Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief(135)

A few months after this meeting, Davis and Feshbach stopped representing Scientology, even though they continued to be listed as the top spokespeople on the church website. Rumor from former members is that Davis blew but was recovered and once again subjected to sec-checking. Then Feshbach became seriously ill. According to the church, they are on a leave of absence from the Sea Org for medical reasons. They are now living in Texas. When I last spoke to Davis, he said, “I think you should know my allegiances haven’t changed—at all.” He added: “I don’t have to answer your questions anymore.”





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1 In my meeting with Isham, he had asserted that Scientology is not a “faith-based religion.” Leaving aside the question of what religion is without faith, I pointed out that in Scientology’s upper levels, there was a cosmology that would have to be accepted on faith. Isham responded that he wasn’t going to discuss the details of OT III, nor had I asked him to. “You understand the only reason it’s confidential is because in the wrong hands it can hurt people,” he told me, evidently referring to Hubbard’s warning that those who are not spiritually prepared to receive the information would die, of pneumonia.

2 The church denies that this ever happened. Davis admits that the briefcase was lost but claims that there were no sex-related videos inside.

3 Davis says he and his wife divorced because of irreconcilable differences, and that “it had nothing to do with the organization.”

4 Davis says that he does not recall meeting Shannon, has never scrubbed a Dumpster, and has no need to borrow money.

5 Davis denies that he blew or was in Las Vegas. Noriyuki Matsumaru, who was a finance officer in the Religious Technology Center at the time, told me he was in charge of handling Davis’s punishment when he returned.

6 Armstrong told me that he was actually wearing running shorts in the photo, which were obscured by the globe. His settlement with the church prohibited him from talking about Scientology, a prohibition he has ignored, and the church has won two breach-of-contract suits against him, including a $500,000 judgment in 2004, which Armstrong didn’t pay. He gave away most of his money and continues to speak openly about the church.

7 Rinder denies committing violence against his wife. A sheriff’s report supports this.

8 At this point Paul Haggis had not been declared Suppressive. He later was.

9 The list of those who told me they had been physically assaulted by David Miscavige: Mike Rinder, Gale Irwin, Marty Rathbun, Jefferson Hawkins, Tom De Vocht, Mark Fisher, Bruce Hines, Bill Dendiu, Guy White, Marc Headley, and Stefan Castle. Those who said they had witnessed such abuse: John Axel, Marty Rathbun, Janela Webster, Tom De Vocht, Marc Headley, Eric Knutson, Amy Scobee, Dan Koon, Steve Hall, Claire Headley, Mariette Lindstein, John Peeler, Andre Tabayoyan, Vicki Aznaran, Jesse Prince, Mark Fisher, Bill Dendiu, Mike Rinder, David Lingerfelter, Denise (Larry) Brennan, Debbie Cook, and Lana Mitchell. One witness refused to have his name printed. Other witnesses have been reported in the press.

10 The reader can compare the two Notices of Separation by going to The New Yorker’s posting on DocumentCloud: http://documents.newyorker.com/2011/02/notice-of-separation-l-ron-hubbard/. Gerald Armstrong testified that he had seen a document, “either a fitness report or something similar around the time of the end of the war,” that bore the signature of “a Commander Thompson,” which he believed that Hubbard had actually forged (Church of Scientology California vs. Gerald Armstrong, May 15, 1984).




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Epilogue


If Scientology is based on a lie, as Tommy Davis’s formulation at the New Yorker meeting suggests, what does it say about the many people who believe in its doctrine or—like Davis and Feshbach—publicly defend and promote the organization and its practices?

Of course, no religion can prove that it is “true.” There are myths and miracles at the core of every great belief system that, if held up to the harsh light of a scholar or an investigative reporter, could easily be passed off as lies. Did Mohammed really ride into Heaven on the back of his legendary transport, the steed Buraq? Did Jesus’ disciples actually encounter their crucified leader after his burial? Were these miracles or visions or lies? Would the religions survive without them?

There is no question that a belief system can have positive, transformative effects on people’s lives. Many current and former Scientologists have attested to the value of their training and the insight they derived from their study of the religion. They have the right to believe whatever they choose. But it is a different matter to use the protections afforded a religion by the First Amendment to falsify history, to propagate forgeries, and to cover up human-rights abuses.

Hubbard once wrote that “the old religion”—by which he meant Christianity—was based on “a very painful lie,” which was the idea of Heaven. “Yes, I’ve been to Heaven. And so have you,” he writes. “It was complete with gates, angels and plaster saints—and electronic implantation equipment.” Heaven, he says, was built as an implant station 43 trillion years ago. “So there was a Heaven after all—which is why you are on this planet and were condemned never to be free again—until Scientology.” He went on: “What does this do to any religious nature of Scientology? It strengthens it. New religions always overthrow the false gods of the old, they do something to better man. We can improve man. We can show the old gods false. And we can open up the universe as a happier place in which a spirit may dwell.”