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Tory Christman (former married name Tory Bezazian; online name "Magoo") born 1947, is a former member of the Church of Scientology who left the organization in 2000, after being a member for about three decades. She is now one of its most visible and high-profile critics, making frequent media appearances. Dianetics is a practice which is based on ideas about the human mind. ...
In Dianetics, the secular predecessor of Scientology, an engram is defined as a painful memory of unconsciousness stored in the stimulus-response unconscious (the reactive mind). ...
In Dianetics and Scientology, Clear is defined as a state in which a person is free of unwanted influences of past memories, unwanted emotions, and mental and physical pain not existing in present time. ...
This article examines the beliefs and practices of Scientology as taught by the Church of Scientology. ...
The term thetan is used in Scientology to mean something roughly synonymous with spirit or soul. ...
Past Lives redirects here. ...
In Church of Scientology doctrine, the subjects of supernatural or superhuman powers and abilities are ones that recur often. ...
In Scientology doctrine, space opera was the term used by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard to describe extraterrestrial civilizations and alien interventions. ...
In Scientology doctrine, Xenu (also Xemu) is an alien ruler of the Galactic Confederacy who, 75 million years ago, brought billions of people to Earth, stacked them around volcanoes and blew them up with hydrogen bombs. ...
The Church of Scientology bases most of their beliefs on human history from the information provided from the Churchs founder, L. Ron Hubbard. ...
This article examines the beliefs and practices of Scientology as taught by the Church of Scientology. ...
Study tech, or study technology, is a method of study, devised and spelled out by L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology. ...
This article is in need of attention. ...
Disconnection is a practice in Scientology, in which a Scientologist severs all ties between themselves and friends, colleagues, or family members who criticize Scientology practices. ...
The Purification Rundown[1], known as The Purif within Scientology, is a program of detoxification developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, involving the use of saunas, vitamins, and the drinking of oils. ...
The Scientology Justice system is a means for a Scientology organization to take action against a member whose conduct or actions are viewed as highly desctructive or offensive by an executive within the organization. ...
In the Scientology religion, MEST is an acronym for Matter, Energy, Space and Time, considered by Scientologists to be the four component parts of the physical universe. ...
ARC is a fundamental concept in Scientology doctrine. ...
The Tone scale in Scientology technology is a characterization of human behavior and bodily appearance. ...
The reactive mind is defined in Dianetics as the portion of a persons mind which works on a totally stimulus-response basis, which is not under his volitional (willing) control, and which exerts force and the power of command over his awareness, purposes, thoughts, body and actions. ...
An official Church of Scientology portrait of L. Ron Hubbard, circa 1970 Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986), better known as L. Ron Hubbard, was a prolific American author and founder of the controversial Church of Scientology. ...
David Miscavige (born April 30, 1960) is Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center (RTC)[1], a corporation that owns the trademarked names and symbols of Dianetics and Scientology. ...
Lisa McPherson (born Lisa Skonetski, February 10, 1959–December 5, 1995) was a Scientologist who died while in the care of the Church of Scientology (CoS). ...
Arnaldo (Arnie) Pagliarini Lerma (b. ...
Karin Spaink (born December 20, 1957 in Amsterdam) is a journalist, writer and feminist. ...
The Oxford Capacity Analysis (OCA) is a personality test that is given for free by the Church of Scientology. ...
The Association for Better Living and Education (A.B.L.E.) is a secular branch of the Church of Scientology. ...
Founded in 1983, the Concerned Businessmens Association of America (CBAA) is an element of the Scientology movement directed at promoting moral education and enhanced well-being through the use of Hubbards The Way to Happiness booklet in their Set A Good Example (SAGE) program, which holds childrens...
The international headquarters of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. ...
Narconon is not associated with Narcotics Anonymous which is sometimes abbreviated Narcanon. Scientologys Narconon is a rehabilitation program for drug abusers in several dozen treatment centers worldwide, chiefly in the United States and western Europe. ...
