I agree. Understanding how abusive cults grab hold of peoples’ minds and change their identities in the process is key to helping them leave those cults and remain resilient to dangerous cult influences in the future. Doing anything less, leaves innocent victims floating, indecisive, anxious, or confused – all indicators of unresolved abuse.

I concur. Whilst reading these points I compared them to the religious and political milieu in which I was raised. Ironically, these practices bear little resemblance to The Church in which I was raised, which thankfully was not Scientology. But it certainly looks like certain movements which now exist in each political party in the U.S. and these characteristics can also be seen in the U.S education industry – which is most disturbing.

Ha! I was expecting some kickback on this and am surprised that yours was the only one. That’s fine. It is a polite and well-reasoned response.

Now firstly, my statement about absolute morons referred to the TR Bull baiting drill only. The purpose of this drill is not:
“To teach the coach how to interact with others in real life.”

I am sure that there are a few congenital bullies and dim-witted people who did take it this way though. In my experience, most people were the same as me and just took the drill as intended, as a way of flattening buttons. No, I am not stronger willed, I am pretty much the norm. I personally did not see anyone turn into a monster after a bit of bullbaiting but I did talk to many people who were very enthusiastic about the gains.

The Finance Police naturally attracted people with Fascistic inclinations in my observations and these fall into the category of congenital bullies. The abusers were always a small minority.

I am a firm believer in Occam’s Razor. i.e. You make as few assumptions as possible and prefer a simple hypothesis over a convoluted one. The TRs state what the purpose of each drill is . For me, I got the expected results. and did better in life. I did not turn into a mindless zombie. I do not feel the need to take this any further as the3re is nothing further to say about it really.

I have been out of Scientology for many years now and I would never return. Back in the day I got a lot of gains though and I don’t see any point in denying this or claiming that every single thing was bad.

For Goodness Sake, just tell everything honestly.

Hi Mockingbird,

I am happy to respond. ‘Do you believe auditing functions as Hubbard described?’

Given that the man used talk therapy extensively and mixed occult practices into it from 1952-198? makes it difficult to answer in any way other than; Yes, no, and everything in between. Beneficial results have always been hit-or-miss with talk therapies. And that is what I heard from old timers of the 1950s and 1960s. But, IMO, when Hubbard standardized auditing he made it impossible to work. When the auditor and the PC had to conform to the rote set of questions it no longer was a talk therapy but a drill in conformity (hypnosis). KSW was the final nail.

I still use the concepts I learned in auditor training in my life and feel the better for it.

Cavalier, senses of increased awareness and focus can actually be effects of hypnosis. It’s a complex phenomenon – have you read MB’s and Jon Atack’s writings about how it is at work in Dianetics and Scientology?

And did you ever have “past life” recollections, especially “space opera” ones that fit with Hubbard’s cosmology? If so you were subject to suggestion through hypnotic techniques, if not hypnosis itself. That is, by the way, in Scientology’s case a cunning part of the thought reform process in which subjects are lead to create a false personal narrative, and then to act on it.

According to your definition tens if not hundreds of thousands of people in Scientology have been “absolute moron[s]” for accepting, if not also dishing out, abuse. What’s your view of how those people should be treated – should any consideration be given to those you imagine as weaker, weak minded or weak willed compared to yourself, or do they just deserve what they get (and to have things taken from them)?

@TTGreco and few others: I am in this camp as well. I found drilling the “Training Routines” (TRs) to be helpful and stabilizing, drills to make me more “woke.” Many times, in regular life and work, people would compliment and thank me for my ability to remain composed when some type of storm kicked in. I found the TR 0 drilling to be calming and centering. If I was ever asked in the course room to please drill TRs with someone else, I always said “Yes.” I think there have been some discussions that the TR 0 drill can be traced to a Hindu practice and it may be experienced as a helpful type of meditation.

I also never had anything but good experiences with auditors and auditing. I am trained, so I considered I had a handle on what was going on. I had only good sessions, good happy wins. I do not consider that I was ever “making things up.” Then again, I never had an experience in an auditing session where anything was forced or enforced to make me think, “Well, I better just make something up to get out of this.” When the auditor and I excavated something that was reading on the meter and we pulled it all the way out to view, to me, it was exquisitely detailed, captivating, and definitely helpful to “discharge.”

I consider I got relief and useful self-understanding. That’s enough for me. Grateful I did not have an encounter with a super-enforced unwanted and wrong auditing action. And I believe it, how these can be put there in a heavy controlled Scientology environment like an Advanced Org, the Freewinds, or in the Sea Org where the Scientology authorities have got you—you are not only doing services, you are LIVING THERE, so it’s near impossible to “get out of it” whatever program or process they have you on.

Where I depart grandly = with the practices of Church of Scientology discussed often: the penalizing, compassion-less, brutal, money extraction, bullying culture. Also, as Mike points out in a blog this month, the sad and profound realization: the org does “zilch” for its environment. Nothing. It is a 1.1 (covertly hostile) operation that puts out puffery. I was stunned to discover (because he told me) a top Div 6 staff member’s judge-y attitude and extreme poor regard for community leaders in our area. To him, even as he aimed to interact with them from time to time, they were just pitiful “wogs” and “incompetents.” The willingness to DISCARD human beings, oddly, I ran into again and again with staff and Sea Org members. Cognitive dissonance, for sure.

That Div 6 person is an example of a Scientologist who was groomed into becoming a worst sort of narcissistic snob. So sad. Myself, I used to feel bad that I kept myself “Scientology light.” Never joined staff or even ever got active on the OT Committee. The OTC looked like all sorts of dreadful paperwork, either Central files or shoving unwanted promo into people’s hands on the street.

After leaving and now, being part of this blog community, I can see I had a good instinct to not be deeply in. However, for me, I also do not “throw out the baby with the bath water.” I am glad I got auditor trained, got good products with my preclears, and gained useful concepts and understanding myself from auditing – without becoming a narcissistic snob. When I began to see more and more of that, it inspired me to peer behind the curtain, “get woke” in a new way, and LEAVE.

@TTGreco I really appreciate your comments here. I think it’s good to have some balance!

You can also read it directly from me here as I was part of this. It’s complete made up bs. And indicative of how far he is reaching to deflect from the facts of what he did.

Tony Ortega explains this on his website and also explains that it is ridiculous and stupid to believe that Leah would have ever done such a thing.

Anyone who may be interested can find the explanation on Tony Ortega’s web site. Here is the link:

https://tonyortega.org/2021/04/22/why-danny-mastersons-attacks-on-leah-remini-arent-helping-him-in-court/

Personally, I really enjoyed Tony explaining why it was just so much nonsense to believe that Leah would have extorted these three ladies in the way it was alleged.

But I think anyone interested should read about this directly from Tony. He explains it about a million times better than I ever could and I hope you all will enjoy this read.