While we're at it, let's not feature Muhammed Ali... cos he's a Muslim. Or Adam Sandler ...cos he's Jewish. Or Sean Connery ...cos he's Catholic.

He's not going on there to promote his religion so why are you concerned? And you also seem to forget he apologised for the comments he made.

Everytime people talk about Tom Cruise, talk turns to Scientology. When people talk about Robin Williams, talk does not turn to Judeaism. I'm a Christian. Not a Scientologist. But, I'm curious about Tom Cruise anyway. Why? I don't know why. Just am. He's a very interesting individual to me, I guess. I'd rather see the segment(s) for myself than hear about it in the gossip so that I can have a more fair assessment of whatever was said and/or happened on the show(s). I was under the impression that they were taping 2 different things to be merged into one televised episode anyways. But, pardon me, I may have misread and misinterpreted the article(s) I read the news from. Perhaps, there are going to be two televised shows with Cruise on. The more the better. It means she's forgiven him for the last time I guess. I was wondering if even she had something against him since it has been so long since that time.

BTW, I don't mind 'Christian' being my identity. And that's a fact!

BTW, May 5th is Cinco De Mayo, a Mexican Holiday.

CyberGalCB

See nzbeks your comments are exactly what I mean when I say Scientology is not what we Americans think of when we think of religion. It is NOT like being a Muslim, a Jew or a Christian. It is an organization that requires you to pay as you go. It is more akin to attending educational seminars. EVERYTHING in Scientology requires payment to participate. It is not the same as Christians passing the basket at a service. CofS sought out religious status to get out of paying taxes. Go online and find out more about it. Scientology requires its members to undergo auditing where they reveal all their innermost thoughts and pains. This information is kept on them and gives the church leverage. READ more about it, please before you compare it to Christianity, Judeaism or being a Muslim.

Tom Cruise lives to promote Scientology. That's why he made those offensive comments about psychiatry. He may have apologized for the comments, but he still believes them.

This country gives people the freedom to practice the religion of their choice as they please. It also gives us the freedom to utter whatever we please without fear of government reprisal. I would rather not have to go see a psychiatrist or take any meds. if there is a vitamin or mineral out there that will help me out, that's good to know isn't it? Perhaps, we don't need a psychiatrist. Perhaps, we don't need medicine to help us out. But, perhaps, some do. Some choose to believe that they are mentally ill and others do not choose to believe that they are mentally ill. Some psychiatric medicines can have deadly consequences just for taking them. Just ask Judy Garland who got hooked on her psychiatric medicine to the point that it killed her when she overdosed on it. Perhaps, it is better not to take it. Some people may need it more than others. Sometimes, I think that a mental illness may be a sign of some sort of sin in a person's life, but I'm not certain of that. It may not be the case with everyone.

mspixie...you need to broaden your horizons then if it's not how "Americans perceive religion". Religion has many guises - even down to just appreciating nature. Just because it's not what you would follow, let them make their own choices in life. And if you read my OP you'll see I wasn't comparing the religions but making the sarcastic point of let's stop all interviews with celebs because of what they believe in.

There are a number of religions that make you pay whatever you do - and some make you pay the highest price possible because of how a minority view the teachings (i.e their life). Again, individuals have a CHOICE. If they don't want to pay or participate, then they don't join. Simple.

Back to my original point. He's an actor. He's a father. He's a friend. And he has some funny stories to tell. I think that in itself makes for a great interview and unless Oprah brings it up, I don't think he'll be 'promoting' his religion.

And whether or not he still believes in what he said, why do you care?? He apologised. Leave it that.

BTW, I spent a couple of hours with him in NZ...at NO time did he promote or talk about Scientology - he IS capable of having a normal conversation that doesn't revolve around what he believes in. And he's a nice guy too.

Well said!!

Alright, so since you met him once everything he does is ok.

As far as broadening horizons, I suggest you broaden yours and read up about Scientology. I am open to debate on the church with people who have done some research on it and know what I am referring to. And my original point still stands: I will be very annoyed if Oprah has not done her research and address the Scientology issue with Cruise. Tom is the one who started this mess with his comments on Brooke Shields and his heated discussion with Matt Lauer.

It would be akin to her having Mel Gibson on and glossing over the very embarrassing drunken comments he made.

