The weekly show where I answer questions from viewers left for me in the comments section of my Q&A videos or sent by email to AskChrisShelton@gmail.com. This week, the questions I take up are:
(1) I might be wrong, but I think you said in one of your videos that sexuality (excluding homosexuality…) isn’t that big of a deal in Scientology. I finished Jenna Miscavige Hill’s book today, and it really painted a picture of sexuality being a HUGE thing in Scientology, especially if you did “out 2D” or anything related to premarital sex seemed to be very bad thing.
P.S. Is that Age of Empires on your computer desktop?
(2) Love your YouTube channel. I see some similarity in your situation and being abused by narcissists. I wonder how you have come to forgive the fraud and abuse you suffered – how have you come to forgive?
(3) Please explain the extraordinary work ethic that is apparently instilled in every Scientologist. Surely such a character trait is to a large degree an issue of temperament. Does Scientology somehow overcome this? Or perhaps lazy people simply don’t last long in Scientology? Does this issue somehow relate to the Scientology ethos of helping the able to be more able and screw everybody else? Is that a fair characterization?
(4) Hi Chris, still loving your channel 🙂 Can you take us through a typical “emergency” or dealing with a “flap” when you were in the Sea Org, as far as the extra time/stress/pressure put on you? How frequent were these on average? Also, your thoughts on the IRS revoking the tax-exempt status of the World Literacy Crusade front group this year? Can we expect that to happen to more tax-exempt CoS front groups?
(5) It seems that many ex-cult members becomes some what vaccinated against normal bullshit to, and don’t fall in to the smaller traps of the “normal world” as brand fanboyism and tabloid journalism. Is this a fair observation and is this one of the many “real wins” of your new life?
(6) I understand that David Miscavage is now addressing himself as The Pope of Scientology. On your last question, about Tom Cruise left me with a quick question: Do you think it is possible that Cruise will ever join the Sea Org (as a rank of full Commander) and be named Miscavage’s heir apparent? It could make sense that Miscavage could be made Sea Org Captain Emeritus (ie. Benedict as Pope Emeritus) and Tom then replace him, as the Sea Org’s full Captain. What are your thoughts?
(7) In that great Tom Cruise video in which he claims that only he as a Scientologist could help at a traffic accident scene, what exactly do you think he thinks he could do to help that a regular person couldn’t? Call Miscavige and tell him to get his people to handle it? 🙂
(8) I don’t understand the concept of the “empty orgs”. What do you suppose the ultimate goal is for them?
(9) Hey Chris I have a question about pay. I know the Sea Org are paid very little but I am curious about other areas of the church. I understand that some of the for-profit areas of Scientology are paid more? Also how about the executives and OSA? What sort of remuneration and perks do they receive?
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Hi Chris! I have never found the word “love” in anything I have read or watched about $cientology except in personal stories of disconnection. It’s clear by its behavior that the £hurch doesn’t value love, and as both Hubbard and Miscavige showed all the symptoms of antisocial personality disorder neither of them ever felt love. Does $cientology ever mention love at all?
BTW, the world will be a better place if you are able to write full-time, so you are on my regular donation list. I have a small fixed income (SSI) so it won’t be much, but I hope that in combination with other donations and royalties it will be part of what enables you to do what you do so superbly well.
Sincerely,
Linda
Thanks, Chris.
We needed this very thing, (your book) some straight talk about what’s actually going on, plus background material to show how such a quiz-ackle, quack-able thing could have ever manifested in the first place. I’m pleased, happy for all the research you saved me alone, happy again to know that the word is out, no more hiding, and that there is no longer any reason to fear talking critically about the church, no matter how deep you … happened to fall. And I know without reading it that you put it all in plain English. Because you already explained so neatly how the methodology employs language to confuse (by mocking up a new “reality”) and isolate a person.
Since its inception, this church portends to be something it is clearly not.
