Another great comic! It really tells outsiders all they need to know about Flubturd’s crapcult. There should be a government mandated warning outside all orgs that Scientology is a deceptive organization.
Move up in status with the IAS!
Move up the bridge!
Level up!
Look, scientologists, you might get a little spike in dopamine for a fleeting moment as you think you are leveling up in scientology, however there is a way to get that same feeling without losing your money, your family, and your dignity.
Try leveling up in computer games, or better yet, in wholesome tabletop games like Dungeons and Dragons or something.
Cheap! Fun! Affordable! (Three words that could never be used to describe scientology)
WAYC proffered:
“Look, scientologists, you might get a little spike in dopamine for a fleeting moment as you think you are leveling up in scientology, however there is a way to get that same feeling without losing your money, your family, and your dignity.”
No kiddin, eh? I used to say that playing Warhammer 40k “is more expensive than, and less socially acceptable than, a heroin habit.” But now it seems that Scientology beats them out in both, and is more destructive to boot. You might lose non-using friends and family if you have a heroin habit, but Scientology REQUIRES that you break contact with them!
*nostalgia*…One of my most enjoyable memories playing 40k comes from a game i lost 1-10, where i had just absurdly bad luck the entire time; getting my only point on the very last roll of the very last turn! THAT was satisfying, and makes for a warm fuzzy memory and good story. 😀 */nostalgia*
You can get a good dopamine rush playing penny arcades – take a big bottle of collected small change and try to get rid of it all as quickly as possible one penny at a time.
The length to which Scientology will go to part you from your money is on full display in the Steven Fishman videos from the 90’s. I had so many OMG moments watching this that my brain had to shut down and reboot. My thoughts went from full blown nut job, to a genius thinker. What else would be the highest level to clear the planet than to be the real father of Jesus and a detailed explanation of how that was achieved was mind blowing. Next to find out that the first OTVIII level in LRH’s words that Jesus was attracted to young boys! I thought the church was anti gay. I know this man fraudulently got the money to pay for his climb up the church ladder and displayed all of it as the most valuable knowledge on the planet. On a side note I would have to think this Chad Daybell guy, who thinks that he was the brother of Jesus in a past life has read this guys books. Damaged people being feed damaged goods.
There is a wonderful child’s book called “The Little Engine That Could.” It tells a heartwarming story of desire, effort, defeat, and eventual satisfying success.
To me, it is much better to use one’s imagination to vicariously enjoy real emotional wins, rather than making up imaginary, unreal, and unemotional fake wins dictated by a killer organization.
As for me, I’ll always prefer ‘I think I can, I think I can, I think I can,’ rather than let some narcissist pulp fiction con man warp my ability to think.
Ayn Rand was a world class author, with her works published in hardcover and being adapted for cinema ( I really do believe that We That We Living should remade in English) when Hubbard was receiving a penny a word writing for the pulps.
Sometimes I wonder just what might happen in that California bubble if the US dollar suddenly crashed and became worthless. The only money with any purchasing power would be precious metals and similar items – like gold, silver and diamonds.
What would Dwarfenfuhrer do then? What would he then worship? What would he do with all the slaves he has imprisoned in The Hole and the RPF? What would the future look like for all those people and how would he then attempt to increase his net worth? Nothing to sell? No reason to ask for donations? After all, what use could be made of any donations?
Some of the members might then have to ask just what value all that training had if it wasn’t about money? I sure don’t know the answer. But considering that the tech does not work, my guess would be the answer is really close to zero. The same as the value of this cult. Can you imagine what he would be thinking once he had to realize he had spent his entire life building up an org that was worth a big fat zero? Or should I say, “a little tiny zero”?
We finished watching the VOW on HBO . The similarities are amazing . And I realize , yet again that we are not so special , the people in that cult go through the same things we do or did once they leave , and I am not just talking about fair game which of course is brutal , but the spiritual and psychological anguish .
Mike and Leah talked about it remarkably well in their latest podcast.