Like Tom, I too, was diagnosed with learning disabilities at 7 years of age in 1962, when I was in first grade, and at a private school. I had to go to another private school for two more years because of my learning disabilities. I then was put into public schools and repeated the third grade. My memories of that first year include a visit to the school by a magician and they allowed all of us kids to go to the school auditorium for the show. At one of the times he asked for a volunteer from the audience, I raised my hand and got picked from those who raised their hand. I, who was only 10, went up onto the stage, and he did a trick that consisted of putting a rope around my waist and through a big needle whose eye was too small for me to fit through and he was going to pull on the rope and when the rope was pulled and disappeared from my waist and through the needle without me, I was emotional about it and reacted by doing some jumping on stage. I was ridiculed about it for a number of years afterwards. Even though I was a Girl Scout, at that age, I knew nothing about knots and magic tricks. I remember being nervous and somewhat scared and uncertain before the trick was performed. I had never seen that trick before in my life. The relief and other emotions I felt once the trick was over, I guess I reacted to it. So, I know how Tom Cruise feels to be ridiculed constantly about that emotional moment on stage when he was so overwhelmed by his emotions for Katie and what was happenning in his life at that time, that he expressed it by jumping and kneeling and such. I never realized how emotional and how expressive he was before that time and I was so deeply touched by them and impressed by them. Yet, he's been so ridiculed and rejected ever since that time when he did his last Oprah interview 3 years ago. I can't help, but empathize with him, not only because of ridicule I received when I was ten, but ridicule I've received at other times in my life for other reasons. I even get ridiculed when I talk about my G-d talking to me personally and the personal nature of my relationship with my G-d. I think that if Tom Cruise is so expressive and so communicative, Katie Holmes must be a lucky woman to have such for a husband that he's does such with her and she's allowed to do such with him. Isn't that what a spouse is for? To have someone you can take your armor off with and be vulnerable with? Isn't that the way David was before Goliath, without armor and vulnerable? And Goliath had been ridiculing David's God, and Israel, and such, and when David came and heard his God being ridiculed, he couldn't stand it and took Goliath on with no armor, and full vulnerability and nothing, but a sling-shot and a few pebbles, and you know who won? David did! So, I'm here to support Tom. I may not be his wife. I may not know him personally and have any real idea of what he's really like in real life, I may not necessarily be a Scientologist and I know that Scientology believes that salvation is earned, whereas Christianity teaches it is a free gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. But, I still choose to support Tom Cruise by turning on my television set and watching Oprah on Friday, May 2nd, 2008, at 4:00 p.m. (when it comes on in Dallas) to see what he has to say then, and again on Monday, Cinco De Mayo (Mexican Holiday), 2008, at 4:00 p.m. to see and hear what he says and does for myself and not depend on what the gossips and the newspapers say about him afterwards. I don't know what you think, but I do know what I think.

Actually, I was born in 1962, and I was diagnosed in around 1969 0r 1970 or whatever year I was seven and in the first grade in. I had taken kindergarten twice before I entered the first grade. I wonder if I'm the only person I know to have flunked kindergarten.

Oprah Winfrey needs to know:

-That its no longer acceptable to do a fluff interview with Tom Cruise that fails to address the core scandals of Scientology.
-That it's not OK to lend her tacit support to a brain washing cult that breaks up families and behaves
more like an organized crime family than a religion.
-That
with all that has been so widely publicized about Scientology since
TC's last appearence with her that it insults the intelligence of her
audience if she fails to ask Tom the hard questions about the group
that he is supporting, or about his own well documented bizrre
behavior, or about the widely circulated and off paradied Scientology
videos featuring him, or about his violent exhortation to "go to guns"
against psychiatry.
-That the man has been shown applauding when an
image of an exploding hand grenade has been displayed in connection
with psychiatry and its not OK to focus questions on "Risky Buisness."
-That
many, many people are watching very closely how she handles this
interview, and will judge her forevermore based upon how she handles
these issues. These people include a growing number of scientology
critics, an increasingly internet savvy audience of millions who
already know the score about what TC is all about, and a growing number
of ex-scienos who have recently become emboldened to tell their
stories, and express their views about anyone who gives tacit support
to scientology.


