This is the second posting in the coverage of this year's Maiden Voyage. Yesterday's post is here. Things got off to a bang at "Opening Night" - traditionally consisting of the "Rolling Thunder" presentation, some hype about the number of inches of sea traversed by the Moneywinds and joking and degrading at the expense of the "OT Ambassadors." Dear Leader set the stage with a huge, bald-faced lie -- "in full"(?) "just since last year, the number of scientologists advancing up the bridge has multiplied ten times over." This is just pulled out of his ass. Much like the 46X before … [Read more...]
More Thoughts on FSMing
Our friend Andy Porter submitted this as a comment in response to Terra Cognita's recent posting: Why Scientologists Don't FSM. I felt it deserved to be a posting to supplement the thoughts expressed in that post. I worked at the Bellevue Mission and was in the Mission Network for many years. One thing I would constantly hear was that it was MUCH easier to bring new people into a Mission, rather than a Class 5 Org because the new people were handled “better” in the Mission, meaning that they were not harassed as much as they were in an Org. Another thing that I observed over and over was … [Read more...]
Why Scientologists Don’t FSM
Another in the continuing series of essays from Terra Cognita. See earlier posts: Respect, The Survival Rundown - The Latest Scam, Communication in Scientology... Or Not, Am I Still A Thetan?, To Be Or Not To Be, An Evaluation of Scientology, Fear: That Which Drives Scientology and Justification and Rationalization. I ran across an old evaluation of the local Scientology scene in which the ED determined that seventy-five percent of all new people had come in off the FSM line back in the org’s heyday—which was a good thirty-five years ago. Now? No one brings anyone into the org … [Read more...]
Respect?
Another in the continuing series of thought-provoking essays from Terra Cognita. TC's previous posts: The Survival Rundown - The Latest Scam, Communication in Scientology... Or Not, Am I Still A Thetan?, To Be Or Not To Be, An Evaluation of Scientology, Fear: That Which Drives Scientology and Justification and Rationalization. A few weeks ago, a person contributed an essay to this blog in which he talked about respecting a friend still firmly involved in the Church of Scientology. Over the years, I’ve wrestled with the concept of “respect” and how to apply it to the people i … [Read more...]
The Path
I posted about this on Facebook, but think it is important enough to reiterate here. I just finished watching the last episode of season one of The Path on Hulu. This is a very well scripted, acted, shot, edited and scored series. But more importantly, it is the best portrayal I have ever seen of the prison of the mind that entraps those in cults. It is extremely difficult to understand why people remain in a cult for anyone who has not experienced it themselves. This show portrays it accurately - the torment and anguish that those with doubts go through, the threat of losing loved ones, … [Read more...]
The Survival Rundown – The Latest Scam
Another in the continuing series of thought provoking posts from Terra Cognita. TC's previous posts: Communication in Scientology... Or Not, Am I Still A Thetan?, To Be Or Not To Be, An Evaluation of Scientology, Fear: That Which Drives Scientology and Justification and Rationalization. The Survival Rundown – David Miscavige’s Latest Scam I’m embarrassed to say that I actually spent many hours on this rundown. I’m proud to say I finally woke up and queried what the fuck I was doing. That said, I’m not here to defend or condemn LRH or objective processing, but to explain this … [Read more...]
Basics vs. OT, Tin Lizzie and Macintosh
Somehow an OT VIII, Super Power and L's completion had "all sorts of problems, ridges and inabilities"... Not much of a recommendation for the results of hundreds of thousands of dollars and years of slog. She then goes on to explain that all you really need to go OT is The Basics, Congresses and ACC's... Scientologists seem to habitually brain fart when they get near a success story form. Consider this: the last of the Basics, Congresses and ACCs was in the 60's. Even L. Ron Hubbard didn't think he had found the answers to OT. Everything on the OT Levels, the L's, Super Power etc … [Read more...]
Good News from Flag
I usually publish these after I have accumulated a few and add some points to the long term graph. But it has been more than a month now, and no word from either Jeff Mintz or Sandy Dodwell about ANY "good news" at Flag. It's a pretty good indicator that things are not going too well at the top of the Bridge. They ONLY put out these things when they have something THEY think is "good news." Remember back when they first put these out they included all of the following completions? Purif, Objectives, Running Pgm, Super Power, Clears, L's, OT's, OT VII's. They long since dropped me … [Read more...]
Communication in Scientology…Or Not
Another in the continuing series of observations by our friend Terra Cognita - still not declared. And in my view, this may be his best yet. This is perhaps the single biggest glaring irrationality in scientology. TC's previous posts: Am I Still A Thetan?, To Be Or Not To Be, An Evaluation of Scientology, Fear: That Which Drives Scientology and Justification and Rationalization. Communication in Scientology…Or Not LRH wrote extensively on communication. He wrote volumes. He lectured extensively on the subject. The man was all about communication. One of the first steps in Sci … [Read more...]
Am I Still A Thetan?
Another thought provoking article from Terra Cognita. Now that I’m Out of Scientology…Am I Still a Thetan? I grew up in an atheist home where religion was the “opiate of the people” and spiritual beings were the stuff of fairy tales. I kept these beliefs to myself when I first walked in the front doors of the local Org. A few years later, George Lucas had discovered the Force, and I began to accept that there was more to me than my corporeal self. Maybe there weren’t enough gray cells inside my noggin to hold all my memories after all. The majority of people on the planet believed they wer … [Read more...]