Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 8, No. 3, 2009, Page 71
Geir Isene, a Norwegian, and Americans Mary Jo Leavitt and Sherry Katz, said they hoped
their Internet statements would resonate with other Scientologists. Indeed, 41-year
member Jack Airey, recently featured in a Scientology infomercial, was encouraged by their
public statements to announce that he, too, has decided to leave. He said: ―Tomorrow I join
the worldwide group called 'Independent Scientologists,' where honest, on- source LRH [L.
Ron Hubbard, Scientology founder] technology, and exposing the ‗out tech‘ of current
Church of Scientology management, is the order of the day. (This past summer, former
Scientology executives Marty Rathbun and Mike Rinder publicly alleged that there was abuse
in the church‘s management ranks. A church attorney replied that it was ―astonishing‖ that
the [St. Petersburg] Times is giving ―a public platform for the views of disgruntled and
biased former members.‖
Geir Isene said that he was profoundly introverted until, beginning at age 18, Scientology
helped him, at a cost of $200,000 in courses over the years—to develop such confidence
and communications skills that he came to host a popular radio show and start and run his
own software company. Several years ago, Isene recounted, Scientology head David
Miscavige asked him to search the Internet and identify the Norwegian journalists who
alleged that Miscavige physically abused staff. Isene found none, but he was shocked, while
surfing the Internt, to read many allegations that Miscavige did, indeed, strike staffers.
Finally persuaded by an expose in the St. Petersburg Tines, Isene and his wife decided to
break with the church. Now he says, "I want to stop the abuses. .."I want the Human
Rights Watch. ..breathing down their neck."
Mary Jo Leavitt, who was an outstanding Scientology recruiter and missionary to her
native Latin America, said she left principally because of the church‘s pressure for members‘
money. She also described the ―completely Gestapo‖ interrogation she received when she
complained about abuse of staff members. When officials asked her to use her credit card to
donate to Scientology expansion efforts, ―I just walked out.‖ She then posted on the
Internet an eight-page report she had sent to top church officials revealing that managers
were redirecting field staff to fundraise at the expense of religious work. Leavitt‘s children
have also left.
Thirty-six-year Scientologist Sherry Katz, disobeying Scientology rules, searched
―Scientology‖ on the Internet last year and was shocked to learn about the destructive
experiences of many who had already left the church. She had begun to question the church
in 2008 when, as a paid church executive in Pasadena, she had to deal with staffing
shortages, incomplete projects, and directives for new projects that she thought
unattainable. When Scientology launched a campaign to get members each to pay $3,000
for a re-release of founder Hubbard‘s teachings. "It was absolutely insane," Katz says. "You
had staff members calling (parishioners) at 1 o'clock in the morning and 2 o'clock in the
morning. Staff not getting any sleep. It was complete insanity. And it went on month, after
month, after month, after month." She eventually told her supervisor, "I can't support this
… I consider it to be a squirrel organization‖—church usage for a group improperly applying
Scientology practices. As a result of the great stress this induced, ―I can say, honestly, I
was pretty suicidal. I don't know if I would have actually carried it out. But I was really at
that point where I felt like I had nothing to live for and I would be much better off dead.‖
These feelings were especially shocking to her because, she says, the highest achieving
Scientologists—OT VIIIs—are supposed to be ―completely able to make whatever they want
to have happen in life.‖ She said that when she was away from the church, she felt in
control, as an OT VIII should, but that when she had to deal with the ―church agenda,‖ she
felt a loss of control. ―It was like having two different lives.‖
New Age musician Oliver Shanti (aka Ulrich Schultz), 61, whose followers called him Jesus
and Messiah, was convicted by a Munich court in December on 76 counts of child sexual
abuse—involving children aged seven and 13, and perpetrated over a decade. He was
Geir Isene, a Norwegian, and Americans Mary Jo Leavitt and Sherry Katz, said they hoped
their Internet statements would resonate with other Scientologists. Indeed, 41-year
member Jack Airey, recently featured in a Scientology infomercial, was encouraged by their
public statements to announce that he, too, has decided to leave. He said: ―Tomorrow I join
the worldwide group called 'Independent Scientologists,' where honest, on- source LRH [L.
Ron Hubbard, Scientology founder] technology, and exposing the ‗out tech‘ of current
Church of Scientology management, is the order of the day. (This past summer, former
Scientology executives Marty Rathbun and Mike Rinder publicly alleged that there was abuse
in the church‘s management ranks. A church attorney replied that it was ―astonishing‖ that
the [St. Petersburg] Times is giving ―a public platform for the views of disgruntled and
biased former members.‖
Geir Isene said that he was profoundly introverted until, beginning at age 18, Scientology
helped him, at a cost of $200,000 in courses over the years—to develop such confidence
and communications skills that he came to host a popular radio show and start and run his
own software company. Several years ago, Isene recounted, Scientology head David
Miscavige asked him to search the Internet and identify the Norwegian journalists who
alleged that Miscavige physically abused staff. Isene found none, but he was shocked, while
surfing the Internt, to read many allegations that Miscavige did, indeed, strike staffers.
Finally persuaded by an expose in the St. Petersburg Tines, Isene and his wife decided to
break with the church. Now he says, "I want to stop the abuses. .."I want the Human
Rights Watch. ..breathing down their neck."
Mary Jo Leavitt, who was an outstanding Scientology recruiter and missionary to her
native Latin America, said she left principally because of the church‘s pressure for members‘
money. She also described the ―completely Gestapo‖ interrogation she received when she
complained about abuse of staff members. When officials asked her to use her credit card to
donate to Scientology expansion efforts, ―I just walked out.‖ She then posted on the
Internet an eight-page report she had sent to top church officials revealing that managers
were redirecting field staff to fundraise at the expense of religious work. Leavitt‘s children
have also left.
Thirty-six-year Scientologist Sherry Katz, disobeying Scientology rules, searched
―Scientology‖ on the Internet last year and was shocked to learn about the destructive
experiences of many who had already left the church. She had begun to question the church
in 2008 when, as a paid church executive in Pasadena, she had to deal with staffing
shortages, incomplete projects, and directives for new projects that she thought
unattainable. When Scientology launched a campaign to get members each to pay $3,000
for a re-release of founder Hubbard‘s teachings. "It was absolutely insane," Katz says. "You
had staff members calling (parishioners) at 1 o'clock in the morning and 2 o'clock in the
morning. Staff not getting any sleep. It was complete insanity. And it went on month, after
month, after month, after month." She eventually told her supervisor, "I can't support this
… I consider it to be a squirrel organization‖—church usage for a group improperly applying
Scientology practices. As a result of the great stress this induced, ―I can say, honestly, I
was pretty suicidal. I don't know if I would have actually carried it out. But I was really at
that point where I felt like I had nothing to live for and I would be much better off dead.‖
These feelings were especially shocking to her because, she says, the highest achieving
Scientologists—OT VIIIs—are supposed to be ―completely able to make whatever they want
to have happen in life.‖ She said that when she was away from the church, she felt in
control, as an OT VIII should, but that when she had to deal with the ―church agenda,‖ she
felt a loss of control. ―It was like having two different lives.‖
New Age musician Oliver Shanti (aka Ulrich Schultz), 61, whose followers called him Jesus
and Messiah, was convicted by a Munich court in December on 76 counts of child sexual
abuse—involving children aged seven and 13, and perpetrated over a decade. He was
