Our old friend Terra Cognita is back again this week…
Central Files and the Ability to Confront
Little is more important to a Scientologist than his ability to confront. According to founder, L. Ron Hubbard, all our problems since the Big Bang stem from our inability to confront. From the physical to the spiritual, seeing any problem as it really is can be vanquished by just looking at the damn thing—like really, really looking at it. In layman’s terms: confronting the shit out of a problem makes it go away. Scientologists pride themselves on their ability to confront.
So when I saw a group of familiar faces posing for a recent flyer in Central Files at my old local org, I couldn’t help saying something.
From the Horse’s Mouth
L. Ron Hubbard, in his red Tech Dictionary, listed four definitions for the word confront:
- an action of being able to face. (HCOB 4 Jan 73). 2. The ability to be there comfortably and perceive. (HCOB 2 Jun 71 I). 3. Confront itself is a result and an end product. It itself isn’t a doingness, it’s an ability. (SH Spec 21, 6106C27). And v. to face without flinching or avoiding. (HCOB 4 Jan 73).
You’d think that with such awesome ability, prospective acolytes would be lining up outside the doors of Scientology churches, and that these new “ideal orgs” would be bursting at the seams. That would be a big flunk! Unfortunately for the brethren, this ability to confront has been on hiatus.
Bodies in the Shop…or Not
Built on the shoulders of a Scientologist’s ability to confront, is their ability to disseminate and bring new people into the fold. Since enrollment has been dwindling for decades, getting new people in the doors should be a top priority. Right? At the least, you’d think every staff and public person would be out pounding the streets, herding people inside their new, aseptic buildings with tales of enlightenment and galactic conquest. Which for people with such tremendous talent, should be easy and painless. And yet…
…for the last couple of decades, church leader, David Miscavige, has demanded that orgs concentrate on recovering people by updating Central Files. Which basically translates to sorting and organizing the personal files of everyone who’s ever bought something at a Scientology organization—be it a single book or hundreds of hours of auditing. Every piece of paper in every file must be arranged alphabetically and chronologically; all addresses must be updated; thousands and thousands of unfiled papers and receipts must be patriated with their appropriate folders; and finally, all the old manila folders must be replaced by new, color-coded, doctor-office beauties. Except for watching paint dry, nothing could be more tedious, dull, dreary, and unnecessary.
Little takes less confront than filing. Making sure papers from 1975 go before those from 1976. The “A’s” go before the “B’s.” The “C’s” go before the “D’s.” And making sure all of Swen Johansen’s receipts from 1969 are filed appropriately. Never mind that the friendly Norwegian only bought a single book while on holiday from Oslo. Never mind that he gave up and left it at the airport before flying home to Oslo. And never mind that he died last year at the age of eighty-nine at the family farm just south of the Arctic Circle.
Mold, Paint, and Donuts
Typically, Central Files is located in damp, windowless basements. Which means, aside from having to deal with mold allergies, those doing the sorting and filing are relieved from having to confront live human beings. They don’t have to see, talk, or listen to new people, much less disseminate to them. Instead of having to confront live bodies and do something to boost the condition of their organization, they’ve chosen to confront old, worthless scraps of paper.
On the Terra Cognita Ideal Scale of Confront and Being Able to Look at Anything, Anytime, Anywhere, filing falls just below body death at -1.2. Filing is the opposite of fun and creativity. Not only is filing mind-numbing drudgery, hiding out in Central Files has become a refuge for all those staff and public who can’t confront reality.
Broke? Credit cards all maxed-out? File! Can’t bear to talk about Scientology to any of your friends anymore? File! The thought of body routing gives you the shakes? File! FSMing has become a four-letter word? File! Wondering where to vacation this summer? Central Files!
In the world of Scientology, filing has become a substitute for doing something that makes a difference. Sorting decades-old receipts will not boost income and will not raise a church’s condition. Not one ounce. Not one iota. However organized and swell his new, neon-tabbed file looks, Swen is not coming back.
The Twenty-first Century and Watches
Not only is physical filing monotonous and unrewarding, it’s massively inefficient—especially in today’s world where all modern businesses have gone digital. Years ago, your local bank and every other Fortune 500 company decommissioned their filing cabinet-filled warehouses for air-conditioned server farms where important documents are stored digitally.
I’m not suggesting that keeping track of customer’s likes and activities aren’t valuable. Of course they are. Log onto to the Internet. Check out what the big boys are doing. Search for something on Amazon.
A few weeks ago, the seal on my old Casio G-Shock finally gave out and the watch filled with water. Being a modern, twenty-first century man, I immediately perused reviews for watches online. Ever since, I’ve been bombarded with advertisements from one brand after another. Just so you know, I finally settled on a Hamilton with a stainless steel case, black face with numerals, sapphire crystal, and leather strap. Swiss made! Love it! Ever since, however, I’ve been bombarded with ads and emails from half the known watch companies in the galaxy. Advertisements from Bulova, Tag Heuer, and Marcab Distinguished Timepieces pop up on every site I visit. Today, one need only glance sideways at a website to be added to their mailing list.
Last Words
Sadly, many who thought Scientology would fulfill their dreams of hooking up with a soul mate and play a part in making a better world, end up in Central Files—where personal relationships are rarely forged, and fresh folders have done nothing to correct a planet, slightly off-kilter.
Not only is Central Files a haven for all those staff and public who can’t confront the real world, it’s a sanctuary for all those who can’t confront the cult to which they belong.
