Mike Rinder's Blog

Something Can Be Done About It

More Stolen Valor

By 68 Comments

Here we go again.

On Memorial Day I wrote a post about this subject — Stolen Valor: Ron the War Hero

And now they are at it once more.

If you are planning to attend this event, or know someone who is, please be aware that this is ONLY a “PR opportunity” for “safepointing” scientology and that those who attend will be held up as examples of people who endorse scientology. Know too that that the founder of scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, told many tall tales (lies) about his military career, very well documented in Chris Owens’ carefully researched book Ron The War Hero (available on Amazon here).

Steer clear of this event.

Comments

  1. Jim:
    “Skyler,

    Another very touchy medal for vetrans is the Purple Heart.

    ”

    AND for good reason. All of Hubbard’s “wounds” were gathered as he plotted and scuttled to AVOID actual military service at all costs.

    Reply

  2. Why don’t we recognize that Tubby had no honor, no valor, and didn’t know HOW to tell the truth,
    and leave it at that?

    This thing is another case of “scientologists lie, must lie, can’t not lie; it’s their ‘scripture’.

    Reply

  3. Peggy L. As to Jedi Warrior…He spoke about Space Opera on the Whole Track and described being in the races seen in the Star Wars prequels which came out much latter than the recordings where he talks about it. Perhaps George Lucas heard his tapes….. Don’t really know!?

    Reply

  4. He actually looks quite good in this photo. Too bad His Oatee powers didn’t extend to keeping himself groomed, fit and healthy.

    Of all his character flaws what really blows my mind, what I find very hard to understand, is that he let his teeth rot. Simple dental hygiene. I don’t get it!

    More from the I Don’t Get It Department:

    OTVII’s EP is “Cause Over Life”, right? Someone here can tell me, possibly. I’m pretty sure I read that somewhere but correct me if I’m wrong. Now, I know an OTVIII who just had quadruple bypass surgery. One would THINK someone who is Cause Over Life, with PERFECT or even somewhat adequate whole track recall would have SOME self-discipline, SOME common sense about eating sensibly, not clogging up the arteries…but no, just shovel it in and have a near death heart attack…THIS is OT? I don’t get it!

    End of semi-off-topic rant 🙂

    Reply

    • Aqua:
      “He actually looks quite good in this photo. Too bad His Oatee powers didn’t extend to keeping himself groomed, fit and healthy.

      ”
      I wouldn’t call that semi-off-topic. You nailed the guy right in his hyper-inflated gut.

      Reply

  5. According to LRH, he was a master of many things.
    Here are just a few:
    Master Author
    Master Audio Recordist
    Master Musician
    Master SP Detector

    Let’s take a sec to look back on these areas of his master skills.

    Master Author – Scientology redid every single book he wrote AFTER he wrote them. Many of his books and writings contradict each other over the years. This is a significant problem and reason why so many of his writings had to be “modified” or “researched” to find what he meant when he contradicted himself.

    Master Audio Recordist – At Scientology’s media arm – Golden Era Productions, there are volumes and volumes of LRH writings on how to do proper recordings, and he makes out like he was gods gift to audio recordings. Also at Golden Era Productions and CST are at least 100 people that have spent decades going through all of LRH recordings and taking the hundreds of ones that you could barely hear him on, the ones that had horrible static on them, the ones that sounded like he recorded them in a bathroom and the ones that sound like he had the mic 100 feet away from where he was talking. These people have spent decades fixing the thousands of recordings that the MASTER REECORDIST screwed up over a period of 30 years. They have been fixing his recordings for many years longer than he took to record them initially.

    Master Musician – This one is self-evident on how many of his songs have charted and how many you have on your playlist.

    Master SP Detector – This one is my favorite. LRH was undoubtedly the best at spotting SPs. He wrote the book on SPs. He DID write the book – it is called the Ethics Book. He wrote what SPs looked like, what they did, how they acted, and even how they smelled. He even calculated that 2.5%$ of the population of Earth were SPs.

    Years later, somehow, just about every single person that ever worked with LRH turned out to be SPs. His wife turned out to be an SP. His kids turned out to be SPs. The people that he turned Scientology over to run were SPs. His Auditor was an SP. His chef was an SP. His hand-picked messengers were SPs. I would be surprised if a total of 2.5% of the people he knew and worked with were NOT SPs.

