Remini answers more questions
Reddit Q&A talks Islam, homosexuality
In a special episode of Scientology and the Aftermath last week, Leah Remini took to Reddit yet again in hopes of answering countless viewer questions about not only her time with the church, but those of the people she interviewed throughout the season.
Remini was j oined by former Scientology spokesman Mike Rinder, Lawrence Wright ( the author of Going Clear, which was adapted into an HBO documentary last year), Ray Jeffrey (one of few lawyers to take the church on in court) and Steve Hassan ( an author specializing in cult behaviour and deprogramming).
While one of the biggest bombshells of the episode came when Rinder suggested that the Church of Scientology has long been scheming to get “the nation of Islam engaged and involved” in its practices, a bigger reveal happened when the show focused its attention to the church’s stance on homosexuality.
Remini referenced L. Ron Hubbard’s Dianetics and The Science of Survival, in which there is a chart of human evolution that signifies who to look out for in your life, with “the most degraded” person close to the bottom of the chart. That classification includes “the sexual pervert,” meaning anyone participating in “homosexuality, lesbianism and sexual sadism.”
However, Rinder said, the church has been careful to have a public opinion, which is “we don’t take a position,” and an internal opinion, which considers homosexuality to be “deviant behaviour that needs to be dealt with.”
According to Remini, that means that “the gayness will be audited out of you.”
While noting that “most religions don’t have secrets,” Wright brought up Debbie Cook, the former captain of the Flag Service Organization, who left the Sea Org in 2007.
In 2011, she became one of the first church members to reveal a little of what goes on behind the scenes of Scientology when she sent out an email to various members, first clarifying that she was in good standing with the church (which, if she didn’t make clear, people would have ignored her letter), then blasting the church’s fundraising schemes and numerous abuses toward herself and her co-workers.
The church sued her for the claims she made, suggesting she was violating an NDA and damaging their reputation by spouting “lies” about their practices. Cook had worked directly with Church leader David Miscavige and claimed she had experienced several physical altercations with members. “She went through the looking glass and it was a nightmare,” Wright said.
When it came time to testify, Cook elaborated on her experience with the church, revealing damning details of not only physical abuse but financial fraud, leading the church to abandon the hearing after just one day of testimony. Cook ultimately settled, but as part of the settlement, is no longer allowed to discuss her history with Scientology.
Jeffrey, who had been a lawyer on her case, noted that the biggest difference between any other case he’s worked on and a Scientology case is that the organization “doesn’t only try to defeat your client, but the lawyer personally.”
“I have never had that done i n my career,” he said, claiming he received threatening letters, and was labelled “unethical and immoral.”
While t hese are only some of the biggest details revealed in Remini’s Reddit episode, the series host also took to Twitter to help answer any followup questions.