Leah, Mike and guests expose Scientology front groups

Did anyone see last night’s Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath episode on front groups?

 

I'm watching it now on rutube: https://rutube.ru/video/6b9ed9e8040b84e6c131054231ff868f/?pl_id=1306538&pl_type=user

 

Yes...it came a bit suddenly. I was surprised that they were airing a focused episode as this one now. It seemed to me a little premature when there can be a big gathering of Narconon victims and staff. I hope they do a much bigger segment on this next season and hopefully this one wasn't all they had. I guess I will inquire.

 

I doubt there will be a next season.

I just watched it myself also on RuTube and while the information was accurate, the episode was frankly boring. It lacked sizzle. Many of the episodes this season have had Leah, Mike and a few guests sitting around a table talking and they've all been not very riveting. The ratings have therefore crashed. That's why I doubt there will be a next season.

What people are drawn to are stories and conflict. Last season was filled with both. The episodes were riveting and engaging. The ratings were very good. Show got an Emmy. This year has been totally different and in terms of TV appeal it has not worked.

Not saying that the information has been bad or not educational. There's just not been the kind of episodes that draws people in and gets them talking about them with others.

ETA: Think of the above as coming from an unbiased TV critic who is not a Scientologist, an EX, or a critic because that was the viewpoint from which I was coming. Sometimes I try to be "someone else" when watching these episodes. As an Ex I personally liked it and all the participants.

 

Why do you say that?

 

Sorry I disappointed you.

 

But we had a great dinner after!

 

I don't know who you are or how it is YOU disappointed me. Personally I had no problem with the information of this episode. I liked each and every participant. I had my TV critic hat on when posting above. Explaining why I think the ratings have gone down this year and why there probably won't be a third season.

ETA: Now if say a still-in who has been on the fence watched it, or watches it, then I think the episode will go a long way in helping that person make the decision to leave. But someone who is not in, never been in, or not a regular participating critic would probably not find this episode to be interesting enough to devote an hour to.

I am more concerned about the still-ins though since I myself am an Ex. Ratings are the concern of the executives of A&E with regards to giving the show another season or not.

 

I was on the show.

 

It's not that I was disappointed, and I do not like hearing that there isn't going to be a third season. I was hoping there would be a new season with possibly a two-part segment specifically on Narconon to out them about what's really going on there. I thought they were working on something to that effect.

 

I'm COB


Edit: Crap! I can be such a clueless moron sometimes. I forgot to add:

I believed you when you said you were on the shot TINOK. Without the emogees this was of course not apparent.

 

This is not OK speaks sooth. And you were excellent on the program!

Thank you for your courage in speaking out.

The insane absurdity of what $cn’s believe about TWTH was never more apparent.

I’ll wait while the all-knowing rocket scientists figure this one out.

Amazing, the negativity that some bring to ESMB.

Of course, you’re entitled to your ill-founded opinions, but sheesh!

I’ll try not to say I told you so, NEXT Season!

 

..

For what it's worth. . .

I thought this last episode on FRONT GROUPS was terrifically interesting & informative.

Whether or not "The Aftermath" show gets picked up for next season or not, the portfolio of programs already produced are a treasure trove of cult dirty secrets, scams and treacherous gimmicks to trap and victimize unknowing marks. Well, now the world (e.g. Scientologists, reporters, attorneys, investigative journalists, friends/relatives of prospective marks, et al) can access all this brilliant whistleblowing that has been produced in such an entertaining and enlightening format!

Even if one more episode or minute of the program never got filmed, the show's online archive is one of the top 5 greatest tools to debunk the cruel parasitic hoax known as Scientology.

.

 

I agree. I definitely was not trying to be negative and I should've thought about the show/both seasons in their entirety. I was being selfish since (surprise!) I have a bit of a vested interest in what I have done to help the show so far regarding the front groups. I thought the episode was going to be different, but there is only so much information and warning they can squeeze into one hour. I realize that. I just hope enough was put out there in regards to Narconon because a lot of young people are sent there while their parents have no idea what they're getting into. Do you think so?

 

Cool. But, just to clarify, I was not addressing anything to or about you, just blithely posting random junk in my little posting factory here, lol. Wanted to make sure you didn't think I was criticizing anything you might have posted.

On the Narconnon question you posed. . .

No, it's never enough! LOL. But, I think about this like a war on scientology. Leveraging the analogy further, let's envision this to be playing out like World War II, circa 1941-1944.

Nobody had developed the atomic bomb yet. So what was left was brutal ground battles, hand-to-hand trench warfare, and worse. The Allies eventually realized that air bombardment was, by sheer attrition a difficult, exhausting--but ultimately effective way to reduce the Nazi's stranglehold on Europe until it collapsed under its own weight.