The “church” treats the human race like a species of fish, to be consumed, and that language of theirs is very much a key element that makes the hook so easy to swallow.
I’ll be buying the book soon. Thanks again and good work.
Chris, I find it interesting that you continually bash ‘outrageous conspiracy theories’ even though you yourself experienced and grew up in Scientology – a conspiracy so big, you dismissed the possibility of such a notion most of your life. You’ve only been out of total madness for 2 yrs, myself about 8 yrs now. Give yourself more time to heal your brain and I think you will be re-assessing your opinions as time goes on, peace.
Mr Kramer is a little out of his tree.
His entire statement is an opinion, (very poorly constructed, btw, it almost makes no sense at all)
-an opinion based on an assumption that he has some ability to assess the health of Chris Shelton’s brain, at the same time he carries this complete misconception of what Chris is actually doing here.
What I see is a valueable presentation of facts about a destructive cult and how to identify it as such.
And then I see that pointless comment, pointless except to manufacture some baseless compromise to integrity, and follow it with a bit of arrogance, a comma, peace.
Lol, touch a nerve there mark?
Uhhh, yes, thanks, and first just let me apologize for acting belligerent and all. I should not do that. Sometimes I feel like screaming. Which means again I have to beg forgiveness. I an working on it, my work in progress.
Um, my point…
seems ridiculous now.
Pointlessness bugs me but like I say I’m working on it.
Mike Rinder said something I’m forgetting here. I’ll just paraphrase and say his message was basically compassion is in order. We all were taken for fools. It is going to be uncomfortable to let go of the idea that good for the greater all was NOT actually being done.
That it was all a monumental waste.
That the founder would be a fraud, that all of his writings were to achieve wealth and power and maidens by employing a trick, a massive manipulation of the mind of every forsaken conscious human being, no kidding, AND ME??? God, I gotta lighten up. So, here I am. Ok. I feel better, Yes, I have buttons…
Right,
my gripe to you was actually specific, it went like:
how do you propose to know the workings of Chris’s mind, blah blah blah…trust me next comes what amounts to some of my worst (just annoying) writing, ever, then…
The way I see it, he is just presenting facts and when he enters an opinion he points out the fact. Namely, he is all on the up-and-up.
As I’m sure you agree.
So, I don’t get you, what you are critical about. Yes, another button. I’m terribly prejudiced in his favour. He helped me to figure out in a single day how to explain why, exactly, the whole concept of scn is irreconcilably flawed and therefore useless. In fact, it is dangerous. Just look at me. Crazy guy just insists on saying really stupid things, repeatedly. Here’s a silver lining: you forgive me. Thanks. Hope this is not sounding snarky, mark out. Also I did not get a teddy bear for Christmas.
My man, I feel you with every bone in my body – we all went through the same ridiculous insanity and are doing the best we can to make sense of such over-the-top evil, and I’m dealing with the same stuff you mentioned every damn day. My comment toward Chris was out of frustration of listening to his many excellent vids but he seems to believe the ‘conspiracy’ only exists in Scientology and the possibly of it being much bigger is something that he makes adament in several of his vids as not possible and even ridiculous. I too like Chris was born and raised in Scientology, left 8 yrs ago after losing my family, my mind, my career, everything, and have spent practically every day figuring out ‘how the trick was done.’ My contention is was a comment I felt like saying to Chris to more time to look at the wider world and how mind control might be much more prevalent than Scientology , that I wouldn’t be so quick to ‘know it all’ and believe that critical thinking alone will get you there. Chris sounds like a Scientologist to me still with his banking it all on what he thinks he knows and with more time, much more will probably become clear for him. Sorry if that offends, but I can speak my peace, too. I value this man’s work and we are all on the same team, I just have my own buttons on people being so ‘certain’ and ‘right’ about things without the proper research, time, and investigation it takes to make the statements he has made when it comes to his comments on outrageous conspiracies.