    You can double-check just about any profession that Hubbard was a “master” of and you will find that he was the opposite.

    The only thing that he was indeed a master of was bullshitting. He was a gold medalist bullshitter. He was king of all bullshit and bullshitters the world over.

    Reply

    • Don’t forget he was a master filmmaker, a marriage and family relations expert, a master of flight and gliding, a world-renowned explorer, an expert on window-washing, laundry, and … well, everything else. Just ask him.

      Reply

      • And yet he let his teeth rot. Leaving aside the aesthetic aspect, think of the PAIN from teeth needing fillings, root canals or extraction; the pain from bleeding gums and ongoing bone loss that cause the teeth to become loose and actually fall out. Its a horror show!
        People like this get TRENCHMOUTH. The breath of someone with trenchmouth (my dentist told me) is so overpoweringly bad that you can smell it just being in the same room with that person. How could LRH have DONE this to himself? Sorry to be a such a bore on this point. Sometimes it helps to vent because afterwards I get ideas that help me understand.

        Reply

        • That’s what I’m sayin’!

          So incredibly disgusting. So much for LRH being “source” and the “biggest OT”.

          What a sick joke he played on everyone.

          Reply

    • “Master Musician – This one is self-evident on how many of his songs have charted and how many you have on your playlist.
      ”

      More succinctly: There was NOT ONE I could force myself to listen to the first time, much less want to try to listen to a second time.
      The guy was a legend only in his own mind.– or that of his BTs.

      Reply

  6. Hubbard is one of those people whom it’s really a shame no actual professional was ever able to examine and diagnose (at least not until he was living in a trailer at the end of his life). He’s a fascinating case.

    Was he the malignant narcissist he seems to have been? Was he actually a deeply insecure person trying to compensate for his own feelings about himself? Did he start believing his own hype and lose contact with reality? Did he spend so much time in his fantasy world that he lost his mind completely? Is it all of the above?

    I tend to think it was all of the above. We’ll never know. In a few decades Scientology will be just a strange footnote in cults and new religious movements of the 20th century, and no one will care anymore, but I will always wonder.

    Reply

    • I agree. ALL of the above.

      Plus, an abusive son of a bitch who sought to control through fear, intimidation and retaliation.

      Reply

    • MarcAnon:”Was he the malignant narcissist he seems to have been? Was he actually a deeply insecure person trying to compensate for his own feelings about himself? Did he start believing his own hype and lose contact with reality? Did he spend so much time in his fantasy world that he lost his mind completely? Is it all of the above?”

      IMO, I’d have to say “Yes. Yes.Yes. and ABSOLUTELY!”.

      Reply

  7. What happened to Winning_On_All_Dynamics? I thought this post would have brought him/her outta the woodwork.

    I kinda think this person is just a troll who’s messing around. His/her posts are just too wacko.

    Reply

  9. LRH pretended he was building a creation that would help all of mankind – the truth is he built a creation – wherein he was the sole source and only he could be right.He was the Game maker and we were  the pieces and some were broken pieces.
    It seemed to me that to truly give a person back in power of choice and personal freedom, that it would be vital to allow the person to voice any disagreements over the way Scn was run in order to let them develop their own sense of right & wrong, uninfluenced by ethics, policy or tech policies.
    BUT
    The aim was *NEVER* to create truly self reliant people as regards right & wrong.
    The target is for the Cult to insert their goals over the top of their members and to apply subtle domination and subjugation where the entire group inside agree with every word within their own bubble.
    If you do not AGREE with all of Hubbard, all of Management -or have any secret thoughts that something is WRONG….immediately run and turn yourself into the nearest ORG Ethics Officer – if you do not do this – you are jeopardizing your future and everyone else’s future in the universe.
    And the true believers, believe it !

    Scientology is both good and original. Unfortunately the parts that are good are not original and the parts that are original are not good.