Still not Declared,
Terra Cognita
TC, as usual, an excellent article. The one missing ingredient is Foolproof! Where is he when we need him to ridicule us for thinking that any of Hubbard’s methods might be questionable. Where is the confronting fool. Show us your TRs.
Haha! Your life is meaningless without me! Well, I skim read this wishy washy article, found a MisU of Terra’s straight away (of course) and thought “this is yet another scraping of the bottom of the barrel of Terra’s MisUs in his lust to justify his 2nd Phenomenon”, so I nearly didn’t reply until, like George White and his Lucifer syndrome, you summoned your worst demon from the depths of your reactive mind. And lo!
Let’s have a little quiz: what word in his article has Terra misused and misunderstood? (Apart from “of” “for” and “the” etc. and not forgetting “Remimeo” (of course))
(Wonder what George replied to the person (in another article above) who asked him about (what George thinks) Scientology is? The Devil may care eh? Still, always good for the Qual False Data Stripping stat.)
As to the article itself, Terra hasn’t got a clue as to the function and worth of Central Files, and if, as it says that Mike’s cobber Dave has ordered them brought into PT then bravo! Terra misses the point that the dude from Norway who never takes a service is not the point, it is the ones who do reply and do take services that is the point. What Terra is implying and it seems you fools agree in your lust to find anything to complain about, is that the success of Central Files should be 100%. Ah! Well!
Foolproof. Thanks for responding. And you bring up a valid point. You missed one important element. The time and energy it took to get that one person to buy a book, take a course or get auditing.
At the rate the current organization is going I venture to guess the rate of return is completely unviable by Hubbard’s standards or any other business standards. And for every 1000 letters that go out, what is the rate of return? Any fool(you excluded) knows that a 10% return is very good. I’d say at this point in time Scientology’s return from its outflow is .01%.
Wrong Foolproof. The POINT is that Hubtard got the importance of CF WRONG and his “formula” for GI does NOT work and has NEVER worked in any scamology org. Doing it Hubtard’s way LOSES the Orgs money. THAT is his points.
The best and fastest way to handle the backlog is to burn all the files.
How about burning all the orgs? Too much? Ok.
Careful Icarus.
Craig Ferguson & Geoff Peterson – Careful, Icarus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIJRqyxxnSk
Thank you for that! Hadn’t heard/seen that bit😂😂😂
Just don’t fly too high.
OSD: The hyperbole (statement not meant to be taken literally) was for you, if you know what I mean :o)
You really should get your bypassed charge handled! Otherwise next life you’ll be volunteering as a camp guard in North Korea.
People don’t have variable charge dipshit, aka Foolproof. They aren’t batteries that can gain charge and hold it until magic words are spoken in the future. You are batshit crazy and need to be put in a straitjacket before you hurt yourself or others.
I long ago suggested to those in charge in Perth to take the files to sea and dump them, then report back to Miscavige “done, sir!” No one would ever know the difference. But now, I see that Central Files has a real purpose — as a locus for non-confront.
I bet you were there in Frankfurt or Hamburg or Berlin in 1938 burning those books eh?
So true.
It seems that one of the few ways Scientology manages to find new marks these days, is to laboriously scour old contacts until they finally come across someone at a point in their life where they are vulnerable but have some assets (or at least credit) left, as we indeed hear stories about from time to time. So it’s not entirely surprising that out of desperation, they have their free and human trafficked labor at work on an almost impossibly low-yield effort that would not make sense in any other context.
I also think it serves the purpose of reinforcing a dynamic where Miscavige and management blame orgs for their expanding failure – or failure to expand – and then makes orgs, their staff and public take “responsibility” (blame) as if their not keeping things in perfect order is at fault for everything going wrong. Plus it can also be seen as being representative of Scientology’s magical thinking cloaked in science fantasy doctrines, the idea that if somehow they ritualistically followed procedures in the perfect way, miraculous things would occur (and members themselves would acquire virtual magical powers); if the ritual activity was saying ten thousand invocations over a room full of voodoo dolls, or a stirring a cauldron of the pulp of particular plants for days on end while repeating trance-inducing chants, we’d more readily recognize its real roots.
I certainly agree with the broad sort of philosophical picture that you paint. Thanks as always for your thoughts on the subject.
Yes, indeed, you are right, Scientology appeals to those people who don’t have rock between their ears.
You must be joking. There are maybe about 20-30,000 $cientologists in the entire world.
If it’s so goddamn amazing, why aren’t the orgs overflowing? Why aren’t there millions upon millions of members? Why are people ashamed to admit they’re $cientologists? Why do all the front groups try to claim they’re not associated with $cientology?
There’s truly no need for a response. Those were all rhetorical questions. The answer is quite obvious to anyone *without* rocks between their ears.
I got case gain in Central Files
Deep in the Org, it called to me
To be where snacks are offered free, with all those old OTs
My BT’s screams may chill the air, I don’t care
My love waits there in Central Files
Inside Big Blue is where I’ll be
When I come home to you, Central Files
That goldenrod won’t be for me!
There is speculation on this thread as to why the Dwarfenführer makes the orgs get their C.F. in order. The answer is simple and self serving. It is for the EXACT same reason he made GAT 1 & 2 and the all the other distractions. They are all targets to get stuff fixed that NOT being done is given for the reason that scamology isn’t booming and the real OT levels haven’t been released.
