Yes, the merging of social advocacy with celebrity culture and media careers has been a disaster. There's always an incentive danger with professionalizing this field because when people's careers depend on a problem continuing to exist, there's an obvious conflict of interest. But by fusing celebrity and media with social advocacy, the worst types of narcissists and their supporters have become too dominant. The same problem is also seen in social "anti-advocacy," with the anti-woke crowd being led by Hollywood failures (Rufo, Shapiro, Walsh) and everyone fighting to carve out their own territory in the media landscape.
This is a great article and brings a lot of clarity to the SPTV movement. I was In Scientology for 35 years and I have written 3 books on the subject, telling my story and also deconstructing Scientology’s control mechanisms. I have appeared on may of the SPTV channels as a guest but have tried to stay out of the fray, which I consider counterproductive at best. I appreciate your take on the SPTV evolution and I think all involved with SPTV should read it.
I am working on something similar, but with a slightly different focus. Great article, covers ground I am not going over as I was never a "fan" of the SPTV community.
If you check my substack (not much on there, I have a blog on my own website and I just get kinda lazy and forget to crosspost lol) you'll find an article about Smith-Levin from March of 2023 which got me largely exiled from the anti-scientology community. I was even accused of being an agent of the Operation Of Special Affairs. Thankfully, members of Aftermath have come around and we've actually become friendly since the events of late November.
This has been sad. Somewhere along the line, Rinder has been determined by the SPTV community to have been a war criminal in hiding who should have been sentenced and executed long ago. I admit to finding it convenient that he becomes a target for his generation ago bad acts right after he and the board at AMF removed Aaron Smith-Levin for his constantly embarrassing behavior while representing the movement. A-Aron is the wanna be Joe Rogan of the SPTV world.
Excellent article. I have a rare position. I have 50 years of experience as a composer working in the field of marketing. And until I left Scientology in 2012 I was effectively supporting the cult through their marketing arm. I have first hand experience with how propaganda and media personalities work.
I’ve worked with many celebrities. I understand manipulation as opposed to truth. Monia hits the nail on the head in a very objective dissertation. I hope that the distraction of click hungry social media celebrities is mitigated in favor of cooperation to continue to expose Scientology’s abuses and fraudulent activities.
This article, while well written and clearly long thought out leaves me feeling honestly flabbergasted.
#1 understood about the nature of Discord, that you as a participant are meant to scroll through all the thread to find out the story so it doesn’t have to be “repeated” causing problems. And “new people demanding answers” are not appreciated. However, the content of the conversations even with out those apparent slights to their sensibility are grotesque at best. Calling for the delight in destruction of all Second Gen’s, mocking content they have t even watched. Creating their own factions of loyalty etc, it’s exactly what you are describing of the “Drama channels” outside of it.
While you admit that “no executive has clean hands” but then brush that off by saying that public accountability will never happen, seems to excuse the actual trauma caused by the people involved.
Since I am assuming, and correct me if I am wrong, that you never suffered at the hands of Scientology or any single one of these former executives you are basing your own conclusions on only their public behavior to the YT and television audience? How then, without the knowledge or experience of having lived through any of that, or continuing to experience the tactics of Scientology being played out on you in this public arena by those supposed “Ex” executives could you make that conclusion? Especially without talking to anyone on this perceived “other side” you are referencing?
Be happy that you have never been on the receiving end of a Sea Org reprimand. And keep the rainbow thoughts about Mike Rinder close to your heart. Because this fight is about making sure that the PERPETRATORS of the crimes face justice.
Scientology is an organization. It’s a name on a building. The people inside doing these actions, DIRECTING the crimes are the ones that need to be held accountable for those ACTIONS. Some people hanging OUTSIDE those buildings talking about crimes that “Scientology” did don’t want any of us to remember that THEY were the PEOPLE who did those crimes, not a group, not a building.
This sounds a lot like gatekeeping, telling protesters and activists that they're not doing it right. Protest and activism can take many different forms, and we get nowhere when we police how others take action. It also stinks of Martin Luther King's 'beware the white moderate'. Look it up.