-That Tom Cruise is a bald-faced liar. Oprah
has already shown that she is capable of turning on one of her pets
when she feels they heve been shown to be dishonest. When James Frey
was shown to have fabricated much of his memoir "A Million Little
Pieces" Oprah called him out on it, and saved face for herself in the
process. Tom's lies about Scientology (no xenu, yeah right!) and
psychiatry are far more dangerous than anything Frey made up about
himself. It's time for Oprah to call him out and give him a chance to
come clean.


In the mean time I hope we all can find ways to
let her know that a rampant internet community will see to it that,
this time, she aint gonna get a free pass on fluff.

My biggest issue with him started out with his being so
anti-psychiatry. I have a severe, life affecting, mental disability. I
have to be on medication or I go to a very very dark place. I also have
flash backs, nightmares, etc. and if it weren't for my meds. I'd most
likely be dead years ago. Part of it is hereditary, both sides of my
family have had issues, the other part was due to severe abuse. HOW
DARE anyone say that I can be just fine by taking vitamins, etc., I've
tried that and it fails miserably! To me Tom Cruise is a sanctimonious
a$$hole and I won't watch anything he is in or support anyone who hosts
and supports him.

You could argue that she's the most influential woman in America, not
least because her daily television programme reaches the living rooms
of almost every home in the U.S.

Television insiders insist she
can single-handedly make books into best-sellers and mere celebrities
into mega- stars. But now, glamorous-talk show host Oprah Winfrey has
become the target of the controversial Church of Scientology.

The
campaign is being led by its most famous disciple, 43-year- old Tom
Cruise - who is doing everything in his considerable power to convert
her to the cultish faith. As the Mail reported last week, Cruise has
recently bought a house two doors away from Oprah in the glamorous
suburbs of Santa Barbara, California.

The two are close friends.
Winfrey regularly sings Cruise's praises on her show, and it was there
that he chose to make his first public declaration of love for his new
fiancée, 26-year-old Katie Holmes, in a toe-curling spectacle that left
thousands of Americans wondering, in the words of one website, whether
'Tom Cruise really has gone nuts'.

But the wooing of Oprah
Winfrey to the Scientology cause has not been left to Cruise alone.
Fellow Scientologist, Pulp Fiction star John Travolta, 51, whom she
also repeatedly favours on her television programme, recently presented
her with a Pounds 250,000 Bentley car for her birthday.

'Oprah
would be a massive catch for the Scientologists,' announced one
Internet site this week, 'and you can almost see Tom Cruise's eyes
gleaming at the prospect.' Another added: 'If Oprah falls into the
hands of Scientology, who can tell what influence she might have on the
population.
Celebrities and Scientology

"The Church of
Scientology uses celebrity spokesmen to endorse L. Ron Hubbard's
teachings and give Scientology greater acceptability in mainstream
America. As far back as 1955, Hubbard recognized the value of famous
people to his fledgling, off-beat church when he inaugurated 'Project
Celebrity.' According to Hubbard, Scientologists should target
prominent individuals as their "quarry" and bring them back like
trophies for Scientology. [http://...|http://...] Celebrities are considered so important
to the movement's expansion that the church created a special office to
guide their careers and ensure their 'correct utilization' for
Scientology. The church has a special branch that ministers to
prominent individuals, providing them with first-class treatment. Its
headquarters, called Celebrity Centre International, is housed in a
magnificent old turreted mansion on Franklin Avenue, overlooking the
Hollywood Freeway.

The prospect is terrifying. For the Church of Scientology has a controversial reputation.

One American judge described its founder, the science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, as 'a pathological liar'.

Scientology
may not be quite as hip in Hollywood at the moment as the
ultrafashionable Jewish mystical group beloved of Madonna, Kabbalah,
but it is regarded by many as being more powerful, and the church is
clearly on a recruitment drive for another star disciple.

Scientology
already counts among its celebrity followers Travolta's actress wife
Kelly Preston, former Cheers star Kirstie Alley, Lisa Marie Presley and
Nancy Cartwright, the voice of cartoon character Bart Simpson.

Travolta,
who also has a house in Santa Barbara near Winfrey, vehemently denies
claims that the followers of Scientologists are brainwashed into blind
adherence to its principles.

