Critical Q&A

The weekly show where I answer your questions based on what is left for me in the comment sections of my Q&A videos or sent to me by email at AskChrisShelton@gmail.com. This week, th questions I take up are:

(1) I was wondering about Scientology’s tax-exempt status. You always hear that if Scientology lost its tax-exempt status in the U.S. that it would pretty much be game over for them yet it seems like in 90% of the countries they operate in around the world, they are not recognized as a religion and don’t get tax breaks. If being tax exempt here is such an issue, how is that not a hindering factor for them everywhere else? Do they funnel all the money from Europe, South America and elsewhere to the safety of the American tax shelter? Do they enjoy tax exemption anywhere else or just the U.S.? Would losing it truly end them or just really hurt them?

(2) Is Scientology effective against drug and alcohol addiction? Have people ever used Scientology to over come drugs and alcohol and become clean and sober?

(3) My question is serious and I hope you’ll answer it. Although I’m not a Scientologist my sister is and has been (very seriously) for 30 years. Her neighbor is an SP (actually declared by the church) but I don’t think my sister is aware of this because like many Scientologists she is very very wary of all media and of the internet in particular. She’s on friendly terms with the neighbor, as a neighbor, but there’s no social contact between them. There is, however, significant overlap between them in the form of the neighbor’s dog who has access to my sister’s yard. Given that the dog is very charming and visits frequently, my sister has developed a real relationship with it.
Do you think she’d flip out if she knew the dog’s owner was an SP? I’ve never mentioned the fact for fear of pointlessly upsetting her. I can’t imagine she’ll ever change her perspective on Scientology, but then on the other hand I think well maybe learning that the dog’s delightful owner is supposedly a terrible SP, that might cause cognitive dissonance sufficient to make her start thinking more critically. What do you think?

(4) In your book, Scientology: A To Xenu (great title!), you mention Scientologists being forced to do sec checks for perceived infractions. Leah Remini mentioned being charged $300K for a lengthy round of sec checks. What happens if the Scientologist who is subjected to those sec checks is tapped out because the Regs already separated him from his money — his home is triple-mortgaged, his kids have no college funds, the 401Ks gone, etc? Does the Church sec-check him anyway? How does it get Scientologists to pay for their mandatory sec-checking if they literally have no more money?

(5) Hi Chris! A question about the stereotypical image of Scientologists whipping their cameras out. What do you think the decision process looks like before they send a Sea Org member storming out of an org to then just stand there and film protesters? Or what an individual Scientologist’s idea is of what to do with such footage on his phone? It being Scientology, I’m sure there’s some basis in LRH policy here. This might be a tactic used less these days as it doesn’t appear so much in recent protest videos.

(6) Hi Chris, I have an opinion that David Miscavige is the best man to have as the supreme leader of $cientology. Anybody replacing him would be bad news. I say that because Scientology is and always has been a scam through and through, acts in destructive ways, and therefore we need it to cease to exist. David Miscavige’s incompetent leadership and inablilty to understand the outside world keeps the “church” on track for its downfall even though that is not his intention. The bad news is that because of him people have to suffer, but because of him $cientology is heading full steam ahead toward its demise. So I feel he is the best man for the job. My question Chris, is do you agree?

(7) It seems like there are countless policies in places for Scientologists to follow, for every possible happenstance. How was Hubbard able to draft policies for every infinitesimally tiny detail? Was this something that he constantly updated throughout his life?

(8) Dear Chris, As Scientology’s numbers is dropping like a stone do you think they will result to more drastic measures to recruit more followers, such as subliminal messages?

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