New Posts!

OK, so most of them are not-so-new.

I added some commentary to some older posts and put them up on this page for you.  You might find some information you may have forgotten or otherwise missed (probably because they are so damn long).  Anyway, it's worth a good read.

Please especially look at the Scientology/Spiritual Rights Foundation connection.  Tell me if that has any relation to your experiences with SRF.  A comment would be welcome and important.
I also found a web site for the hypnosis business of one of the current members of SRF.  I have nothing against her practising her craft for her own reasons and her own living.  In fact, I hope she does well - very well.  You might remember her - she's that woman at the well.  Although she and I had a perverse and troubled relationship, I think she has made a huge improvement with her life - and it's only partly due to hypnosis and not only do I wish her well, I am happy to see she is, well, happy.  If you know who I am talking about, look her up.  Of all the crazy stories we have from SRF, at least this one has turned out for the better.

Please take some time for a read of my re-purposed posts and make a comment of your own.  Or just take it all in.  I think it will all make the craziness of the Spiritual Rights Foundation make a little more sense.   It might even get you to think about your own successes in life now that you have found freedom.

Compare and Contrast

I'm going to point you guys to a post by my friend, Jeff Watts. He talks about the financial workings of the prototype model for the Spiritual Rights Foundation, The Berkeley Psychic Institute.

Jeff ran the accounting for BPI for some number of years. He saw the money come in and go out. In fact he saw every penny that came in and went out. Jeff has a Bachelor's in BizAd (all right, that means Business Administration - sheesh, try to save a few keystrokes...) and based on his direct experience with the BPI books and his BA in BizAd says:

"The Church of Divine Man has not to the best of my knowledge, ever mismanaged or done any illegal activity with its money."

Compare that statement to the things the members of the Spiritual Rights Foundation saw every day.

All I know about is that I and others gave money, labor and goods for the purchase and upkeep of the "SRF" farm in Bethel Island. We thought it was an SRF farm anyway. We all gave money to SRF, not Robin and Angela. We thought we were supporting SRF, not Robin and Angela. Our checks were written to "Spiritual Rights Foundation". Our cash was deposited into an SRF donation envelope and collected by an SRF staff member. We believed that farm was "the people's place" for retreats and peaceful meditation. We thought that farm belonged to the congregation.

It turns out, Robin Dumolin and Angela Silva own the "SRF" farm.  This is a fact.  My attorney and I both pulled up the official records from Contra Costa County in California.  The deed from the seller was written out to Robin and Angela.

The "SRF Farm" turned into Iraq. Endless amounts of labor and money, much of it straight from the members of SRF being dumped into a black hole on the Sacramento River Delta. I'll elaborate in another post (well, maybe - there are other things rolling around too).

Apparently, other former members of SRF are quietly speaking about other less-than-reputable activity going on there. If those activities are indeed true, SRF will have some explaining to do.

I'm not surprised. Bill related a story to me about the tax situation of a for-profit company operated by his wife. Bill said his wife was running in circles in a conniption over her company (Health and Wealth) having to pay income tax on its pitiful net profit. Bill's solution? Increase the company's donation to the Spiritual Rights Foundation so as to lower the company's income and avoid paying tax. Genius, isn't it? Give, Take and Cheat all at once!

He told me this story with great pride, saying it was a right to avoid paying taxes. I agree, the government does encourage all taxpayers to pay no more than their fair share (which is the smallest amount possible) - as long as you act within the law.

Maybe it's technically legal to make a donation to a non-profit to reduce your tax.

But donate from YOUR for-profit company to YOUR non-profit church? HUH?

How about it? Are there any other tales of SRF "ledger"-demain? Any other stories of the financial genius of Bill Duby?

Compare and Contrast Part Deux

You can draw your own conclusions from the below description of the woes the Church of Scientology is facing with the current woes of the Spiritual Rights Foundation.  

However, the parallels that appear between the situations at Scientology and SRF are remarkable and if I heard it right (my wife frequently says I don't, so let me know if that is the case) there is a similar situation happening at the Berkeley Psychic Institute.  Maybe the Psychdoctorate can help us understand if BPI is also feeling pressure.  

