72-518: OT VIII or OT 8 ( Operating Thetan Level 8) is the highest current auditing level in Scientology . OT VIII is known as "Truth Revealed" and was first released to select high-ranking public Scientologists in 1988, two years after the death of Scientology's founder, L. Ron Hubbard . OT VIII is only delivered to members of the Church of Scientology in one place—aboard the organization's private cruise ship,
144-412: A legal disclaimer that reads, "In the absence of the original materials, the following are presented on an 'as is' basis and are used at your own discretion. No warranty is conferred or implied." The author of the revised edition is not identified but, since it was written five years after his death, the current edition of OT VIII could not have been authored by L. Ron Hubbard . The author states that
216-529: A stroke on January 24, 1986, the church announced to the media. He had not been seen publicly since May 1980. Several weeks later, his death was announced to parishioners by David Miscavige , who stated that Hubbard had completed all of his research into the OT I-VIII levels, but researching the remaining levels (IX-XV) can only be done "outside the body". Because his body had become an "encumbrance" to continuing his research, Hubbard discarded it and would return to
288-587: A 2006 interview with Rolling Stone , Rinder said he had experienced discrimination in Australia during the period when the state of Victoria had banned Scientology: "You couldn't own Scientology books ... If you did, you had to hide them because if the police came and found them, they'd take them away." After finishing high school, at age 18 Rinder joined the Sea Org on the ship Apollo , then headquarters for Sea Org and for Scientology. Rinder became an early member of
360-478: A Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology . His intimate knowledge about the organization, both as a Sea Org member for 46 years and as head of OSA for 25 years, has been a revelation about the organization to the world. Rinder has discussed how OSA responds to critics of the church and stated that several events in the history of Scientology have rocked the organization: the death of L. Ron Hubbard in 1986,
432-454: A day to having people camped outside their door, to being vilified on the internet, to following them wherever they traveled, I was the guy [that did it]. Rinder cited specific examples of this duty, saying that he personally traveled to London to prevent journalist John Sweeney , presenter of the film Scientology and Me , from attending a movie premiere and to attempt to "discredit Sweeney in any way that he could". Rinder has said that he
504-484: A family member decided to leave (or was not a member of) the church of Scientology. Rinder stated that his primary role as Director of the Office of Special Affairs was defending the church against critics by employing Scientology's " Fair Game " tactics, which are essentially to "intimidate, defame, harass, discredit, and effectively silence any criticism of Scientology". He and fellow defector Marty Rathbun , former head of
576-455: A friend at the time of Minton's death in January 2010. Both have said the policy was backfiring because victims, such as John Sweeney , reported their experiences with Fair Game and this led to more negative publicity and thus produced more critics than they were silencing. Rinder's own decision to speak out against Scientology is an example of this as well because he decided to speak out against
648-400: A notable defector, claims they are genuine: "Two sets of defectors, at different times in different parts of the world, came out with those documents", he says. "I've been working with defectors for fifteen years. I have never dealt with anyone as afraid of having their identity revealed as the people who came out and verified those documents." On March 24, 2008, WikiLeaks obtained and placed
720-424: A plan to take over the universe by activating an inserted genetic implant that will allow for the enslavement of the universe through telepathic mind control . The implant will be activated during the return of the galactic confederacy , which Hubbard declares is "rapidly approaching". All world religions , except for " Original Buddhism ", are participating in a conspiracy with the aliens to telepathically enslave
792-441: A similar response, prompting many high-ranking Scientologists—including Pat Broeker —to leave the organization as a result. According to Rinder, virtually all of the executives, himself included, had rejected both of the above-mentioned Scientological tenets, however they nevertheless continued to train parishioners to accept them as true. Rinder's moment of clarity after the confrontation with Sweeney came when he realized that it
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#1732858737949864-596: Is alien intervention . Hubbard's Incident III was clearly modelled on the Book of Revelation , which he references in the original version of OT VIII: the prophet's discovery of these events are a revelation, there is a sense of urgency that the apocalypse will be soon, the savior dies first, then the calamity begins, then the savior returns to stop it. The alien civilizations that Hubbard describes resemble modern human civilization, but possess advanced technology that enables them to perform supernatural feats, such as telepathy . This
