As someone who has been essentially disconnected from the Big S since 1982, I am fascinated by this blog, and the Aftermath series which I found by accident while channel surfing at Christmas . It is bizarre to see what has transpired in the past 35 years. I have retained a lot of affinity for the concepts, however my husband and I floated away back then as we didn’t want to raise our young family in the SO. We saw the takeover of the running of the church by the CMO and sensed things would go south (which they did, in a much more horrible way than I envisioned). Kudos to all of you.
Thank you Mike, Leah & everyone who is ex-CoS for speaking out…was wondering if LRH ever discussed “after life”…maybe not reincarnation but like heaven & hell…is there’s any considerations given to what happens when you die? Is everyone reincarnated – good or bad people? Do former life “bad” ppl become good next life time or more bad? Piling lifetime upon lifetime of being “bad”…is there a good & bad in CoS?
I’m confused…thank you & sorry for the long question…
Scientology is about the study of the spirit. It is assumed that the spirit is immortal. Not only will a spirit live forever into the future, a spirit has already lived forever into the past. Eternity goes both ways.
The book Science Of Survival by L.Ron Hubbard says theta (Scientology word for spirit) plus MEST (matter energy space and time) equals life. That is a spirit inhabits a body and does so lifetime after lifetime until the cycle is broken. In Buddhism, this is breaking the life/death cycle.
A very evil being could be so messed up that it could never inhabit a body. On the other extreme, a very enlightened being could exist beyond the MEST (physical universe) in a state of bliss, without any need for a body. In Christianity, this might be viewed as “angels and demons” or “heaven and hell”.
For some reason some of RB’s Friday morning Posts brings me up the Tone Scale from Pity (-0.1) to Cheerfulness (3.5).
Off topic here: I think the reason DM took regular Dictionaries out of the Course Rooms was that there was the possibility one could run into Entheta during Word Clearing.
In other words, years back anyone could use any Dictionary as there was not a definition of Scientology or Dianetics or anything leading up to it. Nowadays there is.
One would have an MU on cults. Ok, Word Clearer takes up cults and it goes to many, Church of Scientology one of many.
It’s a play on words. Degraded Being is a scientology term meaning, in brief, a lowlife. A bum. Scientology is also having people re-do things over and over, including the “grades”.
Right on RB. At the Org/mission level, the staff have seen most of their fellow staff leave because it’s raining Miscavige’s psychopathic management from above and Hurricane Leah is pulverizing new public outside the doors. At Orgs and Missions there are just too few new public to support a growing organization.
At Flag, it’s a ghost town with a few old geezers wondering around, but new staff (slaves) still arrive. They are young foreigners (the buses are full of them, I see them everyday)…
Since staff are “free”, they will keep piling in the Flag dorm rooms so Miscavige can fill seats at his events. But, this con job cannot continue forever because as much as Miscavige tries to prevent it, staff still talk to each other….
Mexico has now been put on notice that they need to deal with their TRAFFICKING ‘bad hombres’ or have it done for them with US airstrikes or whatever it takes.
Word has it that ADVISING U.S. vsits (raids) by the FBI for TRAFFICKING I is being outsourced to Vladimir, since he is an expert at scientology raids; to be done simultaneously at Fort Harrison Ave, Big Blue, Ivar/Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood/N Sycamore Ave. (including your rooftop apartment patio) and at Club Med on the fringe of San Jacinto, Have you informed Kevin at Gold that your tarnished reputation and a groundswell of public awareness increases the possibility of an FBI visit (raid) on a daily basis?
Just so you know, your peer TRAFFICKER, El Chapo, has been complaining about his prison conditions in New York City to no avail.
I understand that the normal SO member would not have access to the internet or TV (I don’t think hardly anyone even out of the SO reads actual newspapers these days). When I was in the SO and up until ’82, we always listened to the radio when we worked and many had TVs in their room at INT to watch what we wished. Things changed a lot after ’82 though.
