Scientology at San Diego Comic-Con: Toxic ‘disconnection’ on display again this year

It’s not all fun and games at the San Diego Comic-Con as far as the Underground Bunker is concerned.

We did have a lot of fun on Thursday when our friend, film reviewer Luke Y. Thompson, sent us photos of the ‘That ’70s Show’ display outside the exhibit hall and showed how Danny Masterson, after being convicted as a serial rapist, has been awkwardly erased from the display.

Again, if you didn’t see it before, the display at Comic-Con and the 2002 photo it’s obviously taken from…

This was rather amusing. But Luke sent us another image that didn’t have us laughing.

He thought we’d want to see the Galaxy Press booth at the convention, which is selling L. Ron Hubbard books and featured an image of a dragon. (It’s from the cover of the latest writer’s contest anthology)…

We appreciated that Luke sent us that shot, but what really caught our eye were the two women working the booth. The one nearest the camera looked like it might be Emily Jones.

And sure enough, when we went to the Galaxy Press page at Facebook, there was a shot of Emily, here on the left, working the booth.

Once again, Scientology’s exhibit at Comic-Con includes a very visible demonstration of its toxic “disconnection” policy.

When Phil and Willie Jones left Scientology, their two adult children, Emily and Mike Jones, were instructed to “disconnect” from them by the church. And for most ex-Scientologists who experience this policy, it means never hearing or seeing a trace of their former loved ones again.

But Emily Jones is different. Her job, promoting L. Ron Hubbard’s books at Galaxy Press, puts her in the public eye from time to time. So once again, we’ll post the letter that Willie wrote to her daughter and that we first posted some seven years ago.

To my dearest Emily,

First and foremost if you get a chance to read this I want you to know and understand that the decisions your dad and I have made, as imperfect as they are, were made based not only on the love we have for you and Michael but also having had the ability to view this from inside and outside Scientology.

You state in your response to the Tampa Bay Times that we were the ones who disconnected from you. I am not sure exactly what you were told, but nothing is further from the truth. After we received your letter, we tried to contact both you and Michael. We tried for almost a year and a half, calling every week no fail. We tried getting into Celebrity Centre and Author Services to talk to you personally. We were stopped every single time. After one of our visits to CC, we were told our only terminal is the IJC (International Justice Chief). We both know what that means, utter and complete disconnection from any and all Scientologist. That was the nail in the coffin. We knew in that moment we were 100 percent cut off. We were never allowed the opportunity to give you another side of the story.

In the following months we learned just how many families have been torn apart. I always thought Scientology was supposed to bring people together. But sadly, I found out just how many people were affected by disconnection and it was staggering. In failing to contact you we knew we had to do something not just for us but for all the families affected.

Emily, Michael, the charge that what we are doing is motivated by money is heart-wrenchingly sad. You know us! How could you think that we would choose money over our children? Deep down, I hope you truly know this is not the case. I want you to know that even if we were offered millions of dollars to go away and be quiet forever, my answer would be “never.” Never, Emily! Money is not the motivation! A family intact is much more powerful than that.

We may have a difference of opinion, but that doesn’t mean we cannot maintain a healthy relationship. Your dad and I love and miss you both more than you know. We will never disconnect from you, our arms will always be wide open no matter what you do in life.

Love always,
Mom

If you’re at Comic-Con today, think about stopping by the booth and suggesting, in a very friendly way, that Emily give her mom a call.

---

Want to help?

You can support the Underground Bunker with a Paypal contribution to bunkerfund@tonyortega.org, an account administered by the Bunker’s attorney, Scott Pilutik. And by request, this is our Venmo link, and for Zelle, please use (tonyo94 AT gmail).

---

Thank you for reading today’s story here at Substack. For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:

Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history

Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea

Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time

Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology

Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain

Here’s the link to today’s post at tonyortega.org

And whatever you do, subscribe to this Substack so you get our breaking stories and daily features right to your email inbox every morning.

Paid subscribers get access to two special podcast series every week…

Up the Bridge: A weekly journey through Scientology’s actual “technology”

Group Therapy: Our round table of rowdy regulars on the week’s news