I imagine BPI is - they moved from that magnificent building in Downtown Berkeley to a commercial office space in a crappy part of town.  I would imagine that is a result of lower membership revenue or some other reduction in income, indicating less interest in BPI or what they have to offer.

If there are truly no accidents in the universe and there is no such thing as a coincidence, I'd say there is some kind of other-worldly, spiritual or divine presence at work here with three similar organizations experiencing similar woes at similar times.

Or, more likely, people are getting wise to them.

I'm going to keep up the pressure on the Spiritual Rights Foundation.  Our side of the SRF story will be available to all.

I'll give those who are looking to SRF for, well, whatever they are looking for, that opportunity for objectivity and the information they need to make a rational choice.

And I'll keep it up, no matter how many 20-something young women cry to their mommies, tell lies to their friends and act like Lindsey Lohan on drugs.

---------------------------------------------------

Here's an article on the dark times the Church of Scientology faces today:

Defections, court fights
test Scientology

By ERIC GORSKI, AP Religion Writer Eric Gorski,
Ap Religion Writer 2 hrs 16 mins ago

The Church of Scientology is going through a difficult season.

Over the course of two days last week, a French court convicted the church of fraud and Oscar-winning filmmaker Paul Haggis' resignation from the church over a litany of concerns was aired publicly. On one hand, it was just another bad press week for the embattled institution founded in 1953 by the late science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard.

But for former Scientologists and scholars of the movement, the setbacks pose a greater challenge coming on the heels of defections of top-level Scientologists who lifted a veil of secrecy on the organization and alleged a culture of violence and control under Hubbard's successor, David Miscavige.

"With any organization, the loss of a substantial number of your most experienced people and chaos at the upper levels is problematic," said David Bromley, a Virginia Commonwealth University professor who studies new religious movements and has written on Scientology. "There are PR implications, the possibility of legal actions ... That dwarfs the other things."

The church has strenuously denied the allegations against Miscavige, portraying the accusers as lying disgruntled ex-employees.

Church spokesman Tommy Davis said Scientology is flourishing, with more than 8,000 Scientology churches, missions and groups in 160-plus nations. He said assets and property holdings have doubled over the past five years, including a new church in Rome and another opening this weekend in Washington, D.C.

"From our perspective, things are going pretty great," Davis said. "In fact, that's downplaying it. Actually, what's happening with the church right now is frankly spectacular. To the degree there are these various things happening, it really is a lot of noise."

One major survey of American religion shows Scientology declining in the U.S., however. The estimated number of Americans who identify as Scientologists rose from 45,000 in 1990 to 55,000 in 2001, then plummeted to 25,000 in 2008, according to the American Religion Identification Survey.

Davis said that while the church avoids membership estimates, it's "absolutely in the millions" globally and growing in the U.S.

Scientology has long been controversial. The Internal Revenue Service granted the church tax exemption in 1993 after a nearly four-decade battle over whether it should be considered a religion.

Critics say Scientology is a business, preying on people by charging exorbitant sums for services.
The church continues to fascinate, fueled by interest in celebrity adherents such as Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Kirstie Alley, as well as beliefs that don't fit into typical American religious boxes.

Hubbard taught that the "thetan," the equivalent of a spirit, can be cleared of negative energy from this and previous lives through a process called auditing. With the aid of auditors, Scientologists seek a state called "Clear" and then advance through various levels of "Operating Thetan."

The allegations of violence were leveled by four former high-ranking Scientology executives who told their stories to the St. Petersburg Times last summer. The executives said they witnessed Miscavige, chairman of the board that oversees the church, hit staff members dozens of times and urged others to do the same.

Davis called the allegations "absolutely, unquestionably false" and "sickening and outrageous." ABC's "Nightline" aired a report this month covering much of the same ground.

To critics of Scientology and ex-members who have grown increasingly vocal in recent years, it's a breakthrough — critical voices from former members of the inner circle, not the media or outsiders.

