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Our thanks to those clever folks at Anonymous, who very early this morning posted a real gem: a new International Association of Scientologists (IAS) video by our old friends in Melbourne. We can always count on the very sunny Scientologists in Victoria to give us a lift...
There's so much here to savor. We can't help thinking of the parallels to the IAS video produced by similarly fly church members in Copenhagen, Denmark. Also, Chanology Leaks points out that using an Elvis Presley imitator is particularly bad form, since Elvis elbowed Scientology in the ribs.
For those new to Scientology watching, the IAS is the church's defense fund, and individual members are under incredible pressure to donate to it. At nearly every turn, Scientologists are told that increasing their "status" with the IAS (in other words, donating larger and larger amounts) is key to the health of the planet.
For more on what Scientology's really all about, please read the rest of this story at tonyortega.org
Scientology Commercial: The Creative Director's Cut
by Bob Garfield, Today, 7:00 AM
From: Myrna Fribben, director of agitprop, Church of Scientology
To: V. Michael Carrabini, executive creative director, Hammersmith Pell & Partners, Santa Monica
Micky,
Thanks for your efforts on the script for our Super Bowl/Grammy efforts. Just wanted to review our thinking in taking your two-minute spot idea and reducing it to a :60. We believe we killed two birds with one stone here. Not only did we save about $12 million on the media buys, I believe we avoided some misunderstanding that might have ensued from your original script.
To reiterate from the meeting after which you were briefly detained and forced into extreme physical labor for 100 hours without sleep, we were all wowed by your concept of (as you put it) “taking an existing Apple commercial and making the sentiment apply to a preposterous mythology that sounds, all in all, like the ravings of a delusional sci-fi writer and pathological liar who has lost his grip on reality.”
And we’re super sorry if there was any misunderstanding when our Supreme Leader pounced on you and unleashed a furious assault of fists and components of an executive desk set. No insult was intended. This was an expression of extreme spirituality frequently misunderstood by outsiders. Please note that we have decided voluntarily to eat the “audit” charges usually applied for this level of training. A $15,000 value, gratis!
We also have to give you credit. When we wondered aloud if major TV networks would accept advertising from us, considering our long history of physical and psychological abuse, stalking, intimidation and de facto enslavement, you were correct when you replied “Does a call girl ask where the freak and his $1000 came from?”
So, lest there be misunderstandings next time around, we thought you’d benefit from seeing the results of our slight changes to your copy. Here for your review is the as-shot script, juxtaposed with your original. Thanks for your efforts, Mickey! See you at the Oscars.
[As aired] To the curious, the inquisitive, the seekers of knowledge, to the ones who just want to know about life, about the universe, about yourself. Not cute questions, big questions, ones that matter. To the rebels, the artists, the free thinkers and innovators who think less about labels and more about truth, who believe that non-conformity is more than words on a bumper sticker, who believe that knowledge is more than words on a page.
You’re young, you’re old, you’re powerful beyond measure, and the fuel of that power is not magic or mysticism but knowledge: the things you see, the things you feel, the things you know to be true. Sure, some will doubt you. Let ‘em. Dare to think for yourself, to look for yourself, to make up your own mind -- ‘cause in the eternal debate for answers, the one thing that’s true is what’s true for you.
[Original] To the curious, the inquisitive, the seekers of knowledge, to the ones who just want to know about life, about the universe, about yourself but so desperate to feel iconoclastic or special that you’ll buy into Xenu, ruler of the Galactic Confederacy 75 million years ago. Not cute questions – like, “Why do we drive on parkways and drive on parkways?” Big questions, ones that matter, like “How do we con feckless Hollywood celebrities and wannabes into forking over $350,000 for climbing the enlightenment step ladder?” To the rebels, the artists, the free thinkers and innovators, the morons, the gulls, the ambitious and the vain who think less about labels and more about truth, who believe that non-conformity is more than words on a bumper sticker, provided they strictly conform to our rules or face internment, shunning and ritual humiliation, who believe that knowledge is more than words on a page, unless it’s a page written by L. Ron Hubbard, a documented liar of such mind-boggling brazenness and scale that he may actually be a god.