Criminon is a secular non proft 501 C3 working with government departments and inmates to reduce recidivism and restore self respect to the inmate. ...
The Volunteer Minister program is a worldwide effort founded by the Church of Scientology International. ...
World Institute of Scientology Enterprises (WISE) is an organization that educates and assists businesses in the use of Scientology management techniques. ...
This is a list of Scientology organizations operated by the Church of Scientology (CoS), including Church offices, missions, Celebrity Centres and publicized Scientology and Dianetics groups. ...
The Sea Org logo. ...
Official Scientology Cross Symbol The Church of Scientology was founded in 1954 by the late author L. Ron Hubbard. ...
The Gold Base is the headquarters of Golden Era Productions, the media division of the Church of Scientology, located near Hemet, California with the address of: 19625 Highway 79, Gilman Hot Springs, CA 92583. ...
The Church of Scientology maintains a large base on the outskirts of Trementina, New Mexico. ...
The Office of Special Affairs (OSA) is a department of the Church of Scientology responsible for directing legal affairs, publicizing the Churchs social betterment works, and oversee[ing its] social reform programs. Observers outside the Church have characterized the department as an intelligence agency, comparing it variously to the...
Celebrity Centres are Church of Scientology centers that are open to the public but serve mostly artists and celebrities and other professionals, leaders and promising new-comers in the fields of the arts, sports, management and government. ...
The International Association of Scientologists (IAS) was formed in October 1984 by a group of selected Scientologists, who assembled at Saint Hill Manor in East Grinstead, Sussex, England. ...
This article does not cite its references or sources. ...
The Religious Technology Center (RTC) is a non-profit organization established in 1982 by the Church of Scientology to control and oversee the uses of all of the trademarks, symbols and sacred texts of Scientology and Dianetics, including the copyrighted works of the religions founder, L. Ron Hubbard. ...
To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
In Scientology, a formally condemned and shunned heretic or wrongdoer is labelled a Suppressive Person, often abbreviated SP. L. Ron Hubbard coined the term to refer to enemies of the Church of Scientology, whose suppressive acts are said to impede the progress of Scientology. ...
Fair Game is a status assigned to those whom the Church of Scientology has officially declared to be Suppressive Persons or Suppressive Persons are those whose actions are deemed to suppress or damage Scientology or a Scientologist. ...
Operation Snow White was the name given internally by the Church of Scientology to a program which included the largest incident of domestic espionage in the history of the United States. ...
Operation PC Freakout was the name given by the Church of Scientology to a covert plan undertaken by the Church in 1976, with the goal of harassing Paulette Cooper, author of a book critical of Scientology titled The Scandal of Scientology. The plan came to light when the FBI seized...
Scientology versus the Internet is the colloquial term for a long-running online dispute between the Church of Scientology and a number of the Churchs online critics. ...
Patter drills are a technique of rote learning used in courses in the Church of Scientology added by David Miscavige in mid-1995. ...
Trapped in the Closet is episode 137 of the Comedy Central series South Park. ...
The Church of Scientology is well known for its extensive use of the legal system. ...
The Fishman Affidavit is a set of court documents submitted by ex-Scientologist Steven Fishman in 1994 containing criticisms of the Church of Scientology and, controversially, substantial portions of the Operating Thetan course materials. ...
Official Scientology Cross Symbol The Church of Scientology was founded in 1954 by the late author L. Ron Hubbard. ...
Personal
Tory Christman was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the youngest of three siblings to Paul and Inez Christman. The family moved to Park Ridge, Illinois a suburb of Chicago, as Paul Christman was a quarterback who played for the Chicago Cardinals football team between 1949 and 1951, and later a broadcaster for the American Football League with Curt Gowdy. Image File history File links Cnntory7. ...
Image File history File links Cnntory7. ...
Nickname: City of Fountains or Heart of America Official website: http://www. ...
To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
My name is Tory Christman, and my father was/is Paul Christman. ...