TV is banned for the Sea Org. In 1980 there were TVs in almost every room at the Big Blue and it was not unusual to see Sea Org watching TV over lunch and dinner breaks. Then an order came down from Hubbard that TV was hypnotic or something and all the TVs had to be trashed.
At the Int Base you could buy a USA Today paper in the Canteen, not many did.
Those who have tedious manual tasks often listen to the radio though. In the RPF it is banned, but during the construction projects in the late 80s when the RPF was working around the clock they allowed a radio. They just called it a “paint dryer”.
Marc Headley, in his book “Blown for Good”, credits local radio personalities with partial credit for his awakening from the Sea Org.
Clever RB. There’s got to be some sort of scale of delusion being presented here. Fueled by illusions, seasoned by lies and when simmered long enough with kool-aid resembles carrot cake. It eventually leads you into areas no longer desirable but you’ve eaten way too much and are as sick as a dog, but nevertheless still doing what your master wants.
Depends who made the cake and for what purpose. You know, candy from strangers lessons and other devious methods of warping appetite fulfillment. I like the creamy frosted pieces best myself.
That’s a good question. The tech dictionary of Scientology defines delusion it in a few ways. My favorite is, “delusion is imagination out of control.” So I don’t think delusion is a position on the scale per se, as one can be deluded about anything, especially if one understands that “control” is the ability to be able to start, change and stop something at one’s own volition. In that sense one can easily view the whole subject of Scientology as a delusion if one so wishes to use Scientology’s own dictionary to explain why Scientologists have no control over the demise of their own organisation. They either have no imagination with which to come up with solutions or have totally lost control of being able direct their imagination, or worse, let someone else do all their imagining for them – that in itself is delusion in the form of group insanity. Ah… Scientology!
What is a lowly galley slave to do when they hear the Centurions diss the Empire? They can’t go to cohort commander, they are chained to the oars. I doubt that Ben Hur had depression when he was chained to the oars. He didn’t have time for that nonsense.
In the clam reality, would any one actually allow themselves to be overheard doubting the Stupor Powerz that Lron granted mortal men? The Knowledge Reports would flow like…..knowledge reports.
Love the Cal Mag line. ‘It’s a brain cleanser, it’s a floor wax….’
So true, talk like that clearly qualifies as a thought crime, and within the 24/7 snitch culture that pervades the $ea Orgy, it would be reported on before anyone at the table had finished eating their Soylent Green meal ration.
Indeed, long-time $ea Orgy members know better than to speak out loud to anyone about their doubts, confusions or disagreements because there’s no one that you can completely trust or they would already be gone. A big part of what has to be the most depressing aspect of $ea Orgy life is the fact you really have no one to talk to in confidence; everything that you say to anyone at any time can and will be used against you in whatever informal and off-policy way that lil davey + evil minions decide upon.
Even worse, not only do Good $cilons have to censor their conversations with others for fear of being ratted out, they have to learn to stop their own private thoughts because having them can be a crime in and of itself if they’re uncovered during metered interrogation sessions. Thus, in $cn, even your thoughts aren’t private and you’re never ever safe, even from yourself. What a terribly sad and stressful way to go through life!
Calcium and magnesium is ok, but most health sources say it’s better to take a supplement that also contains zinc. cal-mag-zinc. I take a multi-mineral tablet every other day along with a multi-vitamin.
(also if I’m exercising a lot, aminos and certain other supplements, and some herbals) but everyone should research and decide on their own needs after consulting their health care professional.
Now the thing that concerns me is the high levels of “B” vitamins, especially niacin, that they make a person take in the purification program. That’s not so wise.
Right, I agree. I said that I take a multi-mineral tablet every other day (on advice of my doctor). I also said everyone should research, and decide on their own needs, after consulting their health care professional. I did not advocate taking cal-mag in the way Scientology says to. I never said to take overdoses of calicium.
