You may have seen the recent article in the Tampa Bay Times: Scientologists stole Clearwater council member's campaign signs police say Tony O covered it on his blog. I have some other points to note about this incident. The response from official scientology spokesman Ben Shaw is remarkable but unsurprising. In a statement to the Times, Scientology spokesperson Ben Shaw said the church does not comment on elections or candidates. “This is not a Church matter and is not something we were aware of,” Shaw said. “Any attempt to involve the Church is simply a continuation of your anti- … [Read more...]
Archives for March 2024
Sociopathy Part 4: The Importance of Authority and Obedience
This is the fourth in the series about Sociopathy based on the book by Dr. Martha Stout, The Sociopath Next Door. The previous posts are here: Sociopathy: What is a Sociopath? Sociopathy Part 2: The Traits of a Sociopath Sociopathy Part 3: The Creation of "Its" "Very simply, we are programmed to obey authority even against our own conscience." Dr. Stout describes the famous experiment done by Yale professor Stanley Milgram and correlates it to the world of sociopathy. If you are not familiar with his experiment, Milgram had “authorities” telling people to administer ele … [Read more...]
Thursday Funnies
The Thursday Funnies are back with a vengeance! We've got some great stuff this week... Things are really gearing up. You'd better be ready for the greatest expansion ever that is just over the horizon.... For 70+ years now, the mantra has been that the promises made are now finally going to come true. And this time it’s for real. Your faith (and money) will finally pay off. You have to wonder how long they can keep the confidence game going. It’s worked for this long — and there is no sign they are slowing down with their pitch. We’re expanding like never before! … [Read more...]
A Window Into The Scientology Bubble
There is quite a lot to be gleaned from this FB post and the comments. First, and most obvious, these scientologists are apparently NOT at cause over their lives and are struggling financially. Second, their solution is NOT to "solve it with scientology." Haven't they read all the success stories from the people who listened to the ACCs and it totally changed their life/handled all their problems/ got them moving on the Bridge etc etc? Not going to be auditors who are cause over life? They didn't even take them out of the plastic wrappers. So many scientologists have been convinced to … [Read more...]
Sociopathy Part 3: The Creation of “Its”
This is the third in the series about Sociopathy based on the book by Dr. Martha Stout, The Sociopath Next Door. The previous posts are here: Sociopathy: What is a Sociopath? Sociopathy Part 2: The Traits of a Sociopath One of the things a sociopath does, especially when in a leadership position, is create an us v. them mentality, reducing the "them" to things that are not worthy of empathy, fairness or even continued existence. Hubbard generated this mentality from the earliest days of scientology -- beginning with positioning Dianetics as a fight of good v. evil and salvation v. … [Read more...]
Sociopathy Part 2: The Traits of a Sociopath
This is the second in the series about Sociopathy based on the book by Dr. Martha Stout, The Sociopath Next Door. The previous post is here: Sociopathy: What is a Sociopath? The elements that are used to diagnose sociopathy/psychopathy/antisocial personality disorder are as follows: Many mental health professionals refer to the condition of little or no conscience as "antisocial personality disorder," a noncorrectable disfigurement of character that is now thought to be present in about 4 percent of the population - that is to say, one in twenty-five people. This condition of missing … [Read more...]
Sociopathy: What is a Sociopath?
I have been re-reading the wonderful book by Harvard professor Dr. Marth Stout, The Sociopath Next Door It has even more applicability to the world of scientology today than when I first read it. I had always thought that David Miscavige was a unicorn — unique, cruel and deranged. That it had been my misfortune to have encountered him, but I would never run into anyone like him again. Then I read Dr. Stout's book and realized that there are recognized and identifiable personality traits that sociopaths share. And by her estimation they constitute about 4% of the population. She d … [Read more...]
