"I am waiting for a man who says he's going to blow the lid of the secrets of the religion of the stars." "To tell the story of the dark side of the Church of" "Scientology." "I think it's a privilege to call yourself a" "Scientologist, and it's something you have to earn." "Stars like Tom" "Cruise and " " Tom Cruise and John Travolta says Scientology works for them." "If they had had Scientology they would have been here today, whether it's Elvis or Marilyn." "Church says it's the fastest growing religion in the world." "But the charge against the organisation..." "Or it's a dangerous cult." "That obsessively records people and their secrets, and those of the stars." "I saw those videos." "Debate include personal things?" "absolutely." "Things that Tom Cruise would not want people to know?" "Absolute before stop and grips" "He hugged me and told me he loved me." "Then he laughed." "Here, it's had millions of pounds of tax breaks and it's trying to expand." "So, a force for good or something more sinister?" "The man I'm waiting for will provide some answers about the Church of Scientology." "But it's not going to be easy." "Because if you investigate them, they will come for you." "I know because I've done it before." "Listen to me for a second." "Stop there, Tommy Bowe Stompe I don't understand the nature of you." "In 2007, I investigated Scientology." "They send their top handlers to try and stop me." "One of them, Mike Rinder,." "Official spokesmen for the Church and boss of his Office of Special" "Affairs." "That never happened, ever, ever happened." "It's a catch 22," "John." "That is ridiculous." "Another, his colleague, Tommy Davis." "Buddy, you got it, right here, right now." "I'm real angry." "In the end they got to me." "No, listen to me!" "You were not there!" "I apologised then and I apologise now." "But I'm entering that world again." "This time I've got help from the inside." "This time I will know the tactics they will be using against me." "Because the man I'm waiting for is perhaps the last person on earth the Church of Scientology would want me to meet." "That man, one of the men against me last time, the former official spokesman of the Church of Scientology." "Welcome to London." "Nice to see you again." "That's This is a meeting I'd never dreamt would take place." "Three years ago, might Rinder did his utmost to stop" "Panorama making a programme about the Church of Scientology." "He was at the centre of Scientology's attack dog operation." "Mike Rinder was the public face of Scientology." "Loyal defender of the Church." "Our last encounter was three years ago." "Those allegations are absolute utter rubbish." "Absolute and utter rubbish." "Now he's defected." "A traitor." "It was just a matter of I couldn't take it any more." "I will tell you, John, I felt like I had been freed." "Mike is talking as if he's been liberated." "He is hinting at a dark side of the Church to which he was once so devoted." "But this was the moment, this was the moment when you said goodbye, I'm out, I've had enough." "This is exactly it." "It happened right here." "But leaving came at a cost." "He became an enemy of the Church." "His family, who'd stayed inside, would cut him out of their lives." "I knew as I was walking out of this building that that was the last time I would ever talk to my wife, the last time I would ever talked to my children, the last time I'd ever talked to any of the rest of my family." "Mike it was turning his back on the church he joined when he was just six years old." "His parents were early converts, getting into Scientology nearly 50 years ago." "That is the house that we all lived in in 1969 when my parents were here." "He shows me the Church's holy of holies, Saint Hill in East Grinstead, Sussex, where he spent part of his childhood." "He is out of the Church but still believes in Scientology and its founder, L Ron Hubbard." "It has great significance to" "Scientologists because it's the home of L Ron Hubbard." "He lived here in the 60s." "That big building that you see over there is the manner, the Saint Hill Manor." "That was where he lived." "L Ron used to write science fiction, and then he wrote a religion." "We are the only ones who study the spirit so we have to use the word Scientology." "It was claimed Scientology could create a civilisation without insanity, without criminals, without war." "This was the centre of the Scientology universe at that point." "It was a very exciting place." "There was always a lot of people just thoroughly enjoying themselves and enjoying the fact that they were a part of something that was very new and very different." "What is Scientology, how would you describe it?" "It's very interesting." "You've just ask a question like, what are the contents of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and set in one word." "L Ron believed in a form of