    Reply

      • By the way, Karen, I’ll add that it was VERY unfortunate that LRH had the attitudes that you so accurately described, because in my 35 years in Scientology, I had some extremely positive life changing wins and still apply much of what was true for me in Ron’s writings. BUT his megalomania and totalitarian viewpoint (and the Soviet style fascist organization he built) ultimately made it impossible for me to stay. NO ONE is 100% right about EVERYTHING.

        Reply

        • “Scientology is both good and original. Unfortunately the parts that are good are not original and the parts that are original are not good.”

          That one hit me between the eyes. Very well written. It made me think about one of my considerations about Hubbard. He copied so much from Blavatsky and Theosophy but never gave her credit. After more than thirty years out, I concluded that his creative auditing with his questions did not really give me any gains at all. At the time I thought I had some life helping cognitions but in retrospect I see that he was going in circles. I finally concluded that as Lucifer Hubbard was really presenting the opposite of spiritual or intellectual gains. The problem I had with Scientology was that it filled my mind with useless data. I have changed my mind about Hubbard. I called him a moron many times but now I see that he was one point above moron. That fits him better.

          Reply

    • Karen:”Scientology is both good and original. Unfortunately the parts that are good are not original and the parts that are original are not good.

      ”
      And always, the twain met, confusing the good with the “original”. That’s what sunk me: I saw a bit of good in his opening gambits and took whatever he said after that as likely to be equally good. 40 years later, I’m still trying to untangle the mess studying his dreck created.

      Reply

    • Karen:”The aim was *NEVER* to create truly self reliant people as regards right & wrong.
      ”

      The AIM was to make Tubby MONEY$$$ Pure and simple.

      Reply

    • Rosemarie:
      “He was such a fraud!!!!”

      and so openly so, if you read him carefully, knowing what we now know.

      Reply

    • Peggy L:”So, LRH wasn’t also a Jedi warrior? Cuz that would have been a really cool thing to add to his resume.”

      No, He dreamed up Doc Methuselah for his past-life persona, a character I’ve never encountered in 65 years of avid science fiction fandom. As a counterpoint, I DO remember “Doc Savage”, who I read first in 3rd grade, 55 years ago.

      Reply

    • No wonder he won’t show up for his next tour of duty for the See Orgy. Dave would Sec Check him until he confessed His crimes …….. and that would require a frickin lot of intensives!

      Reply

      • You may be right Newcomer.

        One of the questions I’d love him being asked: Have you ever attempted to enslave a population?

        Reply

      • Newcomer:”No wonder he won’t show up for his next tour of duty for the See Orgy. Dave would Sec Check him until he confessed His crimes …….. and that would require a frickin lot of intensives!

        ”

        So THAT explains why! ElCon showed up and Davey-boy threw him out first thing, on the eligibility step.

        There’s truth to that: ELCon couldn’t have held to the standards he demanded.

        Reply

      • Ewww…. his breath (if that’s what you meant) had to be putrid between the incessant smoking and rotting teeth. Totally disgusting.

        As the “greatest OT”, couldn’t Hubbard just postulate new teeth? Oops… apparently not.

        (As an aside, in my early 20s, about 20 years ago, I briefly dated a guy for about 3 weeks. I went to his apartment & used the restroom while I was there. I noticed that the shower had NOTHING to clean oneself — no soap, no shampoo, no body wash, nothing! I’m kinda OCD about bodily hygiene so that seriously grossed me out. Then he tried to kiss me and ohhh dear… I smelled the breath. Needless to say, that was the last time I saw him…lol.)

        Reply

        • Katherine, you may be correct about his breath, but I meant that as a dead guy , he couldn’t pass the basal metabolism test … “take a deep breath, hold it for a moment and let it out” (correct wording?)

          Reply

          • Most Scientologists are awaiting their next OT level in a state of breathless anticipation. Unfortunately, there’s nothing about it that’s breathtaking.

            Reply

            • Scribe:
              “Most Scientologists are awaiting their next OT level in a state of breathless anticipation.”

              That’s a situation where “Baited breath” would be appropriate and fitting.
              Bait and switch: scn’s whole operation in 3 words — for the past 70± years.

              Reply

        • I hear you, Katherine. Gross. Gross for a man, gross for a woman.
          And unless someone lives in the Third World in a mud hut with no indoor plumbing, unexcusable.