I would never talk like that to anyone even my 3 husbands while in the SO 77-96. Closest was when my 3rd husband (Jack Kruchko) was helping me get through a Doubt Condition in ’93. I told him at the time “I’m in doubt but I don’t want to be in doubt”. It blew over and unsolved and forgotten by all but me. I ended up getting kicked out in ’96. My one and only ‘case’ complaint (Hung up at Doubt) until 2003 when I paid for 87hrs of NOTS to ‘solve’ it. LOL. What was I thinking? I should have known something was up when the Case Supervisor insisted I get a ‘Leaving Staff Sec Check’ that had never been done in ’96 (7 yrs earlier) at my own expense even though I know policy very clearly states it should be at the org’s expense. Then I’m not clear (after sec check done OT III style). WTF? I did think enough to know that I’d never again go back in session. I gave my husband all the left over hours and some 20K balances to ‘clean him up’ after requesting a divorcee – the beginning of getting honest with myself as to my own future.
I wasn’t thinking as well as these guys are. I’d factually been in a great depression (a non word in Scientology so it doesn’t exist) since just a few years after I’d arrived in Nov ’77. I remained in one unable to see my own reality (or at least know I was not seeing it clearly) until only 6 years ago. Still working on it every day. Thanks for helping me think 🙂
Anyway ~ I was going to say. Now that we know there is such a thing as Depression, How many of us were or are possibly still depressed. The more persons speak out the more will be healed from this mind poison.
And as mentioned yesterday here and there – the Joe Rogan #908 with Leah is a must listen. Therapeutic 🙂
Cece, So good to see you! I agree and have found the healing that comes from telling all our stories and the healing that comes from watching, laughing ,crying through Aftermath and the healing Imfeel seeing old friends here, so very powerful. ?
Something to consider is adrenaline. You lived with constant, baseline fear, which causes adrenaline and corticosteroid production. Your body and mind may be recovering from that.
Even though you are a troll, you bring up a point that I like to clarify every now and then.
1. The reason the “Donate” button was added to the blog was because many people asked for it. They wanted to contribute what they could to something they thought was helpful, and felt most comfortable being able to use Paypal as it is generally secure from the prying eyes of scientology.
2. I find it pretty sanctimonious for scientology to run the line “you are just doing this for money” for three reasons:
a. I have never made enough money out of anything related to scientology to support my family
b. Scientology has gone to great lengths – in accordance with the policies of L. Ron Hubbard – to “cost me my job” and to interfere with anything I HAVE done to earn money to live on. If the net result of this WAS to be me earning money for exposing the abuses of scientology, then it seems that would be poetic justice
c. If there is one thing that is true about scientology it is that you have to pay for EVERYTHING. You will get NOTHING unless you pay. The difference with me is that I do this blog, help people, talk to the media and others whether anyone donates a cent or not. There is no requirement to “donate” here as there is in scientology.
This bears repeating every now and then. Thanks for prompting it. Some people here who never even noticed the “Donate” button might even decide to make a donation today thanks to your comment.
In fact I’ve just made a small donation, Mike works tirelessly on this site, giving up a lot of his own time for no pay. The site has been a valuable resource on my journey out of scientology so it’s about time I said thanks.
Donated last week to Mike and I’m really happy and satisfied the money is being used for the betterment of what was it…. 6 million members (or was more like 30 or 40 thousand.) of Scientology. Believe what you read here. Or better yet, look all over the Internet. See who has more FACTS to disseminate.
Good response Mike. First of all what is a Scientologist doing questioning anyone about donating when they have turned into a Real Estate Holding company and not just asks for donations to buy their empty buildings but demands money out of their parishioners.
I can only hope that if there is a 2nd season of Aftermath, that you get paid well for it. You so deserve it.
I will also add that contrary to what SCN lies about, none of my family who spoke on Aftermath was paid a cent to speak out and I seriously doubt any of the others who spoke on the show were paid.
Thanks, troll! I had not ever noticed the Donate option before.
I have been following your blog since becoming hooked on the A&E series but have never commented before. Never in but experienced cult-like situation in an independent fundamentalist group for a short time. Other than long-term trust issues, it doesn’t compare to the gross abuse in the Scientology cult.
