That means a lot—thank you. I’ve missed telling the stories too, but I needed time to figure out how to tell them my way. Feels good to be back in it, for real this time.
Thanks so much, Jacob — that means a lot. The Aftermath chapter was intense, but it opened the door for everything I’m finally starting to write about now, with more distance and maybe a bit more clarity. I really appreciate you being here for the next part of the story.
Thank you for adding to the growing body of facts and truth about what really happened through those final years. So many of the ex-Int guys have laid out their viewpoints and experiences. Yours and Mitch's are probably the closest to the heart of the matter.
Thank you, Derek. That really hits. Mitch has always had a way of cutting straight to the core of things, and I’ve always respected that. I’ve held back for a long time, not just out of fear, but because I wasn’t ready to revisit certain truths. I think I am now—and I hope what I share helps fill in more of the real picture.
Mitchell worked right in the heart of the propaganda machine run by DM. He saw much of what was really behind the huge curtains. His stories of his last times at Int are revealing as to what has become of what should have been the actual "management" operations. The last 15 or 20 years of the SO during my tenure were overshadowed by a constant FEAR of repercussions for EVERYTHING. akin to any Fascist countries like NAZI Germany or Communist Romania or earlier China.
Thanks for your excellent insights and your courage to write the truth. Cults everywhere, as you say. I was also raised a catholic, until I stopped at the age of 15. I’m so sorry you missed your childhood, due to Scientology. Your story is of interest on so many levels. Please keep writing.
Thank you, Sandy. It means a lot. Missing my childhood is something I still grapple with—it's not just the time lost, it’s how it shaped everything after. And yeah… cults come in all shapes and sizes. The more I write, the more I realize how many people out there are carrying their own version of the same weight. I’ll definitely keep going.
When I found out that there is no OT IX and X, that was a huge nail in the coffin of my Scientology experience. I think that if more Scientologists knew and believed this, they would leave too.
That was a big one for me too, Katherine. Not just the lie itself—but what it meant about everything else. When you realize the end of the bridge doesn’t exist, you start questioning the whole structure. And yeah, if more people truly let that sink in, it would shake the foundation for real.
Glad to see you back Tom:) your insight is invaluable.
I will never forget that when I I was blacklisted by Dave and his associates you took a chance to put me onto a job I could thrive at! It lasted only a few weeks but I still appreciated it.
Wow. Just wow. I’m glad you saw the light and got out.
RE: OT IX and X. The story I heard, I think from Mike Rinder, is that supposedly Hubbard told Ray Mithoff what these levels entailed… but Ray forgot what Ron told him. Which, if true, begs a few questions.
A) surely an OT like Ray would have perfect memory?
B) why wouldn’t he just bring a tape recorder, or a pen and paper? And these are supposed to be the most advanced beings on the planet…?
C) how did New OT VIII come about? I understand the original version was so horribly received that Miscavige felt he had no choice but to go back to the drawing board. I read that he had Ray Mithoff cobble together something from Hubbard’s leftover notes.
I think the fact new OT VIII says at the end “you are who you are, and you’re not who you’re not,” is nothing more than an FU to those who paid hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars, to learn the so-called secrets of the universe. In many ways, it’s the ultimate con.
You nailed it, Luke. The whole Ray “forgot” thing always struck me as the kind of explanation that only works inside the bubble—outside of it, it’s laughable. And yeah, New OT VIII… that was a mess. I was around when it dropped, and let’s just say the cognitive dissonance was deafening. People wanted to believe it had depth, but deep down, they knew they’d just been handed a fortune cookie for half a million bucks.
Appreciate you, Ree. The scam is still alive and well, sadly—but the more we tell the truth, the less power it has. I’m not just here to expose it, though—I’m also here to unpack what it does to people, long after they walk away. That part still doesn’t get talked about enough.
I love that you’re dedicating time to unpacking the long lasting harms from these abusive practices called Scientology. The harms of loosing your autonomy and having your brain fried with psycho-Hubbard babble takes years of effort and time to release yourself from the prison of belief.
Hopefully soon the broader community will see the intense dangers exposing ANY children to Hubbard babble and the practice made illegal for children’s brains. So dangerous for all people, however children cannot consent and need us adults to advocate for their safety and protection.
As a psychotherapist I feel very strongly about this! Please let me know if there is anyway I can assist!
Again Tom, I’m so glad you are back speaking out! You’re a highly valuable voice!
Incredible stuff, Tom. All of it is after my time (David was just an early "rising star" then) though I've read and heard a lot from others, but some of what you said, I've not ever known. Thank you for your great courage to tell everything, all you witnessed. I'm most keen to read your insights on just how Miscavige managed to gaslight so many people for so incredibly long.
You're right about cults everywhere too--some cults are more or less tame, stemming merely from hopeful believable beliefs, and people retain some self-will or can recover it when they 'wake up' to reality.
The force in some cults, like Scientology's apparently thrives through inflicting pain, little by more by more: physical, emotional, and ultimately spiritual, using guilt and shame, crushing the soul and then as in the selling of oneself to the Devil.
So happy for you that you escaped and are willing to tell all.
