Definition of Scientology: According to Urban Dictionary

I saw this and thought it was funny. The first 35 definitions I read are nothing the "church" of Scientology would want you to see. I didn't get any farther than that.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=scientology

It's funny Scientology's lawyers or at least "workers" haven't tried to do something about this.

I've seen them manipulate national viewer polls on Internet articles before and since this is user contributed, why can't they do anything about this one?

Fun fact about UrbanDictionary.com:

1. UrbanDictionary.com's "Scientology" definition page shows up top 20 on Google for searches, "what is scientology?" and "Scientology".
   
   
2. UrbanDictionary.com is ranked 1,361 (of all the billions and billions of websites out there) according to Alexa.com.
   
   
3. UrbanDictionary.com targets people under 30 and especially teens. Scientology targets people under 30 and especially teens.
   

SCORE: UrbanDictionary.com 1 Scientology 0

========================
Scientology Videos
www.scientologyvideos.com

Free Keith Henson!
http://www.scientomogy.com/keith_henson.php

South Park Scientology episode nominated for an Emmy
http://www.scientomogy.com/southpark_scientology.php

SCIENTOLOGY UPDATE:

I actually just created a Scientology Videos website. It's not done yet but will be soon. It's online and can be viewed right now.

I find Scientology extremely interesting and want to know what is Scientology and everything else I can learn about this fascinating false religion.

When learning about this global scam of a "Church", I recommend watching the Bridge Movie. It is the first full length movie about Scientology to ever be released. All the other movies that were in production, like the profit, are all being held up in the court systems by Scientology's lawyers. Another must see video is the Emmy nominated South Park Scientology episode that explains what Scientologist believe. It's too bad that Scientologists have to spend thousands of dollars before they get to level OT3 and learn about Xenu the Alien Galactic Overlord. Most lower level Scientologists will deny Xenu.

This is because they are at a lower level than OT3. In fact in OT8, which is currently the highest level in Scientology, L Ron Hubbard claims there was no Christ.

ScientologyVideos.com

Hi, hope all is well. I just created a new critic site of the "Church" of Scientology called ScientologyVideos.com. It's a focus on the most current videos and news related to Scientology.

Take a second to check it out. It's still pretty much in beta mode but the search terms would be things like Scientology Videos and Scientology News.

Please comment with any suggestions or criticism. Thank you!

The Bridge movie, a critical look into Scientology, is still up no matter how bad the attacks from Scientology are to remove the complete existence of it.

The Bridge is a 69-minute low-budget feature^[2] film that shows what is Scientology, directed by filmmaker Brett Hanover.

A fictional story of involvement and disillusionment with Scientology, the film explicitly uses Scientology terms throughout, going so far as to include clips from actual Scientology promotional and training videos. The Bridge movie was released^[3] as a free download over the internet on September 10, 2006 by the filmmaker.

Click here to watch the Bridge movie. Enjoy, and let me know what you think.

Regards,

Paul Horner
aka Fred Durks
freddurks@hotmail.com
paul@stopscientology.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bridge_%28film%29

On 26 Apr 2001, Keith Henson was convicted of "interfering with a religion". His crimes include typing the word "Cruise missle" referring to Tom Cruise. He's been on the run since because of death threats from Scientologists. He was picked up late Friday (2/2/07) and is now facing years in jail over this injustice.

More on critic of Scientology, Keith Henson, arrested

Critic of Scientology arrested

On 26 Apr 2001, Keith Henson was convicted of "interfering with a religion". His crimes include typing the word "Cruise missle" referring to Tom Cruise.

Since then he's been on the run because of death threats made from Scientologists. He was picked up late Friday (2/2/07) and is now facing years in jail over this injustice.

www.criticofscientologyarrested.ytmnd.com


FREE KEITH HENSON!

Information on Keith Henson:

http://www.operatingthetan.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Henson
http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2006/4/17/194059/296
http://www.scientology-lies.com/mywritings/hensonsentencing.html
http://freekeithhenson.blogspot.com

Information on Scientology:

http://www.xenu.net
http://www.lermanet.com
http://www.xenutv.com
http://www.torymagoo.org
http://www.scientomogy.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology
http://theunfunnytruth.ytmnd.com
http://www.scientology-lies.com
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Fishman/time-behar.html
http://www.rickross.com/groups/scientology.html
http://www.factnet.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenu
http://www.lisamcpherson.org
http://www.whyaretheydead.net
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Secrets/
http://www.xs4all.nl/~kspaink/cos/mpoulter/scum.html
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Narconon/

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WATCH - Scientology Deaths - The Jeremy Perkins story - on CBS 48 hours
http://www.scientomogy.com/jeremy_perkins.php

WATCH - 'The Bridge' - The movie the "church" of Scientology does not want you to see
http://www.scientomogy.com/the_bridge.php

WATCH - The South Park Scientology episode - nominated for an Emmy
http://www.scientomogy.com/south_park_emmy.php

Links to pages on stopscientology.com. Learn about the evils of the "Church" of Scientology.