HE MUST DELAY THE CoS’s DAY OF RECKONING
He will keep coming up with the excuses and all consuming programs to fix it all until no public are left and he folds up his card table and retires to some VERY well appointed island.
The term Dwarfenfuhrer made me roar with laughter. Did you think up this catchy and oh so perfect name for the vile toad aka DM ? If not do you know who the genius was behind it ? I must send them my heartfelt gratitude for the amusement this has provided me for now and in the distant future. It’s the perfect name ,summing up all of DM’s physical and psychological traits as well as providing a portrait of his heartless,narcissistic ,mean spirited,obnoxious and vile actions. I could go on and on filling up literally thousands of internet pages or gigabytes of descriptive terms for the loathsome creature known as DM. Now with the use of one newly acquired descriptive name “Dwarfenfuhrer”, I can save myself voluminous time and GB’s when describing him to others . Who may not yet know of this vile creature inhabiting a human body. Again thank you for introducing me to the aptly descriptive name “Dwarfenfuhrer “.
I first used it around 2013 on another blog to describe DM. At that time I had not seen it. However, it may have been created by different people at different times independently.
queen bourbon said:”The term Dwarfenfuhrer made me roar with laughter. Did you think up this catchy and oh so perfect name for the vile toad aka DM ?”
I don’t remember, but’s likely I stole it from somewhere. One reason I like it is that I can show off being able to generate the umlaut on the fly: Dwarfenführer.
Also, I met the toad JUST after he blew from an excellent high school, unable to confront some truly AMAZING teachers who were in his near future. But NOOooo, he couldn’t have THAT, could he? Be challenged to work up to his potential in REAL subjects and all. The reason I remembered the twerp is that he was nattering SO much, stuff I knew to be false; I’d ridden my tricycle up to the top of our street to watch them build the school and had graduated from it a couple of years before he blew.
Sounds exactly right to me Wynski!
Yes, you nailed it again, Wynski. Nailed every point. Stall, stall, stall; delay, delay, delay, and then, one fine day…he’s GONE! And the Still Ins will shake their stupid heads and look at each other and ask, “Whahappen?”.
Answer: Well, dumbasses, what happened – what happened during all those years while you were being persistently blind, while you were yucking it up in your stupid chicken outfits and pirate costumes, what HAPPENED was that religion’s answer to PT Barnum didn’t give his koolaid drinking suckers an even break – THAT’S “what happened”. And now he’s gone, and you’re screwed. And most of you have been so stubbornly blind and dumb that you deserve it. Most of you.
And yes, I know I’m being harsh and its not the right attitude but for Christ sake one DOES get EXASPERATED after a while!
Sorry, I’m just venting.
Aqua. we need to save this post of yours as a cut ‘n paste answer to those people who are stunned after DM leaves. 🙂
We had CF filing parties back in the early 70’s…but only for staff after hours…so we all worked from 8:30 AM to 11 PM every day anyhow… then you are made to go file for hours!! Really made staff happy! So of course they did an excellent job because they were in such a good mood, with all this late night energy after working for 16 hours, and they still really wanted to contribute to this wonderful group who only asked 20 hour days once in a while. LOL
Rosemarie gave us:
“We had CF filing parties back in the early 70’s…but only for staff after hours…so we all worked from 8:30 AM to 11 PM every day anyhow… ”
Back then, I suspect it WAS filing. These days, it seems to be a little filing and a whole lot of other things, like putting everything in chronological order, which is a BIG waste of time. By enforcing “File, non’t read”, I got Flag’s CF into total PT for I believe the first time in Flag’s history. That felt good, but once I’d achieved that, what NEXT? Trying to answer that question put me in the deepest depression I’ve had this lifetime, which eventually got me kicked out of the SO (and, I thought, scn). BEST thing that could have happened to me, as it turns out.
It’s pretty sad when my mom who passed away in 2012 still gets scientology mail. And it also proves they don’t keep track of their OTVIIs very well. My brother who just passed this January also still gets calls, mails and emails.
I began responding to their emails. They didn’t like my response. Just kept replying with pictures of Aftermath Cards.
Joe Pendleton,
Watch these videos published by Ron Miscavige.
You will see the real scam that Hubbard ran
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luQKCwz-RMA
I’ve had to do filing projects before for law offices. Watching paint dry is far more interesting. You can let your mind wander while watching paint dry. You have to actually pay attention to what you’re doing when filing, but it is unbearably dull. Much worse than scrubbing bathrooms or that which Scientology seems to think is the worst hell ever: Flipping burgers at McDonald’s. (A perfectly respectable job, btw.)
It’s probably not why Miscavige is doing it, but forcing people to file constantly is a good way to make them stop thinking. Or to finally say “take this cult and shove it.” I wouldn’t file again, not even for a friend, unless I were being paid quite well and it was for a pre-defined short amount of time.
Brian’s right; he’s making the orgs and the OTs and the OT Committees responsible for no expansion. Plus he’s making “busy work” for them. All because Scientology’s PR is in the toilet and the Still Ins are too cowed and scared to even be able to see out of their own eyes anymore.
