Tony Ortega, who has been writing about Scientology in the US for over 20 years, agrees with Wenn’s assessment. ‘Those words had such a strong effect on people here, where the rise of Anonymous had made the public more aware of Scientology than ever before,’ he says. ‘Xenophon was saying exactly the things that church critics had been saying for many years, but it was stunning to hear it from a federal senator.’41
The Scientologists were stunned as well. The following day, they released a statement describing Xenophon’s speech as ‘an outrageous abuse of Parliamentary privilege’.42 The statement did not deal with the individual allegations laid out by Xenophon in his speech and the 53 pages’ worth of letters he tabled to the Senate. Instead the Church of Scientology described the senator as ‘obviously being pressured by disgruntled former members who use hate speech and distorted accounts of their experiences in the Church’.43
Senator Xenophon called for a Senate inquiry into Scientology’s tax-exempt status. Out of nowhere, Scientology was suddenly on the national agenda. The following day, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd responded to Xenophon’s speech. ‘Many people in Australia have real concerns about Scientology,’ he said. ‘I share some of those concerns. But let us proceed carefully, and look carefully at the material which he has provided, before we make a decision on further Parliamentary action.’44
Neither Labor nor the Liberals had any appetite for an inquiry into an organisation that the High Court had declared a religion in 1983. The Prime Minister’s office passed the issue on to Chris Evans, the leader of the government in the Senate. A month later, Senator Evans’s office told the Scientologists the government did not support Xenophon’s push for an inquiry because it was ‘inappropriate to conduct an inquiry into a private and, in this case, religious organisation’.45
According to Wenn, who was lobbying senators behind the scenes, Labor and Liberal MPs were concerned the spotlight could soon shift to their own religious beliefs. ‘There were too many people on both sides who were asking where would it end?’ he says. ‘They thought it would start with Scientology, but were concerned the Catholic Church might be next. They simply didn’t want to go there.’46
As Xenophon continued to lobby for a Senate inquiry, more powerful testimonies of abuse were revealed in the media. Canberra woman Janette Lang gave an emotional press conference outside Parliament House, urging politicians to act. She said she had been a Scientologist for 13 years and in that time had been coerced into having two abortions. The first time, she said, occurred at the age of 20 after her boss pressured her to have a termination. ‘We fought for a week,’ she said. ‘I was devastated, I felt abused, I was lost and eventually I gave in. It was my baby, my body and my choice, and all of that was taken away from me by Scientology.’47
In the end former Scientologists did get to testify before the Senate. Xenophon managed to instigate a Senate inquiry into the tax-exempt status of charities and religions. The inquiry was not all about Scientology, but led to a framework where there was greater transparency in the non-profit sector. Xenophon’s plan for a public benefit test on religions went nowhere. The proposal was based on the UK model, where institutions who received tax exemption had to prove they worked for the benefit of the community as a whole. The measure was voted down in the Senate with both major parties rejecting it.
While Xenophon didn’t quite get the inquiry he wanted, or his public interest test, his 2009 speech in parliament proved an ongoing public relations disaster for Scientology. His speech triggered the Four Corners program ‘The Ex-Files’. The Four Corners program was the catalyst for an investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman into abusive work practices and for my reporting on Scientology for Lateline. Xenophon’s office had access to a range of former Scientologists who had horrific tales of abuse and was able to help victims get in contact with journalists.
The Independent Senator for South Australia, who sees himself as a self-deprecating pessimist, does acknowledge his intervention made a difference. ‘While we didn’t get the law changed, Scientology was taken out of the shadows, a light was shone on them, which I think meant there was a check on some of their excesses. I think it also would’ve meant people who might have been thinking of getting involved in Scientology didn’t do so, or stepped back. I think it would’ve effected their recruitment.’48
In the aftermath of Xenophon’s speech, the Scientology brand in Australia became so toxic it came to rely on Taiwan as the main recruiting ground for local staff. In 2010, Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis told Four Corners there were ‘tens, if not hundreds of thousands’ of Scientologists in Australia.49 The 2011 census found that just 2163 Australians called themselves Scientologists, a decrease of 13.7 per cent from the 2006 census. The organisation that called itself the fastest growing religion in the world was going backwards fast in Australia.