I really wish you would re-watch my Why Conspiracy Theories Suck video and actually listen to the words I say. I never said conspiracies don’t exist. They happen every day. What I can’t get behind are illogical conclusions, connecting dots that don’t connect and having to make huge leaps of logic in order for certain global conspiracies to be believed, a la 9/11 Truthers and Illuminati/TLC/IMF/Rockefeller/Rothschild fanatics. The world is a much more complex place than those conspiracy theorists would have us believe. I have also stated that I spent years following this stuff when I was in Scientology and spent hundreds of hours researching and learning all about it as a card-carrying Alex Jones follower. I have paid my dues and spent my time learning all about it, so please stop assuming things about what I have and have not been exposed to. I try to choose my words carefully and try to say exactly what I mean when it comes to this stuff so people will be clear about what I’m actually saying, but I am constantly misunderstood by certain people with conspiracy agendas who cannot deal with anyone challenging their tight-knit world view. I’m not saying you are doing that, Doug, I’m merely stating what my experience with this has been. It is not my mission to debunk every stupid conspiracy theory out there because there are much smarter people than me who have already done that work. I am merely trying to encourage actual critical thinking by everyone because as I see it, it can only help.
Well, if we are unable to identify the conspirators, then
-we are forced to go along with the facts that we are left with, are we not?
Pretty much all a waste of time, talking conspiracy. It IS ridiculous, totally.
We have identified the toxic social element and it is The (so-called) Church of Scientology.
Time to take it down.
(actually, by my perception they are already falling on their own sword. All we really have to do at this point, ?, is watch the bonfire.)
Time for the profit-oriented sharks to pay their taxes, on both property and income.
Time to call these people out and demand transparency on their motives and their actions. Time to demand media agencies around the world display the difference between what scn offers – and what they actually deliver.
And,
yes, I do happen to believe that the ONLY thing that can possibly bring about salvation is critical thought. Take, as a thesis statement, that without it you are surely lost.
Yup, spoken like a Scientologist ; Critical thought is the ONLY way lol.
You may resume thinking now.
Sorry about the blob. If your knee-jerk reaction was to skip it, hey, lets see if I can whip a mini essay, for the sake of relevance here…
Title: Looking Down the Throat of Belief
Scientology is, in a sentence, a rigidly closed belief-system of thought. By that it is meant you are not free to modify the belief system and you are punished for deviating from it, questioning it or pursuing other avenues of thought in order to add to or delete from it, this system of thought.
Critical thinking is not a belief system at all. It is a system of thought that demands questions, accepts facts only after they have been questioned and evaluated for validity, the process of comparative analysis, and finally the employment of logic, which is used to again question the validity of facts. It does involve measurement. What critical thinking despises is assumption. Critical thinking believes nothing. Rather, it questions facts.
Scientology discards logic, categorically blocking outside information from the scientific community, or anyone else, by labeling it as suppressive, intentional confusion beset by “the enemy”, or whatever other means necessary to keep exterior information from penetrating into the believe system of the cult.
And, they are certainly notorious and relentless, the scientologists, as we have heard the stories now, all about the devout.
What has been learned?
Well, you may know that when any organization -punishes you- for accepting information from anywhere other than the leader… well, you are looking straight down the throat of a trap with no exit, probably a cult. All it requires is belief, belief in a single source, or belief in a single man.
I am not a cult.
Hi Chris, I think you might have missed the point of the question about profit centers in Scientology.
The whole FSM network (field staff members) spread throughout scientology at all levels are paid
I believe 10% of whatever they bring in. So therefore many hundreds of thousands of dollars are paid
in the form of FSM commissions. Some scientologists support themselves quite handsomely and many
routinely supplement their incomes regularly and some occasionally. The Profit Centers of Scientology
for scientologists are wherever one scientologist sells another scientologist a service or garners a donation. That’s still in place, isn’t it?