'That is garbage,' he says. 'Do you
really believe that I would stand for something like that? The courses
help me solve my problems. I also attend religious counselling where,
with a spiritual guide, I tackle personal problems.' But most of the
focus is on the cult's biggest star, Cruise, who now uses his
considerable power and influence in Hollywood - not to mention his
estimated Pounds 150million fortune - to gather recruits for the
so-called religion, which suggests that humans are an exiled race from
outer space called Thetans and claims to have eight million followers
worldwide (though some critics would argue its true membership is only
about 50,000).

Founded by the late L. Ron Hubbard in 1955,
Scientology is defined by a belief in the power of a person's spirit to
clear itself of past painful experiences through self-knowledge and
spiritual fulfilment.

This is achieved through intensive
counselling or 'auditing'. Mental pain is measured by an
electropsychometer, a machine that Hubbard invented. The basic aim of
the cult is to create a society in which everyone, even
non-Scientologists, is managed by the Church's 'leaders of tomorrow'.
In this imagined society, human rights would be disregarded - only
'cleared' and 'non-aberrant' Scientologists would be entitled to any
rights.

One critic of the cult, psychologist and author Milton
Sapirstein, has argued: 'It is the authoritarian dream: a population of
zombies free to be manipulated by the great brains of the founder,
leader of the inner manipulative clique.' Some members around the world
have been convicted of serious crimes.

In 1996, a French
Scientology leader was convicted of involuntary homicide when a court
found he was responsible for driving an acolyte to suicide, while in
Italy the following year, 29 Scientologists were sentenced to between
nine and 20 months in jail after being found guilty of defrauding
members and evading Pounds 35million in taxes.

Scientology is
extremely sensitive to criticism. It uses the vast funds it accrues
from its members to defend itself and harass its critics around the
world.

Members have been known to hold 'shoot-a-thon' parties,
in which cult members use Uzi and AK47 submachine guns to shoot at
photographs of critics and staff members who have left and publicly
criticised the organisation.

In spite of this, the cult's appetite for rich, influential supporters knows few bounds - Winfrey aside.

Oprah Winfrey is not Tom Cruise's only prey when it comes to wooing the powerful.

Just
two years ago, Cruise made a determined effort to convince Jamie
Packer, the Australian media tycoon (and heir to a Pounds 4.5billion
fortune), of the benefits of Scientology, just as he did with his
second wife, actress Nicole Kidman, and his subsequent girlfriend,
Penelope Cruz. None of those attempts worked, however, which accounts
for his current fascination with Oprah.

Cruise is now so much in
thrall to the Scientologists that he insists that his children and
anyone else close to him must embrace its bizarre teachings - which
include the claim that Scientology can free individuals of negative
views 'implanted' in humans by aliens centuries ago.

Indeed,
some movie insiders say that Cruise's passion for the cult has grown to
such extraordinary proportions in the past year that it now pervades
every part of his life. On the set of his latest film, War Of The
Worlds, Cruise demanded that a Scientology tent - complete with
volunteer 'ministers' - should be available at all times to 'help the
sick and injured' among the cast and crew.

There are suggestions
that Scientology lies behind his sudden engagement to the beautiful
Katie Holmes, which some in the industry have dismissed as a sham
romance conducted for publicity purposes - a claim Cruise firmly denies.

Sham or not, what isn't in doubt is that Holmes has fallen under the spell of the cult since meeting Cruise.

The
young former Dawson's Creek TV star has already announced her
conversion to Scientology and is followed everywhere by Scientology
'monitors', who constantly whisper into walkie-talkie devices strapped
to their wrists and wear ear-pieces as if they were intelligence agents.

She
is also seldom to be seen without her Scientology minder, a shadowy
29-year-old woman called Jessica Feshbach Rodriguez, whose family are
one of the cult's largest financial donors. Holmes calls Rodriguez her
'best friend', even though they have known each other for only a matter
of weeks.

Bizarrely, a series of red blotches on Katie Holmes's
face, which suddenly appeared after she met Cruise, were alleged by
some critics to be the result of a niacinbased 'detoxification process'
performed by the Church of Scientology, although this process was
officially denied by the organisation.

Holmes says it is 'ludicrous' to suggest that she has been pressganged into adopting Scientology by her new fiancé.