Curt Gowdy (born July 31, 1919, in Green River, Wyoming) is a former American sportscaster. ...
Growing up in Park Ridge, Christman attended St Paul of the Cross grade school, and Lincoln Junior High School. She attended the Maine East High School through her sophomore year, in the same graduating class as Hillary Clinton. Tory was very happy in Park Ridge, and to this day considers that foundation of growing up in such a safe, happy town was part of what helped her wake up from Scientology, years later. Maine East High School is a public high school in Park Ridge, Illinois. ...
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton (born October 26, 1947), was First Lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001, as the wife of President Bill Clinton. ...
The family moved to Lake Forest, Illinois but Tory was unhappy there. As a teenager searching for a higher purpose in life, she became quite rebellious, so her parents sent her to Notre Dame de Sion, a Catholic boarding school in Kansas City, Missouri where she attended and later graduated. She attended college in Rhode Island for two years, and moved to Manhattan. Christman decided to go to San Francisco to become a hippie, and thought that seeking higher powers would bring some answers. While there, she experimented with many others in the drug culture. A friend offered her heroin, which was the first (and last) time she ever tried it, as it made her sick. Christman's parents flew her back to Lake Forest, Illinois where she was hospitalized. Two acquaintances whom she had known previously came to the hospital and introduced Dianetics to Tory. Lake Forest is a city located in Lake County, Illinois. ...
Nickname: City of Fountains or Heart of America Official website: http://www. ...
Official language(s) None Capital Providence Largest city Providence Area - Total - Width - Length - % water - Latitude - Longitude Ranked 50th 4,005 km² 50 km 65 km 32. ...
The Borough of Manhattan, highlighted in yellow, lies between the East River and the Hudson River. ...
To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
Dianetics is a practice which is based on ideas about the human mind. ...
Joining Scientology In 1969, Christman returned to college, but left within the year, convinced that her career in life was to be a Scientology auditor, helping to "clear the planet." She went to Los Angeles, California and was recruited into the Sea Organization (Sea Org) and signed a "billion year contract." She was sent to the ship, "Bolivar" in order to do training for the Sea Org. Scientology is a new religious movement based on a system of beliefs, teachings, practices, and ceremonies that originated as philosophy in 1952 by science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard (Lafayette Ronald Hubbard). ...
This article examines the beliefs and practices of Scientology as taught by the Church of Scientology. ...
In Dianetics and Scientology, Clear is defined as a state in which a person is free of unwanted influences of past memories, unwanted emotions, and mental and physical pain not existing in present time. ...
Nickname: City of Angels Official website: http://www. ...
The Sea Org logo. ...
After training, and within a matter of months, Christman needed to re-order medication for her Epilepsy, and under Sea Org rules, she had to see a Medical Liaison Officer, (MLO.) The person was not a doctor, and Christman was informed to take a leave of absence and go off her medication. Christman was told to begin a program that included taking lots of vitamins, and a drink called cal-mag.[citation needed]
Reducing her medication by a small amount, Christman began having Grand mal seizures, in Scientology organizations and at home, lasting for a period of about six months. Christman's mother was very concerned, and continually warned that "Scientology is going to kill you," due to her having repeated seizures. Christman believed L. Ron Hubbard, in that he said auditing would in fact fix her physical condition. Finally, when she couldn't remember a date the night before, her mother insisted she return to taking all of her medication, or she was coming out to Los Angeles. At that time, Christman returned to taking her medication, however she ended up fighting Scientology for the next twenty-five years until she finally left. Chronic illness was considered bad per Hubbard, and thus needed to be corrected with Scientology technology.[citation needed] In order to advance to the Sea Organization at that time, Scientology policy dictated that no medication be taken. (Years later, executives in Scientology told Christman that whoever told her that was incorrect.) Seizures (or convulsions) are temporary alterations in brain function expressing themselves into a changed mental state, tonic or clonic movements and various other symptoms. ...
