WHAT IS SCIENTOLOGY
Mandy, 4chan Anonymous, infiltrates Scientology! NY Post: http://tinyurl.com/4chan-nyp; Video: http://tinyurl.com/4chan-scn
Read her story:
My twisted life as a Scientologist
... and how I kicked the 100-pound parasite off my back
By MANDY MULLEN
[Load more....]
David Miscavige is a sociopath - fanatical abusive bully - can be charming, pleasant, - abusive tyrant.
There are valuable things in Scientology that works - also useless, misleading things - everyone should have right to follow Scientology system
[Load more....]
[Load more....]
An example of how Scientology fucks up people's minds, then dumps them when no longer useful
Meet Alan...[Load more....]
Scientology is emotional rape
Many members of the organisation calling itself the church of scientology sincerely believe that it works for them. A common accusation towards critics is that they have never tried it, that the only way to assess scientology properly is to try it for ones' self.*1
Their organisation, members say, is being judged by people who have jumped on an "emotional bandwagon", so have not appraised objectively. This article reveals how the organisation plays on a persons' emotions to at first attract them and then bind them to the organisation. The techniques do not work on most people but with the organisation it's a numbers game and to this end they motivate all members in to becoming recruiting machines for the organisation.
(*1 The common accusation that one must try it for ones' self is often counter by "well I was a member for x", x being anything from a few weeks to several decades. At which point the critic is accused of being an "apostate" and so an unreliable, malicious, vindictive critic. In this way all critics of the organisation are considered invalid by members.)
For the benefit of readers this is my understanding; I mean of course that this is knowledge that I don't merely possess rather that I understand.
The organisation has many recruitment mechanisms. Not only does it operate "Free Stress Tests", "Free Personality Tests" and run ads for "Staff Wanted" but it also has several "out reach" organisations affiliated to it such as: Narconon & "Second chance" which provide drug rehabilitation; WISE, which provides business advice; Applied Scholastics, which provides a teaching methodology; Volunteer Ministers, which attend disaster zones around the world and Criminon which aims to rehabilitate criminals.
All these organisations appear well intentioned to most outsiders. Those within the organisation who work for these ventures mostly genuinely believe they are doing good too. Understandably people assume these organisations are good based on the apparently their charitable nature. Closer analysis however reveals they all work to make money, often from the members although local Government is often pursuaded to chip in too, and recruit new members for the organisation.
People who become members of the organisation are subjected to various and progressive manipulation techniques that lead them to the conclusion that the ONLY way to TRULY help is to administer or apply the organisations' proprietary "tech". The results of this manipulation were perhaps best exhibited in the now infamous Tom Cruise scientologist video. Tom Cruise is not unique in believing they are "the only ones who can help", all members do because they "know" that the only real help is applying the organisations' scientology tech.
OK, let's back step a bit. How is a normal person influenced emotionally in to becoming a member?
Regardless of which mechanism a person comes across two basic things must happen for them to be successfully brought in to the organisation. First the person can be made to believe they need "help" and second the person can be made to believe the organisation can provide that help.
The general method of recruitment is find the persons' "ruin" (that which bothers them most in life) and for the organisation to tell them they can help. With narconon it's drugs, the organisation can rehabilitate them. Criminon promises criminals a life style desirable to prison and crime. WISE offers help to businesses who would "like to do better". The stress test and personality test lead to an offer to address common emotional issues, generally attracting those types looking for "answers" or help coping with life.
The "staff wanted" offers it tends to play to those people who "want to make a difference", people who need a mission to provide direction and meaning to their lives.
When a person first starts following the organisations' training they are given a lot of emotional support and within the organisation everyone is encouraged to be very enthusiastic; witness Tom Cruise's enthusiastic couch jumping.
Although reading material is provided for home use new people are always started on some basic courses, the "communications course" being the de facto favourite starter course. These beginner courses are fairly accessible price wise and are run at the local building owned by the organisation, known as the "org" - short for organisation.
The communications course aims to improve ones communication. The communications course involves the first of the TR (training routine levels) OT TR and TR0 - 4.
OT TR - "Operating Thetan Confronting". Sit opposite a partner with eyes closed for a long period of time, usually in excess of an hour. This is a preparation for confronting and in the Philadelphia Doctorate Course tapes Hubbard explains that closing ones eyes puts one it to a light trance; it's a form of basic meditation which relaxes the mind and results in a more open mind; it can also result in a heightened emotional state.