"When you have dozens of people speaking out, it's no longer too credible to say they're all malcontents and criminals," said Jeff Hawkins, a former Scientology marketing guru who defected in 2005. "(The church) is either going to reform or collapse, and I think it's going to be the latter because they're incapable of reform or admitting any wrongdoing."

One defector, Marty Rathbun, who served on the church's board and was a top lieutenant of Miscavige's, said a growing movement of people hold to the tenets of Scientology, but reject the institutional church.

"I don't foresee another church," Rathbun said. "That was the first attack on me — that this was a coup, that I'm trying to tap a schism or start another church ... That's not an objective of mine or a positive way to go."

Haggis, the Oscar-winning director of "Crash," was not a high-ranking Scientologist. But his defection is significant, said actor Jason Beghe, who left the church in 2007 and has become a critic.

"He was somebody the Scientology community was proud of, and therefore I'm sure he helped hold some of their base in place," said Beghe, who appeared in the film "G.I. Jane" and TV's "Everwood" and is cast in Haggis' next film, now shooting in Pittsburgh. "Anybody who is a Scientologist is harboring doubts."

It was Rathbun who obtained a copy of Haggis' critical letter to Davis and posted it on his blog. Haggis complained that Davis didn't do enough to distance Scientology from proponents of California's gay marriage ban. He criticized the church's "smearing" of the high-level defectors.

The filmmaker also wrote about the church's practice of "disconnection," in which members cut off contact with loved ones who leave or advocate against the religion — something Davis said is not mandated.

A day after Haggis' letter went public, a Paris court convicted the Church of Scientology of fraud and fined it more than $900,000, but stopped short of banning the group's activities in France. The organization's French branch likened it to a modern-day Inquisition and said it would appeal.

Davis questioned the attention paid to the French verdict, saying that little notice was given when the church won court victories in Italy and Russia that cemented the church's presence in those countries.

He said the top-level defections are not troubling, but rather a gain for the church.

Some scholars of Scientology believe the recent setbacks are momentary.

Defectors are overly optimistic about doing any real damage, said J. Gordon Melton, director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion in Santa Barbara, Calif., and editor of a book on Scientology.

"If five cardinals walked out of the Roman Catholic Church and turned on it and said there are bad things happening, it'd be a storm, but the church would weather the storm," Melton said. "I think Scientology is big enough to where it can and will weather the storm."

Most religions, Scientology included, experience disagreement and leadership turmoil after a founder's death and survive, said Susan Palmer, a religious studies professor at Dawson College in Montreal.

"I think they'll end up like the Mormon church or Jehovah's Witnesses, that were very controversial in our time but now are largely accepted," Palmer said.

Others think the Church of Scientology is in trouble. Along with the defections and French court setback, Scientology has been unable to stop Internet leaks of confidential material that members must pay a premium for, said Hugh Urban, a professor in the department of comparative studies at Ohio State University.

"They're really losing what has been the bread and butter," Urban said.

Meanwhile, an online betting parlor is taking wagers on the next celebrity Scientologist to leave.

___

On the Net:

Church of Scientology International: http://www.scientologytoday.org/

Marty Rathbun's blog: http://markrathbun.wordpress.com/

Comments on the Academy for Psychic Studies Response

Well, it's been a year since the Spiritual Rights Foundation and the trained psychotics at their Academy for Psychic Studies have compelled us to display their response to this blog.

I've posted it. I've made my comments on it.

But in the year since, not a single person has made any kind of comment on it.

Why is that?

Possibly because it's a stinking heap of dung? Maybe it's an incomprehensible, rambling and pointless mess?

Or maybe they have a real point there?

The psychotics of the Academy for Psychic Studies tell us we are psychologically damaged, projecting our shortcomings and disappointments on poor little them. I see Robin Dumolin and Angela Silva dabbing their eyes as they claim they have done no harm to anyone and do not take advantage of anyone. How could anyone say they have ever done anything but benefit the lives of so many?