reincarnation." "Through counselling, they called it auditing, you unlock and examine pain caused in past lives which scar your present." "This couple are training themselves to clear their minds, ready to absorb the message of Scientology." "The goal for a Scientologist is to reach a state of enlightenment cold Clear, we can't all, unconscious thoughts have been wiped out." "You wouldn't express any of these emotions - covert hostility, anger, boredom, paint - because you are well and happy." "The goal?" "To Clear of the But there is nothing clear about the Church of Scientology." "Since its birth it's been clouded by controversy." "I wanted to investigate this self-styled church." "The accusation - it's a cult." "The Church has long denied that it is any such thing." "Now it's a former official spokesman and head of the" "Office of Special Affairs has left, bringing its secrets with him." "Church today doesn't really resemble the church that I knew when I was growing up." "There are a lot of things that are happening all have happened that are really eating away at the core of the religion from inside." "People are not able to think for themselves, they really are being suppressed, where they are being abused." "They live an unhappy life, it's not a But this is the face of the Church of Scientology now." "The face it wants to show to the world." "ability to eradicate drug abuse and awaken populations to the inherent moral decency within them..." "All of this is now possible on a previously unimaginable scale." "L Ron died in 1986, the Church lived on." "A new leader, David Miscavige, rose to the top." "truth of the matter is that just me and we are the most powerful force on this earth." "Under Miscavige, best man to Tom Cruise at his wedding to Katie Holmes, Scientology reaches out to the stars." "And the stars bless the church with publicity, whether it's" "John Travolta handing out a aid in Haiti, or Tom Cruise at ground zero." "If you've heard we are the fastest growing religion on earth, it's true." "Also he says." "The church boasts 11 million square feet of property around the world worth millions, if not billions, of dollars." "It hasn't said how much money it's got, but it's clear that church is worth a bob or two." "And it's pushing for more." "Check this out, hears the crusade..." "More Churchers, more buildings, more funds to be raised." "You've got to locate a building." "A perfect building in a perfect location." "This is the crusade." "It's also a church that has an aggressive attitude to outsiders." "In 2007, I set out to investigate the Church, but the programme became about the extraordinary lengths the Church would go to try and stop me." "One of the main charges..." "That its spies on people who dare to scrutinise it." "And Mike knows what really happened last time." "A load of horse shit." "Strangers watching me at breakfast." "Day after day after day." "We are being followed by a Range Rover." "Cars following us around." "Again..." "We are being followed again, it's a black Nissan." "And again..." "And again." "Sidona or a Range Rover." "It will track along this road shortly." "Of course, I may be completely paranoid." "Though, there it is." "Back then, the church denied spying on us." "I'm having you followed?" "It seems to me that you are the one who's gone a bit creepy." "whenever I met a critic, the church seemed to know." "There is a car here and somebody has stopped." "Mr Davies, I assume." "Nice to me too." "According to Miscavige's agents, I was paranoid." "I don't know what you are talking about." "Was I being paranoid?" "No, you were being followed." "We were being followed?" "Yes." "Who gave those orders to follow us?" "It would have come undermine..." "You've got no doubt you were being followed by the Church of Scientology?" "No doubt whatsoever." "The BBC has obtained messages to and from Scientologist high command against the operation on Panorama." "They go between Tommy and Miscavige." "They also show that David Miscavige's office knew what we were up to." "Where we were Hide, Mike." "High, Tommy." "I have nothing to shake hands with you on." "I find it considerably obnoxious what you are doing." "Where we were Correct." "We didn't fly to Vegas but stayed in Florida and just drove up the road." "Hello, E " " Tommy." "I was just wondering where you were." "Simple test." "There's a gap, we were in Florida and then we went to LA." "Where did we go in between?" "went to San Francisco." "I was there." "What do you mean, you were there?" "followed you from San Francisco airport to the hotel that you state that and that one that was sitting on the corner..." "I was there." "Church still says we were and spied on." "David Miscavige says the suggestion that he and his office monitored any such operation, communicating with Rinder and Davies, is total nonsense." "The" "Church categorically denies