FROM THE TIME I first met Mike Rinder, on the day he asked me to open a Scientology spy’s letterbox, his attitude to Hubbard and Scientology has evolved. In 2012, he still called himself an Independent Scientologist. That basically meant he still believed in Hubbard’s philosophies and ‘technology’ but rejected the way David Miscavige was implementing his policies. Rinder no longer calls himself a Scientologist of any kind. ‘There is absolutely no chance at all that I would sit down and study a Scientology course or engage in auditing,’ he told me, ‘but do I think that everything about Scientology is wrong? No. I don’t. I’m not of the view the whole subject is evil and should be eradicated from the face of the earth. But on the other hand I wouldn’t say there was a lot of it that is of any real benefit.’50
The transition from dedicated Scientologist to non-believer can be a complex process. When you grow up with a religion or a belief, it becomes ingrained in you in the deepest of ways. To completely eradicate all traces of that belief can sometimes prove impossible. For Rinder, writing his blog has sharpened his critical thinking and helped deprogram himself from Scientology dogma. ‘When you write a blog every day,’ he says, ‘by reason of doing it you are looking at something and discussing it, or explaining it, or presenting it, or taking some form of position on it: it forces you to analyse things.’51
Reading Bare-Faced Messiah, Russell Miller’s biography of Hubbard, challenged his views on Scientology’s founder. Lauren Wolf, one of the researchers on Going Clear, asked him questions during the fact-checking process that triggered self-reflection and further analysis. ‘It was a bit transformative for me,’ says Rinder. ‘She was a very non-judgemental person, she was exceedingly intelligent and it was interesting explaining or answering things for her and having her always challenge them. I spent a lot of time with Lauren. I think that had a role to play and I think as you become less convinced about the efficacy of Scientology as a subject it tends to change your opinion of Hubbard as a person.’52
For those who have left Scientology, one of the hardest things to come to terms with is the feeling that they have wasted large chunks of their life. Former members often feel deep remorse and even shame about being hooked in by a scam that cost them money, relationships and personal freedom. Mike Rinder is not the type to dwell on what might have been. ‘I don’t think that serves any purpose to live your life in a state of regret,’ he says. Besides, despite the beatings, the abuse and the trauma of ‘The Hole’, Rinder did have a front row seat to some pretty extraordinary events. ‘I had a lot of experiences. I did a lot of things, met a lot of people. I went a lot of places, I learned a lot. I’ve had a pretty interesting life,’ he says.53
However, Rinder does have one lingering regret, not about himself, but about what he has done to his estranged children by bringing them up in the Sea Org. ‘They were given no choice,’ he says. ‘They were indoctrinated into Scientology and today are zealots, fundamentalists by reason of their upbringing and I feel a regret about that and a sense of responsibility and sort of a sadness that I did not experience really raising them like I am now experiencing raising Jack [his son with Christie].�
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Rinder is still separated from his children from his first marriage, who remain in the Sea Org. When his son Benjamin was diagnosed with cancer he was not even told. When he found out through the media, he went to the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater to see if he could visit him. When Rinder arrived, he was met by six security guards, six private investigators on foot holding video cameras, and another two private eyes in cars circling the scene. Security called the local police and complained that Rinder was trespassing.55 He was told his cancer-stricken son did not want to see him. It is unlikely that he will ever see him again, unless Benjamin decides to leave the Sea Org.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics
ALP Australian Labor Party
ANZO Australia/New Zealand/Oceania region
AOSH Advanced Organization and Saint Hill – the place where Scientologists pay for advanced Scientology services such as auditing and training.
ASI Author Services, Inc. – a literary agency that represents the works published by L. Ron Hubbard.
ASIO Australian Security Intelligence Organisation – Australia’s domestic intelligence agency.
