Based upon Scientology’s cynical disaster capitalism following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America, we predict what Scientology will do in the aftermath of the massive and most destructive wildfires in the history of Los Angeles. Scientology applies its same money-grabbing strategy to all natural disasters, mass shootings, and any other crisis.

Two years after the terrorist attacks by al-Qaeda on America on September 11, 2001, Scientologist Tom Cruise and the Church of Scientology founded a front group called the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project. 

The goal of this project was threefold:

A. To sell a rebranded version of Scientology’s Purification Rundown to firefighters and first responders and use this as a launchpad to sell the program to the general public.

B. To use Tom Cruise’s celebrity, and that of Scientology’s other celebrities, to lobby for government agencies to recognize the Scientology program as a valid medical program. This required the recruitment of many cooperative NYFD personnel, both active duty and retired. A Scientology celebrity charm offensive was launched to recruit firefighters. These cooperative firefighters did the Purification Rundown, which was rebranded as a secular treatment misleadingly called the “Hubbard Program.”

C. Scientology celebrities, paid lobbyists, and the firefighters would then lobby to get the Hubbard Program formally recognized as a valid medical treatment. Such recognition would then be used to compel government agencies and health insurers to pay for the treatment. As a result, Scientology could force the issue across America and make a fortune selling and delivering its program in its “licensed and approved detox centers.”

The Bottom Line: Tom Cruise and the Church of Scientology were engaging in disaster capitalism in order to enrich a malicious and greedy cult whose sole goals are the acquisition of ever-increasing sums of money, power, influence, and control over all areas of human existence.

Scientology made a similar effort to force L. Ron Hubbard’s “Study Tech” into public schools as part of the approved curriculum. 

“The Purif” as it is called, places participants in a sauna for five hours a day in order to sweat; this is usually done an hour at a time with breaks to rehydrate. Participants takes megadoses of niacin, B1, and cold pressed oils. Between their periods in the sauna, participants run on a treadmill and shower. 

L. Ron Hubbard designed the Purification Rundown. Hubbard claimed that toxins and drug residues were stored in body fat and causes lethargy, mental fog, decreased energy and focus, and other debilitating conditions. Hubbard’s answer was to have people sweat out their stored drugs and toxins by using the protocol he created for the Purif.

The Purification Rundown has no fixed time limit. Participants remain in the Purif until they self-attest that they feel cleansed of all stored toxins.

As has been widely documented, megadoses of niacin can cause extreme damage and even death. The Mayo Clinic on niacin toxicity:

Niacin overdose is unlikely if you take niacin only in the amount prescribed by your healthcare professional. You can’t overdose on niacin by eating too many niacin-rich foods. But taking too much over-the-counter or prescription niacin can be dangerous.

Symptoms of a niacin overdose include:

• Severe skin flushing combined with dizziness.
• Rapid heartbeat.
• Itching.
• Nausea and vomiting.
• Abdominal pain.
• Diarrhea.
• Gout.
• Rash.

If you think you may have overdosed, seek medical attention right away. |

Because niacin has been linked to liver damage and strokes, most healthcare professionals now recommend it only for people who can’t take statins to treat high triglyceride levels.

The New York Times, October 4, 2003: Scientologist’s Treatment Lure Firefighters.

Based upon what Tom Cruise and Scientology attempted to do in New York City after 9/11, here is what we predict Scientology will do in terms of disaster capitalism in the aftermath of the LA wildfires: 

1. Use social media to promote the idea that the LA wildfires have left the bodies of Angelenos contaminated with a dangerous level of toxins. The toxins are stored in body fat and everyone is at risk of disease and even death.

2003: Tom Cruise sponsored and launched the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project along with the Church of Scientology for two reasons. First, Cruise was openly promoting Scientology. Second, Cruise was working with Scientology to accomplish its goal of getting government agencies to give the Purification Rundown legitimacy by paying for it as an approved medical treatment.

2. Publish and distribute printed copies and online copies of pseudoscientific studies and paid “experts” to support the claim of toxins stored in fat. Attend targeted trade shows, community groups, and legal hearings to distribute this literature. We have posted one such study (scroll down to read the PDF) used by a Scientology front group following 9/11. This piece is designed to look like a professional firefighting journal named Fire Engineering. However, it is advertising done under the color of pseudoscience.

Tom Cruise and his then-wife Katie Holmes arrive at the 2007 the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project Benefit Dinner at Altman Building in New York.

3. Sell its Narconon Purification Rundown under many names, front groups, and businesses in order to distance Scientology from it.  The term “Detoxification” will be heavily marketed.  Following 9/11, Scientology produced the propaganda piece we referenced in point 2. This propaganda euphemistically called Scientology’s Purification Rundown “the Hubbard Program” to distance any connection to the Church of Scientology.  

Scientologists Grant Cardone and Danny Masterson worked with Tom Cruise at the 2007 New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project fundraiser. 

4. Recruit cooperative LAFD firefighters, both active and retired, and other first responders to do the Purification Rundown for a consideration (cash). In exchange, these firefighters become paid operatives who will serve as PR people. Their job will be to promote Scientology’s detoxification program to other firefighters and the public. The attempt at persuasion here is obvious: If professional firefighters and first responders are doing this,  then you can trust their testimony and do the program for yourself.

Scientologists Danny Masterson and Michael Pena at the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project fundraiser hosted by Tom Cruise. Masterson’s mother and fellow Scientologist Carol Masterson is seen in the background.

Scientologists Jenna and Bodhi Elfman with an NYFD Officer at the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project fundraiser hosted by Tom Cruise.

4A: These testimonies will be published. In the 9/11 testimonials, firefighters incredibly claimed to have expelled colored poop that smelled like smoke as a result of doing Scientology’s Tom Cruise sponsored detox program:

5. The program will be sold for ~$3,000 – $12,000 depending upon its length, location, and what the market will bear in a given area.

6. Scientology front groups will make every lobbying effort possible to get governments, relief agencies, medical insurers, and charitable foundations to pay for the Purification Rundown because people affected by the fires likely will not have the money to pay for the program in cash. The victims need their money to rebuild or relocate.   

6A. Scientology’s celebrities will be used in PR, lobbying efforts, and fundraising campaigns.

7. The Purif will be used to recruit people into Dianetics in order to handle their trauma from the wildfires. Upon doing a few Dianetics course, they will be quickly informed that it is Scientology and that Scientology is the only thing that can save them from their ruin. 

8. Scientology will never disclose the secret L. Ron Hubbard OT Teaching: The B1 and niacin used in the Purification Rundown allows a person’s body thetans to “drop out of restimulation.” Hubbard wrote that the calming of one’s body thetans, in turn, allows a person to calm down and achieve case gain, i.e. to feel better. We document this in our article The Real Truth of Scientology’s Narconon Drug Treatment Program is Body Thetans.  L. Ron Hubbard writing in OT4: 

Scientology’s 911 front group journal on “the Hubbard Program”: 

David Miscavige issued his insane and self-serving “Wake Up Call” on September 11, 2001. We discuss this in the live stream video: