It’s good to see so many people now recognize scientology for the dangerous and manipulative cult it is and hope this starts to extend to the others like Falun Gong who are objectively worse in many regards but their propaganda tools like Epoch Times and their show Shen Yun are bizarrely popular in the US and much of Europe with hardly anyone ever commenting on the torture, rape, murder, and all the typical evil cult stuff they do.
Le French resisted a bit of colonialism (from wiki/Scientology_status_by_country#France):
Since 1995, Scientology has been classified as a secte (cult) by boards of inquiry commissioned by the National Assembly of France. It was first designated a sect in a 1995 report, and then in a 1999 report it was classified as an “absolute” sect and recommended its dissolution.
In 2000, after ‘appeals for religious tolerance’ from USA President Clinton and his congress, president of France Jacques Chirac told Clinton to stay out of France’s business, noting “shocking White House support for Scientologists”. Alain Vivien, chairman of the Ministerial Mission to Combat the Influence of Cults, claimed that sects—primarily headed and funded by Scientology—had been infiltrating the United Nations and other European human rights organizations. In 2001, France passed the About–Picard law, intended to strengthen their ability to prevent and repress sects that undermine human rights and fundamental freedoms, and those which engage in mental manipulation. The law would allow courts “to order the immediate dissolution of any movement regarded as a cult whose members are found guilty of such existing offences as fraud, abuse of confidence, the illegal practice of medicine, wrongful advertising and sexual abuse.”
A 2009 case resulted in a fraud conviction against two Church of Scientology organizations and five individuals, and recommended dissolution, and a 2012 appeal upheld the convictions including 600,000EUR in fines. Though the prosecution had requested the dissolution of the Scientology Celebrity Centre and its bookstore, a dissolution penalty wasn’t possible due to a brief retraction of the dissolution law prior to the 2009 verdict and the prohibition against enforcing it retroactively.
That’s cool and all, but this story is about Scientology.
If you haven’t escaped a cult you might not understand, but cults control their members in similar ways, and understanding how one operates will help you to avoid others.
Look up the BITE model
lol gatekeeping which cults we can talk about in a thread.
In a discussion about a cult
Brings up other, equally bad if not worse cults - specifically a Chinese cult
Whoa whoa guys, let’s not get crazy - this is about Scientology, remember? America bad, amirite?
Hmm
Brings up other, equally bad if not worse cults - specifically a Chinese cult
Whoa whoa guys, let’s not get crazy - this is about Scientology, remember? America bad, amirite?
The Chinese government hates Falun Gong, so if anybody has a pro-China bias, it’s the person agitating against Falun Gong in an unrelated thread.
And I’m saying it’s weird to try to shut down conversations about cults in a conversation about cults.
That’s convicted rapist Danny Masterson if anyone was wondering who that was.
Hmmm, is she still a scientologist? Seems like a weird choice if she is, although a cult is a cult and that one is brutally hard to get out of. I think I can forgive people who sided with Masterson initially if their cult told them to (maybe not at much post-conviction) but I think it’s problematic having anyone like that as the front to LP because of the suicide.
That said, if she renounced the cult at part of this gig (and ideally Masterson too) I think I’d be ok with her. I think what LP is trying to do is ultimately as good thing, especially since they’re not trying to find someone exactly like Chester.
She didn’t even mention the cult in her half assed “apology” letter, calling her fellow cult member a “friend”. The only way this whole setup would have worked would’ve been if she, at the first announcement of her being part of LP, renounced & denounced the entire cult for what it is, along with an actually truthful apology for being part in it.
From what I’ve read, they will do everything in their power to ruin someones life and career if they publicly leave Scientology. That’s not even denouncing it, just saying you’re not a part of it anymore.
Also people keep saying they want a “truthful apology”, but if her statement is honest then she doesn’t have much to apologize for. She said he was a friend, but then immediately stopped supporting him after hearing the evidence. I think most people would have done the same. So far though it’s all just their word vs. hers so I’m holding out on any real judgement until some kind of evidence of something comes out.
