#ex-scientologist

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

Cyril Vosper - The Mind Benders - Neville Spearman - 1971

[whatisonthemoon]

Machine Guns Near the Church of Scientology’s Int Base or Gold Base

Ex-Scientologist Mark Headley confirmed that there are men with machine guns near the Int Base but these aren’t Scientologists, but the U.S. Government. Apparently there is some sort of secret project or base right next to Scientology’s Int Base. 

It is odd how this is seen as coincidental by a lot of them. Miles Copeland Jr. had claimed that the CIA and Scientology had a strong relationship, as well as with the MRA. 

Some, like the late Ed Coffman, believed that the Unification Church inherited the MRA’s mission and CIA support as Frank Buchman passed in 1961. 

[yesornopolls]

do you personally know any scientologists in real life?

[shiftythrifting]

[moncuries]

.

[harrytheehottie]

MY SISSTER TRYINF TO SET ME UP WITH AN ALLEGEDLY EX SCIENTOLOGIST ??????????

[gemstarb]

Watch "SCIENTOLOGY EXPOSED: NEW AFTERMATH BOARD Members - STREETS LA SERVED - Ex Scientologist SEEKS HELP" on YouTube

[mylordshesacactus]

Okay so like I'm sorry to everyone else's Modern AU Headcanons or whatever but the actual modern equivalent here is that your plane has crashed in rural Nebraska and the survivors are

You

A homeschooled goth girl who was raised in a bunker by a bunch of excommunicated Scientologists

A pissed-off bisexual who grew up in some kind of sovereign-citizen compound and has vastly overestimated her current class rankings at West Point

The disgraced son of some politician who made a deal with the mob to protect someone and then took a dive to protect his father's reputation rather than try to explain

Straight-up a human trafficking survivor who's using a fake ID to try to flee the country

Genuinely a really sweet young woman trying to get out of an abusive relationship whose shitty ex-girlfriend destroyed her highly-controlled and incredibly expensive heart medication out of spite to punish her for leaving, and who also lost her health insurance when she ran

and of course

Some guy from the Hamptons who is otherwise honestly super friendly and normal, except that he's managing his terminal leukemia by sucking the dye out of shoes and it actually seems to be working

[keybladeciel]

Now for my two cents on the drama that ensued among the Linkin Park Community.

Content Warning: Discussions of sexual assault, Scientology, and suicide

Disclaimer: I do not condone nor encourage the harassment of the individuals or anyone with their own opinion. Additionally, this statement is intended to be read with an open mind and I may be wrong at such details. Any corrections with hard evidence is appreciated. Updates to the situation will be made via reblogs.

Like many LP fans, I was happy that there was a new Linkin Park album in the works and was amazed by Emily Armstrong's vocals in the latest track. However, this news came with some awful drama.

Let's discuss the basics. From Zero will be the first Linkin Park album with newly recorded material in seven years following No More Light, the last album to be recorded prior to Chester Bennington's suicide. To receive news about a truly new album and a new vocalist is enough to excite the LP fandom.

The new vocalist for Linkin Park is Emily Armstrong from Dead Sara. When The Emptiness Machine dropped as the newest single, the controversies of Armstrong's past reared its ugly head and caused a divide in the fandom. Namely, Armstrong was outed as a Scientologist and a supporter of Danny Masterson. Cue many fans being upset, especially detractors of the new direction of Linkin Park going forward.

Armstrong hasn't discussed her views since 2013 and she has recently posted a statement on her involvement with Danny Masterson during the court hearings he was going through. She has stated that she has no longer supported Masterson following him being found guilty of rape and made an Instagram Story of her clearing the air. The hearing she attended to was in 2020. The statement below can be interpreted has her apology for this.

As for her past as a Scientologist, she's a Second Generation Scientologist (meaning she had no say in her being part of the Church of Scientology whatsoever, let alone a religion of people who hate anything negative statements about them) and was called out by one of Masterson's victims. Again, Armstrong hasn't said anything about it since 2013. Scientologists can leave their faith, but it is difficult to do so and there are several restrictions placed by the Church. (Again, they HATE criticism and negative publicity of any kind)

Scientologists tend to ignore the topic of mental health. Many fans were pissed at such a damning revelation and believed that Chester would be upset over this.

Despite this, LP gave their support and Chester's wife, Talinda showed her support in Armstrong being the new vocalist.

As for the Masterson case, many of Masterson's former friends would logically want to see him as a good person, but have cut ties with him following his conviction (Armstrong herself stated that herself. I believe that she flubbed a spot check when her Insta reveals she stills follow Masterson, but dealing with the fallout of a friend being a monster comes with its own baggage). While some have said Armstrong was involved with a confrontation with a victim, there isn't any evidence to prove this.

The instance of Scientology requires a more realistic thought. The Church of Scientology has no problems making the lives of vocal ex-members a living hell with legal battles and frequent harassment. While we can assume Emily Armstrong herself is an ex-member, she can't be vocal about it without a massive shitstorm ensuing, especially if she's part of a band that has several songs dealing with mental health, something that Scientologists actively ignore. Many ex-members have resorted to sneaking out of the Church or even Scientology as a whole in the trunk of a car. Even if Armstrong seems to be in a place to discuss her departure, she still won't be able to without the ire of her former faith. If you analyze the lyrics of The Emptiness Machine, they deal with leaving a toxic enviroment or a cult-like place. In Armstrong's case, it can be interpreted has her stating that she has left the Church without attracting a potential shitstorm, with the lyrics feeling appropriate for leaving such a place.

