This is a special Regraded Being – it is the 2 year anniversary of the first Regraded Being, which appeared Oct 09, 2014.
Thanks for your hard work, insight and a lot of genuinely funny moments over these past 2 years RB. Your intelligence and humor has built a fan base that looks forward to Friday mornings – plainly demonstrated by the uproar that has occurred when technical difficulties or other commitments have prevented you from providing a new episode.
Hope you will be around for as long as it takes to get the job done.
Your work is appreciated.
There are a few ‘Hat Write-ups’ on the internet by young Sea Org recruiters. They are eye opening. Any one missing a child or family member to a SO recruiter really must see what is going on and read one of the write-ups. It’s horrible and done in a closed room behind your back.
Oh my god, it’s of Regrading…
http://umbraxenu.no-ip.biz/mediawiki/index.php/Category:Regraded_Being
Suddenly I thought I met RB two years ago? It does not seem possible because from the first moment I read the panels,I knew this sensitive yet hardened warrior would give me a view behind the curtain not only of RB’s experiences,but with the way each presentation is done,the wording, the colors,all the details in the work,the logos like the upside down Sci cross,they are brilliant.Happy Anniversary RB,Love to you and grateful thanks.???
I’m amazed it’s been two years since RB began the cartoons. They are essential Friday reading for me. And I’d still love to get hold of a book of them.
Same.
What Mike said. It’s a privilege to read your stuff, RB.
RB, Your work is genius in communicating the pitfalls of Scientology to never-ins like me. I was in another cult for a very short time when I started college in the 70’s. I ran into a member of the cult at our high school reunion (she was from my city) in the spring. After 40 years, she is still in and spouting the same crap. I had a visceral reaction of disgust as memories flooded back. I was also surprised at my strong reaction.
Reading your work reminds me of the bullet I dodged years ago and makes me thankful I had the resources to get out.
Your work also conveys empathy to those who remain stuck. It is only by the grace of God that some people are able to “wake up”. Anybody who is in a hard place in life can be sucked into a cult. Keep it coming! And thank you Mike for giving him a platform! Ann
Happy 2nd anniversary, RB! I love your work.
Thank you all for allowing me to be a part of this group. Your stories and comments were helpful to me when I was going through my period of confusion after leaving the Church? of Scientology. I hope that my contributions may also be helpful to others in that same manner.
I truly appreciate the many nice remarks I’ve received about my work and hope that I may continue to produce a product that is of some value to all of you.
If we can influence just one person to make the decision to not disconnect from their loved ones or to not risk financial ruin by giving more than they can afford to this religion then it has all been worth the effort.
My cartoons are a mix of my opinions, my observations and my interpretations of some of your opinions and/or observations. Though there is quite a diversity of viewpoints amongst us about the usefulness or the validity of the philosophy of Scientology, there is very little (if any) disagreement to the idea that it is an autocratic organization that uses threats and lies in order to keep its members in check.
And yes, I do plan to be around for as long as it takes to get the job done.
Thank you Mike for letting me play this game.
RB
As a never-in, I especially feel curious about what it *feels* like to be inside. I loved Headley’s “Blown for Good” for giving me a real sense of how the day-to-day living conditions were. Your cartoons have the same effect of clarifying how things play out between the people.
Love you, Regraded Being! Keep writing your comic strips of truth! It really helps.
WELL DONE RB. HAPPY 2nd ANNIVERSARY. It’s really our prize, thank you.!!!
Every publication is so spot on and real. Rehabs why we are out every time. Magic!!!!
Yes this is a hot button! Good one RB. Like CPO and Joe Pendleton said above, it was NOT a culture when we were in during 70’s and early 80’s, very much an “unwritten rule”. Now coming into the 2010’s when we were having to get back onlines (due to my family and 2 sons) after being off lines for 3 decades, the first thing that hit me in the face were the KR’s…….our one son had written numerous KR’s on us on stuff/stories he had heard from us, growing up as a child/teenager! He even did not get the stories straight….we tried to do corrections, but that just ended up with us getting more sec checking and then eventually declared and now said son and family have all disconnected. DISGUSTING! I was truly shocked and especially if things came up in our sec checks, we then were told to write up KR’s……….I tried to fight it but to no avail. One of the things that were said to me numerous times by current SO in PAC when I was complaining about this, that when we were in the SO, it was the “cowboy days” – as though working directly with LRH was something not correct! Hahahahaha………I thought that was hilarious, what idiots!
