Holy shit.

Oh my god. What a powerful letter.

I didn't know the Church had that stance against Prop 8. I knew of the isolation tactics, but I can't believe he had to go through that in his own family. So sick.

I disliked how Crash won the Oscar over Brokeback Mountain, but now I'm the biggest Crash and Paul Haggis fan. And he's Canadian to boot!

This better me all over the news soon. And so soon after the Nightline special on Scientology. Juicy! But it must be terrifying for him. The secrets they have on him.

Maybe that's why high profile celebrity members don't leave. The Secrets!

Wow. Wonder what the Cruiser's response will be to that.

But does he still believe we're clusters of bug-people? BUT DOES HE STILL BELIEVE WE'RE ALL CLUSTERS OF BUG-PEOPLE??

So called screenwriter and director Paul Haggis's claims about the Church of Scientology are absolutely ridiculous. They are so offensive as to be not worth responding to. In fact, I am not responding to them, right now. The insinuation that the Church of Scientology would ever use private information to smear it's critics is offensive and vulgar. Why would we need to smear them when they are obviously child molesters? This is a man who, I have it on good authority, poos in his pants. Is that someone we should take seriously? While he is off raping grandma's the CoS is saving lives and ensuring human rights. I once caught a fish so big that Aerosmith asked me to hang out backstage with them, and the suggestion that I did not is profoundly and inescapably homosexual.

Okay, Paul, you asked for it. Don't be surprised when you are startled awake at 3am in the morning by a shadowy Tom Cruise shaped figure sitting just outside your property line and laughing manically.

Wow, major cognitive dissonance - my deep dislike of Crash vs. the pleasure of finally seeing a HW "name" have the balls to call out CoS. I didn't even know that CoS supported Prop 8; just one more strike against an already scary organization (Psychiatry kills? Really?).

GOOD FOR HAGGIS! SCIENTOLOGY IS AN EVIL CULT WHOSE CREATOR, L. RON HUBBARD, WAS AS MANICALLY INSANE AND WICKED AS HITLER.

Hurray! Maybe if Paul digs deep enough, he can turn Russell Miller's book about Hubbard, "Bare-Faced Messiah" into a movie.

Meanwhile, if this news can reach some of the Hollywood dupes who are in this abusive money-sucking cult of space cadets, and they read about the disconnection, prison camp, and the dictator Slappy Miscavige beating up the underlings. Come on, get a clue!

I'm surprised it took him 35 years to realize it was a cult. Or does he even now realize it?

It is a straight up evil, destructive cult.

Scientology puts celebrities on a different track where they get all the special treatment. They get much better treatment then the run of the mill sucker that joins.

Well!! The reply from Tommy Davis shows a lack of intelligence and morals, and as such, backs up Haggis's stand against CoS.

What a great writer. Powerful, well-written truth -- good on you and may your honesty inspire othesr to move into the light and out of fear.

Good for him, but more needs to be done.

This letter does nothing to further expose the insane beliefs of this destructive cult.

We must get their nonprofit status stripped, their financial center needs to be attacked.

One less talent in the clutches of the cult.

Scientology is not a church. Misnomer. It is a cult, a club anything else you can think of calling it, but it is not a Church. Hubbard wrote science fiction novels and brought this one to life.

Powerful stuff. What is interesting is the process he's gone through that compelled him to search, read, ponder and act on material and information that has been openly available for some time.

Finally, Scientology is going down. After all that they have been doing with Travolta, is good to see that hollywood people are finally waking up.

Are you really surprised, Mr. Haggis? The poster child for Scientology is Tom Cruise, the biggest homophobe in the world. Please read Bronson Pinchot's comments about him:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/21/bronson-pinchot-bette-mid_n_328319.html

And remember that poster children are ALWAYS sick, sick, sick.

I too am surprised that after 35 years he did not recognize the cancer that was the core of Scientology teachings. Perhaps this underlines the idea that celebrities are not required to undergo the slavish indoctrination that ordinary members have to endure.

Mr Haggis is in the position to become a great humanist from this experience, to examine the racist and oppressive teachings that make up L Ron's doctrine, and ensure that he stands up against it publicly.

For instance, why did Tom Cruise call people "squirrels stuck in an electronic incident" earlier this week? That is what is called "loaded language." It is a cult indoctrination tool. Scientology is full of loaded language. It is impossible to follow Scientology and still be a free thinker.

'"Loading the language" is another common theme in a cultic setting. A special jargon that gives the members a feeling of exclusiveness and that they possess some esoteric knowledge. This "loaded language" helps build solidarity amongst an elite group that speak the same cultic verbiage/lingo."
http://www.rickross.com/reference/general/general431.html

SEE! This kind of drama is the only thing religion is good for!

I saw a British film a few months ago of a person who infiltrated a COS in England. They made this woman write down all of the sex partners she had ever had, wanted all of the minute details of her encounters, wanted to know about anything that she had done in her life that would be deemed offensive and/or illegal by the authorities. When she asked why they wanted that kind of personal info she was told so the COS could help her rid herself of negativity and become a more evolved being. She was unknowingly filmed everytime she was on the COS premises and discovered this fact when she was left alone in a room where there were papers out in the open on a desk. When she attempted to take some of them to the restroom to read and then return them she was promptly accused of theft, lead through the halls of the building and vilified by other members who worked there and forcefully escorted from the premises. IF this is what happens to members of the COS then that is a very great manipulating tool to keep people quiet and in line. Blackmail is an ugly word. It would seem to be synonymous with COS.

What I am hearing is this:

Haggis has been taking heat for being a Scientologist for a while now. It's never all that shocking or feels like much of an intellectual loss to hear which moron actor was snookered, but when it comes to writer-directors no one loves gambling fifty million dollars on the personal worldview of a lunatic.

So, "Nightline" has pounced, the "church" is on the ropes, and hey, knowing when the coast was suddenly clear to send a falling bigwig a (oxymoron alert) "courageous email" sure didn't hurt Joe Esterhaus.

And look, gays! What cover could be more perfect? Everybody feels sorry for them lately. I suppose it is a bit convenient and unlikely that my conscience kicking in a year late caused me to seek out long-available information, but I've spun worse into Oscar!

I guess that year the Academy was dead set on honoring straights who uncomfortably exploit gays in the name of celebrating them.

I'd consider this a revelation

Wow... so all you have to do to break some people from the grip of this absurd cult which is talking about 800,000 year old aliens, quack medical "cures", and the general lunacy that is the hallmark of any cult and religion is come out against gay marriage(?) and suddenly the scales fall from the eyes and all the OTHER SERIOUS.. REAL bullcrap that Scientology has done and brainwashes people into believing becomes a problem? I don't know what is worse.. being a rabid nutty scientologist or being so head up your ass to the gay affirmation movement that this is the only issue you can get upset about in the same way that some people only have room in their heads to deal with the clubbing of baby seals but have no trouble with the clubbing of 1000 protesting students!

Whenever a "religion" demands that members disconnect with others that do not follow this religion,
it's a huge red flag that it is a hurtful, bigoted, relationship destroyer, and has nothing to do with
helping the planet or it's inhabitants. What took you so long to figure that out Paul? Guess you
are a little slow. Tom Cruise is obviously a nutcase that is intolerant of anyone not like him.
I will never forget what he said about Brooke Sheilds. What an ignorant soul he is, not too
bright either. He has been married 3 times and walks around giving others advice about how to
live their lives. It seems Scientologist are a bunch of narrcisists with blinders on. It's just
another sad case of organized religion.

I am sure this is why Tom dumped Nicole, she probably was due for a disconnect. And Katie Holmes, how sad is that?

Scientology is a cult constructed in response to a dare. It is a joke. With the cult's long history of explicitly documented abuses and irrationalities, it is a little sad that it took this public outrage over ugly and irrational support of Prop.8 to turn around the long-standing affiliation of this brilliant director. Mr. Haggis should do a careful audit of the power that the use of his name gave to the Church of Scientology's ability to hustle and abuse suckers for 35 years.

After having weaned himself of the support of his adopted cult, I would like Mr. Haggis to write another letter --- say in six months --- on his retrospective views of the utterly preposterous nonsense that is the core of the Scientology scam. We'll see...

35 years?

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

Yeah, yeah... this still doesn't make up for Quantum of Solace.

