The Church of Scientology is turning its members, many of them well off people, into slaves. This may sound like something Anonymous would say, but, this time, it’s FBI’s stance on the way the group deals with its members, it has emerged.
As we
also noted earlier today, famous director and screenwriter Paul Haggis is a former Scientology member, who chose to renounce the group after coming into contact with things that went against his beliefs as an individual.
Haggis is preparing to come out with a book on his experience as a Scientologist, but, before that, he’s speaking out on several issues, including an ongoing FBI investigation into the inner workings of the cult,
Gawker reports.
Some Scientology practices have always bordered on the illegal, but it would seem that many of them have long crossed into this territory, Haggis says.
Claims from women that they were forced to get an abortion because they got pregnant by a Scientology outsider, talk of the harassment and intimation newcomers were subjected to, as well as of the isolation and humiliation, have made headlines constantly throughout the years.
It would seem that there’s some truth to them or, at least, the FBI believes so. The Bureau launched an investigation into the cult for human trafficking in December 2009 and it’s still ongoing.
“The laws regarding trafficking […] also pertain to slave labor. Under federal law, slavery is defined, in part, by the use of coercion, torture, starvation, imprisonment, threats, and psychological abuse,” The New Yorker editor writes after speaking with Haggis, as per Gawker.
Ever since the investigation was kicked off, FBI agents have been speaking to former members of the cult – since they have no access to current ones – to verify claims of abuse.
“The California penal code lists several indicators that someone may be a victim of human trafficking: signs of trauma or fatigue; being afraid or unable to talk, because of censorship by others or security measures that prevent communication with others; working in one place without the freedom to move about; owing a debt to one’s employer; and not having control over identification documents. Those conditions echo the testimony of many former Sea Org members...” it is further being said.
In other words, A-list members of the Church of Scientology, such as Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Lisa Marie Presley or Kirstie Alley, could all be the slaves of current Scientology leader David Miscavige.
For the full piece on Scientology in The New Yorker, please refer
here.
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