Filing is a monotonous, boring job, but it does have one thing that Miscavige may have keyed in on. That mind-numbing boredom will keep someone busy from dawn till dusk, never ending and the perfect ‘punishment’ that isn’t packaged as ‘punishment’. If people are kept busy they usually don’t cause problems (except the occasional ‘gone postal’ type of trouble). Its a ‘busy-work’ assignment. If it were to actually accomplish something, information would be further classified and culled- not just re-filed – even if it is in pretty color coded files. Besides, they have to keep accurate numbers of the ‘millions’ of people that are on their international mailing list (last count approximately 3.5 million of them, including poor old Swen, who probably received approximately one ton of unsolicited mail from the cult ).
Kat mentioned:
“Filing is a monotonous, boring job, but it does have one thing that Miscavige may have keyed in on.
Kat, I think you might have hit on something: Miscavige keying-in on the boring and monotonous. Another casein point is the SRD: every objective even alluded to in any lecture or article? There’s nothing as boring, monotonous or HYPNOTIC as objective processes, so Davey-boy’s loading people up on them wholesale to bind the clapping seals to his ’empire’ even more solidly, like ‘dead-MEST’ solidity.
Jere,
Its part of “How to Run a Cult 101”. You cant give members time to question or doubt. Just like the tactics used in Sea Org (work extremely long days, inadequate sleep, inadequate food), Miscavige needs something to keep the ‘public’ in the blissfully ignorant state that he needs them to be in. Work your normal hours at the “wog” job you have, then come to the org and work the same number. Even if this only occurred once a week, or was done every weekend, when added to the hours spent auditing, the required course time, the incessant fund raisers and pressure by the reggs, it will eventually start to cut into their ability to reason effectively.
Add to that:
the ‘us versus them’ mentality,
the constant sense of urgency.
the blind devotion to a leader (LRH, then Miscavige),
the changing of the persons identity (use of specialized jargon- they have their own dictionary for heavens sake-, auditing/ tech courses and disconnection),
control (absolute belief that they are the ONLY ones who know the TRUTH),
feeling that the group is better than EVERYONE else, (status, the use of the term ‘wog’)
pitting members against each other -KR reports anyone?,
sense of purpose that is all consuming – “clear the planet- we are the only ones capable of doing this and we must do it NOW”,
adherence to the group- “we love you as long as you are one of us, but if you ever cross us, it will be hell to pay”,
the idea that whatever a member or the leader ship does is ok as long as it advances the cults agenda-fair game (although I guess since that term is causing so much trouble, I will call it ‘terror tactics’ or ‘life ruin’) ,
confessions of past sins (many cults do this publicly- scientology does it semi-privately but makes sure teh member knows without a doubt that they will use the information to destroy them if necessary).
and you are ready to write a paper on how cults control their members. its not rolled out all at once of course- generally there’s a hook for people (saving teh world, gaining salvation, belonging).
Basically EVERY cult uses some or all of these and other tactics to control members. The filing is a perfect mechanism to keep them busy, tired and unable to look outside the cult. you have to stay focused on the task, so there isn’t time to think. Its perfect.
Kat
Edit button is gone again- sorry for the typos. I joke that I start typing so fast that the word ‘the’ trips me up every time! For some reason, I always hit the e before the h and end up with teh!
Kat LaRue said: A bunch of good points on how scn controls its slaves, common to many high-control cults.
Wish I could more-simply upvote yours. You CAN program in an auto-correct from “teh”to “the”…. Just now, my computer refused to let me duplicate the t.e.h… It’s persistent, I’ll give it that. that typo is SO common, I believe I’ve seen it in the default settings. It’s been so long since I set up a few pet peeve typos, I don’t remember where the control panel is, anymore. Years and years ago, I had a keystroke combo that expanded out to whole phrases that I used regularly, like otoh EXPANDING TO “on the other hand”. Handy in some cases, but deadly for SMS or Twitter, of course.
Jere,
Im lucky I can turn the thing on- much less program autocorrect!! Im able to do most things on it adequately, and can write a mean paper, but beyond that Im a dud!
Kat
Kat, you’re right on everything except one point: the Still Ins are not “ignorant”. They KNOW. They PRETEND that they DON’T know. They convince themselves that they don’t know. They lie to others; they lie to themselves. But they KNOW.
And in going down this road, they are REALLY fucking themselves up. They are doing SERIOUS damage – to THEMSELVES, by pretending to not know what they know.
Its one thing to be innocently, ignorantly hoodwinked. This has happened to all us.
But to be complicit in one’s own hoodwinking – this is the way to seriously screw oneself up, mentally, AND to make oneself sick, physically.
They’re NOT innocent; they’re NOT ignorant. They KNOW. They just don’t WANT to know. So they pretend not to. Well, they will pay the price, one day, and its a steep one, full of anguish and regret – hell on earth, pretty much.
Aqua,
That willful blindness is probably necessary for some of them to maintain a facade that everything is wonderful.
Kat
“Willful” is a tad simplistic, if I may say. The cognitive biases that underpin the cult mindset are largely unconscious. Most ideologues, religious or otherwise, are unaware of the myriad of psychological processes that have shaped their current thinking – or are simply ill-equipped to unravel and inspect them.
That’s why one should be linguistically sensitive when engaging with fundamentalists – whether scientologists, bible thumpers, climate culties, the far left/right, etc. – so as to avoid reinforcing bias and pushing them further away.