So much of this is out of context and just wrong. For such a long article it certainly is extremely one-sided. I follow so many streamers for SPTV, maybe 30 at this point? Not one of them has said they do not like Mike Rinder or encouraged their viewers to take him to task. All of them have said the opposite—they do NOT hate him, they wish him well, but they are disappointed in several recent choices that he made. All of them have said some variation of this. As far as “drama channels” right now I can think of three. I don’t subscribe to them but my feed gets snippets and I scroll right past them. The funny thing is that these three drama content creators actually criticize ALL of the SPTV content creators—-ALL of them. They are NOT a part of any SPTV community they are simply trolls, period. If you can find a cause or a community or a group online that is without any trolls I’d call that a miracle. The most egregious thing about your article however is that it’s so condescending, reductive, and insulting to the MANY people that really do care about making scientology a thing of the past. The creators I watch have generated such a welcome and inclusive community that has inspired me to do even better as a person myself. I don’t know which SPTV faction you’ve been watching because what you described is nowhere near the truth. The sad thing is I suspect you’re writing this after scrolling through video titles without watching months and days and hours of actual content like thousands of us have been doing. You wouldn’t have come to this conclusion if you had actually watched and LISTENED, which Mike Rinder also refuses to do.
Would you not want answers and explanations if you were as severely treated like the ex gen’s. Would you? If you say no you are lying. You have no idea what these ex gen’s went thru but yet you are going to criticize them because they want answers. Obviously you are up Mikes a—. They all should have confronted Mike way before now but Mike can thank Aaron because they didn’t because of Aaron. They just want to be left alone and for Mike and the others to stop the drama they cause. I can tell you are not any kind of honest journalist nor am I, because your word salad comment was heavily one sided. Pretty disgusting to bash ex Gen’s who are victims with PTSD. None of them talk about any of them. Get it clear.
They all deserve answers, accountability, compassion, respect and love. Has Mike Marc Claire Amy Mat provided any of that?
F-ck NO. I could go on and on about the abuses Mike Clair Amy Marc have committed and you are going to act like they are innocent angels. Give me f ing break. Marilyn Honig and Serges husband Michael were not in the cult however have suffered dealing with all these horrendous crimes as has other husbands and wives and family. The aftermath foundation was paying for Liz Ferris to receive therapy but that has stopped now because she’s friends with Aaron. WTF is that about? So yes as an adult Mike was beaten and locked up in RPF which is horrendous however we are talking about kids that were so severely abused and some of their parents left them in the hands of OSA-Mike. Everyone has made mistakes including Mike Claire and Marc, Amy Mat however we all opened our arms to them because we either didn’t believe everything what was said about them or forgave them. Keep in mind a lot of negative stuff was said about Mike Claire and Marc and Amy and Mat when they escaped the cult. Now they bash all the names I listed above for being friends with Aaron. Some of these people have praised them but still get bashed in by Marc Claire Mike and Amy and Mat Amy’s husband said Aaron was just like Dave Miscavige. How dare he compare Aaron to that monster. Well they are all like OSA.
Aaron also attended the Danny Masterson trial everyday to give the Jane Does support and to support Claire who testified. Now they have 3 married couples on the board so Mike can have control over everything. Aaron raised 20,000 dollars from his followers for Mikes cancer treatment. Oh it’s embarrassing to raise money for Mikes cancer treatment. I donated as well and have no regrets. I cried when Mike was sick even though I did not know him. I also adored Clair and Marc. How I was fooled. But turning on Aaron and the other ex-Gens who I adore more than they know is egregious and unacceptable. It’s mind blowing to see that what they all have done to try to get rid of this cult and none of that mattered to Mike and HIS board. You do not treat your friends like that. I also have to say this Mike Marc and Claire had serious embarrassing allegations against them when they left the cult. Did that bother me? No because I believed the allegations weren’t true or they escaped and are doing the right thing now. Do you even know what Mikes ex wife and kids has said about him? Oh that wasn’t embarrassing? Maybe you do some research. I now believe Mikes ex wife and kids.