She
says: 'Tom doesn't put pressure on people. He is the kindest, smartest,
most adoring man.' Not everyone is convinced. One American commentator
said this week: 'Holmes, who was previously a sweet, thoughtful,
articulate young woman, now comes across as a zombie,' adding: 'It can
only be more worrisome for her parents as they see the steady hold Tom
Cruise and Scientology have taken of their beloved daughter.' So
pervasive is Scientology's influence in Cruise 's life that he has even
placed the education of his two adopted children with his former wife
Nicole Kidman - Isabella, 12, and Conor, 10 - in the hands of Cass and
Marian Cruise, two of his three sisters, who both converted to the
religion over a decade ago.

They are reported to be placing heavy emphasis on the teachings of Scientology.

'Bella
Cruise', as his daughter is known, has recently been listed in the
Scientology bulletin for completing what it calls the 'basic course'.
'This can only be heartbreaking for Kidman,' says one industry insider,
'as she is a devout Roman Catholic from an observant family.' Holmes,
too, comes from a Catholic family, but has agreed to convert to
Scientology - something that Kidman always refused to do.

It was
Nicole's reluctance to embrace the religion, and the effects she saw it
having on her husband, that some friends insist helped to destroy their
marriage.

'Nicole's very worried about her children now,' one friend of the actress said this week.

Actress
Penelope Cruz, whom Cruise dated after his separation from Kidman, also
took some Scientology courses during their three- year relationship,
but she, too, declined to convert - which many Hollywood insiders
believe was one cause of their break-up.

'You can hardly get to Tom these days without going through a Scientologist,' says one industry professional.

Cruise's
third sister, Lee Anne De Vette, another convert to Scientology, has
taken charge of his public relations this year, replacing respected
movie industry figure Pat Kingsley.

Since his sister's arrival
in the job, Cruise's public support for Scientology has increased
dramatically - so much so that there are signs that even senior
Scientologists feel that he may have 'gone overboard' in his preaching.

'But they'd never rein in their poster boy,' says an insider.

'He's
their best recruiter.' Cruise insists that the Paramount studio
executives on Mission Impossible 3 attend the cult's lavish 'Celebrity
Centre' in Los Angeles for a four-andahalf-hour induction course before
they meet him.

He also insists that any journalist wishing to interview him should also first attend the centre's course.

One
executive at Paramount's parent company, Viacom, has confirmed that the
studio is considering cancelling the third instalment of the Mission
Impossible series, due to start shooting next month, because of
Cruise's ever-increasing support for the cult.

A convert to
Scientology in 1987 in the wake of his first marriage to actress Mimi
Rogers, Cruise claims that its teaching helped him to overcome his
dyslexia.

According to members of the Church, Cruise has reached
the sixth of eight 'Operating Thetan levels' and is trusted enough to
'know almost all the secret truth of the universe'.

He now puts his so-called religion 'above everything else in his life' in the words of one friend.

'In
the past few years Tom's gone completely crazy with his public support
for Scientology,' adds another insider. 'So much so that it's beginning
to affect his standing in the movie industry.' When asked if he sees it
as his role to recruit new followers for Scientology, Cruise says: 'I'm
a helper. For instance, I myself have helped hundreds of people get off
drugs. In Scientology, we have the only successful drug rehabilitation
programme in the world called Narconon'.

However, independent
experts in various countries have warned against the Narconon
programme, warning that it is based on 'pseudo-science', a description
that Cruise heatedly disputes.

In Hollywood, one rumour refuses
to die down - that Cruise interviewed a number of young actresses in
the months before the sudden announcement of his attachment to Katie
Holmes - ostensibly about their appearing as his co-star in Mission
Impossible 3.

One was Scarlett Johansson. The Lost In
Translation star was reportedly subjected to a long interview by
Cruise, before being ushered into a room for dinner with senior
Scientologists.

The actress is said to have made her excuses and
a sharp exit. The smitten Miss Holmes entered shortly afterwards -
under Cruise control.

Oprah Winfrey beware.

If Scientology is
"just" a religion and Miscavige is not about the money ...then
explain this. THIS IS WHO THEY WORSHIP!

You people need to get
your heads out of your collective assess and start educating yourselves about
what is going on.