Many theories ensued about what type of bombing campaign would be most effective and efficient. Towards the war's later years, "carpet bombing" and "incendiary bombing" were found to be the most devastating. Far less frequently, a strategic bombing campaign would target a specific bridge or factory.

So! Back to the question du jour, what bombs are the most effective vs. Narconnon.

ANSWER: Any bombs. All Bombs. Because, until someone develops an "atomic bomb" that takes the monstrosity known as Scientology down in one ferocious mushroom cloud--every bomb can wreck part of Scientology/Narconnon. And some of those bombs will proliferate the damage by starting viral firestorms, interrupting the lines of supply or destroying whatever remains of the enemy's will to fight on. Just one mention of Narconnon's "deaths" might be enough to alert a friend/relative or co-worker to inform another to NOT enroll in Narconnon. Or to NOT let their precious child go near the place, at least until they go online and research all the horrible (other) information on Hubbard's malpractice malevolence.

.

 

Love your analogy!

We, of ESMB, who are intimately acquainted with the absurdity, insanity and inanity of Scientology take each week’s revelations as confirmation of what we already know from our own experience. Sort of a jaded, been there, done that attitude.
But for the much larger, never-in public audience, the stream of weekly revelations exposing the utter cruelty and fanaticism of Scientology has moved from bewilderment to outrage. The public are being simultaneously educated and inoculated, and the attendant media coverage is only adding to the Dresden-like shock and awe that Leah and Mike have brought upon COB and OSA in particular. The trans-national criminal enterprise masquerading as a religion, known as Scientology is being shut down, in one country after another. It shows no sign of abating, either.

There is an army out there; a broad cross section of America - housewives and mailmen, construction workers and teachers, blue and white collar everyday Americans, whose sense of decency and fairness and justice has been assaulted, week after week, by the ongoing behavior of the Church of Scientology. They aren’t going away, nor will they be silent.

Take a moment and reflect on just how far the ex-Scientology community has grown in recent years.

And be sure to watch tonight’s episode of Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath!

 

You didn't read my entire posts, that I expressed that I personally liked the episode and that I was giving the opinion of an unbiased TV critic.

And when I said "I am COB" it was a joke. I believed TINOK was on the program.

I hope there is a next season.

 

It's been interesting to watch these episodes, especially the one on Mace-Kingsley, with that young man describing how he was basically abused by some arsehole.

I watch them with my hubs who's a never-in, and who didn't find out until after we were married a few years that I was in that mess. He's outraged. He cannot believe they have these big buckeroos and pay zero tax and do all this crap.

And me, listening to the stories, I'm starting to become amazed that I'm NOT amazed at what people went thru. I, fortunately, never experienced that stuff first-hand, but having been Mission staff for 8+ years, am not surprised or shocked or stunned at the horrible things I'm hearing, because I know what fanaticism the cult breeds.

 

I think the timing of this is benefiting from the moral outrage at a lot of other things like Weinstein. A lot of people are fed up with institutional abuse and corrupt elites getting a pass and Scientology is very much like that.

Aftermath has also become the real and very effective "What Is Scientology" that people refer other people to for an overview of the subject and this will give it legs. It will be around for a long time and watched long after it is off the air.

 

Naturally, I have thought about this countless times, but when you said it today I saw it "in a new unit of time" (cringe!) and saw the scam in full 3D technicolor glory!

To wit, that perhaps only 1% of the money fraudulently obtained by the cult of Scientology could conceivably be qualified under the regulations that require the funds be spent "... bringing about civic betterment and social improvements." This happens not by design, but by the law of averages.

The balance of 99% of the cult's religious racket "donations" is spent on:

-- new, unnecessary, lavish buildings for the cult leader to gloat about.
-- expensive propaganda events that lie and take credit for things that never happened.
-- mega-wasteful, rockstar life style for cult leader to flout as proof Scientology works.
-- front groups that do absolutely nothing, except try to convert others into cult donors.
-- money to lavish upon lawyers, PIs, politicians, celebrities and other useful idiots/shills.
-- hate websites and criminal stalking/terrorism campaigns against anyone revealing cult lies.

In summary, the cult spends about a penny of every dollar to pay for the con games "front", to keep civil litigation and criminal indictments at a safe distance.

One penny! That's the real COGS (cost of goods sold), not the delusional COGS that they print in Advance! magazine.

Outstanding business model. For every dollar of goods/services sold, the cost to manufacture the product is a penny. In other words, just the cost of printing lies.

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