Yes, the merging of social advocacy with celebrity culture and media careers has been a disaster. There's always an incentive danger with professionalizing this field because when people's careers depend on a problem continuing to exist, there's an obvious conflict of interest. But by fusing celebrity and media with social advocacy, the worst types of narcissists and their supporters have become too dominant. The same problem is also seen in social "anti-advocacy," with the anti-woke crowd being led by Hollywood failures (Rufo, Shapiro, Walsh) and everyone fighting to carve out their own territory in the media landscape.
This is a great article and brings a lot of clarity to the SPTV movement. I was In Scientology for 35 years and I have written 3 books on the subject, telling my story and also deconstructing Scientology’s control mechanisms. I have appeared on may of the SPTV channels as a guest but have tried to stay out of the fray, which I consider counterproductive at best. I appreciate your take on the SPTV evolution and I think all involved with SPTV should read it.
I am working on something similar, but with a slightly different focus. Great article, covers ground I am not going over as I was never a "fan" of the SPTV community.
If you check my substack (not much on there, I have a blog on my own website and I just get kinda lazy and forget to crosspost lol) you'll find an article about Smith-Levin from March of 2023 which got me largely exiled from the anti-scientology community. I was even accused of being an agent of the Operation Of Special Affairs. Thankfully, members of Aftermath have come around and we've actually become friendly since the events of late November.
Feel free to reach out!
Great article
This has been sad. Somewhere along the line, Rinder has been determined by the SPTV community to have been a war criminal in hiding who should have been sentenced and executed long ago. I admit to finding it convenient that he becomes a target for his generation ago bad acts right after he and the board at AMF removed Aaron Smith-Levin for his constantly embarrassing behavior while representing the movement. A-Aron is the wanna be Joe Rogan of the SPTV world.
Excellent article. I have a rare position. I have 50 years of experience as a composer working in the field of marketing. And until I left Scientology in 2012 I was effectively supporting the cult through their marketing arm. I have first hand experience with how propaganda and media personalities work.
I’ve worked with many celebrities. I understand manipulation as opposed to truth. Monia hits the nail on the head in a very objective dissertation. I hope that the distraction of click hungry social media celebrities is mitigated in favor of cooperation to continue to expose Scientology’s abuses and fraudulent activities.
Thanks for this!
Excellent!
Brilliant
I am trying think of where to begin here.
This article, while well written and clearly long thought out leaves me feeling honestly flabbergasted.
#1 understood about the nature of Discord, that you as a participant are meant to scroll through all the thread to find out the story so it doesn’t have to be “repeated” causing problems. And “new people demanding answers” are not appreciated. However, the content of the conversations even with out those apparent slights to their sensibility are grotesque at best. Calling for the delight in destruction of all Second Gen’s, mocking content they have t even watched. Creating their own factions of loyalty etc, it’s exactly what you are describing of the “Drama channels” outside of it.
While you admit that “no executive has clean hands” but then brush that off by saying that public accountability will never happen, seems to excuse the actual trauma caused by the people involved.
Since I am assuming, and correct me if I am wrong, that you never suffered at the hands of Scientology or any single one of these former executives you are basing your own conclusions on only their public behavior to the YT and television audience? How then, without the knowledge or experience of having lived through any of that, or continuing to experience the tactics of Scientology being played out on you in this public arena by those supposed “Ex” executives could you make that conclusion? Especially without talking to anyone on this perceived “other side” you are referencing?
Be happy that you have never been on the receiving end of a Sea Org reprimand. And keep the rainbow thoughts about Mike Rinder close to your heart. Because this fight is about making sure that the PERPETRATORS of the crimes face justice.
Scientology is an organization. It’s a name on a building. The people inside doing these actions, DIRECTING the crimes are the ones that need to be held accountable for those ACTIONS. Some people hanging OUTSIDE those buildings talking about crimes that “Scientology” did don’t want any of us to remember that THEY were the PEOPLE who did those crimes, not a group, not a building.
That’s what we’re talking about.
I really hope Mike, Claire, Marc, Amy and Mat are able to reconcile with Aaron. Chris as well!!
A lot of viewers would really like to see that, and division only helps OSA.
“Reunion shows” or “unity chats” content would also IMO be a great way to increase views and subs.
This sounds a lot like gatekeeping, telling protesters and activists that they're not doing it right. Protest and activism can take many different forms, and we get nowhere when we police how others take action. It also stinks of Martin Luther King's 'beware the white moderate'. Look it up.
