JamesG
05-09-2011, 03:52 PM
Michael Fairman Talks to the Voice After his Scientology Excommunication
By Tony Ortega
Wed., Apr. 27 2011
Michael Fairman is an actor most people know from his roles on "Seinfeld" and "Firefly".
Currently he's on daytime soap "The Young and the Restless" as Jeanne Cooper's husband.
But Fairman also had another distinction.
For several years, he was the face of Scientology.
"For about three years they played an infomercial having to do with Dianetics," Fairman says.
"The ad encouraged people to call in for a copy of the L. Ron Hubbard book and some other materials. According to Jeff Hawkins, who was head of marketing at that time, thousands of these kits were sold through that infomercial."
In 2009, he gave in to serious doubts about Scientology and began researching the negative press that has surrounded it in recent years.
"I was really starting to question things," he says. He resented a high-pressure push by Scientology leader David Miscavige to get members to buy even more, at high prices.
"It was a really hard sell, and it turned me and my wife off. I stopped going to events," he says. "Then, when Paul Haggis's letter came up in 2009, that's when I really started to look at things. It brought me to Marty Rathbun's blog, quite fearfully, because Marty had been painted as the most evil of evil."
Rathbun had been one of the highest-ranking members of Scientology until he left in 2004. He now lives in Corpus Christi, Texas, and he encourages Scientologists to leave the organization by convincing them that Scientology's leader, David Miscavige, is the source of the church's troubles, and that L. Ron Hubbard's original writings still have merit.
"Not long after that, I wanted to meet Marty," Fairman says. In November, he did just that.
"That's when I crossed the Rubicon. I found him to be an incredible man. I had a wonderful time down there. I still believe in the validity of the technology. It's worked for people, and it's worked for me."
Another effect of leaving or being tossed from Scientology is known as "disconnection." And Fairman says he experienced it right away. He had longtime friends in Scientology, people he had been close to for 25 or 30 years.
"I lost all of my quote-unquote friends. One was my manager. They all just vanished," he says. "But I heard from a lot of people at Marty's blog. They're the only friends I have left."
As for family, Fairman says his son was never in Scientology. But his wife Joy is not so lucky.
"My wife's mother and sister are no longer speaking to her. Can you imagine that? That's what they've done up and down the line for years and years," he says. "All this disconnection crap is true."
I wondered what his leaving might mean for his career.
"I was told that there is a Scientologist working on the show," he says of "The Young and the Restless". "So I went to the producers. They laughed at the whole thing," he says.
"It has occurred to me that they might do something to defame my character. But look, I'm 77. I don't give a f***," he says.
"I'm a good enough actor that I think that's not going to be any concern. I mean, I don't think Tom Cruise would hire me, but I kind of dislike him for what he has allowed to go on."
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/04/michael_fairman_1.php
By Tony Ortega
Wed., Apr. 27 2011
Michael Fairman is an actor most people know from his roles on "Seinfeld" and "Firefly".
Currently he's on daytime soap "The Young and the Restless" as Jeanne Cooper's husband.
But Fairman also had another distinction.
For several years, he was the face of Scientology.
"For about three years they played an infomercial having to do with Dianetics," Fairman says.
"The ad encouraged people to call in for a copy of the L. Ron Hubbard book and some other materials. According to Jeff Hawkins, who was head of marketing at that time, thousands of these kits were sold through that infomercial."
In 2009, he gave in to serious doubts about Scientology and began researching the negative press that has surrounded it in recent years.
"I was really starting to question things," he says. He resented a high-pressure push by Scientology leader David Miscavige to get members to buy even more, at high prices.
"It was a really hard sell, and it turned me and my wife off. I stopped going to events," he says. "Then, when Paul Haggis's letter came up in 2009, that's when I really started to look at things. It brought me to Marty Rathbun's blog, quite fearfully, because Marty had been painted as the most evil of evil."
Rathbun had been one of the highest-ranking members of Scientology until he left in 2004. He now lives in Corpus Christi, Texas, and he encourages Scientologists to leave the organization by convincing them that Scientology's leader, David Miscavige, is the source of the church's troubles, and that L. Ron Hubbard's original writings still have merit.
"Not long after that, I wanted to meet Marty," Fairman says. In November, he did just that.
"That's when I crossed the Rubicon. I found him to be an incredible man. I had a wonderful time down there. I still believe in the validity of the technology. It's worked for people, and it's worked for me."
Another effect of leaving or being tossed from Scientology is known as "disconnection." And Fairman says he experienced it right away. He had longtime friends in Scientology, people he had been close to for 25 or 30 years.
"I lost all of my quote-unquote friends. One was my manager. They all just vanished," he says. "But I heard from a lot of people at Marty's blog. They're the only friends I have left."
As for family, Fairman says his son was never in Scientology. But his wife Joy is not so lucky.
"My wife's mother and sister are no longer speaking to her. Can you imagine that? That's what they've done up and down the line for years and years," he says. "All this disconnection crap is true."
I wondered what his leaving might mean for his career.
"I was told that there is a Scientologist working on the show," he says of "The Young and the Restless". "So I went to the producers. They laughed at the whole thing," he says.
"It has occurred to me that they might do something to defame my character. But look, I'm 77. I don't give a f***," he says.
"I'm a good enough actor that I think that's not going to be any concern. I mean, I don't think Tom Cruise would hire me, but I kind of dislike him for what he has allowed to go on."
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/04/michael_fairman_1.php