it, too, but admits private investigators were task to track and document us." "With Mike Rinder, Marty Rathbun." "The two men pose a new threat to the organisation." "Motty used to be an inspector-general of the Church." "After 27 years inside, he left in 2004." "Mike and Marty still believe in Scientology as a faith, but they object to the way the Church is run." "They are spearheading what they call a Reformation." "They say the Church is not expanding but contracting." "The Church says they are heretics and they are no longer welcome in the church after years of incompetence and misconduct." "We are being filmed by that lady over there." "That's funny." "Well, she was filming us." "The camera is still in What have you got there?" "This is an e-meter." "They are about to do some think to me which the Church would not want them to do." "The Church of Scientology fiercely copyrights its scriptures and legally protects its practices, and that includes auditing, the core of the face." "First, you have to commit yourself to any e-meter." "It is a simple device." "It is a resistance meter." "Probed by the e-meter, Scientologists are not what is wrong to deep in their minds, so they can trace and banish negative influences from present and past lives." "Is this like a lie-detector?" "It detects the truth." "It is a truth detector." "Marty Rathbun was once one of the top auditors." "He dealt with Tom Cruise, Kirstie Alley and" "John Travolta." "I will pinch you, watch what the legal powers. -- watch what the needle does." "Now, keep watching the Beadle, and recalled the moment of the pinch." "Yes!" "That is creepy." "My mind remembered the pinch, and that registered." "Exactly." "They believe the e-meter helps you uncover repressed thoughts." "It did not take" "Marty Rathbun longed to find a naughty thought of mind." "You are nervous all concerned?" "I am fighting this." "I am thinking of something I am not going to tell anyone about her. -- tell anyone about." "This is a naughty thought." "Does it tell you it is a naughty thought?" "It tells me you do not want to share it." "Can you tell if I am agitated?" "You gotta do." "They say that, once you have offloaded your negative thoughts, you feel a better person." "Scientologists are obsessed with the mind, and that includes drills to alter behaviour." "But they say this knowledge can be used to unsettle and upset outsiders, like me." "If you have got a problem to that at..." "What are you doing here?" "I came to talk to you." "The technique is to push your buttons." "People have things that set them off." "They are watching very carefully." "I am sure you compared notes, he has got a button on this." "So, he will push the button next time." "I am not a bigot!" "Your are a closed minded bigot. are a bigot." "Tommy Davis said that" "John Sweeney is a bigot." "I am not a bigot." "If I keep putting you off like this, up I will drive you nuts." "Every time you start to say something, by cut you off, that is another way of getting you so that you become emotionally upset. builds up like a dam." "Finally, it explodes." "It is an end." "I want to say something!" "You are not allowed to say anything!" "Bigots cannot talk!" "In 2007, I faced a days of pressure from be too much. -- from the church." "Then they took me to the Industry of Death exhibition." "One of the beliefs of the Church is that psychiatry is evil, damaging humanity around the world off." "For 90 minutes, I had a tour through madness." "That a leading cytologist talked me through what they say psychiatrists did in the Holocaust." "The psychiatrist said up the whole youth and Asia campaign in the concentration camps." "They decided who would be killed off." "Then we clashed again, and I lost it." "No!" "Stop there!" "Listen to me for a second." "No!" "Listened to may!" "You were not there at the beginning of the interview!" "Although I am not excusing my reaction, Mike Rinder and Marty Rathbun explained to me I had given the Church exactly what they wanted." "It was the intention of Tommy Smith " " Tommy Davis to create at effect on you, to go due into a reaction like that." "Tommy" "Davis had announced the two David Miscavige specifically that he was the person that should be dealing with you, because he could drive you psychotic." "The Church says I am just trying to falsely excuse what it calls my totally unprofessional behaviour." "It says no Scientology techniques were used against me, and I cannot justify myself by saying that Tommy Davis set out to aggravate me." "But the messages to the leader's office seemed to tell a different story." "After I lost it," "Tommy Davis sent his message. the person who drives him more psychotic than anyone." "Did Davies Dist -- debate is make " " David" "Miscavige want this to happen?" "Absolutely." "No question." "Mike" "Rinder says these messages are typical." "Any other