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Escape
is a Christian ministry founded by Bonnie and
myself in 1992 primarily to help families who
have loved ones involved in Scientology. We were
both former members. Bonnie had spent eight years
as a member in the USA and managed to escape in
1981. She had reached the ‘higher levels’
and was a committed member of the organisation,
working for them at their headquarters in Los
Angeles, California, USA.
A serious illness, aggravated
by the extreme working conditions, required major
surgery and this proved to be the catalyst by
which she was able to escape. I was a public scientologist
at the time and was instrumental in ensuring enough
time was given to Bonnie out of the grasp of the
organisation for a complete recovery from surgery
and a resumption to a normal life.
We eventually married and
left the USA to live in England. However it wasn’t
until some ten years after leaving the cult that
our lives changed dramatically when we both became
committed Christians. We both felt that God had
placed a calling on our lives to help families
and loved ones involved in Scientology and formed
an organisation called ESCAPE.
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Since
then we have helped over seven hundred families
and individuals in providing positive strategies
and advice in order to overcome the many complex
situations that derive from cultic behaviour.
Without any help, the majority all too often find
it a long and painful road to travel ending in
turmoil, enstrangement, and sometimes disaster.
Our objective is to address the difficult and
often misunderstood implications surrounding a
loved one becoming involved in Scientology. Our
advice in most cases is to be active and not passive.
We believe in part, that an active role is first
achieved by insisting that the organisation act
in a responsible and moral way towards families
and their members. Also there should be accountabilty
for any damage caused, not only to the member
involved, but to the whole family. We consider
it the right of all families concerned to be able
to do this without the fear or threat of damaging
any future relationship with the member.
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