I’m aware of Scientology’s tactics. Her blocking the court seats is her being part of those tactics. Just like their goons who harassed one of the victims, or Masterson raping them.
And Masterson wasn’t a “friend”, but a fellow cult member. That’s why she was there, that’s why she blocked the court room to hold any of the victims relatives & friends. She’s literally part of the problem and you people are making excuses for her instead of calling her out. Also, her idiotic “apology” HAD to specifically call out female victims, while part of the criticism is that she replaces a MALE victim.
Honestly no idea what kind of “evidence” you want before you acknowledge the truth.
Yes she still is. She apologized for supporting Masterson (I think, she didn’t name him in the post). But she seems to be OK with her cult terrorizing Masterson’s victims, among many others.
To be fair she was born into it, it’s not easy breaking free from this kind of brainwashing.
Didn’t know she was born into it, that is especially difficult. Thanks for the info, though.
There is literally no proofs whatsoever of her being an active member of Scientology past 2012. Only this one guy’s word.
Well for starters there is a picture of her at a scientology gala in 2013. And she most probably still is, because it’s incredibly hard to leave scientology. They put an unbearable amount of pressure on you to stay/come back, and if they determine you’re a lost cause, you become a “suppressive person”. When that happens, all scientologists are forbidden from any kind of contact with the person. So for her, leaving scientology means losing her family, her closest friends she’d known since forever, and any kind of support structure.
Dead Sara’s drummer was also born into scientology. Chances that they both left are very slim. Chances that a scientologist would play in a band with a suppressive person are nil.
Chances that she left scientology, then decided in 2020 to come support scientologist Masterson, who would have been absolutely forbidden from interacting with her in any way, and with a group of scientologists also present: also nil.
Thanks for the context
Personally as a life long LP fan, Chester’s death hit when it happend. At the time I wasn’t in the best place mentally and to hear someone’s work I enjoyed committed suicide was not a positive event. Through counselling and therapy I was able to work through my problems in a healthy way and I suggest anyone going through anything similar to try the same. Scientoligists are anti therapy and anti psychology. The thought that proven methods of counsellings and psychological aid could of helped Chester or anyone in a similar situation being undermined by his replacement hurts to my core. I won’t go into the other allegations this fact resonates with me the most but I don’t think I can be a LP fan right now, with my personal feelings.
The Emptiness Machine, which is the song introducing her as vocalist, is her singing about how fucked up scientology is
She has no writing credit on the song man… Non of these lyrics are hers… Just incase I googled it as well and no mention…
LP ended with Chester.
This could be a good band, but its not LP.
For people who misread the headline and are confused: one of the people Masterson allegedly raped (her trial specifically is still ongoing according to the article) is firing shots at Linkin Park’s new singer because she is a scientologist who turned out in support of Masterson.
What?
The new lead singer is a scientologist who supports rapists.
Damn. I might have enjoyed some new Linkin park but all this shit is so stupid. Who am I kidding I wouldn’t have enjoyed it that much.
To be clear, she allegedly was told to support him, went to his first trial, and has not been in contact with him or spoken on his behalf since. It’s very possible the veil was lifted, so to speak, at that trial.
Until she officially speaks out against the cult it is all speculation and cope from entitled fan apologists.
What a great idea, speak out publically against a cult she was born into who are well-known for harassing anyone who speaks out against them publically
Suck that Scientology dick some more. Her, and you, are part of the problem.
That’s just an article about her weak ass PR statement. She didn’t mentioned her cult even once, and called her fellow cult member a “friend”. If that’s denouncing Scientology for you then you probably also believe in Santa.
I agree it’s a bit lacking in condemnation, but it is something. You seem to have some strong opinions about it, which is why I shared it. I wasn’t sure if you were aware of it or not
I agree it’s a super guarded response and doesn’t mention anyone (or thing) by name.
“A bit lacking” is an understatement when she didn’t even mention it once. I also find it distasteful to only condemn the things happening to female victims, when she replaces a well known male victim - all while her cult causes more and more victims everywhere.
So I don’t have anything to say about Masterson other than he’s a monster. But to share a related personal anctodote.
It’s very possible the veil was lifted, so to speak, at that trial.