details... abbreviation stands for something offensive." "Then, there was other rig abbreviation. -- another abbreviation." "The next message would be, did you figure it out?" "That would be five seconds after the one before." "What that stood for was some think offensive again." "ask the Church of Scientology about the abuse of staff and obscene language." "That was denied." "It also says any such messages must be forgeries." "Around the world, the church craves respectability." "In" "Britain, the Charity Commission does not recognise it as a religion." "But it has won concessions as a not-for-profit educational organisation, including tax rebates and rates relief worth millions." "The Church has contacts with government officials are." "Charles" "Hendry MP says he was speaking on behalf of Scientology constituents when he put their case in 2005." "Although it may be controversial, undoubtedly they to a great deal of good." "They have gone through serious hoops, making sure they have the right to broadcast on television, satisfying the broadcast Commission that it is not a cult." "But back in 1984, a judge courted -- called it exactly that, a cult." "The judge said that the Church of Scientology was corrupt, sinister and dangerous, and to capture people -- it captured people and brainwashed at them." "So, a force for good or a brainwashing cult?" "I am going back to the home Here, the most damning allegations have been made against the church." "But it is also where Scientology is most popular, and recognised as a religion by the taxman." "Its founder even has its street named after him." "I bump into Scientologists on their way to courses." "The Church of Scientology is the best church." "is fantastic, a tremendous amount of educational materials, communication skills, handling life, we have a whole business programme, how to run their businesses better." "It changed my life." "It really changed my life, my dynamics, and I am having a ball." "It has been so beneficial, to make me a happy, stable person, more productive." "It has been tremendous." "They seemed happy enough." "But I am not welcome." "The Church wants me of the projects, they have refused me access, St my last film showed me to be biased against them, and a liar." "But there are people who do want to speak to me, and they come from the heart of it, the holy order." "Their accusations threatened to blow the" "Church apart." "They are ex-members of the Sea Organisation." "The people who run the Church, so named because L Ron Hubbard had been in the American navy and liked things shipshape." "Uniformed and regimented, if you join the organisation, you sign a contract pledging to serve the Church for all your life and all your future lives to come." "It" "In 2007, very few people were willing to be openly critical of the Church." "Today, that is changing." "Claire and Marc Headley were practically born into the church." "They signed the contract, becoming employees of the Sea Organisation, when they were 16." "My mother joined at the Sea Organisation when I was four." "Now they are out." "This family scene is a far cry from their lives in the Sea Organisation." "They were there to help spread the message of Scientology around the world, but inside they felt anything but free." "There was 24/7 security cameras, people everywhere." "It is definitely a very strict environment." "Fear and intimidation for me personally and what I have observed with others, the dominant control and emotions of my life for 20 years, certainly the entire time I was on the staff." "The couple have tried to sue the" "Church, but the case was dismissed under an exemption covering up reduce employment." "They are appealing the decision." "The Church covers the most personal aspects of life." "No sex before marriage, no marriage to anybody outside." "Clare, at the age of 19, realised she was pregnant, and that is not on. is what their own policy states." "They are not in the business of raising children." "It is not in the business model." "For Clare to have her baby, she would have to leave." "Fearing it meant leaving her only home and breaking from her family, she felt an abortion was her only option." "Two years later, the couple were posted 2000 miles apart. in Clearwater, Florida, or when I found out I was pregnant." "I was not allowed authorisation, so I could not tell my husband about it until eight months after the fact, when I next saw him." "Unable to talk things through, she had another abortion." "She is not alone." "Other woman who have left to tell of similar experiences." "It was the most horrifying, upsetting to, deeply disturbing situation I have ever been in." "You could not say, I was pregnant and I decided to have an abortion, because otherwise I would have to leave?" "I would never see him again." "The Church says she made a statement at the time that she did not want the child