Episode 76: Professor Aharon Friedman
February 8 Episode 76: Professor Aharon Friedman
Former scientologist Aharon Friedman is a professor of Physics and Electrical Engineering and serves on the Board of the Israeli Center for Cults’ Victims. Unlike L. Ron Hubbard, he really IS a nuclear physicist. We talk about his experiences in scientology, what drove him to escape and his work helping victims of cults today.
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Man's Search for Meaning
Viktor Frankl’s brilliant book about his time in Nazi concentration camps and what he learned from his experiences
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The Dissemination Drill
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Marriage Hats
Marriage Hats by Mary Sue Hubbard
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What is the Ideal Org Program?
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Debbie Cook Email
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Debbie Cook Courtroom testimony
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All About Radiation
Written by a “Nuclear Physicist” (L. Ron Hubbard).
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The Purification Program Debunked
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Israeli Center for Cult Victims
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The Aftermath Foundation
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9 Comments
Hi Mike and Leah,
It would have been great had Mr. Friedman – as a nuclear physicist – been given time to debunk some of the claims of Scientology that are based on physics, energy, waves and the sorts – according to LRH.
LRH made a lot of claims on how thoughts and thought-patterns are like electrical currents, how ALL mass is just condensed energy, etc.
It would have been great had mr. Friendman used his profession to comment on this…
Regards!
Dear Leah and Mike,
I live across the street from the Scientology building in the city centre of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
The building is massive. They bought it for 5 million euros (5.7 million dollars) in 2017.
Since the opening I’ve hardly ever seen any kind of activity in or around the building, it seems abandoned. Nobody knows what’s going on there.
I did once stood on the side of the building, taking photographs, and 2 people came out and summed me to leave ( the public street where I live, in downtown Amsterdam, mind you..)
Why does scientology keep these seemingly empty locations around while they don’t bring them anything? Is that an ego thing?
( This is an article about the opening in 2017, it’s in dutch, but you can Google translate it or I’ll translate it for you
https://www.ad.nl/amsterdam/scientology-opent-nieuw-hoofdkwartier-in-de-wibautstraat~a54beaba/ )
I saw that no one replied, so i thought i would.
Scientology has paid no US income tax since 1993. Since it owed millions of taxes before then that were never paid, it now has billions of dollars.
In order to maintain tax-free nonprofit status in the US, you have spend the “donations” to further your nonprofit “mission”. You’re not allowed to hoard money, because everyone who donated gets to deduct the donations on their own tax returns, and you don’t pay tax either.
Usually that would mean helping people, building affordable housing, or providing relief, like other nonprofits do, but since Scientology doesn’t actually do anything but administer phony “tech” to its victims and extract money from them, Miscavige launched the “Ideal Org program”, which has seen them buy huge buildings all over the world and renovate them, claiming they further its mission.
In reality, their parishioners have dwindled everywhere, thanks to the Internet and activists like Mike and Leah. So, those buildings sit empty, and Miscavige uses the buildings to dupe his remaining followers that Scientology is, in fact, expanding, which is a lie.
Hi mike and leah
Why dosent david miscavage buy a private island like some celebrities do and just keep his “followers” trapped there instead of gold base where people can escape
This was a great segment, I loved his perspective. I have a question. If Scientology was to collapse ehat would happen to all of their money and properties?
Hey Mike and Leah!
I’ve been a follower of your podcast and the Aftermath show, and I just recently went back and listened to Episode 0 where Leah and you mention that Scientology took out a PPP loan. Not sure how they were able to do that but I know that the Department on Labor and the Secret Service investigators have been going after all the fraudulent loan applications who received money. I hope it’s not too late, but these agencies could be someone to speak to if you haven’t already.
I love and admire what you both continue to do to help those we can’t always see.
I’m curious about Leah’s daughter was involved in Scientology?
Wondering if you have heard of the Apple TV show Severance, there are so many connections I can see to Scientology in the inner workings of the company Lumon in the show. In my interpretation, equivalents to Sea Org, auditing, brainwashed (in a different way) to make it almost impossible to leave, something like The Hole, glorification of the founder/leader. I suggest watching it! I’d love to hear what you think!
Would love to know in more detail about “life inside the hole” from Mike. Specifically, how many people were kept in there at any one time? Was it like a big dorm, with kitchen and bunkbeds or something? Did folks come and go for auditing, or were you there 24/7? What did it look like inside? Was it like a prison cell?