S02.E07: The Ranches

[hilaryvm]

I know they told terrible stories, but did anyone else get the impression that they were maybe glossing over some of the the really bad stuff or weren't telling everything bad that happened?  Clearly Nathan and Tara had terrible experiences at the ranch, and were abused, but I kept feeling like they were dancing around anything truly terrible or maybe weren't telling everything bad that happened to them?  Maybe I'm wrong, but it's just this impression I got.

[MsTree]

11 hours ago, Rlb8031 said:

have to wonder what the hell was up with him and kids generally

If you're suggesting he may have been a pedophile, I wouldn't doubt it in the least. They guy was downright creepy...among other things.

[Whimsy]

4 hours ago, MsTree said:

If you're suggesting he may have been a pedophile, I wouldn't doubt it in the least. They guy was downright creepy...among other things.

Pedophile and/or just really couldn’t stand kids. I’m leaning heavily towards both. He had no use for them as babies, but once they reached whatever age he liked them at...

[Rlb8031]

4 hours ago, Whimsy said:

Pedophile and/or just really couldn’t stand kids. I’m leaning heavily towards both. He had no use for them as babies, but once they reached whatever age he liked them at...

Exactly. Pedophile may be too strong. But there is plenty of evidence that other men of his general age who ran their own cults certainly used them as a way to create situations where they were able to take advantage of members to have easy access to whatever kind of sex they wanted and I just can't imagine he was that different. Surrounding himself with young women and taking away any group morality regarding treating young people differently because of their age or lack of maturity is certainly a start.

[MsTree]

Kind of like the Mormon leader (Warren Jeffs?) who dated and/or married teenage girls. His people (and others) wouldn't call him a pedophile, and yet he had sex with underage girls. Who knows exactly what LRH did with young girls?  He took that to his grave.

[cynicat]

On 10/11/2017 at 8:04 PM, 2727 said:

I don't know why Scientologists even have kids.

I imagine that their inability to deal with children is why they started forcing women to have abortions.  That gets rid of the 'problem' right at the source.

[dcubed]

 I did something I have never done before which is read the comments before I watched the show. I couldn’t really  watch it because I cannot stand to see kids abused. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I enjoy watching adults being abused kids just don’t understand what’s happening and why.   Thanks For sharing what you have. I think I might be able to get through it.

Edited October 16, 2017 by dcubed

[Mom2twoNonna2-3]

Be very careful @dcubed, the tape of Wally and the young boy will bring tears to your eyes and anger in your heart. 

[CaughtOnTape]

I cringed and shut my eyes during the airing of that tape of Wally abusing that kid.  The rage in his voice coupled with the terror in the kid's and OMG...I was just like, please don't play anymore.  It wasn't even me being abused but the terror was palpable.  Holy shit.

[MrSmith]

On 10/10/2017 at 10:11 PM, Mysteris said:

That was pretty brutal. I don't buy for a second that the Church didn't know about the abuses going on in those child-labor camps. I felt so bad for both Nathan and Tara. I mean, these kids were physically, psychologically, and mentally abused for years. Tara got blamed for discovering her father's cheating, and there was mention that one of them was completely divorced from the non-Scientologist side of the family by decree of the Scientologist parent. What broke my heart the most was when Nathan was trying to pick up the pieces of his life after escaping the camp and his bitch of a mother wouldn't even sign the papers so he could try to make a life for himself. I know he felt bad that he cursed her out and she died, but honestly? I think he's better off.

 

Same with Tara. Her family won't speak to her after all they put her through? That's fucking rich. Let them go, and let them choke on that $150,000 they think she owes them for her abuse.

I don't buy it, either. However, let's be the devil's advocate for a bit, shall we? Let's assume the cult of Scientology really didn't know what was going on there. If so, that doesn't reduce their culpability. All it does is reveal their lack of oversight of their facilities and employees. Whether they knew or not, they're still responsible and able to be sued. Sure, they could try and hang it around the necks of those who actually worked at the labor camps ranches. I would fucking love to see that in court! You'd have David Miscarriage Miscavige and his cronies trying to shirk blame and responsibility, while the people who actually worked at the labor camps ranches would be testifying that they weren't doing this stuff in a vacuum. It would be courtroom drama gold!

[Lady Iris]

On ‎10‎/‎15‎/‎2017 at 8:15 AM, cynicat said:

I imagine that their inability to deal with children is why they started forcing women to have abortions.  That gets rid of the 'problem' right at the source.

What a hideously sobering thought. Yet hard to dispute.

 

Every week Mike and Leah keep exposing the muck of this so called religion. You don't think it can get any worse but it does. What on earth is the next ep going to be about? I shudder to think.

[juliet73]

9 hours ago, Lady Iris said:

 

 

Every week Mike and Leah keep exposing the muck of this so called religion. You don't think it can get any worse but it does. What on earth is the next ep going to be about? I shudder to think.

Leah and Mike sit down with Mimi Faust and Christi Gordon, whose mothers dedicated much of their lives to the Sea Org; the women share their harrowing stories of neglect and abandonment.

[flyingdi]

I don't get how a religion that doesn't value children thinks its going to grow in the future?

[Maelstrom]

It will wait until those children grow up into adults with fat bank accounts to be donated to the Cherch.

[laurakaye]

On 10/12/2017 at 9:42 AM, Lawgiver said:

My heart started pounding when I heard the "alleged" tape of Wally Hanks hitting that boy. It was terrifying, and I was safe on my couch watching it on TV. I can't even imagine how those kids must have felt, confronted with such abuse.

This was the episode that finally broke me.  I went from staring at my tv and listening in horror to racked with sobs and blindly reaching for the tissue box in about 0.5 seconds.  Horrible, horrible.  Just absolutely heart-breaking.

 

1 hour ago, flyingdi said:

I don't get how a religion that doesn't value children thinks its going to grow in the future?

I found it so interesting when Nathan discussed how, as he got closer to 18, the "steps" suddenly got so much easier.  In its own sick, twisted and disgusting way, I suppose that's the Co$'s way of making these kids think that they have finally gotten to the point where they can graduate as a wonderful, shiny-new Scientologist...as in, look!  All that awful stuff we did to you?  It was all for this moment!  You've graduated!  See?  It was all worth it!

I hope this entire organization burns to the ground.  I stand in awe of Leah and Rinder more with each passing episode.

[smorbie]

2 hours ago, laurakaye said:

hope this entire organization burns to the ground.  I stand in awe of Leah and Rinder more with each passing episode

Watch it.  Some idiot had a similar comment I made on another site flagged and removed.  The other people that had read it jumped all over the idiot, though.  It was kind of funny.

[HunterHunted]

2 hours ago, laurakaye said:

I found it so interesting when Nathan discussed how, as he got closer to 18, the "steps" suddenly got so much easier.  In its own sick, twisted and disgusting way, I suppose that's the Co$'s way of making these kids think that they have finally gotten to the point where they can graduate as a wonderful, shiny-new Scientologist...as in, look!  All that awful stuff we did to you?  It was all for this moment!  You've graduated!  See?  It was all worth it!

They can't legally keep the kids after 18. So the better they make it seem, the more likely the kid will transition into a willing adult member of the Co$. Maybe the kid is still dissatisfied, but they get 2 or 3 years of service or paying for courses before the kid fully drops out of Co$. If it remains just as difficult they age out, the ranch can't claim it as a success and the kid is unlikely to be an adult member of the Co$ even temporarily.

[italianguy626]

Nathan recorded a video responding to the Scamatology smear site they put up about him and Tara. Linky.