Three episodes have aired so far (Tuesdays, 10 p.m. EST). The episodes center on former Scientologists and the impact their devotion had on themselves and others. It becomes apparent that the "religion" is big business, costing members about $250,000 to achieve the highest level, and that anything short of total devotion is severely punished. Remini interviews people who perpetuated the abuse and suffered from it.
And over on Discovery - ID, a network that focuses on murder stories, the "Deadly Devotions" series reran an episode that documented the role of Scientology in the murder of devout believer Elli Perkins. Perkins refused to allow her schizophrenic son to be treated by an actual psychiatrist and instead took him to a Scientologist "psychiatrist" who prescribed vitamins. Her son's delusions eventually caused him to kill his own mother.
Naturally, Scientology denies all claims of malfeasance and insists that ex-members are disgruntled whiners & opportunists. If you've ever known someone with a severe mental illness, their anti-psychiatry stance alone should remove all doubt about it being dangerous. Check out the show if you haven't already.
7 comments:
Fitting in our post-truth world. Religion got us here.
I've been watching the series and enjoying it. Quite eye-opening, and I hope it changes some minds.
I submitted this post to Reddit/r/atheism for you (see https://www.reddit.com/r/atheism/comments/5j83ze/scientology_is_taking_a_beating/).
Today's episode of the podcast Oh No, Ross and Carrie features an ex-$cientologist.
Earlier in the year, they did a 9-part series talking about their experience with the church. (Ross & Carrie 'infiltrate' the organizations they talk about on their podcast. They explain it better than I am.)
Jack Vance, there have been almost 15,000 hits since you posted to reddit! Thanks for the linkage!
Any severe brain injury or in fact any excessive mental trauma can make anyone very vulnerable to groups such as Scientology, as well as the countless purveyors of the modern spirituality industry. It is all so very dangerous.
Woody
Hi!
Thanks for your energy on social media about skepticism and atheism. I wonder if you would be willing to do a guest blog post about my new book? I use an excerpt that is unique for your blog with a description of the book in the third person. I also have a jpg of the cover to jazz it up a bit. Alexis Record wrote an unsolicited review of my book that she has okayed to repost if you prefer that.
My book, Women Beyond Belief: Discovering Life without Religion, has just been released by Pitchstone Publishing. I have been fortunate to obtain book blurbs from Richard Dawkins, Valerie Tarico, Peter Boghossian, Rebecca Hale, John Loftus, Sikivu Hutchinson and others.
The book is a collection of personal essays from 22 women from diverse backgrounds who tell their stories of leaving religion. From various Judeo-Christian traditions, they talk about the shame, guilt, and oppression religion imposed on them and how they freed themselves from its grip.
I chose to focus on women because of the 2014 U. S. Supreme Court decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby which also motivated me to write the book. In this decision, the court decided that because of its religious views, this craft store did not have to provide certain forms of birth control to its employees through The Affordable Care Act. As a woman who came of age in the 60’s and 70’s, I thought we had this handled. I am incensed we are still fighting for women’s reproductive rights today.
I have a PhD from the University of Wisconsin and am the former executive director of the Oregon State Bar. I have a blog at www.faithlessfeminist.com, a Facebook Page, and a YouTube channel. I am on Twitter @karen_garst.
Thank you for your consideration of using a post about my book. I look forward to hearing from you.
Karen
Karen L. Garst
P. O. Box 1350
Silverton, OR 97381
503-701-8911
Happy to help. I shared it on StumbleUpon too, which is usually good for some quick traffic.
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