Sunday, December 18, 2016

Scientology is Taking a Beating

Actress Leah Remini, a former Scientologist, has taken up the fight against the destructive cult/business in an 8-part television series called Scientology: The Aftermath on A&E.  Recently, she did a reddit AMA and she will answer more questions from reddit tomorrow on A&E.

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.