Thetans at war

摘要

Debra cook was once a doughty defender of Scientology, helping it to contest critics' claims that it is a ruthlessly run moneymaking cult based on bogus science. But on New Year's Eve Ms Cook, who spent more than 17 years in the organisation's leadership, wrote an explosive e-mail to 12,000 members, complaining that its chairman, David Miscavige, is mismanaging its finances and breaking its internal rules. A Scientology spokesman dismissed Ms Cook as a "squirrel" (the organisation's term for a heretic), insisting that she has had no position in the church since 2007, "having left for medical reasons". An ex-Scientologist, Mark Rathbun, says Ms Cook once underwent a gruelling interrogation at an internal disciplinary facility, where she was accused of lesbianism (which Scientology sees as a grave disorder). Among other mistreatment, he says, she "was made to stand in a large garbage can and face one hundred people streaming at her demanding a confession".