This article was written by Special Correspondent Chris Shelton. It was one of those rare things in the world of Scientology — something that actually surprised me that I knew nothing about. I thought this sort of doomsday talk was the exclusive province of regges, but had not considered (silly me) that Sea Org recruiters were really regges just like the IAS and all the other vultures that have ascended to the top of the RCS hierarchy. I believe this is important information to be made known. I am not commenting on the 3 minute, poorly attended massive ribbon-fest as there isnt anything else to say about it at this point — Tony O covered the relevant details this morning. If some additional photos or details come in they may be of interest, but generally, after so much flapping around it falls into the category of “If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it…”
“There are those who could be called ‘merchants of chaos.’ These are people who want an environment to look very, very disturbing. These are people who gain some sort of advantage, they feel, if the environment is made to look more threatening.” – Scientology Handbook
The Sea Org does not hire people. It recruits them. I spent a year doing Sea Org recruitment and worked with a couple of the most successful SO recruiters on the planet. During that time, I learned a few things that you should know.
Young Scientologists are the biggest pool of potential Sea Org recruits.
Generally speaking, young Scientologists lack critical thinking skills and real world experience. Sea Org recruiters prey on this ignorance to convince the potential recruits that the Sea Org is the only answer to the world’s problems. The way they do this is far more organized and methodical than you might imagine.
Many years ago, one of the top SO recruiters put together a series of “indoctrination steps,” referred to within recruitment circles as “The Briefing.” It’s a PowerPoint presentation that contains various LRH quotes (some from confidential Sea Org-only issues) about how there are only so many years left before the world implodes, and how Scientology, and specifically the Sea Org, is the only solution. If that was the extent of the briefing, then it wouldn’t really be that big of a deal and I wouldn’t be writing this. But over the years this recruiter developed it into something much more involved.
The whole point of The Briefing is to convince Scientologists that they are living in a Matrix-like world of hidden dangers and covert conspiracies. Most people, even those with PhDs, do not understand the vast complexities of international banking, global politics and world-wide media. A person could spend years learning about just one or two small parts of any of these subjects. It can be quite an ego-boost if someone sat you down and in a few hours offered you a comprehensive overview that appeared to explain everything, in easy-to-follow steps, and wraps it all up with a solution to the whole mess.
Prior to 1967, Hubbard blamed Scientology’s troubles mainly on opposition from “psychiatry” as a general body, without really naming specific people or entities. With the release of Ron’s Journal 67 (and the formation of the Sea Org) Hubbard laid out, in detail, how he had uncovered a vast worldwide conspiracy of 12 men (international bankers) who were the primary source of attacks since Dianetics had been published. They used psychiatry, he said, as a tool to control populations and had their fingers in all kinds of pies politically and financially, and used media channels to push their messages. There is a lot more to Hubbard’s tales of persecution, which he continued to write about for years in various Scientology issues and in Freedom Magazine articles. Say what you want about international bankers (and I’m not implying that they are a bunch of good guys) but the information Hubbard published is full of logical inconsistencies, gross omissions of crucial information, half-truths, innuendo and just plain lies.
The Briefing then adds to this a host of 9/11 conspiracy theory, including documentary footage from Alex Jones and David Icke (both easily proven liars and sensationalists as shown here, here, and here) and other anonymous internet 9/11 Truthers to make the point that the US government is acting on orders of these world bankers to purposefully and knowingly subvert education standards, the US currency and even setup concentration camps within US borders (supposedly to be run by Canadian and Mexican military). According to the “historical data” from The Briefing, this conspiracy has been developing since the mid-to-late 1800s and was formulated by the Rothschilds, the Rockefellers, Francis Galton (of eugenics fame), Hitler, the psychs, etc, ad infinitum.
Sea Org recruiters have used Hubbard’s incredibly simplistic world view to convince young Scientologists that this is all going on right in front of their eyes, but they never saw any of it before because they didn’t know what “signs” to look for.
What I want to highlight here is that this methodology creates a mindset within the prospect that the world is a very dangerous place, full of nameless, faceless enemies who are literally plotting to kill everyone for their own aggrandizement and power.
The recruiter then offers one, and only one, possible solution to this condition: join the Sea Org NOW. It is absolutely imperative that the prospect join immediately. Without giving any real specifics as to what the Sea Org is actually doing to prevent any of this, a picture is painted that merely by the Sea Org’s very presence this “worldwide suppression” will be shattered.
The prospect is told in no uncertain terms that it is their responsibility to save the world. They even tell the prospect that those who become aware of this information and don’t act on it one-for-one end up on the skids and destitute. Lines are used such as, “There was this one guy who I briefed, and he didn’t join and I found out a few months later that the guy was on drugs and totally crashed out. You don’t want that to happen to you. You need to take responsibility for what you know.”
One crucial aspect of the recruiter’s methodology is to ensure that the prospect is isolated from his parents, spouse or other opinion leaders who might try to convince the prospect that he doesn’t need to join. He’s told that the “special confidential briefing” puts him in a secret information loop that only a few elite Sea Org members are aware of. This makes it much easier for the prospect to then discount the concerns of their loved ones, who just “don’t know what they’re talking about” when they try to convince the prospect that dropping out of college, quitting their job, leaving their fiancé or whatever is absolutely ridiculous.
Does any of this sound familiar?
Ethics is used mercilessly to ensure that the concerned loved ones and friends toe the line and don’t interfere with the prospect “doing the greatest good.” I’ve seen metered ethics interviews, condition assignments and even Courts of Ethics called on people who try to stand in the way of the prospect arriving into the Sea Org. The closer it gets to Thursday before 2pm the steeper and more extreme the ethics gradients become.
Sea Org recruiters are amongst the most convincing, smooth talking and charismatic Merchants of Chaos you will ever encounter. Whether they believe their own lies or not is immaterial. It is a fact that they spend all day, every day, weaving tales of terror to beguile and amaze unsuspecting Scientologists and convince them that the Sea Org is the world’s only salvation. I recruited eleven people into the Sea Org during my stint as a recruiter. Most of them I believe have made it out of the Sea Org now and I can’t tell you how thankful I am for that. I hope that by making this information public it may help any parents or concerned loved ones out there reading this. The Sea Org is not an organization you want your loved ones joining.
Just curious why you didn’t say the name of this recruiter that formed the doomsday buynow sign here, SO recruitment pitch?
It’s Brandon Faust.
There are many more besides Brandon that do the same thing in trying to get their quotas of SO Recruits.
Actually Brandon stole that bit from his mentor Gavin Potter who has been glooming and rooming kids into the Sea Org since the early 90s with that chestnut. That’s how he got Brandon to join. Brandon actually believe all that shit. He thinks he has secret info about the government and he is saving people. He has about a fifth grade education maybe and couldn’t name all 50 states if you had a gun to his head.
After doing the Student Hat 17 years ago at HAPI, I realized that the CoS does not allow its staff to think freely and independently which for me is the very essence of that course. My aim in life then was to become a professional auditor. As it turned out, I had to walk away from Scientology a few months later because of the obstacles that were placed in my path. The contradiction between the main tenets of the Student Hat and the police-state like reality of being on staff is only one of many such contradictions I noticed throughout my Scientology career.
Based on my own experience, I would think that discovering and following alternative media sources would be a natural interest for the ex-Scientologist. There you will discover that the problems within the CoS are basically the same problems that exist in society and the world but exaggerated to an unbelievable scale and intensity. For example, contrast CoS culture with North Korea; DM with the Dear Leader of North Korea; corrupt banking and economics with the pathological obsession for extracting money from Scientologists; and the social ills arising from sociopaths and psychopaths with the SP and PTS of Scientology.
The main figures in the alternative media are trying to wake the “sheeple” up to these realities. This is a large part of what LRH tried to do. But the efforts of LRH are now being greatly surpassed by the likes of David Icke, Alex Jones, Coast to Coast and Red Ice. If you want to apply the principles of the student hat, you should check some of this out for yourself. I recommend the interviews with alternative researchers available on:
http://www.coasttocoastam.com
http://www.redicecreations.com
And have a look at some of David Icke’s books. “The Biggest Secret” is a good one to start with. If you are feeling adventurous, check out Christopher Bollyn’s research into 911. His book, “Solving 911” is available in pdf form as a free download.
I am rarely this critical, but the author of this article simply does not know what he is talking about. His links only go to YouTube and Wikipedia which are often not the best sources of reliable information. They certainly do not prove that these individuals are merely sensationalists and liars. Of course, there are few who do not make occasional mistakes and information that is hard hitting has a greater impact. But the viewpoint expressed in this article is what I would expect from someone who has relied on Scientology channels as their only source of information and not applied the Student Hat or done much independent research. The reason why the SO use these ideas for recruitment is probably because Scientology has a lot in common with much of what is being discussed in the alternative media. The difference is that the raison d’être of the CoS is to extort money out of its victims whereas the alternative media is the main agent of the shift to a new paradigm that is taking place and only charges subscribers as much money as necessary to remain viable.