You’re young, you’re old, you’re powerful beyond measure, and you have a lot of cash – we’ve done a credit check -- and the fuel of that power is not magic or mysticism but knowledge: the things you see, the things you feel, the things you know to be true. That is correct: in Scientology, much like Fox News Channel, the standard of truth is whatever you are prepared to believe. Sure, some will doubt you. Let ‘em. These are the losers who rely on “reason,” and “evidence” and “honesty” and “basic human rights.” Dare to think for yourself, to look for yourself, to make up your own mind – don’t worry; we’ll help, by telling you the approved list of thoughts your mind is permitted to consider -- ‘cause in the eternal debate for answers, the one thing that’s true is what’s true for you. Even if it’s Xenu or supply-side economics.
To: V. Michael Carrabini, executive creative director, Hammersmith Pell & Partners, Santa Monica
Micky,
Thanks for your efforts on the script for our Super Bowl/Grammy efforts. Just wanted to review our thinking in taking your two-minute spot idea and reducing it to a :60. We believe we killed two birds with one stone here. Not only did we save about $12 million on the media buys, I believe we avoided some misunderstanding that might have ensued from your original script.
To reiterate from the meeting after which you were briefly detained and forced into extreme physical labor for 100 hours without sleep, we were all wowed by your concept of (as you put it) “taking an existing Apple commercial and making the sentiment apply to a preposterous mythology that sounds, all in all, like the ravings of a delusional sci-fi writer and pathological liar who has lost his grip on reality.”
And we’re super sorry if there was any misunderstanding when our Supreme Leader pounced on you and unleashed a furious assault of fists and components of an executive desk set. No insult was intended. This was an expression of extreme spirituality frequently misunderstood by outsiders. Please note that we have decided voluntarily to eat the “audit” charges usually applied for this level of training. A $15,000 value, gratis!
We also have to give you credit. When we wondered aloud if major TV networks would accept advertising from us, considering our long history of physical and psychological abuse, stalking, intimidation and de facto enslavement, you were correct when you replied “Does a call girl ask where the freak and his $1000 came from?”
So, lest there be misunderstandings next time around, we thought you’d benefit from seeing the results of our slight changes to your copy. Here for your review is the as-shot script, juxtaposed with your original. Thanks for your efforts, Mickey! See you at the Oscars.
[As aired] To the curious, the inquisitive, the seekers of knowledge, to the ones who just want to know about life, about the universe, about yourself. Not cute questions, big questions, ones that matter. To the rebels, the artists, the free thinkers and innovators who think less about labels and more about truth, who believe that non-conformity is more than words on a bumper sticker, who believe that knowledge is more than words on a page.
You’re young, you’re old, you’re powerful beyond measure, and the fuel of that power is not magic or mysticism but knowledge: the things you see, the things you feel, the things you know to be true. Sure, some will doubt you. Let ‘em. Dare to think for yourself, to look for yourself, to make up your own mind -- ‘cause in the eternal debate for answers, the one thing that’s true is what’s true for you.
[Original] To the curious, the inquisitive, the seekers of knowledge, to the ones who just want to know about life, about the universe, about yourself but so desperate to feel iconoclastic or special that you’ll buy into Xenu, ruler of the Galactic Confederacy 75 million years ago. Not cute questions – like, “Why do we drive on parkways and drive on parkways?” Big questions, ones that matter, like “How do we con feckless Hollywood celebrities and wannabes into forking over $350,000 for climbing the enlightenment step ladder?” To the rebels, the artists, the free thinkers and innovators, the morons, the gulls, the ambitious and the vain who think less about labels and more about truth, who believe that non-conformity is more than words on a bumper sticker, provided they strictly conform to our rules or face internment, shunning and ritual humiliation, who believe that knowledge is more than words on a page, unless it’s a page written by L. Ron Hubbard, a documented liar of such mind-boggling brazenness and scale that he may actually be a god.
You’re young, you’re old, you’re powerful beyond measure, and you have a lot of cash – we’ve done a credit check -- and the fuel of that power is not magic or mysticism but knowledge: the things you see, the things you feel, the things you know to be true. That is correct: in Scientology, much like Fox News Channel, the standard of truth is whatever you are prepared to believe. Sure, some will doubt you. Let ‘em. These are the losers who rely on “reason,” and “evidence” and “honesty” and “basic human rights.” Dare to think for yourself, to look for yourself, to make up your own mind – don’t worry; we’ll help, by telling you the approved list of thoughts your mind is permitted to consider -- ‘cause in the eternal debate for answers, the one thing that’s true is what’s true for you. Even if it’s Xenu or supply-side economics.
