Scientology fully awaits return of its founder

WHAT WE LEARNED

On the fourth episode of A&E’s Scientology and the Aftermath, Leah Remini had a particularly special guest to discuss why he left the organization when he did: Church leader David Miscavige’s estranged father, Ron.

The older man described his son as a smart, passionate person who “removes” anyone who gets in his way, including family.

After moving away from home at 16 to become employed full-time under Church founder L. Ron Hubbard, David worked his way up the ranks, eventually becoming the head of the organization. But the higher his climb, the less he spoke to his father, who claimed David no longer acknowledges him.

“Family connections are considered a ‘false dynamic,’” Ron said. “No spiritual being is the father of another spiritual being. On (Gold) base, he referred to me as Ron, he never called me dad. And I called him sir.”

Ron recalled how he knew there would be a price to pay after he once waved to his son, referring to him as Dave: “I was a staff member and that father-son relationship at that moment, I know, had either gone into nothing or was starting to erupt.”

In his tell-all book, Ruthless, Ron also reveals that when a Church investigator thought Ron was having a heart attack, he was told by David not to step in. “If it was Ron’s time to die, let him die,” the investigator claimed.

And while he was living at David’s compound, Ron’s calls, Internet use and letters were all monitored, so that he would be unable to contact anyone outside of the Church. But after David gifted his father an Amazon Kindle without realizing it was connected to the Internet, Ron was able to Google what the world was saying about Scientology.

When he discovered the countless allegations of abuse and claims that the Church had been ripping people off for years, Ron decided to leave for good, along with his wife, in 2012. Like most “disconnected” members, he has not spoken to the rest of his family since.

Claiming that he was followed for months after leaving, Ron said he would still embrace his son if he ever wanted to so much as hug him or shake his hand.

Remini also spoke to Tom DeVocht, who had been a member of the Church for 30 years and worked directly for David. In their conversation, DeVocht claimed that David had repeatedly physically assaulted him.

But he was most disillusioned when he was informed by David, in private, that as the Church’s new leader, he had made up the “upper levels of enlightenment” of Scientology, just as L. Ron Hubbard had before him, proving the entire basis of the Church was fake.

“(David) said ‘Hey, I’ve got Hubbard’s worksheets, but that’s all I’ve got to work with — I’ve got to develop what OT 9 is,’” DeVocht said. “The whole picture of what I thought I was involved crumbled before me.”

But this episode’s most astounding reveal involved Hubbard’s death, which, apparently, many Scientologists don’t believe even happened.

Instead of telling members that he had died from a stroke, when David delivered the news in 1986 he said Hubbard had completed the highest OT levels, “discarded his body” and entered the “exterior state” required to “move on to his next level of OT research.”

Members are so confident Hubbard will return that there is even a fully intact office ready for his use.

FAMILY CONNECTIONS ARE (DEEMED) A ‘FALSE DYNAMIC.’