          In fact, I lived for 2 years in a Third World country and the poorest rural people had neither soap, deodorant nor toothpaste. Except for the truly wretched ones with serious diseases like elephantitis, and, some of them, leprosy, most of these extremely poor people looked healthy and fairly clean, though somewhat dusty as they were peasants who farmed and raised chickens and goats. They would bathe in the rivers or wash themselves with rags from buckets of water. One could smell them because it was hot and they had no deodorant. But their teeth – forget it, I don’t know HOW they kept their teeth in such terrific shape!

          Reply

          • Wow. I love when things get put into perspective for me and others. Lately, I’ve been bitching about life problems. Your post describing people’s living conditions will make me stop… if only for a while.. lol.

            So many people in the US and other countries complain about their life. But what you just wrote is absolutely heartbreaking. Really makes people who have a place to live and some money stop complaining so much!

            Reply

            • True, and thanks, Katherine. Living there changed me. I arrived a clueless suburban American teenager What I saw – I can never forgot what I saw! Wait! That’s not true. Sometimes I DO forget and find myself grousing and bitching. Then I make myself remember what hundreds of millions of such people go thru on a daily basis and it puts things in perspective. I can tell myself, “Hey, get off it, already! This isn’t so bad! Stop it, now! This is no big deal, get off it!” Its humbling and I’m grateful to be humbled in this way, no kidding.

              Reply

        • T he “breath test” as I remember was: If a SO member’s breath fogs a mirror, he’s fit for duty.

          Reply

  14. Hubbard’s ability to lie reached a new lower level with his WWII “stories”. He deserves to be downgraded and the truth needs to be told over and over. Two of my best buddies from high school passed away from Agent Orange after service in Viet Nam. I think about them every day. Both of these men served with distinction. One of them was a Captain in the Infantry and earned multiple medals. He saw combat almost every day. He survived the war but the Agent Orange eventually caused his death. Love you Bobby.

    Reply

  15. I just finished Chris Owens’ book, “Ron, The War Hero”.
    I can’t recommend it enough.

    It’s devastating in how it documents Hubbard’s obsessive, compulsive lies. If, after reading this book, anyone believes one iota of Scientology and Hubbard’s version of the past, they are simply fools.

    Reply

  16. I sure hope that word is getting out, and local people are also making an effort to contact attendees or even spread word about these bogus events in the non-profit and philanthropic communities, and let them know how these are not just innocuous but are used for internal propaganda purposes, helping mask financial fraud and human trafficking. If nothing else, it’s actually an opportunity to inform people about Scientology’s devious and deceitful ways, who might not have previously realized the depth of their depravity.

    Thanks for calling these out, Mike. I tend to assume that these events, like most Scientology propaganda, are mostly for internal consumption, but they do apparently manage to accomplish some “safepointing” of uninformed outsiders as well.

    The point I would make to anyone on the fence about attending one of these, is that major Scientology events or ones at their facilities, are staffed with human trafficked persons, paid less and forced to work longer than in any third world sweatshop, and subject to human rights abuses from coerced abortions to false imprisonment. No conscientious person would even buy coffee or clothes that originated from such abysmal working conditions; Scientology’s labor practices violate the majority of “fair trade” principles, for instance. It’s not unlike being invited to a ball on a slave plantation in the South in 1860; just because the final abolition of such practices in this country has not yet come, does not make it right to benefit from them and give tacit approval to the perpetrators of them.

    Fair trade principles:

    https://wfto.com/fair-trade/10-principles-fair-trade

    Forced labor principles:

    https://www.tourismpartnership.org/blog/itp-launches-principles-on-forced-labour/

    Anti-Slavery International – “Let’s End Modern Slavery Together”:

    https://www.antislavery.org/

    Reply

    • nomnom:
      “safepointing” of uninformed outsiders as well.

      AFAICT, safe pointing only worked on the uninformed/ignorant.

      Reply

  17. Hi Mike,

    I’m curious what your take is on Thomas Moulton, Hubbard’s second-in-command, whose court testimony corroborated Hubbard’s assertion of Japanese subs off the coast.

    When I read his deposition online a few years ago, I found it compelling. But I also find Chris’s contradictory version equally credible.

    As I assume you’re familiar with Moulton, I’m very curious as to your take!

