Critical Q&A

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

(1) I saw how much Tom Cruise made each of the last several years and I noticed something: his income, while high, goes up and down. Sometimes he might make $20 million and the next year it might be $15 million. As far as stats go, he is sometimes down stat. While this can be brushed off by Scientology, since he’s a celebrity and the rules don’t apply, if he is a serious Scientologist, how might he explain the fact that he is sometimes down stat? Shouldn’t he be earning more and more money each year, in order to be “ethical?”

(2) You talked about word clearing and people looking up the definition of a word, but as we know not all dictionaries define words the same and, in fact, do this sometimes in an effort to catch copyright infringement. What is the “Scientology” approved dictionary? I also find this interesting because it’s another process that LRH wasn’t forward thinking with. I mean the word cab as defined in 1850 has a totally different definition then 1950. One was a horse drawn carriage the other a yellow car on the streets of NYC.

(3) I don’t want to open a political maelstrom, but I’m just wondering if you have any comments about the tactics, strategies, and circumstances in place (rather than specifics of the ideology) that could be contributing to what I have gotten used to hearing called “the immovable base” of Trump supporters? I watched one of your videos featuring Janja Lalich speaking about her experience in a political cult and it was very insightful. There’s a lot to be explored about the similarities and differences of religious/spiritual ideology and social/political ideology, as they relate to informing the choices of individuals. Particularly in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica news that is all over the place, I think it’s interesting to look at the implications of privacy and financial integrity that are in play. Do you feel that the heat is more on Facebook or Cambridge Analytica, or do you see it as being pretty even?

(4) Why doesn’t David Miscavige figure out a way of writing the new OT levels? It seems like there are some Hubbard worksheets left, so I feel like it wouldn’t be impossible for someone to write them. Perhaps even a group of people could write them. I met a lot of similar ideas when I was deep into “New Age” and I feel like it would be really easy for someone to use a lot of those materials, especially for something like ‘superpowers’ which is defined in New Age as something like your intuition, the law of attraction, and the like.

(5) You need to tell us WHY YOU LOVE DONALD TRUMP or else we will turn against you. What is the point of “critical thinking” if you don’t have views about BIG ISSUES OF THE DAY, or, more likely, are TOO CHICKEN to alienate half of your viewer base? Come on now, you are an obvious FILTHY COMMUNIST anyway, don’t be shy.

(6) The Church of Scientology used to be across the street from my work building before you personally moved it to the new ideal org in Minnesota. We used to do team building scavenger hunts through the downtown area sending people into the old org. Any ideas about what they thought of these games – were they offended, indifferent, or were we new meat for them to make their weekly stats?

(7) Watching TV the other day and a movie “Edge of Tomorrow ” comes on. I see Tom Cruise in it. It is about space things taking over the earth. About 55 minutes in Tom wants to tell his supervisors about something he knows. The person responds “Don’t tell anyone else. At worst you will be sent to the psych ward for a little better brain dissection.” This is mentioned over three times in the movie. I just wonder if Mr Cruise had that put in intentionally.

(8) Your personal interviews about surviving destructive cults, like the Tim DeWall and Kristiana Miner videos, feel like the beginnings of an oral history collection. Were you influenced/inspired by other oral history projects?