I am allowing this comment in the spirit of welcoming a new commenter. But I do not want to turn this into a political discussion about the rights and wrongs of conspiracy theories, alternative media, the real story of 911 or anything else. It was not the point of Chris’ post. Whatever scare tactics are used, it is not an appropriate way to get someone to join the Sea Org. I won’t be approving any responses to this comment that attempt to debate the rights and wrongs of David Icke, Alex Jones etc etc. My personal view is that all these people need to study the Data Series. It’s my blog, so I get to break my own rules 🙂
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Mike, your confession of what you did as a recruiter is a great service to mankind. You may or may not think so. but I think that it for sure is. For anyone still on lines who is lurking here and who has children, this is very valuable information which may prevent heartbreak for many people.
I am so blessed that my kids were street smart. They had good confront and could see into the universes of the (mostly young) people who were trying to recruit them. They saw the contradiction between what they were being told and what they observed in the people who were doing the recruiting. So, they perfected that little drill on the “Success Through Communication” course which trains people how to change the subject in a conversation and applied it to the hilt in every recruitment cycle they encountered from the moment it began. The recruiters did not quite understand what was happening, but they had many an enjoyable conversation talking about their favorite music, the Chicago Bulls, cars, what-have-you as my children deftly changed the subject and slipped through their predatory fingers. Scientology does definitely work if one knows it. 🙂
But not all of their friends were as sharp and so fortunate. Two wound up wasting their wonderful teens serving as someone’s juniors instead of becoming their own seniors as they came into their own . It is sad how these Merchants of Chaos and those who work for them rob young people of their wonderful youth. But even this can be healed. The truth heals everything and this article tells the truth.
Thank you for doing that, Mike. This article will save some lives.
Personally, I have seen that Scientology can enhance people’s lives. But there is not that much Scientology going on in the Sea Org. And what Scientology there is going on there is too often the worst aspects and applications plus the other bizarre activities which so often cause harm to people.
It is high time that someone shined the spotlight of truth on these predators.
F— them.
Klieg lights!
Also PS Mike,
I do the SAME thing. In my dreams I am trying desperately to change the past. I think I am making progress like somehow it is better now. And then at some point I realize this is just a strange, horrible dream and nothing will change the past. And then I wake.
It is happening less. At least there is that. For the first two years I would wake up almost EVERY day thinking I was still on the RPF. And I was so terrified every morning. At least that passed. It is PTSD. We should start a support group where we can all share and laugh together about the ridiculousness of it all. And to be there when we need to weep and have some punching dummies on hand to get out those bottled up aggressions. Could be a winner!
🙂
Mike and BBJ, Sorry to hear of your nightmares. I too started having nightmares after my kids disconnected. In my nightmares I’m trying to save my kids from imminent death or harm and I am not good at saving them in the dreams. It just brings it home to me how important this blog is, Mike. It serves a huge purpose to help newly out or out for a long time or UTR, all the ex corporate Scns to somehow deal with the fallout. It’s kind of like a self-help group.
RPF’ers Anonymous.
Chris,
Thank you for putting this out there. You really made it a tad bit more mild than it really was. I started being recruited at age 10. First for SFO staff and then the Sea Org. One summer my father took me around to EVERY SO org in Los Angeles and sat with me while they all pitched me on why I should work there. Gavin Potter won me over and scared me shitless. He made me, with HOURS of endless grinding and locking me in a room, “decide” that my goal of training for and joining the Search and Rescue team for the fire fighting department was an “Other determined” goal and that I wouldn’t actually be saving anyone. I would just be prolonging their death on this planet and in this universe by NOT joining the Sea Org. I would be saving every being in this sector of the universe from the “fire” of suppression. Wasn’t THAT more important?
What was I supposed to say to that? He told me that I was RESPONSIBLE for a million thetans. That if I didn’t join the Sea Org I was condemning, them, my family and myself to totally darkness and oblivion FOREVER. That ANYTHING else that I did, even if I cured Cancer (Yes he actually said that) even if I brought about WORLD PEACE, (and that too) that it wouldn’t be enough to make up the damage of deserting my post. Because since I was a Last Lifetime Clear, I KNEW I was supposed to come back. It was my DUTY. I was 16. I wanted to fly in helicopters and rescue people. That wasn’t good enough.
I finally did join at 18 1/2 at CCI. You know the recruiter from Bridge, Brandon Faust, came over 2 weeks later and tried to say they had quicksilvered me and stole their recruit. I told him well then I should report for duty at AO, ASHO and CMO PAC because I signed contracts with all of them as well.
I was a recruiter for less than a year. I was the WORST one ever.
I got in trouble for telling Kate Ceberano that she was out ethics for not joining. I had no idea who she was. She was SUPER quailed and said no. I thought she was a downstat pig. MAN I got SOOOOOO busted for that one. Like I said I really wasn’t good at it. I HATED every minute of it.
These people are SO evil. They say anything and EVERYTHING to demean you and your goals, to make you into a small piece of nothing and then tell you the only way to make it better or be ANYTHING is to be one of them. They are the real life Borg. I apologize to anyone out there that I ramrodded into watching that damn recruitment film or harassed at all.
Oh dear BBJ, you really were not with the program.
Should have taken the hint when the most dedicated Scientologist on earth was not expected to join the SO by his BFF that there is something more important than curing cancer or bringing world peace. Being a celebrity. That is the highest purpose in this universe.
I have heard a lot of stories about Gavin Potter and his “S” recruiting. Quite a sleaze.
And in response to your other comment, I am sorry you still have nightmares. A LOT of people who left the SO have the same. I still have them, though far less often than I used to. I get so upset with myself in my dreams for going back and getting myself into the same trap all over again. How the hell did I get myself here AGAIN???? But doing something about it, even if just speaking out and telling what you know, helps.
Also, finding things that are really important — friends and family especially, helps a great deal. It’s partly why disconnection is so evil as it denies people what is probably MOST important to them in helping sort out their thoughts and life and come to grips with who they are where they are.
You made me laugh with your story about Kate. I am sure it wasn’t funny then, but it is nice to be able to look back on things and laugh at their absurdity. That helps too.
Thanks Mike,
My family keeps me grounded in reality and what is important. My two beautiful boys make everything worth while, believe me. When I have a bad night/day I just hug them and tell them how much I love them. The fact that they will never know this craziness is a blessing beyond belief.
The Kate thing was sure funny, to her anyway.
I was furious when I came in from the cafe. I was bitching to Anthony Penketh about how out ethics and lazy this woman was. And he was telling me to go back out there and handle the hell out of her and then he picked up the survey form and saw who it was. Then he was FURIOUS. He screamed at me for 10 minutes straight about what an inept SP I was and that I needed to go apologize immediately. By that time she wasn’t in the cafe, but in the Presidents Office, telling the President her “funny” recruitment story and that I was so dedicated and sincere. She was impressed. The President just smiled at me, waited for me to apologize and then I did lowers 3 times through. EVERY time I saw her after that she would smile and laugh at me like we had an inside joke. I was banned from the Presidents Office for about 6 months for that.
Celebrities, really depending on who they were, were off limits, unless of course it was deemed that they were not a real celebrity, then it was GAME on.
Later that became one of my MANY funny stories of being in the Sea Org. Like the time I was introduced to “Marty” when he was D/IG by Kirsties Boyfriend, who insisted that we would “love” each other because we had so much in common! Or when I was giving Riley Keough a piggy back ride down the stairs in the Presidents Office and landed right in front of Her mother, Lisa Marie and her auditor Elsie Tucker. Yeah, I was pretty famous for my Int encounters.
I never had the pleasure of having an embarrassing moment in front of you Mike. That would have rounded it out!
The CofS abuses centered around the acquisition and retention of what amounts to slave labor is one of the worst organizational aspects. The tactics used are horrendous.
For instance, one of my close friends was recruited for the SO at CCI Int in the mid-90s when she was 15. She was recruited by David Petit specifically, who recruited her on the basis that she would be having fun with her friends. Since she was underaged, her mom had to sign a release in order for her to join. Her mom wanted her to get an education before dedicating her life to eternal servitude for the greater good for mankind, so she refused to sign saying that once her daughter graduated high school and turned 18 if she still wanted to join she could do so with her blessing.
This pissed David Petit off since it blocked his “product” so he threatened the mom with declare to try get her to sign her daughter over. When the mom still didn’t give in he didn’t actually declare her but he did ban both of them from returning to CC Int.
I recently read a comment on the Scientology Celebrity site saying that just recently Petit used threat of Declare to try get a parent to turn their kid over, so as far as I can see he has been using that tactic for almost 20 years – using a mafia-like threat of eternal damnation to get adults to turn their kids over to eternal slavery on the basis that it will be fun with friends is about as slimey as it gets, a far cry from real religious orders.
Also, I have seen recruiters misrepresent SO and Class V staff conditions more times than I can count, making false promises regarding pay, berthing, actual duties yada yada. They will tell you anything to get you to sign on the dotted line. It is like the old lawyer “joke”: How do you know a Scn Recruiter is lying? Their lips are moving.
They know they can get away with it because once the recruit is safely within their hands, they will overcome the recruits objections to being lied to by using “ethics” – using the recruits misdeeds against them in order to get them to stop protesting being lied to. I have seen new recruits be “massaged” like this over and over again.
That was supposed to be earlier. Thanks for bringing all these specifics to light Chris. The abuse & neglect of children is such an egregious act.
