The first time I looked more deeply into Scientology was when Tom Cruise jumped on Oprah’s couch and South Park created their “In the Closet” episode.  Then the Tom Cruise Scientology video was leaked onto the internet, and the Church of Scientology (CoS) did everything in its power to pull it from public view. They succeeded in forcing youtube to withdraw the video, but this caused a ripple around the interweb.

Since then, a struggle has emerged between CoS and Anonymous, a group of individuals with the common purpose of bringing those who perpetrate illegal acts in the name of the CoS to justice. Claiming to be holy (irrespective of religion) does not come with immunity.  From checking out the ex-scientology forum, reading Marty Rathbun’s blog, going over to Xenutv.com and especially keeping up with Tory Magoo’s youtube channel, I have become engrossed in the fabulous reality-internet that is the present state of the Church of Scientology and its members.

Anonymous announced it had declared war on the CoS in a youtube video that could have been included as the prologue to a science fiction film.  It has used the internet to its advantage.  Scientology is the little Dutch boy that uses his thumb to block up holes.  But the CoS is outgunned; it has only two thumbs, but the holes number in the thousands.

The more the CoS fights, and the nastier it gets, the worse it looks. It has been accused of harrassing its enemies and intimidating those who are against them, but those tactics can’t work against 10,000 people.  Hell, it can’t even work against 1,0000.

Scientology loves its numbers.  It measures progress and improvement through numbers.  They also claim to be masters of communication.  If that is the case, how can the leader of an organization that professes to be #1 at communication and numbers give a speech like this (1st video, time 4.30 from the end)? Although I am not a fan of university courses that teach public speaking, I had to take one when I was a student.  I distinctly remember one of the basic rules… Don’t use too many numbers!  Repetitive use of numbers puts the listener to sleep.  Miscavige didn’t get that memo, obviously.

Scientology claims to have 10 million members and to be the fastest growing religion in the world – in the Miscavige speech above he mentions the Scientology has reached more than 1 billion people. I don’t know how gullible you have to be to believe that Scientology is the #1 fastest growing religion because the last time I checked, I hadn’t been past an Org (the Scientology equivalent of a church) I could remember. In the mid 70s I do remember seeing the Dianetics books on shelves at friends’ houses – the volcano image stuck in my mind but the overall design was just so tacky – but by the 80s they had all but disappeared.  So how does Scientology manage to prevent its followers from exposing themselves to outside influences?

The answer comes in isolation. The CoS successfully isolates those who are Scientologists from those who are not.  Scientologists use specific terms to create a barrier between the Scientology and outside world.  It was only when I started reading about Scientology that I remembered a Professor of mine at University.  She was very nice and very good natured – I have nothing but good things to say about her – but during the summer class she taught the words “squirrel” and “handle it” came up a lot.  From the context, squirrels were problems and when one handled something it was fixed.  In retrospect she was obviously a Scientologist at some point.

If Scientology is the fastest growing religion worldwide, can it be possible that I’ve only come across one Scientologist in my lifetime? Surely I must have met more than one. It’s hard to know because Scientologists rarely broadcast their faith to the world.  I’ve met Hindus, Buddhists, Catholics, Jews, etc. but I have yet to have a conversation that includes the snippet “…and I’ve been a Scientologist ever since.”   The CoS claims to have 10 million members worldwide (itself a very small number on the global scale).  Unofficial estimates put the number closer to 50,000 active members.

Scientologists believe that they are homo novis (new man) rather than homo sapiens, so many of them do look down on those outside the CoS.  Those outside the church system are known as wogs. The homeless are known as degenerate beings, which is just charming.  The most extreme Scientologists form the backbone of the church and are known as the Sea Org(anization). In order to join the SO, one has to  sign a billion year contract to volunteer for the church.  Scientologists believe in reincarnation (of sorts).  Still, once in, many are slowly lured deeper and deeper into the paranoid world that is Scientology.  They are very quick to defend themselves when criticized and do not play fair. I have come across numerous stories where Private Investigators hired by lawyers (working for the CoS)  are planted amongst those who have walked away from the church in order to check up on them to ensure they posed no threat.