An official Church of Scientology portrait of L. Ron Hubbard, circa 1970 Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986), better known as L. Ron Hubbard, was a prolific American author and founder of the controversial Church of Scientology. ...
This article examines the beliefs and practices of Scientology as taught by the Church of Scientology. ...
Christman went back to the Medical Liaison Officer, who told her she was not fit to be in the Sea Org. She was sent to the Scientology Ethics department, who deemed her a "Freeloader." She was given a bill for thousands of dollars to pay for two completed courses, that were required before one can be in the Sea Org. Christman wrote to L. Ron Hubbard, who replied that she was not a Freeloader, and should only pay for two courses. Hubbard told Christman to "continue to get auditing in their organizations" and insinuated she needed to handle her Epilepsy before she could return to the Sea Org. Hubbard told Christman he would see her "up the lines," meaning back in the Sea Org, once she had handled her physical condition. Overview Scientology Ethics differs from common philosophical discussions of ethical problems in that many issues that arise in such discussions are seen as covered and handled by auditing technology. ...
In 1971, Christman was hired to work at the Scientology Celebrity Center in Los Angeles, as a non-Sea Org staff member, but after six months Scientology cancelled all "Non-Sea Org contracts," so that ended her being on staff. As long as she was on medication, it was considered that she was unqualified.
From 1972-1989, Christman spent her time as a wife and mother, marrying Harold Bezazian in 1974, as well as training and auditing within Scientology. She worked as a teacher, and later in sales and marketing. She and her husband moved to Largo, Florida in 1979. Largo, Floridas new 90,000+ sq. ...
During this time, Christman was asked to assist the group known as the Guardian's Office in "handling" Richard Tenney, the City Commissioner of Clearwater, Florida, who at the time was running for Mayor, using a campaign, "Save Sparkling Clearwater, Stamp out Scientology." [1] Christman was asked to help by one of Scientology's executives, telling her they came to Clearwater on a lie, and thus could not handle this, as Tenney's campaign was based on "Scientologists are liars."[citation needed] Official Scientology Cross Symbol The Church of Scientology was founded by author L. Ron Hubbard as an organization dedicated to the practice of Scientology, an applied religious philosophy formulated by Hubbard. ...
Christman thought she was helping her group, mostly by trying to get the people in the town to understand that Scientologists were not as bad as they thought, which she strongly believed at the time, and still does, for the most part. Even today she reminds people the average Scientologist is basically good, with the executives doing the harmful things. She continued to volunteer with the Guardian's Office, which later became the Office of Special Affairs.[citation needed] Due to mostly working on the public relations end, Christman was not really aware of the darker sides of this group. [2] The Office of Special Affairs (OSA) is a department of the Church of Scientology responsible for directing legal affairs, publicizing the Churchs social betterment works, and oversee[ing its] social reform programs. Observers outside the Church have characterized the department as an intelligence agency, comparing it variously to the...
In 1979, Christman attested to L Ron Hubbard's State of "Clear" and shortly thereafter began the top secret level named Operating Thetan Level III, or OT3. It was on this level that Hubbard claimed he nearly died doing the research for, and from it created the science fiction story about the "evil galactic overlord," Xenu that no one within Scientology is allowed to speak about. The story says that one is covered with what Hubbard called "Body Thetans," or as Christman calls them, "space aliens," from another planet. [3] Because Christman felt having a seizure was close to dying, she began to think perhaps OT 3 could be the answer to her physical problem. After completing this level of auditing, Christman thought she had rid herself of all the space aliens and tried once again to get off of her much needed medication for Epilepsy. The result was that she went into Status Epileptus, or multiple seizures, and ended up at the Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater. [4] This was the last time she tried to get off of her medication, and was the last seizure she ever had. In Dianetics and Scientology, Clear is defined as a state in which a person is free of unwanted influences of past memories, unwanted emotions, and mental and physical pain not existing in present time. ...
In Scientology, the state of Operating Thetan is a spiritual state above Clear. ...
In Scientology, OT3 - or OT III - refers to Operating Thetan level three, which deals with the story of Xenu. ...
