tirsdag den 30. april 2013

The Decline (and Probable Fall) of the Scientology Empire - Jim Lippard

Jim Lippard spoke on the history of the Church of Scientology, how it has collided with the Internet and lost control of its secrets and its membership, and is now seeing an accelerating decline as its top members leave for new alternatives.



Jim Lippard founded the Phoenix Skeptics in 1985, and co-founded the Phoenix Area Skeptics Society in 2011. He's written articles and book chapters on skeptical topics, including two articles in Skeptic magazine on Scientology, "Scientology vs. the Internet" in 1995 (co-authored with Jeff Jacobsen) and "The Decline (and Probable Fall) of the Scientology Empire" in 2012. He also contributed to Gordon Stein's Encyclopedia of the Paranormal and Joe Nickell's Psychic Sleuths.

Video notes starting at 13:50: The Fraser Mansion, though referred to by Scientology as the "founding church" from the 1970s to 2010, wasn't the original building. The original building, at 1812 19th St. NW, is now a museum called the L. Ron Hubbard House (though his house was across the street), which the church acquired in 2004. The Fraser Mansion is now Scientology's National Affairs Office.

The first use of the name "Church of Scientology" was by the Church of Scientology founded in Camden, N.J. in Dec. 1953; the first Church of Scientology corporation was in Los Angeles (Feb. 1954, which became the Church of Scientology of California in 1956), the Church of Scientology of Arizona was incorporated that same year. Hubbard's organization while he lived in Phoenix was the Hubbard Association of Scientologists, International (HASI), founded in Sep. 1952. All HASI assets were folded into the Church of Scientology of California in 1966.

Book mentioned in talk The Scandal of Scientology

Scandal Of Scientology by aleksandar.ha




Inside Scientology by Janet Reitman in Rolling Stone

The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power by Richard Behar. Time Magazine

mandag den 29. april 2013

Scientology - Money, Mysteries and Controversies an Investigation

Money, Mysteries, and Controversies: At the Heart of Scientology. A documentary in French, with English subtitles, filmed in Paris, India, Clearwater, and London.

fredag den 26. april 2013

John Travolta on Scientology

John Travolta on Enough Rope with Andrew Denton "He sings, he dances, he acts, he flies, he's sexy, he's loaded, he's cool, he's here. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr John Travolta."

onsdag den 24. april 2013

April 17, 2013 Sea Org Alley

Sorry for the fast camera movement at the beginning. Just got lazy about recording. Pretty standard trip out to the alley. As with my visit last month, its notable how few of them speak English. Recorded on Wednesday, April 18, 2013 (morning part filmed between 9-10 a.m. and evening portion 6-7 p.m.) in sunny Clearwater.