TR0 - Confronting. Sit with eyes open, not moving or twitching for a recommended minimum of 2 hours. During this time a partner will watch you and shout FLUNK when you move, talk, twitch, move your eyes or appear to "drift off" (not in present time or non confront). When FLUNK is shouted the clock is restarted. In the end the partner will say "that's it" and the course is over. The rules are not usually explained in detail to the student rather they are shouted at "FLUNK" when ever they make a mistake. TR0 is an auditors tool for confronting the pre-clear that results in a similar trance to OT TR but with the eyes open and conditions the pre-clear to respond to stimuli (FLUNK & THAT'S IT). Since the subject is unable to move their eyes they will experience some interesting visual effects by staring at the same object for an extended period of time too; this preoccupies the mind and causes the subject to feel heighten emotional states, usually elation. At the same time the subject is meant to have a pre-subscribe cognition (a realisation). This is often spoon fed by staff at this point. For TR0 the cognition is that they are meant to stop thinking about the situation they are in, to effectively stop evaluating it. Completion of the course is a relief which when coupled with the heightened emotional state induced by the routine feels pretty profound.
The initial experiences of elation felt having completed OT TR and TR0 gives the person the desire for more training. This works the same as with drugs, people tend to want to repeat the initial profound experience if it was a good one.
With the cognition that they should stop thinking about their situation the subject learns to suspend objectivity during courses and by this to anything taught to them by the organisation. From this point on anything good happening in the person's life becomes the result of their experiences within the organisation and anything bad just serves to demonstrate they need more of the same.
The courses become addictive with the same destructive effects that drugs can have, that everything else in the person's life becomes secondary to the addiction.
The TR routines are as follows:
TR0 - Bullbaiting. Sit with eyes open as before while the partner tries to make you react in every way possible, except physical contact. This includes verbal abuse and gestures. The recommended patterns to follow for men are sexual perversion and for women criticism of body parts. The aim of the partner is to find the subjects' buttons that will make them react. The idea is that the subject rid themselves of their reactions to these buttons. The practice puts a lot of stress on the subject as they sit passively wondering what the partner will do next to try to make them FLUNK. The subject deals with this stress by mentally going away and entering the same state of mind that OT TR and TR0 resulted in. Again the subject will often feel a strong emotional response at the end of the exercise.
TR1 - "Dear Alice" - The subject reads pre-prepared text taken from Alice in Wonderland to the partner until they can do it without embarrassment. This exercise demonstrates Hubbard's sense of humour and while the humour is often a welcome relief from the TR0 exercises the idea is to do it without giggling or other outward signs of embarrassment; the partner may of course laugh his heart out so making the exercise harder. This exercise desensitises the subject to reading apparent nonsense, it effectively shuts down questioning in favour of blind acceptance.
TR2 - Acknowledgements - The partner reads dialogue to the subject. The subject must acknowledge the dialogue using either okay, good, thank you, alright, or fine. This teaches the subject to complete comm cycles. The repetitive nature of this exercise results in the same relaxation of the mind as the TR0 exercises and results in the subject acknowledging and accepting what ever is said without thinking.
TR2.5 Half Acks (Acknowledgements) The partner reads dialog to the subject but the subject must respond in a manner that encourages the partner to continue reading, such as hmmm or uh hu; in normal conversation these let the person know you're still listening to them, even if you're not. The subject is taught to encourage conversation and to just accept what is being said unquestioningly. In Professional Auditor's Bulletin 149 Hubbard says "If you acknowledge a preclear well, you will have the preclear under much better control." - this is very true.
TR3 Duplicative Question. The subject must repeat questions like "Do birds fly?" or "Do fish swim?" to the partner while the partner resists answering. The questions are repeated preceded by the phrase "I will repeat the auditing question." At some point the partner will try to leave the session and the subject must physically restrain them, sit them back in the seat and continue. The subject passes when they can always get their questions answered. This exercise results in the student understanding that auditing questions must be answered to the satisfaction of the auditor, not the pre-clear. They learn they must answer questions and that questions will be repeated until the correct answer is given. They also learn they will be forcibly restrained from leaving. This is an exercise which sets up an expectation for how the real thing will work. The roles of subject and partner are swapped over so both sides are experienced.
TR4 Preclear Originations. This is the same as TR3 but this time the partner, rather than just simply not answering will make comments like, "Can we stop now I feel upset?" The subject must get the partner to continue to respond by using phrases like "Oh that's normal, lets continue and see what happens" or "I will repeat the auditing question". This reinforces TR3 and the subject comes to understand that distracting thoughts are part of their reactive mind which will prevent them going up the bridge unless they over come them.
As a member they are repeatedly told they should be working to progress towards and up "the bridge". The organisation wants them to succeed, to improve and there is so much improving to do. Once a person has completed the first course they are sat in an emotional roller coaster which is driven by the organisation.
At some point it is explained to them that their self improvement is part of a much bigger plan to improve the planet, to save the planet even from a downward spiral.
All the bad things in the world are pointed out to the new members and they are asked what they think the world would be like if everyone could experience what they experienced (that profound revelation), that emotional buzz. It is then that it is explained that this is exactly the aim of the organisation. And this is how members become recruiting machines for the organisation.
Meanwhile as long as a person has money they can do courses, they can get their fix of that emotional buzz that helps them get through life. It really works for them in that respect however it becomes increasingly expensive, just as drugs habits do.
Problems arise when a person starts to realise they don't have enough money to keep doing the courses they "need". They are constantly been told they must do more courses. They are constantly being asked to support the organisation in its goal of giving everyone the same emotional buzz experience. Eventually a person finds they just cannot support their habit any more.
Obviously they turn to the organisation for help because it's helped so much in the past. The organisation will do all it can to help the member get more money to get more courses; they will provide useful suggestions like re-mortgaging their home, getting a second or third job etc. In the end when it seems like their is no more money to be had the organisation will suggest the person come and work on staff.
Working on staff is a brilliant idea because staff get courses for free and they get to help out directly with helping to clear the planet, to get everyone on the bridge just like they are. Obviously they don't get paid for this so they must maintain their existing job(s) or find a job to pay the bills etc.
The organisation's staff hours are long and they don't get paid as such, they only get a small amount usually based on how well the org is doing at getting people to do courses and recruiting. But this they believe isn't them becoming a fully fledged recruiting machine, this is them helping, truly helping because society is doomed if their organisation fails in its mission to "clear" the planet; a conclusion they came to emotively thanks to the organisations' conditioning rather than objectively.
Staff members don't get much time for courses, progress up the bridge for them slows down. By this time though they know the organisations' mission is paramount. Personal considerations are secondary to the organisations. Sacrifices must be made and there is always the next life time.
Finally the members entire life revolves around the organisation. All social and work contacts are members, a life outside the organisation is unfathomable yet while some may become quietly cynical that their is no where else to go most sincerely believe the organisation works for them and what they do in supporting it is the right thing to do.
Yes life is hard, it's meant to be. Yes they have to sacrifice but they have purpose in life. Yes, people often get angry with them for not making the grade, but that is what it's all about. And while the emotional buzzes are fewer and perhaps less intense than in the old days they can still get them occasionally.
All the decisions a person makes to get to becoming a fully fledged staff member, essentially part of the recruiting machine of the organisation, are based solely on emotions not objective evidence.
The initial emotional buzz created by the TR courses and the positive reinforcement of that is what leads them to believe the organisations' teachings worked for them. Having completed the TR drills and had a taster of the emotional buzz available, the sense of "win", they are quickly taught through experience that auditing provides the same buzz. Auditing becomes increasingly expensive as one progresses up the bridge.
In a way the organisation does help in that it provides emotional support. This alone tends to make a person feel more resilient towards life issues. Some may even overcome certain difficulties they felt they had thanks to the organisations' emotional support; confidence issues are often the main ones but learning difficulties have also been addressed purely by providing one to one emotional support. But really that is the sum of the help the organisation provides, emotional support, and the price you pay is that you become a devotee and recruiting machine for the organisation after you have spent all your money on it. You also often become addicted to auditing.
Everything a person experiences in the organisation, everything a staff member evaluates about the organisation is based on their emotional experiences in the first encounters and the conditioning of the TR courses because this is what made it "work" for them. This is why new members are always welcomed and accommodated so warmly and why completing the TRs are such an important part of their indoctrination.
This "it works for me" is reinforced because members are always pushed to come up with wins. Wins are attributed to the organisation while any difficulties they experience are put down to their own failings; "it works, you know this (remember that last emotional buzz?), so it must be you".
After that it is just a matter of reinforcing the members' belief that they are on a mission with lots of "war effort" messages to keep them fighting for the "just" cause and making sure they do more courses and auditing.