They tell us we who know the truth speak with the same forked tongue they use to deceive and exploit the remains of their followers.

They say we are the true demons for speaking the truth. They say we are hallucinating as we relate our own tales of abuse, exploitation and overall nasty treatment at their hands.

They still hold on to the delusion they have created such a fabulous life for so many. Can anyone say these Witches of Ellsworth are indeed Fairy Godmothers?

I don't know. Since I ask that you make up your own minds, I am posting the infamous "response" to this blog for your commentary.

Please be sure to have a bucket, bag or are close to the toilet as you read this. And remember that if you have a tender constitution, you may experience flashbacks, nightmares or other uncomfortable events as you read this. So please take care. Don't continue if you are prone to nausea.

Take a read of their sewage. Once you have slammed a bottle of Pepto, please leave your own commentary.  I would love to see it.

And enjoy Joy's Victory Video after you read.

====================================

Anonymous Bag of Shit Cult Goon said...

THE SPIRITUAL RIGHTS FOUNDATION RESPONSE
TO
MICHAEL KAWAHARA AND JOY FAITH BUTLER

The Spiritual Rights Foundation was founded in 1981. Since its inception, thousands of seeking souls have come through its doors. For some seekers, SRF was a brief sojourn on their path, for others, an abiding spiritual home.

For those who have come and gone, SRF has nothing but good wishes, understanding that those who left found what they needed and then journeyed on. Some former students of SRF have gone on to be spiritual guides and teachers in their own right, and many of those still maintain a warm and nourishing connection with SRF. On the other hand, a small number who have left SRF have expressed hostility and anger toward SRF after leaving. Some have made the most outrageous and fantastic claims against SRF.

The anger that some former students expressed after leaving SRF is akin to the anger that some children express as they separate from a parent that nurtured and supported them. The process of separation is necessary for some souls, and, unfortunately, separation can be messy as it involves all kinds of justifications and projections.

Spiritual teachers are subjected to all manner of projections from their students. Students project their higher selves as well as their shadows onto their teacher. Discerning students recognize that they are projecting their own psychic wounds on to the teacher. These students continue to grow and mature. Some students do not understanding the phenomenon of projection and believe that what they are seeing in the teacher is really inherent in the teacher. These students can become stuck in their confusion and anger and, as a result, fail to progress.

The late Rev. Bill, the founder of SRF, was the recipient all kinds of projections from his students. Rev. Bill was an iconoclast who refused to be held to a particular form. He was a spiritual teacher that never conformed to the stereotypical image that people hold of a spiritual teacher. As a flame can illuminate one’s path or burn one’s hand, so was Rev. Bill. He was challenging to some because he confronted students who tried to hide behind false conceptions and worn-out ways of being. For those who knew and understood him, Rev. Bill was a guiding light on their path to Truth.

Some of Rev. Bill’s former students had difficulty in assimilating his teachings, and in understanding who he was. In order to justify leaving SRF, these students painted a picture of Rev. Bill as a dangerous man. However, these students failed to grasp that the image they painted was simply a projection from their own psyche. They failed to realize that the real danger lies in not understanding that what they have projected onto Rev. Bill is the picture of their own unresolved inner wounds.

Many charges and wild allegations have been hurled at Rev. Bill and SRF by a small–but vocal--group of former students. Rev. Bill cannot defend against the charges, and SRF chooses not to do so. For those who believe the wild stories told by some former students, nothing SRF can say will change they minds. SRF invites those who want to see the truth with their own eyes to come, take a look at SRF’s work, meet the current students and teachers, listen to the teachings, and then to listen to the teaching that comes from their own hearts.
July 17, 2009 11:37 AM

========================================

Comments from the original post (which has nothing at all to do with the above).


Anonymous said...
Here is a scene that is an example of what Mike is talking about:

Bill Duby, the cult leader, went on for hours, talking about me in the third person to the class about how sick my soul was and comparing me to others who “stole money” from SRF and who were now “asleep,” or in other words, in a state of spiritual death.

