AHC: U.S. gov't goes hardcore against Church of Scientology regarding "Operation Snow White."
- Thread starter GeographyDude
- Start date
GeographyDude
Gone Fishin'
And part of good poker play is giving your opponents a chance to panic (or steam) and thus play poorly.
Ah, yes, this lovable, but still stupidly huge and clunky phone, still functional!
GeographyDude
Gone Fishin'
All this is, is alpha state meditation. I mean, well, shit, scientology doesn't have any monopoly on this at all!!
And it might be helpful if some aggressive journalists pointed this out.
GeographyDude
Gone Fishin'
I once visited a fortune teller because her business was next to a deserted storefront location I was somewhat considering leasing, and I was visiting the neighboring businesses. 8 of out 10 new businesses fail within the first couple of years.
It seemed to polite to agree to a "reading" for about $10 since I was asking her to help me. I was almost 40 years old, she was in her mid-30s. We sat and she very respectfully held my hand palm up, stared at my palm and talk.
It was an intense experience.
There was nothing untoward. But all the same, it was a sensual experience. Maybe not erotic, but sensual. And yes, she did try to upsell for longer reading sessions.
If I believed in it just a little bit . . . I could see myself getting more involved, and thinking there was something more to it than simply an intense person-to-person interaction.
It seemed to polite to agree to a "reading" for about $10 since I was asking her to help me. I was almost 40 years old, she was in her mid-30s. We sat and she very respectfully held my hand palm up, stared at my palm and talk.
It was an intense experience.
There was nothing untoward. But all the same, it was a sensual experience. Maybe not erotic, but sensual. And yes, she did try to upsell for longer reading sessions.
If I believed in it just a little bit . . . I could see myself getting more involved, and thinking there was something more to it than simply an intense person-to-person interaction.
FillyofDelphi
Banned
I believe a pager/beeper would suffice. Then it's just as easy as letting them know "this thing goes off,that's the signal".
Most people reading this probably know that Scientologists will harass people mid or higher who quit, especially if they speak out against the damn organization.
So, a mob boss's daughter joins Scientology. He's not crazy about it, but he figures that if that's what she wants to do, he's okay with it. She even moves up in the organization. Observing too many things first hand and too many broken promises, she decides to quit. She even wants to speak out for the sake of former friends still in the organization.
The Scientologists do their usual method of following her around in white SUVs. They do not immediately realize that they're outclassed
I would definitely read this story, or watch it as a mini-series or docudrama.
GeographyDude
Gone Fishin'
Yes, Leah Remini who does her show on A&E. I think she’s a brave and good person.
Now, I would like for us to find a couple of other scientology dissidents and whistleblowers so she doesn’t stand so alone.
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GeographyDude
Gone Fishin'
Two other examples include:
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Later edit:
and five more . . .
My strategy is safety in numbers. If a scientology defender is trolling the Internet looking for people to discredit, I want them to realize the cat is largely . . . already out of the bag!
And each of you are cordially invited to please help with this, time and interest permitting of course.
Jeff Hawkins, longtime member and former head of Scientology marketing who has gone public, and
Jenna Miscavige Hill, who had the strength to leave as a young woman, and yes, she’s related. She’s David’s niece.
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Later edit:
and five more . . .
Jason Beghe
Tony Ortega
Amy Scobee
Mark Rinder
Paul Haggis
My strategy is safety in numbers. If a scientology defender is trolling the Internet looking for people to discredit, I want them to realize the cat is largely . . . already out of the bag!
And each of you are cordially invited to please help with this, time and interest permitting of course.
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There were those cheap single channel 'Walkie Talkie' radios we used around construction sites and other short distance sites. CB radio in cars were common as dirt in those days.
What would be some of the consequences of this alongside the potential collapse of the evangelical megachurches?
Greater scrutiny of the influence of religious institutions in politics?
WhiteDragon25
Banned
The rise of the evangelical megachurches doesn't collapse completely, it's just blunted and given a bloody nose; they would still be powerful due to size and wealth, but there would be less of them in total and their influence over the GOP would be far less ironclad than in OTL. While the Religious Right would remain a significant voting bloc, the fallout of the Scientology investigation would make most people much more suspicious of their motives and intentions than what they publicly state, and so the GOP leadership might end up split between those who want to go all-in on getting the religious vote, verses those who take the long-term view that they may be more trouble than they're worth and look elsewhere for a reliable base.
If anything, George W. Bush - if he even gets elected at all - might shy away from his 'faith-based initiatives' policy plan out of reluctance of getting burned by it somehow, and without Bush's limp-wristed attempt at promoting 'compassionate conservatism', the Religious Right wouldn't have grown to exercise such lockstep control over the Republican Party come Obama's (or whoever is the '08/'12 Democratic President's) administration... and if they don't have such levels of control, then a GOP civil war might just happen earlier on before we get to the 2016 elections, thus avoiding the disaster that is Donald Trump altogether.
Of course, that's skipping over the 80's and 90's, so who knows, maybe the Religious Right might claw their back to prominence and we get to where we are now anyways - particularly if that slimeball Newt Gingrich still gets into Congress and pioneers all the dirty partisanship tactics that still plague us today.
Well, if they find some stuff on the mega churches, it would incentivize them to look into them more and maybe some of these mega churches are willing to rat out some of the politicians or something.
Like, I’m more referring to a snowbal effect and it’d be interesting to see if Reagan could screw up this
GeographyDude
Gone Fishin'
And there is something from early in Reagan’s presidency which potentially could spiral.
In large part because the issue had been presented in writing to Reagan simply as a freedom of religion issue (and Reagan himself had scribbled “I think we should” in the margin), the Reagan administration ended up reversing course on Bob Jones University vs. the IRS.
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/05/14/Washington-WindowReagan-seeks-black-support/7173390196800/
And Bob Jones, Jr. (1911-1997) said some ugly things, and yeah, he really was a nasty man.
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So this would cost Reagan and possibly the rest of the Neo-Conservatives 1984 and perhaps from being the dominant force of the Republican Party?
GeographyDude
Gone Fishin'
I don't really know about neo-conservatives. Maybe ? ? younger and more hardcore ? ?
Also, Battlefield Earth is potentially butterflied away, potentially saving Travolta's career.
GeographyDude
Gone Fishin'
Especially the People's Temple where over 900 persons died in November 1978. And it was Christian, at least nominally so!
Maybe the evolving norm could be, hey, you can preach anything you want from the pulpit, but if you're going to run a school, a medical clinic, a housing facility, especially if you're having children doing work, then yeah, these activities are subject to government regulation.
And perhaps some of these changes do lead to a less cozy relationship between evangelical Christians and the Republican Party.
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Might see more extremists sitting out the elections, leaving the right vote a little more to the center. Or as far as more niche parties on the extreme right.