Jeremy Perkins: A Scientology Family Tragedy

[proud2BlibKansan]

On March 13, 2003, Jeremy Perkins, a 28 year old untreated schizophrenic, stabbed his mother Elli 77 times. She bled to death on her bedroom floor. Jeremy is currently being held at Rochester Psychiatric Center, having been found not responsible for Elli's murder by reason of mental disease or defect.

Perkins, his mother and father, his sister, and her husband are all members of the Church of Scientology, a group that believes modern psychiatric medicine derives from an ancient alien civilization's plot to drug and enslave humanity. Scientologists like Tom Cruise vehemently and publicly oppose the pharmacological treatment of mental illness. Unfortunately, Scientology's own brand of therapy, called "auditing", is worthless.

Elli Perkins was a senior auditor (counselor) at the Church of Scientology of Buffalo, New York. Her son-in-law, Jeff Carlson, is the Executive Director of that church. Jeremy himself had taken Scientology courses there, and was even flown out to Los Angeles to join Scientology's paramilitary Sea Organization, although he was promptly sent back home due to his mental problems.

After consulting a Scientologist osteopath, Dr. Conrad Maulfair, Elli was treating Jeremy with vitamins, which he disliked. Within hours of Elli's murder, which occurred on L. Ron Hubbard's birthday, the Church of Scientology initiated a crash cover-up to hide its connections to the case. Jeremy's family has since "disconnected" from him, per Scientology policy. This web site reveals Scientology's true role in the death of Elli Perkins and the destruction of Jeremy's life.

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/JeremyPerkins/

[Straight Shooter]

1. The sad thing is, this could have happened under other circumstances.

For example, a person no longer able to afford their medication, and there being no funds in the State budget to provide that medication to indigent people.

The most unfortunate thing is if someone can afford such treatment, but neglect to obtain it because of their belief system which rules out assistance from medical intervention.

[crim son]

2. Organized religion.

I don't care for it.

[spag68]

3. Scientology

is not a religion, it is a bad science fiction writer's bad dream.

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. Do the followers consider it a religion?

I don't know a lot about it, other than the anti-psychiatry stuff.

[Kurovski]

12. It has the tax-exempt atatus of a religion.nt

[Canuckistanian]

13. Not in Canada

In fact, our Ontario Provincial Police raided their head office in Toronto in 1983 because of tax-evasion and fraud after a two-year investigation.

It was major news here.

[Cleita]

34. What's weird is that Hubbard didn't consider it a religion but

a life science or philosophy. He was advised to give it religious overtones to gain the tax exempt status.

[crim son]

6. I know what it is.

Everybody thinks their religion is different from the other "wrong" ones. That realization is just one of many reasons they're all wrong for me.

On edit: I don't know what it is! I was confusing it with Christian Science, and for that I apologize.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

7. L Ron Hubbard wasn't it? while i defend ANY religious views...

mixing religion with medicine generally has dire consequences... Maybe they need a warning label: "Do not mix with nedicine" or "do not take services, while under treatment"

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

19. I'm not seeing a difference.

[Marnieworld]

23. au contraire

It made all L. Ron's dreams come true. He wanted a money maker and he got one.

[Danascot]

33. Supposedly

L Ron Hubbard, a bad science fiction writer, was a well-known atheist who started Scientology on a bet that he could start his own religion just to prove how susceptible to influence people really are. One thing led to another and as the money started pouring in, he held on for the ride.

Want proof he was a bad SF writer? Check out the story of Xenu.

http://www.xenu.net/archive/leaflet/xenuleaf.htm

Before it was spread all over the internets it was one of Scientology's ultimate secrets. It's unbelievable that anyone who was a rational person at one time would swallow this tripe.

[SammyWinstonJack]

8. Neither do I.

[upi402]

5. In religion and politics people's beliefs and convictions are

in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing.
- Autobiography of Mark Twain

[Ferret Annica]

9. Scientology is a toxic cult, it is in no way a religion.

Page on the rickross.com site concerning Scientology:

http://rickross.com/groups/scientology.html

Scientology is a scam that uses people to make a few rich and powerful, it deserves no tax break and no protection. It should be investigated, and that investigation if it was comprehensive enough would result in the shut down of that sick and criminal operation.

[badgerpup]

14. IIRC, Scientology was a wager that got out of hand.

L. Ron Hubbard made a bet that he could come up with a believeable religious structure that people would buy into.

Obviously, he won his bet...and then some.

[Miss Chybil]

10. Another person died of Bullshit. nt

[Miss Chybil]

11. L. Ron Hubbard - "If a man really wants to make a miilion dollars..,

"A Reader's Digest article of May 1980 quoted Hubbard as saying in the 1940s "Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion."<30><31>

According to The Visual Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, ed. Brian Ash, Harmony Books, 1977:

"... began making statements to the effect that any writer who really wished to make money should stop writing and develop religion, or devise a new psychiatric method. Harlan Ellison's version (Time Out, UK, No 332) is that Hubbard is reputed to have told Campbell, "I'm going to invent a religion that's going to make me a fortune. I'm tired of writing for a penny a word." Sam Moskowitz, a chronicler of science fiction, has reported that he himself heard Hubbard make a similar statement, but there is no first-hand evidence". "


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Ron_Hubbard

[BigBearJohn]

15. What does this possibly have to do with Democratic Underground?

Are we here to pick apart religions, quasi or not, on this board?

