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Scientology takes another life
dagbladet.no — Kaja Bordevich Ballo, the 20 year old daughter of the Norwegian politician Olav Gunnar Ballo, ended her life by jumped from the 4th floor of the student home where she lived in Nice, France, after taking a discouraging Scientology personality test. She left a note apologizing for being a failure. Ballo is considering legal action against the cult.
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- sn0w, on 04/15/2008, -0/+8The article is unfortunately only in Norwegian, but I believe the descriptions captures the important parts (sorry for the jumped/jumping typo...). Perhaps someone have time to translate the article for our non-Norwegian speaking friends?
- FreddyO, on 04/15/2008, -1/+10This is a terrible tragedy. We still have a long way to go warning people about the danger of the cult. My thoughts are with her family, I can't imagine how devastated they are right now.
- richared1979, on 04/15/2008, -0/+11The gist of it:
She used to have an eating disorder, but with the help of her family, she turned her life around. She was popular, had lots of friends, and was generally loved. She was also described as a happy and outgoing person. After class that day she went and took a test. They told her that she was depressed, irresponsible and lacked harmony.
After that she killed herself by jumping out of a window, leaving behind a note that said she was sorry for being a failure.
Interpret this as you will, but the culprit is pretty obvious.- mediaphile, on 04/16/2008, -1/+1While I do not agree with the Church of Scientology's tactics by any means, I don't believe they were responsible for the young woman's death. Their goal is to make money off of the people they indoctrinate, not kill them before they spend a dime. This is like blaming video games or movies for someone acting violently; if she was already searching for some kind of answer in a Church of Scientology personality test, she obviously was not the carefree happy-go-lucky type. Wanting to take one's life is no trivial decision, and someone willing to do so has to have more going on than just being told they're a failure.
I'm definitely not trying to blame the young woman for not having thick enough skin, I just don't think it's right to place complete blame on someone else for something they said to her.
Finger pointing aside, I don't think anyone can argue that this is tragic.- quelqun, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1i don't think she directly went to the "church", the centre is 50m away from where she lived and members go in the street to speak to people, giving them those tests. and no one said she just took the test then went away, cause there are about 6 hours between both events.
I know what you mean but she was not the kind of girl looking miserable or depressed, she was a real clown, had so many projects she was fond of, etc...
but I understand...
- quelqun, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1i don't think she directly went to the "church", the centre is 50m away from where she lived and members go in the street to speak to people, giving them those tests. and no one said she just took the test then went away, cause there are about 6 hours between both events.
- mediaphile, on 04/16/2008, -1/+1While I do not agree with the Church of Scientology's tactics by any means, I don't believe they were responsible for the young woman's death. Their goal is to make money off of the people they indoctrinate, not kill them before they spend a dime. This is like blaming video games or movies for someone acting violently; if she was already searching for some kind of answer in a Church of Scientology personality test, she obviously was not the carefree happy-go-lucky type. Wanting to take one's life is no trivial decision, and someone willing to do so has to have more going on than just being told they're a failure.
- quelqun, on 04/15/2008, -0/+15she was my friend here in nice and I can't imagine how they destroyed her so quickly. she was so full of life, funny and had so many projects... and that morning she was fine. and I can't imagine how such an organisation can be so "famous" so "everywhere" and nobody doesn't really say anything except the victims's families... what are doing those who rule our countries ?
- quelqun, on 04/15/2008, -1/+5I just wanted to precise that the note she left didn't said exactly that she was a failure but that she "couldn't do anything" without any other explanations.
hope you don't mind richared1979 - picaflor999, on 04/15/2008, -0/+12Someone on Enturbulation.org kindly translated one of the Norwegian articles, as follows:
Verdens Gang:
A little over two weeks ago Kaja Bordevich Ballo (20) committed suicide - a few hours after she'd recieved a devastating result on a personality test administrated by the Church of Scientology.
The police in the southern French town of Nice - where Kaja studied at the university of Nice Sophia Antipolis - are investigating the controversial church's connection to the event.
Kajas father is the noted politician Olav Gunnar Ballo (SV), a member of parliament for years, vice president of Odelstinget and fearless healthcare spokesperson for his party. Maried to Ballo and mother of Kaja is Heidi Sørensen (SV). Sørensen has previously been the leader of Naturvernforbundet and a member of parliament, she is now a undersecretary of state at Miljøverndepartementet.
The news VG publishes today, are printed after agreement with Ballo himself, and the rest of Kaja's family.
- The information about the Scientology test has been made public through the priest's speech at the memorial service. I can confirm that. Due to the recency of her death, I don't wish to elaborate on or comment on other matters now, Olav Gunnar Ballo told VG.
Kaja died on March 28, and was buried at Grefsen church last friday. A large group of friends followed her to the grave. Many were also in support during a memorial held in the Stortinget the same afternoon.
Personality test
According to information VG has received, the connection to the Scientologists was made after the family found a completed personality test and the Church of Scientology's analysis of what they contend is her personality, in Kaja's 17 sqm student room after her death.
