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destructive cults

Let’s Talk Xenu (Deconstructing Scientology: Chapter 19)

Hey everyone. I’m back and this week, I really mean this when I say we have a fascinating chapter for you. In fact, never have I been so appropriately dressed for the occasion. As with every video in this series, we are taking on a new chapter of this book, Scientology, edited by James R. Lewis and featuring academics writing about Scientology. So far, whether they have been sociologists, psychologists or religious studies professors, Lewis managed to gather together a group of people who have favorable ideas about destructive cults like Scientology and whether he meant to or not, he put together a book of apologetics about it. However, this week we truly do have something so different and unique from what has come earlier, I honestly wonder if it somehow slipped into this book by accident.Read More »Let’s Talk Xenu (Deconstructing Scientology: Chapter 19)

Deconstructing Scientology: Chapter 18

Hey everyone, we are really coming down the home stretch on this series with only three more chapters to cover after this one. This chapter-by-chapter breakdown of the book Scientology, edited by James R. Lewis, has been highly educational in terms of how far off the beam some academics can go in writing apologetics pieces in favor of the Church of Scientology. We’ve covered a lot of ground in this series actually, from Scientology beliefs and mythology to its supposed contributions to the community, its outreach programs around the world, as well as some of the legal and moral controversies it has been involved in. The last few chapters have covered Scientology’s experience in specific non-US countries and this week we go to the Land Down Under, Australia.Read More »Deconstructing Scientology: Chapter 18

5 Harsh Lessons Scientology Can Teach Us

Regardless of how Scientology started, what it has become at the present is a total con job which promises potential converts a toolkit to solve the problems of their life and eventually a path to spiritual enlightenment and understanding. I say “con job” because over the past few years, it’s become more and more obvious to the world at large that Scientology is not everything it claims to be and it cannot fulfill any of the lofty promises it makes.Read More »5 Harsh Lessons Scientology Can Teach Us

Deconstructing Scientology: Chapter 17

Hello again and welcome to the next installment in my on-going series deconstructing this book, Scientology, edited by James R. Lewis and featuring essays and articles by religious scholars, academics and the like about, you guessed it, Scientology. So far, almost all of these have been purely Scientology apologetics as these scholars rush to defend Scientology from its critics, which is what attracted me to this in the first place.Read More »Deconstructing Scientology: Chapter 17

Leah Remini’s Scientology and the Aftermath review

Leah Remini has produced a new television series called Scientology and the Aftermath which will be premiering tomorrow, November 29, on A&E. I was given an opportunity to see the first episode in advance and I wanted to give you my thoughts and feelings about it as someone who not only grew up in Scientology but who worked at its highest levels as part of the Sea Org for 17 years.Read More »Leah Remini’s Scientology and the Aftermath review