I will continue to follow your blog and encourage you to keep up the good fight. I know you are making a difference!
Wasn’t Biff the name of bully In the movie “back to the future” ?
Appropriate !
Hope Mike will make a shit load of money, it would be poetic justice.
This obsession about who makes how much and out of what , is so vulgar. Let people ‘s actions speak for themselves .I am thankful for Mike’s dedication to help.
Bif….THANK YOU for telling me to donate to Mike. I didn’t even realize that I could. Perhaps someday….you’ll see the light…and leave the COS. Internet tough guy. EPICALLY BORING!!!!!
Mike….you have done so much to help others…..and I truly admire you. Keep Going!!!!! You have so many people behind you!!! YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE!!!!
Yes, Bif, we donate to Mike. Unlike your greedy, criminal cult which does NOTHING for anyone and trumpets that its “changing the world” with its “help” and other such similar bullshit, Mike Rinder actually DOES help people, people who have been damaged and scarred by your cult’s cruelty and lies. He works diligently and continuously and produces, and he does it quietly and without fanfare or boastfulness. He just produces, and is effective, so, yes, we donate to him as we are able, and when we are able, with gratitude for how he helps and with no small appreciation of the fact that we are not being shamed, cajoled or badgered to do so. His blog is free, his help is free, to donate is wholly optional and some of us do so when or if we can. In short, Bif, how about you just fuck off? That’s it.
Ok, people, I’m sorry, I know I just fed the troll, but what can I tell you, its one of those days…
Why, that sounds like a wonderful idea Mike. I will make a donation right now!
Bif, go crawl back to Devious Miscarriage or your own fetid troll lair. We are pointing, laughing, and jeering at your hilariously stupid attempt at trolling.
Excellent answer to the Troll, Mike. I was one who pushed you to put a donate button up and have contributed and will continue to contribute. According to LRH, money is an energy flow, and you flow energy to the things you want to get done, as in “what you put your attention on, you get.” So I flow my energy (money) to Mike and Phil and Willie and others so that people get real help, even if it means help leaving the cult. I am so glad to not be giving to the IAS who claims they help the world with your donation, but upon checking, you find that the only VMs at any disaster, are enough to get good photo ops and nothing more, and they do that at their own expense. The IAS doesn’t pay a dime to send them there. So that begs the question, if the IAS doesn’t take your donation to pay for airfare for VM’s, what do they do with the money? Could it be they use it to pay high priced pit bull attorneys like Kendrix Moxen or Monique Dingaling to cover for DM and his transgressions? Mike, keep doing what you do. And I hope that you get paid well for doing A & E. That show takes a lot of work from you and Leah and not just physical work either. It takes its toll emotionally and brings you both to tears more than once in the series. You should get some compensation for all that.
Biff Tannen provides us with an excellent opportunity to clarify some essential points concerning $cn and money. Mike points out that any donation made to him in support of this blog is truly a voluntary one in which your choice to donate or not donate has nothing to do with your ability to read and participate in discussions on his blog.
In contrast, Biff’s “Back to 50’s” cult euphemistically describes members’ required fee-for-service payments as “donations,” when in reality no one receives the service unless they pay the fixed price. There is no sliding scale for less-well-to-do $cilons to avail themselves of; no free auditing for the poor and needy; no price breaks at all, except for the occasional discount given on IAS status levels, where you can become a Patron Victimonious Maximus for 25% off if sign up this week, making something that’s essentially worth nothing at all less expensive than usual. The only thing free in $cn is your escort to the reg’s office or to ethics; everything else requires you to pay through the nose for it…NO exceptions!
Biff and his fellow trolls seem to have imbibed so much Kool-Aid that the fact that the cult constantly and continuously projects its own crimes and immorality onto its perceived enemies just doesn’t ever register with them, despite the fact that it’s so incredibly obvious to everyone else who’s paying attention. Accusing folks of having made money off of their work, when the cult has scammed billions from its fleeced flock, is the height of clueless projection and about as silly and ineffectual as you can get.
At a price of close to a half million or more just to go up the bridge – without even adding in the coerced IAS donations and sec checking costs – Biff needs to keep his eyes on the prize of making money to give to the cult if he wants to stand any chance at all of exorcising imaginary space alien spirits and attesting to super powers that no one has actually ever gained. It’s a long way to the top, so you better rock n’ roll in getting the cash to finance your journey up the bridge to Total Spiritual Enslavement and Complete Other-Determinism!
Going out on a far fetched limb and responding as if you aren’t merely a troll. IMO negatively commenting on the donation aspect reflects a mindset unable, or maybe just unwilling, to understand context. “Here’s what I have to offer – If it has value to you and you can and want to donate, go ahead” and the “you must pay for what will save you AND THE PLANET regardless of your ability to do so or you are an evil being” pitch of Scientology are so far apart that no equivalency exists. But your comment was valuable to me personally as a takeoff for musings on some of the Joe Rogan/Leah Remini interview. And since I’ve spent the last couple of days exhausted with flu, doing nothing to the point of boredom, I do kind of appreciate the spark (although not the attempted slur on Mike Rinder).
Leah made some comments on compliments from Joe she felt weren’t the best. Joe commented that words can mean different things based on the person and intent. All could have been banter. But it does seem like I’ve heard a lot about an intense Scientology focus on memorization of Hubbard’s words and defining them very specifically. A rejection of the idea of context or subtlety. That need for black/white certitude which denies individuality and questioning.
I’m wondering how that focus works with everyday human interaction. Many ex-scientologists believe that they did gain communication skills from the first courses they took which seems maybe contradictory. Or maybe I’m laboring under misunderstandings. So, if anyone is so inclined, I’d appreciate your take on the subject.
I’m one of those who won big on the comm course and passed it along later in a mission structure. In that mission (well before 1982), the comm course took an average of six weeks and produced fabulous results…including several Clear attestations, later validated at AO. Though a professional communicator at the time, I’d never realized what a “comm cycle” was and that it included communication BOTH ways. That was actually startling to me and its application really helped my professional career.
In our current US society, there is rarely any true public communication, merely arguments and “sides taken”. The yelling and screaming over who is “right or wrong” precludes any real communication. Just constant bull baiting. Very sad. As well, it’s a worldwide phenomenon. Sadder still.
I’ve met scientologists who have done all the available communication courses but still don’t realize that communication is a two way flow, I dreaded encountering these people as they just didn’t shut up. Like Thegman I think I did gain something from the comm course in that I learned that listening is just as important.as getting your point across.
I think that this edition of RB does a good job of exemplifying the more subtle approach that people like Steve Hassan are now recommending using with those still in groups like Scientology, such as asking them what originally attracted them to the organization. Rather than an approach that might be perceived as an attack, and which then makes people defensive, questions like this get people thinking about discrepancies such as the difference between their own ideals and what the organization has ended up , and starting to question themselves.
There are a couple of cognitive biases at work here, but the most obvious is that of creeping normality (related to escalation of commitment):
Creeping normality or death by a thousand cuts refers to the way a major change can be accepted as the normal situation if it happens slowly, in unnoticed increments, when it would be regarded as objectionable if it took place in a single step or short period. [wikipedia]
Perhaps the most relevant of the others is the one that helps keep in a situation like an organization that is not working out as originally expected, (irrational) escalation of commitment or “sunk costs,” exemplified by the old anecdotal analogy of the frog in the pot of boiling water*:
The phenomenon where people justify increased investment in a decision, based on the cumulative prior investment, despite new evidence suggesting that the decision was probably wrong. [wikipedia]
* The boiling frog is an anecdote describing a frog slowly being boiled alive. The premise is that if a frog is put suddenly into boiling water, it will jump out, but if the frog is put in cold water which is then brought to a boil slowly, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death. The story is often used as a metaphor for the inability or unwillingness of people to react to or be aware of threats that arise gradually.