The test had been timestamped and dated: It had been taken the same day as her death. The Church of Scientology have their premises only a few meters from the student home where Kaja lived.
Henrik Møinichen (19), a fellow student of Kaja, tells VG that he walked with Kaja to the university and class at nine o'clock on friday the 28 of March.
- In my opinion she was as usual. She participated in class as usual, talked and was happy, Møinichen told VG.
After the class in French for foreigners was over at 11 o'clock, Henrik left for the Nice airport to meet his father. Henrik lives in the neigboring room to Kaja. The last he heard of her, was that she was walking around her room at three-four o'clock in the afternoon. He was out of his room the rest of the day with his father.
As far as VG has been able to discern no friends or acquaintances had been in contact with the 20-year-old between the timestamp of the test, and the time at which she was found dead.
Vulnerable spot
- The test was found at her place by the family. After she was finished at school I've heard she went to buy clothes for someone. This is how she supposedly came in contact with the Church of Scientology, Møinichen says.
From what VG has been told Kaja received an extremely bad result on the test.
- I have a feeling that something must have happened suddenly, that they hit a vulnerable spot. Personally I believe that Kaja had been alive today if she hadn't been in contact with the scientologists. I had the impression that she enjoyed Nice. She often spoke of the the future and her plans at the university, said Møinichen. - anonkwisdg, on 04/15/2008, -0/+9quelqun says:
"she was my friend here in nice and I can't imagine how they destroyed her so quickly. she was so full of life, funny and had so many projects... and that morning she was fine. and I can't imagine how such an organisation can be so "famous" so "everywhere" and nobody doesn't really say anything except the victims's families... what are doing those who rule our countries ?"
I am so so sorry you lost your friend. If it gives you comfort please understand that there are many, many of us doing all we can to ensure the cult's harmful practices are stopped.
C'mon scientology people...take the blinders off your eyes, take your right to think objectively BACK from the controlling cult that stole it from you. LOOK at what you are doing to innocent, full of life young people. SHAME ON YOU...- quelqun, on 04/15/2008, -0/+3thank you anonkwisdg, I know there are a lot of people who fight against scientology. So I hope that, at least, the fact Mr Ballo is "wellknown" will make things going faster and stronger
- crystalblue69, on 04/15/2008, -0/+7enturbulation.org
xenu.net
xenutv.com - lhbaker, on 04/15/2008, -8/+2Digg me down, but Scientology is no more to blame here than Marlyn Manson is to be blamed for what happened at Columbine. A test cannot kill you, but depression sure can.
- Ciryon, on 04/15/2008, -4/+2WTF?!
- quelqun, on 04/15/2008, -0/+3I can assure you she was not depressed.
and it's not the first time scientology has "blood on the hands"... so many people died...
columbine and marilyn manson are a complete different story, you can't compare both...
- no12u, on 04/15/2008, -1/+6Another terrible Scientology related death. I feel so terrible for the family. She was so young. I hope that the efforts of the worldwide protesters will help to keep Scientology under scrutiny. No other religion that I know of uses the tactics of bogus Stress Tests to lure people into spending money on "self help" classes which lead to religious indoctrination. The mirror must be held up to the CoS and they must see that they've got to change their ways.
Sincerely, Rest In Peace Kaja Bordevich Ballo - petedi, on 04/15/2008, -0/+7The Scientology Personality Test is no longer available at their website:
http://sugiero.blogspot.com/2008/04/norway-mps-dau ...
Why did they remove it? - WiseWeasel, on 04/15/2008, -9/+2I dislike Scientology as much as the next digger, but this story slant is pushing it a bit. I'm going to have to go with Darwin Award candidate here, though this case is not really unique enough to really be a contender. Scientology is an evil cult and all, but the responsibility for this one lies completely on the victim, and possibly her parents for raising such a weak person.
- quelqun, on 04/15/2008, -2/+8how can you talk like that ? did you even know her ? or her family ? cause I did and she wasn't "such a weak person". you shouldn't talk about something you have no idea about.
- WiseWeasel, on 04/15/2008, -8/+2If your story is to be believed, then she was certainly weak or gullible enough to let some fake personality test send her into a suicidal depression. If she wasn't sharp enough to shrug it off and go on with her life, then she was obviously very vulnerable to false information, to such a degree that she took her own life. I'm sorry, but if it's this easy to get someone to kill themselves, then they have an internal problem. More likely she had some preexisting psychological issues, and we're using Scientology here as a scapegoat for her behavior, when it was merely a trigger.
I have no problem calling someone this vulnerable to misinformation weak-minded, and people like this are to be shamed, not coddled, in the hopes that others might see how socially unacceptable it is to fall victim to these 'personality tests'. If we can help build a perception that people who take these tests seriously are idiots, maybe we can avoid more people falling into the same trap. The world is a dangerous place full of misleading information, and those who are unable to navigate it without jumping off a building are at a strong selective disadvantage. It may seem callous, but I think this is a self-regulating problem, and people will either learn to dismiss bad info, or take one last leap off a tall building, and humanity will go on.