LMS, I’m sorry you have lost your son 🙁 70/80s those actions were happening now and then but without the internet we didn’t hear of them. I was staff at AOLA 77-96 and I rarely saw a disconnection. My first friend who phoned and told me she’d been declared so it would be her last call I told her then and there I would not disconnect even though my husband was CMO. Many of us are refusing the bull shit control. I don’t think it will be long and we will have our family back. Yes, what idiots but they can not see that ~ they are ‘carrying out command intention’ and do this all for you you know. Sad.
Lost my son too.He is in the Sea Org.The MAA did not have to sweat so much for him to disconnect.
Feel rb is helping people like us because these cartoons are spreading.If you did not get it by looking around,if you did not get it from being online RB’scartoons make points on a whole different level.
Reading the comments, it would appear many of us still have a lot of BPC on Knowledge Reports, ha! I know I do. How could we not? I’ve listened to some independently-minded folks argue that the system itself wasn’t too bad, it was just its implementation by low-toned individuals who messed it all up. If that’s really the case, it would have been nice if the system had been designed with a little more care to prevent just such a scenario.
I so wish I could have had a conversation with my mother such as RB describes in today’s panels. But it just never occurred to me to question the school I was going to, or the education I was receiving. I was just doing what I was told, and it wasn’t until much later that I began to realize I may have gotten the short end of the stick.
Although, I do have to say if anybody told me I had to write a KR on my parents, especially my mother, I too would have refused. I got in trouble a few times for failing to write KRs on known “out-ethics” situations (such as playing kick-the-can after curfew).
It was bad enough when the Sea Org recruiters told me my mother was a theetie-weetie because she expressed reservations about signing the parental release forms (when I was 16). Only L. Ron Hubbard and his Sea Org could turn a naturally cheerful disposition into a no-case-gain mental disturbance. The recruiters made it clear that I needed to, if not disconnect, then at least put some distance between my mother’s bank and planetary clearing. I refused.
And guess what they did? They wrote KRs on me and my mother. We both had to do ethics cycles at the CC. And then we also had to do ethics cycles at the Delphian School, where I attended and she worked. All because I said, “If you call my mother a theetie-weetie again, I’m gonna punch you in the face.” (Okay, I also flipped over a table, but I promise I didn’t actually hit anybody.)
The Sea Org waited three whole years before they went after me again.
Ah yes, I remember the holier than thou ethic dept at Delphi. Best moment ever – walking out the door ripping the goldenrod into shreds as I did it.
I agree. I burned my goldenrod. It felt like the right thing to do, at the time, although now I wish I had kept it so I could see the nonsense they alleged.
You’ll get one. Someday all this paperwork will be confiscated and you can get it with a FOIA request 🙂 Good on you for burning it and getting out. I love your stories.
Love your story you sure were an honorable young man that any mom would be proud of.
Infinately More Trouble, I soooooo applaude you! You stood up for your mom! Woo Hoo! I wish my kids had done that for me. Instead, they believed the trumped up shit that the MAA and HCO told them about me and yes they were told to spy on me and bring them the goods, which they did. And they were told to hack my computer which they did. But they loved me dearly and I loved them. Yet this is just proof of how the SO MAA’s can change a good kid’s mind and brain wash them.
Wow, Cindy, I’m so sorry you had to go through that. I knew kids who wrote KRs on their parents; they were convinced they were doing the right thing. Of course, there were also the parents who wrote KRs on their kids. Any way you look at it, it’s cruel and intolerable. I hope your family is back together. If not, don’t give up hope.
