Side by side, on the grocery store magazine display, I saw two celebrity magazines with cover stories about Scientology. I purchased both. I find it interesting, how similar this "church" is to the organization of the Watchtower.
I thought I'd share some of the interesting quotes from the articles, which are both mostly about Leah Remini's new book, Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology. Neither magazine's website seems to be featuring these stories now, (and I find myself wondering why I can't find them).
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From the cover of People Magazine (November 16, 2015):
(I found a cover image available on this blog, but couldn't find it on the People website) http://tvnewsandviews.com/2015/11/04/people-magazine-november-16-2015-leah-remini-my-escape-from-scientology/
Leah Remini: My Escape from Scientology
- Cleaning hotel rooms for the church as a child
- Grueling interrogations and fears for her family
- Punished for disrupting Tom & Katie's wedding
- PLUS Explosive new details from her tell-all book Troublemaker
From the 5-page article in People:
- "Everything happened slowly. Your indoctrination happens over a lifetime." (she was brought to Scientology by her mother at age 8. When Leah left Scientology, her family left with her).
- From a conversation Leah had with Nicole Kidman's children, Bella and Connor Cruise:
"How's your mom? Do you see her a lot?" she asked the kids.
"Not if I have a choice," Bella who was then 13, said, according to Remini. "She's a f---ing SP." (A "suppressive person" is someone viewed as hostile to the church).
- Leah: "In Scientology, there is no middle ground, so unless I was willing to leave my mother, my sister, my brother-in-law and all my friends, I had no other choice."
- When Leah finally reached her breaking point, she was "terrified that her husband, mom and other family members would have to 'disconnect' from her -- a practice of cutting off contact from someone declared hostile to Scientology."
Reactions from the church to her claims:
"It comes as no surprise that someone as self-absorbed as Leah Remini with an insatiable craving for attention would exploit her former faith as a publicity stunt," the church said in a statement, adding that she was "on the verge of being expelled for her ethical lapses," and detailing her alleged lies and misdeeds in statements on its website http://www.scientologynews.org/statements/abc-news/church-of-scientology-statement-leah-remini.html
This is one difference between the Watchtower and Scientology. Scientology publishes statements in response to those who challenge them.
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From the cover of inTouch Magazine (November 16, 2015):
(I haven't been able to find an image of this cover online, or any reference to it on intouchweekly.com)
Katie's Revenge on Tom
She humiliates him: marriage and Scientology secrets finally revealed
- His meltdowns over cookie dough and a chipped mug!
- Why baby Suri was left crying on the bathroom floor
- Leah Remini joins Katie in exposing Tom's bizarre world
"Katie has been muzzled by her divorce agreement with Tom and has been forced to stay silent for years," says a source. "So speaking out now is huge."
The inTouch article, is mostly about Leah's book, but it does include an apology statement that Katie issued to Leah, and this statement from a Scientology insider: "Tom is furious with Katie because he knows, and the church knows, that she has a nondisclosure agreement. Katie agreed not to spill any secrets."
Some interesting highlights they share from Leah's book:
- Leah claims Tom doesn't like John Travolta and Kirstie Alley.
- Tom had a fit over cookie dough, berating a female assistant for improperly preparing a batch of cookie dough for him to bake with friends. "Get in the f---ing present time!" Leah says he screamed.
- ... and over a chipped mug: "You served me tea in a chipped mug? f---ing DB." - derogatory Scientology term that stands for "Degraded Being."
- Sea Org guarded Tom's house, "to make sure nothing upset Tom, and if it did, to immediately report it to the church, specifically to (leader) David Miscaviage."