West Allis, Wis., police had a bit of a surprise when they responded to a call about a mysterious man in the neighborhood near Milwaukee in July 2013 and found Dwayne S. Powell, a private detective, with two laptop computers, binoculars, a GPS tracking device, a stun gun, two rifles, four handguns, 2,000 rounds of ammunition and a homemade silencer in a rented SUV. While first resisting to give his name, Powell reportedly admitted that he was hired to keep continual watch on the father of David Miscavige, the leader of the Church of Scientology, who had separated from the church. Powell further stated that, after seeing what he believed was a possible heart attack, he contacted David Miscavige, who allegedly told him to let his father Ronald Miscavige Sr. die and not intervene or call help. The case has not led to litigation but it could.
The story is getting even greater attention with the release of Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief — the 2013 non-fiction book about Scientology written by Lawrence Wright detailing abuses and potential crimes by the Church, including its history of harassing and following former members. The Church reportedly prohibits members from reading or seeing such anti-Church information. Indeed, it appears successful with some of its most famous members. Recently, John Travolta told the media that he would not watch the movie because “I haven’t experienced anything that the hearsay has (claimed), so why would I communicate something that wasn’t true for me?” Notably, all of the books by defectors from the church talk about how celebrities are given special sites and treatment like royalty within the church. Thus, it is not too surprising that it was not “true for” Travolta but one would think that he might be interested in what non-celebrities are saying as to their abuse behind the gilded celebrities centers. His choice of words was telling for many who say that they are survivors of the Church: “So, why would I even approach a negative perspective? That would be a crime to me, personally, to do that.”
The Church is considered a criminal organization in some countries and has been accused of criminal conduct by some in this country.
Powell says that he was paid $10,000 a week to trail Ronald Miscavige. Police say that, in this case, private detectives tracked Ronald Miscavige, engaged in eavesdropping, spied on his emails and even planted a GPS unit on his car.
Powell, 43, eventually admitted that he was following the elder Miscavige. The Church (as it has in past such cases) totally denies any connection, “Please be advised that Mr. Miscavige does not know Mr. Powell, has never heard of Mr. Powell, has never met Mr. Powell, has never spoken to Mr. Powell, never hired Mr. Powell and never directed any investigations by Mr. Powell.”
That contradicts not just Powell’s statements but his most shocking story that he and his partner saw what they believed was the elder Miscavige having a heart attack. They called their Church intermediary to say that he was grasping his chest and needed medical help. He said that two minutes later a man who identified himself as David Miscavige called him back and told him that, if it was Ron’s time to die, to let him die and not intervene in any way.”
Powell said he and a second investigator searched the elder Miscavige’s garbage, photographed him wherever he went and tracked him with a GPS device attached to his car and linked to an iPad that read out his location, the documents state. Police found marks on the underside of the car that they concluded were made by the magnetic GPS device.
If the elder Miscavige wanted to sue, he could proceed with a tort actions alleging violation of privacy (inclusion upon seclusion). This could include even some public encounters. The allegations would raise some interesting issues of intrusion upon seclusion and a comparison to Nader v. General Motors Corp., where Ralph Nader was able to show that GM hired detectives to follow him closely. One such instance involved looking over his shoulder at banks to read his bank slips, which was found to be an intrusion upon seclusion even though it was a public place.
There is also trespass on the vehicle with the GPS device. Notably, the Supreme Court recently ruled that police cannot use such devices without a warrant.
Then there is the ever litigious Church of Scientology. The allegation of Powell would certainly constitute defamation, though there are privileges attached to speaking with the police. If these statements are made publicly, Miscavige could bring a defamation lawsuit. The Church has been known to bring an array of frivolous or vexatious actions. This would be a standard defamation case since Miscavige is being accused of personally telling an investigator not to intervene to save his father after the Church allegedly engaged in abusive surveillance. The problem is that “truth is a defense” and Powell could demand a full array of discovery from the highly secretive church.
What is interesting is that the success of the Church in the past in intimidating reporters since to be wading. I have spoken with reporters who have reported being followed and harassed in covering the Church. That has created a chilling effect that appears to be thawing. Even Saturday Night Live appears eager to get into the coverage:
Isaac,
Religion is not meant to be or was ever determined to be democratic. You’re confusing politics and religion. However, politics and religion do have one thing in common–following laws and rules. I hope we are all citizen who follow the laws of the land.
Religion calls for dedication and obedience to God’s natural law, not man’s law.
As for pedophilia, people break God’s laws all the time, as well and man made laws. One does not have to be a clergy to do a criminal act, and yes even in a democracy these laws are broken everyday. Those people who do wrongful acts will answer to the courts and to their God.
As for women and a democracy the sublimates–look at most countries that claim to be democratic and you will find some group or gender being sublimated. Women have always been held under some control of man. Look how long it has taken for women in this democratic country to become their own person. The fact of the matter is, most women still submit to the male species.
Gigi
Point out a religion that is run democratically. Point out a religion that does not demand obedience to a supreme extraterrestrial being.
Point out a democracy that creates a leadership of celibate that protect the pedophiles in their group. Point out a democracy that sublimates women. Point out a democracy ……
Isaac,
“Personally, I see all three religions canceling themselves out eventually.
Don’t hold your breath brother, you will die too soon. The Judeo religion has been around for approx. 4,000 years, and Christianity has been around for over 2,000 years. Neither will ever go away!
Scientology has only been in existence for 75 years and other cult religions have been around less than 200 years.
“There will be a time when we might need a new religion or simply learn to think for ourselves. Come the revolution…..”
