insulting is that Mike Rinder knew for a fact that Monique had for years been employed as a high-level executive in a major HMO prior to and at the time of the execution of that deed.  She could have easily paid for it; but didn’t have to because I too, unlike Rinder, was gainfully employed.

Rinder’s second pillar for the conspiracy theory was also used to paint himself as a victim.  (Keep your eye on the ball on this one. It demonstrates how the 25-year head of OSA – Scientology’s legal and intel arm – can act as a victim in a series (Aftermath) for hundreds of thousands of dollars.) That was his invented claims that he was set up for a treacherous backstab by Monique and me.

First, he recalls communications that could never have happened, but in Rinder’s tinfoil clad head. He said “at the same time they stopped communicating with their lawyers and fired them, Marty stopped communicating with me.” He then said that Monique and I allegedly told Rinder and Christi that they should keep their guard down because we ‘would never abandon’ them by doing “anything that would prevent us (Rathbuns) from assisting you (Rinders) in any lawsuits you may bring based on what has happened in the appeals court.”  In fact, Monique and I never spoke to Rinder and Christi on the phone. The last time we even saw them together was three years prior to the appellate court decision and Jeffrey’s firing.  Rinder hadn’t spoken to me on the phone for nearly two years before the decision and the firing of Jeffrey.  So he is either claiming I am clairvoyant,  or – as per usual for this bird – his assertion is pure invention. In either event, Monique and I have yet to do anything to this very day that would “prevent us from assisting (the Rinders) in any lawsuit” they may choose to bring whether based on any appellate decision or otherwise.

Finally, my final communication of any sort with Rinder was in response to Rinder begging me to be his phone pal; and that occurred nearly a year before the firing of Jeffrey. Not only did I reject his offer, I spelled out in detail why it was that I had no desire for him to continue to act as my lapdog. This communication was in writing and sheds light on all of the conspiracy theories alluded to by the entire tin foil hat krew (Remini, Rinder, Ortega, and Jeffrey).  All of them were quite well schooled on my rift with their ilk, years before the canning of the ethics-challenged shyster.  Here it is in full:

On 3/22/2015 at 1:30 AM, howdoesitfeel@hushmail.com wrote:

Mike,
Thanks for this.  I understand your feelings and they are
mutual when it comes to the only thing we potentially still share
in common: defense from a common source of attack. Even there we
fundamentally disagree on how it is best dealt with. Beyond that
for some time now we have gone in directions diametrically opposed.
For three years I have increasingly advocated growing up and out of
the scientology game and transcending the scientology installed ‘us
vs. them’ mentality of the former community.  That resulted in the
former crowd (indie and anti) marginalizing me and my family in
ways I find far more offensive than scientology’s overt efforts to
destroy.  To me, it was sort of like when Malcolm X said he
preferred to deal with Southern whites more than he did Northern
whites; because in the South you knew exactly where you stood,
while in the north they smiled in your face while stabbing you in
the back. Rather than get into the pointless ‘he said, she said’
drama of the ‘arc break handling’ game (a sort of covert control
mechanism in itself incidentally) to explain it all, suffice it to
say that I was plugged in enough to know exactly who said what to
whom till I tired of the silliness of it all.  Ultimately, the
experience validated and strengthened my direction. You clearly
chose to perpetuate and apparently make a living on perpetuation of
the ‘us vs. them’ mentality in the former community.  If you kept
up with my blog you’d know that I consider that regressive and
antithetical to healing and growth. I think you look at its
popularity as validating or empowering somehow. I look at
popularity as more evidence of its pernicious nature, and
ultimately its cancerous effect on growth and dignity. Out of one
pack and into another – reinstituting the mob behavior patterns
intalled by scientology in the first place.  I find that the more
people subscribe to it the less able or willing they are to reason,
heal and grow. I also consider that it strengthens and fortifies
Miscavige and the scientology organization. It is apparent to me
that even Miscavige understands that given the apparent increase in
resources to destroy our family the more I counsel people out of
the scientology fray entirely. Multiple, truly independent,
measured, factual witnesses to abuse – with no vested interest in
scientology’s demise – are far more powerful than anti clubs
obsessing and railing at every scientology faux pas. From an
exterior view, the anti movement and scientology is one big vortex
of hate. And as it continues to regress (and if you were to
dispassionately review the history of the past six years – it most
certainly is a regression) the tone, mentality, and behaviors of
the one-time ‘sides’ becomes increasingly a single mutually (or
self-) perpetuating dissonance. I haven’t drawn these distinctions
between our paths explicitly publicly out of personal respect for
your feelings and livelihood; even though appeals to continue
the’us vs them’ ridicule and hatred game directly competes for
minds that would otherwise be interested in transcendence. So, I
move on. The spontaneous emotions that NBC put on display can be
better understood perhaps now. I walk alone and I trust you
understand why.
Marty