I’d love to have all of the Regraded Being strips together in a book. Every now and then I remember one that I’d like to re-read and it’s hard to find it. Now, how best to get Regraded Being strips into the hands of members so they can read them and think?
In today’s world, self publishing is both easy and inexpensive. We’ve already published three of my wife’s books and two more are in the works. With artwork, like RBs, we would suggest only hardbound books. Check out IngramSpark.com. They do an excellent job with colour printing.
Today’s RB post was dead center on target.
When I began Scientology in May of1968, the E.E. “Doc” Smith and Heinlein books served as “hidden data lines” that many of us clung to in order to give meaning and purpose to our irrational slavish devotion.
If that delusional mindset among Sea Org members has indeed endured for over a half century, it’s a remarkable example of the mind’s capacity to elevate fantasy over objective reality.
In reality, Scientology actually produces far more mental and emotional dysfunction than it has ever purported to alleviate, despite its hyperbolic, unproven claims.
For me it was Jettero Heller from Mission Earth, unbelievably I read the entirety of that series 4 times! Each time trying to get more data on how I could achieve the level of perfection exhibited by l ron’s hero.
RB hits the nail on the head again. The signs of desperation coming from Scientology are everywhere. Just look at their promotions. And if you still get calls or emails they all feel forced or rushed. No quality promo anymore. The sinking ship is hard to hide. Only bubble dwellers don’t see it. The big bad SPs are feared. If you don’t look maybe it will all go away.
It is so funny to me now – that at FLAG – they put a glass of Cal Mag next to your bed at the Fort Homicide.
Kind of like saying –
“Heh, we know we are certainly not friendly here at Flag. We also realize that we fleece everyone of their last nickel, we will drain your stock portfolio, bankrupt you and your entire family and manipulate YOU to rob your Grandmother of her last dime.
So to make up the damage – please have this little, tiny glass of Cal Mag on us….and everything will be just fine now.
And by the way – you will pay and pay and pay for this little, minuscule piece of “help” we are giving you….count on it! We will financially ruin you!”
Cal Mag – Hubbard’s made up snake oil to “make it all better” after Scientology has ruined your life.
YEs, the problem though Chuck is that they would dismiss it as lies. The church would tell them “Sarge was just an alcoholic/drug addict/FBI agent/pedophile who has no clue because he had been removed from any position close to LRH because he was unable to maintain the ethical standards required, and he only said those things for money and to get his name in print.” ANd they would believe it.
I believe Sarge. It rang true to me, and I don’t think he had any reason to lie. He apparently was very fond of L.R.H. I never met the man, but what he said was believable.
Oh, I believe him too. I knew Sarge and I spoke to him in person about this before it all became public knowledge. This devastated him. He was astonishingly loyal to Hubbard. And remained so even after all this. He felt bad about telling the truth as it made Hubbard into a mere mortal. I don’t doubt his words for a second. ANd they are NOT inconsistent with everything else that IS known.
When I was LRH Ext Comm Aide at INT, Sarge was one of the Couriers. For many years Sarge and Marty would drive back and forth from INT to LA secretly delivering boxes of correspondence and people. So, he was my “junior” and I got to know him extremely well. Sarge was as honest as the day was long and a true friend of mine.
When I heard Sarge was ill, a year or so ago, I got his phone number and called him. He was NOT upset about LRH or his time in SCN or the SO. My call was not to question him but just to comfort him and let him know he still had a friend in me. A bitter apostate, he was not. One of the last things he said to me on our phone conversation was that he was happy he was in the SO and how many great friends he got from the experience.
Sadly he passed away about a month or 2 after our phone conversation. RIP Sarge, you will be missed.
I found Sarge’s account of Elron’s latter years and ultimate demise to be honest, sincere and very believable. However, due to the huge significance attached to the manner of his demise and his health prior to it, some additional corroboration from others, like Ray Mithoff, who were also there to witness his dying days would be invaluable to have.
