Brutal world of British Scientology: Former devotee says he was made to sign a billion-year contract by London church
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A Church of Scientology whistleblower has gone public on what he describes as relentless abuse inflicted in the UK by the ‘religious’ movement backed by high-profile Hollywood stars.
Alex Barnes-Ross, 29, told MailOnline of being mistreated by the organisation founded by sci-fi writer L. Ron Hubbard and which has two bases in London as well as a main British HQ in East Grinstead, West Sussex.
After serving as a Scientology book sales director and signing up for one of the church’s ‘1billion-year contracts’, he is now outspokenly campaigning against the practices of the group to which he was previously devoted.
And he shared details about life, not only as a member but also as an employee, of the organisation which was first set up in the United States in 1952 and boasts high- profile members including Tom Cruise and John Travolta.
He describes how aspiring leaders were put under pressure to work 18-hour days across seven-day weeks – and put on menial ‘hard labour’, such as hauling huge boxes or scrubbing walls with a tiny sponge, while rationed to sparse meals of rice and beans if they were deemed to be underperforming.
And he told how many fellow members were suffering in silence, afraid to speak out about their ordeals for fear of being punished as well as isolated from friends and family.
The movement has rejected allegations made by Mr Ross-Barnes, who now works as a marketing director and lives in east London, and accused him of pursuing a campaign of harassment.
Mr Barnes-Ross, who has 1.15million views and 10,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, says he himself is the victim of abusive comments from social media accounts linked to and supporting the Church of Scientology – including taunts such as ‘weirdo paedophile’ and ‘rabid anti-religious bigot’.
He described receiving at least 6,000 abusive messages in the past six months, with more following an interview he gave to the Observer published on Sunday.
He has now told MailOnline: ‘Their continued attacks against anybody who criticises them is the total opposite of what we would expect of any other “church”.
‘Where is the accountability? Where is the kindness and compassion for those who have survived horrific abuse within their organisation?’
Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices set out by Hubbard, including claims that Earth was populated 75million years ago by billions of extra-terrestrials led by Xenu, a ruler of a ‘Galactic Confederacy’.
Xenu is said to have then annihilated every living soul on Earth – or ‘Teegeeack’, as the planet was then known – by dropping them into volcanoes before blowing them up with hydrogen bombs.
Their spirits are described as adhering to humans and to be the source of many of our problems.
Scientology’s accusers say the purported faith – whose famous followers include A-list actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta – is a profit-hungry business rather than a religion, charging large sums to members for ‘self-improvement’ courses.
The church has faced accusations of exploitation and abuse from former members, as well as ‘brainwashing’ and carrying out intensive psychological ‘drills’, although it has always denied all such allegations – arguing that it is unfairly misrepresented and maligned.
Content retrieved from: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14530087/Brutal-world-British-Scientology-Former-devotee-church-claims.html.