    Thanks.

    Reply

    • I think Moulton considered Hubbard a friend and felt loyalty towards him. He was also involved in the wild goose chase for the subs and probably believed they were right at the time. Convincing oneself they saw the enemy and had a duty to “get them” is not hard to comprehend.

      You know Miscavige mounted a pretty expensive operation to find the remains of the sunken subs — but came up with nothing.

      I think it’s more likely that there were no subs, given all the other information and observations. That Hubbard and Moulton had a different view isn’t very convincing when compared to the evidence otherwise.

      Reply

      • The other crucial point is that researchers now have access to the Japanese Imperial Navy’s detailed archives, and there were not Japanese subs in the area, and most certainly none that went missing and thus could have been sunk.

        Hubbard was also obviously very accomplished at getting others to believe his tall tales, and even buy into his delusions. Plus Moulton would probably have been loath to confront and admit that he’d been part of an unprofessional farce.

        Reply

        • Peacemaker:
          “Plus Moulton would probably have been loath to confront and admit that he’d been part of an unprofessional farce.

          ”
          Never-mind that Moulton also had hopes of advancing in rank, etc.

          Reply

      • Maybe they were both drinking rum and/or popping the same “pinks and greens” and therefore saw the same thing
        Kind of like two drunks at a party seeing the same pink elephant

        Reply

  19. Mike, there is a specific LRH PR policy about improving PR by giving awards to opinion leaders for whatever is surveyed to be popular. It would be nice if you found the policy letter and posted it. I wish I could remember the title.

    Reply

  21. Veterans have the lowest possible opinion of those people who lie about their records and lie about having won an important medal. The most highly prized medal is the Congressional Medal of Honor.

    As I recall, there was supposedly some effort underway to make lying about having won that medal a most serious crime and scumbags who did that were going to go to prison for an extremely long time.

    Few assholes deserve greater sanctions than this asshole.

    Reply

    • While i sympathize with your feelings, criminalizing it is about as dumb as blasphemy laws or desecrating a flag. NO ONE should have to go to jail because they hurt someone’s feelings. Heck, if you think about it, practically every soldier everywhere would have to go to jail for that.

      Impersonating a police officer is a crime because they have legal authority and must be obeyed, people are required to cooperate with them, et cetera. Impersonating a war hero isn’t because legally, they’re just another type of citizen with the same status as all regular citizens. Which means you’re a regular citizen acting like a regular citizen. Even stuff like “10% off for veterans” that some stores give is the stores voluntarily giving discounts to people claiming to be vets, and isn’t legally enforceable.

      Your heart is in the right place but your head isn’t. By criminalizing ‘stolen honor’ you are actually spitting on everything these veterans fought for. Please reconsider.

      Reply

      • James, military officers ALSO have powers under Federal law and can order armed troops into action WHEREVER THEY MAY BE. That power abused by an impostor is MUCH worse than simply impersonating a police officer.

        YOUR head isn’t in the right place. h.

        Reply

        • Really? I didn’t know that military officers had any legal abilities outside of the military or civilian life or post-military service. I am working off the assumption that the situation is that the impersonator is just doing it for social reasons (as is the case with every imposter i’ve ever heard of) because that seems to be what generates such outrage. This is different than police officer impersonation since the imposters DO specifically abuse those legal privileges.

          If however, stolen honor impostors are also abusing the legal privileges military status brings, then i would support a law criminalizing it. Failing that, it looks like you are pushing for a law to criminalize one thing that doesn’t happen, with the intent of criminalizing an activity that hurts your feelings.

          Look, i’m really on your side here because i hate stolen honour people too, but unless you can show actual harm, making it illegal is the wrong way to go about it.

          Reply

        • Wynski:
          “James, military officers ALSO have powers under Federal law and can order armed troops into action WHEREVER THEY MAY BE. That power abused by an impostor is MUCH worse than simply impersonating a police officer.

          ”
          ONLY in extraordinary times, which ain’t nowhere NEAR these times. Claiming to be a military officer and giving someone orders will likely get you soundly laughed at — or worse, the THAT’s if you’re wearing your formal officer’s uniform, which Hubbard could never have fit into after WW II.

          Reply

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