Christi Gordon sent me copies of these pages which were created at Flag, Christmas 1976. They are the lyrics for a musical performance that was part of the annual Bosun's party (I wrote about the infamous first Bosun's Party at Flag in 1975 in my book). The lyrics would be considered horrendous "J&D" now -- Hubbard had not yet invented that term which was announced in his Bulletin Jokers and Degraders in February 1977 (maybe he got a report about this performance?). Some of the notable lines: No need to panic, it's just another bomb threat The citizens of Clearwater … [Read more...]
Orders of Magnitude
What is so sad about this is that they take themselves seriously. What is the correct estimation of effort to get the job done? The "job" they are referring to is attaining a "Cleared Planet." It's what every scientologist has in their mind as the ultimate objective of their efforts. "Correct estimation of effort" and "Orders of Magnitude" are Hubbard catchphrases that scientologists use routinely. In simple terms, this briefing is purportedly going to explain what they really need to have and do to Clear the Planet. Of course, it would be a momentous thing if anyone in scientology … [Read more...]
Want to be a Sea Org Parent?
Thanks to Christi Gordon for uncovering some new documents that have not seen the light of day before. This one is a fascinating glimpse into the mindset of the Sea Org with respect to children. The basic gist of this issue from 1982 is this. Sea Org members are supposed to produce 5X what it costs to retain them Babies produce no monetary exchange to the Sea Org Babies cost the Sea Org at least $3000 a year To be able to keep a child in the Sea Org you have to prove that you are providing more than adequate exchange for yourself AND for your child(ren) otherwise you are not … [Read more...]
How Many Sea Org Members Are There?
This promotional item claims there are 6,600 Sea Org members. That is the absolute best case scenario -- any figures ever put out by scientology are exaggerated, if not completely made up. It's probably a thousand or more less than that, but we will take them at their word. 1,200,000 people for each SO member to clear is a pretty tall order. Especially as in the entire history of scientology, they have not yet cleared 10% of that number. Yes, in 70 years they aren't even close to 120,000 clears. They continue to hover around half that number. There were this many SO members in … [Read more...]
Neil Sarfati Hits the Big Time
My old friend from the Apollo, Neil Sarfati alerted me yesterday that he had finally "made the big time." He didn't mean he had a new number one album of his sax playing, he was referring to becoming a target of the STAND League haters. It's familiar stuff from STAND buffoon Martin Landon. First, if you have not do so, you should listen to the interview Neil did with the BBC Outlook program. I link to it below. It is very even-handed, mild-mannered and rather gentle on L. Ron Hubbard and life in the Sea Org back in the days of the Apollo. But because Neil is a no longer a cult … [Read more...]
Recruitment Day
My old friend Andy Porter sent in another article, and some more of magnificent photography (The last one I published is here) Recruitment Day It was late 1980 and I had been in Scientology for a few months, I’d completed the Communication Course and the Purification Rundown at the Bellevue Mission and I was doing auditor training when a FLAG World Tour came to town. They were looking for people to work in the Universe Corps! Here was an opportunity to get right to the top of the Bridge. The coolest thing you could do, on the WHOLE planet was to be an auditor, and they were … [Read more...]
The Children Sacrificed to Scientology
It is sadly true that many children raised in scientology families, especially those that attend "Study Tech" schools, have a pre-ordained future in the Sea Org. While scientology and Applied Scholastics claim they are NOT scientology, and certainly are NOT Sea Org recruitment pools -- sometimes the truth leaks out. Here they are, thinking they are safe inside a scientologists only FB group, telling it like it is: Their "product" is a graduate who joins the Sea Org. And here is a parent laying out her "win" that she "made the decision that I was raising Sea Org members. … [Read more...]
The Incestuous World of Scientology Staff
The shrinking world of scientology.... These days, about the only hope they have of getting new people to join staff or the Sea Org is if they are the children of scientologist parents. Rarely are the "successes" about staff from anyone else, unless it is an old person who says they’ve been on staff for 40 years and are still hoping to make it to Clear. We have had a number of people who were not scientologists recruited for "ideal orgs" with the promise of a job, pay and accommodations that have ended up being helped by the Aftermath Foundation. Typically they have not … [Read more...]
Sign Up For The Sea Org
This "briefing" is clearly a recruitment event (and of course, if they cannot get you to sign up for the SO or staff they will definitely take your money). How can you tell? You don't have Senior HCO there for a straight fundraiser. They are only there to try to get new staff. I suspect this is connected to the post of yesterday where they announced a "big thing coming" -- the orgs will be expected to send staff for OEC training at Flag. Many orgs don't have anyone to send, so they need to recruit someone. They will use this as a recruitment gimmick. Promising … [Read more...]
“Welcome Home”
How sad is this. "AJ" from Minneapolis just arrived at Flag to join the Sea Org. He just graduated high school. No doubt the child of some long term scientologist or staff member. This is the age I joined the Sea Org -- wide-eyed and enthusiastic to save the world. It won't be long before the promises he heard when they were recruiting him are forgotten and he becomes another drone in the money machine that is Flag. He will soon find out that he now belongs to the organization and his free will is meaningless. It used to be a thing to say "A mind is a terrible thing to … [Read more...]