Read this:
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0815,celebrity%20denounces%20scientology,411801,2.html/3

THE LEGAL BATTLE AND THE
STRANGE DEATH OF L. RON HUBBARD
Strange Death in a Strange
Land
The Old Man in the Desert

He had achieved success beyond his wildest dreams; wealth, fame and the
adulation of thousands of devoted adherents.

Yet for the last five years of his life, L. Ron Hubbard, founder of
Scientology, dwelt, a virtual prisoner of his own paranoia, a recluse in
self-imposed exile, on a ranch in the desert
of Creston, California. Surrounded by a handful of
trusted aides, he handed over the running of his multi-million dollar empire to
a chosen few. Even his wife was cut off - after she got out of prison after
serving a sentence for her part in the notorious Snow White case*, she never
saw her husband again.

(* See next post for details of Operation Snow White, the main reason LRH fled
and placed himself in virtual exile.)

In fact, few did. Fearing indictment in the Snow White case, Hubbard fled to
the desert in the early 80s, leaving behind his role as de facto controller of
the Scientology empire and taking with him only a handful of trusted aides,
mostly those now-grown messengers from the Commodore's Messenger Org, who had,
in some cases literally, grown up under the Machiavellian tutelage of Hubbard,
and became his emissaries to the empire he oversaw.

THE VULTURES GATHER

Of these former messengers turned executives, the future head of Scientology,
David Miscavige, was amongst those angling to take control of the church upon
its founder's death. But despite chronic ill health, the founder lived on,
leaving Miscavige - and others, including Terri Gamboa, Vicki Aznaran, Lyman
Spurlock and Norman Starkey -- in a state of flux. They controlled the church,
for all intents and purposes. But their authority came only through their
appointed - some say self-appointed - role as the controllers of LRH's
communication with the world. As LRH himself may have written, he who controls
the communication controls the game. But events, as we shall see, were spinning
out of control for these so-called young of Scientology.

Also omnipresent during Hubbard's final years were Pat and Annie Broeker, a
couple who lived with LRH in Creston. While their official duties were to take
care of Hubbard's welfare, as those closest to Source, they became important
players in the operation of the church itself, given their enormous influence over
LRH as his day-to-day caretakers. On a more practical level, Pat Broeker, in
particular, oversaw the financial dealings between Hubbard and the church, and
eventually became such a trusted friend that LRH named him as successor, the
Loyal Officer who would look after his church after his passing.

A body; still warm, much mourned but quickly forgotten

On January 24 1986, under circumstances that can at best be characterised as
'suspicious', L. Ron Hubbard died. Although his condition had been steadily deteriorating
for years, even the coronor noted that there were irregularities surrounding
his death, including the presence in his body of vast quantities of Vistaril, a
powerful ani-psychotic medication. Just days before Hubbard's death, his
personal physician, Scientologist Gene Denk, left for a gambling vacation in Las Vegas with some of
Hubbard's top aides, including Gamboa, Miscavige and wife, and the Aznarans. By
the time he returned, there was nothing he could do. Hubbard died, and the
battle for control of his legacy, which had been simmering for years, took
centre stage.

LRH left behind a vast corporate empire, including millions of dollars worth of
copyrights and trademarks, as well as a personal fortune rumoured to be in the
hundreds of millions. Rumour, though, is all that is available - the vast
portion of Hubbard's riches were buried far inside the CoS ledgers, safe from
the prying eyes of the IRS, which had been threatening an audit of Hubbard for
years, right up until his death. But even leaving aside his personal fortune,
Hubbard's legacy was rich - and there was no shortage of people eager to take a
cut.

FATAL CURIOSITIES

The day before Hubbard died, his will was redrafted. Gone was the reference to
Pat Broeker, who had been the executor in the previous will. The new executor,
who would oversee the transfer of all Hubbard's intellectual property to a
trust known as Author's Family Trust-B, and from there, into the newly created
vessel, the Church of Spiritual Technology, was Norman Starkey, a longtime CoS
heavyweight who had earned the animosity of many now-disenfranchised
Scientologists during the days of the Missionholders Conference in 1982, when
David Miscavige and the young rulers first made waves as the new power behind
LRH's throne. Gone, too, was Norton S. Karno, Hubbard's former tax lawyer whose
presence weaves through the story of the Church of Scientology
like an invisible, but unbreakable thread.

