Windy Sydney

Many claim that the Mormon Church isn't a cult, and then in the same breath they laugh at those crazy Scientologists... it kills me every freaking time.

Anyway, I came across this article about 16 victims of the Church of Scientology, and I will share a few of them. For the rest of the victims, please go here...

Patrice Vic

Patrice Vic was a 31 year old Parisian family man with a wife and two children. He was relatively happy, until he took a Scientologist's questionnaire, and was subsequently convinced that with the Church's help, he could be even happier.

That step only cost him 3,000 francs.

He became obsessed, and distant. His wife even tried to save their marriage by going with him, and subjecting herself to an "audit," which made her so uncomfortable that she halted the process and left.

On the advice of the Church supervisor present, Mr. Vic stopped speaking to his wife altogether, and became more detached than ever. He started taking vitamins, supplied by the church, and underwent regular counseling at the local Church center, spending more and more of his dwindling funds as he went.

Finally, late one evening while in bed next to his silent wife, Patrice Vic got up and said quite simply "this is the only solution." He took a running dive over their 12th story balcony to the street below. As it turns out, Mr. Vic was unable to either find the money, or secure the loans necessary to pay for the 30,000 franc "inner purification" procedure he was assured would fix his broken life.

Raul Lopez

When Raul Lopez was critically injured in a head-on collision in 1985, doctors told him he was lucky to even be alive. The irreparable brain-trauma that was slowly killing Mr. Lopez was also impairing and degrading his mental faculties over time, but he still had most of the multi-million dollar settlement resulting from the wreck that nearly killed him.

Then he found the Church of Scientology. The CoS told him that they could succeed where modern medicine had failed, and heal Mr. Lopez.

By the time Mr. Lopez realized he had been duped, and fired his Scientologist lawyer/conservator, he had given the Church 1.3 million.

The CoS maintains that there was never any wrongdoing, since the mentally-impaired Lopez had willfully participated.

Roxanne Friend

Roxanne Friend, a former Scientologist, described her experience at the Church's "Flag" facility in depositions for a law suit she filed against the Church in 1999.

Ms. Friend had been "forced" to participate in practices of which she did not want to be a part. When she attempted to leave the facility she was stopped and not allowed to leave. She was held there for several months, and denied proper treatment for both Mono and Pneumonia. She was not allowed to see her father when he travelled to see her, nor was she allowed to attend a wedding, at which she was slated to be Maid of Honor.

A year later, she tried to re-enter the Church in Florida, and was forced back into the initial procedure she refused in California. When she tried to leave at that point, she was taken, placed under guard, monitored, cut off from communication outside, and finally drugged only to be transported to another location where she was held for over a month.

Quentin Hubbard

L. Ron Hubbard's son, Quentin, was 22 years old when he died in 1976. Sources who later left the organization have stated that Quentin was "an embarrassment" to Hubbard. In fact, upon hearing of his son's apparent suicide, Hubbard's only expressed concern was over the publicity problems the event was sure to cause.

Quentin was found on the side of road, in his car, with a hose piping exhaust fumes into the cabin. He was unkempt, unshaven, sitting next to an empty bottle of liquor, missing his wallet, and with needle-tracks in his arms. The license plate was missing from his car.

Quentin Hubbard was well-known among his friends for being meticulous about his appearance, and always clean shaven. His friends also noted that he did not drink or use drugs of any kind.

Jeremy Perkins

On March 13th, 2003, which also happens to be L. Ron Hubbard's birthday, Jeremy Perkins stabbed his mother 77 times with a 12 inch kitchen knife. He did not want to take the vitamins that the Church had given him, nor did he want to take a shower, both of which his mother, also a Scientologist, had tried coaxing him into doing.

Professionals believed that, had Jeremy been on proper medication, under actual medical care, his mother would still be alive today and he would be functional. Jeremy was fully delusional and believed at the time that his mother was not only trying to make him worse with the vitamins, but that she had an "evil eye." Jeremy stood alone in court, a murderer.

This is what happens when you believe everything people tell you.

Seeking out the opposite point of view is not only healthy, it's smart.