The exposing of a woman's private life is part of the cult's tactics for keeping members in. And as for homosexuality, it's banned by the cult yet several famous Johns have been known to Cruise for gay sex yet publicly refute themselves being gay.

When one enters the cult, the victims go through a debriefing session that "takes out N-grams" which are your dirty personal secrets given in a sort of "confession". The person tells everything, nothing is hidden, because you have to get the "negative energies" out.

Then of course, if you try to leave the cult, your dirty secrets are bared to the world. It's blackmail, pure and simple, and is also how some members, especially celbrities, are forced to donate huge sums of money to the cult or do bad movies that the cult profits from, e.g. "Battlefield Earth".

Read "Operation Clambake" for more of the cult's dirty secrets, how they operate, and the suspicious deaths (read: murders) of former members and those who tried to quit.

www.xenu.net

Scientology serves a useful purpose, quite similar to the inquisitions of the dark ages. (The old 'You won't quit swimming in poo until you've really wallowed in it' effect.) This especially applies to their upper echelon. While it is sad that they sting, brainwash and delude so many, the end process, the wake up call, for those that recover from their tactics, as Paul Haggis, is more effective than pointing out all the skulduggery that goes on.

Well, there goes his Hollywood career...

That letter was pure Stick-It-To-The-Man. The smear campaigns backfired; who in sanity would join a religion that asks for the most intimate personal details and can use them against you any time your faith wavers?

Oh, that more people would wake up to the harm that organized religions (not just Scientology) do to the world through their systematic, institutional mind-control.

Well, now he is a prime candidate for a membership with Anonymous.

Good for you, Paul Haggis!

And for any other celeb - or ANYBODY, for that matter.

DO NOT WORRY ABOUT YOUR SECRETS! The world doesn't care! But the world DOES care if you are being blackmailed and exploited into staying in a situation that you know is wrong.

Gee, those religions believe in strange stuff - aliens and thetans, men rising from the dead, nutjobs getting a crack at virgins in fairyland, humans drinking wine and eating bread that is magically transformed into the actual substance of some guy who supposedly lived 2000 years ago. If only we could manufacture enough psychiatrists...

Thank goodness! Haggis is another $cientologist I can take off my boycott list! For many years I have refused to pay one cent for any movie or book (or whatever) with a $cientologist in it, or written or produced by one. No way will I support anyone who is a member of this creepy criminal cult. Luckily, it seems like the $cientology ship is sinking fast. Tick tock...it`s just a matter of time. The lawsuits are coming....Government investigations and raids are on the way...It`s about time!

Yea Paul! Welcome back. I am always glad to see principle trump the market of organized religion.

OK. I understand that COS' core theology (Klatu/Nanu alien SF junk) is utter BS. I don't have a problem with that - all theologies are based in the same. Following COS is just another SYMPTOM of our society.

If people are gullible enough to believe this BS, are those that sell it really evil? If you know for a fact that you can sell people ANYTHING and they will happily and willingly buy into it, who wouldn't be tempted to profit from said gullibility? The COS does it, the Pope does it, the government does it, the globalist bankers do it and the public laps it up like fine champagne. Hell, Oprah does it.

We are a nation of proud morons and the COS is just another 21st century badge of idiocy worn by its proud members instead of a dunce cap. I find it humorous that Haggis' letter is being touted as some kind of revelation. Anyone who has looked at COS knows it for what it is and it is not a cult. It is a business - designed to control and impoverish its adherents. Haggis bought into this BS for 35 years and the fact he awakened one morning to find the Easter Bunny didn't exist doesn't bide well for his cognitive abilities. Soon as he found out the Easter Bunny was homophobic, he bailed out. Now he is in a new and growing cult, gay apologetics. Makes my head spin backwards.

So Haggis is a Scientologist? No wonder he's built up such a good writing career in Hollywood, they all help each other. Any so-called religion that forces you to undergo a "personality test" when you join is deeply suspect. Strange that it took an intelligent man like Haggis 35 YEARS to figure it out!

35 years to figure this out!
One cult is the same as any other.
Make believe everything, secret rights, handshakes and initiations.
Keeping all females repressed.
When will you fools figure out that there is no God period, nevr was, and never will be and that cause and effect rule the Universe?
Today, and everyday into the future on Planet Earth a million people will die agonizing deaths and not one of them will receive a life saving miracle from any man made God!
What you get is birth to death, and no more.