and never wanted children." "It confirms pregnant women cannot remain in the" "Sea Organisation, but they are free to leave with their husbands." "It adds, it does not stop married couples from speaking." "I wanted to know more about the hold the Church has over the lives of people in the" "Sea Organisation." "On the edge of the Californian desert, I meet" "Marty Rathbun again." "With him, Amy Scobee." "Like Marty Rathbun, she is a defector." "Between them, they gave more than 50 years' service." "Where are we going?" "The International Scientology headquarters." "There are several hundred staff there, film studios, groups of managers." "It is where David Miscavige has his home base." "He runs Scientologists from there." "Did you work here?" "Yes, for 20 years." "It is the first time they have both been back since leaving." "In 2005, Amy Scobee broke her billion year contract, leaving Oh, God, this is bringing back memories." "Here we go." "Behind the gates are Scientology is international headquarters." "They call it Int or Gold." "No staff member on the property has to live outside of the fence." "No sooner had we arrive at when someone was on our case." "Do you know those chaps?" "No, they are hired people." "Hello, my name is John Sweeney, I'm from the BBC." "Who do you work for?" "This is the nerve centre of the global empire." "The church describes it as a luxurious place of work, rest and play." "There's a communal pool and barbecue facility, where the tennis courts or the basketball courts or the volleyball courts..." "But the way Amy describes it was anything but." "We are living here on a restricted compound with no days off, family, lines being capped." "Sure, it's beautiful, the food wasn't bad, whatever, but it doesn't justify..." "That is not the world we are trying to create." "Leaving is not easy." "In order to go, duvets weeks of procedures, signed statements praising the church and can be handed a bill which can run into thousands and thousands of pounds." "The Church confirms that members to break their religious covenant have to follow a standard procedure and pay a freeloader debt." "It says this is a religious matter between the Sea Org member and the church." "You spent the best years are up your life behind this fence." "It feels the way you've been telling it to me as though you woke up one morning and realised the whole thing was..." "What?" "It's a dangerous cult." "There's a certain tolerance level that you are willing to meet because you do feel it's your spiritual immortality at stake and your family at stake." "I didn't have any resources to turn back on." "It was my life, my life since I was 14 years old." "And I was A dangerous cult..." "That's not the word on Hollywood boulevard." "Here, the connection between Scientology, celebrity and success is written on the sidewalk." "It really is fun." "Because there is nothing better than going out there and fighting the fight then suddenly you see..." "When I think about those people out there who are dependent on us." "Being a star means a stellar service." "The celebrities get their very own churches, luxurious and cosseted." "Amy Scobee was in charge of these celebrities centres." "And when we go for a wonder, it seems we are expected." "We've been filming" "Back in 2007, Mike and Tommy had arranged for me to interview" "Scientology's defenders of the faithful stop I put to them what the British judges said, that it was a brainwashing cult." "The celebrities gave as good as they got." "Then they refused to let the" "BBC broadcast their interviews." "But we can show them to you now for the first time because the celebrities were happy to take part in Panorama exposed." "Scientology's film investigating us, put out after our film investigating them." "Executive producer..." "Mike Rinder." "It's a cracking watch!" "To this point, having only filmed interviews with detractors, this is Sweeney's opportunity to find out what" "Scientology really is from those who know best." "Scientologists." "a sinister, brainwashing cult." "Would you ever sit with a Jew and tell them that their religion was a cult?" "No." "Some people say..." "Some people say..." "Some people say..." "Some people say that it's the sinister, brainwashing cult." "I know some people have also said that women are really stupid and it shouldn't vote." "Some people would say you are a member of a brainwashing cult." "You were brainwashed." "Do I look brainwashed to you?" "How dare you." "What I didn't know was what was going on behind the scenes." "Tommy and " " Anne are to's son, and Mike were keeping the Office informed." "The Office" "That's my body they are talking But some people in Hollywood are no longer in love with Scientology." "Jaden " " Jason Beghe, start of GI" "Jane and Thelma and Louise, quit after 13 years inside the church." "Don't scream at me." "Come on in, How do they