Mike Rinder has died.

[Angry Floof]

Former Scientology Executive and Outspoken Critic Mike Rinder Dead at Age 69 After Cancer Battle

Mike Rinder died today of advanced esophageal cancer. I'm sure some of you know Mike as Leah Remini's co-host on the show Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath and co-founder of The Aftermath Foundation. If you've never seen the show, I recommend it. It's mostly episode after episode of ex-Scientologists' stories of abuse and fraud with some episodes on specific cult topics and events.

Few Scientologists OR critics of Scientology have risen to prominence like Mike Rinder has on both fronts. When I was involved in the cult, Mike was the head of the Office of Special Affairs, which was the second or third highest office in the cult. I personally was quite enamored by Mike, bordering on a crush. I remember when he first left the cult (long after I did) and I thought, wow, that's the last person I'd expect to leave. Then not only did he leave the cult but also loudly joined the critic movement. I had kind of lost interest in cult activism at that point, but then Mike Rinder dressed as Xenu at a protest, which blew my mind.

In the cult, his role was very public facing. The OSA was the cult's goon squad, so the reason he held that role for over two decades was because he truly had a ton of personal power, only some of which he gained through the cult's many and varied bullying trainings. He faced critics publicly on a regular basis. He was impressive through the cult lens, and today as an ex-cultist, even more so through the lens of activism since his exit.

This is a truly sad day for critics of the cult as well as for cult criticism in general, although I suspect Mike would be happy about passing the torch to the next generation because he was friends with most of them and often gave them thanks and praise. He will be missed for sure.

A Billion Years by Mike Rinder

 

[Elixir]

How did Mike know how Xenu dressed?
Sorry - just curious.
Scientology always made me want to fuck with Scientologists’ heads, but they were so serious it was like you didn’t know if they would kill you if you said the wrong thing. Not the same as JWs that you can scare away with your god-given ability to blaspheme.

 

[Toni]

Former Scientology Executive and Outspoken Critic Mike Rinder Dead at Age 69 After Cancer Battle

Mike Rinder died today of advanced esophageal cancer. I'm sure some of you know Mike as Leah Remini's co-host on the show Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath and co-founder of The Aftermath Foundation. If you've never seen the show, I recommend it. It's mostly episode after episode of ex-Scientologists' stories of abuse and fraud with some episodes on specific cult topics and events.

Few Scientologists OR critics of Scientology have risen to prominence like Mike Rinder has on both fronts. When I was involved in the cult, Mike was the head of the Office of Special Affairs, which was the second or third highest office in the cult. I personally was quite enamored by Mike, bordering on a crush. I remember when he first left the cult (long after I did) and I thought, wow, that's the last person I'd expect to leave. Then not only did he leave the cult but also loudly joined the critic movement. I had kind of lost interest in cult activism at that point, but then Mike Rinder dressed as Xenu at a protest, which blew my mind.

In the cult, his role was very public facing. The OSA was the cult's goon squad, so the reason he held that role for over two decades was because he truly had a ton of personal power, only some of which he gained through the cult's many and varied bullying trainings. He faced critics publicly on a regular basis. He was impressive through the cult lens, and today as an ex-cultist, even more so through the lens of activism since his exit.

This is a truly sad day for critics of the cult as well as for cult criticism in general, although I suspect Mike would be happy about passing the torch to the next generation because he was friends with most of them and often gave them thanks and praise. He will be missed for sure.

A Billion Years by Mike Rinder

View attachment 49040

I had no idea you were ever involved with Scientology.

 

[Angry Floof]

Former Scientology Executive and Outspoken Critic Mike Rinder Dead at Age 69 After Cancer Battle

Mike Rinder died today of advanced esophageal cancer. I'm sure some of you know Mike as Leah Remini's co-host on the show Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath and co-founder of The Aftermath Foundation. If you've never seen the show, I recommend it. It's mostly episode after episode of ex-Scientologists' stories of abuse and fraud with some episodes on specific cult topics and events.