No matter the secrets, Haggis is sick & tired of being pushed around & bullied by these Cowards. He just tired and his secrets be damned! He's outing CoS because he wants the other celebs hiding behind CoS to come out & denounce them as well.

This is the best thing that's happened. However, I don't see Tommy Cruise coming out because he's clung to this shield tightly to hide his own person & professional secrets. There's no magic solution and everything inside CoS is just smoke & mirrors. I do see others & more celebs coming out & leaving CoS and finally making people realize there's just a man behind the curtain, like in the Wizard of Oz, who also is trying to use smoke & mirrors. to fool the public.

With the exit of more and more celebs and people, I do believe there is a nice HUGE crack in their mirror and it's just a matter of time before the whole church collapses around Tommy Boy's well crafted image.

I have never understood the attraction of this wholly man-made religion to begin with. If ever an organization had the earmarks of a cult this one certainly does and seems to be built upon power run amok. Keep in mind that L. Ron Hubbard was a sci fi writer rejected by the publishing houses. Still not clear how that qualified him to become a leader these folks follow, even in death.

MU-HU-HA-HA-HA! I, Lord Xenu of the Galactic Confederacy will relish feasting upon your thetan, Mr. Paul Haggis. To the volcano with you, fool!

Co$ even when a "billion" snicker other things pop up to take you out of the spot light you find ways to continue to fail. This makes me happy. Paul Haggis I will now watch Crash. Congratulations on leaving the cult and pointing out infalably that disconnection exists. Forcing a child to disconnect from their parents. All $ciFa_s should be utterly ashamed of themselves. Pathetic cult is pathetic as are those who pathetically follow them.

Co$.... HA HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!

So deserve the way you get treated.

THE SO-CALLED CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY IS NOTHING BUT AN EVIL CULT LED BY A BUNCH OF RICH IDIOTS!! YOU SEE WHAT IT DID TO THOMAS CRUISE, HAD HIM JUMPING OFF COUCHES AND CRAP! NOW HE'S RECRUITED HIS POOR WIFE INTO IT. "JOIN US...JOIN US...JOIN US." WOW.

Its sad that it took prop 8 for this man to denounce scientology. He should have denounced it years ago for the ridiculous teachings and absolutely baseless and insane beliefs. I find absolutely no credibility from this person after following them for 35 years.

Why should we give a crap about what Haggis has to say NOW? The guy joined this zombie cult and was dumb enough to hang around how many years? Only NOW does he get what a bunch of wankers they are? He can list his awards ad infinitum, but he's still a wanker for having believed in Scientology nonsense in the first place. To me he's still a colossal asshole.

If only science could sue Scientology for misuse of the word science!

Just another example of what stupid little monkeys the majority of humans on this planet are. And the smuggest ones think they are 'normal' believing in imaginary men in the sky that see and hear everything you do and who will damn your enemies to hell, you know for not believing in their imaginary man in the sky.

You can't fix stupid.

Kudos to him! I hope that others will follow his example and leave this group. It is nothing more than a huge money making cult.

The original head of this church, L. Ron Hubbard, was a full blown addicted. Why would so many people follow his teachings?
Scientologists believe aliens came to earth and impregnated humans and made hybreds. Christians believe Jesus walked on water. Made the blind see. Raised the dead and rose from the dead himself.
If I had to choose which belief is wackier, it would be the latter. Of course I don't believe in religion of any kind so none of this is irrelevant.
We are born. We live. We die and become part of the earth. This is the cycle of life. Live you life to the fullest and be kind to one and all.

What a crock of sh*t this is. The church has been anti-gay since it's inception and he is only now complaining about it? Hubbard was calling gays the worst sort of people for years:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_scie.htm

35 years in and he's never read any of those bits? Science of Survival is one of their core books, if he hasn't read it in 35 years he is a bad Scientologist by their standards. I know some celebrities are really out of touch when it comes to what the church is really about. They quite often have a santitized view of the religion provided to them by their Celebirty centre handlers, but he wasn't a celebrity 35 years ago. Hell, before Crash, did anyone even know who this guy was? Only since Scientology has become unpalatable to the general public do you get to see defections and denouncements like this.