936-663: Is a common motif in science fiction, and was popularized by the Star Trek franchise, which was in syndication at the time. Operating Thetan Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.151 via cp1112 cp1112, Varnish XID 389499498 Upstream caches: cp1112 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Fri, 29 Nov 2024 05:38:58 GMT Mike Rinder Michael John Rinder ( / ˈ r ɪ n d ər / ; born April 10, 1955)
1008-599: Is a forgery, but numerous early participants, as well as Mark Rathbun , former Inspector General of the Religious Technology Center (RTC), have confirmed the document is authentic, and its copyright is verifiable at the United States Copyright Office . The revised version the Church currently uses was not authored by Hubbard, and instructs participants to repeat the same courses in perpetuity, which
1080-594: Is an Australian-American former senior executive of the Church of Scientology International (CSI) and the Sea Organization based in the United States. From 1982 to 2007, Rinder served on the board of directors of CSI and also held the post of executive director of its Office of Special Affairs , overseeing the corporate, legal and public relations matters of Scientology at the international level. Rinder left Scientology in 2007. Ever since then, he has spoken about
1152-609: Is not " flat " on the previous OT levels should continue to retake them (presumably at full price) until they are. The author also states that this information is to remain confidential from "squirrels" or scientologists not in the church . In a 1968 lecture, Hubbard acknowledged similarities between his teachings and the science fiction sub-genre space opera . Hubbard said: "This planet is part of an earlier federation and passed out of its control due to losses in war and other such things. Now, this larger confederacy, this isn't its right name, but we have often called it and referred to it in
1224-426: Is not the original nor is it a perfect record", and claims that "any differences are extremely minor (if at all)." The author writes, "What is presented here are reconstructions of those materials by people who have trained and delivered them before leaving that organization. If the original materials should become available at a future date, a revision of this volume will done to include them." The document also includes
1296-466: Is the current church policy. All of the above controversial claims made by Hubbard have been removed. Participants of the revised version described the course as having two parts: a preparatory e-meter drill, followed by a review of Scientology: A History of Man , and an examination of previously identified past lives to find out which ones are false. The course includes a claimed affirmation from Hubbard that "now [the participant] knew who he wasn't, and
1368-589: Is untrue. It was reinstated, he said, because Scientology abandoned its Fair Game practices against the IRS after Hubbard's death, and instead followed the IRS policy for obtaining tax-exempt status. According to Rinder, the Church never recovered from the FBI raid, because it provided documentary evidence to support critics' claims. This was also the primary source of information used in the article, The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power published by Time magazine in 1991. After
1440-492: The Freewinds . There are a few advanced auditors that are able to deliver the level to those who meet the prerequisites. The original version authored by Hubbard himself created a furor among Scientologists because of several extraordinary claims Hubbard made that upset early participants. For example, Hubbard had written that he would return from the grave and, in a Messiah-like role, stop an impending apocalyptic alien invasion by
1512-707: The BBC series Panorama . In 2015 he appeared in the HBO documentary entitled Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief by Alex Gibney which is based on the book by Lawrence Wright . Along with Leah Remini , Rinder co-hosted the A&;E documentary series Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath . Rinder published a memoir in September 2022 titled A Billion Years: My Escape From
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#17328587379491584-527: The Commodore's Messenger Organization and rapidly rose in rank to head of the Office of Special Affairs. As executive director of the Office of Special Affairs (OSA), he served as the chief spokesperson and representative of Scientology to the media for 25 years until replaced by Tommy Davis in 2005 under orders from David Miscavige. This office is responsible for overseeing public relations and legal issues for
1656-583: The Galactic Confederacy , implied that Jesus was a homosexual and a pedophile, apparently identified himself with the Antichrist , warned that someone attempting this auditing level without being prepared may spontaneously combust , and implied that OT VIII was the final OT level Hubbard intended to publish. The Church of Scientology asserts that the version of OT VIII provided in the Fishman Affidavit
1728-513: The Religious Technology Center , revealed through these interviews how this was done. For instance, Rinder told the Times that Scientology critic Bob Minton ceased his criticism of Scientology after Rinder discovered "things that, really, he was worried about and had caused problems for him in the investigation that we had done" and that they had reached a private settlement. Rinder regrets his role in that investigation and has stated he considered Minton
1800-520: The podcast Scientology: Fair Game . In September 2022, he published a memoir titled A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology . Rinder was born in Adelaide, Australia , to Ian and Barbara Rinder in 1955. When he was 5 years old, his parents became interested in Scientology and the family began attending the Church of Scientology International center in Australia. In