BMA British Medical Association of Victoria – the peak doctors’ group in Victoria in the 1960s.
CC Celebrity Centre – established in 1969 by Yvonne Gillham, the Celebrity Centre trains and recruits celebrities and marketable stars.
CCHR Citizen’s Commission for Human Rights – formed in 1969 by the Guardian’s Office. The CCHR is, in its own words, ‘dedicated to investigating and exposing psychiatric violations of human rights’.
CCInt Celebrity Centre International
CMO Commodore’s Messengers Organization – initially created to deliver L. Ron Hubbard’s messages to Sea Org members on board his ships and look after his personal needs, the CMO evolved into an organisation that manages the operations of the Sea Org.
CST Church of Spiritual Technology – the highest level organisation in the church hierarchy, whose role is to ‘espouse, present, propagate, practice, ensure and maintain the purity and integrity of the religion of Scientology’.
DEA Drug Enforcement Administration – the US drug law enforcement agency, which operates under the Department of Justice.
DoP Director of Processing
ECT Electroconvulsive therapy – commonly known as shock treatment.
FECRIS European Federation of Centres of Research and Information on Sectarianism
FOI Freedom of Information
GO Guardian’s Office – established in 1966 as Scientology’s legal and public relations unit, the Guardian’s Office also operated to a large degree as an intelligence gathering operation. It was renamed the Office of Special Affairs (OSA) in the 1980s, after 11 of its operatives were jailed for their role in Operation Snow White.
HAS Hubbard Association of Scientologists
HASI Hubbard Association of Scientologists International – the Victorian HASI was registered in Australia as a foreign company on 15 June 1955, with a head office based in Phoenix, Arizona.
HCO Hubbard Communications Office – circulates bulletins and office policy letters, as well as articles, journals, speeches and internal letters. Also, the division in every Scientology organisation that recruits staff members and administers Scientology’s ethics and justice system.
IAS International Association of Scientologists – established in Cyprus in 1984 as a means of accumulating funds outside US Internal Revenue Service jurisdiction, to be the ultimate legal defence fund for the church. The IAS has developed into a much bigger operation, relentlessly soliciting for donations, with a cash reserve estimated in excess of US$2 billion.
IASA International Association of Scientologists Administrations – solicits and banks donations for the International Association of Scientologists (IAS).
IRS Internal Revenue Service – the revenue agency of the US federal government.
LRH short for L. Ron Hubbard
MFA Movimento das Forcas Armadas – a group of left-wing military officers who pulled off a coup and restored democracy in Portugal in 1974.
OGH Old Gilman House – a building on Scientology’s International Base that became the original prison for Sea Org executives. When Old Gilman House filled up, people were moved to ‘The Hole’, a set of double-wide trailers nearby.
OSA Office of Special Affairs – the current legal, public relations and intelligence wing of Scientology, which replaced the Guardian’s Office in the 1980s.
PC Preclear – in early days of Scientology, ‘preclear’ meant someone who had not yet gone ‘clear’. Now, it refers more generally to someone receiving auditing.
POB ‘Pope on a Box’ – a disparaging nickname given to Scientology’s current leader, David Miscavige.
PTS/SP Course Potential Trouble Source/Suppressive Person Course – a Scientology course dealing with how to handle a suppressive person (SP) or a potential trouble source (PTS), someone who’s in contact with a suppressive person (SP).
RAAF Royal Australian Air Force
RPF Rehabilitation Project Force – a punishment program for Sea Org members who have upset their superiors. Former Scientologists refer to them as prison camps; the Church of Scientology refers to it as a voluntary religious retreat.
RTC Religious Technology Center – headquartered at International Base, the Religious Technology Center owns Scientology’s trademarks and copyrights, and is responsible for the orthodoxy of Scientology practices. David Miscavige is Chairman of the RTC board.