Here's some main links to info at stopscientology.com:

Jeremy Perkins
Ellie Perkins
Religious Freedom Watch
South Park Scientology
Parishioners
The Bridge Movie
Greg Beha narconon
Narconon
Scientology Clearwater Florida
Shawn Lonsdale
Super Power Building
Xenu
What is Scientology
Scientology
ScienTOMogy.com
TomKat wedding
Myspace Scientology
Boston Legal Scientology
Baby Suri
Conan Obrien Emmys
Tom Cruise Fired
Jenna Elfman Scientology
YTMND Scientology
Boycott Mission Impossible 3 MI3

Click the links above about Scientology. Read about this cult. Any questions please contact freddurks@hotmail.com. Thanks!

Scientology front group Narconon stealing money

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Greg Beha took his son to Narconon, a Scientology front group, for a drug problem. It was a 6 month program that cost Greg $23,500.

Ten days into the program, Narconon dropped Greg's son off at a nearby hotel with $10 in his hand and refused any kind of refund.


Read more on Greg Beha and Narconon stealing people's money

What is Scientology? The Bridge Movie Free Xenu Scientology

Once again, The Church of Scientology had The Bridge Movie pulled again from every video hosting site from Google video to Youtube . Today I have put it back up at http://www.dailymotion.com/Fred_Durks/video/xx39e_thebridge64kb

They've done this a couple times before and will do it again and I'll put it right back up again.

New website on disconnection in Scientology

Disconnection in Scientology will break up a family. Please feel free to check out our new website about disonnection at StopDisconnection.com.

It's a work in progress, so please be patient

Other domain names on Disconnection in Scientology:
stopdisconection.com
stopdisconnection.com
disconnectioninscientology.com

This article contains a list of names The "Church" of Scientology, OSA, and The Freezone post under on this newsgroup. Some of these names are more actively used than others.

They also post under different names for other reasons. Sometimes they post under a certain name wanting the reader to conclude that the person behind that name is a Scientologist and then turn around and posts under other names wanting the reader to conclude that the person behind that name is a critic of Scientology. This is all in an attempt to manipulate the reader and to create "identity confusion". Identity confusion is one of the main weapons they use on this newsgroup to great effect.

This is not a comprehensive list of all the names the "Church" of Scientology, OSA, and the Freezone uses to post under on this newsgroup but a list of the names they use to attack critics with.

These are the names that they have been using for a long time to post under and are actively using to attack critics:

1. "Barbara Schwarz" ( Admits her support for the church
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Schwarz )

2. "TruthSeeker" - ( Paid by OSA to spam this newsgroup. Objective is to confuse newbies and knock important critical news of Scientology to the bottom. Will act as a critic but will not speak of anything critical to L Ron Hubbard, Xenu, the CBS 48 Hours episode, Scientology books etc )

3. "Bruce Benson" - ( Spams this newsgroup with anti - psychiatry news stories )

4. "Lily Firered" - ( Possible OSA or Scientologist - Spams newsgroup with nonsense and shows support of TruthSeeker )

5. "Nec_V20" - ( His only goal on this board is to derail threads and pick fights )

6. "Tom Thumb" - ( Derails threads and is angry like Nec )

7. "Trudy Johnson" - ( Spams this newsgroup with anti - psychiatry news stories )

8. "Angela Gupta" - ( Spams this newsgroup with anti - psychiatry news stories )

9. "BBICON" - ( A scientologist who is uniquely ignorant and mean-spirited. Spams this newsgroup with anti - psychiatry news stories )

10. "BB" - ( Also known as T Park or Terril Park. Promotes "wins" for the Freezone, the cult outside the "cult" )

11. "Roadrunner"

12. "Alex"

13. "Mearvk"

14. "FrozenThrone"

15. "RockSlam"


This list is not complete, currently I'm in the process of updating this list to better match the current situation on this newsgroup. They like to keep changing the names they post under so I have to keep updating the list to keep pace.

Fred Durks

Here is a list of the titles of all the articles posted earlier to this newsgroup that the Church of Scientology does not want you to read. If you're having a hard time finding them, just do a search on the title of the article within this newsgroup with your newsreader or go to google.com, select "groups" and enter the title of the article. Make sure that if you do a search on a title to leave out the quotation marks.