1872-438: The "Antichrist" document as copyrighted material, establishing their authenticity. George White, a public Scientologist who had received OT VIII in the summer of 1988, also asserts the document is authentic (and states that the course cost him US$ 28,000 at the time). Frank Oliver, a former operative with Scientology's Office of Special Affairs , reports having discovered the document in the church's archives. Lawrence Wollersheim ,
1944-476: The Church if it lost a lawsuit, and anti-SLAPP laws that prohibited the Church from using lawsuits to financially drain a critic into submission. Although Scientology continued to sue individual critics, defendants began using discovery to introduce secret church documents into evidence, making them part of the public record, and thus viewable by anyone. An example of this was the 1993 case Church of Scientology International v. Fishman and Geertz . Mike Rinder
2016-473: The Church, because its abuse of the legal system was well documented. The Church spent approximately seven million dollars in an attempt to discredit Time's article, which ultimately had the effect of drawing more attention to Scientology and public criticism of its practices. According to Rinder, the Time Warner lawsuit was ultimately responsible for "shattering the cone of silence" around Scientology. In
2088-437: The FBI raid, Rinder said that Fair Game tactics had to be changed. Intimidation tactics were still used, but took the form of vexatious litigation . Rinder stated this was effective at silencing organizations from disseminating information critical of Scientology, and kept the public relatively unaware of information seized during the FBI raid. However, the 1991 Time magazine article, "The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power," and
2160-447: The church after being victimized by Fair Game despite not criticizing the church after leaving. Rinder has been victimized by Fair Game numerous times and recalled an incident where he was sitting in his car at a doctor's office parking lot during a phone interview with BBC journalist John Sweeney when "five senior members of [Scientology's] California-based international management team – surrounded and screamed at him". The screaming
2232-441: The church after completing his research to deliver the remaining OT levels. According to Mike Rinder , the promise of more OT levels has motivated parishioners to continue retaking the same courses (I-VIII) repeatedly to prepare for the new levels to be revealed when Hubbard returns. The last OT level that Hubbard completed before his death was OT VIII, which was being collated and would be released to select Scientologists starting in
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2304-550: The church available for free. The year prior, the church launched "The Basics" program to sell "revised" versions of Hubbard's books to parishioners, which were identical to the originals except for changes in punctuation. Parishioners were encouraged to purchase the same books repeatedly, which resembles how the church encouraged retaking the same OT courses before WikiLeaks made the OT materials available for free. Jesse Prince, former second-in-command of Scientology's RTC , wrote that OT VIII
2376-408: The church, as well as handling "internal investigations into members' behavior." According to a 2016 Rolling Stone recap of the second episode of Leah Remini 's documentary series " Scientology and the Aftermath ", Rinder said of his position: If the Church decided someone was an enemy and needed to be silenced or destroyed, it was my job and I did it ... Everything from following them 24 hours
2448-443: The church, including family members. The device used during auditing, called an E-meter , has a disclaimer on it that says "it does nothing by itself" but members are told that it functions like a lie detector . Mike Rinder, Mark Rathbun , Marc and Claire Headley state that auditing sessions are secretly recorded, including ones with secrets about Tom Cruise and initially were forms of spiritual counseling. That changed due to
2520-989: The church. Rinder is a board member of the Foundation. In 2019, CHILD USA awarded Mike Rinder and Leah Remini the Barbara Blaine Trailblazer Award for having "taken a brave, public stand for justice and given voice to many of Scientology's victims." As of 2023, Rinder sits on the CHILD USA board of directors where he helps to "[change] the laws in numerous states across the US with legislation enacted to make it possible for victims to pursue their day in court." Rinder has two children with his first wife Cathy, daughter Taryn and son Benjamin. A second daughter, named Kimberley, died shortly after her birth in October 1982. In 2012, his partner, Christie King Collbran, gave birth to
2592-480: The church. Vexatious litigation had been effective at preventing publishers from disseminating information critical of Scientology to the public, but the World Wide Web made it possible for individuals to publish information without needing a publisher. That information could then be seen by anyone with internet access. Departures accelerated as a result, and the church responded by increasingly isolating itself from