He painted all those who had left SRF as having fallen into karmic ruin, or as power-tripping fools whom he had completely defeated mentally, or as people who had basically become psychologically debilitated or insane from messing with the teaching.

When we heard this, part of us was vengefully delighted that we were doing so much better than those who had left, and the other part of us was full of dread and determined to never suffer such an unthinkable fate.

Rev. Bill often said, “I am happier here in my misery as a prisoner of the teaching than most of you are in you freedom.”

During his usual monologue, he occasionally got Rev. Ang and Robin to say something devastating about me, and sometimes addressed me directly for an answer.

They went on to tell their plans of what they were going to do with me. As they talked about me in the third person, I found some distance between myself and them. I was shaken beyond my capacity and knew this was not right. I knew at this point that I would have to leave.

The thoughts of the horror and hatefulness of the place were growing stronger in my mind, but concurrently I still thought Rev. Bill was an authority and that he had spiritual power. It was strange how the two antagonistic thought patterns coexisted in my mind.

Because I still feared Rev. Bill as an authority, I was deeply doubtful and concerned about my own moral standing with God. This is where the two diametrically opposed thought patterns started to merge and I would have to sort it out, one painful, fear-filled thought at a time. I was desperate. I had to find a way out of this nightmare.
July 16, 2009 1:46 AM


Mike Kawahara said...
Thanks Steve.

You spoke out about your experience and revealed the truth about the abuse, lies and cruelty you endured. By doing that, we have seen you regain your life and find the strength to continue.

I found Steve and others who have been candid about their experiences with SRF and have been open and communicative about their disappointments, anger, frustrations and guilt were more able to find healing and recovery - things they longed to receive from the very cult that abused them.

To stay silent about the abuse is the beginning of a long, difficult road.

To maintain the lie, to keep up appearances, to "fake it until you make it" works like a Vycodin for your soul. You might feel good for a while - a long while even. But that issue remains, the pain returns and you'll need another dose - putting you on the destructive cycle of pain and healing SRF used to exploit and control you.

Staying silient about your plight continues the SRF trademark of hypnotic control, leading to the death of your soul and the elimination of your spirit for life (YOUR life).

To speak out may be rocky at first, but with the support of others who share your experience, you will find the road will be easier to navigate.

You will find you can life your life and enjoy it. You can live your life without fear.

Please see my post about our pledge.

Our hands are open and the coffee pot is on. And we won't make you pay for a cup.

I'll even pick up a nice, fresh bag of Peet's for you and a dozen Krispy Kremes.

Joy makes some mean baklava as well. It's all yours.
July 16, 2009 2:10 PM


Marilyn Daily Junkins said...
I left SRF 19 years ago after 7 years of tyranny.

The last two years, after I was "ordained" were brutal, horrific years of shame and torture where I felt I was living in two worlds without anyone to whom I could really talk; who could really understand what I was going through.

I knew I couldn't speak with Angela, Robin, Debi or Bill ... they would only make me feel worse, or demand money to heal me. What a relief when I left SRF and discovered my own inner healing over time. Even after all this time, I was so glad to find Mike and Joy's blogs and to learn that I was not alone in my experience.

Thank God the two of you, Steve, and Mason, all had the courage to speak of your experiences and free yourselves from the bondage of Bill's mind. I hope that the others still there can find the way out and SRF can be disbanded without ruining any more lives.

Friend me at Facebook to get my email address.

Questions waiting for answers

I've spoken to many ex-members of SRF. All of them have the same thing to say: "I just can't figure out why those people left are not leaving."

I can't either.

But let's look at how the membership of this dysfunctional and valueless organization has changed over the years.

In its heyday, the SRF membership was some 35 staff ministers and ministers in training. There were nearly that many casual members taking six-week classes, psychic readings and enjoying the healing clinics.

These members were dedicated. They toiled night and day performing manual construction labor, writing, creating audio and video recordings, and always learning and learning. Oh, and paying too. Paying the fees for classes and materials, paying the tithe that was strongly suggested of them. Paying for the recorded materials they created. And throughout it all, none of them could imagine life without the spiritual comforts of the Spiritual Rights Foundation and its leaders.