Incredibly fascinating and very well expressed story, Tom. I'll tell you what amazes me though. How could at least SOME of the staff (who I'm assuming had enough hours of auditing and were highly tech trained - auditors for example) that came into fairly regular contact with DM NOT conclude that his continued controlling position in the church wouldn't end in anything short of the church's total ruin? And the beatings? And "the hole?" I mean, clearly, by Scn standards alone, the man is an obvious SP (psyhcopath) - clearly! Given that, how he has lasted this long in his current position I'm sure I don't know. I don't understand why, under those circumstances, anyone would want to continue associating with him? I'm guessing that some of the staff were so invested and dependent on their posts for their basic survival needs that they felt they had no choice but to stay and make the best of it. Perhaps they thought they couldn't make it in the outside world? But with the passage of time how could so many others that could see his pathology not want to meet privately and devise some sort of plan to "impeach" him (even a small group of highly respected smart and able people)? I don't know, maybe what I'm leaving out of my equation is the extent that a person's mind can be affected as a cult member?
Thanks Tom for your insights into the mind of Miscavige. Why am I not surprised?!
Robert Hare, PhD, worked in prisons with a number of individuals who displayed a unique type of personality that differed from the other inmates. Here’s the Psychopathy Checklist he authored based on his research. A majority of them apply to David Miscavige.
1. Glibness/superficial charm
2. Grandiose sense of self-worth
3. Need for stimulation
4. Pathological lying
5. Conning/manipulation
6. Lack of remorse or guilt
7. Shallow affect
8. Callous/lack of empathy
9. Parasitic lifestyle
10. Poor behavioral control
11. Promiscuous sexual behavior
12. Early behavioral problems
13. Lack of realistic, long-term goals
14. Impulsivity
15. Irresponsibility
16. Failure to accept responsibility for own actions
It was 1980 when I seriously began to question "the tech" and (even more so) Hubbard. I began to slow my "progress" and increasingly went under the radar until I felt free to leave. Your experiences make for a great read (wonderful writing) and you've answered a question I've had for years: "Where is Davey on the Bridge?" I look forward to more and, in the meanwhile, send my compliments on your taste in Scotch. :)
So happy to see you back in it!! Missed your voice and stories.
That means a lot—thank you. I’ve missed telling the stories too, but I needed time to figure out how to tell them my way. Feels good to be back in it, for real this time.
This is very well-written, Tom! I remember your appearances on the Aftermath TV show—I look forward to reading more from you!
Thanks so much, Jacob — that means a lot. The Aftermath chapter was intense, but it opened the door for everything I’m finally starting to write about now, with more distance and maybe a bit more clarity. I really appreciate you being here for the next part of the story.
Thank you for adding to the growing body of facts and truth about what really happened through those final years. So many of the ex-Int guys have laid out their viewpoints and experiences. Yours and Mitch's are probably the closest to the heart of the matter.
Thank you, Derek. That really hits. Mitch has always had a way of cutting straight to the core of things, and I’ve always respected that. I’ve held back for a long time, not just out of fear, but because I wasn’t ready to revisit certain truths. I think I am now—and I hope what I share helps fill in more of the real picture.
Mitchell worked right in the heart of the propaganda machine run by DM. He saw much of what was really behind the huge curtains. His stories of his last times at Int are revealing as to what has become of what should have been the actual "management" operations. The last 15 or 20 years of the SO during my tenure were overshadowed by a constant FEAR of repercussions for EVERYTHING. akin to any Fascist countries like NAZI Germany or Communist Romania or earlier China.
Thanks for your excellent insights and your courage to write the truth. Cults everywhere, as you say. I was also raised a catholic, until I stopped at the age of 15. I’m so sorry you missed your childhood, due to Scientology. Your story is of interest on so many levels. Please keep writing.
Thank you, Sandy. It means a lot. Missing my childhood is something I still grapple with—it's not just the time lost, it’s how it shaped everything after. And yeah… cults come in all shapes and sizes. The more I write, the more I realize how many people out there are carrying their own version of the same weight. I’ll definitely keep going.
When I found out that there is no OT IX and X, that was a huge nail in the coffin of my Scientology experience. I think that if more Scientologists knew and believed this, they would leave too.
That was a big one for me too, Katherine. Not just the lie itself—but what it meant about everything else. When you realize the end of the bridge doesn’t exist, you start questioning the whole structure. And yeah, if more people truly let that sink in, it would shake the foundation for real.
Glad to see you back Tom:) your insight is invaluable.
I will never forget that when I I was blacklisted by Dave and his associates you took a chance to put me onto a job I could thrive at! It lasted only a few weeks but I still appreciated it.
Looking forward to more content🙏🏻
Wow. Just wow. I’m glad you saw the light and got out.
RE: OT IX and X. The story I heard, I think from Mike Rinder, is that supposedly Hubbard told Ray Mithoff what these levels entailed… but Ray forgot what Ron told him. Which, if true, begs a few questions.
A) surely an OT like Ray would have perfect memory?
B) why wouldn’t he just bring a tape recorder, or a pen and paper? And these are supposed to be the most advanced beings on the planet…?