Thanks, Infinitely More Trouble and Cece. The MAA’s convince them that they are “helping their parents” by KRing them. They convince them that they are “helping their parents” by getting them SP Declared. They are told that unless you label them with the true condition they are in, as in Suppressive Person, that the person won’t be able to work back up from it and that you are actually doing them a favor to label them so and disconnect. Well, maybe that is true of real actual 2 1/2 percenter SP’s, but it is not true of trumped up SP’s who were politically incorrect and asked questions or read blogs or pointed out where policy was not being applied or had been altered. Now and SP declare is just a way to quarantee disaffected from the group so that they don’t take more with them.
Cindy mine too. Sometimes I think part of it was I wasn’t close enough to them but that’s such bull shit. It’s only proof how indoctrinated they are and how powerful the brainwashing really is – washed of their own self thoughts …..almost 🙂 They’ll be back. It’s a trickle now but when I read a recent escapee stating there were 20 others leaving in PAC while he was a few years ago – its gotta be worse now.
I commiserate, Cece. My son was so upset over being told he had to disconnect from me, that he blue from staff and drove like 400 miles that day. Didn’t have a destination in mind — just drove. No one knew where he was. We thought he’d run away. He was that upset over the disconnection order. The thing that finally got him to come back was I got word to his friend that if he wasn’t home by such and so time, I would report him as a Missing Person to the police. He came back right away. Probably just so that the church wouldn’t have bad PR. But that tells me how torn up he was over the disconnection. They convinced my daughter that I had betrayed her. Ha! I wasn’t the one who disconnected.
Typo: I meant to say
blew from staff”
Very good once again RB and happy 2nd anniversary!
Another name for the whole ethos of the SO is Thirdpartysville, ethical be damned.
happy blogaversary, RB!! your posts always me feel happy & sad at the same time. i think that’s a credit to how spot-on your pieces are. ditto what mike said, and thanks for sharing with us!
RB: Love your dialog. Love your style.
Thank you RB , good one , your cartoons are telling the real story and it’s not pretty.
I wrote KRs on my daughter’s recruit cycles and the only response I ever received was a scolding for not being over the moon happy that CC was accepting her.
The breakings of human decency were not addressed , of course. It just made me more protective of my girl. Nutcases!
In 35 years in, I never wrote a KR on another person. Back in the day, it was sort of an “unwritten rule”, never even mentioned, you just didn’t do that to each other. And you never questioned anyone’s liability formula, you just signed the freakin’ thing. Golden Rule. Have each others’ backs. But then again, we were children of the 60’s.
You are so right Joe. In my 11 years in the SO I don’t recall writing a KR either. I even got hit a few times by S.O. officers (when I was 17 years old) and never wrote a KR. I don’t understand where this KR culture came from because up until I left in ’82, it was as you say an “unwritten rule” not to write them. Also agreed on signing a liability formula – never questioned it, just signed it.
Same for me. When I was on staff in Honolulu, I NEVER wrote up a KR! Ever! One day in the comm center, I noticed a B of I with my name attached to it. When we all sat down together and I opened my folder, I had so many KRs, it made my head spin! But, as I read them, a calmness came over me as I knew I was going to leave.
Yep OSD, the day I drove out of the Fort Harrison (blowing) was my biggest, lasting win I ever got in Scientology. To me it was a rush rather than a calmness. I wish more people could experience it! Thanks COB, you big thetan and also thanks LRH! …..Gosh… I started writing this and realized it was just like a Success Story.
Whoa!!!!! Blowing Flag, your gotta be what, OT37? What an incredible rush that must have been!
Hey, CPO, if we can bottle that feeling, we could make millions!!! Millions I tell ya!!! We’d be rich! Bawhahahahahahahahahahahahahah!
You can write a KR on me if you want, just to see what it’s like, I don’t mind, What’s another one anyway? I had a zillion in my folders too.
I am a little concerned so many trees have had to be felled to supply paper to the Cof$ for such silly report writing. I hope they at least they go digital while they are in their death throes. But conservatism and common sense are high crimes in the cherch of money.
When I was in, I only wrote one knowledge report on someone. It was around 1976/77. To this day I shudder when I think of it. I look at myself back then and think: ignorant idiot. Naive mindless bafoon.