Very funny post. It is accurate in my estimation. I always remember that on the PDC tapes Hubbard talked about the “theoretical powers of an OT”. After OT VIII I really got his lie. Hubbard never ever proved the existence of an OT or even proved any sort of OT powers. Carefully listening to the PDC tapes reveals that he covered his lies by saying that “OT powers were theoretical”. In other words, if the thetan did indeed exist, the powers would be manifest.
After carefully listening to Hubbard’s phony Universes Tape in 1952, it became very obvious what Hubbard was always talking about. If the thetan existed, its native state is fascism. Hubbard’s quest to OT was not religious or scientific. It was political. Hubbard was trying to take over the world with Fascism. On OT VIII Hubbard claims to be the anti-Christ. But much more importantly, he claims that he will return as a very famous politician. It is very easy to figure out that he was returning as a Nazi. Hubbard had a very, very sick mind. In his early tapes he talks about jumping off a fence and beating up a bully. Hubbard never left childhood.
Great question. I have considered the issue for years. The answer is yes and no. I was a total space cadet on OT VIII and I followed the level. It turned out that I handled a few personal issues on the level unrelated to the state of OT. Just figure that I was concentrated on the level, paid a ton of money, and went through years of preparation. Naturally when I got on the meter the personal issues came up and I had feelings of relief. The negative part involved an enormous internal struggle about Scientology. Where did Hubbard get this stuff? Why did I get involved. Also the financial hardship was enormous. We also paid a great price when our kids figured out we were once in Scientology. Pain and suffering.
“How do you tell someone who already has OT powers that they really don’t have those powers?”
I attested to Clear while at Flag (the Mecca of Technical Perfection) back in the 80s. A decade later I was told the C/S had determined I had not really “make it” and there was more to do. WTF? Was “the Tech” out back in the 80s? Or was it out 10 years later? Or was this really just a push for more money? Put this to the vote of all commenters here.
Just the latest in a long chain of broken promises from Hubbard.
1950, Dianetics was supposed to be the real deal. Then woops, have to do prenatals to get it really done, then past lives. Within about three years they went changed over to exteriorization techniques instead. No more engrams! Dianetics became Scientology. Every year or so there were “breakthroughs” that explained why last year’s breakthroughs went bust.
Supposedly the world’s first clear was announced in the Shrine Auditorium in 1950. Then once again, decades later John McMaster was the “First Real Clear”. All those Dianetics clears and Theta Clears and Cleared Theta Clears and Route 1 clears etc. were chopped liver?
Early in the Sea Org adventure Hubbard “rediscovered” Dianetics, calling it Standard Dianetics. After decades of fooling around with other ways of “clearing” they went back to basics. Engrams again.
When I got involved in the mid-70s we were all trained to do Standard Dianetics and we were popping out “clears” left and tight. I made three of them myself. But we had to call them “MEST Clears” or something, not real Clears. We took them back in for more Dianetics Drug Rundown sessions, which didn’t work really well. Somebody says they’ve cleared out all their engrams, and you take them in and ask for more engrams? Some of them would just go unconscious after a few minutes, others would get mad at you, nobody got much out of it.
Eventually they decided to acknowledge these Dianetics clears as real, but that isn’t the end of the story.
Remember, a large part of what went wrong that resulted in the death of Lisa McPherson was that Dave decided she was Clear. There is a lot more to the story, but after that a lot of former Clears were questioned, denied, sidelined rejected and so on. Today you have to go through incredible hoops to be called a clear. And weeks or months later they may change their minds.
Sorry to ramble on so long about this, but it really bugs me. The truth is, the state of clear is a mirage. Ever seen shimmering in the distance, never experienced.
Hubbard lied about it from the start, changed up his lies every few years when they became too obvious, and died with the job still unfinished.
Bruce, your description of Scientology sounds like Mormonism. Joseph Smith introduces a trinitarian Book of Mormon in 1830. By 1840 or so he’s preaching about Heavenly Father having a heavenly father and, oh by the way, you too can become a heavenly father! Initially designs the temple as a place where anyone can come to listen to sermons about Jesus. Then he gets into Freemasonry and soon the temple becomes a place of secret rituals where only worthy Mormons are allowed in.