Right POT. I’ve had several parents, who had given their young children to the SO and told me that their kids were “having a blast”. What hyper, immature teen wouldn’t want to be free of annoying parents. rules &/or discipline? I know a couple of parents who were happy to get rid of their obnoxious adolescents. This practice is abhorrent & grossly irresponsible. What a hat dump! I told my kids I would never sign them into the SO & if recruiters bugged them to tell them they weren’t allowed. One of my kids told recruiters they were out-ethics for invalidating her goals, & the other wrote an 8 page rebuttal when it was implied her Dad & I were SPs. Kick ass broads…….don’t know where they get it from………
Great article! Thank you Chris.
Sorry to sound so cliched, but ^^^^ this is why
“something that actually surprised me that I knew nothing about”
This is an important statement to make.
To admit that one doesn’t know something (much less everything) makes one smarter and wiser than those who claim to.
I used to think that stupid people were the biggest problem in the world (and really I mean no offense to them. They wouldn’t take offense, of course, because they wouldn’t count themselves in that class).
And then I saw a quote from Stephen Hawking:
“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.”
Its a complex question, but I’ll defer to Stephen.
In either event, I give more weight to those who claim to know very little.
(I also give more credibility to those who admit they lie.)
Scientology and Infowars: a match made in hell.
For anyone wanting to study some history on the subject of international bankers, here is a good link. It’s the time track of the Rothschild dynasty. From the birth of the first Rothschild in year 1743 and going forward. This article is condensed from the book “Descent Into Slavery” by Des Griffin, Chapter Five. I first read this article about 6 years ago and it prompted me to read a lot more on the subject by many authors. So this article is a good introduction to the subject. Most of what I’ve read from many different authors supports what LRH said in RJ67. Here’s the link: http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/slavery.htm
Don’t let the “biblebelievers” website name throw you off. That’s just where a good copy of this article is parked on the web. It does take a bit of confront of evil to study this. And I very much disagree with the Cof$ using this subject to recruit kids into the SO. If any questions you can email me at: wolfie2@hush.com
I disagree I did OT3 in the ’70s and OT5 in the ’80s.. It’s great stuff. Some people freak about the space opera. I never did. It just makes sense to me.
I always took pride in that I don’t think I ever resorted to the techniques given here in this write up to get my recruits, yet at times I was amongst PAC’s best div head recruiters.
I’d love to talk with all those people I recruited now, if there are any amongst them still “in”! Probably there aren’t though: one of the good things about how crummy the SO is, is that most people have had more than enough of it in just a little time and exit. Thank goodness not everyone were gluttons for punishment like the “chosen few” who stuck it out for longish times!
But, I had high hopes for me and us during a lot of the time I was in the SO. Thinking about this now, I think I’d still be happy to be in the SO and might re-sign that contract if it were to come to this:
1. Decent pay.
2. The full weekend off if stats were up and a day off if not.
3. Management based off of Auditor’s Code and Essay on Management.
4. 8 Hour work days. Study time 5 days a week. Half of it on auditor training. The other half on electives from other subjects.
5. Cancellation of all ethics and justice policies as they are ALL out tech. (Inval and Eval). Most of them are closer to behavioral psychology than they are to auditing tech, I think.
6. Full hat of Ethics Officer to be clay demo of You Can Be Right and HCOB Coaching.
7. Cancellation of OT 3, New OT 5, 6 and 7 as being evaluative. Listen folks, that stuff just did not happen. The reasons why “it works”, when it works, is not due to the fact that “it’s true”. There’s people who seem to get better believing all sorts of things are true, when the only truth they have is the individual’s belief in them. But OT 3 materials are Ron’s case or fantasy, and only yours if you decide so. So, let people run it if they want to, but knock off that “burning cinder” baloney.
8. Change the campaign from “Clear the Planet” to “Unlock your real potential” or some such. Acknowledge there are at least a few billion alternate routes to personal freedom.
Something like the above was what I thought it would be when I joined up. But the main thing that I thought about it before joining was, “Wow! This is going to be fun!”
Looking at this, I can hardly believe I am going to post it. Re-join the SO?!?!?! Under ANY circumstances? I’ll probably have a recruiter at my door demanding to be seen pretty soon…
“But OT 3 materials are Ron’s case or fantasy…”
Dan while being audited on OT 4 I came across a being that I recognized completely. He was a close friend and a fellow soldier at the time of capture. We were good, good friends and when I recognized him I began weeping like a child. I cried for what had happened to us, for all the lost time and finally for the fact that now that I had discovered his presence I was going to have to say goodbye. I took a moment and spoke with him and although I was feeling a loss I was glad to see him go and felt exhilarated for both of us-An unholy knot had been untied.
I never wanted to believe or not believe the materials of OT 3. I found for myself that these materials are not for everybody. Not because anyone would be denied access but because everyone has a different acceptance level and the OT 3 story simply exceed what some can easily accept as possible.
I found out for myself that this was indeed my case and was not there by way of suggestion.
K Francis, what you wrote is so beautiful and so beautifully expressed. It is very reaI to me. “I never wanted to believe or not believe the materials of OT 3. I found for myself that these materials are not for everybody. Not because anyone would be denied access but because everyone has a different acceptance level and the OT 3 story simply exceed what some can easily accept as possible.” Such profound truth.
Dan you are clearly on the pipe of some sort! Hahahaha. 🙂
RE JOIN the SO??
Not if they paid me a BILLION dollars a WEEK.
Not if I RAN everything.
Not if ANYTHING.
That place is and was a fucking prison worse than most concentration camps.
What I went through being at CCI for 5 years and the almost 3 full years I spent on the RPF, I can say I still HAVE NOT recovered. Not even close. They day I have ZERO night mares, night Terrors, Night sweats, Day time flash backs and pain at even THINKING about it, will be when I have recovered. Those people are barbaric and horrid and the lot of them deserve jail time for their crimes against humanity. And they are crimes. Just like the Nazi’s in Germany. That bad.
Now don’t hold back dear!
Chris,
Great post!
I agree with you that S.O. recruiters horrendously misuse information to just get sign-ups, i.e. ‘fresh meat’. There is always some truth mixed with their lies and exaggerations.
If the S.O. would ACTUALLY deliver blows to the bad guys on this planet, well alright. That’s a game for young idealists. (My first contract -after being 3 weeks in Scientology was the 1 Billion year contract and I lasted 27 years in there). But as we know at this point, it does NOT and is just PR.
Now at the risk of getting cyber-stoned (I mean the version of throwing ‘cyber rocks’):
I’ve looked up your 3 links.
Alex Jones:
A lot of the ‘truths’ given in that video are as lame as the ‘lies’. With that kind of sensitive material there is no way mainstream media would tell you the truth.
Wikipedia is highly slanted on various uncomfortable subjects. It is as corrupt as many other sources of information.
Look up a subject you know a lot about and see if their information matches, good luck!
My last attempt was looking up ‘Henry Kissinger’. Ahahahah, what a lot of fun!
David Icke:
Is part of the New Age scene which seems to be a great diversion/distraction at best with a lot of data that is simply not substantiated.
On the other hand, to put it very mildly, all is not well on this planet and it takes a lot of digging off the main path to find truth of where things are really at.
There seem to be a lot of parallels between what is happening in politics/economics and what is happening in the SO in terms of untruths and denials.
In Florida when people hear there is a hurricane on the way they stock up their supplies and board up
their windows. That is the smart way of dealing with nature’s forces.
It is equally smart to really inform oneself as to what is going on, what is likely to happen in future and plan and act accordingly.
Greta
“Alex Jones:
A lot of the ‘truths’ given in that video are as lame as the ‘lies’. With that kind of sensitive material there is no way mainstream media would tell you the truth.”
A steady diet of “Alex Jones” would way too much. But he does come up with some very interesting stuff.
David Iche puts me to sleep, except a series of articles he wrote about Marcabs taking over
scientology. Something to think about late at night.
Greta,
I mean if the Church was auditing people and training people to audit people things would eventually work themselves out at some point.
Personally I always thought was the most effective thing for the Church to do.
I.e. apply the tech.
In my opinion the Church was most effective on the Social Justice front when it aligned itself with similar minded groups and individuals.
Sure you can bitch and moan about how evil the GO was and all that but at least they were good at getting allies on the Church’s side.
As far as I’m concerned OSA is totally clueless.
The AGPR I knew would meet with groups across the political spectrum and as diverse as the Socialist Workers Party, NORML, ACLU,the Anti-Nuke, Peace Movement,the Anti-Psychiatry Movement, the Libertarian Party, the Birchers, World Counsel of Churches, Southern Baptists, Pentecostals, Mormons. I’m sure she would have been in there with OWS.
As far as changing the world forming broad coalitions and doing something effective is where it’s at.
Not creating fronts and over produced hypocritical videos about human rights while violating them or aligning themselves with suppressive groups like the DEA for example.
I mean yuck.
WTF were they thinking?
Yet its obvious that they have them write their literature such as their “‘Truth’ about Drugs” book which I wouldn’t even use for toilet paper.
When it comes to the conspiracy part I am more with Andy P than the idea flouted here that there is no hidden global elite who hold the strings to most official activities on this Earth. I have bumped into things that indicate that there in fact is such a group from seemingly credible sources in widely varied fields, such as energy, healthcare, food production, justice, economics, etc.
I have many times thought that the Church under DM is acting more and more like a Government who dreams up false threats and grand projects and then turn to the people to get the money for the imagined solution.