You can also find the articles by doing a search on parts of the title. For example, if you wanted to find the article: "Truth Seeker, what books about Scientology and Hubbard do you recommend?" you could enter the whole title in the search box or just "TruthSeeker, what books about Scientology". That is the thread TruthSeeker doesn't stay in character and outs himself as a Scientologist. Using parts of the article title can be a faster and easier way of finding the article you are looking for.

*- "Disconnection in Scientology"

*- "Books Scientology will never publish"

*- "Truth Seeker, what books about Scientology and Hubbard do you recommend?"

*- "IMPORTANT personal message for Rathbun and senior Scientology"

*- "Another source for The Bridge movie"

*- "Clearwater Politics about to implode?"

*- "Church of Scientology Front Groups"

*- "(REPOST) Links to three films the extremist anti-psychiatry"

*- "Truthseeker will not watch CBS 48 hrs Perkins tragedy"

*- "TruthSeeker, I think it's time for some new spam - TS=Co$"

*- "OSA"

*- "RPF"

*- "OMFG! Truth Seeker confesses his undying love for me"

*- "Scientology hates gay people"

*- "Thought I'd share this picture of David Miscavige and Tom Cruise"

*- "Scientology and Fair Game"

*- "The Shadowy Story Behind Scientology's Tax-Exempt Status"

*- "Websense lies about ScienTomogy"

*- "Why does TruthSeekers subjects end in a number - because he is spamming"

*- "South Park Scientology episode"

*- "Scientology talks about Disconnection"

*- "What medication should Barbara Schwarz be on"

*- "Keith Henson - Critic of the Church of Scientology"

*- "CBS 48 hours story on Jeremy Perkins"


More info on the names the Church of Scientology is posting under here: Names that the Church of Scientology is posting under

More on what is scientology at the religious freedom watch website. Check out the Bridge Movie by Brett Hanover.

Some fun links on The Church of Scientology

---

There is the video about phychiatry that Scientology does not want you to see. It is the Jeremy Perkins story. This is what happens when you don't take your medication. Scientology forbids it.

That's it for now. If you are looking for more information on Scientology check out our basic information on Scientology.

Stop Scientology!

Here's some links to videos and news articles on what is scientology. I hope you enjoy.

The first one is the South Park Scientology episode. Matt and Trey Parker did a great job exposing this Scientology cult. Then there is the Religious Freedom Watch website. The Church of Scientology has a similiar website that shows all of it's critics as hitler pretty much. Our Religious Freedom Watch site is a little more friendly and correct.

The last video I will show today is the Bridge Movie. This is surprisingly the first critical movie of Scientology ever to be released. Once it was on the Internet, the cult scared the writer and director Brett Hanover with Fair Game tactics.

This is a common trick used by the Church of Scientology on ARS. They will
post something completely unrelated to this newsgroup in order to
confuse the reader and clutter up the board.

--------------------------------
Names the Church of Scientology is posting under on this newsgroup

This article contains a list of names the "Church" of Scientology
posts under on this newsgroup. Some of these names are more actively
used than others.

The Church of Scientology also posts under different names for
other reasons. Sometimes they post under a certain name wanting the
reader to conclude that the person behind that name is a Scientologist
and then turn around and posts under other names wanting the reader to
conclude that the person behind that name is a critic of Scientology.
This is all in an attempt to manipulate the reader and to create
"identity confusion". Identity confusion is one of the main weapons
they use on this newsgroup to great effect.

This is not a comprehensive list of all the names the "Church" of
Scientology uses to post under on this newsgroup but a list of the
names they use to attack critics with.

These are the names that the "Church" of Scientology has been using
for a long time to post under and are actively using to attack critics:

1. "Barbara Schwarz" ( Admits her support for the church
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Schwarz )

2. "TruthSeeker" - ( Paid by OSA to spam this newsgroup. Objective is
to confuse newbies and knock important critical news of Scientology to
the bottom. Will act as a critic but will not speak of anything
critical to L Ron Hubbard, Xenu, the CBS 48 Hours episode, Scientology
books etc )

3. "Bruce Benson" - ( Spams this newsgroup with anti - psychiatry news
stories )

4. "Lily Firered" - ( Possible OSA or Scientologist - Spams newsgroup
with nonsense and shows support of TruthSeeker )

5. "Nec_V20" - ( His only goal on this board is to derail threads and
pick fights )

6. "Tom Thumb" - ( Derails threads and is angry like Nec )

7. "Trudy Johnson" - ( Spams this newsgroup with anti - psychiatry news
stories )

8. "Angela Gupta" - ( Spams this newsgroup with anti - psychiatry news
stories )

9. "BBICON" - ( Spams this newsgroup with anti - psychiatry news
stories )

This list is not complete, currently I'm in the process of
updating this list to better match the current situation on this
newsgroup. The "Church" of Scientology likes to keep changing the names
they post under so I have to keep updating the list to keep pace.