Joseph Smith was the L. Ron Hubbard of the 19th century.
Glenn asked:
“How do you tell somebody who has OT powers that they don’t really have those powers?
Glenn, you don’t have to tell them they really DON’T have those powers. The failures to demonstrate them to themselves does the job eventually, and more effectively than someone saying their delusions are all illusion,
Glenn if I look to scn evolution it was always a “now we have it!”.
But till few years ago they were still trying to stabilize what a clear really is. Imagine OT. I met with many. Out of all those OTs nobody was special. Who looked like was already special before being “OT”.
In other words they always come up with some update to keep people involved otherwise they will naturally leave. And just for money, of course.
With all the OT made so far a change should be visible. But they need to wait for the Berlin wall to fall or raining in Australia to claim they are who did it.
How do you tell somebody who has OT powers that they don’t really have those powers?
Good question! Hubbard made OT Powerz seem like some kind of ‘enlightenment’. You do the work and have that ‘Aha!’ moment when all is revealed and you find yourself on a new level. How can your ‘Aha!’ moment be Un-Aha-ed?
Another great comic! It really tells outsiders all they need to know about Flubturd’s crapcult. There should be a government mandated warning outside all orgs that Scientology is a deceptive organization.
Move up in status with the IAS!
Move up the bridge!
Level up!
Look, scientologists, you might get a little spike in dopamine for a fleeting moment as you think you are leveling up in scientology, however there is a way to get that same feeling without losing your money, your family, and your dignity.
Try leveling up in computer games, or better yet, in wholesome tabletop games like Dungeons and Dragons or something.
Cheap! Fun! Affordable! (Three words that could never be used to describe scientology)
WAYC proffered:
“Look, scientologists, you might get a little spike in dopamine for a fleeting moment as you think you are leveling up in scientology, however there is a way to get that same feeling without losing your money, your family, and your dignity.”
Drugs and alcohol, perhaps?
No kiddin, eh? I used to say that playing Warhammer 40k “is more expensive than, and less socially acceptable than, a heroin habit.” But now it seems that Scientology beats them out in both, and is more destructive to boot. You might lose non-using friends and family if you have a heroin habit, but Scientology REQUIRES that you break contact with them!
*nostalgia*…One of my most enjoyable memories playing 40k comes from a game i lost 1-10, where i had just absurdly bad luck the entire time; getting my only point on the very last roll of the very last turn! THAT was satisfying, and makes for a warm fuzzy memory and good story. 😀 */nostalgia*
You can get a good dopamine rush playing penny arcades – take a big bottle of collected small change and try to get rid of it all as quickly as possible one penny at a time.
Pretty much ANYthing can give some person a dopamine rush. Even scientology — sometimes, — for a short while.
Very sobering. OT8 lady has the reality, but not the will to step off the merry go around.
Thanks as always.
The length to which Scientology will go to part you from your money is on full display in the Steven Fishman videos from the 90’s. I had so many OMG moments watching this that my brain had to shut down and reboot. My thoughts went from full blown nut job, to a genius thinker. What else would be the highest level to clear the planet than to be the real father of Jesus and a detailed explanation of how that was achieved was mind blowing. Next to find out that the first OTVIII level in LRH’s words that Jesus was attracted to young boys! I thought the church was anti gay. I know this man fraudulently got the money to pay for his climb up the church ladder and displayed all of it as the most valuable knowledge on the planet. On a side note I would have to think this Chad Daybell guy, who thinks that he was the brother of Jesus in a past life has read this guys books. Damaged people being feed damaged goods.
I watched his videos and read his book too. I think but job is a more accurate description.
Yep! Right to the heart of the matter, RB. 😁
There is a wonderful child’s book called “The Little Engine That Could.” It tells a heartwarming story of desire, effort, defeat, and eventual satisfying success.
To me, it is much better to use one’s imagination to vicariously enjoy real emotional wins, rather than making up imaginary, unreal, and unemotional fake wins dictated by a killer organization.