It is the only “religion” I know of where lying is not only condoned in some situations, but recommended.

Enemies of the church are labelled supressive persons, or SPs.  Once one is branded an SP by the church, they are also excommunicated from the CoS.  Members within the church are encouraged to break all contact with those who are SPs, because Scientologists believe that contact with an SP will cause them to become SPs also.  Being labelled as an SP is also known as being “declared.”  The process whereby families are split apart is known as disconnection.

Over the last year, the once seamless exterior of Scientology has started to fall to bits.  Cracks are emerging, CoS Orgs are either deserted or stand empty, and high level members are leaving the church in numbers.  What is more impressive is how many of these ex-members are starting to speak out. Impressive for Anonymous, maybe.  For the CoS it has been devastating.

The CoS is shrinking and is starting to devour itself.  Leaked emails and videos paint a picture of a group that is finding it more and more and more difficult to persuade people to come in off the street for a session (Scns call this bodyrouting).  In order to keep the cash flow going, the CoS is pressuring existing members to buy the same materials, again.  This cannot last.

Either the CoS will continue to gobble up the funds of its members, effectively bankrupting itself in the long run, or the CoS will have to get funds elsewhere. Yet it is scrambling to get as much real estate as possible – maybe it is gambling on the housing market to improve so that it can make a quick buck. Even if this is their strategy, and it works out as they planned, it will only be a temporary black mark in an exceedingly red ledger.  If it cannot get through this rough patch, then the CoS risks having to offload real estate to cover its costs; selling now would mean taking a loss across the board on each sale.

So far, the CoS has provided several reissues of important texts.  These come out yearly, if not more often.  Members are pressured into spending thousands of dollars on slightly newer versions of the books they’ve already bought (twice, or three times, or four times, etc).  Each member is supposed to have two e-meters, for auditing purposes. Although you only use one, you are expected to have a spare, just in case.  An e-meter is, at heart, a form of lie detector that Scientologists use during auditing sessions – their version of therapy.  The one being audited holds onto “the cans,” and the e-meter measures the charge in your body using the cans.

E-meters cost less than $100 to make (I’ve read $40 online), but these are passed on the Scientology members for $3,000-$10,0000, depending on which model you get; there are always a few on ebay.  The profit on these machines alone is obscene.

CoS knows that it has to start winning the PR battle.  In order to get new meat into the Orgs, the public shouldn’t be turned off by CoS and the name Hubbard before they’ve even listened to the sales pitch.  But Scientology and the CoS are already practically synonymous with the word “cult.” CoS has tried video campaigns to turn the tide, but the cost of waging a full scale media war might be beyond them.

To reach enough people, the CoS would need to buy TV time during primetime and do so regularly.  The price would be prohibitive.  They have posted videos online, but they have been ineffective.  One of their campaigns reminded me of minimalist insurance/car commercials.   But these squeaky-clean and pretty dull films don’t hold a candle to the hurricane winds of other clips on the internet.

A quick web search for the terms “scientologist incident england nuts” brings up a video of George Baillie. I have no idea who he is, but it is reported that he is an OT VIII, which is as high up as you can get on the Scientology “Bridge” at the moment.  If this is what CoS produces as a final product, does anyone really want to join?  Or what about this guy?  Both are so aggressive.

Marc Headley’s book, “Blown For Good,” was a direct hit that the CoS PR department couldn’t avoid. The memoir tells the story of Headley’s time in Scientology, what he saw while working for the church, and his eventual escape from the organization, an act known as “blowing.”  Intially only available through his website, his book stirred up a great deal of media interest.  He gave several interviews on TV, took part in several conferences also also gave several radio interviews.  Of these, I found the radio shows the most interesting.  It probably comes down to money – radio time is relatively cheap – so radio interviews usually last much longer and go more in depth.

CoS did what it could to counter Headley, but were powerless.  Ten years ago I have no doubt the book would never have reached the publisher.

The biggest bombshell came with the publication in late summer of “the Truth Rundown,” an investigative series put together by tampabay.com.  I think this is an offshoot of the St Petersburg Times (the S-P Times, which seems too good to be true) although I’m not sure.

The newpaper put together an incredible expose with people who had not only escaped the CoS, but who had been very high up when they ran for the border.   These included Marty Rathbun (who seemed maybe a little too keen to blame everything that was bad in the CoS on Miscavige), Amy Scobee, Marc Headley, and Mike Rinder.  From what I gathered, Rinder was interviewed.  However, he was not shown on camera, so I’m not sure whether he was truly in on the documentary.

I don’t know whether the Tampa Bay expose will win a Pulitzer for what it produced about Scientology, but it should.

Then came the Nightline interview with Martin Bashir, where Tommy Davis pulled off his microphone and stormed off the set. Davis was then the Head PR man for the CoS which was surprising considering what had happened only months before.

Previously, Tommy Davis was involved in a BBC documentary that was a PR disaster for the church. In it, BBC Panaroma’s  ”Scientology and Me,” the CoS and those working for them, came across as pushy, unreasonable, and very creepy.  There are PIs, the crew is followed, and the ultra-aggressive Tommy Davis pops up out of nowhere to go nuclear.  It was nasty.

The CoS tried damage control, but everyone involved knew that the shit had hit the fan.  Davis occupies a unique position in the church in that he could almost be perceived as royalty; there seems no reason as to why he gets special treatment, but he obviously does. Born into a wealthy Scientology family (his mother is actress Anne Archer, considered to be a gem in CoS’s crown), Davis took centre-stage in a BBC documentary that dealt a blow to the church.  Davis came across so badly that I was surprised that to see that he was still around (more accurately, back again…).

Towards the end of the documentary, the British reporter is standing in a London doorway having a conversation with the previous head of PR, Australian Mike Rinder, an unfortunately sinister looking man. Rinder is not convincing at all when he tells the journalist that the head of the church, David Miscavige, never physically assaulted anyone.

The day that footage was shot was the last day that Mike Rinder was in the church.  Miscavige had been following what was going on in London and knew that the situation was another disaster.  In the true Scientology way, if something goes wrong it is because someone didn’t want it to go right.  These people need to be fixed or removed.  From what I have read, the higher you are up the more serious the consequences for your mistakes.  Or maybe you’ve already been through the ringer so many times to get where you are, that you know what to expect.  And if it’s really bad, your heart might not be in going one more round.

Rinder realized that the punishment for his crimes was going to be very bad… Miscavige had ordered him to return to base to dig ditches and it was the last straw for him.  Rinder literally got up and walked out the door.  He’s never gone back.

Back in the US, meanwhile, Davis was by no means off the hook.  Rinder might have been in command of the whole operation, but Davis would still have to pay for his mistakes.  He also knew his punishment might be extreme and it is claimed that he also blew.  He spent a week in Las Vegas before the CoS tracked him down and convinced him to return to the mecca of scientology in Clearwater, Florida.  When back in the Scientologists’ firm grasp, his punishment was to clean toilets with a toothbrush. For two weeks.  Miscavige is supposed to have numerous photographs of Davis cleaning U-bends armed only with a piece of plastic covered with bristles labelled “soft.”  It’s made even more humiliating for Davis when one learns that the password on Davis’s laptop was “I’m a killer.”

Although he really let the side down in the BBC documentary, Davis has somehow managed to rehabilitate himself into the CoS fold.  One can only assume that he did the crime and then he did the time.  Even so, I was surprised to see the CoS play Russian roulette yet again… this time on the Nightline exposee with Martin Bashir.  It looked super-awkward from the start.

Davis seemed nervous throughout – scientologists would call this a fail – and did his best to avoid questions as best he could.  Bashir prodded Davis about the Xenu story, which led to a threat from Davis that he would walk.  Bashir then tried a different tack but mentioned Xenu again.  Now Davis yanked his mike off and stormed off the set.  From here it looked as though Davis was looking for a reason to back out all throughout the interview and finally latched onto something he could use.  There was no way that it could have gone that would have helped Davis, so he cut things off before they really got out of control.