Tony Ortega is fond of saying “Look, who benefits from what Marty Rathbun is saying. That is all you need to know.”  Right, cultic us versus them – and say nothing further – close your mind to it, thought stop!  As much as Remini, Rinder, Jeffrey and Ortega love to speciously argue about my allegedly inexplicable ‘inconsistencies’, that statement to Rinder (which has many times been verbally delivered to Ortega, Jeffrey and Remini) has been as consistent as the Northern Star for as long as they have known me.

 

Make no mistake, it is not my inconsistency – but instead my consistency – that motivates them to smear, lie about and cheat me and Monique Rathbun. That they continue to do so, many years after the fact of my apparent presence in their filthy world, speaks volumes as to the character of each of them.

 

When you see the details of what this krew was really up to in late 2015, early 2016 you may also come to appreciate how heeding my March 2015 advice might have saved one or more of these bots from becoming part of something more destructive and mendacious than those they make a living out of smearing.

Bullshit Alert: Ortega, Rinder, Remini

I just read the following on Tony “Backpages” Ortega’s blog in a story about alleged coercion with a secret dossier:

===

Seymour: Scientology enforcer Marty Rathbun was known in the organization for his brutal and unforgiving manner. Rathbun was their bad lieutenant, charged with carrying out the orders of leader David Miscavige.

Rinder: Marty told me that he did. I didn’t know that at the time, but Marty told me subsequently that he had gone to see Pat. And like, had brought more of the, ‘this is what you are going to do’ approach.

Seymour: He’s a pretty intimidating guy, isn’t he? He can be pretty forceful.

Rinder: Well, he’s intense. He assumes that he is in the position of authority and you are just going to listen, shut up, and do what I tell you. And he’s very good at that.

===

Mike Rinder was right about one thing – I was the only person who spoke with Pat Kingsley about Tom Cruise talking about Scientology. The rest is utter fiction.

First, there was no ‘dirt’ file on Pat Kingsley. Complete invention.

Second, my only conversation with Ms. Kingsley was civil and friendly.

Third, there was no agenda. There couldn’t have been, because the meeting was by complete happenstance – I happened to be randomly seated by her on an airplane flight.

Fourth, she was the one who originated Scientology to me.

She explained to me that she had somehow picked up the vibe from someone in Tom’s entourage (perhaps “secret source X?’) that she was anti-Scientology. She explained at some length her personal feelings on the subject which were not antagonistic at all.

The only report I ever made on the subject of the conversation to anyone was an accurate description of the above, and the observation that Pat seemed sincere and it was my view that a) she was not an antagonist, and b) her advice concerning the handling of Scientology questions had some merit.

End of story. I never heard of or from her again.

As to Rinder’s set up by slavishly agreeing (his only trick) with the ‘bad lieutenant’ description of me is a 180 degrees reversal of tomes of material he has written about me over the past ten years (since he ‘escaped’ from Scientology), as well as the testimony of other such ASC Bunker luminaries as Karen De La Carriere, Mark Headley, Jefferson Hawkins, et al… before they were authoritatively informed by Remini, Rinder, and Ortega that I was an enemy of their CULT.

Other People’s Lives

reference: The Anti Scientology Cult 2020

Some ASC cultbot twittered me that he thought that it was so “coincidental” that I blogged about ASC shortly after Leah Remini started a podcast series that I must be blogging on behalf of Scientology. Seriously, you culties are less intelligent than bots. Did the cultbot listen to the podcast?  If it had, it would have learned that:

  • Mike Rinder, in spite of being called out on his lack of candor in disclosing a single particular about what he did with his own paws during his twenty-years as head of Scientology’s Office of Special Affairs, had no particulars to give once again. Instead, he waxed authoritatively about acts that I allegedly did during that period. Not surprisingly, he did not even get that right in spite of me having long ago cleared that record.
  • His sugar mommy Remini was so impressed with Rinder’s mini-me routine that she said they would devote more time in their future podcasts to the subject of “Marty Rathbun.”

