Scientology

Scientologists Tell Feds They Don’t Want Randos Repairing Their E-Meters

L. Ron Hubbard’s literary organization told the U.S. copyright office that it didn’t support DMCA exemptions for repairing personal electronics.

Scientology’s Flagship Boat Has Been Quarantined After a Confirmed Case of the Measles

A ship owned by the Church of Scientology that serves as a critical vessel for a religious retreat has been quarantined in the island nation of St. Lucia after it was confirmed that a female crew member aboard had contracted the measles. “After internal discussions as well as discussions with external health agencies such as the…

The FBI Redacted the Names of DC Comic Book Characters to Protect Their Non-Existent Privacy

Superman can sleep soundly tonight. The FBI, which is apparently aware of his secret identity, has decided to keep things under wraps, acknowledging the Kryptonian’s right to privacy ultimately outweighs the public’s need-to-know. Seriously. Proving the old FBI proverb, “when in doubt, cross it out,” still permeates the bureau’s hallowed halls, the agency decided to…

Oh Good, Now Both the NRA and Scientology Will Have TV Channels

The rise of widely accessible streaming video platforms has allowed niche organizations to spawn media companies that pump out propaganda content that they can beam directly to your living room. If you need a break from the gun-porn of NRA TV, but still want a glimpse into a strange apocalyptic alternate reality, you can tune…

A Guide to Scientology’s Most Ostentatious Real Estate

Empire-building has been part of many a religious group’s strategy throughout history. But no one does it better than Scientology. The documentary Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, which debuted on HBO last night, offers the first in-depth survey of Scientology’s practices, including its ongoing quest to acquire high-profile real estate. Since it…

William S. Burroughs’ Wild Ride with Scientology

You probably knew that William S. Burroughs had experimented with some unusual ideas during his time — but did you know he joined the Church of Scientology? Pop Apocalypse author and English professor Lee Konstantinou reveals the secret history of how Burroughs almost became an Operating Thetan. In 1959, the same year Olympia Press published…

Supreme court judges in the UK have ruled that Scientology is a “place of meeting for religious worship.” Louisa Hodkin launched a suitafter officials refused to register a Scientology chapel as a place for marriage. The judges said religions don’t require a God — potentially paving the way for Jedi marriages. Image: Wikimedia Commons/PictorialEvidence.

Philly Is Suing Scientology Over Its Vacant “Cathedral of the Future”

The Church of Scientology has reportedly spent roughly half a billion dollars buying up buildings in U.S. cities over the past few years—but, in many cases, these huge buildings have remained vacant. Now, the city of Philadelphia is taking the church to court over an empty tower. Using $7.85 million in donations, the church bought…

DARPA Got a New Tagline (and Tom Cruise Helped)

Any day is a good when the government’s most futuristic R&D lab starts cavorting around Twitter with Scientology superstars. And this is one of those days. For whatever reason—probably a conspiracy but most likely just to market his next dystopian blockbuster—Tom Cruise has been following the good work DARPA’s been doing. So early Friday morning,…

Scientology Is as Bad at Photoshop as It Is at Not Brainwashing People

The Church of Scientology held an event for the opening of a new facility in Portland over the weekend. The crowd was around 450-750 people. But the church claims it was more like 2,500, and it Photoshopped in the proof. Except the proof is about as convincing as your thetan’s origin story. In reality, there…

In House of Rumour, Ian Fleming and Aleister Crowley win World War II

World War II is often the go-to historical moment for alternate history novels. But in Jake Arnott’s novel House of Rumour it becomes the focal point for a secret history that’s stranger and more elaborate than just “What if the Nazis won?” Arnott weaves figures like L. Ron Hubbard and Virginia Woolf into a quasi-mystical…

The strangely true connection between Scientology, the Jet Propulsion Lab, and Occult Sorcery

One of the weirdest historical confluences you can imagine took place in Pasadena, California, in the 1940s. There, a darkly handsome young man and chemistry autodidact named Jack Parsons had just made a bundle of money by inventing solid rocket fuel and selling it to the military. He was part of a group of explosion-obsessed…

In new Scientology tell-all book, Tom Cruise explains his “special powers”

You’ve seen the insane video of Tom Cruise blasting Scientologists with his truth beams. You’ve heard the rumors. But now, you’ll get the full story. Over at the New York Post, Maureen Callahan has a fascinating article about journalist Lawrence Wright’s new book about Scientology, called Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief.…

Paul Thomas Anderson’s Scientology-inspired movie is a weird love story

In Paul Thomas Anderson’s Scientology-inspired movie The Master, Philip Seymour Hoffman plays a self-help guru who’s in the process of turning his therapeutic practice into a full-fledged spiritual movement. The Master shows us how Hoffman’s character creates the mythology that underpins his new faith, even as it explores the confounding love between Hoffman’s character and…

Full-length trailer for The Master shows what happens to people who question Philip Seymour Hoffman

Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master promises to be one of the year’s most intense movies, using the life of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard as a jumping-off point to look at post-World War II trauma and people’s eagerness to believe in some weird-ass cosmology. After two teaser trailers, here’s your first longer glimpse. Among other…

Scientologists Are Launching Their Own TV Station

According to the Telegraph, the Church of Scientology is planning to launch a religious broadcasting center to promote its teachings over TV, radio and the internet, all based in a studio complex purchased last year. The newspaper reports that the broadcasting center will be located near the church’s West Coast headquarters in Hollywood, and is…

Philip Seymour Hoffman channels L. Ron Hubbard like crazy in new Master trailer

The biggest question mark hanging over P.T. Anderson’s The Master has always been: How close to a movie about Scientology is this going to be? Rumor had it that Anderson tweaked the script a lot to take it away from being a straight-up portrayal of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard — but the Hubbard vibe…

How I Helped L. Ron Hubbard to ‘Take Over the Planet’

Back when queer activist Kate Bornstein was a boy named Al, she was a leading member of the Church of Scientology. She served aboard L. Ron Hubbard’s flagship, and even worked directly with Hubbard on a campaign to control Scientology members more completely. Bornstein’s new memoir A Queer and Pleasent Danger explains why she found…

First Gorgeous Trailer for P.T. Anderson’s Scientology Movie The Master

Joaquin Phoenix is amazingly deranged and sparky in the first trailer for The Master, Paul Thomas Anderson’s troubled-but-fascinating movie that’s at least loosely based on Scientology. You can already see from this brief teaser that Phoenix’s character is going to have impulse control issues as well as a flawed memory. (Although Jeremy Renner still might…

Educational Apps’ Advertising Introduce Kids to Scientology, Guns, Casinos and Sex

If you have kids, better watch out for free educative apps with ads in them. Apparently, they can be a backdoor for R-rated messages about hot dating, guns and, even worse, scientology. Check out the image for a small sample. The first case was caught by a man living in Austria. His 6-year-old son was…