C) how did New OT VIII come about? I understand the original version was so horribly received that Miscavige felt he had no choice but to go back to the drawing board. I read that he had Ray Mithoff cobble together something from Hubbard’s leftover notes.
I think the fact new OT VIII says at the end “you are who you are, and you’re not who you’re not,” is nothing more than an FU to those who paid hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars, to learn the so-called secrets of the universe. In many ways, it’s the ultimate con.
You nailed it, Luke. The whole Ray “forgot” thing always struck me as the kind of explanation that only works inside the bubble—outside of it, it’s laughable. And yeah, New OT VIII… that was a mess. I was around when it dropped, and let’s just say the cognitive dissonance was deafening. People wanted to believe it had depth, but deep down, they knew they’d just been handed a fortune cookie for half a million bucks.
Great to have your voice back educating people about the truth of the Scam of Scientology!
Appreciate you, Ree. The scam is still alive and well, sadly—but the more we tell the truth, the less power it has. I’m not just here to expose it, though—I’m also here to unpack what it does to people, long after they walk away. That part still doesn’t get talked about enough.
I love that you’re dedicating time to unpacking the long lasting harms from these abusive practices called Scientology. The harms of loosing your autonomy and having your brain fried with psycho-Hubbard babble takes years of effort and time to release yourself from the prison of belief.
Hopefully soon the broader community will see the intense dangers exposing ANY children to Hubbard babble and the practice made illegal for children’s brains. So dangerous for all people, however children cannot consent and need us adults to advocate for their safety and protection.
As a psychotherapist I feel very strongly about this! Please let me know if there is anyway I can assist!
Again Tom, I’m so glad you are back speaking out! You’re a highly valuable voice!
Kind regards always.
REE PRITCHARD
Your insight into the "prison of belief" is eye-opening. Thank you!
I remember watching you and the others on the Aftermath show.
I have been watching YouTube and all the new ex Scientologists, Sea org, public, and staff tell their stories.
So heartbreaking. I truly hope telling more of your story brings you a speedy healing journey.
Incredible stuff, Tom. All of it is after my time (David was just an early "rising star" then) though I've read and heard a lot from others, but some of what you said, I've not ever known. Thank you for your great courage to tell everything, all you witnessed. I'm most keen to read your insights on just how Miscavige managed to gaslight so many people for so incredibly long.
You're right about cults everywhere too--some cults are more or less tame, stemming merely from hopeful believable beliefs, and people retain some self-will or can recover it when they 'wake up' to reality.
The force in some cults, like Scientology's apparently thrives through inflicting pain, little by more by more: physical, emotional, and ultimately spiritual, using guilt and shame, crushing the soul and then as in the selling of oneself to the Devil.
So happy for you that you escaped and are willing to tell all.
The Tiny Tyrant is also a Tiny Coward! Somehow after following this cult and finding him a despicable human, I think I had that figured out!
You are spot on with this one!! So true! Looking forward to keep reading!
Incredibly fascinating and very well expressed story, Tom. I'll tell you what amazes me though. How could at least SOME of the staff (who I'm assuming had enough hours of auditing and were highly tech trained - auditors for example) that came into fairly regular contact with DM NOT conclude that his continued controlling position in the church wouldn't end in anything short of the church's total ruin? And the beatings? And "the hole?" I mean, clearly, by Scn standards alone, the man is an obvious SP (psyhcopath) - clearly! Given that, how he has lasted this long in his current position I'm sure I don't know. I don't understand why, under those circumstances, anyone would want to continue associating with him? I'm guessing that some of the staff were so invested and dependent on their posts for their basic survival needs that they felt they had no choice but to stay and make the best of it. Perhaps they thought they couldn't make it in the outside world? But with the passage of time how could so many others that could see his pathology not want to meet privately and devise some sort of plan to "impeach" him (even a small group of highly respected smart and able people)? I don't know, maybe what I'm leaving out of my equation is the extent that a person's mind can be affected as a cult member?
Thanks Tom for your insights into the mind of Miscavige. Why am I not surprised?!
Robert Hare, PhD, worked in prisons with a number of individuals who displayed a unique type of personality that differed from the other inmates. Here’s the Psychopathy Checklist he authored based on his research. A majority of them apply to David Miscavige.
1. Glibness/superficial charm
2. Grandiose sense of self-worth
3. Need for stimulation
4. Pathological lying
5. Conning/manipulation
6. Lack of remorse or guilt
7. Shallow affect
8. Callous/lack of empathy
9. Parasitic lifestyle
10. Poor behavioral control
11. Promiscuous sexual behavior
12. Early behavioral problems
13. Lack of realistic, long-term goals
14. Impulsivity
15. Irresponsibility
16. Failure to accept responsibility for own actions
17. Many short-term marital relationships
18. Juvenile delinquency
19. Revocation of conditional release
20. Criminal versatility
It was 1980 when I seriously began to question "the tech" and (even more so) Hubbard. I began to slow my "progress" and increasingly went under the radar until I felt free to leave. Your experiences make for a great read (wonderful writing) and you've answered a question I've had for years: "Where is Davey on the Bridge?" I look forward to more and, in the meanwhile, send my compliments on your taste in Scotch. :)