Scientologists believe “the tech” has helped them in some way. The significance they assign to this belief is what underpins everything else. The biases and illogics form soon after the first major “win” (where full submission to Hubbard’s authority typically occurs). It is every scientologist’s “stable datum”; the basis of their religious faith. Those who think hostility and ridicule will help such a mindset should keep this in mind. #imho
Mwesten – Excellent analysis. I’ll just add that most people entering scientology had and have little or no background in science, religion or philosophy so there is no basis for comparison.
I have filed documents…not fun. Yes, boring. Supposedly these people are “smarter than the average bear”! I cleared out a two year backlog at my previous employer..took me about three months. Maybe if these individuals actually received an education, the alphabet wouldn’t pose such an obstacle!
Very nice post, Terra! You consistently bring thoughtful insight into many different aspects of Scientology, from Hubbard’s writings, to staff behavior, to the culture of the church itself. Bravo! I always look forward to your essays and hope you continue!
Those who know DM, does he really believe in Scientology? Could he have just been going thru the phases since he was say, a teenager? That he was bullshitting Hubbard? He just comes off as if he doesn’t give a crap, doesn’t care one iota about Scientology or its future. “Laughing all the way to the bank” etc, etc. A pathological con artist since puberty. If that were true, Scientology would be were its at today. He has the money and power for himself. I think his marriage was even a sham. Made him look good though to fellow scientologists. Now he is just tired of the pretense so he only does what he has to. A speech now and again. “Screw the orgs, blah, blah, blah”. I wonder if one could keep a fake pretense all these years. Literally from childhood to present day? I think Hubbard believed what came out of his own mouth lol
Shereefe said, in part:””Those who know DM, does he really believe in Scientology?…[snip]
I don’t KNOW the twit, but did met him as a “student” early in his SO career. IMO, he only “believes” in what directly benefits him. The impression I’ve gotten from various reports is that he hasn’t subjected himself to coursework or auditing for decades, preferring to idly browse through bulletins and policy letters at random.
There was a guy with a camera in front of the Pasadena Model Idle Morgue. And he was there for quite a long time. Finally they started running out to take pictures of him. And he would pose for them! I’m sure that pissed them off.
Look, Scientology is in trouble. Nobody is coming in! AND…there was NO body routing taking place. Face it! They’ve given up! They’ve thrown in the towel! The only people coming in are OLD. And what do they do? The Student Hat, The Purif & The Survival R/D.
“Number of times over equals certainty and results.” L. Ron Hubbard
There I hope that handles everything. Solve it with Scientology! Hip, hip, go Dave!
clear as mud scribe….clear as mud. Just like Hubbard wanted it, (if Man can solve his own problems, he wouldn’t need to give scientology any money)
Kat
Scribe quoted:“Number of times over equals certainty and results.” L. Ron Hubbard
IOW, the more you repeat/re-read the stuff, the more certain you can be that it’s a steaming pile of excrement. and the tougher it is to throw it onto the trash heap of failed experiments when you try to leave it behind. That IS the so-called ‘study tech’, to me: a total waste of time for most students, perhaps all (in the long run).
TOTAL WASTE of time, Jere. It’s built on a huge lie: the ” phenomenon ” of the misunderstood word, i.e. the ” law ” ( hub-turd ) that the ONLY reason one gives up studying a subject is due to having gone past a misunderstood word.
Cutting to the chase, ” study tech ” = indoctrination. Mix a splash of
” no verbal tech ” and a pinch of ” what do your materials state?” and the tail-chasing of ” word-clearing “, and you have a situation in which students don’t critically assess what their reading, much less challenge it or debate about it or discuss it or test its veracity. Add the rest of the the ” KSW ” mind-fuck that gets reread and dinged in on every academy course and you end up with parrots, you end up with robots
who spew the shit they have obediently swallowed …Study ‘ tech ‘ creates stupidity and a kind of dull literal-mindness. It’s garbage-toxic garbage.
Edit: “their” should be “they are”
Any chance of bringing back the editfunction for comments?
I remember a huge push to come to a Big Central Files Event. Music! Food! Fun!
Fun? After multiple emails and phone messages, I felt I had to go. There was music on a boom box, echoing in the moldy Central Files area.
The local FSM who’d planned it had used subtle blackmail to get the many attendees to come. We were basically all off course, licking our big credit card debt wounds, only sporadically attending events, from which those wounds got salt rubbed into them skillfully, and our ‘participation’ and ‘contribution’ were found wanting.
She dangled the weinie (One of lrh’s words for, reward, that perversely pleases me) of a commendation chit for helping. Since all the attendees were one KR from the Ethics chair, we dragged our unenthusiastic asses down to the org CF area, complete with potluck contributions. Because nothing says clearing the planet like potatoes au gratin right?
Terra’s description of the mind numbing monotony of making files, sorting files and filing files brought back this particular incident. I had to run it out by telling you about it. Sorry to key you in.
My souvenir from this misspent Saturday was a three day back-ache.
Evidently I did such a great job that they wanted me back. Yeah-no.
Six hours of dreadful unremarked upon misery dragged by. Occasionally punctuated by said FSM’s cheery pronouncements of how many files we’d done so far. Like it mattered. Like this action was a beachhead conquered, a flag planted in victory, a blow against the Psych’s, etc, etc. And the obligatory pulling out of lipstick so a smiling photo could be taken. Multiple shots were taken because this or that person hadn’t smiled ‘with enough reality.’ Really?