Few Scientologists OR critics of Scientology have risen to prominence like Mike Rinder has on both fronts. When I was involved in the cult, Mike was the head of the Office of Special Affairs, which was the second or third highest office in the cult. I personally was quite enamored by Mike, bordering on a crush. I remember when he first left the cult (long after I did) and I thought, wow, that's the last person I'd expect to leave. Then not only did he leave the cult but also loudly joined the critic movement. I had kind of lost interest in cult activism at that point, but then Mike Rinder dressed as Xenu at a protest, which blew my mind.

In the cult, his role was very public facing. The OSA was the cult's goon squad, so the reason he held that role for over two decades was because he truly had a ton of personal power, only some of which he gained through the cult's many and varied bullying trainings. He faced critics publicly on a regular basis. He was impressive through the cult lens, and today as an ex-cultist, even more so through the lens of activism since his exit.

This is a truly sad day for critics of the cult as well as for cult criticism in general, although I suspect Mike would be happy about passing the torch to the next generation because he was friends with most of them and often gave them thanks and praise. He will be missed for sure.

A Billion Years by Mike Rinder

View attachment 49040

I had no idea you were ever involved with Scientology.

Yep, mid-late 90s, about a year and a half. I was fortunate that I still had a job and friends outside of the cult when I left. A lot of people don't, because authoritarian cults, as I'm sure you know, do their level best to separate you from anyone in your family that might question the cult. It's an actual policy called Disconnection. When your non-cult family and friends show any kind of opposition or criticism of the cult, they are labeled and SP "suppressive person" or PTS, "potential trouble source."

According to Hubbard, SPs are basically the sociopaths of the world and PTSs are people who are particularly vulnerable to the influence of SPs. The cult does a formal "declare" procedure when they want to label someone an SP. (I think Leah Remini was declared almost immediately after the first time she denounced Scientology, if I recall correctly. She's powerful in so many ways including being famous, so that's no surprise.) If you're declared, no Scientologist in good standing is allowed to talk to you or even acknowledge your existence. So many families and healthy relationships have been utterly destroyed by the cult of Scientology and its policies and practices.

I read half of Dianetics and another friend (not ever in the cult) said, "well, you can't judge it until you try it," and my dumb self thought that sounded reasonable so I went to the closest cult org and signed up for courses in their stupid "academy."

I was a nobody, so I am probably not declared. They're supposed to give you the goldenrod copy (I shit you not) of the declaration, but I've seen them declare people and never even try to let the person know. I've argued with scientologists online a few times and occasionally I did things like talk to a musician who was in a I think semi famous band and asked him questions that no scientologist ever would about the cult and its history and L. Ron Hubbard. His org was the Hollywood Celebrity Center, where all the famous Scientologists go for their services and courses and he ratted me out, gave them my email address, and ghosted me. I then started receiving Scientology promotional materials to that email address. lol But at the same time, I *stopped* getting emails to the address I had given the cult way back when. Weird. But anyway, yeah, I doubt I've ever really been on their radar.

Anyway, sorry to go on. Even though leaving was not a dramatic or traumatic thing for me that it often is for other people who have suffered so much, I still sort of felt the claws, so to speak, and when things got uncomfortable, I just left. Well, I left, they talked me back for a week or two, then I just never went back good. As I said, I still had my own apartment, car, friends, and got my old job back. If not for all that, I'd probably be on the RPF all this time. I was naive but lucky. A couple people from the cult called me every fucking day for weeks until I made a joke about psychiatry, which is a big ol' sin in the cult of Scientology. Psychiatry is humanity's mortal enemy and you are a Joker and Degrader if you treat the subject flippantly.

I still have dreams about being back in from time to time. It's a terrible feeling.

 

[bilby]

Psychiatry is humanity's mortal enemy and you are a Joker and Degrader if you treat the subject flippantly.

I think "Joker and Degrader" would look good on my business card

And flippantly? I would never.

I mean, my psychiatrist said I was paranoid. Well, he didn't actually say it, but I know that's what he was thinking.

Another psychiatrist diagnosed me with Tourette's. I said, "Fuck!".

Then there was the psychiatrist who said I have multiple personality disorder. But I don't, and neither do I.