Mona Vasquez
Encyclopedia
Mona Vasquez was a Scientologist in the 1980s and active in Scientology
's headquarters in Europe, in Copenhagen
. She went on a hunger strike
in August 1989 at Scientology's offices in Paris
when she wanted to quit the program, in order to get her money back. She did receive almost €60,000 back from Scientology.
. I read all kinds of books and the first contact was done thus, in 1982. I saw nothing suspicious and the brainwashing started." There, she says, she become part of an organisation under "tight control... from the mother church". She says she attempted to leave three times in this period, always coming back. After being convicted of making illegal loans, which she argued had been encouraged by Scientology, she was set free from jail on the condition that she not attempt to contact members of the Scientology organisation. She finally rejected Scientology. With money tight, she sought the return of money she had paid to Scientology for books and training courses. After a ten day hunger strike in Paris in August 1989 covered by Antenne 2
, the Scientology organization returned around ₣100,000 of her money to her.
Since then, she has testified before the Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France, and continued to paint and write.
Scientology
Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard , starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics...
's headquarters in Europe, in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
. She went on a hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
in August 1989 at Scientology's offices in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
when she wanted to quit the program, in order to get her money back. She did receive almost €60,000 back from Scientology.
Experiences with Scientology
Vasquez says she was initially introduced to Scientology by reading a friend's books."The first time where I was challenged by the sect, it was by a friend. I was at the end of my second year in Art school in ToulouseToulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
. I read all kinds of books and the first contact was done thus, in 1982. I saw nothing suspicious and the brainwashing started." There, she says, she become part of an organisation under "tight control... from the mother church". She says she attempted to leave three times in this period, always coming back. After being convicted of making illegal loans, which she argued had been encouraged by Scientology, she was set free from jail on the condition that she not attempt to contact members of the Scientology organisation. She finally rejected Scientology. With money tight, she sought the return of money she had paid to Scientology for books and training courses. After a ten day hunger strike in Paris in August 1989 covered by Antenne 2
France 2
France 2 is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ô...
, the Scientology organization returned around ₣100,000 of her money to her.
Since then, she has testified before the Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France, and continued to paint and write.
Publications
- Satan Created the Cult: Memoirs of an escapee, La Secte: El Satan crea la secte: Memoires d'une rescapee, Mona Vasquez, March 2006
- La secte : Comment je m'en suis sortie, Mona Teulière (foreword by Jean Blum), (ISBN 978-2846590501)
External links
- Echo Magazine, interview with Mona Vasquez, October 2004, "Scientology, a true control"
See also
- ScientologyScientologyScientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard , starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics...
- "Voyage au pays des nouveaux gourousVoyage Au Pays Des Nouveaux GourousVoyage au pays des nouveaux gourous , a controversial television-documentary, presented an investigation of the activities of Landmark Education...
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