So the next time you see the smiling volunteers in CF remember me. I was smiling. With reality. Actually I was in a wretched mood. But I was helping out, on my own determinism. So what was my problem? A bit of fear, a bit of cognitive dissonance and a bit of reality seeping in. This wasn’t helping, it was stupid. I pointed out that one guy’s file represented a guy who’d refunded thirty years ago. Happily they didn’t make me make a new file for him. Sadly they gave me the next guy, some poor shlub who got manipulated into buying a Dianetics book that he never read. The punishment for which was to be letter regged for the next fifteen years.
I always wondered what happened to Swen. Although I knew him only briefly, he seemed like a good guy and consummate gentleman. I’m glad he avoided the stress and anxieties of the delusional world of Scn. I hope he lived happily ever after in Oslo–just a normal person in the real world.
And one of these days the EU GDPR is going to hammer $cientology Europe into the ground when they get around to looking at how those Central Files, PC Files, and Ethics Files are being handled. The fines should clear out the IAS ‘slush fund’ in short order.
It’s allready happening for Jehowa Witnesses i Europe:
*** quote in Norwegian, feel free to Google-translate: ***
Hver gang de har banket på døren din, har Jehovas vitnerskrevet ned og oppbevart opplysninger om deg. Denne uka legges praksis om over hele Europa.
Kristiansand
Mandag denne uken gikk det ut et brev til eldsterådene i Jehovas vitners menigheter over hele Europa. Det må skje en stor endring i hvordan forkynnerne i trossamfunnet håndterer virksomheten når de går fra dør til dør.
Inntil nå har de nemlig skrevet ned personlige opplysninger om personene de møter og adressene de besøker.
Det er innføringen av nye personvernlover og den europeiske personvernforordningen GDPR som gjør dette vanskelig.
Jehovas vitners rett til å samle inn og oppbevare opplysninger om folk de oppsøker, ble også prøvet for EU-domstolen sommeren 2018 og i finsk rett i flere runder. I en prejudisiell høring konkluderte EU-domstolen med at trossamfunnet kun har begrenset adgang til dette.
I desember var saken oppe i Finsk Høyesterett, KHO, som også konkluderte at innsamling av personinformasjon uten samtykke fra personen det gjelder slik Jehovas vitner har praktisert, er ulovlig. I dommen heter det blant annet:
«Listene med navn innsamlet av Jehovas vitner var ulovlige fordi det ikke var hentet inn samtykke fra de gjeldende parter.»
Journalister ba om innsyn
Men dommen førte ikke til noen umiddelbar endring av praksis.
Og selv om GDPR ble innført for et år siden og den gamle personopplysningsloven regulerte de samme forholdene helt tilbake til år 2000, så kommer policyendringen hos Jehovasvitner først nå.
Endringene skjer 15 dager etter at Fædrelandsvennen satte i gang med rekke innsynsforespørsler fra ikke-medlemmer.
Hva som egentlig utløste policyendringen nå, har redaksjonen forsøkt å få Jehovas vitner sitt regionkontor til å svare på siden mandag.
Foreløpig er dette og andre spørsmål om forholdet mellom personopplysningsloven og trossamfunnets praksis ubesvart.
Fædrelandsvennens reportere har bedt om innsyn om hva som er lagret om seg selv i Jehovas vitners arkiver. I tillegg har vi bedt andre personer som har fått besøk av trossamfunnets forkynnere på døren om å be om innsyn i hva som er skrevet ned fra disse besøkene.
Menneskers tanker om tro er regnet som sensitive personopplysninger. Også språk blir registrert, og i sine interne retningslinjer er trossamfunnet spesielt opptatt av å registrere hvem som trenger døvetolk. Men dermed registrerer man også en helseopplysning.
Fædrelandsvennen har fått lekket kopier av brevene som er sendt ut på en rekke språk. I den danske teksten, som er sendt ut fra kontoret som også har oppsyn med virksomheten i Norge, heter det «I årenes løb har I måske vænnet jer til at indsamle personlige oplysninger i forbindelse med tjenesten. Men nylige domstolskendelser og indførelsen af databeskyttelsesloven (GDPR) indvirker på muligheden for at indsamle og bruge persondata i vores afdelingskontors område. Det medfører at alle forslag vi tidligere har givet om at tage notater, er ophævet. – Rom. 13:1.»
– Har gått for langt
Henvisningen er til et bibelvers som lyder slik:
«Enhver skal være lydig mot de myndigheter han har over seg. For det finnes ingen myndigheter som ikke er fra Gud, og de som finnes, er innsatt av Gud.»
En som reagerer negativt på ordlyden i policyendringen Jehovas vitner har sendt ut, er Pär Jonas Gustavsson. Han er fortsatt medlem av trossamfunnet på papiret, men behandles av menigheten og familien som en utstøtt. Årsaken er at han har kritisert Jehovas vitner offentlig ved flere anledninger.
– Jeg har vært med på å lage disse listene når jeg har forkynt på dørene. Det blir feil når de sier tidligere råd til forkynnerne nå blir opphevet. Dette var strenge krav til innsamling av personinformasjon, det var ikke råd jeg sto fritt til å følge eller ikke, sier han.
Gustavsson bor i Trøndelag, og har tidligere vært aktiv i Jehovas vitner i både Norge og Sverige.
– Vi skrev ned hvilke land folk kom fra, hvilke språk de behersker, og noterte oss ting om deres tro. Alt var i beste mening, vi ville forkynne effektivt og nå ut til flest mulig. Vi var spesielt opptatt av hvem som er døve.
