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Statpush — interesting point.

There’s an anecdote I heard years ago – I can’t attest to its veracity, but it makes for a good read. J. Edgar Hoover (head of FBI years ago) was a control freak and loved his reports – on his desk and on time. He also loved making notes on what others reported and demanded that the authors leave enough space around the text for his comments. Well, one day he got a report, filling out most of the page – thus leaving him no room for his precious comments. So he scrawled boldly across the report — Watch the Borders! and this note prompted immediate action and a high alert on the Canadian and Mexican Borders of the US..

This is what happens when people take things literally without the ability to differentiate. I would estimate that in my personal experience, 8 out of 10 staff members, at all levels, lacked the ability to differentiate between a fact and a law, between an order and a compelling organization-wide concept or policy. That these orders came from an authoritative source was all that was needed for most staff to carry it out or demand that others did..

Let’s face one fact here, LRH designed his 3D to mirror the command structure of the military. In the military, commands are followed, they do not prompt discussion. People are shot for failing to go over the trenches and charge. A dramatic example perhaps, but that’s what was there. Yes, LRH inserted policies that governed hats and command lines versus communication lines but the die was already cast. Orders ran the Orgs, policy merely validated them – sometimes.

The Church’s organizational structure was an awkward hybrid – part religion, part military, part business and finally part sanctuary. I for one, was frequently confused and at odds with the structure. Should I bark an Order, get in Comm, form a committee and discuss things, or simply find a room and meditate on it for the rest of the afternoon. LRH’s penchant for giving people space and freedom in theory was a wonderful concept, in practice though, it drove far too many to interpret policy, tech and common business practices ad naseum. The result was abuse, when dominant Extroverts assumed command positions with little to no understanding of what the real purpose of the Church was. They just wanted to be in charge.

Anyway — this is my theory on why admin tech was so inconsistent.

Excellent post Thoughtful. Poignant and thought provoking!

One thing that I have pondered for a long time, is what did the journey LRH embark upon in the 30s and 40s actually do to him, mentally, physically, spiritually? He didn’t blaze the first usable trail to Yellowstone Park or Yosemite. He mapped a workable technology to the human mind and spirit. What scars were left unhealed as a result? What dark corridors did he venture down and only escape from years later, when the technology began to form into something workable and consistent?

When I listen to tapes or read books that he authored in 1951 I hear the clear and undiluted excitement in his voice. He’s seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time. Everything is in color, vibrant and alive. When I read his bulletins and policy letters from the 1980s, they are all somber, dark and filled with fear. Whatever LRH was, he was not immune to restimulation or the cascading effect of years of unresolved case and life issues. He ultimately went the effect of his own ambitions, which in a way, is a cruel reward for all his hard work and efforts. He elevated himself to the status of creator in some ways – saw the absolute need to remain there and this, in my opinion, was his undoing.

There are so many great anecdotes here. I got into SCN in 1972 and met some of the most compassionate people I had ever known. Within three years I was staff at GO WW and that dwindling spiral was already underway. Compassion was out – heavy ethics was in. We as a group were so FOCUSED on getting in and preserving Tech & Policy, that we didn’t have the time to apply it. How crazy is that!

Almost every thread connected to this post, reads the same way. People on staff, in the SO, manifesting 3D insanity at a level that didn’t make sense, all the while doing it, to keep SCN and the Tech alive. What a contrary fact – what a GPM!

Let’s keep these coming. As-is-ness is the way out!

So true Hallie Jane! +1

Thanks OT. This matches with my understanding. I know about the intense efforts to eradicate any evidence of LRH or Mary Sue or Jane Kember involvement. Ultimately, Mary Sue took responsibility for what happened and had the buck stop with her. She WAS the top of the “GO Command Chain” and it deliberately set up that way. LRH knew she would fall on her sword for him. And so it was. Not very noble for him, but sort of understandable if you felt (as he did) that the survival of Scientology depended on his presence but more importantly on him NOT being convicted.

Unfortunately, the true beginning of the end for LRH was when he abandoned MSH as she was the ONLY person that could ever tell him he was erring.

It’s a bad position for ANYONE to be in that they have NO checks and balances. Look at every dictator in history. Look at Miscavige.

Hey Mike, awesome post and great comment here. Not sure if I want to push out two great big Thumbs Up now, or go to a corner and cry for a bit. Very Interesting.

I was on staff at GO WW in the summer of 1977 – a.k.a the summer of the Raid on CC Int, US GO and other locations. Walking into the Manor the day after the raid, was like walking into the White House after JFK was shot. A State Funeral would be considered festive compared to the overall pall that hung over the place that day.

On that morning we also embarked on three straight weeks of a redacting frenzy that swept through GO WW. (Redacting – the act of removing or obscuring text on reports, prior to release.) Everybody on post, except maybe the telex operator, was given a new job – go through thousands of files and remove every mention of LRH, MSH, GWW and several other acronyms that were present in them.

Without going into a lengthy story – which perhaps I should do at a later date – I can attest that from the hundred or so files I personally went through, LRH was involved in Operation Snow White. The program that drove some terminals to engage in unsavory acts against the IRS and other agencies. Did everyone at the top know about what was being done? Again, based on what I saw and read – you bet.

Was everyone in the Guardians Office privy to this or engaged in it somehow? No. I can’t tell you how many sideways glances I got from other staff (PR, Legal, Qual, HCO) , all working together in a room, thinking WTF is this all about? I didn’t know about it and I knew a lot. In my opinion, and I am firm on this, the tip of the spear, in regards to this activity was located at US GO. The plan was originated at GO WW and above by several key terminals, but was then executed by a handful of people at US GO and in its field.

Years after this event, I met with, and listened a good deal to the stories told by the black-baggers who actually did the deeds that ultimately brought about prison sentences for most of the acronyms above. The chain of command went through US GO. I feel these few facts are important in order for us to have a little as-is-ness regarding some of the crap that has gone on in the past.

The GO that I knew up until 1982 or so, was comprised mostly of dedicated, well-meaning people, with a proportional number of fucking nutters, who thought sticking their tongues into a live electrical socket was okay, as long as the order telling them to do so came through the correct channels. It’s that simple at times, as much as we may want to have more sophisticated reasons for the shit that has taken place over the years.

What LRH did in coming up with the Tech, was literally priceless. Was he as exacting in his personal life – evidence abounds that he was not. I think we all deal with that fact in our own way and that’s fine.

Very emotional post and comments – Well done Mike – thank you.

In 1969, Alan Walter’s string of 10 missions was booming. His success apparently was seen as a threat by LRH. To weaken this “opinion leader,” LRH used third-party tech: he covertly wrote to the IRS to accuse Walter of tax evasion (boy did that backfire). The 10 missions were wiped out; Walter left the Chruch. http://www.forum.exscn.net/showthread.php?6648-Alan-s-been-kidnapped!-%28was-John-McMaster-s-partial-story!%29/page3

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Mike,

Thank you for your honesty. It is very refreshing to see. So often I see supporters of the Tech refuse to even consider the possibility that LRH had his own faults. Clearly the situation IS complicated and retro-active airbrushing ultimately doesn’t help anyone.

I firmly believe that a resolution of a problem requires the ability to honestly confront the situation, no matter how unpalatable that might be.

And, there is a very BIG problem with Scientology right now. Miscavige is one aspect but another is the inherited attitudes and behaviours that might have once seemed useful but now have no place in today’s world. A reformation is required, from the top to the bottom.