However whether there is a hidden ruling elite or not, is largely irrelevant. If it exists, what can you and I do to change it? Surely not making beds at Flag Crew. There are too many things we do not know for sure in this world, and we can only observe what we can experience first hand.
What I have learned though, be it dealing with government Officials or Church Officials, if you ask a question that if answered truthfully will blow the whole charade, they will be lost for words or start to babble illogically.
I like to ask things like “was I born a slave?” “No?” “Then when exactly did I surrender my free will and become one?” or “If I am not a slave, how can anyone be my master?” or with SO members “Are you telling me that I as a scientologist should not apply LRH’s finance policies to my life, but commit irregularities that would get any FBO RPF’ed if he did that to his Org?”
PS, well maybe I wouldn’t still be there but I would have maybe spent a few more years serving the cause.
I have a nephew in the Sea Org. He’s been there since about the time he was 16. He’ll turn 30 this year.
I don’t know if he was recruited after being shown ‘The Briefing’ or not, but he was ripe for the picking. His mom and dad are ex-S.O. members. He and his siblings never went to public school, and were kept highly isolated by their parents their entire childhoods. They essentially grew up inside a bubble within a bubble, and knew little of the larger world around them. They were even aloof from the rest of our family while growing up.
When I publicly resigned from the church in March 2012, my nephew was one of the first people I informed about my decision. Bless his heart, he really tried to talk me out of it. Over the course of several emails, I kept giving him LRH references that were clearly being violated by the church, and showing him documented evidence of the church’s contraction. He didn’t have any countering data to dead agent anything I told him. All he could do was offer weak defenses like, “There are thousands of people doing the Basics.”
Finally, he said to me, “You’re asking me to give up on everything I’ve worked for all these years!” I said to him, “No, I’m just trying to get you to look at what’s become of our church.”
I can only hope that I planted a seed that grows into a cognition on his part.
Chris,
I wouldn’t be so dismissive of some of these so called “conspiracy theories” since some of them have since been well *documented* through FOIA including the conspiracy against Scientology:
http://www.freezone.de/english/timetrack/data/Playing_Dirty/
That said.
If they are getting their information from questionable “sources” like Jones, Icke, Marrs, et al who tend to over sensationalize everything and draw conclusions or “connect the dots” based preconceived notions or biblical prophesies or ancient seers or Nostradamus or whatever instead of hard documented evidence that can be verified are I agree nothing but Merchants of Chaos.
I agree with all those above who have spoken. I spent many years while on staff as a recruiter and spent time in the Sea Org as well on the Ship Recruitment Project. I even went out to a marine scrap yrd and purchased an anchor that we put just outside our little Lebanon Hall office by the auditorium underneath the audio control booth. I signed up a lot of ship crew and only later was sorry I had done so because of the effects that were created on some of those crew on the ship. One of my hires was Scotty Campbell and many know his story of abuse. I helped recruit Mike Napier and had I known the kind of back stabber he turned out to be, I never would have helped with that.
When I was on staff at San Francisco Foundation I recruited many dedicated Scientologists and many are still there. They all moonlight as trying to live on staff pay is ridiculous in the extreme.
Looking back on it with what I know now, I wouldn’t have made the effort.
Hindsight is a bitch.
I had a top technical job, after lunch I swam in the company pool for a couple hours.
It was great because my work was completed by 11 am every morning.
I was recruited to train to Class 8 auditor at Saint Hill and I went for it.
It was a complete lie. Hard lesson learned, the only silver lining was that my 7 month stint as a staff member kept me from joining the Sea Org or any other staff member.
I have my own company and products and ownership in other successful ventures.
My success formula is to the opposite of what I experienced as Scientology Staff.
Happy to be out, Scientology in my rear view mirror.
Another point – they have no compunction about breaking up a 2d either. I had shown up at ASHO (when it was on temple st) with my girl friend and went to talk to some body I knew. When I left him, I found her talking with Ron Noe the SO recruiter. She was in grief, and I dragged her out of the interview before he got her to sign on the mimeographed line. She was astounded later on to realize how close she was to signing her life away. Luckily, he never followed up on her, and we later married and have been so since.
Mimsey
Very interesting reports about SO recruitment. Reading them makes me wonder if perhaps in my time Scientology was attracting different people than it has been for the last 30 odd years.
As far as I can remember I was never “‘regged” for the SO. I was 30 years old, had seen a lot of misery, crime and insanity in my life, and wanted to help change all that. I started reading Hubbard’s books in 1968 beginning with Dianetics, followed by other books and materials. By the time we joined the SO my mother and I had already spent 3 years lecturing around the country and witnessed good results everywhere we went. In 1971 we received a telegram sent by 2 FLAG missionaries inviting us to join the Sea Org. The telegram simply said: “Ron needs you. Will you join the Sea Organization? And that was all it took. We went to check it out, SAW that our life was to become some kind of monastic life dedicated to help pass on what we considered very important for our country and beyond and accepted the challenge.
We went back home, sold or gave away our possessions and gladly signed our billion year contract. No SO recruiters, no PR bullshit, no lies. That was my experience. I have the feeling that if it hadn’t been because the old man passed and Miscavige took over, I would possibly still be there. How weird is that eh?
The world banking cartel (JP Morgan, Citi, Goldman, et al) do create a matrix -like web of deceit and slavery through debt…but the idea that the Church of Scientology is going to fight them, or try to change anything related to the “evil Chaos Merchants” is a hoot! The Radical Church of Scientology is now trying hard to copy the successful actions of the groups they pretend to fight! The Church has become a Chaos Merchant in it’s own right!
When I was in Russia in the late 90’s at Moscow Mission I invited the SO recruiters there. They arrived and showed the slides of Flag Service Org, showing images of the staff auditing people, supervising course rooms full of people, promoting it as a Mecca, “Come get trained and help clear earth!”
They signed up hundreds of people, but forgot to explain that they were all being recruited to work not in the FSO, but Flag Crew, in the hotels, cleaning rooms, cooking food, washing dishes, driving vans, etc. I knew many Russians who left their lives in Russia and were very unhappy when they found out that they were signed up to be housekeepers 18 hours a day 7 days a week for no pay!
http://youtu.be/JJ6umV7CVY8
Terrifying yet very honestly presented!
Greta
So, the world’s future relies on the likes of Eddie Frencher? (not sure if that is the correct spelling…..Bella Cruise’s boyfriend). I know he is no longer in the SO, but really, the world is dependent on people like that? He couldn’t find his way out of a paper bag, never mind finding the answer to the world’s impending doom.
Great post and thank you everyone for contributing to this information. 99% of the kids I saw get recruited into the Sea Org did not last. I know of only a few in the past several years that stayed.
I know of at least 10 that went in but did not make it and then could not be on staff…so they get rid of their own with the bat shit crazy policies and procedures!
These poor kids do not have anything to compare it to and then when they see their parents in it – they just believe whatever is told to them. How sad for these poor kids!
The Church of Scientology also uses the “doom and gloom” stuff on public.
I recall a Sea Org Slave giving a briefing and the fan of the heater turned on and made a lot of noise and he asked if it restimulated anyone on FAC ONE? I was in but thought to myself – this guy deals mainly in “restimulation” never erasing – never easing….all signs of an SP according to LRH!
Hey, Chris, after reading this I can’t help but think of the aggressive recruiting cycles you did on me back in the day. I sincerely thank you for not succeeding! 🙂
No, thank you for not falling for the aggressive tactics! I can’t undo what I did in the past, but I can get the facts out there so others don’t fall for these antics in the future. I hope what I’m doing now helps.
As a young child I was subjected to these tactics. Luckily I never joined. Unfortunately, my family is still stuck in scientology.
It’s true that you can’t undo the past, but what you are doing now is huge and it helps, a lot. Please keep up the good work!
Chris,
What you are doing now is awesome and IS helping people.
Please keep up your excellent work! I love your posts and articles. You carry a lot of credibility because of your background. People will listen to you. They need information.
Yep, you rock!!
The Matrix is a computer generated reality that is not the real world.
If you have a look at something around you then the time between the light hitting your eyeballs and the time you can see what your eye electronics registers is some hundred milliseconds. And what you see, be aware of, is only a fraction of what the eyes electronics did sense and communicate via wires (nerve channels) to the brain area that is “seeing”. So you are never in present time and be only aware of those things the brain firewall lets through to you.
If you know that you can use this to manipulate others or be aware of manipulation that is applied.
Did you know that they in your country and mine (Germany) use the same simple brain facts already. Any TV signal from live events is delayed up to 3 seconds just in case something happens people have enough time to push the button that the public do not see what they should not see.
So in order to manipulate you have to extend the delay between see and recognition of this what had been seen and the reprogramming of the brains firewall.
Extend the delay is done by lack of oxygen and the lack of fluids. This alone reduces the electronic abilities of the cell. So signals are delayed or even not passed.
Then you can reprogramme the firewall. This is not done by data, but by narrowing the focus.
Then you can work with data and information.
I agree about the recruiters.
You write “but the information Hubbard published is full of logical inconsistencies, gross omissions of crucial information, half-truths, innuendo and just plain lies.”
Then you mention Alex Jones and David Icke and give examples disproving them, but no data supporting the LRH statement.
The recruiters also have a dooms day video. When my niece was 12 she was made to watch it over and over by herself in a dark room. She went home crying telling her mother that she had to join the Sea Org to keep the Chinese from killing babies. The recruiters showed up at the house that night thinking they were going to leave with this 12 year old. Honestly, they were lucky to leave with their life.