I'm sorry you lost a friend, and I would feel differently if this was my friend, but that feeling would be based on my emotional tie with the person instead of a calm, rational view of the situation. Since I don't know this person, and I feel that this death is irrelevant to me personally, since there's no lesson to be learned here that we shouldn't already know, I can't feel much sympathy for her, and in any case, I think she deserves more of the blame than the Church of Scientology. Claiming that Scientology killed her doesn't address the core problem here, which is that she was susceptible to them. It could just as easily have been some other cult, or some random information she read online, but this was an internal problem first of all.- quelqun, on 04/15/2008, -1/+4it's funny how you talk about people being vulnerable to misinformation when all you know is based on what you read in a newspaper...
- WiseWeasel, on 04/15/2008, -4/+1@quelqun: You won't see me jumping off a building because of something I read in a newspaper, or something some crazy cult member tells me.
- Nudelfisk, on 04/16/2008, -3/+2You won't see us bitching about however your friend had a reason to kill herself if that ever should come to happen. People don't kill themselves for no reason. True/False? What you know is based on a newspaper and you assume it to be the full story. Go away.
- quelqun, on 04/15/2008, -1/+4that's why you shouldn't believe exactly what's told in newspapers... you know what misunformation can do...
- Nudelfisk, on 04/16/2008, -5/+0-
- WiseWeasel, on 04/16/2008, -3/+1@dstat: I'm not trolling. It's just wrong to try to pin the blame here on Scientology. It's like saying it's liquor's fault that you smashed your car into a tree. Even though I completely agree with people here that the Church of Scientology is a detriment to society, I feel the same way about most religious fanatics, and targeting Scientology in particular is not particularly productive. I think it would be even more wrong to censor the "religion" or try to ban them, as a free society must tolerate such idiocy along with the good. People should still be held responsible for their actions, and this girl is no exception. The fact is she decided to take her own life, and whether or not her 'personality test' had anything to do with it is largely irrelevant. People should be free to distribute all the misinformation they want, and it's up to parents and educators to ensure that children are able to cope with it.
- quelqun, on 04/16/2008, -1/+3if we believe what you say, scientology is a natural way to end for weak people...
i just hope you will never have someome you like/love getting in touch with them... - WiseWeasel, on 04/16/2008, -2/+1@quelqun: Maybe English isn't your primary language, but that's not at all what I'm saying. I'm saying that we cannot blame Scientology for this girl's death, as she ultimately made the decision to jump. Millions of people take those personality tests every year, and most DON'T become suicidal afterwards. I'm sorry, but to say that this girl was perfectly happy, and then Scientology ruined her is just slightly implausible, and it's more than likely that she was already very vulnerable, and that she could have killed herself without Scientology's help. Who knows? I do find it disingenuous to remove all blame from her and place it on Scientology, since they should be free to sell their snake oil as long as people will buy it. Freedom of religion means that groups like the Church of Scientology are allowed to exist, and people must be able to deal with it, even if they might shatter your world view (if you let them).
- quelqun, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1"It may seem callous, but I think this is a self-regulating problem, and people will either learn to dismiss bad info, or take one last leap off a tall building, and humanity will go on."
I think you're the one who wrote this right ? nothing to add...
- quelqun, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1and you can't put "scientology" and "religion" in the same sentence...
- WiseWeasel, on 04/15/2008, -8/+2If your story is to be believed, then she was certainly weak or gullible enough to let some fake personality test send her into a suicidal depression. If she wasn't sharp enough to shrug it off and go on with her life, then she was obviously very vulnerable to false information, to such a degree that she took her own life. I'm sorry, but if it's this easy to get someone to kill themselves, then they have an internal problem. More likely she had some preexisting psychological issues, and we're using Scientology here as a scapegoat for her behavior, when it was merely a trigger.
- quelqun, on 04/15/2008, -2/+8how can you talk like that ? did you even know her ? or her family ? cause I did and she wasn't "such a weak person". you shouldn't talk about something you have no idea about.
- dvsbastard, on 04/16/2008, -1/+6In the manner that they dealt with someone who was suffering from depression... they may as well of pushed her...
Does it not concern you that this group believes they have some authority / knowledge on human thought...?! - vik16, on 04/16/2008, -0/+3I am sorry for the family and friends suffering around this tragic death.
This religion is around for one thing...MONEY.
The church of scientology was developed in 1953 (super new)! The religion is trademarked (like Coca Cola!)! They have a cruise ship named the "Freewinds." It's not a religion, its a SAD business. - t0xen, on 04/17/2008, -0/+2http://www.whyweprotest.net
- monsterette, on 04/18/2008, -0/+1It is unfortunate that people say such cruel things to us...when you really listen and think about it, the person is really doing a self analysis...
- JCDentonAU, on 04/21/2008, -0/+0This is another reason why we protest. We cannot let another innocent person be forced over the edge by CoS.
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