Mark "Marty" Rathbun

You may be aware of recent statements to the press from Mark Rathbun regarding his former religion and his tenure within Scientology’s religious order known as The Sea Organization. Religious Freedom Watch presents the following information in rebuttal.

One fact Rathbun has not been able to escape is his clear statement to the St. Petersburg Times in 1998 that totally refutes his present allegations. The statement also shows that Rathbun is merely echoing old, stale allegations he himself refuted more than a decade ago. Readers will likely recall this exchange from the October 25, 1998 St. Petersburg Times:

In sworn declarations used in several anti-Scientology lawsuits, Miscavige also has been accused of ordering the shredding of documents sought by the IRS and the courts, ordering attacks of church enemies, and striking subordinates.

Miscavige’s top lieutenant, Marty Rathbun, said the courts and the IRS got every document they requested. He also said he has never known Miscavige in 20 years to hit anyone. “That’s not his temperament,” Rathbun said. “He’s got enough personal horsepower that he doesn’t need to resort to things like that.”

Rathbun’s response when challenged on this statement was that he lied. Religious Freedom Watch accepts his admission he is a liar. We question, though, what he is lying about and submit he is lying now, that his previous statement was true, and that his current outlandish allegations are fiction.

Religious Freedom Watch has obtained material from public statements made by Marty Rathbun to illustrate this point. These include public apologies and statements he made concerning actions he had taken while in the Church—statements he made when he was not trying to garner sensational headlines attacking his former religion. To address a predicted false accusation about this material, Religious Freedom Watch is assured (and it is obvious from the content to any knowledgeable person) that nothing contained here came from any confidential confessional material. All of it consists of words Rathbun wanted his peers at the time he was still in the Church to know about what he had done.