Right on, Mat. Thank goodness my eldest boy was savvy enough to ward off these cretins by himself most of the time. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree with him. He pushed back all on his own, and got them to stay clear of him.
The SO recruiters also show the kids footage of the 911 twin towers going down and say that it was our own government that did it so that we could then go to war with the country they blamed it for and this is why you need to join the SO.
Wow — amazing. They are apparently not just fundamentalists, they are doomsday cultists….
Wait a minute Jane.
I remember a few years back when they were saying that Al-Zawahiri was psychiatrist (when in fact he was only an MD) and therefore it was the evil psyches who were behind 911.
I see your point Robin. The SO was quick to bring up conspiracy theories on 911 in their recruitment efforts of my daughter. It was made part of their SOP Power Point Presentation. And the only solution is “join the SO.”
Jane and Remote,
That’s right about Al-Zawahiri. The recruiters did make the point that Osama Bin Laden’s right hand man was a psychiatrist and was the actual CAUSE of 9/11.
This belief is repeated by some public as well and I have heard this many times from certain individuals. They do believe it was all on purpose to create war and a police state within the US and the Sea Org is the answer to stop it. That is what they tell the recruits. It is also believed that the IAS actually can do something about it too.
Regarding being doomsday cultists as Mike points out, this is very true. The IAS uses the threat of nuclear war and the TWTH uses the “America is becoming a police state” to get donations. I’ve had both of these arguments run on me.
But honestly, running this stuff on kids, minors even, is pretty immoral when they really don’t have the critical thinking skills needed to process this sort of info and sign their life away for a “billion years.”
I saw Tommy Davis lie very artfully in an interview when he was asked about the SO recruiting children. He instantly denied it as “not true” and then said “We don’t discriminate against age.” What a liar.
I get the feeling Tommy always wanted to be an actor.
We cannot discuss this topic without mentioning the repulsive tactic of sending two attractive nubiles, with 2D flows turned up to 11, on a teenage boy. Straight out of the Hashishin playbook.
Yep and they send the good looking, charming male recruiters to the girls, including having him sent to charm me.
At CCI we used to call that the “S” method. Meaning, “Sex” or “Seduction”. We used it for EVERYTHING, recruiting, regging, getting students to come in more time, getting them to buy releases. We knew which public like who the most and who’s boobs would wow what guy and which male staffer would be good enough to charm the single, and married ladies into compliance. Yeah, alls fair in love and war I suppose.
Tit for tat? Dick for dat?
“Sea Org recruiters are amongst the most convincing, smooth talking and charismatic Merchants of Chaos you will ever encounter. Whether they believe their own lies or not is immaterial.”
This post dwells on the heavy handed tactics that SO recruiters use, and that is bad enough. When they try to tell you how good things are in the SO it just gets ridiculous. My favorite story is when two recruiters were telling me of their vastly increased “havingness”. They bragged that they were able to go out and buy underwear. Honest to gawd, they said this with no shame or embarrassment. THEIR “HAVINGNESS” WAS AS SUCH A HIGH LEVEL THAT THEY WERE ABLE TO BY UNDERWEAR! Even though my critical thinking skills were very undeveloped at the time, this didn’t impress me at all.
Ms. B. Haven,
Would you mind expanding a biton the “havingness” of buying underwear? I don’t get……why would this be considered a skill?
I didn’t say anything about a skill, just an ability that they had as a result of being in the SO. I have been out so long I don’t think I am qualified to define what “havingness” is. I was merely mentioning that the SO recruiters were boasting of their high level of the ability to “have” something. The ability to “have” something is apparently beyond any ability that mere wogs possess.
THANK YOU CHRIS!
For putting this truth out there. I heard “The Briefing” myself with two of my kids and met the guy who wrote it (he was very proud of his work and asked me what I thought of it).
All of my children were recruited between the ages of 12-16 years old. Generally most kids between 12-16 are inexperienced in the ways of the world, especially when they are brought up in safe, loving families and in the bubble. These children are literally cherry picked into the SO.
“The Briefing” is also full of space opera, which went over the head of one my kids completely. When asked what she thought of a long story over the Loyal Officers, she asked, “could we talk about things that are happening on planet Earth?” During her briefing, I sat across from her and observed that she was tearing a paper coffee cup into tiny pieces, a sign of anxiety.
The recruiters desperately try to get the kids alone for “The Briefing.” They were so pissed that I insisted that I had to be present at all briefings and meetings with them. These guys hated me and I couldn’t have cared less. I told them that previously my 12 year old was locked in a room and falsely imprisoned for four hours and berated until he signed a Sea Org contract and that I was going to ensure that my kids are safe and that it won’t happen again. Incidentally, my 12 year old son stated that he only signed because he “wanted to go home”, so I told the recruiters who were from CMO, the signing was null and void because he signed under duress. That never stopped the recruiters, who kept after him for another 10 years.
After hearing “The Briefing”, my daughter, who wanted to keep the focus off space opera, was literally harassed intensely for months, then years. But the months following were pretty bad. They followed her to school, her sporting events, her extra-curricular classes, social events, etc. They actually had spies on her who would tell them where she was. They did all this just to avoid me and to get her alone.
The recruiters made it clear to me that they had to “be alone with her.” I made it clear to them that was unacceptable and why. They would even show up at our home when we were having extended family parties and refuse to leave. They would stand outside the front door. They would even wait in their cars parked across the street watching our house. For hours sometimes. It was literally insane.
One night a guy came and said he had to take her back to the org for “an interview” and that I shouldn’t worry because she was “In good hands.” My daughter said no, so I told him to leave. He refused to go and kept calling another guy at the base from his cell. I knew he was going to get in trouble if he came back empty handed because I could see he was scared. He stayed for another 2 hours!
Yes, I was reported to the Director of I&R for my actions. There were reports written on me, and I was denied copies of them. Nothing came of it though. I met with whoever I had to and communicated my end if it. I think I was lucky though.
This is the straw that broke the camels back for me. I saw the CoS for what is really is, a CULT! One that preys on children and the vulnerable.
There is a book called “None Dare Call it Conspracy” by Gary Allen, written in 1972. I wouldn’t be surprised if LRH read this book himself and called the data his own. Since he knew everything.
My kids tell me that when the kids go for metered interviews, they are held and grilled for hours on the meter, until 12am sometimes.
They are asked “Don’t you care about humanity?!” They are made to feel GUILTY about all the ills of the world and that they are responsible to stop it. If they don’t join the SO, then it shows that they don’t care and agree with war, drugs, psychs, etc…
This is the sickest practice, to take advantage of young people in this way. All for slave labor and mind control.
I could say so much more but I’ll tell you how one of my daughters was quickie qualed for the SO.
Right in front of me the recruiter told her that he knew she wasn’t into drugs or drinking but had to ask her one thing:
“Did you ever do any weird sex stuff, like have sex with other girls or animals?”
My daughter was 14. If she did any of those things, do you think she would admit it with her Mom standing there? And he did say Animals. That was so freaking bizarre!
For the sake of my daughter, I gently pointed out that referencing homosexuality and bestiality together is offensive. I did not raise my kids to be intolerant towards homosexuals. Some of us have family members and friends who happen to be and we don’t look at them differently and love them like anyone else.
He didn’t see anything wrong with it and gave me the old LRH 1.1 reference, something I never accepted anyway. I just wanted my daughter to know that it wasn’t okay and to see the out point.
So the SO also doesn’t want homosexuals or those who can’t stay away from the pets or livestock, please.
Wow, Pepper, what a story.
I knew two mothers who had their daughters snatched away from them at 13 years old by the Sea Org, and then threatened with declare if they fought for them. They were absolutely frantic for their children but totally loyal to LRH and to Scientology – so they could not really see what was happening.
One of the mothers was told that if she joined the Sea Org, then she could be with her daughter and ensure that her daughter was safe. When the mother joined, she was sent to a completely different part of the country and told to “make it go right” to see her daughter. She was browbeaten and told that her worry for her daughter was “case”, and there would be no case on post.
And then the rest of the Maoist reconditioning was applied to her.
That was 1997. I was gone by 2001. She had not yet made it go right to be with her daughter by then, who was turning 18. I saw her mother before I left Scientology. She was a completely broken woman, and there was nothing I could do about it but to get myself the fuck out of there. I was on the verge of bankruptcy from credit card debt from Scientology and being handled to buy my OT3 package and “just go ahead declare bankruptcy and get myself through OT3”.
It was totally fucking crazy.
I’m glad I got myself out of that.
But to this day, I still wonder what happened to Melanie and her daughter Megan.
Alanzo
Hi Alonzo,
That’s a sad story and it is crazy.
I’m so happy that you’re out though. My best to you.
Alanzo, are you referring to the Murrays?
Yes.
Alanzo,
Megan was a student at Renaissance Academy, an Applied Scholastics school in La Canada, CA, for her teen years, graduating high school there.
I had her as a student for part of that time, around 2000ish. Sorry, exact time is fuzzy. I recall Melanie visiting the school in full SO uniform during that time to regge staff for Super Power. I was unaware of her history at that time. She was a beautiful, sweet, strong-willed girl, as I recall her. I am not sure, but I believe she went back in after graduation. Maybe someone else here has more information.
