New York Times article on Scientology

[darksumomo]

Defectors Say Church of Scientology Hides Abuse
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Raised as Scientologists, Christie King Collbran and her husband, Chris, were recruited as teenagers to work for the elite corps of staff members who keep the Church of Scientology running, known as the Sea Organization, or Sea Org.

They signed a contract for a

Comments

[darksumomo]

Oh, it already is good, and I haven't even read the comments on the NYT article. A few hours ago, a user who just got a shiny new account on Daily Kos posted the following--Breaking with Scientology - Sea Org, disconnect and ex-Scientologists--as his first diary:

The vast majority of false allegations put forward, primarily on websites on the Internet, to attempt to stigmatize the Church of Scientology, have been systematically spread by a handful of disgruntled former Scientologists, Church of Scientology staff members or members of the Sea Organization (Sea Org) -apostates(1)- who commonly have "an axe to grind."

Courts, scholars and objective and responsible government bodies routinely discard testimony by apostates of any religion because their credibility is always suspect, their anecdotal allegations inevitably motivated by personal interests, and their claims frequently fueled by greed to support outlandish and unwarranted demands for monetary compensation in legal actions from their former faiths.

He then goes on for literally scores of paragraphs of a tl;dr screed explaining why people shouldn't listen to ex-Scientologists and how disconnection isn't any different from the excommunication other faiths practice.

Instead of finding a receptive audience, he found an angry mob who want nothing to do with his propaganda. Of the 200 comments and counting, not a one is supportive. Of the diarist's four comments, three have been hidden by the users, hiding the comments downthread of them as well. Just the same, there are enough visible to non-trusted users that you all can enjoy the show.

And, yes, the users are openly trying to get the clam baked user banned. As the demotivational poster says:

[bluetooth16]

LAWD HAVE MERCY!

[darksumomo]

Yeah, because the Kossacks certainly aren't!

[red_pill]

this sentence

"Courts, scholars and objective and responsible government bodies routinely discard testimony by apostates of any religion because their credibility is always suspect, their anecdotal allegations inevitably motivated by personal interests, and their claims frequently fueled by greed to support outlandish and unwarranted demands for monetary compensation in legal actions from their former faiths."

is the crazyest thing ive ever read. you replace it with, say former employes, or former whatever, and all of sudden, you cant blow a whistle anymore. its nut!

but i already knew that. i was there when that photo was take XD

[mechanicaljewel]

That was the first London Anonymous protest. I was living over there at the time and missed it. But not the next ones!

[red_pill]

you might have seen me then. i was the guy in the skirt.

[mechanicaljewel]

Yeah! I was the one in the "People's Front of Judea" shirt!

[quizzicalsphinx]

I always smile when I see this macro. I know the girl holding the "Scientology Makes Me a Sad Panda" sign. We've since lost contact, so this is the only way I see her anymore. :(

[luvlorn]

Somebody's been looking up his vocabulary words in the dictionary. Too bad it reads like a bunch of crazy!

[azetburcaptain]

well disconnecting is similar to excommunication. And other religions do practice it, such as the Fundamental Latter Day Saints Church. But also keep in mind these religions are also cults or have a cult like leader. So.