Another review of Alain Stoffen's book
Eldon
Le Devoir
Edition of Saturday 01 and Sunday 02 August 2009
In brief - In the clutches of Scientology
In a disturbing testimony entitled Journey to the Heart of Scientology
(Privé, 2009), the Belgian-born musician Alain Stoffen tells how he
fell under the influence of this organization while living in France
during the 1980s.
Attracted by a friend who only wished him well, and motivated by the
idea of emulating his idol, jazz pianist Scientologist Chick Corea,
Stoffen enrolled in some courses offered by the cult. The rest is a
horror story about a life of more or less voluntary slavery. Stoffen
speaks of manipulation, lies and intimidation that led to his
financial and psychological ruin. The writing can be a bit heavy, but
the evidence nonetheless makes one shudder.
Out_Of_The_Dark
The evidence, indeed. Kudos to Alain Stoffen for speaking up.
Eldon
His publisher got the book out just when the trial started, which was
very smart. He has been interviewed pretty extensively. The book is
ranked at #3,568 en Livres at Amazon.fr, which is good for a book on a
fairly specialized subject.
Out_Of_The_Dark
>
> - Show quoted text -
Wow!
I did see him in one of the interviews and I believe he came across
well spoken, knowledgeble and believable to the average reader.
Definately a damning testimony against Scientology. We could use his
publisher here in the USA, lol
Eldon
Well, I could talk to them about translating the book into English,
but it's some work to do that. I'm not sure a book about his
adventures in Europe would sell that many copies in the US. I guess
Karen Pressley's book will be coming out one of these days, though.
However, you did give me an idea. A book about leaving Scientology
with a single chapter by each of 12 or 15 different people might be
real interesting. Condensing memoirs down to several to ten thousand
words makes them more interesting in my opinion. Very few people's
lives are worth a whole book.
Jens Tingleff
Hash: SHA1
Out_Of_The_Dark wrote:
> On Aug 1, 9:53�am, Eldon <EldonB...@aol.com> wrote:
>> On Aug 1, 3:40�pm, Out_Of_The_Dark <formerlyfoo...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> > On Aug 1, 4:49�am, Eldon <EldonB...@aol.com> wrote:
>>
>> > >www.ledevoir.com/2009/08/01/261210.html#
>>
>> > > Le Devoir
>> > > Edition of Saturday 01 and Sunday 02 August 2009
>>
>> > > In brief - In the clutches of Scientology
>>
>> > > In a disturbing testimony entitled Journey to the Heart of
>> > > Scientology (Priv�, 2009), the Belgian-born musician Alain Stoffen
>> > > tells how he fell under the influence of this organization while
>> > > living in France during the 1980s.
>>
>> > > Attracted by a friend who only wished him well, and motivated by the
>> > > idea of emulating his idol, jazz pianist Scientologist Chick Corea,
>> > > Stoffen enrolled in some courses offered by the cult. The rest is a
>> > > horror story about a life of more or less voluntary slavery. Stoffen
>> > > speaks of manipulation, lies and intimidation that led to his
>> > > financial and psychological ruin. The writing can be a bit heavy, but
>> > > the evidence nonetheless makes one shudder.
>>
>> > The evidence, indeed. Kudos to Alain Stoffen for speaking up.
>>
>> His publisher got the book out just when the trial started, which was
>> very smart. He has been interviewed pretty extensively. The book is
>> ranked at #3,568 en Livres at Amazon.fr, which is good for a book on a
>> fairly specialized subject.- Hide quoted text -
>>
>> - Show quoted text -
>
> Wow!
> I did see him in one of the interviews and I believe he came across
> well spoken, knowledgeble and believable to the average reader.
I've mainly met him in person (so, I don't watch enough TV ;-) ).
I need to get a copy. When I saw him last, he told the story of how he got
hold of his ethics folder. Interestingly, Copenhagen was involved, so that
makes several cases of piss-poor managing of "confidential" files by the
criminal organisation known as the "church" <spit> of $cientology linked to
Copenhagen. Well done, my home town :-)
Best regards
Jens
- --
Key ID 0x09723C12, jens...@tingleff.org
Analogue filtering / 5GHz RLAN / Mandriva Linux / odds and ends
http://www.tingleff.org/jensting/ +44 1223 829 985
"Howdy, stranger.." "Stranger than WHAT?" 'Texarkana'
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Eldon
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> Hash: SHA1
>
>
>
> Out_Of_The_Dark wrote:
> > On Aug 1, 9:53 am, Eldon <EldonB...@aol.com> wrote:
> >> On Aug 1, 3:40 pm, Out_Of_The_Dark <formerlyfoo...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> >> > On Aug 1, 4:49 am, Eldon <EldonB...@aol.com> wrote:
>
> >> > >www.ledevoir.com/2009/08/01/261210.html#
>
> >> > > Le Devoir
> >> > > Edition of Saturday 01 and Sunday 02 August 2009
>
> >> > > In brief - In the clutches of Scientology
>
> >> > > In a disturbing testimony entitled Journey to the Heart of
> >> > > tells how he fell under the influence of this organization while
> >> > > living in France during the 1980s.
>
> >> > > Attracted by a friend who only wished him well, and motivated by the
> >> > > idea of emulating his idol, jazz pianist Scientologist Chick Corea,
> >> > > Stoffen enrolled in some courses offered by the cult. The rest is a
> >> > > horror story about a life of more or less voluntary slavery. Stoffen
> >> > > speaks of manipulation, lies and intimidation that led to his
> >> > > financial and psychological ruin. The writing can be a bit heavy, but
> >> > > the evidence nonetheless makes one shudder.
>
> >> > The evidence, indeed. Kudos to Alain Stoffen for speaking up.
>
> >> His publisher got the book out just when the trial started, which was
> >> very smart. He has been interviewed pretty extensively. The book is
> >> ranked at #3,568 en Livres at Amazon.fr, which is good for a book on a
> >> fairly specialized subject.- Hide quoted text -
>
> >> - Show quoted text -
>
> > Wow!
> > I did see him in one of the interviews and I believe he came across
> > well spoken, knowledgeble and believable to the average reader.
>
> I've mainly met him in person (so, I don't watch enough TV ;-) ).
>
> I need to get a copy. When I saw him last, he told the story of how he got
> hold of his ethics folder. Interestingly, Copenhagen was involved, so that
> makes several cases of piss-poor managing of "confidential" files by the
> criminal organisation known as the "church" <spit> of $cientology linked to
> Copenhagen. Well done, my home town :-)
Yeah, that was a funny story, but you left out the punch line. After
he sent the carefully re-sealed box on to Copenhagen and went to the
police with the copies he had made, the idiots sued him for stealing
"their" documents!