Fred Durks

Here is a list of the titles of all the articles posted earlier to
this newsgroup that the Church of Scientology does not want you to
read. If you're having a hard time finding them, just do a search on
the title of the article within this newsgroup with your newsreader or
go to google.com, select "groups" and enter the title of the article.
Make sure that if you do a search on a title to leave out the quotation
marks.

You can also find the articles buy doing a search on parts of the
title. For example, if you wanted to find the article: "Truth Seeker,
what books about Scientology and Hubbard do you recommend?" you could
enter the whole title in the search box or just "TruthSeeker, what
books about Scientology". That is the thread TruthSeeker doesn't stay
in character and outs himself as a Scientologist. Using parts of the
article title can be a faster and easier way of finding the article you
are looking for.

*- "Disconnection in Scientology"

*- " Books Scientology will never publish"

*- "Truth Seeker, what books about Scientology and Hubbard do you
recommend?"

*- "IMPORTANT personal message for Rathbun and senior Scientology"

*- " Another source for The Bridge movie"

*- "Clearwater Politics about to implode?"

*- "Church of Scientology Front Groups"

*- "(REPOST) Links to three films the extremist anti-psychiatry"

*- "Truthseeker will not watch CBS 48 hrs Perkins tragedy"

*- "TruthSeeker, I think it's time for some new spam - TS=Co$"

*- "OSA"

*- "RPF"

*- "OMFG! Truth Seeker confesses his undying love for me"

*- "Scientology hates gay people"

*- "Thought I'd share this picture of David Miscavige and Tom Cruise"

*- "Scientology and Fair Game"

*- "The Shadowy Story Behind Scientology's Tax-Exempt Status"

*- " Websense lies about ScienTomogy"

*- "Why does TruthSeekers subjects end in a number - because he is
spamming"

*- "South Park Scientology episode"

More on what is scientology at the religious freedom watch website. Check out the Bridge Movie by Brett Hanover.

South Park Blainetology Episode

Blainetology July 4, 2001 The children from South Park learn that cults are bad as magician David Blaine leads them into a destructive group.

Low resolution of the Blainetology episode High resolution of the Blainetology episode

Watch the South Park Blainetology episode

Scientology creator, L. Ron Hubbard, talks about Xenu

In His Own Words, L. Ron Hubbard and the OT III Secrets. Hubbard addressing Scientologists on the great mysteries of high level Scientology.

http://www.scientomogy.com/xenu_space_opera.php

Summary of OT 3 Wall of Fire:
In Scientology OT 3 Wall of Fire, Xenu is an alien ruler of the
"Galactic Confederacy" who, 75 million years ago, brought billions of
aliens to Earth in DC-8-like spacecraft, stacked them around volcanoes
and blew them up with hydrogen bombs. Their souls then clustered
together and stuck to the bodies of the living, and continue to wreak
chaos and havoc today.

The reason The Church of Scientology doesn't want you to know this
story is because it shows all other religions as false and also says
there is no god. If people knew upfront that this is the sole reason why
they pay for auditing, then The Church of Scientology would be broke.
They only tell you these drug induced stories made up by L Ron Hubbard
once they have your money, commitment and have disconnected you from family and friends.

What a "church"!

The South Park Scientology episode has been pulled from dailymotion.com, youtube and Google video. I just uploaded it again to youtube.com. Here is the embeded code:

<embed style="width:400px; height:326px;" id="VideoPlayback"
align="middle" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" 
src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-5274694733822921287&hl=en" 
quality="best" bgcolor="#ffffff" scale="noScale" salign="TL" 
FlashVars="playerMode=embedded">

Here is my updated page:

Click here to view the South Park Scientology episode.  It is availble on that website.

Have a nice day!

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes get married
L Ron Hubbard, Xenu and David Miscavige tag along for the Honeymoon.

At a Scientology type wedding in Rome, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes tied the knot. Scientology leader, David Miscavige, was the best man and also went along on the Honeymoon. Because the Scientology wedding was in Italy and performed by a Scientologist minister it is not legal. The TomKat wedding was a big PR stunt.