But some of his answers were fascinating.  Setting aside the body language that screamed “get away from me!” there were several things he just lied about.  Specifically, he lied when he spoke of disconnection, and that it doesn’t exist.   It was this interview that pushed Hollywood director Paul Haggis to officially leave the church.

Haggis is the first big Hollywood player to not only leave CoS, but also to put the church on blast for their past and present practices.  He railed against the homophobic stance of the CoS and also their practice of disconnection, something which had directly affected his family.  And the snowball didn’t stop there.

Australian Senator Nick Xenophon gave an epic speech to an empty house that detailed the consistent irregular behaviour of the CoS and its members.  He has called for an investigation of the CoS, an organization he calls criminal.  He spoke of forced abortions, mental abuse, mind control, subsistence living and even slave labour.  As an elected official, his position in the house gives him protection from lawsuits, meaning that he can speak without fear of reprisals.  The CoS moved to defuse the situation, but there was nothing they could do.

Xenophon spoke up only after meeting with several ex-members of the CoS.  Most of these (if not all) no longer practice Scientology in their lives. Probably the most vocal of the group is a man called Aaron Saxton, who is proving to be a huge thorn in the side of the church.

He spent decades in the church – he signed up in his teens – and worked on the management side of things. He wasn’t selling books, rather he was in control of people selling books. In Scientology terms, he was a Messenger. He was also part of the Sea Org.  It is obvious from his words and deeds that he is deeply ashamed by his own actions while in the Sea Org.

He has spoken of women he persuaded to have abortions..  Some of the quotes I have read from him might give you nightmares.

She wasn’t obeying my orders or instructions, I knew she was suicidal because I had read her file and spoke to her about it, and rather than help her I took her to Foster Thompkins office. He beat her, and he did this in front of myself and two other staff members, tore the top half of her shirt off, punched her in the face until she was terrified, and then we thought we’d done enough to put her in to line.

excerpt from Aaron’s Story

He has said that he isn’t “a nice guy,” but that he “got promoted all the time.”  He believes that the whole facade that is Scientology should just come tumbling down because it is all based on lies. He has never met an OT or even seen one.  He says that the CoS does not deliver what it promises, and can’t. There is no doubt that Saxton is responsible for a fair number of nasty deeds.  But there is also no doubting his honesty in trying to make things better.

Saxton is now speaking up and criticizing the Sea Org directly while also implicating himself.  He has distanced himself from both Marty Rathbun, whom he accuses of wanting to take the CoS for himself, and Mike Rinder, the former head spokesperson for the CoS.  Both blew, yet neither has said much about their activities within the CoS.  Both were in high positions until they blew so they certainly had their fingers on the pulse of the CoS and David Miscavige.  They certainly know more than they are telling, because they have said so little.

Aaron Saxton recently spoke at an Anonymous raid on the CoS in Sydney in a speech that is sure to excite and maybe incite.  Standing outside the Sydney Org, Saxton implores those inside to listen to what he has to say… he was very loud so I can only imagine what the staff inside were doing.  He is pulling for the CoS, and especially the Sea Org, to be disbanded. He just might get his way.

There are other figureheads out in the ether.  On this continent, two of the best known are Tory Christman (aka Magoo) and Mark Bunker. Christman left the CoS although she was married and very high up in the church (OT VII).  She worked for the Intelligence arm of the CoS known as OSA and when she left the church she was chased across the US as they tried to pull her back in.

Christman posts almost daily on her youtube channel and her updates are really informative; she seems very generous and very thankful.  Mark Bunker (aka Wise Beard Man, WBM), on the other hand, was never in the CoS (to my knowledge).  He runs the xenutv.com website which is updated regularly and has lots of things to read and watch.

As a side note, xenutv.com was where I first saw a video with two former Scientologists, Greg and Debra Barnes “speaking freely” of their experiences in the CoS.  It was my initiation into the world of scientology and the mind control of the CoS.  This was the first time I listened to intense non-stop Scieno-speak and it actually made me physically ill.  I had to stop the video 30 minutes in to stop myself from throwing up.  What they’re talking about is obviously very important, but when I first listened to it I had absolutely no idea what they where talking about.

They spoke English, yet I understood not one word.  It was terrifying.

I still find it hard to watch.

The most famous person in CoS is Tom Cruise, hands down.  He apparently spent 10 years out of the church once he went through the ring of fire, otherwise known as OT III.  Whether it was the Xenu fable or something else, the result was that Cruise became disenchanted with the CoS to the point where he put some distance between himself and the church. But, however it happened, Cruise returned to the fold to become the poster boy of Scientology.  He is everything that’s right in the church – at least that’s how it might look to insiders – and considering his history I believe he is a religious zealot.  Calling him a fanatic might be too strong, but he is most definitely a believer in Hubbard’s tech and proud to “call himself a Scientologist.”  He was searching for enlightenment when he was young, so going so deeply into a philosophy like this is par for the course.  Some have gone so far as to label Cruise the #2 man in the church, a claim that I believe he would be the first to reject.

At some point, in my search, I came across videos that the CoS prepared for internal use.  These are all viewable online.  Some of them are quite scary and all, to me at least, are incredibly vague.  One stuck in my mind – it is a film encouraging members of CoS to travel to Flag, the biggest (and best) Scientology centre on the planet. In the original, the most powerful person who speaks is Debra Cook, a lady who was the Captain of the Flag Service Organization (FSO) at Flag.  You can see her in this parody video that uses the original video… go to 1:20.

In Scientology terms, probably the only defection that could be a bigger bombshell than hers would be either Tom Cruise or David Miscavige.  They haven’t left the church.  But she has.  She might have left 18 months ago; it’s not clear, as yet.  She was rumored to have been shipped out to LA for punishment detail in 2007.  This after being the top dog in Clearwater for approximately 20 years.  She spent several months in LA before she left the CoS with her husband.

It’s not clear whether she blew or routed out (left with the permission of CoS), but she is no longer in.  It would not reflect well on the church if she too is declared an SP.  After all, shouldn’t someone have noticed an SP in their midst over those  20 years?  Sadly, there is no news from her yet.  I have my fingers crossed that she is just putting her life together before she comes out with a book.  Now that would be fascinating!

Returning to Tom Cruise.  Of all the players, his defection would be the most damaging… I don’t think it’s an impossibility.  No matter how far “in” you are, forced abortions cannot be justified.  Keeping parishioners locked up in the RPF, the Scientology version of a slave camp, cannot be justified.  Working children aged 5-15 all day long cannot be justified.  Withholding wages and benefits from employees cannot be justified.  Restricting the movement of people cannot be justified.  Punishing those who fail to meet targets by feeding them less cannot be justified; this is the very same system the Soviet Union used in the gulags… it was very effective in killing people quickly.

Tom Cruise might be blinded, but he will eventually see what he was a part of.  When that day comes, Miscavige might regret focusing on the Top Gun and pulling him in.  If that day comes, I fully expect Tom Cruise “to handle it” and pull the CoS down around him.  Fireworks are guaranteed.

He might be their greatest symbol now, but if Tom Cruise leaves the CoS it might be impossible for the organization to recover from the blow to their PR.  I wonder what Cruise would need to see or hear to finally realize, and come to terms with, the untold harm and damage Scientology has caused members and their families.

Although I’m not a scientologist and am not interesting in Hubbard “tech” at all, I’m finding the current events in the CoS to be a roller coaster ride with twists and turns that are impossible to predict.  Connecting the dots has been an eye-opening experience – Scientology reminds me a lot of a totalitarian regime and they have always interested me for personal reasons.  My family is originally from behind the Iron Curtain so cults of personality (and normal cults) always pique my fancy.

2009 was a great year for critics of the CoS.  I think 2010 will be even better.