All in all, this is not how the new era of LP was supposed to go down, but the use of context and media literacy is how we can understand this situation going forward.

[viiridiangreen]

Was nobody going to tell me that Neil Gaiman's parents moved within a mile of the global Scientology HQs in the UK when Ron Hubbard was extremely still around & that they led the media charge against his enemies even as the cult got outlawed and L-Ronnieboy got declared Persona Non Grata & cuntpunted out the country??? And that then some horrible shit with a shady "suicide" happened and they interviewed Tiny Little Seven Year Old Scientologist Neil on the BBC as part of the associated public narrative cleanup???? And that as an adult he made his parents' lies into The Ocean at the End of the Lane????? Or was I supposed to learn about it from a random Facebook link to notorious ex-Scientologist whistleblower Mike Rinder's blog?

https://www.mikerindersblog.org/neil-gaimans-scientology-suicide-story/

[lazywolfwiccan]

For anyone asking Emily to condemn Scientology, she will likely never do so, not even out of support from Mike and the guys, but because we have seen what has happened to ex Scientologists who’ve spoken out prior. Watch Leah Remini's documentary about Scientology, they're literally under threat at all times

[edwad]

You should forget all this silly Marx nonsense and become a Scientologist or Hindu nationalist

im gonna sell out & become one of those ex-marxist fox news correspondents. i will be the greatest one that's ever lived because i wont just make vague silly claims about his evil poetry or his family life, i will quote chapter and verse and destroy him. for the low price of 1 billion dollars

[whatisonthemoon]

Aaron Levin-Smith, an ex-Scientologist, former 2nd generation member, once again offers incredible insight on Scientology but also the experiences of the second generation in the Church. I think some things he says about the differences between first and second generation as helpful and definitely familiar to ex-Moonie 2nd generation. 

[thatseventiesbitch]

If anyone is interested, last week Danny Masterson's team moved for him to be freed on bail. It will go to the judge now.

It's pretty funny.

Among their arguments:

He's lived an 'exemplary, law-abiding life' (except for all the raping, I guess??), and he isn't a threat to anyone, including the Jane Does from the trial (they have an ongoing Civil case against him claiming he/Scientology have harassed and threatened their families for years, including poisoning one of their dogs).

He's very close to his family - mother, siblings, wife and daughter - and they depend on him (Maybe true, idk - but also true that they're all Scientologists and DM has officially been declared as a 'Suppressive Person' in the wake of his conviction, which means they are to cut him out of their lives completely. In the wake of this, his ex-wife quietly left the organization. This is a whole rabbit hole, y'all).

And of course, Danny's philanthropic efforts to aid a charity for firefighters in the aftermath of 9/11 is heavily emphasized. Because, you know. That's really fucking relevant.

This goes in front of Judge Olmedo next. I, uh. I don't think it's going to get a whole lot further than that. But we shall see!

[marabarl-and-marlbara]

Olá!☺️

Sou adventista do sétimo dia. Encontrei seu blog recentemente e me chamou atenção. Li que você gosta de frequentar a igreja. Do que você mais gosta na IASD?

hello liradasilva,

i do not speak portugese(?), i used translate, though;

i really enjoy going to my SDA church, partially because i just have a lot of love for both my pastor and the peoples there who have shown me really nothing but kindness and generosity--partially, also, because i used to go to school there when i was fairly young, and the schoolmistress there (she was the only person working at the school, actually; there were only ~8 students) helped physically rehabilitate me (i had spent a period being homeschooled that left me unable to stand for longer than ~8 minutes because my legs atrophied; i didn:t really leave bed for a few years while homeschooled). as a consequence of the rehabilitation, i learned i liked playing sports incidentally (we mostly did soccer but i learned to like softball later on);

there is also just an *interest* factor with the SDA -- while i had known them from being a child and attending school there, i actually had very little idea what made an Adventist different from a Baptist (or any other denomination); just three-or-four years ago i decided i wanted to back to church and reconnect with what i felt was "my religious background" after painfully trying to find some acceptance within scientology by trying to graft myself onto the religious background of someone i loved (who was an ex-scientologist, born and raised). anyways, i basically learned SDA just-nearly could be considered a cult within Christianity depending on who you ask, and has some idiosyncrasies that i really like: i like that they have a modern prophet, i like their dietary laws, i like their segregation from the other denominations via observance of the sabbath, and: i like that i am tied to them.

i think those are all the reasons why i like going to the SDA church; take care!

[sabakos]

very weird type of guy who reacts negatively and quite strongly to any criticism of psychology or psychiatry because The Church of Scientology is against psychiatry.

I mean, this would be somewhat understandable behavior in ex-scientologists themselves, but it's funny to encounter people with no prior contact with it being negatively valenced by the tom cruise sci-fi hollywood cult I used to do cyberterrorism to when i was a teenager