– Hva tenker du om dette nå?
– Jeg tenker det er for mye og har gått for langt. Nå burde Jehovas vitner være tydelige på at de vil slette informasjon de ikke hadde lov til å samle inn om både medlemmer og ikke-medlemmer, sier han.
tarjei.leer-salvesen@fvn.no
connie.bentzrud@fvn.no
Fra Jehovas vitners regionkontor i Holbæk på Sjælland styres trossamfunnets virksomhet over hele Skandinavia. Det er dette kontoret som mandag sendte ut melding til alle eldste om at praksis rundt dørforkynnelse må endres slik at personopplysningsloven og GDPR respekteres.
Foto: Anders Rye Skjoldjensen
Hus-til-hus-notater kalles denne listen som forkynnerne fra Jehovas vitner har brukt i lang tid. I det siste har det blitt vanlig å notere elektronisk på telefoner og nettbrett i stedet for papir.
Foto: Tarjei Leer-Salvesen
*** / quote ***
https://www.fvn.no/nyheter/i/Jo76g7/Jehovas-vitner-skal-ikke-lenger-samle-opplysninger-om-deg (Behind paywall)
Thanks for the reference. European ex-victims (and other people who suspect that they are on the “enemy list” of the criminal organisation known as the “church” of $cientology) could have a lot of fun with a GDPR request.
What would be interesting is if the local data commissioner could be brought into the action. This already happened in Hungary with a resounding defeat for the Co$.
https://dailynewshungary.com/church-scientology-hungary-fined-eur-65000-unlawful-data-management/
DM recently uncovered the real dynamic principle. File!
But you have say it strongly: FILE!!!!!!!
I must correct you here OSD. It’s not FILE, it’s PILE!
STEAMING REEKING FILE PILE?
Well, with all those people sitting so long, they’re bound to have plenty of stool specimens.
Absolutely!
NOT NOT NOT going off the Mountain or anywhere NEAR downtown this week end…
Jehovah Witness Convention being held at the local Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes Barre PA Friday, Saturday, Sunday….basically 9 to 5 today & tomorrow 9 to 3:30……all the hotels booked & restaurant packed. Good for the county economy…”they” eat at al the lovey restaurants & visit all the attractions & bring in about 3 MILLION each year……they are always “dressed to the 9’s”…
Open door Policy…..anyone can attend……C’mon down!
Balletlady observed:
“Jehovah Witness Convention being held at the local Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes Barre PA Friday, Saturday, Sunday….basically 9 to 5 today & tomorrow 9 to 3:30……all the hotels booked & restaurant packed. Good for the county economy…”they” eat at al the lovey restaurants & visit all the attractions & bring in about 3 MILLION each year……they are always “dressed to the 9’s”…
Sorry, that’s the other end of the state for me, though not too horribly far from my grandmother’s hometown, Honesdale, as things are in Appalachia.
AND I successfully avoided the JWs as a kid, so I’m SURE to avoid them now. ONE crazy cult a lifetime is sufficient for me.
Amen Jere! I was unaware at one time that 12 years ago they chose THIS site for their “hey day revival meetings”……so I had meandered down to the local shopping center & then decided to hit which at one time, was our BUSY local Mall.
Needless to say, since I am an “morning person”….I hit ALL the traffic of these members trying to get into the Arena parking lot….what a mess. Local cops directing traffic which goes right pass the Arena to the Walmart Shopping center & strip Mall Stores….further down the road is the local big shopping Mall…..traffic was backed up for miles coming off the interstate too.
At least they are well behaved, except they take over all the big name local restaurants & over crowd Walmart…..Lesson Learned….when the J.W. Convention hits Wilkes Barre….stay the HELL away from certain shopping areas..
“They” came here once or twice & were told No thanks……the Mormons came here ONCE….decades ago, never saw them again…..IF I AM INTERSTED IN A RELIGION….I WILL COME TO YOU…..otherwise…stay the Hell away from me.
So GLAD that you found your way OUT the door from COS…..& found true joy & happiness on the outside….it has to be tough….but you’re doing a wonderful job at RECLAIMING your life!
I spent some time researching Hubbard’s idea of confront because I thought it was based on false assumptions. This idea of “as is” is actually ancient and goes back to esoteric Hindoo. Hubbard probably read about it in Blavatsky and misinterpreted it. Hubbard has extensive comments on “as is”. But it really does not fit into his theories about the thetan. “As Is” in its original form is an Occult, mystical concept. Hubbard rejects mysticism but then borrows their “as is”. That is why it does not fit into Scientology. But as with everything else Hubbard uses the concept to enforce discipline on his sea org members. It really is in Scientology just another form of control. In reality Hubbard was a very poor “Occultist”. Hubbard simply copied and changed ideas to fit his communism.
Ridiculous. Blavatsky had a whole “godhead” thing going, divine influence, etc. Pretty incomprehensible stuff when mixed up with all the different religions she tried to put together. Nothing like Scientology at all . Where’s her Processes? Her theory of ep? Objectives? Tone Scale? ARC Triangle? And I could go on and on. Absurd to keep mentioning her in 95% of your posts, but maybe I should say … WE GOT IT! THANK YOU! MESSAGE RECEIVED!
Thanks for your reply. I am pleased that you are defending Hubbard. If you have read my posts, you will notice that I have made several comments that e-meter auditing based on Hubbard produces no spiritual progress whatsoever. Also if you carefully read Blavatsky, she does mention all religions and how they form a common ground. The major point is that Hubbard tried to make himself source with no credit to Blavatsky.
