Table Of Content
"The one thing stopping me was the image of my mother's face when she would hear the news of my death." She eventually left the church some five years later. The Church of Scientology website describes the Freewinds as a floating "religious retreat ministering the most advanced level of spiritual counseling in the Scientology religion." The Freewinds is a private ship, and guests come aboard by invitation only. Scientologists have brought their non-believing friends and family aboard with the church’s approval—Penelope Cruz was on the ship with Tom Cruise—but the church tries to sell them services and seeks donations from them once on the ship. Getting to Operating Thetan Level VIII is neither fast nor cheap.
MEET A SCIENTOLOGIST
Every night I had to write a report of what I’d done during the day. I asked her if there were any other people on the ship at that time who were being held there against their will. She said that there were three people who were under guard in an experimental RPF program. Years later, Ramana told her mother about the heavy recruitment that had happened on the ship. I’ve since spoken to her about it, and she broke into tears. She said if she had any idea, she wouldn’t have let them do that to me.
THE FREEWINDSSCIENTOLOGY’S RELIGIOUS RETREAT AT SEA
Along with studying Scientology materials, she wrote in an op-ed for ABC News that she had to do hard labor in the ship's engine room. Don Jason, who was once second in command of the Flag Service Organization, planned to leave the church in 1996, but agreed to a counseling program and manual labor on the Freewinds, according to the Tampa Bay Times. After multiple requests to leave were denied, Jason said he devised a plan and escaped by using a rolling pin to zip line down the ship's cable and onto the dock. Despite multiple attempts by the Church to block his leaving, he was able to make it safely to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Presented with the opportunity, it's not clear if anybody would take it, even if they wanted to. Whether people would accept the offer isn't the point of asking the question, though, according to Mike Rinder, a former Church of Scientology senior executive, who works with Remini on the show.
Woman Claims Scientology ‘Freewinds’ Cruise Ship Was Like a Prison
As is common practice in other Scientology organizations, the ship also has an "LRH Office" symbolically set aside for L. Ron Hubbard's use (Hubbard died in January 1986, approximately nine months before the vessel was purchased). Valeska says she was told she would be on the ship for a couple of weeks.
Ships and land bases
However, the church emphasizes the “harmful effects of drugs, toxins and other chemicals that lodge in the body and create a biochemical barrier to spiritual well-being,” according to its website. Some prominent opponents of mandatory vaccinations, including Kirstie Alley and Jenna Elfman, are also Scientologists. The ship is permitted to leave the port if it chooses to, Merlene Fredericks-James, St. Lucia’s chief medical officer, said in a statement. Neither the passengers nor the ship’s crew are permitted to disembark, officials say. St. Lucia learned about the crew member’s condition from a International Health Regulation focal point official in the Dutch Caribbean and then verified the diagnosis through other health agencies, the St. Lucia health department said. Freewinds often hosts local functions in the ports it frequents, such as jazz concerts and movie performances in Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao.
Millennials Are Ready For a Four-Day Week
“The thing that happened before Scientology and after,” says Aaron, “was I was learning tricks a lot easier, things were just coming to me a lot easier, with less effort. I can really do more of what I want to do instead of what people tell me I should do or what people tell me to think. I am confident in who I am, where I am going and who I want to be." A 2021 investigation by The Age and Sydney Morning Herald uncovered some of the most detailed financial information available anywhere in the world on Scientology.
Why Is A Scientology Cruise Ship Quarantined? It Is The Measles
Freewinds is expected to arrive in Curacao—an autonomous oil refining and tourist center belonging to the Netherlands—at around 6 a.m. Island authorities did not immediately respond to Newsweek's request for comment as to whether Freewinds' passengers and crew would be allowed to disembark. The ship left St. Lucia late on Thursday after local health officials sent 100 doses of vaccine to the ship, Reuters reported. Authorities had refused to allow the nearly 300 staff and passengers to disembark. The ship—named Freewinds—had been stuck in port near the capital of Castries for several days.
91% of people on Scientology cruise ship immune from measles and 'free to move' - CNN
91% of people on Scientology cruise ship immune from measles and 'free to move'.
Posted: Sun, 12 May 2019 07:00:00 GMT [source]
She said she became suicidal and eventually ended up doing forced labour at a Scientology site in Australia and had her passport confiscated. Scientology has been accused of running a “penal colony” at a western Sydney site. Ron Hubbard in the 1950s and has long attracted celebrities including Elisabeth Moss, John Travolta and Cruise. Some former adherents have accused it of being a dangerous money-focused cult that regularly tries to destroy the lives of critics. Scientology has been approached for comment about the allegations in the lawsuit but are yet to respond. There is no suggestion Cruise was aware of Baxter’s situation.
Play shuffleboard, hang out in the Starlight Room, achieve Operating Thetan Level VIII, jump in the hot tub …
According to the church, the Freewinds is less a vacation and more of a floating religious retreat center. Some former Scientologists have described it in harsher terms, but more on that later. It is the one place a Scientologist may go and be certain he will be able to devote himself entirely to his religious practice and in the company of people who share his religious commitment and outlook on life in general. Baxter and co-plaintiff Laura Baxter, who are married, were later able to leave Freewinds after they came up with a plan to get pregnant to escape.
Preparatory and onboard counseling each cost between $15,000 and $30,000. Accommodations run about $1,000 per week, including food. In addition, representatives from the International Association of Scientologists ask for donations on top of what guests have already paid. Movement on and off the ship is limited, in large part because guests surrender their passports to church officials when they embark. The Freewinds , a cruise ship belonging to the Church of Scientology, was quarantined this week in the Caribbean with an apparent case of measles. It was allowed to return to Curacao harbor, its home port, on Saturday morning.
You stay in quarantine until you either start showing signs of the disease or are past the time that you could develop and spread the disease. If you do develop the disease, being kept separate is then called isolation rather than quarantine. Freewinds began service as a Church of Scientology religious retreat in 1988. It’s worth noting, though, that some former members have far less positive views of what goes on aboard the Freewinds .
This measles case, Remini said, could be a chance to disembark that, she claimed, some people might welcome. Anybody, even a medical doctor, who could gain access to the ship, would have the opportunity to ask if anyone wanted to leave. The quarantining in St. Lucia of the Freewinds, a ship owned and operated by the Church of Scientology, because of a confirmed measles case, could be a "blessing in disguise," according to actor Leah Remini.
To a Scientologist, boarding the Freewinds for New OT VIII is the pinnacle of a deeply spiritual journey. It is the most significant spiritual accomplishment of his lifetime and brings with it the full realization of his immortality. The Church of Scientology’s cruise ship Freewinds with 300 passengers aboard has been quarantined in port by the Caribbean nation of St. Lucia for measles after a female crew member was diagnosed with the highly contagious, preventable disease. But for the young Ramana, none of the courses on the boat — especially vaunted OT VIII — were within her reach at only 15. A deeper dive into the past reveals a Hollywood Reporter article by Gary Baum that offered the following quote from the Church of Scientology stating that it "takes no position one way or the other on this issue," with "this issue" being vaccination.
On the high seas, Scientologists were pretty much free do what they wanted, and the floating religious retreat centers eventually became an essential part of their practice. “Scientology is just about how to deal with the situations in life and since I have availed myself of this knowledge I'm able to share that,” says Phil. “There's no greater feeling in the universe than to help another person." The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. She alleged the physical and sexual abuse was commonplace in the Cadet Org, and she had to relive her sexual assaults with adult male interrogators and was punished for reporting them.
No comments:
Post a Comment