Sea Org Sea Organization – an elite unit of Scientologists established in 1967 by Hubbard. The church refers to the Sea Org as a religious order; critics describe it as the paramilitary wing of Scientology. To hold any senior position in Scientology, a person has to be a member of the Sea Org.
SP Suppressive Person – often applied to critics or perceived enemies of Scientology. Hubbard described SP’s as antisocial personalities.
SWOTs Snow White Operating Targets – programs for the implementation of Operation Snow White in different areas. For example, in Australia it was called Project Dig.
TRs Training Routine drills – a key part of the Communications Course, TRs are supposed to help a new inductee communicate better. Critics say they use a form of hypnosis. Practices included in TRs are staring at another person, repeating words and shouting at an ashtray.
VUT Victorian University of Technology – now known as Victoria University.
ENDNOTES
Chapter 1
1.José Navarro account comes from interviews with the author.
2.From entry in José Navarro’s diary.
3.Senator Nick Xenophon speech to the Australian Senate, 17 November 2009.
4.Virginia Stewart, 730 Report, ABC TV, 18 November 2009.
5.John Braniff, Cradle to Canonisation – A Short History of St Patrick’s Marist College, St Patrick’s Marist College, Dundas, 2001, p. 88.
6.Brian Etherington, ‘Early years of Champagnat College, Dundas’, Champagnat, vol. 11, no. 2, August 2009, pp. 83–90.
7.Stephen Kent, Brainwashing in Scientology’s Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF), Revised and Expanded Version of a Presentation at the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, San Diego, 7 November 1997. Published by Hamburg Interior Ministry, 13 September 2000.
8.For the schedule of the RPF at Dundas I relied on interviews with Chris Guider, Valeska Paris and José Navarro.
9.Eric Kleitsch interview with author.
10.Policy on ‘twins’ explained to the author by Valeska Paris, former Sea Org member.
11.Confirmed by Valeska Paris, José Navarro and another former Sea Org member.
12.Mark ‘Marty’ Rathbun interview with author.
13.For example, Valeska Paris.
14.For information on the Desimones I spoke to a former Scientology executive who requested anonymity.
15.Mark ‘Marty’ Rathbun, The Scientology Reformation, CreateSpace Independent P
ublising Platform, 2012, p. 39.
16.A former IASA executive told me this.
17.Mark ‘Marty’ Rathbun, op. cit., p. 38.
18.ibid., p. 50.
19.Mike Rinder statement to Tony Ortega: http://tonyortega.org/2014/04/07/shock-dox-scientologys-book-value-for-just-two-of-its-entities-is-1-2-billion/
20.Lawrence Wright, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood & the Prison of Belief, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2013, p. 278.
21.www.tampabay.com/news/scientology/scientology-amped-up-donation-requests-to-save-the-earth-starting-in-2001/1201989
22.ibid.
23.Mike Rinder More on the Vulture Culture, 15 November 2011: https://markrathbun.wordpress.com/2011/11/15/
24.Mark ‘Marty’ Rathbun, op. cit., p. 50 and http://markrathbun.wordpress.com/2010/12/10/the-hijacking-of-international-association-of-scientologists/
25.http://markrathbun.wordpress.com/2010/12/10/the-hijacking-of-international-association-of-scientologists/
26.ibid.
27.Tampa Bay Times, 12 January 2013.
28.Former Scientology Executive Debbie Cook testified as reported by Joe Childs and Thomas Tobin in Tampa Bay Times, 9 February 2012.
29.Mike Rinder’s Texas Declaration: www.mikerindersblog.org/mikerinder-texas-declaration/
30.Joe Childs and Thomas Tobin, op. cit.
31.Robert Jay Lifton, Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism, The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1989.
32.Valeska Paris interview with author.
33.José Navarro interview with author.
34.ibid.
35.ibid.
36.Valeska Paris who was on the Freewinds told me she heard a Sea Org member talk about auditing Karleen and how she was surprised she was so upset about having the abortion. Valeska audited José in Sydney and his preclear folder mentioned the pregnancy and how they didn’t want José to know about it.
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