More on Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes getting married

The CBS 48 Hours story on Jermey Perkins is on Digg.com
Digg it

I just checked the counter on my site today. 20, 876 unique visitors so

far today with obviously most of them going to this page
http://www.scientomogy.com/jeremy_perkins.php

I normally get about 2,000 - 3,000+ visitors a day so you can see the
power of Digg.com

48 Hours Mystery - Scientology - Jeremy Perkins Elli Perkins

---

48 Hours Mystery - Scientology - A Question of Faith
Did A Mother's Faith Contribute To Her Murder?

Watch the 48 Hours episode that just aired on CBS. Jeremy Perkins stabbed his mother to death 77 times. Jeremy is diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. Because of the laws of Scientology, Jeremy was not allowed to take his necessary medication.

www.scientomogy.com/jeremy_perkins.php

Scientologists, once again (for the fourth time) shut down the Scientology critic myspace account of 'TheDarksideOfScientology'

From TheDarksideOfScientology:
"They said I violated the terms of service, of course they gave no specifics. I will continue to hound them about it. This was my Myspace account address www.myspace.com/thedarksideofscientology hopefully some of you can send in some complaints as well." She goes on to say, "Also, if OSA catches this, I plan on notifying 100's of thousands of people about your CULT through the mail. I used to work for a place that generates massive mailing lists, I will start with Orange County then move to Los Angeles. I'll end up doing even more, if my account on Myspace isn't restored, this really pisses me off and that's pure motivation for me. This is the 4th time my account has been deleted and I'm more motivated now than ever. That profile had close to 100,000 hits and I had posted on many groups, potentially informing a couple million more people with links to this site, as well as XENUTV.COM. Scientology is a joke and the world is laughing at you."

www.scientomogy.com/myspace.php

'The Bridge' movie is talked about on MSNBC:

"The Bridge," an anti-Scientology film, was removed from the
Internet - and one critic is claiming that folks linked to the
religion put pressure on the filmmaker, Brett Hanover. "[I]t appears
that Scientology has hired investigators to dig up dirt on Brett
Hanover to shudder him into silence," writes blogger Mark Bunker. "
They have succeeded." . . .

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15066202/

Click here to watch 'The Bridge' movie

Brett Hanover, the creator of 'The Bridge', has requested this movie be removed from the internet and everywhere else. Brett made a great movie, on a "shoe string budget", and it should be seen by all. He says P.I's hired by the church have found dirt on him and he's looking at possible prison time. He wants this movie no where to be found and the whole thing to blow over as if nothing ever happened. This is "fair game" tactics by the "church" of Scientology at it's fullest. I told him it's not possible for him to control what people link to or post on their personal sites. If he wants to pull the movie on his website and what he can control, that's fine. But, I can link, post, or distribute whatever critical content of the church of Scientology I want (as long as no profit or money is being made). Brett is 18 and is getting bullied around for an EXCELLENT!!! movie that he created, the first of it's kind! (The first full length film to be released critical of the Church of Scientology) I think it needs to be celebrated and not forgotten. It doesn't matter if you like the movie or not, I think it's a major piece of history in the downfall of Scientology.

Anyway, unfortunately (for Scientology) the movie is out on the Internet and.... unfortunately (for them), I have an original copy of the bridge movie.

If anyone would like a copy of this movie in DVD quality please email me at paul@stopscientology.com

I will need your address or somewhere to send the movie. If you are a newbie unfamiliar with and who to trust here you can Google "fred durks" or check out my many websites like stopscientology.com or scientomogy.com.

If you are interested in a copy of the movie, all I ask is that you pay for whatever the shipping costs are depending on where I need to ship the video to.

Thanks-

Paul


Religious Freedom Watch
The Church of Scientology Experts

Speaking of searches, Google just finished doing their page rank update
as of midnight it looks like. All my critic sites increased. All my
non critic sites improved or stayed the same. Google seems like they
were nice on this update. They've been pretty mean on a few of their
updates.
They usually update their PR once every 3-6 months. This one took about 7-8 months to update.

Congratulations to the critic sites that moved up on this or the higher
sites like xenu.net for just staying even. My stopscientology.com and
scientomogy.com sites moved from a 3 to a 5!! Pretty good for only
being around a couple years :)

www.lermanet.com 6/10
www.lisamcpherson.org 6/10
www.xenu.net 7/10
www.scientology-kills.org 5/10
www.xenutv.com 6/10
www.skeptictank.org 6/10
www.fairgamed.org 5/10
www.xs4all.nl/~kspaink 5/10
www.gerryarmstrong.org 5/10
www.holysmoke.org 5/10
www.torymagoo.org 5/10
www.scientology-lies.com 6/10
www.rickross.com 6/10
www.factnet.org 7/10
www.whyaretheydead.net 5/10
http://home.snafu.de/tilman 7/10
www.truthaboutscientology.com 5/10
www.anti-scientologie.ch 4/10
www.stopscientology.com 5/10
www.scientomogy.com 5/10

Barbara's site:
http://www.thunderstar.net/~schwarz/ 0/10 aawww :(

www.clevelandstreetsafetyleague.com 0/10 aawww :(

Check page rank here
http://www.prchecker.info/check_page_rank.php

What is page rank???
http://www.iprcom.com/papers/pagerank/

Feel free to list your site if I missed it.