If cultbot were in the know – his condescending tone toward me indicated he was omniscient – he would have also known that Tony Backpage Ortega had recently blabbed about me on another podcast. As per usual, he lied about and smeared me and my wife in his inimitable smarmy style. Worse, for him and others he resurrected a propaganda campaign against my family.

So, the sequence is unsurprisingly 180 degrees opposite of what bunker mentality apparently agreed upon. As much as the troika would like to make Scientology and others obsess with them – they remain obsessed with me. Remini, Rinder, and their third leg Ortega, are like parasites. They have no lives or stories of their own – so they burrow in and suck the lives out of others for sustenance. They make a living off of disrespecting the lives of others. Other people’s lives for other people’s money. A sadistic, no-responsibility cult.

Having devoted some time to setting the record straight, I had been intent for two years on letting it ride with these mosquitos. But, having no original thoughts or experiences of their own, they remain intent on taking other people’s money by suppressing other people’s lives. They have decided that they cannot apparently make a living without me. Unfortunately that means I will need to do a little more pest spraying.

Cybercult Formation

 

How do warlike tribes resembling cults form up in cyberspace?  Pankaj Mishra offers historical, psychological, and sociological answers in Age of Anger (2017).  A short passage from that book provides food for thought and self-reflection:

The current vogue for the zombie apocalypse in films seems to have been anticipated by the multitudes on city pavements around the world, lurching forward while staring blankly at screens. Constantly evolving mobile media technologies such as smartphones, tablets and wearable devices have made every moment pregnant with the possibility of a sign from somewhere. The possibility, renewed each morning, of ‘likes’ and augmented followers on social media have boosted ordinary image consciousness among millions into obsessive self-projection. The obligation to present the most appealing side of oneself is irresistible and infectious. Digital platforms are programmed to map these compulsive attempts at self-presentation (or, self-prettification), and advertisers stand ready to sell things that help people keep counterfeiting their portraits.

Meanwhile, in the new swarm of online communities – bound by Facebook shares and retweets, fast-moving timelines and twitter storms – the spaces between individuals are shrinking. In his prescient critique of the neo-liberal notion of individual freedom, Rousseau had argued that human beings live neither for themselves nor for their country in a commercial society where social value is modelled on monetary value; they live for the satisfaction of their vanity, or amour propre: the desire and need to secure recognition from others, to be esteemed by them as much as one esteems oneself.

But, as Kierkegaard pointed out, the seeker of individual freedom must ‘break out of the prison in which his own reflection holds him’, and then out of the ‘vast penitentiary built by the reflection of his associates’. He absolutely won’t find freedom in the confining fun-house mirrors of Facebook and Twitter. For the vast prison of seductive images does not heal the perennially itchy and compulsively scratched wounds of amour propre. On the contrary: even the most festive spirit of communality disguises the competitiveness and envy provoked by constant exposure to other people’s success and well-being.

As Rousseau warned, amour proper is doomed to be perpetually unsatisfied. Too commonplace and parasitic on fickle opinion, it nourishes in the soul a dislike of one’s own self while stoking impotent hatred of others; and amour propre can quickly degenerate into an aggressive drive, whereby an individual feels acknowledged only by being preferred over others, and by rejoicing in their abjection – in Gore Vidal’s pithy formulation, ‘It’s not enough to succeed. Others must fail.’

Leah Remini and her Troublemakers, Part 2

 

The Only Good Scientologist…

 

Last year I told a member of ASC (Anti-Scientology Cult) royalty that had I foreseen the outcome of my efforts to encourage people to speak and write openly and publicly about scientology, I would not have undertaken them in the first place. I likened the majority of public Scientology discussion to a tabloid pile-on fest. Since then I have watched it degenerate from even that: from a blame-filled pity party into a hate-driven trolling fest. A relatively neutral review of the postings – and ‘discussions’ – on the go-to ASC forums reflects that.

ASC bloggers and moderators and their following regularly congratulate one another for poking sticks in the eyes of Scientologists. They don’t talk about how their blustering will reform anybody or any institution. Instead, they revel in how much ‘pain’ or destruction it will create. ASC’s media liaison Tony Ortega has taken the krew to new depths. For instance, he ‘reported’ on a woman who intentionally drove her vehicle through the front doors of the Austin Texas Scientology Church. The vehicle stopped after smashing through the door to the Scientologists’ nursery. Afterward the driver expressed regret that she had not struck someone with her vehicle. Not one ASC voice in disagreement was raised when Ortega characterized the crime as an act of “vandalism.” Ortega – and his ASC following by encouragement – demonstrated that he literally places more value on inanimate fixtures than the lives of Scientologists, including nursery-aged children.

Anyone who advocates a more objective, intelligent discussion on Scientology is quickly labelled and treated as an enemy by ASC members. Even outsiders simply reporting newsworthy facts. For example, Ortega ragged on TMZ chief Harvey Levin for months because his outlet reported the fact of the prosecution of a man who made death threats against Scientology’s leader. Ortega publically denounced Levin for “carrying water” for Scientology. Apparently in the head of the ASC’s daily anti-scientology meme creator, the only good Scientologist is a dead one. That was certainly the way he treated Cathriona White upon first news of her death; at least while he used his feigned concern to charge (with zero evidence) that Scientologists were somehow responsible for her death. All that changed when media reported facts that pointed suspicion away from Scientologists. Then, even a deceased Scientologist became fair game for an Ortega-led, ASC slime campaign.

The ASC fora are not only riddled with trolls, the bloggers themselves have become trolls. Their antics have little to do with education, imparting understanding, and least of all heroics. The latter was made clear by one ASC blogger pronouncing with an air of authority that scientology is “Fair Game” and one may “say or do anything against scientology” and get away with it scot-free.

Trolls are free to troll and no doubt will continue to do so with lots of derisive laughs, and with no sense of conscience about the cumulative effect such hate might have on others. Those who find themselves considering whether to join the ranks of troll followers who employ degradation and belittlement for entertainment might want to step back and evaluate before they get sucked into that vortex.

A couple of credible studies show that trolls are a special breed of ugly creature. Please see Internet Trolls Are Narcissists, Psychopaths, and Sadists.  The studies highlight an irony. ASC trolls wrap themselves in the ‘abolish disconnection’ flag to give their trolling some sort of noble justification. Yet, Dr. Golbeck notes that the solution to trolls is just that, disconnection. Just as modern psychology recommends be applied to any sociopath or psychopath who might cross one’s path (see e.g., The Sociopath Next Door – Martha Stout).

I imagine that is why most self-improvement, awareness-raising and religious groups teach the virtues of some form of disconnection. For more on that, see Barbara Ehrenreich’s Smile Or Die. She traces the non-denominational disconnection tradition to the Transcendentalists – Emerson, Thoreau, et. al.  – who found societal forced-connection to be oppressive. Her book is a strong indictment of that tradition which in a way makes her account that much more credible. In attacking it, she reveals that the idea that ‘disconnection’ can be considered cathartic is as American as apple pie.

The specter of someone mustering the intelligence and courage to disconnect from sociopathic toxicity is seen as a clear and present danger to ASC leadership. I have seen them resort to deceit, attempting to break up families, bribery, infiltration, propaganda campaigns, intelligence ops, extortion and blackmail to prevent people from disconnecting from their klub.

Those in ASC leadership applying such tactics are also the ones most loudly and persistently complaining about Scientology disconnection. Paradoxically, those people made conscious decisions to disconnect from the ones they spend years wailing about having disconnected from them. They campaign other well-meaning people to join them in a war that promises to mend their familial rifts. By objective result, it has proven to be an avenue that only exacerbates the problems they sought to resolve. When someone is perceived as a threat to their hypocritical racket, ASC leaders apply their own version of disconnection; one that is far more arbitrary than that practiced in Scientology. That they can make a living on such hypocrisy is an interesting study in the culture of complaint our society seems to have devolved into. By wailing loud enough and long enough any wolf in sheep’s clothing can apparently draw a flock.

Ruthless Bunker Mentality

What remarkable effects a little independent thought can produce in cyber-cultist minds imprisoned by self-imposed two-valued, us-vs.-them thinking. Tony Ortega had more comments to his critique of my review of the book Ruthless than he has had since his four-month campaign attempting to destroy my family’s credibility. He ended that series with the injunction to his followers that I was pretty much irrelevant to the Scientology world upon his pronunciamento. But, a simple posting of my thoughts on Ruthless brought his trolling legion to life, his cheerleader in chief working feverishly to spread Tony’s line onto every forum from secret Facebook anti-scientology clubs, to ESMB, to Pinterest, to you name it. A line Ron Miscavige Sr. and his co-author Dan Koon instantly adopted and represented as their own independently arrived at conclusion – their only public response to date.

In the after-flurry of Ortega’s bunker-mentality response, it was brought to my attention that Ortega and Jeffrey Augustine went on record at the Bunker in an effort to discredit my review (a weak-sister imitation of the dead agent caper incidentally, attacking but one fact of dozens shared). Both recounted an episode at my home in 2012. Per them, former scientology PIs Greg Arnold and Paul Marrick claimed to have spoken to David Miscavige. I heard a claim resembling their recollections at the time too. That is why I later asked Marrick and Arnold through their counsel to swear to it under oath in Monique Rathbun vs. Church of Scientology, et al.  A first year law student would understand the importance of such testimony on the issue of David Miscavige’s alleged hands-on involvement in investigative operations.

The lawyer represented it could not happen because Mr. Arnold and Mr. Marrick did not wish to help Monique Rathbun. That seemed odd since it was the Rathbuns who salvaged their white elephant lawsuit that had that lawyer in a desperate, groveling panic. So, what does one conclude? A) Paul Marrick and Greg Arnold were afraid to go under oath on their braggadocio because it was nothing more than telling tales to jack their self-importance? B) Their lawyer is a bottom feeding liar of the most unethical and immoral sort? C) Their lawyer was the one who did not wish to help Monique Rathbun?  Based on a lot of experience I am not at liberty to share at this time, I concluded it was a combination of A, B, and C.

To those not drunk on the ASC (Anti-Scientology Cult) Kool Aid, I have all of this documented for later laughs.

You May Be Right

The verdict is in from the anti-scientology community (ASC), Marty Rathbun is crazy.

You can read and hear all about it across several ASC forums.

I accept the diagnosis as it pertains to the scientology (pro and anti) universe.  Insanity is loosely defined as not seeing or accepting the world as it is generally seen and accepted by the majority of people.

I noted in one of my books that the most valuable thing I got from my scientology experience was the ability to disagree.  That is, freedom from the automatic subconscious acceptance of the way others might want me to see or think.  Today I value that faculty more than ever. Modern science has come to understand that people think in narratives.  They accept them and create them and then judge new experience and data against them – much of that narrative building occurring sub consciously.  I reject the anti-scientology narrative as being at least as inaccurate, exaggerated, partisan and hysterical as the official scientology narrative.  That rejection of the former in no way implies an endorsement of the latter.

I find ASC’s resort to the ‘he’s crazy’ defense/offense to be apropos for a perhaps-final teaching moment in this milieu. I will share it notwithstanding the wave of ‘he’s nuts’ that doing so will inevitably provoke.

Those who have observed me and my detractors for very long will recall that the church of scientology preceded ASC in invoking the insanity defense/offense against me.  Remember the words of the immortal Tommy Davis: “He’s a f____ing lunatic!” As truth slowly struggles to the surface as it sometimes is forced to do, I believe you will find that there were two reasons for the copycatting.

First, the folks running the ASC agenda and authoring its narrative (including the insanity defense/offense) are OSA (Office of Special Affairs) trained and bred.  They often boast of their OSA expertise.  One of them makes good money plying it; another dishes out good money lording it over people. They liberally use that acumen to attack those whom they brand as the attackers. They most spiritedly – overtly and covertly – attack the credibility of anyone who might spoil their pity party by spreading that horrible disinfectant called truth.

Second, the ASC agenda setters have not had an original thought sprout in their heads as long as I have known them (and that is a very long time).  They are and have been wholly unoriginal creatures of stimulus-response thought. I only say this after making extraordinary efforts with each to coax them to rise above such patterns – and only now that they’ve decided no good deed ought go unpunished.

And so, some of the conspiracy chatter on ESMB and Underground Bunker that OSA has infiltrated and seized the ASC conversation – requiring vigilant censorship measures by Tony Ortega and Madam ESMB – contains a grain of truth.

What remains to be seen is whether it is the old OSA or the new OSA and whether the former more effectively influences the latter or vice versa.  In either event, my guess is that the losers will be those who cling desperately to their rusting firearms (and narratives) failing to recognize that the war has been over for several years now.

