…who learked the story of Xenu and the Operatong Thetans to the world? Or is this even a matter of public knowledge?
Also, while I have learned that it was in 2009 that the Church admitted that the story is official Church doctrine I can’t shake the idea that it was around for them to issue denials of that for several years at least. When was it first leaked?
The South Park episode “Trapped in the Closet” first aired in November, 2005. In it, Stan briefly becomes a Scientologist, and is then believed to be the second coming of L. Ron Hubbard. There’s a scene in the episode in which Parker and Stone depict the whole Xenu / spaceships / Thetans story, with a caption at the bottom of the screen saying, “This is what Scientologists actually believe.”
It was one of the first times that I saw that information related in the media, but I also wasn’t paying close attention, so there probably was an earlier revelation.
They first appeared on the web in November 1996.
In 1972, a book was written, that shared much of the story: Xenu - Wikipedia
Although I recall seeing ads for Dianetics! on T.V. at that time, I didn’t think much of it – it seemed to my child mind to be one of many “grown-up” self help books. And I tended to group grown-ups as “perfect and in control” or “kids who got old.” I don’t think that 1972 debunking book was that important.
I really think the Wikipedia article has it right – the Usenet newsgroup alt.religion.scientology really spread the concept around.
Is it really more implausible than Moses and the Burning Bush or Buddha under the Bodai Tree?
Kyle: Yes. Yes it is less plausible.
Stuf about Xenu and Scientology doctrine “leaked” long before 1996. You can find them in books about Scientology published much earlier. I certainly knew about them by the 1980s. I’ll have to check my records to see when it all first appeared, but look for Paulette Cooper’s Scandal of Scientology (1971), Russell Miller’s Bare-Faced Messiah (1987), Bent Corydon’s L. Ron Hubbard, Messiah or Madman? (1987)*, and the interview with Ron deWolf (L. Ron’s son) in Penthouse in 1983.
Wikipedia has this to say:
*Guess which one he thinks is the correct answer.
I would criticize this statement, but in a way, you are quite right. I bet many, many people learned the truth about Scientology from that episode. I think the “this is what Scientologists actually believe” caption on the bottom of the screen stunned a significant amount of people. It was both hilarious and true.
That’s certainly what I remember, though I am not surprised to learn it came out earlier in books/articles. I definitely know that by 1997-98, it was pretty easy to look up on the internet and read about Xenu, etc.
I’d also like to know who leaked out the info. originally.
Hey, is this new footage of David Miscavige?
I barely think of Scientology anymore, but I did a quick search and it looks like he/they have a new video with him in it.
I love this line, “I’m sure you’ve heard of Scientology. But no matter what you’ve heard…if you haven’t heard it from us, I assure you…we are not what you think.”
Yes…I’m sure. Your “openness” really sells that. :rolleyes:
Indeed. I’d known of Scientology since I was in college in the 1980s (and I remember seeing ads for “Dianetics” earlier still), but I’d never really looked closely at it (and never cared to); what I’d read at that time had already led me to believe that they were somewhere between crackpots and fraudsters, even if I didn’t know the whole Xenu bit.
I remember, probably during the '80s, reading a magazine article that was critical of Scientology, in which they printed a Hubbard quote (probably from the 1940s or 1950s) where he said something about “the best way to a fortune would be to create a religion” – a quote which didn’t predate the founding of Scientology by very long, IIRC.
Hey, I just noticed that the Straight Dope has been “Fighting Ignorance Since 1973” – seems like early 1970’s was when the fight got started on a number of fronts.
IIRC, my first exposure to Scientology was the 1991 Time cover story (which was when I was in high school.) I see that Xenu and the Thetans (mumblemumble band name mumblemumble) is barely mentioned in that.
Still, a notable national source that specifically mentions Xenu. Despite the volcano on the cover, the Time article does not mention Xenu dropping “thetans” or whatever into volcanos?
The full text is in my second link. I didn’t reread the whole thing, just did a search. The two terms are in the article only once:
Arnie Lerma killed himself* a little over 2 weeks ago. He was I think the first to post Xenu stuff to Usenet.
*For real, not a mysterious assassination, he shot and injured his wife first.
Weirdly, while the link to the cover says, “May 6, 1991,” the link you provided to the actual story says, “Sunday, June 24, 2001.” It looks like that may be a different story from the cover article story (unless Time has mislabeled the story on their web page, which is possible, since the story gives Miscavige’s age as 31, and he’s now 57).
It also lists John Travolta as 37. That is the 1991 article. 2001 might be the date that it was added to the web site.
Here’s a story with more information, which does include a graphic picture of his wife at the bottom. It sounds like he suffered from paranoia and chronic pain for many years.
Is there any doctrine on how Hubbard found out about the Xenu story? I mean, Moses had his burning bush, Mohammad had his social call from Gabriel, Joe Smith had his golden plates. All of these situations represented opportunities for information to be passed along to humanity that really needed intervention from a non-mundane source to happen. That strikes me as the only thing they have in common with the Xenu incident (I mean, other than the extreme unlikelihood of them having happened).
Did Arnie appear on Leah Remini’s show? She’s interviewed a lot of former Scientologists.
Can’t recall if Arnie or his wife appeared.
Scientology stalks outspoken former members. I can understand how Arnie’s paranoia got out of control.
I don’t see him listed in the “cast list” for the show on IMDB, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he didn’t appear.
That Night Train’s a mean wine.