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Sunday, June 8, 2008

Scientologists: How Would You Know?

Dear Scientologists,

Let's pretend. Just so we can take a look at something, let's pretend that something that you are sure is impossible, actually happened.

Let's pretend that a Suppressive Person took control of the Church of Scientology. Of course you know that's impossible, but just pretend, OK?

How would you tell?

Upper management of the Church of Scientology is hidden away. Oh, everyone knows the Hemet location, the Hollywood building, the buildings in Clearwater, but, really, the activities and personnel of International Management are pretty well hidden. It's hard for the regular Scientologist to see what's going on.

So what would you be able to see if an SP was running things?

Sure, we'd expect reports of problems, crimes, beatings, abuses, lies to leak out from the Int. Base, but those reports wouldn't be visible to Scientologists. Those reports would just be rejected as "entheta", "hate-crimes" and "attacks". Scientologists wouldn't be allowed to see those.

Another obvious one would be that Scientology statistics would tank. But, then again, those are not displayed anywhere for Scientologists to see. Scientologists get that kind of information from the big events, and those statistics aren't complete. You see a graph, but no scale. You see the scale, but the time range is missing. You just see "3X" but with no data on "three times what?" No, you can't tell anything from those flashy displays, and the real statistics are hidden.

Another sign would be that all those who personally worked with Ron, especially those in top management, would be removed. You wouldn't hear of them, you wouldn't see them. But, since top management is hidden, that would be hard to see as well.

So how would you know? How would you be able to tell?

Understand, of course, that we're just pretending here.

Well, you know, there would be signs.

The first sign that might be visible is a change in emphasis. Originally, the Church of Scientology was all about selling books, creating auditors and getting people "up the Bridge". That's what was always pushed. "Come in for service!" "Get trained!"

With a Suppressive in charge, you'd see the emphasis change to money. Prices would increase. Instead of selling books and services, the church would simply ask for money. Pure donations, where nothing was given in exchange, would creep in, and then would be pushed, harder and harder.

Another sign would be in the general population of Scientologists. More Scientologists would be "in trouble". More Scientologists would have to jump through more hoops just to stay on the Bridge. More Scientologists would just back off, give up, move away, become "inactive".

This would lead to nearly empty orgs, empty course rooms, sparse staff and orgs struggling. While the big events would still tell tall tales of "booming orgs", your local org would not be doing well at all. Groups in the field, if any, would close. You'd see nearby orgs "combining", for instance, a Class V Org with its nearby Celebrity Centre.

Another sign would, inevitably, be Hubbard's technology. In the name of "improving" the technology, the Suppressive would make alterations, large and small. Probably the SP would claim that "lost tech" had been recovered, but the so-called "source material" would not be displayed. Training would be changed, and changed again. Most Scientologists, being trained on this "improved" version of the tech would drop out, unable to actually apply the tech any more. Again, course rooms would empty and completions would crash.

Then, the next sign would be Ron's lectures and books. The SP would "discover" that these were somehow "wrong" and needed to be heavily edited to "make them right". No one would be allowed to own the original, "wrong", versions. Only the SP's versions would be allowed.

Of course, this could never happen, we are only talking hypothetically, here.

In this pretend world, where an SP took control of the Church of Scientology, there would be many other signs, but they would be carefully hidden from all Scientologists.

However, because of all the hidden crimes, lies, abuses; because of the excessive demand for money; because of the failure to actually deliver; because of mistakes and corruption, there would be attacks against Scientology, and these would grow and grow. The SP would, of course, point the finger here and there and would, undoubtedly, use the attacks as an excuse to exhort even more pure donations from all Scientologists.

And, always, things would just keep getting worse for the church.

Of course, you know that this could never happen. Not in a million years. No Suppressive Person could ever take control of the Church of Scientology. Nope. It's impossible!

So, tell me, since you're so sure, exactly what safeguards are in place that make this impossible? The survival of the Church of Scientology depends on specific and powerful safeguards against something like this happening. Do you know of any?

I'm not pretending anymore.
-

23 comments:

  1. LRH said that the only time Scientology is attacked was when it "failed to deliver what was promised".

    Current management should pay attention.

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  2. Damn good article!

    Keep writing 'just Bill'.

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  3. If I were a scilon, I'd be out. Your essays are excellent!

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  4. another wonderful article, i'm really coming to love this blog!! can i submit a pair of questions for a future post? how long were you actively involved in scientology? and what did it take for you to start to snap out of it? TIA!

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  5. Thanks anonlover.

    I'm not going to post about myself, it just isn't that kind of blog. But I can answer you here. I was off-and-on active in Scientology for over 25 years.

    What caused me to start to wake up? Well, I was aware, for years, that there was much that just wasn't right. But, like most Scientologists, I thought it was local - and that it would be fixed by someone higher up.

    Going to Flag was eye-opening. The problems I'd seen at my local Org, and similar problems at the AO were also endemic at Flag. It became obvious that "higher up" was not only not going to fix things, "higher up" was most likely the source of the problems.

    That was the start.

    Further investigation uncovered more corruption and just confirmed that the top of the church, International Management, was the cause of all the problems I'd seen.

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  6. thk you just bill for sharing that, sorry to ask such a forward question but it's the same subject as my most recent post and after the other useful tidbits i've come to understand better from this blog - spur of the moment i couldnt help but ask.

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  7. No problem! I appreciate your comments.

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  8. Has anyone looked at the ref "ON Human Behavior", (PTS/SP Course) and wondered;

    "Gee, points 1 - 5 seem to be the new policy at the INT Base?"

    1. Everything bad that happened to the preclear was a) ridiculous,
    b) unimportant, c) deserved.

    (Doesn't this sound similar to "YOU PULLED IT IN?")

    2. Everything the preclear and others did to the aberrative person was a) very important, b) very bad c) irremediable.

    (some can never get out of the SP Hall or RPF)

    3. Those things which the preclear could do a) were without real value, b) WERE BETTER DONE BY THE ABERRATIVE PERSONALITY or by others.

    (caps above are my emphasis)

    4. SEXUAL RESTRAINT or perversion.

    (caps, my emphasis no explanation needed)

    5. Inhibition of eating

    (Rice and beans anyone?)

    "Renegade"

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  9. What an excellent website. Your insights and tone, I believe, are exactly on point to reach the real audience: the people who have been victimized by an organization that's leveraged their own good intentions.

    I sincerely hope that in my lifetime Tom Cruise, John Travolta or Kirstie Alley will "come out" against the church. As celebrities, I'm sure they've been carefully shielded from all of the ugliness, and would have to endure the ordeal of a paradigm shift. But man, can you even imagine how powerful it would be if one of those guys went on Oprah and said, "I was wrong. I was conned. Here are the facts and they are just as bizarre as you've always suspected."

    Sigh. Fairies don't exist and this will probably never happen. In the meantime, keep up the good writing.

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  10. @Elizabeth

    Thank you for your kind words. I, too, wish for all Scientology's celebrities to not only wake up but publicly tell the truth. That would be very significant.

    While it is unlikely that all of them would do so, I do think a few are likely to do something like that.

    For now, we just keep doing what we can.

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  11. Hi Just Bill,
    I am wondering about Church structure. Sure COB might be a bad hat. But what about the next guy? Why is RTC and the Chairman of RTC running the Church anyway? Is there any LRH to back this up? And what was LRH's plan, if not this? Just wondering.

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  12. @Ann

    Sorry, there is no "next guy". David Miscavige has systematically destroyed anyone in Scientology management who had any intelligence or leadership ability. No, really. He considered them all to be threats to his dictatorship.

    The structure of the current Church of Scientology is not what LRH planned or desired. It is all DM's creation. Anything LRH wrote about this was discarded when DM restructured the church. Now, legally, RTC is not supposed to run the church at all. Legally, it is supposed to be completely separate. Legally David Miscavige is not supposed to be running things.

    But there is no one left to challenge him. The secret lines of control give Miscavige total control over everything -- meaning that replacing him would be impossible. Even a coup is impossible.

    LRH's plan was completely different. He created, and left in control, a huge structure of management and checks and balances. Everything LRH created for managing the Church of Scientology has been destroyed. ED Int, Watchdog Committee, Executive Strata... all gone or reduced to gutted, compliant shells.

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  13. Wow! The current scene then seems impossible to correct. How then do you see the future of the Church?

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  14. Hi Just Bill,
    If legally RTC is not supposed to be running things, is there possibly a legal solution? Just thinking out loud here cause there must be a solution... Thanks

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  15. To Elizabeth,
    I have had that dream also about our top celebrities. However, three pretty big celebries that I know of have left. They are: "Crash" director,Paul Haggis; Larry Anderson, star of the "Orientation" film and working actor; and Jason Beghe, a working actor.
    It is, I believe, a crack in the wall. Who knows what will follow.

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  16. @Ann

    Re: Future

    I think you are correct. The current scene for the Church of Scientology is impossible to correct. What I see is the official Church of Scientology destroying itself and going away.

    While I don't see the non-church Scientologists being able to unite, I expect Scientology to continue - in various forms - for some time. What I hope will happen is more investigation and research, finding out what works, when and why - and I hope that something is built from that, integrating with other things that also work. I think there is potential that hasn't been realized.

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  17. @Ann
    Re: Legally RTC

    That's not a solution to the church's problems, but I believe that the Church of Scientology is in a heap of potential legal problems. From what I see, the church is in violation of tons of laws, and is quite vulnerable in that regard. That undoubtedly will be a major factor in the destruction of the church.

    But the church can't and won't reform because of it, it's too far gone to be able to change now.

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  18. Dear Just Bill,
    Wow. Too late to reform... That's intense.
    Let's follow this further. Let's say there is no more C of S, it implodes or DM goes to jail or something, and I want a course pack, what happens then? It just seems that the Church has a lock on the materials. Can you shed any light on this?
    How ironic that our Church is in violation of tons of laws? I thought we were supposed to abide by the laws of the land. This is all very weird. That said, I really appreciate you being there. Without a terminal, these thoughts, questions, concerns just seem to bounce around in my head. This is a very liberating process. Thank you.

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  19. Dear Just Bill,
    It is surreal to think of a world without CofS. But that day might come.
    I presonally would like to see it morph into a philosophical society of some kind.
    When you think about it, the word, "religion" is not in the definition of "Scientology". It is a PHILOSOPHY.
    A good session is a religious experience. But that does not a religion make.
    A moral code and ethics, that does not a religion make.
    Believing in past lives, does not a religion make. Many philosophers have talked about the nature of man and the universe and have theories about creation and that does not a religion make.
    The ZEALOUSNESS that is part of Scientology, now that does a religion make. But is that a good thing? I don't think so. I think that is pretty aberrated.
    Your thoughts...

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  20. @Ann

    The world without the Church of Scientology does not mean the end of Scientology. Hopefully, people will be able to continue with anything that is good and discard all the evil, bad and unworkable baggage.

    I think Scientology would have done so much better as a business. They would have had to only promise what they could actually deliver. They would have avoided all the fanaticism. They would never have gone into "pure donations", "ideal orgs" and such rot. They would have had to pay decent wages, charge reasonable fees, treat staff and public with respect -- or they would have, appropriately, gone out of business.

    Hopefully, the future Scientology will exist as a business, adhering to all rules, laws and regulations.

    As for course packs and such, it is my understanding that, through incompetence, the Church of Scientology allowed most copyrights to lapse quite a few years ago. I don't think they legally own the copyrights for much of the original materials. That is, in my opinion, one of the reasons Miscavige has worked so hard to rewrite everything -- so he could have valid copyrights on the new materials.

    It is my understanding that most of the original materials, which is what you would want, are in the public domain. But I am not a lawyer. While the church claims copyright on everything, they have always settled before that subject can go to court for adjudication.

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  21. Dear Just Bill,
    It looks like we are on the same page about Scientology being better off being a business. I have thought this for a long time and for the reasons you stated. Well, we shall see.
    Of course those thoughts had to stay in my head. It is nice to get them out there.

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  22. Dear Just Bill,
    Do you happen to know when LRH went Clear? I just realized that I assumed he was Clear. But then realized that the first Clear was John McMasters and I believe that was in 1968. Can you clarify this? Thank you.

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  23. @Ann

    This was never announced and has never been included in any official history. One assumes Hubbard did "go Clear" (whatever that means) but never officially announced it. The official story at the time was that LRH "nobly retained his bank for awhile, for further research".

    Personally, I think he probably felt is was demeaning for him to take a number like everyone else. He was superior to all of that. Also, at that time they actually tested the new Clears rather thoroughly, and I don't think he would have tolerated that at all.

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