Ron Miscavige Says Son Changed After Joining Scientology: Part 2

behold his mighty have miracles as commonly understood in the judeo-christian tradition are not a big part of Scientology theology a modern doctrine which draws not from ancient scripture but instead from the mind of its founder the science fiction writer l ron Hubbard this is the critically panned movie version of Hubbard's novel Battlefield Earth it starred noted Scientologist John Travolta send some guards out around them up but back in New Jersey Ron Miscavige says something close to what Christians might call faith healing occurs in 1969 that's when he takes his under sized asthmatic nine-year-old son David for his first session of auditing a kind of Scientology counseling about 45 minutes later David walks out smiling bright it's what happened he's his dad it's handled so your view at the time was that his asthma was cured by by Scientology let's put it this way it mitigated it considerably I think it was at that moment that he decided he's going to do something with this so you think that was the key turning point in his whole life I know it I know it according to Ron this moment is a sort of conversion experience for the entire family now everybody starts studying Scientology with David setting himself apart as something of a prodigy what do you think it was getting out of it satisfaction that he was helping somebody did to my convolutions by the year 1975 Ron's music career hits a high note he even puts out this rather groovy album while David's Scientology career is really taking off he's now a young Auditor and he decides to join the church's priestly order the C organization or C or the group's distinctive look metals gold ribbons and dressed White's were modeled in part on Hubbard's own time in the US Navy he's I want to go and help l ron Hubbard and I thought to myself hey I'd be pretty proud of him sighs okay I'll help you whatever I can David heads to Scientology's spiritual headquarters in Clearwater Florida which involves signing a billion-year contract meaning you agree to work for the Sea Org in your future lives while in Clearwater he meets Lois restore who says she recruits David to join the Commodores messenger organization l ron Hubbard's personal elite unit within the Sea Org he was very if I could say um gungho had a lot of spark when he was 16 he was a climber he wanted to be its top and he gained a reputation of being really tough like you didn't mess with him pretty soon David finds himself in the orbit of the founder l ron Hubbard who has gone from writing science fiction to writing volumes of sacred Scientology texts teenage David moves west without his family where Hubbard sometimes known by his initials LRH is building secret new bases and shooting Scientology training films Dave ended up being a cameraman but in the beginning we used to call him the kid and loh would call him the kid while Ron Miscavige is back east selling cookware and cutlery what his son is doing during this period of time is a matter of intense dispute the church is adamant that Hubbard decided early that David Miscavige would eventually succeed him then never ever was any doubt whatsoever that mr. Hubbard intended mr. David Miscavige to be the leader of religion after he departed his life that's not how Louis Restore remembers it she says Hubbard wanted the church to be run by a committee after he died not one person but raised Dorf says after Hubbard goes into seclusion in 1980 Miscavige's influence and power grow unchecked as he evolves from the Commodores messenger into a gatekeeper he started to get power and started to pull in people onto his side and it ended up being like a coup where you had half of the management took over and kicked out the other half Rees Dorf says she is part of that other half and that she's relieved of her executive duties it was a betrayal in the book you say that your son really developed a taste for power in the Sea Org there were no checks and balances on him at a certain point where he could just go ahead he just assumed that power the church says neither Louis Ruiz Dorf who they say was expelled in 1982 by Hubbard personally nor Ron have first-hand knowledge of these events instead they point out that during this time period Ron is dealing with his own serious issues in 1985 Ron is arrested in Pennsylvania and charged with attempted rape which Ron says is a case of mistaken identity david arranges for his father's defense he said listen you're not on your own they're gonna take on the old Church of Scientology the charges are dropped after a pre-trial hearing and after it's all over Ron says he owes it to the church to join the Sea Org himself I could have possibly been convicted of something that I didn't do and end up going to jail I feel after helped him David told him that his father needed to turn his life around despite the fact that in a 2012 article in the Philadelphia Enquirer the church called Ron the victim in this case Scientology officials are now playing a different tune accusing Ron of deliberately playing down the seriousness of the charges the church has gone from calling Ron Miscavige a victim in the words of the church to now raising questions about whether he's whitewashing the whole thing so the only thing that's changed between now and then that I'm aware of is that Ron decided write a book well it's not just that he decided to write a book he decided to tell a false story what is not in dispute is that in 1985 Ron moves to California divorces his wife and Don's the uniform of the Sea Org and Ron says shortly after coming aboard he sees that his son has changed and I saw him I his hey Dave and he turned to me and he looked at me like who are you talking to no words were said but that glance told me those days were over I would never I could never do that as a father to a son in 1986 David Miscavige announces a seismic event for the l ron Hubbard has died the being we knew as l ron Hubbard still exists however the body he had could no longer serve his purposes the next year David officially becomes the head of the church taking the title chairman of the board he is now alone at the top from now on he will be the star of the church's olympic-sized celebration he will lead the church through some of its greatest triumphs like winning its tax-exempt status the IRS issued letters recognizing Scientology and every one of its organizations has fully captured Jim and he will spearhead the charge to bring celebrities into the fold were you around when Tom was joining the church and was it a high priority for your son it was top priority

Channel: ABC News

Views: 279,873

Rating: 4.7695475 out of 5

Keywords: Scientology, David, Miscavige, Ron, Hubbard, Auditing, Church, of, Religion, ABC, News, 20/20

Id: GXyI0x3A0NM

Length: 8min 0sec (480 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 30 2016