Horror stories
Question answered by honorarykid in Scientology
Anonymous asked this question on 9/18/2000:
I know that everyone who's ever been in the cult has horror
stories to tell, but what interests me the most is how much
money people get taken for. Most people seem to get away
with not too much damage but there are some people who've
been utterly destroyed by these scam artists.
If you don't mind, could you tell me how much money the
crooks took you for? They never got a dime from me but then I
don't fall for such scams.
Thank you.
honorarykid gave this response on 9/21/2000:
I just want to point out that your question isn't a very
inviting one for ex-Scientologists to answer. In order for
them to answer, they essentially have to give creedence to
your presumption that they were stupid to allow themselves
to become victims of the con.
I don't dispute that the whole marketing of Scientology is a
scam, and neither do many ex-members. But I would think
ex-members would like a to be given a presumption that
they're capable of learning from their mistakes, and don't
want to be painted as stupid idiots for all time.
Also, some people were raised as Scientologists, so were
inculcated into the scam as a part of their childhood
indoctrination.
To be sure, some ex-members will gladly admit to spending
and donating HUGE money to Scientology. Peter Alexander of
Tampa Florida has said he paid and/or over a million dollars.
He's now a staunch critic. Brian Haney is another very
wealthy ex-Scientologist who donated huge sums. Those
men had lot's of money, and didn't put their livelihoods at
risk.
The sadder cases were the people who paid in a lot less, but
needed to borrow on credit cards, or sell homes, possession,
and even inherited property, or take out second mortgages
they couldn't afford. Especially sad are those cases where
individuals joined Scientology only to abandon their financial
obligations to their non-Scientologist family members,
because they believed that Clearing the Planet was more
important than any dumb-old 2-D.
And too, the sad thing isn't always the money. Tory
Bazazian was on the OT-7 level for 7 years, paying 10s of
thousands for mandatory Sec. Checks every six months.
Finally, she'd had enough, and quit. She'd been a devoted
Scientologist for 30 years, and more or less estranged from
her mother for most of that time. Now she's out, and can
carry on a fulfilling relationship with her mother, which was
impossible before.
So how much is 30 years of your life worth?
And just for the record, I was never a Scientologist, so
obviously I've spent nothing for their services.
Return to The Skeptic Tank's main Index page.
The views and opinions stated within this web page are those of the
author or authors which wrote them and may not reflect the views and
opinions of the ISP or account user which hosts the web page. The
opinions may or may not be those of the Chairman of The Skeptic Tank.