treat you?" "You are spoilt rotten." "They just love bomb the shit out of you." "And it's sincere." "It's not a routine." "I could ask for anything." "There would be somebody who would be there to do it for me." "But those days are over." "Jason is now campaigning against the church." "A why did I get into it, because I was interested in finding out about myself and understanding other people." "The same reasons anybody might get -- investigate a philosophy or religion." "But I also kind of couched that in the concept that even the best Mousetrap in the world isn't going to work without cheese." "And that slice of cheese cost Jason and his wife a bob or two." "About a million dollars." "Church says as a young religion it depends upon its parishioners as its primary source of financial support." "It confirms that some services are free, but members pay fixed donations for others." "It adds that the donations of Jason and his Back in town, I meet Larry Andersen, star of Martians Go home and star Injector assembly has separated." "You are at the threshold of your next trillion years." "And also the start of the Church of Scientology's recruiting films." "He's the phase that welcomes you in, and now he too is out." "Larry spent 33 years in the church." "I began to speculate that those early gains and wins, as they say in Scientology, I was having was sort of debate." "It's the book to bring you in." "Scientology features a series of steps called Operating Thetan levels" " OTs." "And for each level you have to cough up." "The critics say that makes it a pay as you go religion." "After spending decades in the church and hundreds of thousands of dollars, Larry did something he's not supposed to do." "He looks at Scientology's critics on the internet." "As a Scientologist, you are not only encouraged but really had your arms twisted never to look at media." "If you see a story on the church, turn it off because it will only destroy the gains and you've got an octal now." "I said, I'm not going to do that anymore, I'm going to go online." "The Church says there is no such sensory." "It adds people may feel better if they were to seize watching or reading the news when much of the media, such as Panorama, are merchants of chaos." "When Larry went online he discovered the secret that the Church had kept from him for 30 years." "At the heart of Scientology is this secret." "Only revealed when you've paid enough to reach Operating Thetan levels 3." "They call it the wall of fire." "Panorama of told the sea could never to be told back in 1987." "Beings were captured on other planets and flown to locations near 10 volcanoes or more on earth." "it was L Ron's belief that humanity is infected by spirits of dead space aliens banished to earth by an intergalactic warlord, Lord Xenu." "A revolt followed of the loyal officers against Xenu." "He was locked up in an electronic, modern fortress and remains there still." "Xenu is all over the internet." "Ex- members have confirmed its existence to me." "And yet you don't get far if you raise the issue with practising Scientologists." "Back in 2007, I put it to be celebrities." "After all, many of them were operating theatre ands." "Xenu, does he banished souls from a..." "Alien souls, banish them to earth and then been them up?" "Kirstie Alley, operating level beaten 7, says it is untrue." "But there is an intergalactic warlord who blew up bits of aliens?" "Juliette Lewis laughed and giggled." "The warlord who 75 million years ago but people as aliens..." "You don't know what you are talking about." "It's like a movie." "It makes you look weird." "Jason Begg does know about it." "He made it 2 OT 3." "The justification for keeping it secret within those scriptures is that this is such powerful information that somebody who hasn't done the previous steps to arrive at being able to be exposed to this would actually, probably died." "They would go into something called freewheeling, where they wouldn't be able to sleep, they would go insane and basically die of pneumonia and lack of sleep." "Keeping something rare makes it more valuable." "It's a way to keep people interested and to pay a premium to gain the the information." "In that sense, is it a religion or is it a racket?" "know, they are not necessarily" "When you walk into a Church of Scientology, no one will mention" "Lord Xenu." "That makes it completely different from other faiths." "For example, Christians don't say, what crucifixion?" "The church wouldn't respond directly on the Xenu issue, but said than less than 1% of its scriptures are unpublished and that keeping material confidential is not unusual for a religion." "It confirmed that knowledge handed out in its highest levels is restricted until Scientologists are spiritually and ethically prepared to receive it." "One of the reasons critics call it a cold is what they do with your