You have asked one of the biggest questions in the universe. However, there are sources that I have studied which shed light on it. I have been studying religion for over fifty years so I do not remember all of the sources. About three years ago I hooked up with several religious scholars who suggested I read Blavatsky. She wrote two Books “Isis Unveiled” and “Secret Doctrine”. I read both books and all of her writings which add up to over 6,000 pages. Blavatsky is Occult but she deals with a major part of the question in regard to the origin of good and evil in the universe. The earliest references are in Hinduism, but Blavatsky claims to go earlier with special texts she discovered in Tibet. Very few accept her on this point but it is there. The earliest credible source of information is in Zoroastrianism. This study is complicated but factual and you see the line in Persia. Hubbard claimed that the Chaldeans were first . They were early but they focused on Astrology. Mark Twain wrote a book on Satan which I mostly read but the title escapes me. However, the greatest source of information on Satan is Paradise Lost by Milton. I read the Summa Theologica by Thomas Aquinus while in college. He was very bright and discusses the issue extensively. One of the other great sources is Kabballah, but it is all very disputed. You get various versions of ancient texts which do not follow a pattern in Kabballah. In the 19th century in France, there were hundreds of books written on this subject. You can take your pick. Most center on the “black and white” problem which is key in this study. One side says you need black to get white (Satanic) or you need white to get black (God). At any rate, any serious study of Satan shows Scientology to be satanic itself. There is no escape.

Shereefe,

You brought up some good points. I’d like to respond. I can only speak for myself.

Some of the anger and sarcasm you read here is frustration at watching people doing themselves in.

Its like watching people close to you who keep taking drugs, and feeling helpless to help them.

Its like having a friend with black eyes or bodily bruises yet she denies that her husband is beating her up, or worse, makes excuses for his beating her and won’t seek help or talk about it. You know that by staying with him and allowing this behavior she is, effectively, slowly killing herself. And you feel helpless to help.

With me, no small part of it has stemmed from total bewilderment as to how the Still Ins can’t, don’t or won’t see what WE saw.

Now, I have been among the worst of those here with bitter sarcasm and caustic, make-wrong humor directed at the Still Ins.

(Forget “among the worst” – probably THE worst).

With me, having no one I love in the cult, not suffering personally from Disconnection, the sarcasm and anger at the still ins has mostly stemmed from the above 2 points, i.e, “How can they continue to allow themselves to be abused this way?” and “How do they NOT see what is so freaking OBVIOUS? What is WRONG with them?”

PARTICULARLY has “How do they NOT see?” been a brain-breaker for me.

The good news is that the answer finally came to me.

“What is WRONG with these people?”

Unfortunately, nothing.

NOTHING is wrong with them. They DO see what we saw. They’re NOT “blind”. Even if they don’t read the internet, THEY SEE PLENTY!

Well, then why don’t they leave, if they see all this, one can ask.

The answer is, “Because they haven’t decided to leave.”

Excluding the UTRs who are “in” and just pretending for the time being, excluding this group, the for real Still Ins haven’t reached their tipping points yet.

Each of us has one, for toleration of lies, toleration of injustice, toleration of abuse.

Its fair to say that, however their situations in the cult varied, every Ex Scientologist reached his or her own, personal tipping point in the cult, decided to leave, and left.

Some here made this decision and acted upon it at ENORMOUS cost to themselves, emotionally, mentally and financially. But made it they did.

The UTRs have already HAD their tipping points and are going thru the motions of being Scientologists, keeping their heads down and their mouths shut and their eyes and ears open while they rearrange their lives so as to extricate themselves from the cult with the least possible damage to their lives.

Indeed, some of the Thursday Funnies Loons we lampoon here may be UTRs. Its possible. Not the mega donors but possibly some of those in the group pictures could be just posing.

But the for real Still Ins are seeing everything we saw, experiencing just what we experienced, but have not reached their tipping points yet, that’s all.

If and/or when they do, they can, as we did, decide to leave, and once they decide to leave, they can, as we did, figure out a way. There’s nothing we did that they can’t do.

Lastly, I’ll share with you that once the answer to this puzzle appeared to me, I felt a lot better! More relieved. A LOT less confused, resentful, helpless.

Credit for this (excuse the Scientologese) COGNITION of mine goes to Malcolm Gladwell for “The Tipping Point”. I missed reading it when it came out. Terrific book!

The Still Ins are NO different from us. They SEE what we SAW. They CAN decide, as we decided. They CAN leave, as we left.

If you’ve managed to get this far, thanks for reading, Shereefe!

George, this is off-topic but in your extensive readings on all things Satanistic – seriously, I’m not poking fun, I’m interested in the origins of Satan/ Devil/ Evil One/Etc as an entity embodying the antithesis of God/goodness/purity/etc – in your readings inclusive of this subject have you found what has been agreed upon as and/or what you believe to be the EARLIEST mention of this basic character that figures so strongly in most established religions? If so, I’d appreciate some suggestions as to what I could read. I have a theory that we humans share a craving to believe that a SOURCE of PURE goodness exists, and that, out of that need, that craving, to believe that something, somewhere is all good, all knowing, all caring, etc. – out of that “purity” of goodness, kindness, concern, etc., there has to be its OPPOSITE, i.e, PURE evil. This is just my own theory, mind you, that we humans all share some degree of this craving to operate on fundamental absolutes like total, 100%, unadulterated good, and its opposite, total, 100% evil, and out of this craving came the entities, the figures, characters, etc., that we can post up there, to represent in actual, viewable form these concepts, i.e., pure good, pure evil.

I wonder how many of the 45 years it took Leland to get to OT 8? He’s mentioned in a recent Freewinds magazine: https://tonyortega.org/2019/09/21/the-new-freewinds-founder-l-ron-hubbard-says-scientology-is-supermagic/

Well, if nothing else he has hit the nail on the head concerning STAND’s writers. “Colorless and boring.”

Exactly Aqua.. The “nice” ones that are here to ‘help” are harder to spot.

1) Hypocrisy – do as I say, not as I do
2) How the f’ing hell do they not see the truth?

I am amazed and confused but having never been a Scientologist maybe I will never understand.

You beat me to it, Belynda!

“Foliate Oak Review…Feathertale Review…”

So much for the mass media portion of his literary credentials.

Elsewhere you wrote “I have no love for the COS anymore.” If that’s true, I’d think you’d understand why someone would leave, finally getting away when they had enough and had a chance – and that the supposed “routing out” process is a farce, probably particularly so for someone with insider and high-level knowledge of Scientology whose departure could be seen as threatening.

Yes, the Enablers, those goody-goody, nice-nice KSWers are themselves criminals and are, I’ve come to believe, far more dangerous than than the active criminals. At least with them you know what to expect. The enablers, on the other hand, the “nice” the ones on social media and elsewhere who profess “love” and “caring” for their family members yet must “regretfully” disconnect from them until said family members “come to their senses” (read: come back, and once and for all knuckle under to the cult) – until said family members “allow” them to “practice their faith” – God its so sickening – these passive ones, these smug, spineless ones causing so much pain – my contempt for them is as immense as is my admiration for the ones who’ve been disconnected from, the ones who despite living with continual, gnawing emptiness and grief still continue to love, still continue to hope, and still continue to guard their own integrity as precious and not to be sacrificed for any sham, quid pro quo “love” they’d get back by trading it in.