KRs are toxic. Ron trumpeted the superiority of his thinking. He sold us on “surviving across the dynamics.”
For the group, the third dynamic, KRs create fear, mistrust, broken loyalty, a doctrine for revenge and hate. A perfect recipe for a dysfunctional crazy group. Which is what it is.
Ron fashioned a police state. Enforcement by fear of punishment was his default leadership style.
We, his students, became his willing enforcers.
How was this accomplished?
By selling us the idea that if we did not report people, we unknowingly have the same crime, the same out ethics. And if we did not report, we would be seen just as guilty. We were just too occluded and could not see clearly; time to pull withholds.
So, if we are critical, we are out ethics criminals.
And if we do not report hearing any criticisms, we are out ethics criminals.
This is the totalitarian state. This is Ron’s leadership style. And because this drivel is in writing to be word cleared, demoed and Altitude Instructed into our brains, his students mirror these traits. DM is a perfect example of a person with deep issues studying these mind numbing and soul destroying doctrines.
The true blue Scientologist is a well trained creature. The dysfunctional Scientologist does not occur in a vacuum. He/She is the product of learned behavior.
Learned in Ron’s writings and injected into the mind on course.
It takes years to undo this. Especially if we were young when these doctrines entered our neuro pathways.
Brian, you understand the clampire perfectly. The only thing North Korea has on $cientology is atom bombs.
And maybe the bombs are working now.
More testing required. It keeps the saber loose in its scabbard.
I like rattling my saber! Oh……wait….you meant a sword. Never mind…
Ha ha ha! Old Surfer Dude, thank you for your humor!
RB you are a great combination of Pogo, “We have met the enemy and he is us” and some of the Far Sides rediculous scenarios. Your grasp of the utter bubble headed Hubbard think is brilliant. Keep up the great work, your comic strip is a constant reminder that the Scientology insanity is real. You have a voice that speaks for so many of us.
Thank you a hundred times over.
I had knowledege reports about me for:
– Repairing the Computers of the Org for free instead of going to graduation. This showed the disdain I had for wins…
– I looked very critical at a staff and he didn’t produce much this day
– I produced affluence GI , but accepted that one public didn’t take all the Money that was offered as credit by his bank (he wouldn’t have been able to pay it back)
– I made week for week highest ever GI, but was squirelling with reg tech as I didn’t know les Danes….
I could go on for pages…..
This is totally nuts…what they are writing down in their KRs…
In my whole carrier there I wrote perhaps 10 Krs (all 3 years one ) but only with factual data about real criminal stuff, but RTC or the Management didn’t react on it. No they reacted I got a B of I on I don’t know what.
Kafka at his best….
No good deed goes unpunished by the Co$. WAAANH!
Ah, the denouement moment! RB you are good.
Congratulations RB for two years of keeping it fresh and making us laugh. Your contribution is one of those special things that make Fridays great!
Ditto that JD. Thanks for all you do RB to make this world a bit saner each Friday!
Writing Knowledge Reports is an interesting thing .. mostly you do not know what was written about you .. some meanings gone from one to another .. mostly not facts .. only meanings .. 15 years later I heard that I had allegedly a cave-in on the book Have you lived before this life .. the book has basically bored me .. but after this 15 years I became declared as a Source of Trouble Type D .. because of this knowledge report ..
Source of Trouble Type D is .. Making others guilty for own case ..
Looks like good ole Davey is gonna need a Dee rating.
LMAO!
RB is the Mark Twain of the Scientology bubble! he always gets it right!
Hear,hear. RB is a highlight of my Friday evenings here. Love your work Regraded Being
Three cheers for Regraded Being’s second birthday!
Ah, the look in mom’s eyes as the penny finally drops. Good one, RB!
Thanks for the 2 years RB.Your work is probably more influential than you think.
Another one I’d not seen! And it’s a beauty. Yes, RB, you are truly cherished with your incisive art work. Makes it easier for us all to see what’s going on in the cloistered halls of insanity!
That should be “imprisoned halls of insanity”. WAAROOUNK!