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There's nothing more dangerous than a wounded Scientologist

Razor Magazine, one of the few men's magazines that hasn't thrown themselves completely onboard the Maxim bandwagon, published an excellent article about the strange death of a Texas Scientologist. Lisa McPherson, who some suspect was attempting to leave the Church, died after being removed from the hospital against medical advice by a group of Church members. The members, none of whom were practicing doctors, kept McPherson isolated in a locked and darkened room, feeding her various drugs - Valium, chloral hydrate - for 17 days. Finally, after McPherson had lost 40 pounds and been reduced to soiling herself and babbling incoherently, the Scientology minders returned her to the hospital. Not the nearest hospital, two minutes away, or even the next three closest hospitals. A hospital 50 minutes away, where a fellow Scientologist was on duty.

McPherson had been dead for some time. Her parents want to file a wrongful death suit, but according to the Church, because Mcpherson signed what's now known as the Lisa Clause, her death was part of a religious ritual protected by the First Amendment and for which the Church has no responsibility.

Read the full story here.

Razor Magazine is now, of course, under attack by Scientologists who claim the piece was a vicious slander on their noble religion. The official Scientology spokesperson claims Razor should have been more aware of the authors' "agenda," which is unclear; other Scientology members, while claiming in the Razor Letters page that all this controversy helps them recruit, have been buying up all the copies of the article they can find.

What's odd to me, reading the Razor Letters column is that none of Scientology's defenders seem to dispute the facts of the case, as the article presented them. One disputes the idea that Scientology parishioners are unhappy - which seems a misreading of the original article, drawing a broad generalization not implied in the original context - but none attempt to defend this particular case. In which, it might be reiterated, a young woman died horribly while her supposed protectors watched. Instead, the Scientologists play the persecuted minority, making broad claims about how new religions are never accepted right away, and about how Scientology has helped so many people. True enough: I believe they cured Tom Cruise's dyslexia. Maybe, though, instead of hiding behind the shield of religious freedom, they could come clean and explain how this woman died under their care and what they intend to do about it.

Posted by JHicks at 02:43 AM | Comments

--- CAUTION: Reading these Scientology "secrets" will give you pneumonia: http://sf.irk.ru/www/ot3/otiii-gif.html http://w4u.eexi.gr/~antbos/XENU.HTM And Saddam: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/ "What were war crimes in 1945 is foreign policy in 2003."

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