2664-518: The church. Any Scientologist that doesn't disconnect from someone that leaves will be declared a suppressive person and expelled as well. This policy led to what Rinder stated are "captive" Scientologists – church members who stay not because they are faithful to the tenets but because they fear disconnection – and cites Leah Remini 's mother as an example of this because she stated she wanted to leave Scientology prior to Leah's departure but delayed doing so because she did not want to be disconnected from
2736-438: The complete set of OT levels on their site, including the current "revised" version of OT VIII not previously publicly available. The Church of Scientology again verified the authenticity of these documents when they threatened legal action for copyright infringement if they were not removed. WikiLeaks refused, thus making all 612 pages of the OT materials that many Scientologists spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to see through
2808-516: The decade that followed, criticism of the Church became bolder, more public and consistently negative. In the early 1990s, when the Internet was in its infancy, internet startups could be intimidated by the threat of litigation by the Church. But a decade later, those same companies were now large corporations with the resources to defend themselves. They successfully lobbied for legislation that shielded them with " loser pays " laws that would indemnify
2880-502: The discovery of Operation Snow White by the FBI. The Church organized an illegal infiltration of 136 government agencies because of the IRS' refusal to reinstate the church's tax exempt status. The FBI raid that ensued led to the discovery of hundreds of documents detailing criminal activity by the Church, and dozens of high-ranking church officials were prosecuted. But according to Rinder, David Miscavige 's claim that Fair Game succeeded in regaining Scientology's tax-exempt status in 1993
2952-496: The discovery of Operation Snow White , the rise of the Internet in the 1990s, the mobile revolution of the 2000s and the rise of social media in the 2010s. These events have made it difficult for the church to attract new followers and retain current adherents and resulted in the church taking increasingly more draconian measures to ensure its survival. According to Rinder, Scientology's two principal weapons against critics within
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3024-577: The followers they already had. The church's disconnection policy is primarily how the church discourages Scientologists from departing and is a mechanism of emotional blackmail . All communication with any Scientologist that "blows", or has an unauthorized departure as Rinder did, is immediately ceased. Since Scientologists are not permitted to have social relationships with non-Scientologists, they essentially lose contact with all their social contacts when they leave. Sea Org members are even more vulnerable when they leave because they are financially dependent on
3096-427: The interviews became part of the paper's "The Truth Rundown" special issue. Since then, Rinder has given numerous interviews to journalists and participated in several documentaries about Scientology. In March 2010, Rinder again confirmed allegations of abuse within Scientology to CNN 's Anderson Cooper on Anderson Cooper 360° . On September 28, 2010, Rinder appeared on The Secrets of Scientology broadcast by
3168-563: The litigation that followed it ended this secrecy. The year before Scientology sued Time magazine for defamation, the Church was successful at shutting down the Cult Awareness Network (CAN) by suing the group. However, unlike CAN, the Time Warner Corporation had the resources to defend itself, as well as the documents obtained from the earlier FBI raid. Time Warner was able to successfully prove that Scientology's lawsuit
3240-483: The official Scientology website. After leaving Scientology, Rinder relocated to Denver , Colorado , and initially did not intend to speak out against the organization; in 2009, when St. Petersburg Times first asked him for an interview, he declined. However, a month later, two Washington-based Scientology lawyers went to his home unannounced, informed Rinder that they knew about the newspaper's visit and asked what he had revealed. According to Rinder, this incident
3312-425: The organization are Auditing and Disconnection. Initially, auditing was meant to be a form of counseling (for which members pay over $ 500 per hour) to obtain the spiritual benefits of Scientology but by the time of his departure, he stated the practice had degenerated into a tool for interrogation and mind control . Non-compliant parishioners are labelled "suppressive persons" and disconnected from by other members of
3384-536: The past as the Marcab Confederacy. And it has been wrongly or rightly pointed to as one of the tail stars of the Big Dipper , which is the capital planet of which this planet is. Now, all this sounds very space opera-ish and that sort of thing, and I'm sorry for it, but I am not one to quibble about the truth." The Church of Scientology has denied claims that their religion is based on science fiction. However, with
3456-473: The physical and mental abuse inflicted upon staff members by Chairman of Scientology, David Miscavige , and by Rinder himself before his departure from the organization, and has explained how abuse was embedded into the culture of Scientology. From 2016 to 2019, he co-hosted the Emmy Award -winning A&E documentary series Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath . In 2020, he and Remini reunited to launch
3528-414: The public. Rinder also stated that this marked the beginning of the policy of disconnection being used punitively as punishment for Scientologists who leave the church. This produced a culture of "captive" Scientologists: members that remain not because they are faithful to the tenets, but because they fear their families being broken up by disconnection if they leave the church. L. Ron Hubbard died from
3600-514: The publicly available court documents, they were eventually posted to the internet by Scientology critic, Arnie Lerma , in August 1995. Church of Scientology lawyers asserted again that the Fishman OT VIII documents posted by Lerma are forgeries, yet they sued to have them taken down during the copyright battle over Lerma's web pages . The Church of Scientology's attorney, Kendrick Moxon , identified
3672-587: The purpose of this auditing level is to learn the secret of the relationship between "the Supreme Being " and the Thetan . Both are infinite, but the Thetan is unable to perceive its infinite identity due to confusions and distortions caused by MEST (matter, energy, space, time) . The purpose of this OT level is to remove those impediments and, thus, know one's identity from origin to infinity. The author states that anyone who
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#17328587379493744-602: The reaction by many early Scientologists to the Xenu origin of man story found in OT III . They balked at it and began leaving the church and encouraging others to do so as well. According to Rinder, this is where the term "suppressive person" originated from. Rinder also stated that the prophecy of Hubbard's messiah-like return after death to prevent an apocalyptic alien invasion in OT VIII (released in 1988, two years after his death) garnered
3816-528: The release of OT VIII, "all the data is now available", implying that this was the last OT level Hubbard intended to publish. The Church of Scientology sued Steven Fishman for copyright infringement of the OT VIII materials. Since infringement only exists if the document is authentic, their lawsuit unintentionally established the authenticity of the material. They dropped the suit afterwards and claimed they were forgeries. Despite efforts to prevent others from seeing
3888-431: The release of OT VIII, all three cardinal Incidents of the church's esoteric scripture have elements found in science fiction literature with which Hubbard was familiar as a science fiction writer. Scientology's creation myth (Incident I), origin of man myth (Incident II), and their doomsday prophesy (Incident III), share the key distinction from other religions, except that, instead of divine intervention , there
3960-794: The rest of her family. Rinder stated that the policy of "routing out", or authorized departure, is a sham. The church claims that anyone can voluntarily leave, or route out, and not be declared by paying a fee for leaving but in reality everyone that leaves gets declared by policy because they will have access to the internet after leaving and any parishioner who remains in contact with them will also have unauthorized access as well. After leaving Scientology in 2007, Rinder and his first wife, Cathy, divorced after 35 years, and he has had no contact with her or his two adult children from his first marriage because of disconnection. In April 2010, Rinder, who lived in Clearwater, Florida , attempted to meet his son, who
4032-430: The summer of 1988. Two posthumous biographies were published about Hubbard in 1987: Bare-faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard by Russell Miller, and L. Ron Hubbard: Madman or Messiah? by L. Ron Hubbard Jr., Hubbard's son. Miller used previously unpublished information about Hubbard for his book, while Hubbard's son relied on his upbringing with Hubbard for his. Both made the same allegation that Scientology
4104-574: The universe. Hubbard claims that the Second Coming described in the Book of Revelation refers to this event. Hubbard portrays his mission as that of fulfilling "the Biblical promise represented by the Antichrist " where an "arch-enemy of Christ" will emerge and stop the galactic confederacies' return. Hubbard then asserts that the Historical Jesus was "a lover of young boys and men"—implying that he
4176-421: Was a cult , and that Hubbard had a Messiah complex , with Hubbard Jr. writing that his father had told him that he identified himself with the Antichrist . The church denied these claims. One year later, OT VIII was released. In a posthumous prophecy that was intentionally withheld until after his death, Hubbard claims that 80 million years ago, a group of aliens that exist outside of human spacetime developed
4248-504: Was a homosexual and a pedophile —and claims that "the sainted figure [he] has been made out to be" is due to the R6 Implant . Hubbard then writes, "I will return not as a religious leader but a political one" and "halt a series of events designed to make happy slaves of us all". Hubbard warns that someone attempting this auditing level without being prepared may discover what it means to " spontaneously combust ". Hubbard also wrote that, with
4320-427: Was a watershed moment in Scientology's history. The response by early participants who balked at its claims and left the organization as a result resembled the response to OT III when it was released. The church revised it into its current form after apologists were not able to stop the wave of departures it was causing. Its publication also coincided with the arrival of the Internet, which presented new challenges for