Starkey became Hubbard's executor, and David Miscavige took the reins of power
as effortlessly as he had disposed of his rivals to the throne in previous
internal skirmishes. There was no explanation for this last minute changing of
the guard. But it was not long before those most likely to raise questions
about the new regime - Pat and Annie Broeker - disappeared from the eye of the
storm as though they had never been. With the Broekers out of the picture,
there was no one who could pose a significant threat to Miscavige, and, like
one born with the divine right of kings, he took his place as titular head of
the church, highest ranking officer in the Sea Org and ruler of the Scientology
empire without firing a single shot. He remains there to this day.

AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET THEM FREE

The world, however, has moved on - and now, some of those same people who were
present during the last days of LRH have come forward to tell what they know.
Day by day and thread by thread, the real story of what happened to this
present day Lear at the end of his reign is emerging.

EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS

Robert Vaughn Young, an accomplished writer and former high-ranking official
within the CoS, gives his recollection of the
death of L. Ron Hubbard.

http://home.earthlink.net/~snefru/deathoflrh/rvy-death.html

Jesse Prince, formerly Inspector General Ethics, the second-highest ranking
post at RTC, has a very different - but no less intriguing - perspective.

http://home.earthlink.net/~snefru/deathoflrh/prince-death.html

**************************

*******
THE MANY WILLS OF L. RON HUBBARD

These documents give the reader a rare peek inside the constantly shifting
power structure within the CoS. In the first
Will, dated 1979, Hubbard's lawyer Norton S. Karno, immortalized on the Friends
of Norton Karno pages, appears as Executor and Personal Representative, a
position which would have given him considerable power over the bulk of the
church's money.

In 1982, however, mere days after the corporate restructuring had taken place,
Hubbard drafted another Will, and Karno was removed from his position as
Executor, to be replaced by Patrick Broeker, then amongst those closest to the old
man. A codicil, dated 1983, includes a clause forbidding any autopsy, viewing
or service, stating instead that Hubbard's body is to cremated as soon as
possible after his death.

Broeker's moment in the sun comes to an end with the establishment of the final
Will of LRH, drafted the day before his death in January, 1986, which handed
control of the estate to Norm Starkey. His duties mainly concerned with
transfering the vast number of copyrights left in trust by LRH to the Church of Spiritual Technology, the ultimate
keeper of the tech, Starkey is also head of Author Services Inc. His real role
within the CoS command structure is as yet
unclear.



• 1979
http://home.earthlink.net/~snefru/deathoflrh/1979.html


• 1982
http://home.earthlink.net/~snefru/deathoflrh/1982.html


• 1983
http://home.earthlink.net/~snefru/deathoflrh/1982.html


• 1986
http://home.earthlink.net/~snefru/deathoflrh/1986.html

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FACTnet Probate Brief

During the course of his herculean struggle with the CoS corporate hydra,
FACTnet board member Larry Wollersheim challenged the probate that had
originally disposed of LRH's estate. In this filing, part of an ognoing case
that is yet another volley in his legal onslaught against the CoS, he lays out
what he sees as the real story behind LRH's death.

http://home.earthlink.net/~snefru/deathoflrh/FACTnet-death.html

At the moment, she is surrounded by scientologists. Kirsti alley, John Travolta, Tom Cruise, who are using her to further their agenda. She has become their cheerleader. At one time, Oprah was a journalist. I liked her much better years ago when she wasn't afraid to call people to the carpet. This celebrity butt kissing is just getting so old.

Why not have a cult awareness show? Scientology is one of the most insidious cults there are. Of course, those inside cannot see their way out and those that want to leave, can't for various reasons. People in the Sea Org making a few dollars a week and nowhere to go if they leave are afraid to be on their own. Others are afraid of disconnection from their familes. How can anyone care about Tom and his career compared to these things? Im sorry, oogling over TC is just not important anymore. The hard issues must be addressed.

Pretty informative. I suggest anyone claiming to be a critical thinker to read these with an open mind.If Scientology isnt in amy bit responsible for anything the are accuse pf, why so affraid of confronting their critics? At practically every report that is in any way connected to scintology, its followers have either declined to comment, or have stuped to personal attacks without any actual facts to back up their claims, OR, evworse, outright lies. One woud think they woudn't mind a debate...