July 8 is Scientology’s worst day. September is its worth month. These are dates we’ve tracked for fifteen years now. Please feel free to add additional July 8 dates in the comments.

This is your opportunity to be an Agent of Karma by working to expose the Church of Scientology on 7/8/2020.

July 8 in Scientology History:

1. July 8, 1943: L.Ron Hubbard is formally relieved of command of the USS PC-815 for firing on a Mexican island and anchoring in Mexican waters without orders. His last day of command was July 7, 1943.

2. July 8, 1959: In HCO Bulletin Technically Speaking, Hubbard wrote “The whole Christian movement is based on the victim…Christianity succeeded by making people into victims. We can succeed by making victims into people.”

3. July 8, 1977: Scientology LA and DC offices raided by the FBI in the largest FBI raids in US history.

July 8, 1977: FBI Agents Raid the Church of Scientology for Domestic Espionage. This remains the largest-ever FBI raid in US history.

4. July 8, 1988: The IRS’s Final Adverse Ruling in which The Church of Spiritual Technology is denied IRS tax exemption.

5. July 8 2002: Lawsuit Against Narconon: Kevin Carter alleges that Narconon Southern and Does 1 to 20 was the legal (proximate) cause of damages to Plaintiff. By the following acts or omissions to act, Defendant negligently caused the damage to Plaintiff on July 8, 2002 or after at Narconon facility at 17350 South Highway 79, Warner Springs CA.

6. July 8, 2006: Dr. Donna Shannon and her husband Michael Shannon leave the Church of Scientology.

7. July 8, 2006: 52 year old Scientologist Michael Fitzgerald arrested for assaulting Scientology critic Shawn Lonsdale in Clearwater.

8. July 8, 2006: Protestors picketed the Scientology offices in St. Louis, Missouri.

9. July 8, 2007: A Sydney woman charged with murdering her father and sister and seriously injuring her mother was apparently denied psychiatric treatment because of her parents’ alleged Scientology beliefs, a court has been told.

10. Jason Beghe’s story airs on TodayTonight in Australia on July 8, 2008

11. Anonymous protest of NYC Org on July 8, 2008.

12. July 8, 2009: Hacker World Topic: Why is Google’s AdSense doing the bidding of Scientology? Hacker World Complains: “We’ve had a hell of a time getting Scientology ads out of our backfill adsense. They show on feeds, in content, on forums, etc. The competitive ad filters don’t seem to be working either (or we’re total morons who can’t figure out ad domains).”

13. July 8 2010: Today/Tonight Australia. An expose on how the Cult harasses journalists:

14. July 8, 2010: OC Weekly newspaper article: OC Church of Scientology Needs to Work on their Proselytizing

15. July 8, 2012: Katie Holmes, Tom Cruise Trying to Avoid Court, Settlement Talks ‘Ongoing’

16. July 8, 2012: Shock Alliance: Farrakhan Praises Integration of Scientology Into Nation of Islam Theology, Says Whites Should Use it to Become ‘Civilized’ & to Avoid Being ‘Devil Christians’ & ‘Satan Jews’

17. July 8, 2013: David Miscavige’s twin sister Denise Gentile pleads guilty to Lesser Charge, Pays Fines. Denise in her mugshot:

18. July 8, 2013: Scientology OTV and Ponzi King Reed Slatkin Paroled from Prison.

19. July 8, 2013: Leah Remini publicly departs the Church of Scientology. Leah’s left with her family intact. Leah is one of our heroes. Her escape from Scientology received global media coverage.

20. July 8, 2014: Tony Ortega reports that Las Vegas attorney Ryan Hamilton has filed 16 lawsuits against Scientology’s Narconon drug treatment

21. July 8, 2015 UPI Reports: Leah Remini gets support from Jennifer Lopez after leaving Scientology.

22. July 8, 2015: New York Times article: Hired Hacker Who Named Clients Now Fears Retaliation. The story of Eric Saldarriaga, a New York private investigator who was sentenced to serve time in a US Federal prison for hacking dozens e-mail accounts including those of Tony Ortega and Mike Rinder.

23. July 8, 2017: Ron Miscavige delivers a lecture in Milwaukee about his best-selling book Ruthless: Scientology My Son David Miscavige and Me.

24. July 8, 2017: Scientology and the Spoonbenders:Jon Atack on a previously unpublished Ingo Swann essay

25. July 8, 2018: Amy Zimmerman of the Daily Beast exclusively reports: How the Church of Scientology Went After Danny Masterson’s Rape Accusers.

26. From Mike Rinder’s blog: July 8, 2018 is the deadline for Scientologists in Denver to answer a Summons to report to Ethics for an investigation into disaffection being spread in the field (local Denver area). David Miscavige is afraid:

27. July 8, 2018: From Tony Ortega’s blog: Masterson witness fears for safety as investigation drags on and on.

28. July 8, 2019: Leah Remini on the cover of US Weekly. The magazine does a story on the many legal problems facing the Church of Scientology. Now that Danny Masterson has been formally charged, there is a risk to certain Scientology celebrities of being called to testify under oath in the criminal trial of Masterson.

29. July 8/9 2020 (Accounting for the International Dateline). Bryan Seymour’s 10-part documentary Scientology: Black Ops streams on July 9 in Australia. The broadcast was likely killed by Tommy Davis and Tom Cruise using their friendship with Kerry Packer. Tony Ortega on the story.

UPDATE: In a dark coda to this story, the worst day for Scientology in 2020, at least so far, was not July 8 but July 12. Kelly Preston died of breast cancer on July 12, 2020.

On the same day as Preston’s death, Lisa Marie Presley’s son Benjamin Keough tragically took his own life at age 27. Tony Ortega on Ben’s death:

Immediately after the news of Keough’s death began to spread yesterday, we were hearing from readers who wanted to know what his involvement in Scientology was, and we have some background on that and a report from a close family friend who tells us that just two months ago they heard Benjamin complaining about how much kids who grew up in Scientology were “fucked up” by it.