Alonzo,
I can tell you that Melanie Murray got back in the SO and was posted in ASHO. She married some guy, I think named Bob or something, and he had all kinds of physical problems coming up and I think they routed out together. When i was routing out of the SO in 2012, I didn’t see her or her husband around on the base at all.
Megan Murray was posted at CCI and she got RPFed during the same time I was on the RPF (2004-2008). She was still in the RPF when I graduated but she routed out of the SO shortly after and is now someone’s personal assistant in LA, according to her Facebook page. I’m not a Facebook stalker or anything, she’s easy to find and I remember seeing her when I myself first routed out of the SO.
Thanks very much for that update.
I really appreciate it.
Alanzo
What a great article, Chris!
And you hit the nail on the head: it’s the lack of critical thinking skills – the ability to recognize the parts of a statement, and what an argument is, and to examine and evaluate the reasoning and evidence which supports the statements and the arguments you are presented with, and to decide for yourself if it is sound.
These skills and the ability to understand that what “indicates” (what feels good) is not necessarily the truth, are the skills needed to stay out of these traps that exist all over Scientology.
It is especially revolting though that they do this to kids. Following on the model of the Hitler Youth, Hubbard started this with the Commodore’s Messenger Org, knowing that if you get them young you can mold them into whatever you want.
It’s a pretty frikking ruthless onslaught, and you have explained it very well.
Thank you.
Alanzo
I’ve never experienced any of this because I would never sit still long enough to be SO recruited.
Unfortunately though, I experienced much the same when being regged by the IAS for MONEY! These similar tactics and stories were used to extract money.
I want to point out a factor that Chris may have dropped out for brevity. But there’s another factor in Sea Org “recruitment” that’s dangled in front of potential recruits. It’s the promise that if they join the Sea Org they can boss around adults…especially their parents.
So this carrot serves to “close the deal’.
It’s very much like the beginning of the first Harry Potter movie, where poor Harry is being subjugated and abused by the foster family he’s in the care of. Then Harry figures out he’s got “powers” that make that family a-scared of him. THEN, a giant owl shows up to invite him to a magical place, far, far away from the evil Family…but Harry has already put the Fear into the Family, so he can go off to a place totally uninfluenced by the evil Family but still have superiority and control over them.
And kids ATE THAT UP.
And it’s just like getting kids into the Sea Org, for at least some of the kids.
Another factor Chris didn’t mention is that the Sea Org doesn’t really like to recruit 72-year olds.
Why?
Because the number of slave-years you can get out of a 72-year-old is about 10.
If you recruit a 12-year-old, there exists the possibility you can get 70 slave-years out of them.
Of course, the Catch-22 is that you have to feed them and give them vitamins and sunshine and fresh air and exercise to get the full 70 slave-years.
And in Miscavige’s Sea Org, that’ll never happen.
Finally, if you recruit a 12-year-old, you’ll catch a young person before the evils of carnal pleasure with the opposite sex have been experienced. So there’s a good chance the draconian anti-sex anti-love anti-offspring practices of the Sea Org won’t offend the new recuit as much.
Yes, POT
My kids were told right in front of me that they were “billion year old thetans” and that they didn’t have to listen to me.
“You don’t have to listen to her!”
Right at my own kitchen table. Invalidation of being a parent.
Teenagers being told that they don’t have to listen to their parents is the golden carrot indeed.
I’ve kicked S.O. members out of my house for less, Pepper. I don’t know how far I would have taken it, had a recruiter said such a thing to my kid in my presence. At the very least, they would have been physically ejected from the premises, and possibly even injured in the process.
I got into Scientology when I was nineteen, and have been cornered by S.O. recruiters countless times. I never did understand other Scientologists’ angst and terror about those recruitment efforts. I always just told them, “no thanks.” Recruiters would always ask, “Why?” and I’d just tell them in a nutshell that I wasn’t cut out for that sort of life, and that I’d soon be ‘in the brig’ if I joined.
Maybe it was the aura of street hardness I still had at the time, or maybe they really saw that I wasn’t kidding, but they usually left me alone after one sit down with me. The only time an S.O. member came close to actually getting me to join, was when Yvonne Jentzch cornered me early on. I actually signed the contract, but changed my mind the next day.
Pepper, I almost threw up reading yours and POT’s post. It just makes me sick. There’s so much more I could add from my own recruit cycle and my kids’ but I don’t want to defile myself typing it. We as an Indie field need to prepare to deliver. By that I mean we need to prepare to audit these “prisoner of war victims” when they finally come out. They will have shattered psyches and worn out fucked up bodies. We will need to be there to help them. The time is coming.
Hey Ronnie,
As you well know, the CoS is great at keeping people “in check.”
With a spouse on OT levels, and another kid on staff, it bodes well for one to be diplomatic, which I am pretty good at. I could write an essay on diplomacy and staying in good standing in the CoS. One does not have to be antagonistic or 1.1 either. It requires a lot of patience and composure.
However, this does not mean that I am without feeling. Yes, they made me very angry at times and I would have loved to let it loose on certain recruiters but I kept the big picture in mind and my goal to get my kids out of the cult for good. Enduring some hard core bull bait was worth it to me and I would do it again if I had to.
The worst was when the recruiters would recruit one spouse, get them to leave the other with the kids. If the spouse left behind protested in any way, it was ethics or declare.
The Captain of the Freewinds was supported in his efforts to offload his wife with a few kids, no support whatsoever. They convinced her she was big rock slammer and convinced him to turn his back on all of them to sail in circles in an empty ship.
Lori Webster dug up her husband off the base. He was married already. He threw his wife under the bus leaving her a single mother with a child to raise. No support whatsoever and on top of that, Lori used her power to torture the xwife with KR’s!
Then there were the women that were married and got pregnant and refused to have obortions where the “ethics officer” would intervene to get the husband to stay and the woman would leave alone not asking for support for the child because that would pull someone off post.
The crimes against women in the organization are monumental. They DO NOT place children as ANY priority unless they are children of a celebrity.
John Travolta announced recently he had full time Scientology staff round the clock for over a year to help him through his loss with his son. The Church staff went there to help him over their own dead bodies with losses people have been set up for with children. Their own kids aren’t worth the time of day but if John gets upset a small army shows up with Kleenex box. As if they could even understand!
The recruiters think nothing of throwing kids under the bus and leaving them with out a parent. Parent time cancelled was time STOLEN FROM CHILDREN! If that is not wrong, to put yourself above the needs of kids, I don’t what it is.
And they have gall to print and distribute Way To Happiness Books. If the Sea Org was honest for a minute and actually wrote a book on what they consider to be the Way To Happiness it would shock the world.
Dead on, Oracle. What you say is true. I’ve seen it and I’ve lived it. It is a disgrace how they put out WTH and the Human Rights stuff when the treat kids and mothers and the 2D this way.
Cognitive dissonance morphing Into cosmic discord.
Oracle: “If the Sea Org was honest for a minute and actually wrote a book on what they consider to be the Way To Happiness…” – LOL, that’s funny. Quite right, TWTH is the very last book an SO member would live by. But the SO would never write their own book because, on pain of death, what they truly do is so C-O-N-F-I-D-E-N-T-I-A-L even they don’t know.
As you well know, the CoS is great at keeping people “in check.”
With a spouse on OT levels, and another kid on staff, it bodes well for one to be diplomatic
You’re right about that, of course, Pepper. When my (future) wife was on Class V org staff, I had to be careful about how hard I pushed back on the staff. Being somewhat of an old timer, I knew full well that I wasn’t in a position to turn both barrels on them if they got out of line. They definitely had the power to disrupt, or even destroy my relationship with my wife, while she was contracted to them.
It’s just so wrong that a church would use such a heinous device to control their members.
The Sea Org way to happiness is a very tight path that travels through savings accounts, inheritances, available credit card balances and whatever cash you happen to have in your pockets
The Sea Org recruiters are really good. They were able to convince me to drop my life completely throw away most of my possessions, drop my career, bail on my lease, practically disappear in 2 days over a Christmas. On Christmas Day I was with my family enjoying a meal (not telling my family of my plans) next morning I was on a plane to LA starting a new Sea Org life. I was sort of young(mid 20s), full of idealism, winning on course, I thought it was an honor to be chosen by the SO, it played right in to their hands. In addition to sending someone up to my home to make sure I will arrive, the recruiter had a bit of help down in LA, I constantly got calls about how the crew was being briefed about me during musters, and everyone was excited and “touched” by my story, the HAS called me and told me that I had a special post lined up, and if I didn’t arrive it would probably be filled by another recruit, and I would probably get a lesser post. And how the Captain wanted me so bad, she authorized the special project to get me(which according to the recruiter only happens to certain people). It’s all funny now how I was naive and didnt sense I was being deceived. I was truly convinced that by joining the Sea Org that I could personally change the world to be a better place, and help many people, and I was personally called upon to fulfill this noble cause as a vital cog, and so many people down in LA were relying on me to come through for them. I don’t blame the recruiters or anyone for this, as I had also observed(and I had dabbled in recruiting unsuccessfully) that the recruiters are under immense pressure to get people in who in turn had Seniors that were under immense pressure to get the recruiters performing who probably had Seniors that were breathing down their necks. There is also such a small pool to select from, that the greatest good justification comes in to play regularly when recruiting. I made a mistake for sure, but don’t blame anyone, and actually think besides having 2 years of my life utterly suck, it put me on a much more promising trajectory then the current path I was on, plus I probably would have never met my wife.