BTW- I'm curious if Tilman's site was a 7 before the update
(http://home.snafu.de/tilman) ?? That's huge. Good job! A seven as a
page rank is about as good as it gets. Only xenu.net, factnet.org and
Scientology's site, scientology.org can compete with that (other sites
with a 7)

Even though I don't use html anymore on my critic sites it's always
good to never delete any of your pages because search engines still
have you indexed. This is probably how you found that page.

I've been getting some good searches from Google and Yahoo as of
lately. A few weeks ago I was 7th or 8th on Google for what is
scientology. Now I'm back in the 10-20 group of searches. That's a
huge search so it's tough to stay up there. Google is always looking
for the newest and most relevant content.

Review of the movie 'The Bridge' - A critical look at the Church of Scientology

See 'The Bridge' movie at www.scientomogy.com/the_bridge.php
See what kind of cult Tom Cruise has brought Katie and Suri into.

Review of 'The Bridge' movie (First film critical of Scientology to EVER be released) and the history of the last movie that was critical of Scientology that tried getting released.
From http://www.modemac.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl/The_Bridge

In 2001, anti-Scientology crusader Bob Minton funded a $3 million movie called The Profit. Intended as an exposure of the secrets behind Scientology, The Profit was plagued with problems from the start. The Church of Scientology unleashed its dreaded attack machine in the form of litigation and dirty tricks, and while the movie was completed, no one wanted to touch it. The film did have one single screening in Clearwater, Florida (the home of Scientology's largest facility, the Fort Harrison Hotel or "Flag Land Base""); but after that it disappeared. Minton did an about-face and began working for Scientology about a year after the film's release, and since then the movie has been suppressed and has not seen the light of day.

This story was certainly in the mind of director Brett Hanover when he set out to make a film about Scientology: he certainly knew that they would be putting himself under the glare of the Church of Scientology by doing so. So, rather than go through the troubles and delays that plagued The Profit, Hanover took the guerilla-filmmaker approach. Working on a shoestring budget, he made his Scientology movie in only five days, filmed largely on location at a hotel in Norway, well out of site of Scientology's spies. And now that the movie is finished and available, he decided to avoid a theatrical release completely and make the film available for download on the Internet. Word of the movie spread like wildfire, and the film has been downloaded over 1,500 times from one mirror site at the Internet Archive ( www.archive.org/details/B...rTheBridge ) alone.

Scientology has been the subject of parodies, spoofs, and accusations of being a mind-control cult, especially in the past few years since John Travolta and Tom Cruise have worked hard to make the organization a laughing-stock and the butt of jokes and insults worldwide. Scientology's own actions to keep its deepest, darkest secrets locked away and hidden from public view (especially the infamous tale of Xenu the Galactic Overlord) have earned it a reputation of being an evil, dangerous organization that will sue you if you sneeze in a direction it doesn't like. Comedy Central's banning of the South Park episode about Scientology led to more popularity than the actual episode itself; while potshots have been taken at Scientology in movies (Bowfinger, Schizopolis), on TV (Millennium and especially South Park), and especially in lurid true-crime books with such titles as Bare-Faced Messiah and L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman? If you have the guts or savvy to speak about Scientology without getting attacked, it's easy to do a "courageous exposé" of the organization as a dangerous cult.

But it's much harder to do what Brett Hanover did. Rather than go for a tabloid-style, glitzy, all-out attack on L. Ron Hubbard and his Frankenstein-like monster that outlived him, Hanover decided to take a more modest approach. He chose to focus on the life of a simple, naive Scientologist working her first steps up "the Bridge to Total Freedom" (the name given by Scientology to the path it offers to spiritual salvation). This young person, Dianne Wheat, is a staff member at a low-level Scientology org (Hubbard's name for an official Scientology church). She's pressured by money problems, and she might have to work two jobs in order to pay for her Scientology coursework. Her goal is to save up enough money to buy a silver Scientology bracelet, but it's not easy because of her money problems…and what is it with those protesters hanging around outside the org, shouting "Zeenu?"

This more modest, low-key approach is the only way a movie about Scientology could be made on a low budget – but more importantly, it means we get to look at the actual people in the organization, rather than the outrageous events that grab headlines. It's the lower-level, day-to-day staff members at the Scientology orgs who are the heart and soul of the organization, and The Bridge does its best to show us what it's really like to work in Scientology. If real life as a Scientologist is as depressing and uneventful as the movie portrays, then this may scare more people away from Scientology than Xenu ever could. (Critics and former members of Scientology have already attested to the film's accuracy of portraying everyday work at a Scientology org.)