In Scientology doctrine, Xenu (also Xemu) is an alien ruler of the Galactic Confederacy who, 75 million years ago, brought billions of people to Earth, stacked them around volcanoes and blew them up with hydrogen bombs. ...
In Scientology doctrine, body thetans or BTs are the ghosts of the victims of a genocide perpetrated 75 million years ago by Xenu. ...
In 1990, Christman paid for and began Scientology's second to highest level, Operating Thetan VII (OT 7). Christman refers to this time as the beginning of her ten-year process of, "waking up." Since OT 7 didn't work for her, she began to read many other books having to do with healing. Christman's analogy of this time in Scientology is compared to that of the The Truman Show, where one cannot literally see the walls.[5] The Truman Show (1998) is a movie directed by Peter Weir, written by Andrew Niccol, and starring Jim Carrey. ...
Public Relations and the Internet Trusted by fellow Scientologists, Christman was a volunteer for Scientology's Office of Special Affairs intermittently for twenty years. Later, she served as the head of the Scientology Parishioners League. Her job was to "spin" publicity for the Church, counteracting negative publicity. Christman was the head of the group for about four months, reporting directly to the Vice President of Scientology. She held this position until she left Scientology. The Office of Special Affairs (OSA) is a department of the Church of Scientology responsible for directing legal affairs, publicizing the Churchs social betterment works, and oversee[ing its] social reform programs. Observers outside the Church have characterized the department as an intelligence agency, comparing it variously to the...
From the mid-to-late 1990s, critical information about Scientology had been published on the Internet. Many of Scientology's "secret teachings" were also published and the church was trying to prevent this from happening. (See Scientology versus The Internet). Scientology versus the Internet is the colloquial term for a long-running online dispute between the Church of Scientology and a number of the Churchs online critics. ...
Christman was asked by her best friend and trusted auditor to help "handle" the critics on the Internet. He came to her home and removed Internet censorware, which Scientology calls the "Net Nanny" and asked her to "surf the net" to look for NOTS materials, which are highly secret within the organization. (See "secret" writings of Scientology). While surfing the Internet, she found Operation Clambake, a website that claims that Scientology is a cult and a hoax. After reading the website, she quickly decided that the man who created it, Andreas Heldal-Lund, "must be the devil." Christman continued participating in Scientology's efforts to keep its secrets off the web, despite her lack of familiarity with the Internet. DansGuardian censoring Whitehouse. ...
This article examines the beliefs and practices of Scientology as taught by the Church of Scientology. ...
Operation Clambake Operation Clambake (xenu. ...
In religion and sociology, a cult is a cohesive group of people (often a relatively small and recently founded religious movement) devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture or society considers to be far outside the mainstream. ...
Andreas Heldal-Lund. ...
On her own initiative, she managed to get a web forum about the film Battlefield Earth closed down, due to a personal liking for John Travolta, whom she had met during his training at the Celebrity Center in Los Angeles. [6] Battlefield Earth is the title of both a science fiction novel written by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, and a film adaptation of the novel produced by and starring John Travolta. ...
John Travolta (left) and Samuel L. Jackson (right) in Pulp Fiction. ...
Celebrity Centres are Church of Scientology centers that are open to the public but serve mostly artists and celebrities and other professionals, leaders and promising new-comers in the fields of the arts, sports, management and government. ...
Christman currently believes Scientology tries to keep people from reading the Internet. For most of her time in the church, she did not extensively browse the Internet. However, while out opening up phony accounts on behalf of Scientology, she finally got curious and investigated Scientologist activity on the Web. When she found out they were flooding various anti-scientology newsgroups and sites (including alt.religion.scientology newsgroup, see sporgery for details of the attack)[citation needed] with spam posts, she decided that the Church's tactics were too unethical for her taste. The newsgroup alt. ...
Sporgery is the disruptive act of posting a flood of articles to a Usenet newsgroup, with the article headers falsified so that they appear to have been posted by others. ...