Sometimes it’s the thinking for ourselves that gets us in deeper doo doo.
Gigi De La Paz
I believe Issac sees Religion from an Egocentric Point of view meaning that the Ego created God in order to keep Society in some kind of order.
When he speaks to me he will go so far as to say there is beautiful poetry in the Psalms but he is afraid that the People of the Book – Referring to Tennessee Evangelicals – are truly frightening. –
What Issac does not understand in my point of view, or he is ignoring as I have ventured to clarify it to him a number of times, is what the ancients used symbolically to believe in no longer works, and that is why Jesus came with all of his Parables about Old Skins and and New Wine and Patches on old clothing instead of new Raiment
Luke 5:35-37New International Version (NIV)
35 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast.”
36 He told them this parable: “No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined.
It is not just the Judaism, it is everything to do with their traditions just like now. People are just like the Jews now. Look at them.
We most certainly need our religions and central authorities so we can continue to do good and have the Grace from God that gives us Hope, and Charity which is how we show love to our neighbors so we can once again learn how to live together.
It certainly isn’t going to be by some secular moralizing paradise where everyone is nice to each other all the time as there is no growth in that whatsoever.
As I keep telling everyone on here. The Universe is a Paradox – it is divine in the fact that somehow it holds together but should fly apart, just as our own bodies should so of course Jesus brought us a sword to learn how to divide ourselves cleanly so we could put ourselves back in order.
Thanks for the link, Bob Eckert.
Oh yes we can make other people do our bidding when we are Thetan Clear. That is our objective………
For their small size and short history, Scientology actually has a quite impressive corpse count:
https://theyshouldnothavedied.wordpress.com/
For a “where are they now” update on the scientologists shown singing in the original scientology “We Stand Tall” video, see post #434 at this link https://whyweprotest.net/threads/prepare-for-massive-lulz.89922/page-11#post-1789699
The updates on each person are as of 2011. Most are imprisoned in the hole, two escaped the cult, and then there’s Shelly Miscavige, who was “disappeared.” What kind of church has its own prison camp and “disappears” its members?
Check out the relationship between the fraudster-founder of Earthlink and Scientologists. I was an executive at a software co. in California that was run by Scientologists – one person there “made” 10-12 million dollars from an investment in Earthlink.
Pogo,
You changed what I wrote. Oh well. Let’s talk about childish claims, reason, and evidence.
Can you really get more childish than claims made by fundamentalist Christians? For example:
-zombies are real;
-witches are real;
-the One True God has male genitalia (Why? He apparently didn’t need any when he impregnated someone else’s betrothed.);
-virgin’s can have babies if a ghost comes upon them;
-the earth was created in five days and the rest of the universe was created in one (the firmament);
-sea level rose thirty thousand feet then returned (Where did all that water come from? Where did it all go?);
-the universe is six thousand years old;
-dinosaurs and humans lived at the same time (kinda like the Flintstones);
-the sun “stopped” in the sky so the Israelites would have more time to massacre the non-Chosen;
-a human can live in a whale;
-God became a man (fathered by himself) in order to be killed so that God could repay mankind’s debt to himself (you’d think an all powerful, all knowing God would have at least a basic understanding of double-entry bookkeeping); and on and on ad absurdum?
Sure, “throughout history” many intelligent people have taken the side of faith, but we don’t live in the Bronze Age, and we don’t live in the Dark Ages. We have much more information at our disposable than St. Augustine ever had and far more than the authors of the Bible. We also live in a time where people are not threatened, jailed, tortured or killed for pointing out such obvious nonsense.
People have not always had that luxury.
Pogo, Your 6:06p comment shows wisdom. The San Diego newspaper had a superb 2 section special on the brain on 4/3/15 and wisdom was one of the topics. The paper covers medicine and health as good as any paper I have found, w/ Scripps Health being the conduit. The wisdom piece was one of the most fascinating pieces of many of these articles they did. Some of the other articles were about brain injury, Parkinson’s, autism, neurons, the senses[one of my favorite articles], and MUCH more.
Pogo
Many, perhaps most, of the most revered scholastics, thinkers, philosophers, scientists, etc throughout modern history have either believed in a supreme power, something their branch of study could not explain. Almost all of them kept this out of their field of study and were devotees of scholasticism.
My remarks/attacks if you will concerning religion has always been meant to focus on when it invades the world of the scholastics, without whom we would not have made it this far. People should be free to believe whatever they wish. As long as it is not forced on those that wish to remain free of it. Tennessee is taking that first step. I have faith in the structures that defend America’s freedoms, those written and common sense.
I keed, I keed.
We can debate this ‘who’s smarterer’ till dawn.
There are very intelligent people throughout history on both sides.
It’s pointless and wholly erroneous to claim that atheists only follow reason and evidence (see: Mao, Pol Pot, Stalin), nor that the religious reject reason and evidence.
It’s a childish claim.
Atheism is more circle jerk than abstinence.
http://youtu.be/YCQjimrAOdc
Well at least the Pentecostals have a slightly better song. Very emotive!
“You know not including gods, aliens, water walkers, ponies to heaven, talking burning bushes, etc.”
And not dark matter, quarks, global warming, microaggressions, transgenders, feminism, or the government spending multiplier effect.
@anon
The song on your link didn’t sound too bad, sooo I was thinking WTF??? Then i paged on down and The Scientology song was further on down the page you linked. Here it is on youtube, and it really sucks, IMHO.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyNh1j3dsp8#t=134
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter