MEDIA WATCH | GLAXOSMITHKLINE, GSK

GSK Supporting Hate in A&E and Remini Aftermath Abuse

In an era when we need to focus on the great things that unite us all, don’t be the corporation that’s funding the rise of hatred in America. Because let’s face it, if Scientology were guilty of all those things that she claims it is guilty of… jeez if it were guilty of just one percent even…justice would have been swift and sure and I would not be writing this letter to you, imploring you to recognize your human decency and not buy into the hype of hatred.

August 22, 2017

GlaxoSmithKline - GSK
Philadelphia, PA 19112

Dear Ms. Spencer:

I grew up a Scientologist in the 80s and was 8 years old when I felt the first sting of religious intolerance. One year younger than my oldest boy.

I was in class and one of my classmates was handing out invitations to a birthday party.

In a class of thirty some children, I was the only child NOT invited.

These are people I had grown up with, I’d known for years. Their parents knew my parents. And everyone knew we were “those Scientologists.”

I held my tears that day until I got home. When I walked through the door, I dropped my bags at the door and crumpled into my mom’s waiting arms. I told her what had happened and tried to understand why I was the only person not invited to the party.

She tried to explain to me that it was because people didn’t really think that our religion was real. That we were strange because of what we believed, and they were afraid of us. She tried to explain a grownup concept to a child. All I wanted to know was why a little kid didn’t want me at her birthday party.

It’s an experience I will never forget.

Through the 90s and 2000s on through to today, I have enjoyed freedom from this bigotry. We as Scientologists have worked hard to demonstrate our values to the world. We help. We are first responders to world disasters. We are mothers and fathers and neighbors. Nice people. We have faces and names. We have rights. We have a right to practice our religion.

My children have a right to a childhood. Leah Remini’s show is putting me into a position where I am preparing myself to try and explain grownup concepts to my little kids. Because bigotry, hatred, religious intolerance are the foundation of her show. And you are supporting this. You are supporting a culture of hatred. You are paying money to say “intolerance is okay because they’re ‘those Scientologists’ and they’re different.”

But as the events of the past week in Charlottesville have unfolded, with the death of Heather Heyer, I think it’s time you take a look at your brand and your business model and see if you want to be on the side of love or on the side of hate.

Don’t go down that road. In an era when we need to focus on the great things that unite us all, don’t be the corporation that’s funding the rise of hatred in America. Because let’s face it, if Scientology were guilty of all those things that she claims it is guilty of… jeez if it were guilty of just one percent even…justice would have been swift and sure and I would not be writing this letter to you, imploring you to recognize your human decency and not buy into the hype of hatred.

Please withdraw your support of Leah Remini’s show Scientology: The Aftermath.

Jenny Widmaier

Wife,
Mother of three,
Scientologist,
American.