As for me, I’ll always prefer ‘I think I can, I think I can, I think I can,’ rather than let some narcissist pulp fiction con man warp my ability to think.
Ayn Rand was a world class author, with her works published in hardcover and being adapted for cinema ( I really do believe that We That We Living should remade in English) when Hubbard was receiving a penny a word writing for the pulps.
O/T. Video: Nation of Islam Brother Rizza Islam Addresses His Scientology Affiliation
Rizza Islam also addresses the relationship between the Nation of Islam and the Church of Scientology generally.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=xeClx8XniyE
/
Some people don’t know that money isn’t wealth, it’s simply a means to an end.
Sometimes I wonder just what might happen in that California bubble if the US dollar suddenly crashed and became worthless. The only money with any purchasing power would be precious metals and similar items – like gold, silver and diamonds.
What would Dwarfenfuhrer do then? What would he then worship? What would he do with all the slaves he has imprisoned in The Hole and the RPF? What would the future look like for all those people and how would he then attempt to increase his net worth? Nothing to sell? No reason to ask for donations? After all, what use could be made of any donations?
Some of the members might then have to ask just what value all that training had if it wasn’t about money? I sure don’t know the answer. But considering that the tech does not work, my guess would be the answer is really close to zero. The same as the value of this cult. Can you imagine what he would be thinking once he had to realize he had spent his entire life building up an org that was worth a big fat zero? Or should I say, “a little tiny zero”?
Excellent RB !
We finished watching the VOW on HBO . The similarities are amazing . And I realize , yet again that we are not so special , the people in that cult go through the same things we do or did once they leave , and I am not just talking about fair game which of course is brutal , but the spiritual and psychological anguish .
Mike and Leah talked about it remarkably well in their latest podcast.
Very funny post. It is accurate in my estimation. I always remember that on the PDC tapes Hubbard talked about the “theoretical powers of an OT”. After OT VIII I really got his lie. Hubbard never ever proved the existence of an OT or even proved any sort of OT powers. Carefully listening to the PDC tapes reveals that he covered his lies by saying that “OT powers were theoretical”. In other words, if the thetan did indeed exist, the powers would be manifest.
After carefully listening to Hubbard’s phony Universes Tape in 1952, it became very obvious what Hubbard was always talking about. If the thetan existed, its native state is fascism. Hubbard’s quest to OT was not religious or scientific. It was political. Hubbard was trying to take over the world with Fascism. On OT VIII Hubbard claims to be the anti-Christ. But much more importantly, he claims that he will return as a very famous politician. It is very easy to figure out that he was returning as a Nazi. Hubbard had a very, very sick mind. In his early tapes he talks about jumping off a fence and beating up a bully. Hubbard never left childhood.
So did you feel like you had any significant wins from OT VIII?
Great question. I have considered the issue for years. The answer is yes and no. I was a total space cadet on OT VIII and I followed the level. It turned out that I handled a few personal issues on the level unrelated to the state of OT. Just figure that I was concentrated on the level, paid a ton of money, and went through years of preparation. Naturally when I got on the meter the personal issues came up and I had feelings of relief. The negative part involved an enormous internal struggle about Scientology. Where did Hubbard get this stuff? Why did I get involved. Also the financial hardship was enormous. We also paid a great price when our kids figured out we were once in Scientology. Pain and suffering.
My involvement was much shorter in duration than yours, but even so I can relate to what you’re saying.
So true…
I was like these ladies but had the chance to blow after clear and only 12 years mainly as public.
“How do you tell someone who already has OT powers that they really don’t have those powers?”
I attested to Clear while at Flag (the Mecca of Technical Perfection) back in the 80s. A decade later I was told the C/S had determined I had not really “make it” and there was more to do. WTF? Was “the Tech” out back in the 80s? Or was it out 10 years later? Or was this really just a push for more money? Put this to the vote of all commenters here.
Just the latest in a long chain of broken promises from Hubbard.
