This afternoon, in the fair city of Austin, Texas, Scientology leader David Miscavige is scheduled to resume his “Ideal Org” project with the first grand opening of a new facility in four years.
As we detailed Thursday, Miscavige has spent the last 22 years on an ambitious plan to replace ordinary “orgs” — short for “organizations,” Scientology’s word for churches — with larger and more expensive “Ideal Orgs,” and he had opened 64 of them in cities around the world until the program was stopped by the pandemic in 2020.
Now, we are expecting that he will be present as the newest Ideal Org gets its outdoor grand opening ceremony this afternoon, after which he is expected to open similar facilities in Mexico City (March 1), Chicago (March 3), and Paris (undetermined).
We thought we’d get some thoughts from people who have long watched the progress of Scientology, as its overall membership has dwindled at the same time that Miscavige has had so much money spent — about $25 million per Ideal Org — over the last 22 years.
We turned first to Lawrence Wright, author of the 2013 book Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief which was followed by the 2015 HBO documentary.
“Tony, I’ve wondered if I was inadvertently responsible for the new Ideal Org,” he tells us. “After the documentary Going Clear (based on my book of the same name) came out in 2015, a lady went to see it in the theater. Apparently she drove straight from the theater to Guadalupe Street, where the Scientology building stands. She drove her car right through the plate-glass doors, then actually drove around the lobby knocking over bookcases. I had to issue a statement saying I opposed violence in any form.”
Hey, rebuilding the place after that kind of damage is as good excuse as any Dave himself ever came up with! (And yes, we too oppose any violence aimed at Scientology or Scientologists. Please don’t damage Scientology property or harass Scientology workers, who are prisoners themselves of this totalitarian organization.)
Claire Headley is a former Scientology Sea Org official who testified as an expert on Scientology at the criminal trial that convicted actor Danny Masterson, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for committing multiple forcible rapes. She and her husband Marc Headley escaped from Scientology in 2005, and they have dedicated much of their time to helping others get away from this controlling group.
David Miscavige likes to pretend he can influence public opinion with fancy buildings. More so, he wants to try to “prove” to those still in the fold that he is not in hiding, as he has been. Fortunately, people these days know to use Google to search up (as my kids like to say) what Scientology is actually about. I have no doubt the people of Austin will do the same and will not be fooled by a fancy building that will no doubt be empty of people. I remain hopeful that those still in will continue to wake up and get out, as they have been doing more and more recently. We will continue to provide support and aid for those wanting to get out and start over. Anything is possible when you’re ready to exit the prison of “belief.”
Chris Shelton recently celebrated ten years of his activism on YouTube, describing his life in Scientology’s Sea Org and how this organization enslaves its members.
Oh boy. I think it’s hilarious that Miscavige has been over-promising and under-delivering for many years now when it comes to opening Ideal Orgs, to the point where I honestly wonder whether some whales may have jumped ship. I mean, how long can you keep them on tenterhooks? Pretty long, apparently. This sudden news that three renovated orgs are opening suddenly goes hand-in-hand with the return of all the executive trainees from all over the world. This tells me this is going to be used as fuel to show the witless whales that Miscavige is on top of things and ensuring “the brakes are off for infinite expansion. Planetary clearing is right around the corner!”
Beyond the internal PR and influx of money this will bring though, the fact is externally the Austin opening will mean absolutely nothing to the big wide world around the org. No one at the University is going to come running over to learn to learn, none of their community neighbors are clamoring for The Way to Happiness, and no one in Texas wants an auditing session. So as usual, we are going to see a lot of balloons and a lot of cheering on the day of the opening followed by an awful lot of crickets inside a very empty building. And frankly, I’m here for it. Watching Scientology desperately try to continue its Truman Show is a satisfying experience for me these days because whether Miscavige or Trish Duggan or Tom Cummins or any of them realize it or not, Scientology is dead and it’s really just operating on inertia and rapidly dying hope.
Alex Barnes-Ross is a former London Scientology staffer who has been making some major waves in the United Kingdom with his activism, including meeting recently with his MP about investigating the church there.