A few years ago I started becoming more active with a friend I had grown distant with. She introduced me to her new circle of friends which included a guy named Barry. Who was awaiting trial for “something that was blown out of proportion”, this was an ongoing very long process since covid pushed his court date back like two years in total. So I met him a few times and heard him describe the case. But I was always skeptical of his story, how do you just wake up in a bush with a gun to a police dog with zero recollection of the night before?
But I let it slide in the moment because I was in a pretty vulnerable lonely place after a bad breakup, however I made DAMN sure to actually attend his trial. The only one of the friend group who did, and he was very thankful and called me a good friend. But I really just wanted to hear the story from the defense.
Barry didn’t mention the gun shots he fired as his ex girlfriend or the camera footage showing him stumbling around with a gun. He didn’t mention that he was shooting outside when his home is next to a school and it caused the school to close, also didn’t mention the threats he made. The lawyer for Barry couldn’t make much of a defense for him, just that he was in AA and doesn’t drink anymore.
Barry went to jail. And I made absolutely sure that everyone heard abiut what I learned. But the tradgey was that most people just thought I had a personal grudge against him. That I didn’t know how crazy his ex GF was and that she totally (probably) provoked him.
Long story short, it’s easy to talk around the truth to you friends, who of course will take your side. Going to a trial and hearing the evidence yourself can be a very eye opening experience.
Definitely no less confusion after reading that.
Yeah, I tried. Link Pee new singer worship alien and defend rapist lmao.
I’m not going to fault anyone for having problems with this. I definitely am not comfortable with someone who comes out of a cult that actively opposes treating mental health “replacing” Chester, a man who struggled all his life before tragically taking his own life.
But people do need to understand: The reason scientology STILL has so much power is not because tom cruise has so many thetans. It is because, like all good cults, they have MASSIVE amounts of dirt on their members. And they make it very clear that anyone who speaks out against them will be destroyed. If you thought a British PM fucking a pig’s carcass was a shock… There are similar stories with every cult and secret society.
So if the cult says jump? You jump. And while I remain very very conflicted, I do give Emily credit for being openly gay (a huge no no) and talking around regretting being part of the crew that was used to try to protect masterson. I would rather outright condemnation and apologies but… that probably won’t happen unless she is ready to be destroyed by the cult.
Leah Remini deserves mad props for how incredibly brave she has been speaking out against scientology. But she also is MASSIVELY “lucky” that she basically escaped while they were running massive damage control for tom cruise vanceing up oprah’s couch. And by the time they “recovered” she had gone from “Weren’t you on the beach episode of Saved By The Bell?” to too high profile for them to really go after. Almost nobody else is going to have that luxury.
And as purely a music fan? Not huge on The Emptiness Machine outside of that initial reveal. But I kind of loved most of the Emily covers of the hits and give mad props to the band for making it a point to change the tempo or remix the songs a bit so she isn’t just singing Chester’s part. Time will tell what the album versions are and if they touch some of the songs they REALLY REALLY REALLY should not touch
People that have reservations over her Scientology situation, I understand. People that are upset that LP got a new singer, regardless of who it is, I believe are selfish morons. When band members die or leave, the band should be allowed to move on. Chester was one one of a kind, and it’s super sad that he’s not still here, but when the lead singer in your band not only dies, but kills themselves and fucks over the band, then replacing that person should not be controversial at all. Mental health issues are real, and I have empathy, but Chester’s actions were ultimately selfish and the closest victims are now under fire for continuing forward.
Imo joy division becoming new order was the right way to handle such tragedy, it’s different because Linkin park were a record company manufactured band but he was in from the start and pretty much the only person anyone recognized plus he wrote a lot of the songs.
Otherwise you get record companies selling you tickets to black flag thirty years later who might as well be a cover band, it’ll get to the point recognized names are still topping festivals a hundred years after the first original member died of old age. It benefits no one but corporate copyright holders.
Why the fuck am I supposed to care about the religion of a performer?
Or am I now allowed to bash on all the christian performers out there too?