I don’t think I missed the point at all. The question specifically asked about executives, staff and OSA, not FSMs. The whole FSM system is still in place, although I can’t say for sure what the current percentages are for people being signed up for services. I’m sure it’s not as generous as it used to be. This is a whole different subject than the staff pay. By the way, individual staff book commissions were cancelled years ago. Now the commissions are disbursed amongst the staff pay sum so as to water down the amount staff get for selling books and memberships. Commissions are stressed for IAS memberships only.
Oh my good gracious father in heaven, Erhart!
This forsaken church gets away with slave labor, there is no other word for it.
so
do you harbour doubts?
Do you think maybe scn is not a fraud?
Not a mind manipulating, bait and switch game of fraud?
Can you give me an example, please, of scientology actually BEING what it says it is, because everything I see, god help me, it is all coming up as fraud. I need another word, there must be 50…
Con.
Deception.
Fake.
Cruel and heartless uncaring charlatans pretending to offer miracles
Carnivorous in nature, they actually eat Identities, supplant this new identity as solidly as humans can do, for a billion years…
How is saying “I am a scn-jist” any different than falling down the proverbial rabbit-hole? To me, it is just saying just exactly that and, hello, I used to be a person, someone my mother used to know.
Trap.
And, get back to work, mongrel.
Family destroying,
In fact, they will take ALL YOU LOVE in this life and wager it against you in order to keep you trapped. And you WILL say goodbye to mom and dad and all your dreams, everything given up in order to work for free the rest of your life. Go Clear. All the way to dead?
100 thousand empty churches can’t be all of them.
Aw, geeze. What was the question? Reasonable pay, yes or – for god sakes no. Slave labour. Next cult, please, and good day. Let me give you one more thing, an oxymoron to beat the band:
“The Profit Centers of Scientology”.
(bam,, i almost took up swearing there)
That one is so bad a person should be danger of being arrested and thrown in jail for inciting social injustice, just for using the phrase.
enough, mark out
Thanks for the response Chris, we agree to disagree. I can’t share your conclusions as I am not solidly stuck in the left brain/’logic’ and see far more connecting of dots by having both my critical facilities and right brain open; and I feel that left brain logic alone (critical thinking) will only take one so far in seeing what in my eyes in a very clear, obvious picture not at all dissimilar to the con of Scientology but on a global scale. I would agree with you that life is much more complex .. You seem to be quite solidly stuck on ‘critical thinking’ as the ONLY way (your words) to know and connect dots, but I strongly disagree with that from my own experiences. You seem to have replaced the Scientology ‘certainty’ with a new form of ‘certainty’ called ‘critical thinking’, and if that’s where you want to stay and as far as you wil take it, then many of the big questions and mysteries can’t be accessed from my perspective. Think what you like Chris, its your mind, but you are quite quick and dismissive of things outside your current belief system and perhaps you will see things differently as time moves on and the world changes. Fyi I have listened to all your vids including the outrageous conspiracy theories one, and I saw zero evidence of what you’re talking about, just dismissive talk that you already did all the research and concluded that the world can’t possibly be controlled by a small elite, it’s all been debunked (yeah ok), and that only such a scenario happens in cults. Perhaps give yourself more time to observe the overall cult-ure we are all born into and embedded in and not be so quick to think you know the score in this area, case closed and all that. Fyi I HATE Alex Jones, never followed the kook. You make assumptions about me that simply are not accurate. Also, least I come across too rudely here (not my intention, just trying to make my points as you make yours), I really enjoy and get a lot out of your videos – I listen to every one and will continue to do so, and please keep up the excellent work; you’re helping a shitload of ppl get out of and recover from Scientology and you’re fantastic in this area, can’t applaud this more; but maybe leave out the conspiracy for now imo. 😉
Wow you are developing!!!! One thing I’m got on my mind is the as Isness exact duplicate no two things can occupy same time place etc basic of all getting rid of mass in mind. Ron