Just as tommy davis got it right when he said that if Elron lied about healing himself of his disabling war injuries, then all of $cn was built on lies, it’s just as conclusive to note that if Elron’s health condition and ultimate death were as Sarge described them, then all of the subsequent claims made by DM and Pat Broecker concerning his purported conscious choice of “dropping the body” and going on to research upper OaTy levels were just so much bullshit, cynically designed to keep the con going.
nomnomsays
Here are excerpts from an email exchange with Sarge and a friend (posted with permission):
Recollections from Steve ‘Sarge’ Pfauth who helped take care of and was present when LRH died,
“I know that Gene Denk left during Xmas and New Years (Dec 1985-Jan 1986) to be with his wife in Lake Tahoe. He returned in early Jan.
Ray Mithoff, who was Senior C/S Int, was brought in by Pat about a week before LRH’s passing to run a death assist process on LRH. LRH had had a stroke and wanted to die.
Pat came back to the Creston ranch from Int a day before LRH left (died). Pat brought another last will for LRH to sign.
I went in the Bluebird motorhome as a witness to the signing. LRH was in his nightgown and was pacing up and down complaining that his head hurt and to please get this over with. He sat down and signed the will and I witnessed it along with I think Annie.
The next night Annie, Gene and I waited in the stables apartment drinking coffee and waiting to hear that he is gone. Pat and Ray were in the bluebird. About 3 or 4 am Pat came in and said ‘He is gone!’.I was stunned even though I knew it was going to happen. Annie looked stunned too. After a while we were both crying.
Pat took off right away and met DM and others to show them how to get to the ranch. The coroner was called in when Pat returned. I was asked to witness the death cert and I saw LRH’s dead body in his bed. I had to get busy with feeding the animals and handling the contractors and got to the store and buy food etc.
…
LRH sent for Ray(Snr C/S) to run death assist processes which help to let go of the body. He had said that he wanted to leave and do rehab by circling a specific star. He was going to find another place to go to and not come back here (earth). He said he had failed with Scientology on this planet and he wanted to rehab and start over somewhere else.
…
I knew Vaughan Young. He was brought to the ranch by Pat Broeker to develope a shore story for newspapers and the Scn public. Much of what Vaughn wrote is fabrication and supposition. Please don’t take his rantings as fact. They are not.
LRH was doing very well in 1983 and was very active and used to go for walks and drives around the property. In 1984 he had some physical problems and Gene Denk was brought to Creston as his doctor. He was still active much of the time in early 1984 but toward the end of 84 he was in bad health and didn’t leave the Bluebird often.
Pat was gone from the ranch a lot starting in 84 and would only spend a few days a week then toward the end would be gone for weeks at a time. LRH was mad at him I know. I don’t know the specifics.
In Jan of 1985 Annie came to me and said LRH was very sick. We tried to get hold of Pat but couldn’t. Gene insisted that LRH needed to go to the hospital. So Annie, Gene and myself loaded LRH into the back of our station wagon and Annie and Gene took LRH to the hospital in Santa Maria. Gene told me that LRH had pancreatitis and was very sick.
Annie finally got hold of Pat. LRH spent about 5 days in the hospital and was released. Pat came to the ranch and we went to Santa Maria and picked LRH up and drove him home. During the time in the hospital LRH quit smoking. He came home but still wasn’t very active and stayed in the Bluebird motorhome a lot.
LRH was in ill health most of 1985. Pat again was gone most of the time and would make an appearance in the middle of the night with some com or he would call and I would meet him to get the com. I don’t know and didn’t know at the time that he had had a stroke. I knew he was sick but I assumed it was the pancreatitis still bothering him.
Again, LRH was in ill health and wanted to drop the body because it was a big problem for him. He wanted to move on. When he had Ray come to the ranch it was to help him drop the body via death assist processes. It worked and he died.
LRH was bed ridden most of the last week or so. He could get up but was very shakey and his hands were shaking when he signed the will. LRH told me that there was a specific star that ‘they’ used to use for rehab. He would circle the star for a while and get better.”
Old Surfer Dudesays
Yep! That’s what they would do. Good old character assination. And, they’re pretty good at it.