And I don’t give a flying fuck about masterson either. You have a friend, you fucking back them until you have solid proof in front of you. Which, she did. Once she saw the proof, she stopped backing him. End of fucking story.
People are fucking idiots about this kind of shit.
The previous singer died from suicide and scientologists are very anti mental health treatment. I can’t blame anyone for being bothered by that.
It’s fucking dumb.
The only thing that matters is if she can do the job.
I’m not blaming anyone, I’m just saying they should use their brain for something useful.
The whole thing is beyond stupid and into absurdity at this point.
“Listen I’m not blaming anyone, but if you think a white guy shouldn’t be president of the NAACP, you’re just fucking dumb morons. All that matters is if they can do the literal job* (*not including the messaging or morals, just the literal job functions”)
It’s a fucking band
Are you deliberately missing the point?
no, I’m disagreeing with it.
It’s not the same thing as the NAACP at all.
It isn’t some kind of organization dedicated to anti-cult endeavor, nor even a band dedicated to anything other than making music. That’s it. That’s the entirety of what linkin park is. They’re an amazing fucking band that makes amazing fucking music.
Nothing about making music is predicated on the beliefs of the members unless they’re making music about those beliefs, and even then it doesn’t mean they have to do it all the time.
Are we going to flip out on Garth Brooks and Chance the rapper now? Both of them are openly supporters of a religion that has caused or condoned wars, genocide, and even today actively seek to crush the rights of other people. Christianity is just a big cult that demands loyalty and money and strict adherence to the rules of whichever sect of the cult you belong to, and nobody is up their ass for the actions of the rest of their religion.
Or is it only the cults we like that get a pass? Is that what it is? Sammy Davis Jr is cool, what with being a Satanist and jewish (at the same time, which is actually pretty damn cool), and Reba Macentire gets a pass because reasons, but not this woman that grew up in a cult we don’t like as much?
It’s bullshit. It’s empty headed drek.
Now, if Armstrong gets up on stage and starts trying to convert people that didn’t show up for that, that’s a different issue. If she starts writing songs with LP that tear down what they’ve always claimed to believe, that’s a different issue.
I simply do not give a fuck about what fiction a person believes in. It has nothing to do with the music unless they make it about that.
Anyone wanna tear Scientology down? Go for it! It’s a giant scam as well as a cult. Tear down all of them as far as I’m concerned. Make it illegal, remove all non profit status from all of the brain washing cults that get called religion. But that’s still a separate issue from some band making music.
It’s the old art vs artist argument, only in this case, all the artist did was get raised in a disliked religion, and then take part in a truly fucking stupid show of support for a fellow church member. That’s it. That’s all she has done, unless there’s something I’m missing that she’s been accused of personally doing? Is there, was she actively involved in any of the bullshit the cult did? Did she know about it happening at the time at all?
It’s a fucking nothing burger, and if anyone tried saying the same shit about someone that was wiccan, or muslim, or christian that did the exact same thing, it would be a shitstorm against the person trying to do so.
Shit, nobody can even point to her doing anything after she discovered the details of the shitstain to support him.
That’s the fucking point, it’s a witch hunt.
See, by your logic, it’s okay if I am a anti-semite for example, just quietly.
So long as I’m only funding and supporting my Anton Jew crusade off stage and off screen, and never writing a song that says “kill the Jews”, it’s okay to take all my money from those concerts and funnel it into my organization that manufactures gas chambers “just in case”.
A quiet tolerance of racism, bigotry, and abuse, leads to its proliferation. Period.
It’s not a witch hunt. Her organization is directly responsible for funding hate and attacks on innocent people. The money she earns from the band will fund this. It is perfectly reasonable to object to her being able to jump onto this band’s good reputation and use it to fund such efforts.
It’s an abusive cult you fucking moron! Would you care if she was a literal Nazi? Probably not, because you’re part of the fucking problem.
You do know that fedia.io has a rule about behavior, right?
Fuck cult, rape, murder and otherwise abusive spineless apologists like you!
Cool way to respect the memory of Chester you got there LinkedIn Park.
I hope the legacy of this band becomes more than that of any individual member.
- Chester Bennington