They have one thing almost right: “The whole point of The Briefing is to convince Scientologists that they are living in a Matrix-like world of hidden dangers and covert conspiracies”. But this statement, to be fully truthful, would have to make clear that these dangers and covert conspiracies are right there inside the Sea Org and Church themselves. It is not out there, it has been slowly evolving inside this group and gets worse as minutes go by.
Also, to make you fully responsible for saving the planet pushes the button of ‘being guilty’ if you don’t; all amounts to abusive manipulation.
No wonder the Church is dwindling rapidly….is just a matter of time.
Around 1980, when I was 19, I was recruited to the Sea Org. I wasn’t given the same line that Mike talks about here, but I was lied to by being told that there was no such thing as a free loader debt and that I could just check it out and leave if I didn’t like it. Immediately after arriving to the Sea Org I realized that I didn’t belong because this was no place for someone who was still checking things out. After a month of personal conflict over the guilt I felt of deserting this group I had a cognition. The first thing I was ever told on my first course in Scientology is that what’s true for me is what I’ve observed for myself. Things are true according to my observation. This was something that attracted me to Scientology. I was free to think for myself. At this point I was free to leave the Sea Org because I hadn’t observed for myself yet that Scientology was the salvation of mankind on a spiritual level.
I’ve posted this here because I do understand how a person gets trapped in the Sea Org. There was a time when Scientology was about thinking for yourself. If you apply “what’s true for you…” it really is OK to leave the Sea Org.
Up to 1986 Scientology was about LRH thinking for himself and since 1986 its been about DM thinking for himself. Other scientologists are only free to think for themselves if they don’t think critical thoughts about the leader. That’s what Scientology is because LRH had a need for the blind devotion of others to address his mental problems. The “What’s true for you” line is just a cynical hook to snare gullible seekers.
Nah.
Absolutely. There really is no ‘what’s true for you’ in scientology. Its think and do as you’re told or else! You do it their way or they take away your family, your friends, your lively hood, your life. It’s deadly serious business indeed.
Yes all very familiar. I joined after 911 when the environment was very dangerous. It was the ultimate end of the world scenario. Chris I remember you from being around PAC Base. Don’t know if I had direct contact but I know your face. I was Bridge Control at AOLA 2001/3
Hey starzstuff. My email is skepticalseeker@hushmail.com if you ever want to chat about the “good old days” or how you got out. I’m interested in how you got out.
Thank you Chris for filling the vacuum with the truth of “been there, done that”.
I have a daughter that is a casualty and a son that is a big prospect.
My condolences, Coop. My hope is that the church crumbles, Davie does the perp walk, and your kids, my kids, everyone’s kids come back to them.
I have a little confession to make. Many years ago, I saw friends recruited into the S.O. and get really chewed up and then declared SP. I was an outer org student on the OEC at ITO. Not wanting the same to happen to me, I mocked up a non existent LSD case. My mock up must have been so good that I was never bothered by S.O. recruiters again. It had to be good to get past people like Bill Franks at the time. This allowed me to return to my org and fulfill my contract with them.
I also went through several intensives at Flag years later and never confessed that I had a large stash of money that Dave Foster and other reges never found out about. By not telling them about it, I was applying HCO PL How To Maintain Credit Standing And Solvency in OEC Vol. 3 which is one of my all time favorite policies. It is not an overt to follow policy-besides I had a family to support.
.
LRH does say in the later PDC lectures, that it is a high ability to be able to tell a”lie”. I will lie, but only when I consider it pro survival and never to harm another. I didn’t think signing my freedom away to the S.O. or destroying myself financially was pro survival.
I also always interpreted “greatest good for the greatest number of dynamics” as including the other dynamics like the first and second. I have been a serious student of what LRH wrote and can counter any bullshit claim a reg or recruiter will come up with. What is true is what is true for me. If you know the tech of something (like Scientology) you cannot be the adverse effect of it.
I salute your balsiness Dan351.
“…that it is a high ability to be able to tell a”lie”. I will lie, but only when I consider it pro survival and never to harm another.”
Excellent point, Dan351. That’s actually how I got out. I planned for three weeks, all the while being the most darling, ass-kissing, compliant SO member, (my disguise of course…) and didn’t tell a soul. It was so refreshing to maintain my own integrity, while BS-ing the ones BS-ing me. Talk about the hood lifted up off your head when you spot the real SP!
I wouldn’t have the freedom I have now had I not lied all the way out the big bad electronic gate.
Dan and Gato, I salute you both! So good to hear of one reading the tech and applying it to good result for your own use and for your own “Greatest good.” Yes the greatest good actually does include you and your own dynamics, all of them! Way to go!
This explains a lot about why these young ex-SO, so harmed by their time as slaves, don’t get away and make their life about something else. They are very loyal to the one true cause.
I’ve known more than one person who suddenly remembered they’d taken LDS or had been suicidal (or both) to get out of the SO. And still never gotten away from the cult and got on with life. This paranoid, illogical world-view is so damaging.
I wondered who these twelve men were. Some or most would be dead by now. Anyone know their names?
Check out RJ 67 where he names one or two of them. In later articles he talks a lot about the Rockefellers. Hubbard really had it out for them and was deep into the conspiracy theory. The Briefing that I refer to here talks about the whole history of the Rothschild family in Europe as well as JP Morgan and similar oil and railroad barons but I can’t recall if Hubbard ever named them specifically. I never saw any list anytime I was in of who all these 12 guys were. I don’t know if Hubbard ever named them all.
Thanks Chris. I noticed whenever I questioned something that was attributed to Ron, I was either told to find my misunderstood or somehow made to feel guilty about it. I find these words of Thomas Paine to be right on the mark: “But it is necessary to the happiness of man, that he be mentally faithful to himself. Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving: it consists in professing to believe what he does not believe.”
In the ‘Mission Earth’ series, LRH satirizes a lot of this – renaming the Rockefellers as the Rockecenters, and having the main character, Jetero Heller, figure out the conspiracy using Data Series tech.
When I was new on staff, I was told by numerous old-time Scientologists that LRH had written this series to “indicate correct bypassed charge” for the whole planet, thus paving the way for more people to get on the Bridge.
MJ – if you check out the book “None Dare Call it Conspiracy”, by Gary Allen you will get all your questions answered.
This was written in 1972 and details in simple form the families involved and how. I read this in high school, so it’s been a while, but I recall Rockefeller, Rothchild and Morgan.
It’s a small and easy to read book and is considered controversial but it’s an interesting piece if you’re a believer in the new world order or just want to find out what the fuss is about.
Gary Allen was a bit of the grand daddy of Conspiracy theories.
He was the speech writer for George Wallace (yes, THAT George Wallace) and well as a prominent member of the John Birch Society.
Gary Allen wasn’t a particularly MEAN person — he died of liver failure BUT before the liver failure which was brought on by severe diabetes which required amputation of his legs.
As a new Sea Org member in 1972 – I knew about this book of course. Many of us believed WAY BACK THEN that the world was about to implode. There were public scientologists giving lectures about the “cash-less society” and not paying income tax.
When quoting conspiracies — now the biggest theorist is Alex Jones and David Icke — who truly believes that the queen of England is a shape shifter and is a REPTILE.
There aren’t LRH works buried in the desert —- NO!!!
There are reptiles (12 feet tall who can walk) who have a whole world below us.
When studying conspiracies be sure to narrow the focus towards ALL FOUNDATIONS and THINK TANKS. Like the Traverstock Institute … look to the Bilderburgers.
And at the end of the day — if you focus closely enough — your mind will begin to crack under the strain of just so much bad news that you can do NOTHING about.
Here’s the deal with conspiracy theories — there is always a KERNAL of truth. Just like in a CULT there is a KERNAL of truth.
Overall I suggest —- ***k it. Go to the movies — after all you only live once 🙂
Thanks Pepper. Read it a while ago. Does it actually name the twelve individuals?
Thanks Pepper. And since you read that book, what do you think? What’s your opinion — are they right about the names of the people behind it all in your opinion?
MJ and Jane,
I read this book as a teenager and interestingly, it was referred to me to read by a good friend who joined a Christian cult!
It seems cults like this type of think, that there is a domination over the planet and everything’s going to implode or go up in smoke anytime now. I’m not a big believer in this message or “New World Order” but do believe as Windhorse states that there usually is a kernel of truth.
I have a son who is into this stuff though, and I listen to Alex Jones with him sometimes. Alex can provide some thought provoking material but I’m not the type of person who tends to take things literally and prefer to reflect on it and come to my own conclusions.
MJ regarding your question about the twelve names, I don’t know if you’re referring to something LRH said about “12 names” and can’t help you there. Sorry about that.
Windhorse,
The GO used to push Allen’s book too and I tried reading it but didn’t finish it due to lack of interest or something like that.
What grabbed me more than ‘None Dare Call it Conspiracy’ was the GO Directive “A Working Theory” which is now on the internet here:
http://www.freezone.de/english/timetrack/data/policies/1971-05-06.htm
And Prouty’s “Secret Team” which can be read here:
https://ia600406.us.archive.org/11/items/H.DuthelTheSecretTeam/TheSecretTeam.pdf
And other books like the Invisible Government:
http://archive.org/stream/theinvisiblegove20224gut/pg20224.txt
Never accepted the idea that there was some vast overarching conspiracy like the Illuminati or the New World Order or the Queen of England or Giant lizards or….whatever.