Tom Cruise will jump on Haggis' couch.

These "churches" are supposed to be for the good of man kind. I see all churches as a means of using religion to profit from and to control people. Why anyone would want to join any church is beyond me.

Cheers Paul !!! Religions that prevent you from using common sense and dictate certain rules without a good explanation or logic behind them, such religions are to be avoided by far.
Scientology has always been a hoax in my book. The good, philosophical bits are mostly stolen from Buddhism from what Ive read about it (not a lot), I think that is why it succeded as far as it has. Buddhism is the most logical and common sense philosophy there is (it is not a religion).

I wonder if scientologists know the L. Ron Hubbard quote, "the best way to get rich is to start a religion." That kinda tells you everything you need to know about why you should avoid religion and particularly his.

I am happy to see someone within hollywood calling out the CoS, however, many of the top executives of the church who have since left did so because they were unhappy with the people running the church, in a sense their problems are not with the church's warp teachings but instead resemble a corporate coup. To me, this is saddening, since many of the people who are speaking out against the church can't see the corruption that has been with the church since day one. Instead, they want a regime change in the personnel of the church and i'll bet they'd hop back on board. A much broader view is needed to see all the ills that the CoS has caused. I commend haggis, however, in shedding light to a very real example of the policy of "disconnection." Way to go, even thought I thought Crash was garbage.

I am always stunned in view of the obvious brainwashing that must have happened to some internet posters (or rather the traveling circus of "commenters" when it comes to stirring up anti-Scientology resentment). Scientology has never been and is not against homosexuals and supports their rights just as anyone else's. Given that, the big question is: why did Haggis bother to make such show-down out of his choice to sever his ties to the Church of Scientology (after several years of inactivity, as he admits)? Guesses, anyone?

Hallelujah! I bet Nicole Kidman, and quite a few other former scientology celebrities who were 'fair gamed like Amy Scobee was, have experienced a hugh sigh of relief reading about this.

Thank you Paul! Denying disconnection from family and friends has been a constant with this cult. I wonder how they will respond now that we know you personally were affected by this disgusting cult.

Wow, this is unfortunate. Interesting story. Paul received a LOT of wonderful Scientology counseling early on. Scientology counseling increases one's ability. This is most evident in the transparent world of the arts. Paul joined the ranks of Chick Corea, John Travolta and Tom Cruise as celebrities whose careers skyrocketed after a developing a foundation in Scientology concepts. Just looking at all of the remarkable accomplishments and humanitarian measures in Paul's life... leads one to wonder if his basis in Scientology was THE major contributor. L. Ron Hubbard said that Scientology was to make the able more able. I happen to agree with Paul's side beefs though. Disconnection is too often 'suggested' and sometimes the wrong people are 'declared' (meaning declared suppressive to the Church).

In the early days, Hubbard placed homosexuality at the level of 'covert hostility' on his emotional scale. At the time it was accurate. Homosexuality was best hidden. Now, as any homosexual could tell you, the ability to come out of the closet today frees them of this over-arching covertness that has been necessary in times past. Nothing in the Church's Creeds or Codes prohibits any sexual orientation. It would be nice to hear them express a more liberal viewpoint publicly.

As far as the recent Rinder's and Rathbun's comments that were alluded to... They were both high-ranking Scientologists. They claimed that every now and then that Miscavaige (the Chairman of the Board) would give someone a smack. The Church denies this, but who knows. What is most interesting is what they didn't say. They DID have problems with Miscavaige. But they didn't have problems with the technology of Scientology as developed by L. Ron Hubbard. They didn't disparage the Technology at all. They just hoped for better management. What rings true here is that Scientology is definitely experiencing some growing pains along the way and has some problems, but that the concepts of Scientology work. Scientology makes the able more able. You can discover this for yourself in one weekend. Just buy a used copy of Self Analysis (by L. Ron Hubbard) and use it for a couple days. You will notice your mood improving, the world looking brighter, and your thinking will also be clearer. It is a fun process to increase ability that you can run on yourself or your friends.

I am guessing that Paul would basically agree with this letter and appreciate having it in his comments section.