Read more: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/193721/scientology-commercial-the-creative-directors-cu.html#ixzz2LJ3oJ9T9
Scientology exposé Beyond Belief No. 1 bestseller in Canada
Beyond Belief, by Jenna Miscavige Hill, bestseller. Going Clear, Lawrence Wright’s Scientology exposé, unavailable in Canada.
Beyond Belief hit the bestseller list at No. 1 this week on non-fiction category.
HarperCollins, the New York publisher of Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape, has apparently decided to brave the fear of libel action in Canada that prevented Alfred A. Knopf from releasing another Scientology exposé.
Beyond Belief, by former church member Jenna Miscavige Hill, went on sale without fanfare in Canada Feb. 5 and topped the country’s non-fiction bestseller list last week.
Meanwhile, Going Clear:Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, by Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Lawrence Wright, has been withheld from publication in Canada and the U.K. while Knopf completes a legal review of its libel exposure.
Going Clear has stirred up a maelstrom of controversy while its author and Scientology officials battle it out in the media. The book was No. 5 on the New York Times bestseller list last week, while Beyond Belief made its debut at No. 4.
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Knopf’s decision not to publish in Canada means the book is unavailable on mainstream Canadian retail websites such as Chapters Indigo and Amazon.ca, although Canadians can easily purchase it from Amazon.com’s U.S. book catalogue. Amazon refused comment on this apparent anomaly.
HarperCollins representatives in Toronto and New York also declined to comment about why the publisher ignored the possibility of libel action that prompted Knopf’s withdrawal of Going Clear in Canada.
Knopf won’t say when its legal review is likely to be completed and when Going Clear will be available in Canada.
There’s not much about the inner workings of the Church of Scientology that isn’t revealed in both books. Wright’s historical perspective and analysis may be more detailed and ponderous than the personal accounts in the memoir by Miscavige Hill, the niece of current Scientology leader David Miscavige, but both writers condemn the church and its practices.
In response to the Star’s request for comment on assertions made by Miscavige Hill, the Church of Scientology issued a statement denying the writer’s accounts of childhood hardship and forced labour in the church’s school system in California as “revisionist history . . . and tabloid tales . . . typical of apostate behaviour.”
Her book is “neither a fair nor an accurate account of life inside the Church of Scientology, whether in Canada or anywhere else,” Karin Pouw, Church of Scientology International’s official spokesperson, wrote.
“(The school) Castile Canyon was nothing like Ms. Hill’s portrayal, but rather a summer camp-like boarding school . . . about 10 minutes away from the church at which her parents worked,” Pouw wrote.
Miscavige Hill alleges in her book that access to her parents, both church members, was limited to a few hours on weekends when she turned 6, and that at age 7 she was forced to sign a billion-year contract with the church and was saddled with gruelling manual labour, often in blazing heat, for up to 25 hours a week. Complaints were met with harsh discipline, she claims.
School work, she alleges, was often nothing more than repeating “everything we heard exactly as we heard it,” and memorizing quotes by church founder L. Ron Hubbard.
At age 13, Miscavige Hill alleges she was told to “detail every single sexual experience, including masturbating, that I ever had,” and to hand over all personal information, including hospital records.
Tom Cruise was considered a potential danger to the organization during his marriage to “non-committed” Nicole Kidman, and kept at a distance until she was out of his life, Miscavige Hill also claims.
“About Ms. Hill’s emotional state, these are private and personal matters that the church will never discuss,” Pouw wrote in her note to the Star. “To do so would be as unseemly and inappropriate as reviewing in the open press matters taken up by priests in a Catholic confessional.
“The allegations about famous parishioners are false and absurd. They are clearly an attempt to sell copies through the irresponsible repetition of salacious tabloid gossip about which Ms. Hill has no . . . personal knowledge.”
As for the fear of libel action that has stalled the publication in Canada of Going Clear, Pouw claims the chill isn’t being generated by the Church of Scientology, which has a reputation for being aggressively litigious.
“We have done nothing to stop publication of either book,” Pouw wrote.
“We were never contacted by Ms. Hill, her publisher or her ghost writer at any time during the preparation of the manuscript. Had they done so we would have been able to correct the many documented factual errors contained in it.
“In the case of Mr. Wright, we offered from the day he began preparation of the book to provide factual information to improve the accuracy of his manuscript. He squandered this chance by refusing to participate in the fact-checking process in any meaningful way.”
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