darkest secrets." "Does it tell you it's a naughty thought?" "It tells me you don't want to share it." "Remember how the e-meter picked up that naughty thought I had?" "Auditing covers every aspect of your life." "Work, play, sex," "And these secrets on to just between you and your Auditor." "They are routinely recorded." "There's a specific VIP room for all the A- listers." "John Travolta, Tom Cruise, I audited Tom Cruise." "There's a shelf in there with a false glass mirror panel." "Behind it, if you" "Paul Lister about on the other side of it is a video camera." "I was working for the Scientology organisation and I installed over 100 rooms that had two cameras and a microphone in them where people would get auditing." "Is the camera obvious?" "No." "In most cases it's inside a smoke detector or a picture frame." "We are talking about pinhole cameras." "The Church says it does film auditing but that this is not a secret and has been announced publicly." "Cameras are fitted within walls to stop them being intrusive and unsightly." "The Church also says that auditing secrets are Sackur sand, protected by priest penitent confidentiality and never revealed." "What are you looking at?" "Marty sitting in the chair, the e-meter and on the opposite side of the table is Tom Cruise holding the cans and the whole thing." "I saw those videos." "And did they include personal things?" "Absolutely." "Things that Tom Cruise would not want people to know?" "Absolutely." "But the" "Church says recording is not a breach of confidentiality." "Other" "Scientologists are authorised to listen in." "Selected staff are given access for the purposes of training Auditing confessions, they say, are secret, but this is the church that likes to keep records." "It admits that other personal information about you can be used against you." "So, beware if you dare to leave." "When Jason Beghe tried to leave, he had a visit from an official. comes over to my house with these thick binders, with information and all for photographs." "The official tried to persuade him to stay by showing him the dirt on critics of the Church." "It was all of this stuff, this guy Rez address, this stuff going on and on, and I am like, first of all, he was a" "Scientologist and you are telling me he was in a dress?" "The Church denies using such tactics to try to dissuade Scientologists from leaving the church." "When Amy went public, the church went public against her." "With details of her sex life." "In its online magazine, the church labelled her the adulteress and accused her of wanton sexual behaviour." "Something she denies." "The Church also sends a newspaper the dirt, she says to blacken her name." "This was your most intimate secrets." "Yes." "The details of how I had sex with my husband before we got married, that should not go to a newspaper." "They made it the world's business by issuing a writ on the internet and in a magazine that went to 100,000 people or more people." "It went to all of my neighbours are." "Church admits selling at the newspaper material." "It claims the information was from an affidavit signed by her, and that therefore not confidential." "She deputes this, saying the Church handed over handwritten confessions, which she" "Again, we were not alone." "Throughout my time in California, I had shadows on my case." "If there was any doubt that the agents were working for the Church of Scientology, these pictures were sent to my bosses at the BBC, claiming I must be biased against the Church, as I was overly familiar with its critics." "I left" "California and headed across the USA to Clearwater, Florida." "The new front line in the war between the Church and its critics." "A town with more Scientologists per head of population than anywhere else in the world." "But it is also home to the Reformation movement of independence Scientologists." "They still believe in Scientology as a blueprint for living, they just do not like the organisation or its leader." "Mike Rinder, the former Voice of the Church, is now a voice of this new movement." "He introduces me to Mareka James." "She and her family left the church and joined the Reformation." "How long were you inside the Church of Scientology?" "All of my life, 27 years." "parents ran the UK's permit him Organisation for many years." "I have got a lot out of Scientology." "It makes you understand life better." "It is different from the actual church and the organisation and the" "But the Church keeps the heat up on these heretics." "There they are." "On- time it." "Isn't that a thing of?" "!" "Hello. 