© mabo 2009

I was warned to not expect much, but I was pleasantly surprised.  There was only one metal detector at the door, and even that was disconnected.   Following the signs led me upstairs, down one wide corridor and into the library, to be greeted by the Principal and my host, Tim Simmons.  Tim is an English teacher, and this was his first effort to organize an event for the students.  Understandably he was nervous.

As we waited for more people to show up, I had a chance to unpack my bag and look around.  I always feel nervous when I am taking pictures in front of others; part of me doesn’t want to get in the way, while another part of me doesn’t want to make mistakes.

The library was small but collected.  The carpet still had that new carpet smell and there were probably 6 or 6 long-ish bookshelves running away from the library’s door and reception desk.  I looked around and was sad to find that all the books placed in plain sight were from African-American authors.  Not just most, all.

I thought nothing of it at the time, because I was focused on my preparations for the Open Mic night.  I scouted out a couple of angles from the side and from the back, and then I scuttled to the front to take a seat.  I was the only person sitting on the front row, and truth be told, there were probably no more than 15 or 20 people there.  I wanted to sit as close to the action as possible, because it makes it far easier to get good shots if no one is in your way.

After an welcome speech given by Tim, the event was underway.  Participants were mostly pupils of Frayser High School and we aged between 4 and 19/20 (I think).  Some sang, one played a piano, another danced, and several recited poetry.  I was pleasantly surprised by everyone who performed.  However, my expectations were low – how good are school events usually?  But there were several performers that jumped out at me.

One young man stood up to perform his own poems on six occasions.   There was also a girl who was quite shy and only ever looked to the side.  Listening in or her recital, I felt as though I had stumbled upon something that was very personal.  My favourite was a young mother of one who read a very long poem to start with.  She probably spoke for about 5 minutes but I was riveted by every second.

She spoke of her life (I will assume), and the trials and troubles of being a mother.  She spoke of abandonment, humiliation, hopelessness, and the right path.  Her narrative hooked me in and kept me entranced til the end.  Her underlying themes were a microcosm of the evening.

Several of the participants focused on the question “Why Me?”  I don’t know whether this is because they were given a topic to write a poem about, or whether one was inspired by the other, but it is sad to think that any child feels abandoned, unwanted, or unloved.  Three of the students mentioned mistakes and hatred, and one young boy who could not have been older than 11 pleaded for those around him to “stop the hate.”

Not all of the participants still attended the school.  Some had already graduated, specifically a gospel trio with someone on drums, another on keyboards and one lead singer, who were both really animated and very loud.

On my way out to the car park, I went to the bathroom first.  This meant walking down a very long corridor to a door with cardboard taped over the wood.   The bathroom was huge.  On the way back I got a chance to look at what was hanging on the yellow walls.

The walls were covered with pictures of African-American pioneers, leaders, successes and heroines.  I saw Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King, and Bill Cosby, to name but three.  I also saw Michael Jordan, Toni Morrison and Dr Mae Jemison.  Looking back, I didn’t see Oprah.  But everyone I saw was black.

Walking out I felt quite torn.  The school, while not in the best area, was very clean and seemed very together.  I am sure that most of the students (i.e. more than 90%) are African-American, but I wonder whether those same Civil Rights leaders would be happy with what they saw.

Identity is essential to becoming a complete person, and it is important to know where you come from.  But knowing where you come from and segregration are far apart.  From what I saw at Frayser High School, it seems to me that rather than look outside the walls of the school at the bigger picture, the children are bred to be controlled.  It’s almost as if they are in a box created to stifle growth.

If you can only follow a road already traveled, that cuts down on everyone’s options. It seems both patronizing and short-sighted to keep the pool of worthwhile people so small. Growing up white and in England (admittedly of Hungarian parents), my role models were not white and English.  Or Hungarian. Then again, I never had just one specific person I idolized.  I was selective with the bits I chose, but I was allowed to choose from anyone.  So I liked Gandhi.  And Napoleon.  And Chiyonofuji.  And Leonardo da Vinci.  And Beate Uhse-Rotermund. And Mike Tyson.  The person whose achievements I would most like to emulate does not have to look like me; aren’t we supposed to be looking past race?

