Corporations named in Scientology video respond

Web Scout was intrigued by the idea that major corporations around the world might be part of a vast network of dissemination for Scientology-related literature and booklets. So I made a couple of calls to the communications departments of companies named in the latest leaked video.  Here's what they're saying:

Dell Inc. spokesman:  "This came to our attention yesterday. We did research it with our colleagues in our Europe, Middle East and Africa business segment and with our colleagues in South Africa.  We found no evidence that this is accurate, and it's not our practice to disseminate religious materials of any kind. We've got no affiliation with the Church of Scientology."

7/11 spokeswoman:  "My international department  believes that it's unfounded and inaccurate.  But we've got to follow up with our licensee and get to the bottom of it."

Philips Electronics spokesman:  "We were as stunned as anybody this morning.  It's not something we were aware of. As an equal opportunity employer, religion is not something we comment on."

Several of the spokespeople noted that in the video, Miscavige uses slippery language to avoid directly saying the corporations took part in any distribution efforts. 

Take another look at the text of the speech--and you''ll notice the lack of actual verbs.

Then there's our corporate tie ins. The multinationals tend to have Third World image problems, so this is what they're doing about it--Coca Cola Pakistan with a braille edition for the blind, nationally televised no less. Philips Electronics, likewise all over Pakistan, and Dell Computers all over Africa.

Other entities named in the video are investigating the matter before commenting.

See original post here, transcript here, video here.

Comments

[ladyanonymous]

Dell has used the Co$ to train its workers in Ireland:
http://www.xenu.net/archive/WIR/wir7-09.html
From a June 2002 Magil Magazine article: "Since February of this year, Dell's Limerick plant has been availing of the services of Effective Training Solutions and its '100% Proficiency
Training' programme"

[scientology]

Look At This! http://www.scientology-victims-testimonies.com/

[Curious]

I wonder if there is a battle going on inside Scientology, with one faction trying to force David M. out of the organization and replace him with someone else. The videos that are being leaked are so calculated to make first Tom Cruise and now David Miscavige look silly.

[Luisa]

http://www.twth.org

They duped those spokespeople into saying that they won't support individual religions. That is very good, but what has that to do with the video clip? Miscavige talks about the non-religious Hubbard book "The Way to Happiness" (can be found for free on the internet for anyone to see) and not some Scientology religion book.

[Anon13]

I called Coke as soon as I heard about this... I knew most of it would be lies. Glad ot see Scientology caught in another web of lies.

[anonymous]

Just how edited are these "leaked" videos, anyway? Do the originals have more than mere hints?

[elizabeth vertitas]

They look silly because that's how Scientology looks.

All Scientology "events" look exactly the same. The video tells the truth.

[Blown and Loving It]

Let's be clear about something. The Way to Happiness does not directly mention Scientology or Diantetics, but it is absolutely a religious primer for Scientology. They just took out the direct associations.

And in doing so, it very well may be that Coke, Dell and Phillips were duped into believing it wasn't part of a Scientology's religious outreach.

The Church of Scientology has many, many front groups that are either efforts to lure in new members, or set up to achieve Scientology's aims without people know it is them behind it.

Google any of the following and see for yourself just a couple of their front groups. These are all owned and operated by the Church of Scientology.
Narconon
The Way to Happiness
The Delphian Schools
ABLE International
CCHR -The Citzens Comission on Human Rights

There are tons more -- some we don't even know about because they have been so clever in not disclosing that they are behind them.

The problem with Scientology is not what they believe (who really cares?), it is how they abuse their parishioners lives. There are many, many well documented cases of major human rights abuses by the church, as well as their documented practice of forcing members to "disconnect" from any friends or family who show any inclination at all towards disagreement with church doctrines. Many families have be completely destroyed by this. The latest documented case is David Miscavige's own 22 year old niece who has recently come out publicly with her story of forced disconnection from her family at the hands of the Church of Scientology.

[David]

I've watched uncut CoS films, they're even worse. The real fraud with these videos isn't even the small lies like 'coco-cola support us' it's the fact they've got stupidly high production values, perfectly timed, edited and scripted scene by scene to make the poor drones feel like they're not as good as everyone else but they can be as long as they'll spend a few thousand dollars more. It's like a cross between hard core soviet era propaganda and modern advertising - but its so strong, when you see it and you aren't brainwashed it's a joke - any sane person who watches these videos will turn around and say, 'this crazy dwarf is crazy.' and thats why cos only want people who are 'clear' i.e. brainwashed to see them.

[kate]

I must respond the post by Blown and Loving It, "The problem with Scientology is not what they believe (who really cares?)".

What scientologists believe is an enormous part of the problem. Their misinformed and potentially dangerous views of psychiatry are a very real problem. Individuals with serious mental illnesses are not going to find the necessary treatment they need from the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard. People who have persistent and chronic mental illnesses require medical care by trained professionals. The stigma surrounding such illnesses has always been a barrier to care; now we have Tom Cruise telling people to take vitamins and go for walks?!? Scientology has waged an all out war on psychiatry, all of which is based on a dead man’s resentment about not being legitimized by the medical community he sought to be a part of.