Members of the organisation have a lot of emotional, not to mention financial, investment in the organisation. They have been conditioned to accept everything the organisation tells them unquestioningly thanks to the TR drills. The organisation may have its faults they will rationalise but it helped me and is the only hope for the human race. They fail to appreciate that the help they receive is no better than many other support organisations can provide and the emotional buzz the organisation provides is no better than doing drugs in terms of making ones life totally dependent on it.
Critics on the other hand can evaluate what is happening objectively because they lack any emotional involvement. They can see how people are being abused to support and further the organisations' aims which are to simply accrue as much money and influence as it can for its leader - to satisfy his ego and feed his needs. They see that most members are well meaning but misguided.
Critics see "apostates" as fall out from the cult, the ash from the volcano. They see the damage done to them that has made them who they are. They listen to their stories and understand how they ended up as they did. Critics understand that it wasn't they who destroyed their lives rather the organisation. Critics understand that it is only having left the organisation that someone can start to build a life for themselves.
Critics can analyse the organisation and realise that the number of buildings it owns or the number of books it has published don't equal success of a beneficial force. They can break down the deluge of apparently impressive statistics and see the reality of greed and manipulation.
Critics can access a wealth of old documents produced by the organisation and realise things like the recent reprint of L Ron Hubbard's books (Golden Age of Tech) is essentially the same as that which took place in 1991. Critics don't forget the past because they are not subjected to the razzmatazz of the organisations' announcements; the ones where the audience are blasted with loads of statistics so much they just go in to a kind of rapturous shock, a condition not unlike that induced by the TR exercises, and presume it's all good signs of progress because that is what they are told.
Critics can see the never ending scams that collect money for schemes which have never been effective at anything except collecting money from members. The never ending collection for libraries which critics know resulted in hardly any increase in the availability of LRH Basic books in libraries around the world. The never completed super power building is another classic example - a building designed to train people to give them super powers that will never actually deliver but continues to accrue money from members.
Critics can see the wheeling and dealings behind the Saint Hill sized orgs and Ideal Orgs designed to profit the few from the pockets of many. Critics are not caught up in the trap of believing that Ideal Orgs are necessary for planetary salvation.
Critics see apostates as people who succeeded in leaving the organisation and surviving, not only that but often thriving. Critics are not programmed to believe that people who are against them are criminals - most critics understand that most members of the organisation are victims.
Critics are emotional, they do get upset when the see the abuse but they don't see abuse because they are just following others. They see it because they can objectively analyse the organisation, because they have not been subjected to the conditioning members of the organisation have.
Members on the other hand are responding according to their emotional condition, their blind acceptance of the organisations' teachings, the word of their leader David Miscavige and the following of his orders.[Load more....]
Their organisation, members say, is being judged by people who have jumped on an "emotional bandwagon", so have not appraised objectively. This article reveals how the organisation plays on a persons' emotions to at first attract them and then bind them to the organisation. The techniques do not work on most people but with the organisation it's a numbers game and to this end they motivate all members in to becoming recruiting machines for the organisation.
(*1 The common accusation that one must try it for ones' self is often counter by "well I was a member for x", x being anything from a few weeks to several decades. At which point the critic is accused of being an "apostate" and so an unreliable, malicious, vindictive critic. In this way all critics of the organisation are considered invalid by members.)
For the benefit of readers this is my understanding; I mean of course that this is knowledge that I don't merely possess rather that I understand.
The organisation has many recruitment mechanisms. Not only does it operate "Free Stress Tests", "Free Personality Tests" and run ads for "Staff Wanted" but it also has several "out reach" organisations affiliated to it such as: Narconon & "Second chance" which provide drug rehabilitation; WISE, which provides business advice; Applied Scholastics, which provides a teaching methodology; Volunteer Ministers, which attend disaster zones around the world and Criminon which aims to rehabilitate criminals.
All these organisations appear well intentioned to most outsiders. Those within the organisation who work for these ventures mostly genuinely believe they are doing good too. Understandably people assume these organisations are good based on the apparently their charitable nature. Closer analysis however reveals they all work to make money, often from the members although local Government is often pursuaded to chip in too, and recruit new members for the organisation.
People who become members of the organisation are subjected to various and progressive manipulation techniques that lead them to the conclusion that the ONLY way to TRULY help is to administer or apply the organisations' proprietary "tech". The results of this manipulation were perhaps best exhibited in the now infamous Tom Cruise scientologist video. Tom Cruise is not unique in believing they are "the only ones who can help", all members do because they "know" that the only real help is applying the organisations' scientology tech.
OK, let's back step a bit. How is a normal person influenced emotionally in to becoming a member?
Regardless of which mechanism a person comes across two basic things must happen for them to be successfully brought in to the organisation. First the person can be made to believe they need "help" and second the person can be made to believe the organisation can provide that help.
The general method of recruitment is find the persons' "ruin" (that which bothers them most in life) and for the organisation to tell them they can help. With narconon it's drugs, the organisation can rehabilitate them. Criminon promises criminals a life style desirable to prison and crime. WISE offers help to businesses who would "like to do better". The stress test and personality test lead to an offer to address common emotional issues, generally attracting those types looking for "answers" or help coping with life.
The "staff wanted" offers it tends to play to those people who "want to make a difference", people who need a mission to provide direction and meaning to their lives.
When a person first starts following the organisations' training they are given a lot of emotional support and within the organisation everyone is encouraged to be very enthusiastic; witness Tom Cruise's enthusiastic couch jumping.
Although reading material is provided for home use new people are always started on some basic courses, the "communications course" being the de facto favourite starter course. These beginner courses are fairly accessible price wise and are run at the local building owned by the organisation, known as the "org" - short for organisation.
The communications course aims to improve ones communication. The communications course involves the first of the TR (training routine levels) OT TR and TR0 - 4.
OT TR - "Operating Thetan Confronting". Sit opposite a partner with eyes closed for a long period of time, usually in excess of an hour. This is a preparation for confronting and in the Philadelphia Doctorate Course tapes Hubbard explains that closing ones eyes puts one it to a light trance; it's a form of basic meditation which relaxes the mind and results in a more open mind; it can also result in a heightened emotional state.
TR0 - Confronting. Sit with eyes open, not moving or twitching for a recommended minimum of 2 hours. During this time a partner will watch you and shout FLUNK when you move, talk, twitch, move your eyes or appear to "drift off" (not in present time or non confront). When FLUNK is shouted the clock is restarted. In the end the partner will say "that's it" and the course is over. The rules are not usually explained in detail to the student rather they are shouted at "FLUNK" when ever they make a mistake. TR0 is an auditors tool for confronting the pre-clear that results in a similar trance to OT TR but with the eyes open and conditions the pre-clear to respond to stimuli (FLUNK & THAT'S IT). Since the subject is unable to move their eyes they will experience some interesting visual effects by staring at the same object for an extended period of time too; this preoccupies the mind and causes the subject to feel heighten emotional states, usually elation. At the same time the subject is meant to have a pre-subscribe cognition (a realisation). This is often spoon fed by staff at this point. For TR0 the cognition is that they are meant to stop thinking about the situation they are in, to effectively stop evaluating it. Completion of the course is a relief which when coupled with the heightened emotional state induced by the routine feels pretty profound.
The initial experiences of elation felt having completed OT TR and TR0 gives the person the desire for more training. This works the same as with drugs, people tend to want to repeat the initial profound experience if it was a good one.
With the cognition that they should stop thinking about their situation the subject learns to suspend objectivity during courses and by this to anything taught to them by the organisation. From this point on anything good happening in the person's life becomes the result of their experiences within the organisation and anything bad just serves to demonstrate they need more of the same.
The courses become addictive with the same destructive effects that drugs can have, that everything else in the person's life becomes secondary to the addiction.
The TR routines are as follows:
TR0 - Bullbaiting. Sit with eyes open as before while the partner tries to make you react in every way possible, except physical contact. This includes verbal abuse and gestures. The recommended patterns to follow for men are sexual perversion and for women criticism of body parts. The aim of the partner is to find the subjects' buttons that will make them react. The idea is that the subject rid themselves of their reactions to these buttons. The practice puts a lot of stress on the subject as they sit passively wondering what the partner will do next to try to make them FLUNK. The subject deals with this stress by mentally going away and entering the same state of mind that OT TR and TR0 resulted in. Again the subject will often feel a strong emotional response at the end of the exercise.
TR1 - "Dear Alice" - The subject reads pre-prepared text taken from Alice in Wonderland to the partner until they can do it without embarrassment. This exercise demonstrates Hubbard's sense of humour and while the humour is often a welcome relief from the TR0 exercises the idea is to do it without giggling or other outward signs of embarrassment; the partner may of course laugh his heart out so making the exercise harder. This exercise desensitises the subject to reading apparent nonsense, it effectively shuts down questioning in favour of blind acceptance.
TR2 - Acknowledgements - The partner reads dialogue to the subject. The subject must acknowledge the dialogue using either okay, good, thank you, alright, or fine. This teaches the subject to complete comm cycles. The repetitive nature of this exercise results in the same relaxation of the mind as the TR0 exercises and results in the subject acknowledging and accepting what ever is said without thinking.
TR2.5 Half Acks (Acknowledgements) The partner reads dialog to the subject but the subject must respond in a manner that encourages the partner to continue reading, such as hmmm or uh hu; in normal conversation these let the person know you're still listening to them, even if you're not. The subject is taught to encourage conversation and to just accept what is being said unquestioningly. In Professional Auditor's Bulletin 149 Hubbard says "If you acknowledge a preclear well, you will have the preclear under much better control." - this is very true.
TR3 Duplicative Question. The subject must repeat questions like "Do birds fly?" or "Do fish swim?" to the partner while the partner resists answering. The questions are repeated preceded by the phrase "I will repeat the auditing question." At some point the partner will try to leave the session and the subject must physically restrain them, sit them back in the seat and continue. The subject passes when they can always get their questions answered. This exercise results in the student understanding that auditing questions must be answered to the satisfaction of the auditor, not the pre-clear. They learn they must answer questions and that questions will be repeated until the correct answer is given. They also learn they will be forcibly restrained from leaving. This is an exercise which sets up an expectation for how the real thing will work. The roles of subject and partner are swapped over so both sides are experienced.
TR4 Preclear Originations. This is the same as TR3 but this time the partner, rather than just simply not answering will make comments like, "Can we stop now I feel upset?" The subject must get the partner to continue to respond by using phrases like "Oh that's normal, lets continue and see what happens" or "I will repeat the auditing question". This reinforces TR3 and the subject comes to understand that distracting thoughts are part of their reactive mind which will prevent them going up the bridge unless they over come them.
As a member they are repeatedly told they should be working to progress towards and up "the bridge". The organisation wants them to succeed, to improve and there is so much improving to do. Once a person has completed the first course they are sat in an emotional roller coaster which is driven by the organisation.
At some point it is explained to them that their self improvement is part of a much bigger plan to improve the planet, to save the planet even from a downward spiral.
All the bad things in the world are pointed out to the new members and they are asked what they think the world would be like if everyone could experience what they experienced (that profound revelation), that emotional buzz. It is then that it is explained that this is exactly the aim of the organisation. And this is how members become recruiting machines for the organisation.
Meanwhile as long as a person has money they can do courses, they can get their fix of that emotional buzz that helps them get through life. It really works for them in that respect however it becomes increasingly expensive, just as drugs habits do.
Problems arise when a person starts to realise they don't have enough money to keep doing the courses they "need". They are constantly been told they must do more courses. They are constantly being asked to support the organisation in its goal of giving everyone the same emotional buzz experience. Eventually a person finds they just cannot support their habit any more.
Obviously they turn to the organisation for help because it's helped so much in the past. The organisation will do all it can to help the member get more money to get more courses; they will provide useful suggestions like re-mortgaging their home, getting a second or third job etc. In the end when it seems like their is no more money to be had the organisation will suggest the person come and work on staff.
Working on staff is a brilliant idea because staff get courses for free and they get to help out directly with helping to clear the planet, to get everyone on the bridge just like they are. Obviously they don't get paid for this so they must maintain their existing job(s) or find a job to pay the bills etc.
The organisation's staff hours are long and they don't get paid as such, they only get a small amount usually based on how well the org is doing at getting people to do courses and recruiting. But this they believe isn't them becoming a fully fledged recruiting machine, this is them helping, truly helping because society is doomed if their organisation fails in its mission to "clear" the planet; a conclusion they came to emotively thanks to the organisations' conditioning rather than objectively.
Staff members don't get much time for courses, progress up the bridge for them slows down. By this time though they know the organisations' mission is paramount. Personal considerations are secondary to the organisations. Sacrifices must be made and there is always the next life time.
Finally the members entire life revolves around the organisation. All social and work contacts are members, a life outside the organisation is unfathomable yet while some may become quietly cynical that their is no where else to go most sincerely believe the organisation works for them and what they do in supporting it is the right thing to do.
Yes life is hard, it's meant to be. Yes they have to sacrifice but they have purpose in life. Yes, people often get angry with them for not making the grade, but that is what it's all about. And while the emotional buzzes are fewer and perhaps less intense than in the old days they can still get them occasionally.
All the decisions a person makes to get to becoming a fully fledged staff member, essentially part of the recruiting machine of the organisation, are based solely on emotions not objective evidence.
The initial emotional buzz created by the TR courses and the positive reinforcement of that is what leads them to believe the organisations' teachings worked for them. Having completed the TR drills and had a taster of the emotional buzz available, the sense of "win", they are quickly taught through experience that auditing provides the same buzz. Auditing becomes increasingly expensive as one progresses up the bridge.
In a way the organisation does help in that it provides emotional support. This alone tends to make a person feel more resilient towards life issues. Some may even overcome certain difficulties they felt they had thanks to the organisations' emotional support; confidence issues are often the main ones but learning difficulties have also been addressed purely by providing one to one emotional support. But really that is the sum of the help the organisation provides, emotional support, and the price you pay is that you become a devotee and recruiting machine for the organisation after you have spent all your money on it. You also often become addicted to auditing.
Everything a person experiences in the organisation, everything a staff member evaluates about the organisation is based on their emotional experiences in the first encounters and the conditioning of the TR courses because this is what made it "work" for them. This is why new members are always welcomed and accommodated so warmly and why completing the TRs are such an important part of their indoctrination.
This "it works for me" is reinforced because members are always pushed to come up with wins. Wins are attributed to the organisation while any difficulties they experience are put down to their own failings; "it works, you know this (remember that last emotional buzz?), so it must be you".
After that it is just a matter of reinforcing the members' belief that they are on a mission with lots of "war effort" messages to keep them fighting for the "just" cause and making sure they do more courses and auditing.
Members of the organisation have a lot of emotional, not to mention financial, investment in the organisation. They have been conditioned to accept everything the organisation tells them unquestioningly thanks to the TR drills. The organisation may have its faults they will rationalise but it helped me and is the only hope for the human race. They fail to appreciate that the help they receive is no better than many other support organisations can provide and the emotional buzz the organisation provides is no better than doing drugs in terms of making ones life totally dependent on it.
Critics on the other hand can evaluate what is happening objectively because they lack any emotional involvement. They can see how people are being abused to support and further the organisations' aims which are to simply accrue as much money and influence as it can for its leader - to satisfy his ego and feed his needs. They see that most members are well meaning but misguided.
Critics see "apostates" as fall out from the cult, the ash from the volcano. They see the damage done to them that has made them who they are. They listen to their stories and understand how they ended up as they did. Critics understand that it wasn't they who destroyed their lives rather the organisation. Critics understand that it is only having left the organisation that someone can start to build a life for themselves.
Critics can analyse the organisation and realise that the number of buildings it owns or the number of books it has published don't equal success of a beneficial force. They can break down the deluge of apparently impressive statistics and see the reality of greed and manipulation.
Critics can access a wealth of old documents produced by the organisation and realise things like the recent reprint of L Ron Hubbard's books (Golden Age of Tech) is essentially the same as that which took place in 1991. Critics don't forget the past because they are not subjected to the razzmatazz of the organisations' announcements; the ones where the audience are blasted with loads of statistics so much they just go in to a kind of rapturous shock, a condition not unlike that induced by the TR exercises, and presume it's all good signs of progress because that is what they are told.
Critics can see the never ending scams that collect money for schemes which have never been effective at anything except collecting money from members. The never ending collection for libraries which critics know resulted in hardly any increase in the availability of LRH Basic books in libraries around the world. The never completed super power building is another classic example - a building designed to train people to give them super powers that will never actually deliver but continues to accrue money from members.
Critics can see the wheeling and dealings behind the Saint Hill sized orgs and Ideal Orgs designed to profit the few from the pockets of many. Critics are not caught up in the trap of believing that Ideal Orgs are necessary for planetary salvation.
Critics see apostates as people who succeeded in leaving the organisation and surviving, not only that but often thriving. Critics are not programmed to believe that people who are against them are criminals - most critics understand that most members of the organisation are victims.
Critics are emotional, they do get upset when the see the abuse but they don't see abuse because they are just following others. They see it because they can objectively analyse the organisation, because they have not been subjected to the conditioning members of the organisation have.
Members on the other hand are responding according to their emotional condition, their blind acceptance of the organisations' teachings, the word of their leader David Miscavige and the following of his orders.[Load more....]
A message to OTs
Dear OT
The route to OT is a journey to you. It’s an adventure that has taken you to more freedom, integrity, responsibility and courage. It has given you more ARC and love for your fellow man and woman. With more freedom and integrity comes a higher level of personal ethics. You are responsible for your life and you don’t need external force to make anything go right. You don’t need other-determinism or external push to be effective. You know what is right for you and you can take responsibility across your dynamics. The days of the “supposed to’s” are gone. You are you – no need to have other valences or others telling you what to do.
Did you ever wonder why you are confronted by more and more “supposed to’s” as you go up the Bridge? Why is it that more force, more KRs and more heavy ethics is applied as you become more OT? Remember the time when you were a Div 6 public? No stress, no force, high ARC, light and easy going, fun and curiosity. Those were the days.
When you are about to finish OT VII, you go through the most thorough of actions on the Bridge, the OT VII EP check. It’s a real scrubbing. You come out squeaky clean, happy and on top of the world. With the Sec Checks every 6 months and with the EP Check, you’d think there couldn’t be any more actions before VIII. You are ready for the next level. But then you get setups for OT VIII, and then you find out you cannot really be trusted – you get the leaving Base Sec Check. Ok, now you are really ready for OT VIII. But no, you arrive at the ship and get confronted by the biggest Sec Checks of them all. The OT VIII Eligibility is huge, it could take several weeks. How come an OT VII completion can’t be trusted?
Then as you come home after finishing OT VIII, you are faced with a whole new level of “supposed to’s”. You are required to behave in a certain way, take certain responsibilities, contribute in certain ways, and more than ever. The church is demanding more of your time and more of your money – for the local Ideal Org project, for IAS, for SuperPower, etc. And these demands do not necessarily align with your own ideas or purposes. Maybe you wanted to contribute in other ways or by other means. But voicing your own opinions on this will get you into trouble because you are not following Command Intention. You are by now firmly towing the party line and subject to that Command Intention like never before. The fun dries up or gets enforced. And even if you feel something is wrong, you cannot raise your hand and object, and your doubts or disagreements must never show. You must put on a happy face.
Not that the contributions you do are wrong or not holy and for the greater good. It’s just that they may not match your purpose line. But who are you to object or go off on a tangent?
I compared my own activity level in the church with the number of KRs I got and saw a striking parallel. The more active I was, the more people I got started, the more I expanded the OTC, the more KRs I got. If I cooled off my activities, the KRs went away. I have talked to many OTs having experienced the same correlation.
You know something is wrong, not only from all the hearsay on the net but from your own observations. You see the out PR, the outrageous over-hyping and outright lying going on. You can justify a lot for the greater good, but can you justify putting Scientology down as the church does today? The orgs are empty, the focus is on MEST, the amount of push and force levied against the OTs are all clear cut outpoints. Where there are many outpoints, there is a situation. Something is rotten in Denmark. And the US, and Canada, and Australia, and in the rest of the world. Scientology is corroding, and it is our responsibility.
It takes courage to dare looking at the glaring outpoints and to take action to prevent the decline of Scientology itself. It takes the kind of courage that you gained from doing the OT levels. If you truly want others to have similar gains as you have had, it is time for you to stop aiding and abetting the Titanic and the iceberg scenario currently playing out. Something can be done about it.
Please take a look. A good hard look. And do something effective.
(feel free to direct other OTs attention to this article)[Load more....]
Love bombing on the Freewinds (ship) | Hugging Kissing and touching in Scientology | Leaked photo album
NB - Photos are from 2007. Most people are now 18 or older.
Love Bombing: Creating a sense of family and belonging through hugging, kissing, touching and flattery.
Margaret Singer explains:
[Load more....]“As soon as any interest is shown by the recruits, they may be love bombed by the recruiter or other cult members. This process of feigning friendship and interest in the recruit was originally associated with one of the early youth cults, but soon it was taken up by a number of groups as part of their program for luring people in. Love bombing is a coordinated effort, usually under the direction of leadership, that involves long-term members' flooding recruits and newer members with flattery, verbal seduction, affectionate but usually nonsexual touching, and lots of attention to their every remark. Love bombing - or the offer of instant companionship - is a deceptive ploy accounting for many successful recruitment drives." -