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Scientology and Me is the name of a television documentary conducted by reporter John Sweeney, which aired on the BBC programme, Panorama on 14 May 2007. The programme gained particular controversy before and during filming due to unresolved differences on content and approach between Sweeney's production team and Scientology members, who did not want detractors or perceived enemies of the church to be interviewed or included in the documentary.^[1]

The scale of the controversy intensified when the Church of Scientology released a 40 second clip of video footage showing the segment of a screaming argument between John Sweeney and Scientologist Tommy Davis in which Sweeney yelled "You were not there at the beginning of the interview! You were not there! You did not hear or record all the interview!". The interview that Sweeney is referring to is the conversation between him and critic Shawn Lonsdale.^[2] Despite the lobbying of British MPs by the Church of Scientology for the documentary to be scrapped, airing of Scientology and Me went ahead on May 14.^[3] The episode garnered the highest ratings for Panorama since September of the previous year, with a peak of 4.9 million viewers in the UK.^[4]

Content

The documentary itself was intended to be a documentary investigating the claims of both critics of the Church of Scientology and the Church itself to see if the Church "still deserved its sinister reputation".^[5] The introduction of the documentary itself uses dramatic visual effects and background music, in which Sweeney outlines his documentary investigation into the reputation of the Church of Scientology, its affiliated celebrities and current activities, and begins with an edited version of a statement issued in the 1994 Los Angeles Superior Court case "Church of Scientology of California vs Gerald Armstrong", in which Judge John Breckenridge describes the Church of Scientology as "Schizophrenic, bizarre, ... paranoid[;] ... an organisation that harasses its enemies ... and abuses the trust of its members".^[6]^[7] Sweeney also notes at this part of the documentary that the decision has been derided by the Church of Scientology since the court date by their claim that the decision was made based upon circumstantial and discredited evidence.^[8]

In describing the affiliated members of Scientology, the documentary refers to Scientology members as an "all-star cast list", and imposes an interview of John Travolta, who speaks about the longevity of his career, and the subsequent demise of others being due to the influence, or lack thereof of Dianetics.^[9]^[10] As a means of beginning with Criticism of the Church or its practices, the documentary moves onto an interview in which Sweeney talks with a mother, known as "Sharon"^[11], who had been disconnected from her daughter, who had chosen to distance herself from her after taking a weekend with other Scientologists and reading several books, which she claimed had changed her life. At this time, Sweeney explains the concept of a "Disconnect" within the context of Scientology doctrine. "To the church, Sharon was a negative influence. Her daughter wrote to her cutting all ties. It's what Scientology call a 'disconnect'. They say they bring families together and a disconnect is a rare last resort and a human right."

Reactions

On 10th May video footage filmed by the Church of Scientology was released on YouTube^[12] and on DVD^[13] showing Sweeney's outburst towards Scientologist representative Tommy Davis. The Church of Scientology also presented to the broadcaster a set of 154 breaches of BBC guidelines which they claimed Sweeney and his team broke, though the Sandy Smith responded that "The head of current affairs, George Entwistle, has viewed all footage complained of and, with the exception of the point when Sweeney shouts, he found nothing that stood outside BBC guidelines".^[14] The BBC responded to the clip by releasing the video Sweeney shot on its website to give context to the argument before the documentary was aired, though they had already known about the outburst long before the YouTube clip was uploaded since a description of Sweeney losing his temper was included in TV guide listings for the documentary.^[15]

Scientologists also later complained of bigotry towards the church due to perceived derogatory comments of Sweeney in his interviews with Scientology members. John Travolta lobbied MPs to stop the documentary from being aired due to Sweeney's outburst towards fellow Scientologist, Tommy Davis.^[16] Both Sweeney and his producer, Sandy Smith have apologised for his behaviour, with Sweeney apologising after the incident^[17]^[18] which he cites as a by-product of Scientology's "Psychiatry: An Industry of Death" "hijacking of the Holocaust" and attempts to control his mind.^[19]^[20] Sweeney said about the incident: 'I apologised almost immediately, Tommy carried on as if nothing had happened but meanwhile Scientology had rushed off copies of me losing it to my boss, my boss's boss and my boss's boss's boss, the Director-General of the BBC.'^[21]

Sweeney said of fair gaming: "While making our BBC Panorama film "Scientology and Me" I have been shouted at, spied on, had my hotel invaded at midnight, denounced as a "bigot" by star Scientologists and been chased round the streets of Los Angeles by sinister strangers.". Sweeney also claimed that his family and neighbours had been harassed by unidentified strangers back in the UK, including an intruder at his wedding.^[21]

Scientology and Me.html

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Content

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