Ogwaros Iwenâl

If you are at all interested in the whole recent scuffle with Scientology and have three and a half hours to spare, I highly encourage you to watch the Steven Fishman deposition (part 1 of 7). It’s hard to tell how much of the craziness comes from the man and how much comes from Scientology itself.

If you don’t have the time, here are the highlights:

• Fishman describes several of the ideas that underlie Scientology (including thetans, the 76 trillion year time track, past lives).  He evidently wasn’t high up enough to be introduced to the idea of Xenu.
• Demonstrating how an e-meter can “prove” the idea of past lives.
• He describes several of his past lives including
  • Being poisoned by milk, leading to his dislike of milk in his present life
  • Being the real father of Jesus Christ
  • A life on another planet where he manipulated currencies
• Fishman describes Christ as an evil mastermind whose goal is to enslave humanity.
• Christ destroyed an entire planet where the asteroid belt is now in our solar system.
• Fishman’s ultimate destiny is to “clear the planet” of Christ’s influence.  Due to this, Fishman was supposed to be the savior of the entire Scientology organization.

None of this strikes me as any better or worse than any other religion.  If it helps you live your life, great.  Personally, I found some of it downright hilarious.  However, then things started taking a scary turn:

• When Fishman withdrew some of his own money from a Scientology account, he was cut on the arm by one of the church’s thugs.
• When that withdrawal led to legal troubles for Fishman, the church demanded he go through EOC - end of cycle. They expected him to kill himself because he brought trouble to the church.
• To this effect, Fishman received three packages in the mail, each containing chemicals they expected him to inject/drink in order to kill himself.
• Fishman’s car was sabotaged, and he got corresponding phone call warning it would continue until he complied with the EOC.
• He had several periods he could not remember after receiving a phone call, indicating perhaps some sort of post-hypnotic suggestions.

You know, I would join the church to see what’s really up, but between the money you have to pay in, the church’s strong arm legal tactics (what kind of religion copyrights their holy texts and sell them to adherents at outrageous prices?  The money making cult kind…), and the more sinister covert actions…  Yeah, it’s not worth it.