The weekly show where I answer questions from viewers left in the comments section of my Q&A videos or sent by email at AskChrisShelton@gmail.com. This week, the questions I take up are:
(1) David Miscavige has a reported financial worth of $50 million dollars (U.S.) as reported by many agencies (I simply typed in “David Miscavige net worth” in the Google searchbar to find this figure) – how is this possible if he takes a minimal salary as head of the Church? How has he amassed this fortune? I really can’t fathom it. Do you think this is an accurate figure? Or is it a “public” figure and his real wealth is more, hidden away in other countries, etc, perhaps real estate, gold bullion (as one book theorized) or other assets? Does he earn or take a commission on donations to the International Association of Scientologists?
(2) I wondered if you might address the ability of public Scientologists to restrict what they see or read, at the behest of other Scientologists and the organisation and how their standards in real life aren’t applied to their religion. This is true of many believers, where standards of evidence for taking medicines, buying stocks or how safe a car is aren’t applied to the most important spiritual questions like: is there a god?
I can’t understand how Scientologists can run successful businesses and interact with Joe Public and the world at large, yet still remain in a bubble.
How can they not compare the success of their own business marketing campaigns to the sheer lack of outward advertising by Scientology? If I were a business owner, I’d be expecting enormous results from millions of dollars worth of fundraising to ‘disseminate’. I’d expect to see Scientology splashed across bus shelters and taxis and park benches in my daily life. They must know the costs of their own marketing, how many people they can reach with X number of leaflets, what the likely return is. Surely they must see Scientology as, at best, poorly performing in this regard.
The sums are so huge that I can only think about my own charity fundraising, where just getting people to give a few pounds can be difficult enough. Yet millions of dollars are being put through these organisations each year to no benefit and no visible dissemination.
If the same person who put their hand in their pocket to donate to Scientology was to pay the same amount of money to a marketing company to advertise their shop, they would be apoplectic if they didn’t see more people in the door. Yet Scientologists see this every time they take a course. No more people, but they still need you to mortgage your house for more dissemination.
(3) I just now watched in completion the interview of Steven Fishman. Wow, what an incredible case that was. About how many Scientologists do you think have reached his level of brainwashing and excessive amount of study?
(4) Regarding the Sea Org and the billion year contract, has anybody ever claimed to have fulfilled the contract, having lived all the previous and future lives?
Steven Fishman in his interview (and what a crazy interview that is), said that when the body dies, the thetan can go back or forth in time and because Steven could not be guaranteed to be reborn in a well off and good Scientology family, he refused to commit suicide when told to by the Church. Does anybody “remember” future times or is it mostly past?
Did anyone remember being a Scientologist in the previous life, going through all OT levels and not needing any more OT training? If there is anyone like that, do they have special status in the church?
(5) Having watched several interviews of Scientologists and ex-Scientologists, I get the impression that many, if not most of them, have big egos. Even when saying they are out and no longer believe in it, many will boast about how far they made it on the OT levels, how awesome they were at it, how they had an above average learning curve, etc. Not that there aren’t plenty of exceptions (such as yourself), but I get the feeling that this is a common trend in Scientology. Do you think Scientology preys on egocentric people, using their ego to get them hooked? Or do you think they end up becoming egocentric due to prolonged exposure to the “we’re the only ones who get it and will save the world” discourse? Or perhaps you think this simply due to a bias that people who are self-centered will tend to give interviews more often that those who are not?
(6) I have read that there are about 5,000 Sea Org members, but let us be really generous & say 6,000 SO, but you have 6400+ subscribers on your channel. Did you ever think when starting your channel that you could trump the Sea Org? Also, if I unsubscribe to your channel do I get a Golden Rod? 🙂
(7) Chris, for many years while in Scientology you had very strong opinions and beliefs you felt sure about that we’re later changed after you got out. Do you ever question other opinions you may have on different subjects thinking you could possibly be wrong about them also? Do you question yourself and ever think you might have gotten other things wrong you believe in?
(8) Thanks for telling us what you know about exteriorization. I was wondering whether during your Scientology years you believed that you yourself had experienced it. If so, was it the kind where you see yourself from another part of the room? Was it like a lucid dream (a kind of dream where you know that you are dreaming)?
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