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. There have been quite a few threads on Scientology here

[mainegreen]

18. Scientology is a potential threat to the Dem party and free elections

down the road if it is left to grow like the cancerous cult that it is.

[BigBearJohn]

21. Well, I'm no scientologist, but the same could said about a half dozen others too

I'm against suppression of religion, no matter what the justification for doing so.
Most religions have fanatics and zealots. Personally, I have no use for organized
religion. However, I would never try to prevent others from believing whatever
it takes to get them through the day.

I was raised a catholic and as a kid, I was constantly told by the lutherans and
protestants in my neighborhood that I belonged to a cult I was going to hell if
I didn't repent.

[mainegreen]

25. Scientology is not a religion.

The leaders don't believe in it. Their 'sacred texts' are copyrighted. Their church costs either a)money to join and participate in or b)actively signing a contract enslaving yourself to it (not a joke or a hyperbole). Scientology is illegal in many countries (Germany for example) due to active attempts by the church to take over the government. One of the tenants of Scientology is to sue into bankruptcy anyone who speaks out against it. That's an actual tenant in their 'sacred texts'. To lump them with Catholicism or Islam or Mormonism or any other actual church does a grave insult to these actual religions.

It has nothing to do with suppression of religion and everything to do with suppressing slavery, illegal activities, murder, corruption, cultism, tax-evasion and litigious behavior.

[BigBearJohn]

27. Just your saying so does not make it true. It has tax exempt status

So I guess the US government considers it a religion.
I may not agree with its beliefs, but I do believe in
their right to exist. If they are committing crimes,
they should be prosecuted -- just as any other religion
that commits crimes should be prosecuted. Bear in mind
that every one of your attacks against scientology has
at one point or another been levied against other religions too.

However, it seems apparent to me that you have a strong
dislike for scientology, so there really is no use in
discussing this issue, mainly because I really don't want
to get in an argument. However, I would say that your
attitude exemplifies why we have laws protecting freedom of
religion... even those religions who people don't consider
bonafide religions. My old next door neighbor used to say
similar things about the Mormons that you say about scientology.

You mention scientology is illegal in many countries. Well,
Christianity is illegal in some countries too.

If you knew the history of other religions, they too have
histories of illegal activities, murder, corruption, and cultism.

[mainegreen]

38. The US government does not beleive it is a religion.

The IRS just got sick of going to court every single year.

[KamaAina]

28. It's the only "church" I've ever seen that had a "Now Hiring" sign

in its window, on Bethel St. in downtown Honolulu.

Of course, one sees businesses with "Now Hiring" signs in their windows all the time, but they're not tax-exempt...

[BigBearJohn]

36. the Catholic church hires "lay" people all the time

[KamaAina]

37. But do they have signs in the window?

That'd be especially interesting if it was a stained-glass window... :-)

[Zhade]

32. "The leaders don't believe in it." You know this how?

IMHO, it's as authentic a representation of reality as, oh, the Big Three (which is to say, not much).

[mainegreen]

39. They do not pratice the tenents of Scientology one would need to

practice to get into 'heaven' or to become 'clear' in Scientology's case. They do however enjoy spending millions of the churches money on themselves. I think that pretty much sums up what the 'church' heads think of the 'church'.

[K8-EEE]

17. Can't believe anybody would consider L. Ron Hubbard

their spiritual leader....pulp science fiction writer, and the crap they believe is just hilarious about body thetans and all that.

[jokerman93]

20. Mental health and extra-terrestrial religion

Oxymorons-R-Us.

[Marnieworld]

22. Wasn't this the CBS 48 hours from Saturday?

I think it was and it was so sad. He was so clearly schizophrenic but they just wouldn't treat him. As soon as she was found they knew who did it. What made it so threatening to Scientolgists is that this family was advanced in their hierarchy and those advanced people aren't supposed to suffer any tragedies and this refutes that.

It's such a cult.

[alarimer]

26. I saw that too

They tried all kinds of wacko treatments (Vitamins? For Schizophrenia???). Were they so blinded by Scientology that they failed to see these quack treatment didn't work and he needed real medicine? I blame the whole family for this; it didn't have to happen but was inevitable as long as they sent him to quacks.

[proud2BlibKansan]

30. Yes it was

It is indeed a very sad story. Jeremy is now on meds and doing much better.

[sakabatou]

24. Watch this

http://theunfunnytruth.ytmnd.com/

[slackmaster]

29. Ron is Xenu

[Jed Dilligan]

31. Interesting question

When does a cult become a religion? All the religions we have now started out much smaller than Scientology at one point. When teaching this topic I generally propose a dividing line at dissociation--the point where not all adherents of the cult know one another, where they can be totally independent but still practice the same faith. I'd say Scientology has crossed that line in the past few decades.

[Poiuyt]

35. Scientology's paramilitary Sea Organization???

Why in the world would a religion need a paramilitary outfit?

[proud2BlibKansan]

40. I think that is where they send their problem kids

Sounds like a boot camp.