As a Scientologist, Dianne is under constant pressure (as is the rest of the staff at the org) to sell, sell, sell. The movie begins with a flashy Scientology video (the marketing videos shown in this movie are genuine Scientology materials; they weren't made up for the movie) in which a smiling, earnest Scientology officer is giving a presentation that sounds more like a sales and recruitment video rather than a religious guide: the video demands that the org staff members get as many people in the door as possible and get them onto the Bridge – in other words, turn them into Scientologists. (This information is "not for the public," it's only meant for viewing by Scientology staff members.) However, recruits are few and far between: when two girls show up to see what Scientology is like, they bail out and disappear before the org's recruitment film is finished. Dianne has little to do besides sit at the front desk, greet visitors, clean the org (with a giant portrait of L. Ron Hubbard watching over her at all times), and study her training materials. As for actual church services, she notes that there really aren't any in Scientology.

One of the movie's strong points lies in the fact that it doesn't overwhelm the audience with information. It would have been easy for Dianne to click on the Operation Clambake Web site and be bombarded with repeated, shouting epithets – "Scientology is evil! It's a cult! It's the devil! It's dangerous!" Instead, the movie teases you and makes you curious to learn more. As a TV report notes, mysterious deaths have plagued the Fort Harrison Hotel, "Especially the 1995 death of…" at which point Dianne hurls her remote at the TV and turns it off. This is actually an accurate portrayal of how Scientologists are trained to treat information seen as entheta, or damaging to their advancement in Scientology: they block it out and refuse to listen to it. (It's a point lost on many of the group's critics, and indeed on many people opposed to religious fanatics in general: by beating them over the head with your message "you're in a cult," you're just going to drive them away and further into the arms of the group.) But the real in-joke here is the way the blocking of critical information comes – a Scientology software message pops up when Dianne clicks on the xenu.net Web site, saying "This site contains racist/hate-oriented material." This is actually true: Scientology really does require its members to install blocking and censoring software of this sort on their own computers.

This may be why Hanover chose to film the movie in simple black and white. While cost concerns are one reason why "underground" movies of this sort are often filmed in black and white, there's an aesthetic concern that suggests we're seeing the world in the same way Dianne is seeing hers – in true black and white, thanks to her Scientology indoctrination. One of the attractions of groups like Scientology is their simple black-and-white, "Us versus Them" view of the world. Scientology dictates to its members that Hubbard's tech is the only thing that can save the world from destruction – and if it wasn't for a massive worldwide conspiracy, they would have already done so. This take on society leads Dianne to see her world as lifeless, drained of color and energy…except for the videos she sees on her computer and in the org screening room, which appear in bright, vibrant colors. (The other item in this movie displayed in color is the letter from Sea Org member Amy Grey to her father, which we never see…though we can guess what is written there.)

The movie succeeds in creating an atmosphere of depression, and even oppression – these poor people are struggling to "clear the planet," but they're wasting their lives attempting to follow Scientology’s vision. We can see from Diane's supervisor, a white-haired senior Scientologist (played by Bill Baker), that the constant indoctrination of Scientology can even cut him off from the real world…as he is practicing a focusing drill, he doesn't even blink when Dianne enters the room to interrupt him. The only time he looses his calm demeanor is when he is forced to confront those hateful protestors outside the org – and his violent reaction catches everyone off guard. This in turn leads to his giving Dianne a sec check (a security check), which is full of such bizarre, loaded questions that we're left as confused as Dianne.

We also see hints of an Orwellian, completely controlled society within Scientology. This is suggested by the multiple shots we see of the items for sale at the org: books by Hubbard, tapes by Hubbard, videos of Hubbard, photos of Hubbard smiling or staring at you from every wall, and strict directions for every aspect of life in the org, right down to instructions on which closet the vaccuum is to be placed. A sign proclaiming "Freedom from addiction!" placed right next to the org's outdoor ashtray as Diane takes a smoke break is the movie's way of showing us the contradictions and falsehoods within Scientology – contradictions that Diane is willing to overlook at first, but which become too obvious to ignore by the time of the film's climax.

Cult-bashing aside, Carole Smith puts in a decent performance as Dianne. This is her debut performance, and her acting may be perceived as lacking in emotion, but she actually gives an accurate portrayal of the cult stare often ascribed to Scientologists. As Dianne she is quiet and soft-spoken, unquestioning, and frequently staring blankly into space; however, her personal life is in a shambles as she worries about money problems and eats ramen noodles, because that's all she can afford. Despite Scientology's portrayal of its members as always smiling and outgoing (as seen in the marketing videos), the org staff rarely smile at all during the movie. An extended scene where the org staff ritually chant "hip hip hooray!" to the giant portrait of L. Ron Hubbard with blank expressions on their faces, over and over, is one of the more disturbing moments of the film. Moments like this can make you wonder if life in Scientology really is this bizarre – are these people really this lifeless, or is it just poor acting? After all, this is a low-budget movie here, and we often forgive faults in the acting and direction in "underground" films of this sort.