[nonya]

that's a hella good argument kate. i think that's what it is about them that makes this so tricky, so much of that anti-psych is ingrained in their belief system pretty much for the purpose of discrediting the experts who found it obvious that LRHubbard is a bit "touched' in the head.

[aimee]

yes - interesting that Scientology is all about psycho-analysing by people in scientology who are NOT TRAINED in psycho-analysis - so for them to knock psycho-analysis by TRAINED profesionals is weird

in years gone by we did not know as much about chemical imbalances in brains but research is finding out more about this and sometimes the right medication is the difference between leading a normal life and not being able to live an independent meaningful life.

I have a sister who has been undiagnosed and untreated for decades and taking vitamins and going for walks all the time - and had such a useless life alienating and beating up everyone even her baby before her baby was 2 months old.

Finally she is diagnosed and treated with proper medications and the whole family wants to know this wonderful person who has been such an ogre because of lack of proper diagnosis and treatment

[Jed Clampet]

Hey....God just told me the plan. If you want to know what you should be doing, come on over and bring large amounts of cash....I mean tithes.

The prophet,

Jed

[lololol]

@ Jed Clampet

That, sir, was pure gold.

Dangerous cult is dangerous.

[Common Sense]

Hubbard's management technology focuses on the use of statistics to track the operation of any entity, identify problems, and resolve them. How is this religious?

Why don't you haters acknowledge that you're not interested in actually understanding what you're talking about -- just parroting each other. And the fact that a company's PR department buys in to your misinterpretation and issues a denial to something that was never stated in the first place doesn't make it true. Just adds to the confusion. Well done on creating a lot of confusion and upset -- it may take a while to get this all sorted out, but by then I'm sure you'll all be on to other things.

[AF]

Hahahahaha! Common Sense, that was hilarious! You're trying to tell us that David Miscavige said, quote, "Then there's our corporate tie ins ... Coca Cola Pakistan with a braille edition for the blind, nationally televised no less. Philips Electronics, likewise all over Pakistan, and Dell Computers all over Africa" but that this was not "stat[ing] in the first place" that these companies were "corporate tie-ins"? Hahahahaha! I can just imagine what all those Scientologists in the audience thought: "Wow! Coca-Cola did ... something in Pakistan, or about Pakistan -- and it was nationally televised! And Philips Electronics did something in Pakistan, too! And Dell Computers did something in Africa! But I wonder when David Miscavige is going to tell us about the "corporate tie-ins" he mentioned earlier..."

Anonymous should shake you by the hand, Common Sense. You're illustrating something that everyone needs to know when dealing with Scientologists -- even if they appear to be saying something very clearly, when it becomes inconvenient for them, they will weasel away, without a hint of decency or shame, from what they fully intended for the people listening to think they were saying.

[Anon404]

You want to see that. It's creepy.

[Common Sense]

AF:
I notice in all of your cackling that you didn't cite a single religious item that was supposedly connected to the corporations involved. You didn't, and you can't, because it didn't happen. What you don't grasp -- and as long as you keep cackling like a hyena you won't grasp -- is that Scientology is far broader a subject than you and your fellow attackers hope and wish it would be. Hubbard identified the basic nature of man, and out of that came an enormous number of discoveries, both religious and non-religious. You hope and wish that Scientology were entirely religious, because then you could trump up your deliberate misunderstanding into something bigger. Have at it, guy. Maybe someday you'll take the time to gain an actual understanding of that which you attack. Meanwhile, we'll keep moving forward resolving some of the most serious problems this world faces.

[dippy do]

Hi OSA! I mean... hi Common Sense!

Do they think we are ALL completely naive??

[AF]

So, Common Sense. Let's review. You're claiming that, when Scientology clearly calls itself a religion, and David Miscavige clearly states "Then there's our corporate tie-ins" -- "our" clearly referring to that purported religion, Scientology, since that's the audience he's addressing -- and when the corporations that he's naming are expressing no knowledge of any "corporate tie-in" arrangement between themselves and the self-described 'religion' that is claiming those tie-ins as 'theirs' -- you think it matters that The Way For Happiness booklets are purportedly not religious in nature? Far from it -- if anything, it just proves that the critics were right all along when they said the claim of The Way To Happiness being separate from Scientology was rubbish. Scientology just claimed it as theirs.

[Dave]

HaHa DM is finding out he can't keep making stuff up, wonder how long it'll be until the rest of his lies come tumbling down around him?

[beth pingree]

Funny how Common Sense attacks the commentors on this article rather than responding to the fact that the head of this so-called "church" has been caught in a blatant lie.

Which is why so many people call it lientology.

Some religion.