But over time, people began to see that the Emperor (and Empresses) had no clothes. One woman left because of a dispute over her inheritance (a situation similar to my own). Others left because of the crushing financial demands or the oppressive demands for free labor and the endless requirement for classes, workshops and special sessions.


A brave group of men and women left the Spiritual Rights Foundation because of the demands made by the leadership to end their church-arranged marriages or relinquish custody of their children (and end their parent-child relationship as well). When they refused, the leader conducted a campaign to discredit those people and created a campaign of manufactured and false claims of child abuse against one such parent.

Dissatisfaction happens in all organizations, even those that are well operated. At SRF, the number of people leaving had nearly well equaled the number who stayed. Historically, that was fine. There were many people interested in the cult. The leaders were quick to identify and rope in the ones they wanted to stay.

But at some point the numbers started to dwindle. I think it began to happen about the time the fathers of children born into the cult started to stand up for the rights of their children.

This group of dissident dads fighting for the freedom of their children were originally some of the most devoted and faithful of the followers. They would have never dreamt that they would someday fight against the very church they were so devoted to. But fight they did, as they must.
At that time, the mind control perpetuated by Bill Duby began to wane. Bill was fighting a war on many fronts for his public image as well as for control over the people remaining at his cult. Even for Bill, it was an impossible task. This fight wore him down to the point where he couldn't keep up. Bill eventually died suddenly from a cardiac arrest.

Bill's death at first solidified his cult. But only for a short time. The hairline cracks in Bills armor began to expand. The house of cards he built teetered. Many of this followers began to question his particular brand of spirituality. And many more began to understand that without the overbearing and unrestrained tirades of Bill Duby the feet of SRF were built of clay. And it was time to make an exit.

From the time of Bill's death in 2001 to today, the membership of SRF has declined significantly. It looks to me to be well over half. In fact, one estimate is that only 16 staff ministers remain at the Spiritual Rights Foundation. Estimates by myself and others indicate that at least double the number of present ministers are needed to continue a thriving operation. And as there are as few as two non-ministers in the congregation, the size of the congregation has dwindled from a roar of enthusiastic young people to a mere whisper of those in middle-age.

Tasks that were simple and quick to accomplish when Bill was alive became excruciating (or even impossible) today. In the early days, only minor errors were made in the web site and publications. Today, there are numerous omissions, errors and other shortcomings with their public communications. Events of months past still appear on the web sites, future events are sloppily described and appear to have been posted in haste. Descriptions of classes and workshops are sketchy and even more ambiguous than usual.

The American Spirit Newspaper, once the pride of the Spiritual Rights Foundation is no longer published in print form. The web version still displays a Happy New Year message for 2008. SRF's "Paranormal Connection" television broadcasts (available on Public Access Cable TV) has only a few shows, broadcast over and over again. There's not enough people remaining to record any more shows than that.

The slow decline of the Spiritual Rights Foundation is already starting. I think the slope will just get steeper and steeper.

If I could talk to those who remain, I wouldn't corner them in a basement and demand they leave the cult. I'd just ask them a few short questions.


Questions like:

- How much of your life have you missed?

- Would you want to spend your remaining days on earth for the benefit of you and yours?

- Are you willing to spend your time on earth for someone else's benefit and wealth at the expense of your own benefit and wealth?

- If you could live your life any way you wanted, would you do it? Can you do it now?

- If you could have more in your life than you have now, would you want it?

- Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired?

- Who's projecting their spiritual shortcomings on you?


And most of all:

- Don't you deserve more than the life you have now?



Of course, if I asked these questions, the SRF-ies would respond with a stern look and beating on the head with Bill Duby's "Cosmic Acid" as directed by the leadership.

But why don't you ask the SRF faithful? Or better yet, if you happen to be one of the remaining SRF faithful, ask yourself those questions. And leave a comment with your answers. We would be thrilled to see them.