Scientology: Elder Abuse in the Name of Fair Game

Tattling is a core virtue in Scientology.

Members are not simply encouraged to snitch on one another, they are required on pain of punishment to do so. Guilt by association means if you knew of an infraction but kept silent then you are just as culpable.

This particular policy clearly illustrates the pettiness and immaturity of its author, L. Ron Hubbard.

It also gives insight to just how cruelly insidious Hubbard was. Creating an atmosphere of paranoia effectively rules out friendship, trust and even family loyalty. It is an isolating tactic that is used as a weapon of emotional blackmail amping up the already destructive viciousness that is Disconnection.

Suppressive enemies of Scientology not only face the loss of parents, children, spouse and other family; for this “religion” ostracism is not enough pain. They must also watch as those same beloved relations then take part in the psychological terroristic propaganda designed to dehumanize known as Fair Game.

Hubbard’s admonition to “destroy by any means necessary” ultimately is as abusive to the gamer as it is to the gamed. Of course the former member’s heart is broken by the betrayal of those he/she holds so dear.

How horrible is it to watch as one’s parent, child or former spouse denigrates and excoriates even to the point of lying simply to cause the maximum emotional devastation.

Conversely, inflicting such emotional trauma on a loved one is equally abusive to the attacker. Consciously or not, betrayal on this level undoubtedly leaves behind scars of its own.

Neither side wins and both sides suffer.

Abuse in any form leaves a calling card on the abuser whether acknowledged or not.

As Scientology breathlessly awaits Mike Rinder’s soon to be released book; A Billion Years- My Escape From A Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology, they’ve spruced up their hate website dedicated to him. Although polished with a fresh new look, the content is the same old filth.

Amongst the tired, outworn fiction lurks yet another glaringly atrocious sign of abuse in the form of what is supposed to be a letter to Rinder from his elderly mother.

As the late comedienne Joan Rivers used to say; “can we talk?”

This is not the way a mother would write to her son.

“Desist”?

Really?

Back in 2013 Mike wrote about his mother on his blog.

“…she maintained a mother/son relationship with me, corresponding back and forth about things that had nothing to do with Scientology. Her dogs, garden, grandchildren and great grandchildren, the weather, anything but Scientology. She told me I was her firstborn and that would always trump anything else, no matter what decisions I made in my life.”

This is what a mother sounds like.

Heartbreakingly, it would not be long before Barbara was forced to disconnect from her son.

That she was instructed on what to write can not be disputed. One can only imagine an OSA goon standing over her, dictating the words she had no choice but to write under threat of her own disconnection.

What must it have been like for her? Was she afraid? Faced with such incomprehensible options was she desperate or simply defeated?

Barbara Rinder was not in good health. 80 years old and in assisted living, Barbara was cruelly ordered to abandon one son she loved so much or face never seeing the other.

Scientology placed an ill, elderly woman in an emotional morass of untenable options.

It was not enough for David Miscavige to bully Mike Rinder’s mother in her final stage of life. Not enough for this vindictive little man to ensure mother and son were denied a chance to say goodbye.

Malicious, abusive and beyond pitiless; this vulnerable mother is even now being used to inflict pain upon her own child.

Scientology would have people believe that Mike Rinder is the black hatted villain in this tale.

That he arbitrarily and evilly turned his back upon his family, abandoning them forever in favor of…whatever it is he’s supposed to be guilty of.

Rather, evidence is clear that Barbara was not the only one caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.

Impetus for Rinder’s escape was the fact that he’d been told that upon his return from London, he was going to be sent away and would never see his family again.

Pushed beyond his limits, Rinder knew that leaving would result in fair game and disconnection.

Stay or go, it was all the same at that point in his life.

Still he tried to get his family to join him. He kept the lines of communication open, sending cards and letters.

He did not ride off into the sunset never to be seen again, but ultimately moved to Florida to be close to his son, Benjamin, in case he ever needed his father.

Rinder has still never given up on his children. His love for them and his hope for one day reuniting with them still burns bright as can be seen in his upcoming book.

For their part, Taryn is engaged in a campaign of vicious lies against her father while Benjamin is kept firmly away.

What kind of religion causes such destruction within a family?

Do ethics or morals apply when a frail, unwell, 80 year old woman is coerced into writing such an impersonal, frigid note to her own son? Who would wish to be affiliated with any organization capable of such hateful emotional abuse of an elderly woman?

During these last days before the launch of Rinder’s book and in the weeks and months afterwards, look carefully at every accusation leveled at him. Make note of every attack, every twist of the truth, every LIE.

With every condemnation of Mike Rinder, remember what it must have been like for his mother to have passed away after being forced to disconnect from her own child.

Yes, she was a Scientologist.

Yes, she knew she must act in the name of keeping Scientology working.

On the surface, Barbara very well could have believed that she was doing the best thing for the planet.

One cannot help but wonder though.

Did the woman who wrote so lovingly to her blown son really write that last, cold missive willingly?