2000 miles, and less than 24 hours in Clearwater, one of the agents from California." "Who is this gentle man?" "I am John Sweeney from the BBC." "Hello." "I do not want to shake his hand, he is working." "You are not going to shake my hand?" "Have you been told by the Church not to talk to us?" "That is quite a good question." "Let's carry on." "But we did not carry on." "We decided to" "We are being followed." "Again." "Mike Rinder is now the hunted." "Write to" "You have been following this man to his house." "I put it to you that that is an intrusion, that you are harassing this man." "If this is not harassment, what is it?" "Is this how this church goes about its business?" "A religious organisation, an organisation that says it is entitled to be treated as a The Church of Scientology was Mike" "Rinder's life for nearly 50 years." "He married and became a father while in it." "Now he and his family are part of the battleground." "Earlier this year, Mike Rinder and other and to church campaigners went armed with a camera to a Scientology building it in clear water, where he believed his son works." "He has not had contact with" "Then refuse to meet his father." "The judge described Mike Rinder's actions as a stunt." "Mike Rinder says he is a victim of the Church of Scientology's policy, this connection." "People who accuse the" "Church of being a court, for them, the most damaging charge is that it splits families apart." "The accusation is, if you leave without their blessing, you will lose your family, still inside the church," "Mohawks, no phone calls, no birthday cards." "No contact." "In Mike" "Rinder's case, the Church says he abandoned his family." "In late April, he drove his girlfriend to a medical appointment." "I turned around, and there were seven people marching towards me in business suits." "Did you recognise anybody?" "Of course, I recognised all of them." "My brother was there, my daughter, my ex-wife." "He had not seen his wife and daughter for three years." "They were joined by four officials from the church, seven against one." "The first words that I heard from them, they were offensive." "What the judge did not know was that Mike" "Rinder was on the phone to a reporter, and the reporter was May." "The intention of it was intimidation." "It was to get me worried about every time I get out of the car, that somebody would jump on me and start screaming in my face, or some family member will show up with a gang, who will try Then, the police arrived." "During the incident, Mike Rinder's ex-wife had her arm." "The church said he attacked her, he denies that." "The police report found no intention of battery." "He is not alone." "Many of those I spoke to on my journey had a story of disconnection." "They told of a church with called choices." "are living that every day." "Our children are living it." "This couple, leaving has cost them their families, their little boys never saw their grant mothers." "My mother has never met their only grandchildren." "Rather than leaving the church with its blessing, they fled." "The next day, my mother, my stepfather, my brother, my two half-sisters, they were all pulled in by Scientology and told that I was a suppressive person, and they could have no further contact with" "me." "The Church says it has a human right to seize communication with somebody." "It adds, disconnection is used against expelled members and those who attack the Church." "It says this couple have been declared suppressive persons and expelled." "The family's decision not to have contact is theirs." "Speaking to me would risk their and all of mankind's future eternity." "The last phone call I had with my sister was heard bawling her eyes out, telling me that she could never talk to me again, and she had to hang up." "That was the last conversation I had" "Mareka James was set to marry her fiance, a fellow Scientologist." "Then her parents left the church, and were deemed enemies." "When she refused to take the Church's side, it was crunch time for her fiance." "He had a choice, Scientology or May." "When they last met, they had company." "The Office of Special Affairs came as well." "They tell me, they are not here to try to handle me or anything like that, they are just here to help him get his staff and to make sure that there is not" "He gave me some money." "He gave me £100." "And he said that he heard that I would sort myself out -- he hoped." "And he had me." "He told me he loved me." "Then he laughed. church disputes their final meeting was supervised by personnel." "It says the Church -- choice of her fiance was his alone." "More than anything else, the Church of" "Scientology crave some respectability." "It strives to get that by property portfolio." "And celebrity endorsement." "Shall we clean this place up?" "Yes!" "But respectability does not come with spying, intimidation, as the Church has done to Mike Rinder." "With spelling deterred on people's sex lives, as the Church has done to" "Amy Scobee." "Alternatively, tearing families apart, as the Church has done to this couple." "So it is not surprising that some people continue to sum up the Church of Scientology in one word." "A court. "