Having seen the portraits on the corridors, the books out in the library made more sense.  Again, most, if not all, of the authors were African American.  Really?  Why?  There is wonderful literature from all corners of the earth! Why are they ignored?

I enjoy reading stories set in turn of the century (20th) Budapest.  It reminds me of things I heard at family get-togethers.  But after two or three, I need something else to satiate me.   Maybe a trashy novel… or a historical drama… you get the idea.  But I want to have options available to me.

The library was a beautiful room (clean, tidy, fresh), but the content was so lacking in variety.  By discriminating in the choices of books, the educators are discriminating against the children it so wants to help. Looking only within your community for everything will lead to a world populated by versions of the Amish.

And by keeping the corridor only one colour, the system is working against the kids it claims to teach.

The whole thing is quite depressing. 40 years after the fight to desegregate education began, the rules might have been changed but that’s only because we self-segregate now.  We could learn together… but we just won’t.   There will be a price to pay for this down the road.

It isn’t really his out-of-control libido that I find off putting. The combination of money, success and fame, all lacking any supervision, mixed with temptation must be difficult to resist.  At the beginning I felt very sorry for his wife – this has been left, front and centre in the media worldwide – and being betrayed and humiliated in front of everyone must be horrific. But the cynic inside me is moaning that things just can’t be so cut and dried.

Of the dozen or so mistresses, the only one who has not spoken to the press repeatedly or hired Julia Allred to represent her is a former adult film star (maybe she is still in the business).  And if we want to be technical, she actually wasn’t a mistress: her relationship with Tiger started and finished before his marriage to his Swedish fiance. The rest haven’t been so kind;  all mention his voracious sexual appetite and how they all believed that he loved them for their personalities.

C’mon!

I know I’m supposed to just sit and not question, but can 12 women all make the same mistake? Did they really believe that he was going to leave his wife and then shack up with them to live happily ever after?  It’s such a plot cliche that the affair is starting to resemble a bad day-time soap.

So what’s going to happen?  If we are following the Hollywood tangent, then now is the quiet before the storm. Elin will file for divorce, and judging by how much information is already in the public domain it will be nigh on impossible to find enough jurors who haven’t “heard the news.” But if she files for divorce on the basis of infidelity, he surely stands no chance.

Four days ago, a paparazzo snapped a photograph of Elin pumping her gas at a nearby station.  She wasn’t wearing her wedding ring, and rumours coming from sources “close the the scene” all point to papers being filed. If the cat is out of the bag, and it surely is, then Tiger needs to go into damage-limitation mode.

Aside from the money and fame, everything is against him.  He has been unfaithful on numerous occasions with different partners.  His behaviour was apparently well-known to his friends (Charles Barkley, Michael Jordan).  On top of that, the nature of his job keeps him far away from home for long periods at a time. It wouldn’t come as a surprise if his wife easily gets the children in the divorce.  It’s not a question of whether she has the grounds for divorce, rather of how much she will walk away with.  Then consider that Tiger Woods is the world’s first $1 billion athlete and it’s impossible to see Elin gaining less than $300 million. I’ve heard amounts mentioned up to $600 million.

Although I don’t condone anything Tiger has done, it has been reassuring in one way. When I watched him play golf, where commentators saw “the best player ever,” I saw someone who was aggressive and self-obsessed with a hefty does of self-entitlement.  I found it hard to balance the Mr Goody Two Shoes image pumped out by Nike and Gatorade with the sportsman I saw on the small screen with the steely resolve.

The Tiger Woods circus has shattered his image and dented his reputation in the eyes of many.  But for me, the last 20 days have only strengthened my belief that Tiger Woods has the same weaknesses as his fellow mortals. He might be the greatest player to ever swing a club, but his is not Mr Perfect.  His success does come with a price – it just wasn’t obvious before.

Getting that good and then staying there wasn’t free.  That in itself is reassuring.