1950, Dianetics was supposed to be the real deal. Then woops, have to do prenatals to get it really done, then past lives. Within about three years they went changed over to exteriorization techniques instead. No more engrams! Dianetics became Scientology. Every year or so there were “breakthroughs” that explained why last year’s breakthroughs went bust.
Supposedly the world’s first clear was announced in the Shrine Auditorium in 1950. Then once again, decades later John McMaster was the “First Real Clear”. All those Dianetics clears and Theta Clears and Cleared Theta Clears and Route 1 clears etc. were chopped liver?
Early in the Sea Org adventure Hubbard “rediscovered” Dianetics, calling it Standard Dianetics. After decades of fooling around with other ways of “clearing” they went back to basics. Engrams again.
When I got involved in the mid-70s we were all trained to do Standard Dianetics and we were popping out “clears” left and tight. I made three of them myself. But we had to call them “MEST Clears” or something, not real Clears. We took them back in for more Dianetics Drug Rundown sessions, which didn’t work really well. Somebody says they’ve cleared out all their engrams, and you take them in and ask for more engrams? Some of them would just go unconscious after a few minutes, others would get mad at you, nobody got much out of it.
Eventually they decided to acknowledge these Dianetics clears as real, but that isn’t the end of the story.
Remember, a large part of what went wrong that resulted in the death of Lisa McPherson was that Dave decided she was Clear. There is a lot more to the story, but after that a lot of former Clears were questioned, denied, sidelined rejected and so on. Today you have to go through incredible hoops to be called a clear. And weeks or months later they may change their minds.
Sorry to ramble on so long about this, but it really bugs me. The truth is, the state of clear is a mirage. Ever seen shimmering in the distance, never experienced.
Hubbard lied about it from the start, changed up his lies every few years when they became too obvious, and died with the job still unfinished.
Excellent summary.
Bruce, your description of Scientology sounds like Mormonism. Joseph Smith introduces a trinitarian Book of Mormon in 1830. By 1840 or so he’s preaching about Heavenly Father having a heavenly father and, oh by the way, you too can become a heavenly father! Initially designs the temple as a place where anyone can come to listen to sermons about Jesus. Then he gets into Freemasonry and soon the temple becomes a place of secret rituals where only worthy Mormons are allowed in.
Joseph Smith was the L. Ron Hubbard of the 19th century.
Theremin Trees has a YouTube video on the subject.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opx8iDvR_nU
Glenn, I found the same: I attested “clear”, then looked around and saw that NO one evidenced the supposed state of clear we were promised.
scientology: What you want, what you were promised, is always the NEXT rung in the ladder and VERY expensive.
Glenn asked:
“How do you tell somebody who has OT powers that they don’t really have those powers?
Glenn, you don’t have to tell them they really DON’T have those powers. The failures to demonstrate them to themselves does the job eventually, and more effectively than someone saying their delusions are all illusion,
Glenn if I look to scn evolution it was always a “now we have it!”.
But till few years ago they were still trying to stabilize what a clear really is. Imagine OT. I met with many. Out of all those OTs nobody was special. Who looked like was already special before being “OT”.
In other words they always come up with some update to keep people involved otherwise they will naturally leave. And just for money, of course.
With all the OT made so far a change should be visible. But they need to wait for the Berlin wall to fall or raining in Australia to claim they are who did it.
How do you tell somebody who has OT powers that they don’t really have those powers?
Good question! Hubbard made OT Powerz seem like some kind of ‘enlightenment’. You do the work and have that ‘Aha!’ moment when all is revealed and you find yourself on a new level. How can your ‘Aha!’ moment be Un-Aha-ed?
Graham asked:
“How can your ‘Aha!’ moment be Un-Aha-ed?
In my case, I mistakenly took an HONEST look around and at my prospects in the near future. CRASH! I doubt there’s a bigger un-AHA moment.
On the verge of a great cognition …
Spot on RB, spot on. I expect that the dialogue shown here is entirely internal these days. No one wants to be the victim of a KR today.
KR = Financial KO.