I pity them too. On the other hand, I don’t. I’m on the fence, compassion-wise. Its sad, how they comply, how they cower and knuckle under because they’re so afraid. THIS is spiritual enlightenment? I don’t think so.

I would guess it would be so. The new Tokyo org. (suppose it is ‘Ideal’) building looks exactly like a big electronics department shop, except that it has ‘Scientology’ and サイエントロジ neon- or led-signs around the top floor.

Almost no ‘public’.

One must wonder what is the goal of Davey’s land-and-buildings mania, my assessment, more evil than we may imagine, even if they are devoid of devOTs.

I understand that it is not popular on this blog to ever mention ANYTHING that might even SOUND the least bit positive about the subject of Scientology and that’s OK because I’m not looking for votes. I’m just communicating.
And no, I am not in an “orwellian hole” and no, I was not a hippie.
But I was in New York City in the late 60s and early 70s and things were generally pretty OK, though far from perfect. It depends on what year you are talking about. Everyone had their own experience from that time. And I had some negative experiences too… But, living in Brooklyn. I had brcome very good at calling bullshit and telling people to f off. To say that the subject had absolutely NOTHING positive to offer is ludiccrous (to me) because if one does so one would have to be saying in the same breath that everyone who developed an interest in the subject was stupid, uneducated and easily brainwashed. Not true to my observation.
It’s like this: Apples contain apple seeds. And apple seeds contain cyanide. If someone chews up the apple seeds, they will get a bitter taste in their mouth and gradually build up poison in their body. But most people spit the seeds out so that they can enjoy the apple. I have met plenty of smart aware educated people who have found value in the subject.
Hubbard invented the Sea Org and bt’s at about the same time in the late 60s.
And because of his personal issues there were always some flying monkeys around the organizations.
However, I see no reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater. While “Book One” Dianetics sounds a bit like hypnosis-brain washing, New Era Dianetics and “the grades” definately do not. …To my experience and observation they improve memory and awareness.
As for the Sea Org and BTs, and Piltdown Man, “naaaah!”.

Karl, statistics had been in a ‘long term downtrend’ since circa 1970, as found by the internal World out of Communication (WOOC) evaluation of 1979. Any “Golden Age” would have been the peak of the 1960s counterculture when “seekers” were joining all sorts of groups and cults in a mass phenomenon that ended and has not been seen since. And even then, a lot of people had left in the mid to late 1960s over things like “harsh ethics” and the spreading takeover by the authoritarian paramilitary Sea Org, so even the Golden Era was not that great.

Scientology is so based on lies, and compartmentalization, that it seems ex members tend to assume that the era before them was better, when they actually just didn’t know how bad it was before – partly also because large numbers of people who’d realized how awful it was had left, their departures and the reasons behind them swept under the rug. They have a real Orwellian “memory hole”.

This is typical of a Flag trained team of FEBCs, to swing by their regional CLO (Continental Liaison Org, the regional cult management unit) before heading to their destination Ideal Org they will be working at.

Getting their CLO “briefing” update, so to speak.

PLUS, killing that bird with one stone, of using this as an excuse to keep the L. Ron Hubbard Way closed to the foot traffic of the recent months of protestors.

Getting city street closing permits, this is a justified reason.

It kind of boosts the image of the regional CLO’s existence and duty, even.

It’s all part of the intricate Hubbard cult multi echelons trying to meet Hubbard’s framework’s goals/duties.

And another reason to have the L. Ron Hubbard Way difficult for protestors to waltz up and down the street with Xenu signs.

Sea Org “portemanteau” in the finest Hubbard tradition, actually. Killing loads of birds with one stone, in otherwords.

Free food? Well, mostly but often attendees have to buy a ticket to the event so don’t get your hopes up. And from personal experience don’t expect the food to be served before you have to wait through all the distribe and palabar.

FEBC; maybe; Far East Broadcasting Company. A Christian radio company. google says so. 🙂

To use it as a noun to indicate those who have taken the course is a violation of language. ‘FEBCs did this or that’ means ‘Flag Executive Briefing Courses did this or that.’

To express it that way is pure Scientologese.