4392-519: Was also living in Clearwater, after learning he was diagnosed with cancer, but his son refused to see him. The church also refused to let him on the property and had him cited for trespassing by the Clearwater Police. Rinder stated his biggest regrets in life is having two children that were born into Scientology and having enforced the disconnection policy (to which he is now being subjected) when he
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#17328587379494464-494: Was another moment of clarity, because he realized he was now being subjected to Scientology's practice of fair game intimidation and harassment despite declining to speak out. He decided to do the interview with the St. Petersburg Times , and said he was speaking out because "I don't want people to continue to be hurt and tricked and lied to." He spoke about Scientology's management and the repeated abuse that he gave as well as received, and
4536-486: Was co-executive producer of the show Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath in 2019 and 2020 when the show was nominated for the Emmy Awards , winning an Emmy for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series Or Special - 2020 . In 2018, Mike Rinder co-founded The Aftermath Foundation, a nonprofit which helps people escape from Scientology, and connects former Sea Org members with housing, work and other support upon leaving
4608-401: Was denying it. Afterwards, instead of reporting to Sussex, Rinder decided to leave Scientology. Rinder went to Virginia and told Scientology officials that he wanted to speak to his wife and also wanted his possessions. He did not speak to his wife, but was sent a FedEx package with a check for $ 5,000. His family photos were not sent. Rinder's official biography has since been removed from
4680-607: Was director of OSA. He stated the rise of social media in the late 2000s has allowed ex-Scientologists to connect with each other and form support groups for members who have left or want to leave. He credits the disconnection policy for the consistently negative media portrayal of Scientology . The reports of Scientology extracting large fees and their space opera beliefs were controversial, but their portrayal didn't become consistently negative until ex-Scientologists started sharing their stories through social media about families intentionally being broken up by disconnection because
4752-413: Was interested in finding out who he was." The Church of Scientology describes the revised OT VIII as a "Solo-audited level [which] addresses the primary cause of amnesia on the whole track and lets one see the truth of his own existence. This is the first actual OT level and brings about a resurgence of power and native abilities for the being himself." According to Mike Rinder , the publication of OT VIII
4824-605: Was living in The Hole for over two years "when he was suddenly pulled from his prison and sent on [a] mission to London to defend the Church against John Sweeney's film", Scientology and Me , in March 2007. Rinder defended Scientology leader David Miscavige , but Miscavige was unhappy that Rinder was unable to stop the documentary from being shown. As a result, Rinder "was to report to the church's facility in Sussex , and dig ditches" and then
4896-495: Was revised after early participants were "horribly upset" by the content. The OT VIII section has two parts: "original" and "new". The original section is identical to the Fishman version, while the subsequent "New" section is completely redacted and virtually unrecognizable when compared to the original that Fishman produced. The revised version is dated 1991, which is three years after the initial rollout of OT VIII, and states that "It
4968-659: Was so loud, Sweeney was able to record the episode and later aired the recording on The Secrets of Scientology broadcast by the BBC's Panorama program. The policy was becoming increasingly ineffective starting the 1980s as it was unable to stop publication of A Piece of Blue Sky by ex-Scientologist Jon Atack or the documentary Scientology and Me which ultimately led to Rinder's departure. The internet made it even less effective because information can be uploaded anonymously and then viewed by anyone with internet access. Rinder said Fair Game's most significant failure came with
5040-450: Was the auditing sessions that led him to deny Sweeney's allegations that he knew were true. He later discovered the training he received during those sessions was developed from a book written by Hubbard in 1955 called Brain-Washing . According to Rinder, for decades enrollment has been declining, but departures were more concerning. Without new Scientologists entering the organization, the church became increasingly dependent on retaining
5112-417: Was to be allowed to return to the United States. Rinder claimed his moment of clarity came in a confrontation with the filmmaker, which was recorded on video. In the exchange, Rinder denied Sweeney's allegation that he had been abused by Miscavige and was instructed by him to deny it happened. Rinder realized afterwards though that Sweeney's allegation about him was true and he was unable to rationalize why he
5184-427: Was vexatious in nature, and that it was meant to financially drain critics into submission rather than to resolve any actual dispute. Additionally, the discovery process allowed for the subpoena of Church documents, which exposed the Church's litigation policies. As a result, the Church lost its lawsuit against Time Warner. In the aftermath of the Time Warner lawsuit, courts were less receptive to litigation brought by
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