After this, she visited alt.religion.scientology, which had become one of the largest newsgroups on the Internet after the Church of Scientology tried to have it shut down. There she posted under the alias "Magoo," which was a nickname she had given her father.
Leaving Scientology During this time, Christman became more disillusioned about her church. Ironically, the person she had thought was "the devil," Andreas Heldal-Lund, helped her while she was posting on alt.religion.scientology. They began to speak via e-mail, and in the process of his helping her with posting to the newsgroup, her personal "Scio-Truman" show began to crack.[citation needed] She confided in Heldal-Lund that if she left Scientology, she would lose all of her friends, and her husband. Andreas wrote back to Christman, telling her that although saddened by this thought, he asked the question, "what kind of friends could those be, if they're going to leave you because you change your mind?" Christman sat in tears, realizing what this organization really was. At the same time, Christman described the joy of having her Scio-Truman show crack open, and how freeing it was to finally see the light. Andreas Heldal-Lund. ...
In a post made to the newsgroup, Christman said, "To all of you at ARS, and to you all reading this from my Church, as of this date, July 20, 2000, I have officially left the church. Please do not call me, or come over to my house. Any friends who care (and only those who do, please) e-mail me. To the rest, good bye. In the future, listen to Andreas. What he said last night...is what is true." [7]
Christman made the difficult decision to leave the group she had belonged to for thirty years. Her anology is of someone who had their head in the sand for thirty years, convinced that was all there was, and finally was able to pull it out. She just could not dig her head back into the sand, even though she knew it meant losing all of her thirty-year Scientology friends, and no doubt her husband of twenty seven years. (See Scientology Disconnection) Disconnection is a practice in Scientology, in which a Scientologist severs all ties between themselves and friends, colleagues, or family members who criticize Scientology practices. ...
Andreas Heldal-Lund helped Christman connect with the Lisa McPherson Trust, (LMT) and she flew to Clearwater, Florida to meet with members of the now-defunct LMT, a group that at the time tried to help ex-Scientologists and spread critical information about Scientology. Christman joined them in pickets against the church and it wasn't long before she was declared a suppressive person by the organization. L Ron Hubbard's policy declares it is a "high crime" for anyone to talk with a suppressive person, and thus many families are broken up due to this policy. Andreas Heldal-Lund. ...
In Scientology, a formally condemned and shunned heretic or wrongdoer is labelled a Suppressive Person, often abbreviated SP. L. Ron Hubbard coined the term to refer to enemies of the Church of Scientology, whose suppressive acts are said to impede the progress of Scientology. ...
As a Scientology critic Although she at first did not want to become an outspoken critic of Scientology, she became angered at the way the church behaved when she left and when she first picketed them and decided she had to speak out. This was mostly due to families she met who had lost loved ones because of this organization. For years Christman spoke out as a Scientologist, positive that Hubbard's policy of "Fair Game" had been cancelled in 1968. She was surprised, however, when they began trying to discredit her after leaving the church, including leveling false accusations. [citation needed] [8] Fair Game is a status assigned to those whom the Church of Scientology has officially declared to be Suppressive Persons or Suppressive Persons are those whose actions are deemed to suppress or damage Scientology or a Scientologist. ...
She has become one of the best known Scientology critics on the Internet and has given speeches about her time as a Scientologist as well as appearing on radio and TV to talk about her experiences. [9] Some of her criticism against the Church of Scientology includes the manipulation of its members, sometimes causing the breakup of families through the policy of "disconnection", medical abuses and the organization's use of "Fair Game" against its critics. Disconnection is a practice in Scientology, in which a Scientologist severs all ties between themselves and friends, colleagues, or family members who criticize Scientology practices. ...
Christman has re-united with friends from Scientology who left years ago, as well as her family and friends from early childhood who have found her videos on the Internet, and contacted her. Her biggest interest is in educating people, mainly young people and artists, to read both sides and make up their own minds about Scientology.
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