However, immediately after Hubbard's birthday party, a moment in which the org director casually takes the silver "Clear bracelet" away from Dianne is just as disturbing. It's this act of Scrooge-like cheapness and greed that inspires Dianne to make her break away from Scientology – not the rude, hostile protesters outside the org, and not even the appearance of another Scientologist's father, who shows up to dump all of his daughter's Scientology books, tapes, and paraphernalia on the doorstep of the org for Dianne to clean up. This is one of the film's strong points: Dianne makes the final decision to leave on her own – she isn't forced or "deprogrammed"" into doing so. The protesters may have told her about Xenu, but she doesn't leave Scientology until she sees for herself that there's nothing there – that Ron's personal office doesn't even exist. After all, Hubbard himself dictated "if it's true for you, then it's true" – and for Dianne, the realization comes that dedicating her life to an empty promise isn't where she wants to be.

The Bridge (no relation to the other movie released this year called The Bridge, which played the Tribeca Film Festival) runs a quick 69 minutes in length. It's simply filmed and simply acted, but this lack of complexity adds to its appeal. Brett Hanover uses a lot of camera angles, and he has a fondness for filming at an angle facing up, with the camera tilted (presumably to show how out of "balance" life is in the Scientology org). The musical score has moments of cheap, home-made and produced tones (especially during the opening credits), along with inclusions of actual Scientology music (the jazz music playing during Hubbard's birthday party is by the Jive Aces, a genuine Scientology jazz band), and even a piece by "[El Queso]? All-Stars," a long-time opponent of Scientology who has made several anti-Scientology songs available online.

Hanover worked closely with several notable Scientology opponents and critics in the making of this film, especially controversial figure Tom Padgett (who plays the distraught father). While a few of Scientology's most virulent and hardcore enemies have criticized this movie for the lenient attitude it takes towards life in the Sea Org, and a few incorrect portrayals in the auditing sessions shown here, most former members of Scientology who have seen this movie have already praised it as an accurate portrayal of life at an everyday Scientology org. It's a sad, depressing thought to picture oneself leading a life like this, day after day, until the time comes when you are called to travel to Clearwater, Florida, and live at the Fort Harrison Hotel while you attest to the level of "OT" (which stands for "Operating Thetan"). Yet, thousands of Scientologists worldwide are dedicated to this ideal, and they honestly believe they are Mankind's last hope in a world doomed to destruction and control by "the psychs." At the movie's conclusion, my overriding emotion wasn't one of anger or hatred – rather, it was pity. This is what Brett Hanover deserves praise for, more than anything else: for showing us that these are people, like you and me, who have been lied to and who deserve our pity and our help.

Hanover's tactic of releasing the movie online for free has ensured his film will see a more pleasant fate than The Profit: it's already been seen by more people, and it is certain to be distrubted online forever, whether or not the Church of Scientology takes any steps to suppress this film. The fact that Hanover has given permission to download it for free and copy it for distribution also means that Scientology can't claim that he is attempting to profit from the movie…although it is certainly a worthy accomplishment, one that is likely to brighten his resumé and hopefully bring him to the attention of Hollywood.

The only reasonably unbiased review of The Profit to appear in public during that film's brief lifetime suggests it was overlong, overly sensationalist, and badly in need of editing. The Bridge doesn't suffer from those weaknesses: while it doesn't move at a breakneck pace, it doesn't come to a halt at any point, and the modest acting isn't over the top or laughably bad. It may not win any awards for ground-breaking cinematography or writing, but its subject matter certainly guarantees it to be a film that will be remembered…at least among people who've had experience with Scientology, or want to know more about it.

See 'The Bridge' movie at www.scientomogy.com/the_bridge.php

The Bridge movie is the NEW and first film about Scientology

The Bridge movie is a new film written and directed by Brett Hanover, starring first-time actress Carole Smith and local playwright Bill Baker. While produced on a shoestring budget, The Bridge is (amazingly) the first feature film about the controversial Church of Scientology. Written with the help of several ex-members, and incorporating actual Scientology materials, the film depicts life inside the organization - and the reason Dianne Wheat (Smith) wants out. This film is a free-media online release. Copyrighted material is included in accordance with the Fair Use doctrine. Brett Hanover is not responsible for the distribution or promotion of this film, and makes no claims as to its content. However, you may direct any comments or questions to thebridgemovie@gmail.com.

Brett's film covers important issues such as disconnection of family members, Suppressive Person Declares and the use of training routines and security checks.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE BRIDGE MOVIE