You cannot silence me. Do not even try.
What exactly is your gig?
You should not be defending Hubbard. What did he do for you? Perhaps you got some gains. In my situation he took hundreds of thousands for nothing.
I love Georges comments. Your comment was a bit snarky Joe. You mention the Tone Scale as if its an important mile stone in philosophical thought. Have you read any of my essays on the Tone Scale Joe?
And when you said “WE GOT IT! THANK YOU! MESSAGED RECEIVED! …….
That is Scientology for shut up. In defending the worth of Scientology with this tone you betray to us the influence Hubbard still has on you Joe.
George has studied, in depth, the subject he is talking about.
Brian, Hi Bro,
Great comments. You know the Tone Scale and its problems better than anyone. Joe read Brian’s analysis and you will understand what I say. There is no spiritual progress in Hubbard’s e-meter auditing. In fact, if you read Brian, you will understand why one goes backward in Scientology.
Joe, why do you still carry the rat infested swamp water for the insane, child abusing, felonious fraud Hubtard? One would think that you agree with his criminal insanity.
Well said
I’m sure FP will be along in the next day or two to tell us all about our “MU’s” and blah f**kin’ blah…
Despite being power over MEST (lol), he’s just too busy to reply to anything Hubbard-related on the same day of the post.
Couldn’t someone with super duper “OT” powers just postulate (or whatever the hell it is) a reply without even having to touch the keyboard? No, you say? I’m shocked. Shocked, I tell ya!
My bet is you are wrong here KatherineINCali. The Fool will NOT be showing up here anytime in the foreseeable future. With the “Jane Doe” lawsuit, he and his ilk at OSA will have their hands full for a while. It’s going to be all-hands to put the lid on this flapping flap. No time for the Fool to troll here or elsewhere. So sad for us. I’ll miss him. I say that in all honesty. He is one of the most important contributors to this blog, a shining example to the results of scientology ‘processing’ and training.
Here’s a wiki article called “Scientology and the occult”. It suggests that Hubbard drew much of his mystical thinking and practice from Aleister Crowley and Thelema. He obviously drew from other sources and added his own thinking/visions/imagination.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_and_the_occult
Here’s the wiki article on “Thelema”. Thelema cross references many other occult sources. I was surprised to learn that Thelema is not necessarily “big time evil” and many Thelemites are just on their own version of a spiritual quest.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelema
“Do what thou wilt” is out of context and Thelema is more far reaching than that. If someone’s idea of Thelema comes entirely from watching “Going Clear” they would think it’s all about sex magick and summoning spirits. That’s entertainment.
Over the ages thousands of mystics, gurus and sages have presented their interpretation and answer to the (supposedly) all important questions, “Who Am I?” and “What is the meaning of Life?” Some of of their “philosophies” stuck and most didn’t.
Reliable statistics are probably unavailable but there may be more practicing Thelemites than practicing Scientologists which seems to be the next topic of discussion which I haven’t read yet.
Joe Pendleton,
Everything of Hubbard’s that you mentioned is bullshit. No science, no spirituality, and definitely no ” workable technology “. No clears, no operating thetans, either.
Read Hubbard’s Affirmations. He was a vile, narcissistic, abusive, drug-abusing cult leader.
George, Ron “said” many things, then turned right around and did just the opposite most times. IF scientology actually PRACTICED what Ron wrote for public consumption, we wouldn’t be here observing their hypocrisy so closely.
George,
I agree- Hubbard never met an idea he didn’t co-opt or just outright steal. The man apparently didn’t have a philosophical bone in his body, but had the ability to repackage his recycled BS into something that sounded original (he spliced everything together like some crazy quilt for the mind).
Kat
Back in 1971, the Dir Com at my org had a bottle of wine stashed in CF … You know … For medicinal purposes …
Oh, yeah. I’m positive it’s for medicinal purposes. Wink, wink…
Dear Scientologist: Your cult is on life support. Death, as a famous Stone once intoned, “it’s just a shot away.” CONFRONT THAT!
C’mon Scribe! They couldn’t confront a baby. And I like: It’s just a shot away. Would that be with a gun or something else?
For Dave, it’s another swig of Macallan.
Completely useless activity and very inefficient method to disseminate.
I departed FSO in 2007 and, around 2012 I received e mails asking me to go to Flag and do my OT Levels (I´ve been OT VII for a while).
I reply the message making it clear that I have departed the church and was almost sure I have been declared (never seen an issue and…who cares anyway?) That handled it, no more letters ever since.
So, very useless method.
Can’t wait till my file is up to date and someone phone to recover me…
Much like Hubtard. Spending his remaining life hiding from his staff followers inside a small motor home in the middle of nowhere. Unable to even confront his make believe BTs
You mean to tell me BTs are, in fact, just a figment of our imagination? How can that be when I talk to my BTs day & night? And, boy, I wish they would shut the fuck up.
It’s probably a cluster problem, just sayin’.
Oh, so that’s what it is. A Cluster Fuck. Been there, done that. Bought a T-shirt.
Scientologists are about to be confronting Cluster’s Last Stand.
ROTFLMAO!!!
Yes Scribe. A C.F. problem. :O
OSD,
Read the Dune SiFy books for pointers on handling your entourage
I shall!