Odd Thomas, you have contributed greatly to the discussion, and with a fine sense of love and caring, often missing from many of the diatribes on this and other blogs.

For those who are “never ins”, it’s unlikely you will *ever* understand why some of us got in, flourished, then left.

Above, someone mentioned “fun”. And back in the early days, it WAS fun. It was also adventuresome, exhilarating, useful and productive. Many of us learned a great deal about ourselves. We also actually helped others, too. And those were our reasons for being there. And I don’t care if Hubbard took the work of others and presented it as his own. Back then, there was no internet and researching ideas or techniques was hardly simple. Mostly, we had to “try it out”. We did. And many of us found that the ideas and techniques actually worked. Of course, it was “WE” who had to make them work. You didn’t get the wins and gains without “doing the work”, as I’ve heard it said. Neither LRH nor the auditor could do that for you. But they paved the road, so to speak, permitting us to easily walk down it to get whatever is was that we go. We stuck because we were getting real results, things that made us better humans.

And the prices were very reasonable. Nothing like the insanity of the 80s and onward.

Then things changed. Not all at once, but over a period of a couple of years. At first, we thought “just one of those things”. But the things began to accumulate. And it became less “fun”. It didn’t happen all at once (though the destruction of the independent mission holders was THE major turning point for many). Then the outward bound floodgates opened and many thousands left. Did LRH know? Certainly the Demon was in control of the comm lines to him. But I find it *very* hard to imagine LRH condoning it as it was a major inflow into the church.

So figuring out why we went in and stayed in for so long, it was because we chose to. If you can’t grasp that, you’ll never understand any of it.

Pepper – you’re welcome.

I grew up in an Italian Catholic neighborhood in Brooklyn, so pretty much everyone was connected to the Church. I saw things that quite frankly, warped my sense of this religion and religions in general. I mentioned the unruly Nuns as one example. There were also the “gentlemen” who sold a large array of merchandise from the trunks on their cars on Saturday and then talked about how their children were receiving Holy Communion on Sunday.

It took me a while to see past the few to the many, who actually believed In Catholicism and received solace from it. But yeah, I carried this into SCN – my error – and allowed it to color my perspective on religions in general.

Pepper, I wish I had seen a priest bringing a date, it would have heartened me. I saw the sadness on their faces more times than I can count. This distant heartache in some, that eventually turned to anger. They were men, some good, some not, but they had one major thing in common — the initial belief and faith in what they were doing.

Thanks again.

Odd

Thank you. 🙂

I too, appreciate your comment and thank you.

I also grew up around the Catholic faith and I’m happy that you no longer put it down. I have heard plenty of intolerance coming out of the mouths of Scientologists regarding Catholicism and Christianity in general and it always turned me off, even when I was in the RCS myself. I don’t need to detail the things I’ve heard over the years here, I’m sure you’ve heard a few yourself.

I’ve always had a love for my religion and grew up in a half Catholic-Protestant family. We lived religious tolerance and I learned and practiced it from a very young age, along with my family. It was a must for us because we were family and cared about each other, and enjoyed great relationships no matter our difference in faith.

I would like to tell you that when I was growing up and going to Catholic weddings, etc., I saw many times a priest attend wedding receptions and parties with his significant other, which was always a woman. We never gossiped about it and just let it be. I may have thought it a bit naughty when I was young, but considered it none of my business and between him and God. It just made priests look more normal and earthly to me. So, some of them actually have fairly open relationships with women, I’ve seen it.

I second that

I agree. Declaring him for only that was unjust. Also barbaric and uncivilized.

Brilliant Odd Thomas! 🙂

great comment, Odd.