This week, it’s answers about Scientology’s numbers, hyper-partisan politics, Scientology and the Aftermath and a lot more. Enjoy!
(1) Are the Scientology numbers dwindling because of the pandemic? Do shut-in Scientologists have a look at anti-Scientology web material while under quarantine that they normally wouldn’t have time to investigate?
(2) Why do people who are obviously hyper partisan when it comes to politics claim not to be when confronted? Are they experiencing the same mindset as cult members do when you tell them they’re part of a cult?
(3) You have mentioned that Scientology Parent was invited onto the TV show Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath but declined, and Aaron Smith-Levin has talked about an undercover Scientologist who almost appeared on the show, until they discovered that he was indeed an undercover Scientologist.
My question is this: how did the admissions process work for participants on Leah Remini: Scientology and The Aftermath? If the number of potential participants far outweighed the number who ultimately appeared on the show, how did the producers decide who would appear? And, most importantly, how to verify the precise accuracy of what participants on the show would bear witness to publicly – was there something of a vetting process or informal investigation?
(4) Do you believe you have a soul? Do you think we are spiritual beings having a human experience?
(5) Dear Chris, I enjoy your talks a lot, your recent foray into gnosticism was facinating. I wanted to ask you a question re: the self-destructive nature of cult leaders. Last summer I did a pile of video research on Hubbard, Nixon, and Jim Jones, looking for common threads. One conclusion I came to was that there seemed to be a feedback loop created by the escalation of belief by followers & the escalation of self-loathing of the leader, that in Jones case led to mass deaths. It seemed like Jones own awareness that he was a fraud is what made him order the mass suicide, ie- better to kill everyone than be exposed & disappoint. But at the same time, it seemed Jones also had deep resentments toward his followers, that they were dupes for believing in him, so it was fine for him to punish them.
My question is, is there a name for this kind of syndrome? And do you think Hubbard resented his followers in a way for not seeing through him?