Hello, Paul. Another thing I would tell you may involve a trip to Vegas to confirm the date and death of Quentin Hubbard.

For all those who are saying they'll now see Crash, I will now save you two hours of your life. Things you will learn from Crash:

- White people can be nasty or nice.
- Black people can be nasty or nice.
- Middle Easterners are tightly-wound psychos who shoot children in the back, or their twitchy, walking-on-eggshells wives.
- Asians are people traffickers who can't speak English or drive well.
- Crash sucks.

But then, if you go and watch a race drama written by someone who, at the time, was in an organisation that refers to non-members as 'wogs', whaddya expect...

Most Scientologists cannot distinguish between White Scientology and Black Scientology. They think it's the same thing, and it is not. Black Scientology is an extension of Black Dianetics, and it does exist. It is very sad to witness such confusion. It is obvious that the forced disconnection is Black Scientology...the wrong indications (which might provoke psychosis) are a form of Black Scientology, the false datum "democracy has given us inflation and income tax." is another example of Black Scientology. In order to clear Scientology we must separate and recognize Black Scientology from White Scientology and see it as it is...a form of psychiatric human rights violation...

Haggis wins this year's "No Duh" award for his keep grasp of the obvious.

It's commendable to see someone free themselves from a cult, but that feeling of victory is offset by the fact he was part of the cult for 35 years. As such, he is to blame as much as anyone else.

How on Teegeeack can anyone possibly take this junk seriously? I bet Paul finally reached whatever OT level that "revealed" all the space opera crap and he finally saw how insane it was. But decided to use Prop 8 as the excuse. (Note that he still refers to the group as a "church". Sad, silly man.)

OMG! How can they let a Scientology advert show on this page!

Thank goodness! Haggis is another $cientologist I can take off my boycott list! For many years I have refused to pay one cent for any movie or book (or whatever) with a $cientologist in it, or written or produced by one. No way will I support anyone who is a member of this creepy criminal cult. Luckily, it seems like the $cientology ship is sinking fast. Tick tock...it`s just a matter of time. The lawsuits are coming....Government investigations and raids are on the way...It`s about time!

Dude, really? Some of these comments are just dumbfounding! CoS was simple started as a tax dodge, and now one of their high profile members speaks out, some take him to task over his pro gay stance. Get a brain. The whole thing is a money making, load of B.S. They don't believe in meds, well if my father in law didn't take his he'd be have seizures all the time, try breathing through the pain on that one! If my nana didn't take her heart meds she would have died years ago from a heart attack (but it's all in her head, wink wink). However we are born from aliens & they are coming back to save us.... (once you've bought 100 books or so)

Hmmmmm...... very interesting...I wonder what Paul's intention was in writing this letter?? Certainly not letting Scientology know he wanted to leave. Sound like he's trying to make Scientology look bad after they helped him!! Ha! In his own words! I don't believe for one minute that all Scientologists are anti-gay, I know some myself and I'm gay, so that's not true. It's like saying all Germans are Nazi's or all Christians hate gays. What a joke! What a joker!! I met him once and all he did was smoke and curse. What a great role model!

Since .000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001%, at the best, of our Earth's population has even heard of Scientology, how can I get excited? Does any of this really matter against the big picture?

I may be the only person ever get a refund of any kind from Scientology. I speak a foreign language and replied to Scientology's ad for translators of their materials. The branch I walked into (to apply
for this work) knew nothing about the translation situation.

But they chatted with me and learned that I was studying one more foreign language. They
said that their basic, "communications" course would teach me ways to learn languages
faster. AND there was a money-back guarantee.

There was nothing to lose, so I took their course and finished it. It was scary. There
was great pressure on the "students" in class to stand up one by one and say what they'd
learned each day. It was brain-washing, in a way.

When the course was over, I asked for my money back. I told them that this course
had not helped me learn the language I was studying. They told me (wait for it...) that I
must not have understood! If I'd understood the material, I would see how helpful it was.
I persisted and somehow got a refund. Maybe I'm the only one ...ever.

There's a lot more bad to this religion than just being intolerant. This is the weirdest religion I've every read about.

Its just another form of mindcotrol like jehovahs and mormons etc , just a different touch to it .These people are spiritual prisoners ......