Thursday, I had two text messages that came close to each other asking if I was watching NBC. I was not but, turned it on quickly to catch the show “Rock Center” with Brian Williams. It was riveting and in a way shocking to hear the survivors of Scientology recount their observations and then know how much they mirrored my life inside Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF). Oscar winning director and writer, Paul Haggis left Scientology after 34 years. The segment had two parts. First was the interview with Paul Haggis- from which the video clips are shown.  The second part featured a family that talked of their ordeal to leave Scientology – as a family. We will comment on the interview with Paul Haggis first. There are two videos and I will comment on material from both, but maybe not in order.

From the outset, Scientology denies any validity to the claims of Mr. Haggis or the James family. They put out several statements attacking Paul Haggis’ claims as basically baseless and unfounded. He is labeled “The Hollywood Hypocrite”. We all expected that and are not surprised. However, I found Haggis’ observations believable, and at the same time frightening. To experience what I did inside WOFF and then hear that similar things go on in other groups is still bewildering. That is because while in WOFF, even though the ordeal was real, you still thought you were the only group who could have such dynamics affecting its members. In many cases, you thought you were the ONLY person being treated this way.

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