Fact is that conspiracies do exist but they are not vast but seem vast because similar intentions seem to align.
Anyway welcome to planet Earth.
I’ll take your advice and go watch a movie 🙂
Thanks Chris for this incredible post. Incredible is actually the wrong word as the story is very credible. I’ve had my own experience with, as I’m sure most that read this blog have.
SO recruiters will say about anything to get their stat. Someone very close to me was told about “bodies in pawn” on other planets that needed to be freed when he was 14 years old.
He was told by one Charles Mitchell who was one of the most ruthless SO recruiters at Flag.
The last I heard of him: he left the SO and was working on the WeBuyCars.com website.
Someone else very close to me was told all manner of BS when he was only 17 and had never done a service. He was being recruited by the CC hotel so he could be clean rooms and make beds. He of course wasn’t told that part.
Similar techniques have been going on forever. In 1973, when I had only been in SCN for 1 month, I was conned into an SO recruit cycle. The recruiter, Ron Noe who was OT7 at the time – which impressed me as a brand new SCN, ran the command “Sheldon, sign that contract” for 2 hours from midnight until 2:00AM when I finally caved and signed.
He then said – “don’t you feel much better now?” I don’t think I ever felt worse. He then said, “now that I did this favor for you, I need you to write down the names of all of your friends and how I can contact them”
I gave him 0 names. At least I had some integrity.
Wow Sheldon…yes you had integrity and have it now for posting here..
Look forward to more comments from you…
Excellent article, Chris. Shine that light with laser precision!
The idealism of youth, the honest, innocent desire to make the world a better place.
Enter the Dragon, in the form of a diabolical, criminal cult named Scientology.
I am amazed that, given the enormous documentation in books, and especially on the Internet, warning of the dangers of Scientology, that they are able to recruit Sea Org staff.
For ANYONE to NOT realize that there are two sides to Scientology, and that BOTH sides can be examined and evaluated ON THE INTERNET is beyond belief!
I have to believe that anyone with a modicum of intelligence would just Google Scientology, and “head for zee hills.”
I was thinking about this a couple of days ago. “Prospects” for the Sea Org don’t line up in front of the recruiters office with a resume, hoping to be chosen to serve.
“Prospects” for the Sea Org are actively pursued by, indoctrinated by, lied to and heavily pressured into “volunteering.”
Thanks for info, Chris. Enlightenment is a good thing.
Ah, this dredges up fond memories. Thanks, Chris. I have sat through any number of recruitment interviews lasting several hours at a stretch, only to emerge feeling totally squashed, drained and really bad. Strangely, I resisted signing up nonetheless. Perhaps because I grew up in the cadet org cleaning task force and had an inklng of the realities? Perhaps because I had learned to question such theories as the 12 families running the show, even if I didn’t know how to learn the truth? But perhaps, most of all, because I felt far greater loyalty to my family than I ever did or could for this “church”?
And yes, this merchant of chaos quote, which I grew up with, made every recruitment and reg interview/event a constant source of cognitive dissonance for me.
Mike, you wondered in your last post, why bother trying to wake these people up at all? I’ve been wondering the same recently, particularly when a true believer comes galloping by on their high horse to smote the dragons around them with the infamous “he/she’s 1.1” label. I wonder, why even bother? Then I remember how grateful I was and continue to be when I first found Marty’s blog and ESMB. So keep that information flowing, it is vital, literally life-giving.
Just for laughs: The city I live in has probably no more than 200 Scientologists. There are probably no more than 40 OTs. The city has a population of approx. 612,000. At 2.5% SPs, that means there are 200 Scn to 15,300 SPs. Ever thought about that?
Thanks Dollar. it is why I keep going. But it gives me pause sometimes.
Don’t pause, Mike. There is no CultAnon. So, your blog is almost all I have. (And a few amazing friends)
Four weeks ago my son disconnected. This blog may help in bringing about the demise of such an abusive, destructive practice.
I will continue to love and support you as a kindred spirit.
I can not tell you how much you have given here to lurkings insiders, fresh-outs, never-ins and added a body of verifiable knowledge about this con job of a cult. That in so doing you put your life and that of your loved ones at risk has not gone without notice.I rejoiced when you took down your picture, that is a wise move, especially in light of the highten levels of paranoia exhibited elsewhere online.
I thank you for the heart and soul you have put into this, the reward is in the rehabilitation of self and aesthetic ethos demonstrated in clear consciences. Your documentation of the unravelling will remain a core archive after the inevitable end of David Miscavage’s nightmare and the remains of L. R. H.’s elucubrations.
Stay happy and safe.
Sure there may be people who will never get it, but this blog is not for them. This blog is for people who haven’t figured it out yet but at least are bright enough to do some degree of looking. A little more and a little more, and that person might make it out.
I understand. It must feel quixotic at times, tilting at the windmills of fanaticism. Yet you are really appealing to those who will listen, and sometimes all you need to know when you’re “in” is that you are not alone with your doubts and questions, observations and “gut” instinct. Everybody reaches out anew, and each time is like it’s never happened before.
I think when we’ve been out for a while and gotten used to life outside and the emotional health that is gained from sharing all manner of perspectives and opinions with others, we tend to forget what it was like inside, and lose patience and think “let them drown, let them burn, their choice!”
Your blog wasn’t up when I first went on the net, but I absorbed all the information out there like a sponge, and was a regular of OTVIII’s (still am). You add humour, and the ability to laugh about this is so healing I can’t tell you.
Along with the abuse, I believe one of the RCS biggest problems, and our biggest bonus is: lack of good information inside the walls. It literally sucks people out, sooner or later. That vacuum wants to be filled. And I think you do that faster than anyone else out there right now.
Believe me Mike, what you’re doing is greatly appreciated.
Wow, thank you for posting this about SO recruiting. I thought I’d heard or seen it all. Not so. I had my own recruit cycle, and it was a war of attrition. They were with me 24/7 and make Paparrazi look tame by comparison. But the sad thing is that they recruited my kids, using kids. And every new kid that gets in, most of them have their first post to be helping recruit their friends in. And yes, they do use the 911 thing saying it was done by our own government, and they get into conspiracy theories, all to forward their own goal of fresh blood.These kids don’t have reasoning powers to reason and resist and haven’t had life experiences to know that there are holes in the logic. The SO Recruiters and IAS both are the real Merchants of Chaos, weaving a dangerous environment continually so as to get their stat. Very vital post. And thank you also for the links about these two guys.
And Mike, thank you for doing this blog every day. You are doing such a service for us all: still ins, UTR’s, outs, Indies, everyone. We need this to blow false data out, blow charge, confront more and more evil, and thus come out the other end whole instead of as a broken piece, as damaged goods forevermore. You are healing the ex cult members as well as shining light on the evil for the world to see. This is the effective blow to end the Sociopath’s reign of terror. You, Mike, and Marty and others deserve Ka Kahn awards and all of our love and admiration. Thank you!
My husband, also a Scientologist, is enlightened because of your blog and Marty’s. Thank you! I am deeply grateful. There is much more I could say, but this will do.
I loved that math Dollar!
They use kids to recruit kids. Happened to my daughter twice, first time when she was12. Just disgusting.
I had a friend in L.A. who was a real fixture in the Scientology business there. In the Orgs 24/7. Not staff though.
Kid comes home one day saying he wants to join the Sea Org. Young kid like 10 years old.
Guy packed up his whole family and left town the next morning. Pulled the phones out of the wall. Left no forwarding address.
Which only illustrates the true power of the Sea Org. If they can’t reach you by phone, mail, or knocking on your door. They have no power. The only power they have, is the power others grant them by providing contact information.
The Sea Org is not an organization you want your loved ones joining.
Ain’t that the truth!
Ain’t that the truth!
If you think about it, Ron himself is done with it too.
After spending 30 years (1950-1980) saving the universe, Ron is apparently off drifting around in the winds of a distant star . . . writing poetry, making music. Who knows? (wink, wink)
Never returned after 21-22 years as he had specifically promised and put in writing to several Int Base execs back in the 80’s.
We, on the other hand, are expected to sign up and “suffer through the conditions” of saving the universe for the next billion years.
He puts in 30 years . . . we put in (suffer) a billion? Huh?
A case of “do as I say, not do as I do.”
Mike, did you hear about the “return date” notes when you were there?
I think you are on to him Lurker! The other issue would have to do with the question of why not return to the most ethical group in this sector of the universe …….if you could?
Someone took a few to many tokes on the magic bong me thinks! Or perhaps it was the 240 volt emeter trick.
Oh give me a break. Everything centers on “Ron” – and yet you find ways to criticize him for everything under the sun. Why don’t YOU do something?
Hubbard spent less time in the Sea Org than most Sea Org Members. He lived on the ships with them a few years and then quickly distanced himself from that group. The time he did spend co inhabiting with them, he was definitely not there on the same terms as anyone else. But those couple of years on the ship with them was enough for him. When he did distance himself from them he left no forwarding address or telephone number. It was a, “Don’t call me, I’ll call you” type of good by. He only maintained necessary assistants.
How about those you hate?