

Rod Keller keeps an eye on Scientology’s sneaky front groups like the ‘Volunteer Ministers,’ who always try to take advantage of human tragedy…

Twenty-two people were killed by a bomb at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England on Monday night, prompting Scientology Volunteer Ministers to rush into action. Late last year SAVE (Scientology Aid Volunteers England) and Executive Director Neil Martland received the donation of a used Ford Transit van, which they have painted to resemble an emergency vehicle with “Mobile Support Unit” and “Something Can Be Done About It” on the sides and back.








On Tuesday members rushed to local Adsa and Tesco grocery stores to request donations of food and water to be brought to emergency workers at the bombing site. Officers didn’t appear too receptive, however.







With donated food and water not being needed, Scientology turned instead to literature distribution. The Way to Happiness booklet by L. Ron Hubbard is held by Scientology to be a cure-all for social unrest. As Hubbard wrote “All you have to do is keep that booklet flowing in the society. Like gentle oil spread upon the raging sea, the calm will flow outward and outward.” The response from Mancunians to the Scientologists was mixed, with some appearing enthusiastic in photos and others hiding their faces from the camera.











We asked a former staff member about the booklet and its purpose.

“The Way to Happiness became a huge money spinner and management realized that asking people for money for booklets after a tragedy (flood, fire, disaster, war, etc.) was easier than just asking for straight donations from people. It’s always easy to get people to part with money if you push the button of tragedy and immediate need for relief and the book became the perfect tool for this.”







The Way to Happiness is supposed to be an independent organization within Scientology, but in Manchester we see Volunteer Ministers distributing the booklet.

“I always got so confused between TWTH and VMs who are supposed to be the people on the ground delivering help and solutions using the various VM Handbook tools. It seemed like TWTH and VM lines became blurred at some point and they even started pushing TWTH from the VM Cavalcade program but in fact the two are totally separate activities.”

The booklet consists of 21 precepts about how to have a happy life. Why is it appropriate in cases like the Manchester bombing?

“I always thought it rather incongruous handing someone who’d just suffered terrible loss or tragedy a WTH booklet with precepts like ‘Love and Honor Your Parents’ or ‘Be Industrious’ to someone who’s just lost his entire house and livelihood in a flood or hurricane or similar. At the end of the day, it boils down to the money. The tragedy is just another convenient tool for the church to use to guilt people into coughing up money.”

Scientologists donate $18 per bundles of 12 booklets, which cost the church a very small fraction of that to print, since they own modern printing plants in the U.S. and Europe.







The new front group STAND (Scientologists Taking Action Against Discrimination) took time out from bashing Leah Remini and others appearing in the A&E show Scientology and the Aftermath to issue a video in support of the Manchester Victims. As of this writing the video has received 38 views.



— Rod Keller



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Bonus items



David Miscavige made yet another appearance yesterday to open a new building for the Church of Scientology. This was the new “Ideal Org” in Copenhagen, which already has an “Advanced Org.” Scientology says 2,500 people showed up, so if we divide by the usual factor of 7, there were probably more like 400 in attendance.









Yesterday we featured some pages from the newest Source magazine. One thing we didn’t mention is that a man named Eiman Rahnama from Los Angeles was held up as someone who had signed on for the most expensive auditing level of all — OT 7. And just after a week into his OT 7 experience, he met and later got engaged to someone we know here at the Bunker very well, the glamorous Meghan Fialkoff, who, with her father, Queens dentist Bernard Fialkoff, infiltrates New York City schools to push Scientology’s controversial anti-drug theories. Well, we wish the best for OT 7 Eiman and Freedom Medal winner Meghan.







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Countdown to Denver!







HowdyCon 2017: Denver, June 23-25 at the Residence Inn Denver City Center. Go here to start making your plans.



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Posted by Tony Ortega on May 28, 2017 at 07:00

E-mail tips and story ideas to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.

Our book, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information about the book, and our 2015 book tour, can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.

The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2016 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Undergound Bunker (2012-2016), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…

BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of L.A. attorney and former church member Vance Woodward

UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists

GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice

SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts

Other links: Shelly Miscavige, ten years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | Scientology’s Private Dancer | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | Scientology boasts about assistance from Google | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Our Guide to Alex Gibney’s film ‘Going Clear,’ and our pages about its principal figures…

Jason Beghe | Tom DeVocht | Sara Goldberg | Paul Haggis | Mark “Marty” Rathbun | Mike Rinder | Spanky Taylor | Hana Whitfield