So much of this is out of context and just wrong. For such a long article it certainly is extremely one-sided. I follow so many streamers for SPTV, maybe 30 at this point? Not one of them has said they do not like Mike Rinder or encouraged their viewers to take him to task. All of them have said the opposite—they do NOT hate him, they wish him well, but they are disappointed in several recent choices that he made. All of them have said some variation of this. As far as “drama channels” right now I can think of three. I don’t subscribe to them but my feed gets snippets and I scroll right past them. The funny thing is that these three drama content creators actually criticize ALL of the SPTV content creators—-ALL of them. They are NOT a part of any SPTV community they are simply trolls, period. If you can find a cause or a community or a group online that is without any trolls I’d call that a miracle. The most egregious thing about your article however is that it’s so condescending, reductive, and insulting to the MANY people that really do care about making scientology a thing of the past. The creators I watch have generated such a welcome and inclusive community that has inspired me to do even better as a person myself. I don’t know which SPTV faction you’ve been watching because what you described is nowhere near the truth. The sad thing is I suspect you’re writing this after scrolling through video titles without watching months and days and hours of actual content like thousands of us have been doing. You wouldn’t have come to this conclusion if you had actually watched and LISTENED, which Mike Rinder also refuses to do.
Another thing Monia Ali
Would you not want answers and explanations if you were as severely treated like the ex gen’s. Would you? If you say no you are lying. You have no idea what these ex gen’s went thru but yet you are going to criticize them because they want answers. Obviously you are up Mikes a—. They all should have confronted Mike way before now but Mike can thank Aaron because they didn’t because of Aaron. They just want to be left alone and for Mike and the others to stop the drama they cause. I can tell you are not any kind of honest journalist nor am I, because your word salad comment was heavily one sided. Pretty disgusting to bash ex Gen’s who are victims with PTSD. None of them talk about any of them. Get it clear.
Page 5
They all deserve answers, accountability, compassion, respect and love. Has Mike Marc Claire Amy Mat provided any of that?
F-ck NO. I could go on and on about the abuses Mike Clair Amy Marc have committed and you are going to act like they are innocent angels. Give me f ing break. Marilyn Honig and Serges husband Michael were not in the cult however have suffered dealing with all these horrendous crimes as has other husbands and wives and family. The aftermath foundation was paying for Liz Ferris to receive therapy but that has stopped now because she’s friends with Aaron. WTF is that about? So yes as an adult Mike was beaten and locked up in RPF which is horrendous however we are talking about kids that were so severely abused and some of their parents left them in the hands of OSA-Mike. Everyone has made mistakes including Mike Claire and Marc, Amy Mat however we all opened our arms to them because we either didn’t believe everything what was said about them or forgave them. Keep in mind a lot of negative stuff was said about Mike Claire and Marc and Amy and Mat when they escaped the cult. Now they bash all the names I listed above for being friends with Aaron. Some of these people have praised them but still get bashed in by Marc Claire Mike and Amy and Mat Amy’s husband said Aaron was just like Dave Miscavige. How dare he compare Aaron to that monster. Well they are all like OSA.
Page 2
Aaron also attended the Danny Masterson trial everyday to give the Jane Does support and to support Claire who testified. Now they have 3 married couples on the board so Mike can have control over everything. Aaron raised 20,000 dollars from his followers for Mikes cancer treatment. Oh it’s embarrassing to raise money for Mikes cancer treatment. I donated as well and have no regrets. I cried when Mike was sick even though I did not know him. I also adored Clair and Marc. How I was fooled. But turning on Aaron and the other ex-Gens who I adore more than they know is egregious and unacceptable. It’s mind blowing to see that what they all have done to try to get rid of this cult and none of that mattered to Mike and HIS board. You do not treat your friends like that. I also have to say this Mike Marc and Claire had serious embarrassing allegations against them when they left the cult. Did that bother me? No because I believed the allegations weren’t true or they escaped and are doing the right thing now. Do you even know what Mikes ex wife and kids has said about him? Oh that wasn’t embarrassing? Maybe you do some research. I now believe Mikes ex wife and kids.