What a time to be alive! Two years after the rest of the world, the world’s most ‘advanced religion’ is finally returning to its pre-pandemic Ideal Org program.
With Executives returning to their Orgs after spending years training at Flag on the Golden Age of Admin, and now the opening of a new Ideal Org, I can imagine the hype and excitement for those in Scientology is palpable right now. When I was on staff it seemed like a new Org was opening practically every week. What more evidence could you want that Scientology is expanding? After four years without grand openings and Miscavige ushering in a ‘global era of expansion’ at the IAS and New Year’s events recently, I’m sure for Scientologists this will be considered a monumental and historic moment that sends the world a sure-fire message: “We’re back!”
Unfortunately, while lavish opening ceremonies and newly refurbished multi-million dollar properties might look impressive, it’s all a facade designed to keep donors on the edge of their seats, forever waiting for ‘what’s next.’ Peel back the curtain and you’ll find that once the hype dies down and the focus shifts to the next Org, what’s left behind is a vacant, lifeless building staffed by a handful of shell-shocked victims of the world’s fastest shrinking cult. Way to go, Captain Davey.
And finally, Jon Atack is a former Scientologist whose book Let’s Sell These People a Piece of Blue Sky is still the most comprehensive history of the church itself.
We were all hit hard by COVID-19, but Scientology suffered badly with staff divided over whether to follow Miscavige's orders or QAnon. Sea Organization staff languished, morale dropped and increasing numbers of staff escaped.
Mike and Leah’s Aftermath TV series raised public awareness, making recruiting even harder. After a long pause, a reduced Scientology at last returns to the propaganda technique of Ideal Orgs.
When Catherine the Great of Russia toured the south, her courtier Prince Grigory Potemkin carefully prepared the villages she would see from the imperial barge so that her territories seemed prosperous and happy. The empress saw painted facades rather than the real misery of her people.
While some challenge the scale of this deceit, it is matched by the Ideal Org. Scientology only survives because of the wealthy ‘whales’ who gush money into its coffers. Like the benefactors of medieval monasteries, these whales probably believe that their future happiness will be determined by their donations. In the Middle Ages, donors would buy masses to be sung so that they after their death they would move quickly from purgatory to heaven.
Scientology whales believe they will dodge the Implant Stations that circle the Earth (as yet unobserved by astronomers) to reprogram disembodied souls before they reincarnate.
But the Ideal Orgs are as much an illusion as the Potemkin villages and the indulgences bought by feudal lords and monied merchants for the safety of their souls. They only prove that Scientology is good at extracting money from its true believers, because these ‘ideal’ organizations are created solely for propaganda purposes. Once the lens of publicity is gone, the Orgs shrink back to their real and diminutive size.
Back in the 1980s, Scientology could boast outsized organizations – Munich and Milan both exceeded 200 staff – now they ship in Sea Org slaves to give an aura of success. But the truth is that the International Association of Scientologists membership has shrunk below 25,000 with about 4000 enslaved in the Sea Organization.
We should focus on helping those slaves to escape, as the Aftermath Foundation does, and informing those who use the businesses of the whales that their money is being used to fund slavery. The truly ideal org is no org whatsoever.
Our thanks to these esteemed observers of the Scientology scene, and we look forward to hearing about any David Miscavige sightings today.
Hip, hip, hooray!
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While calling the $cienoverse a Potemkin Village is very appropriate , I see it more like one of those old western movies where the buildings are just false fronts. Or perhaps more properly, like the false town that confused the bandits in Blazing Saddles. That is what $cientology has become. A false front with actors playing a part that will never be Oscar considered.
It seems that all the actors in $cienoville know that their parts are coming to an end and that they alone can take the show on the road. A road that is approaching a dead end.
If Miscavige shows up to this opening today, is there any chance he will be served subpoenas from the different court cases?
And I hope there are exs attending this stellar event so we can all see and hear the latest hyperbole and bigger than life BS.