Then again, both Scientology and ASC may be right, I may be crazy.

Scientology Floggers

Within 24 hours of posting Cyber Cults, the anti-scientology cyber-cult came unglued. If you haven’t read Cyber Cults and its links, I suggest you do so before reading on. The links are to three thoroughly unrelated people – also unrelated to me – who independently shared experiences of cult-like behavior from flogger (a blogger who flogs the alleged lives of others for money) Tony Ortega. Immediately, Ortega followers zealously rallied to his defense, characterizing the calmly-stated, fact-filled observations I linked to as evil-motivated “attacks” upon their dear leader. What was remarkable was the almost uniform application of an important characteristic of cult behavior.

That is taken from Steve Hassan whom the Ortega cult itself has promoted as quite the authority on cults.  It is, “Make the person feel that problems are always their own fault, never the leader’s or the group’s fault.”  Like so many hyenas, the anti-scientology cult members reactively rallied to attack in Ortega’s defense (ignoring the substance of the observations about his conduct) and viciously went after me and all three of those sharing independent experiences about their leader. We were accused of being Scientology operatives, mentally ill, and a plethora of derogatory epitaphs not fit for re-publication here.

One of Ortega’s more hysterical devotees called for censorship of myself and the other three, then targeted a facebook group (containing more than 400 members critical of scientology) as being fair game for having had the temerity to discuss the substance of my post Cyber Cults. Those pronunciamentos (and their avid acceptance and support by other cyber cultists) demonstrated most of the elements of the following additional Hassan cult characteristic:

Require members to internalize the group’s doctrine as truth
a. Adopting the group’s ‘map of reality’ as reality
b. Instill black and white thinking
c. Decide between good vs. evil
d. Organize people into us vs. them (insiders vs. outsiders)

For any who doubt these characterizations of the reaction to Cyber Cults, they can verify them by reading the thread themselves (or as much as they can stomach) at ex-scientologist message board.  While you read their treatment of the three I linked to along with me, keep in mind another of Hassan’s critical characteristics of a cult:

Promote feelings of guilt or unworthiness, such as
a. Identity guilt
b. You are not living up to your potential
c. Your family is deficient
d. Your past is suspect
e. Your affiliations are unwise
f. Your thoughts, feelings, actions are irrelevant or selfish
g. Social guilt
h. Historical guilt

This is an interesting study in extremism. As Robert Hughes aptly demonstrated in his book Culture of Complaint opposite extremes always seem to have a way of meeting (becoming almost indistinguishable in behavior). On that score, principal stars of the anti-scientology cult are warning people that it is “dangerous” to communicate with me. That’s right, it is dangerous to be exposed to ideas that don’t march lockstep with the cult’s doctrinal black and white, us vs. them mentality.  These include people being promoted by Ortega for working with him on tv specials on scientology disconnection. They apparently are so appalled by scientology’s notion of disconnect that they are actively advising people to disconnect from me.

What I have witnessed personally on the part of the anti-scientology community’s leading lights recently is behavior that makes the average dedicated scientologist seem extraordinarily open-minded and tolerant by comparison.

As a final side note, I noticed a lot of cyber-cultists characterizing my recent posts as some sort of ‘war’ on Tony Ortega and that I wish to engage him in some public debate.  That is another indication of their cult-like, insular belief that the real universe revolves around their play world.  As far as Ortega is concerned I am only preparing the ground to correct the public record he polluted for four months about my family.  He is merely one of thousands of click bait floggers plying his trade as floggers do. I have no intention of changing that – that is fundamentally who he is.  The vermin he carries water for might be another story.  It depends on how they continue to respond and not respond.

Bunkeroos vs. Scientologists

The cult of Tony Ortega has recently surpassed the church of Scientology in dysfunctionally partisan behavior.  I have obtained documentary evidence that Bunkeroos (slavish believers and followers of the word of The Underground Bunker) have been soliciting donations to hire private investigators.  The Bunkeroos are promoting the fulfillment of Tony Ortega’s published suggestions on behalf of Ray Jeffrey that the home of Monique Rathbun and her two-year-old child be put under surveillance.

What is so surreal about this situation is that had Monique Rathbun not selflessly endured similar treatment in the past, Tony Ortega and Ray Jeffrey would have long ago become Scientology road kill.  The same is true for the cluster of vermin who have partnered in the Ortega/Jeffrey campaign against Monique Rathbun.