The Outline revealed in a Wednesday report that former Neopets’s CEO and investor Doug Dohring was a Scientologist who used the so-called Org Board method. Scientology creator L. Ron Hubbard designed this trademark business model for his followers.
To fully educate yourself on Org Board, you need to complete introductory workshops so information about how it works exactly isn’t completely available. However, the Outline broke down the business model by describing its seven divisions. There are the “Communications, Dissemination (sales/marketing), Treasury, Production, Qualifications (quality control), Public (public relations), and, most important to the system, Executive.”
(Photo: LPETTET via Getty Images)
While this doesn’t seem that odd considering most businesses have hierarchy structures in place, Patricia Illingworth, a professor at Northeastern University and a Senior Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government’s Carr Center for Human Rights at Harvard, told the publication that “the model is less ethical than it appears.”
Illingworth noted that a department in the communications division, the department of inspections and reports, essentially spied on other employees and shared “pertinent” information with executives.
“The [department of inspections and] report’s section on ethics is really about a very primitive sense of justice, an eye for an eye, getting back at people who have in some sense harmed the organization,” Illingworth told The Outline.
“If someone in or outside the organization has done something that undercuts the mission of the organization, which is basically making money, then the organization, in the name of ethics, is advised to retaliate against the person in order to ensure that they don’t do it,” she said.
She went on to say that the entire business model was “morally problematic,” adding that “the idea that an organization should fire employees for having views that are different from those of the organization is morally disconcerting even when we don’t share the views, or we are adamantly against them.”
Like Illingworth, Neopet’s founders were against associating the company with Scientology. Co-creator Donna Williams said in a Reddit AMA in 2014 that the company “hired this lady who wanted to bring Scientology onto the site.” Williams said she, alongside co-creator Adam Powell, “fought that as hard as we could and they got rid of her.”
“At one time there was some talk about putting Scientology education on the site, but we killed that idea pretty sharpish,” she wrote. “Adam [Powell] and I made sure that it never made its way onto anything site related. Religion and politics were two big no-nos for us as far as site content went.”
Williams also said she and the other founders suspected the connection about six months after the new staff started working there. She then Googled the employees and discovered that “were all Scientologists.”
“When we realized it was a bit of a shock,” she said. “Somewhat awkward moment when you realize you started the biggest entertainment site visited by millions of children and teens, but the upper management you just signed the company over to are part of some weird religion that is banned in some countries.”
Neopets’ business model has since changed, as the company was sold to Viacom in 2005. The Outline said that representatives for Viacom and former employees with Neopets did not reply to their requests for comment.
Many on social media were in total shock about the news that the children’s website site has such an unlikely background:
Doug Dohring and his wife, Laurie, gave the Church of Scientology a $20 million donation just last year. After he sold Neopets to Viacom in 2005, he founded Age of Learning, Inc., and launched ABCMouse.com Early Learning Academy, which is “designed to teach basic reading, math, science and other subjects to children between the ages of two and six,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
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Tom Cruise
Today, Tom Cruise is reported to be one of the top level members of the Church of Scientology, but he was first introduced to the religion by his first wife, Mimi Rogers, in 1990. The actor has become the most recognizable face of the organization and has said that he overcame dyslexia though its teaching. Cruise remained relatively quiet about his religious beliefs until he began openly criticizing psychiatry in 2004 and lashed out at Brooke Shields for taking the drug Paxil to deal with her postpartum depression in 2004. When the actor suddenly became the posterboy for the group, he also dumped his publicist of 14 years, Pat Kingsley, and hired his sister, a fellow Scientologist. In 2008, the church produced a promotional video featuring a lengthy interview with the actor, discussing what being a Scientologist meant to him.
John Travolta
According to the church's own website, famed actor John Travolta became a Scientologist in 1975, after he was given L. Ron Hubbard's "Dianetics" while filming the movie "The Devil's Rain" in Mexico. The church has quoted the actor as saying, "As a Scientologist, I have the technology to handle life's problems and I have used this to help others in life as well. I would say that Scientology put me into the big time."
Kirstie Alley
Actress Kirstie Alley was raised Methodist, but is now a practicing member of the Church of Scientology. The church's website quotes the actress as saying, "To tell you the honest-to-God truth: without Scientology, I would be dead. So, I can personally highly recommend it."
Danny Masterson
Actor Danny Masterson was raised as a Scientologist, and is quoted on the church's website, saying: "I have to say that one of the most important things Scientology has given me is the ability to keep my integrity together. I understand how people can get into unethical situations, and Scientology has always helped me keep my head clear and be in present time. I have been able to see situations for what they are."
Elisabeth Moss
"Mad Men" star Elisabeth Moss is a Scientologist but has spoken out about she isn't OK with the church's rampant homophobia. "One of the most important things I take from my church is the idea of personal freedom and our rights as human beings, and that includes the right to date a man or a woman. Personal freedom is a very important concept in my religion, and I translate that to sexual orientation. If we're all supposed to have the right to the life that we want to lead, then that should apply to the gay community. There isn't really any dogma or scripture, yes or no, right or wrong on that particular subject in my church. It's more open to personal interpretation, and that's my interpretation," she told The Advocate in March 2012.
Laura Prepon
Actress Laura Prepon began dating her "That '70s Show" co-star's brother, Christopher Masterson and converted to Scientology. When asked by Women's Health if it was hard being a Scientologist because of so much controversy that surrounds the religion, she said: "Anyone who knows me is just like, 'Wow, if Laura is a Scientologist, then there has to be something to this.' When I hear something negative, I don't get defensive. I know what's true for me and what works for me."
Giovanni Ribisi
Actor Giovanni Ribisi (and his sister Marissa, who is married to fellow Scientologist Beck) were raised as Scientologists. He's quoted on the church's website as saying: "There is a certain aspect of Scientology that helped me stay on my own path in creating life as a new game."
Kelly Preston
Actress Kelly Preston married fellow Scientologist John Travolta in 1991 and today, they're viewed as one of the organization's power couples and biggest champions. The church's website quotes the actress as saying, "There is a way to handle every part of life with Scientology, and a way to exist that is far beyond any dream that you could ever dream. All of my dreams keep becoming realities and that's very exciting!"
Juliette Lewis
Actress Juliette Lewis became a Scientologist in the 1990s and credits the church's rehab program Narconon with helping her get clean. She's quoted on its website as saying: "I am no longer stuck in the bottomless pit of despair and apathy. Having achieved the state of Clear is the single most important thing that I've done for myself. It has allowed me to experience life in a way I only imagined."
Nancy Cartwright
Nancy Cartwright is the woman behind Bart Simpson's voice, and she follows the Scientologist practices. She's quoted by the church as saying: "Before Scientology I had one dream of making a living, doing voice-overs for animation. After I became a Scientologist my abilities expanded so far and above what I originally dreamed for myself that I've amazed even myself at my enormous increase of abilities."
Sonny Bono was raised Catholic, but later began taking Scientology classes, as did his wife Mary Bono. The Daily Beast reported that Bono once said, "I openly studied Scientology … and then said thank you and left … the Scientology—there was no cult thing there.”
Jeffrey Tambor
At one time "Arrested Development" actor Jeffrey Tambor took Scientology courses, but took the time to dispel reports he belonged to the church. "I took some Scientology classes at one time, studied Scientology for a while, but no more. I have nothing against it, but I am no longer a Scientologist," he said in 2007.
Beck Hansen
Musician Beck Hansen was raised as a Scientologist and married actress Marissa Ribisi, who is also a member of the church. In 2005, the singer defended the organization's beliefs and practices, telling reporters: "There's whole aspects (of Scientology) that you probably don't see. They have the success rate of getting hardcore addicts off drugs, 90-something percent maybe. If it's something that helps you in your life it's a positive thing, so all I have to say is that you can't really make a judgement on something unless you know something about it first-hand."
Actress Jenna Elfman was raised Catholic, but was introduced to Scientology by her now-husband Bodhi and joined the church after they married in 1995. The church's website quotes Elfman as saying: "In other philosophies, my questions would get answered to some degree, but then I would have a follow-up question and there would be no answer. The logic would dead-end. In Scientology you can find answers for anything you could ever think to ask. These are not pushed off on you as, 'This is the answer, you have to believe in it.' In Scientology you discover for yourself what is true for you."
Erika Christensen
Actress Erika Christensen was raised as a Scientologist and was home-schooled by her parents before attending Delphi Academy, a private school that uses the Study Tech educational methodology created by L. Ron Hubbard. The actress has been open about her belief in Scientology and credits it with her success. In 2004 she told the New York Daily News: "Scientology helps me in acting to focus on communication. You can also develop and awareness of yourself."
Catherine Bell
Actress Catherine Bell was raised Catholic, but is now a Scientologist. In 2006 she took part in a Scientology music video called "United," which promoted human rights with a rap song, and also featured Isaac Hayes, Erika Christensen, Jenna Elfman, and Lynsey Bartilson.
Lynsey Bartilson
Actress Lynsey Bartilson was raised a Scientologist and writes on her own website: "Ever since I was old enough to read and write I've been a fully practicing Scientologist. I'm an actress, so I always need to be totally alive and communicating. It's a wonderful feeling to know that I naturally have both of these with me always."
Bijou Phillips
Actress Bijou Phillips is the daughter of John Phillips of the Mamas & the Papas, and married to fellow Scientologist Danny Masterson. In 2009, the actress went on a bit of a rant in an interview with Paper magazine, defending the religion's belief in shunning psychiatry: "My grandparents didn't take any pills, and they were fine. Just buck up and get over it. Stop being such a f--king pansy," she said.
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