Well of course Sarge was an alcoholic, drug addict, FBI agent, pedophile. I thought that was a given for every one who left Scientology. The thing I can’t figure out is how they got in in the first place since scientologists are smarter than all the wogs in the world. And get close to Hubbard? He was THE smartest guy in the room, no wait, the world. Yeah. That’s the ticket.
It’s a “natural” sedative, supposedly, it relaxes and calms you down. I experimented with it, rather than taking it after a hard physical workout which was my routine, and it would lessen muscle pain etc. I tried taking it BEFORE hard exercise, to see if there would be no after exercise muscle pains, cramps etc. Either way, worked to alleviate cramps and muscle pains, but I think a doctor ought be seen when you are taking it in high doses, since I’m sure it disrupts something or other.
For totally frazzled Sea Org members at the end of the day who are replaying their hectic absurd Sea Org lives before hitting the hay, then Cal Mag helps them hit the sack.
Also, they are NOT allowed to take long walks away per Problems of Work book, to deal with their exhaustion and insomnia.
Might be Cal Mag is the chemical “natural” fix for their self imposed fads of not letting their members take decent long walks.
——————-
I think someone with money, ought set up nearby bookstores, and sell all the critical books on Scientology, make them available, so Scientologists who accidentally slip into the bookstores and read some useful information before their self-censoring kicks in.
I wonder what it would take to get the permit to have a “Book Mobile” and sell from it, the critical books whole long list, in drive by or parked conditions near the Scientology installations?
It would be really cool to have these books offered, but I don’t think many Sea Org members would risk being seen purchasing them. They keep a pretty close grip on their lives and what they can read, they would probably be afraid someone would tell on them and get them in trouble. There doesn’t seem like any easy way to get them stuff to read – maybe by dropping leaflets like they do in North Korea?
That’s why I like the billboard idea, by an ex-member whose adult children are disconnected – it is easily seen by anyone, but I don’t know if the message is strong enough or clear enough. For former members – if you saw a billboard saying ‘call me’ – what effect would it have on you, would it make you think? What other way is there to get information to those still in?
Even if the sales is non viable, just the visual glancing at a “Book Mobile” with a display of 20 odd book covers, and the Sea Orgers or Scientologists would at least know that there were 2 dozen ex-member and detailed critical books on Scientology, and it would just be sort of a show and tell quick load of evidence.
Of course 99percent of them would dismiss it, and hesitate to look once they knew of the Book Mobile, on second and third time trips.
But, the first initial image of a Book Mobile with covers of the books, would stick in their brains nontheless.
As a joke, selling criticial books along Sunset Blvd, as a gag, would probably sell more books than DMSMHs get sold on the streets, or down by the LA Test Center Bldg, I always wanted to get a permit for street vending and just sell all the alt.scientology trinkets, and Xenu braclets, etc, etc.
That’s actually a really cool idea, Chuck. You’re right, just the sight of all those books written by ex-members, all lined up together would certainly make an impression on people. Do they ever have street faires or flea market type gatherings nearby?
Calcium and magnesium.
It relaxes the muscles,supposedly,when one is stressed and also helps u to sleep at night.
It’s taken daily when one is on the Purification Rundown.
I am no longer ,” drinking the kool-aid”, but I still occasionally drink Cal-mag.
Oh, you have better cast iron stomach than I have, half your luck Joe. Makes me dry reach to even smell that stuff now. And some people don’t believe the reactive mind exists with the purpose of attempting to protect its body. Poison yourself with something and see how the mind responds trying to take it again.
High doses of calcium are absolutely dangerous. It can cause ulcers, kidney problems, kidney failure, bone loss…all kinds of things. This is not something you want to mess around with. I wonder if a survey of the older generation of scientologists would find an increase of kidney and bone related diseases.
Like everything else the cult touches, the concept of taking vitamin/mineral supplements got hijacked and turned into a dangerous quack remedy. The simple understanding that a whole lot more of a good thing may not be a whole lot better just never seems to have dawned on the Dark Age $cilon culture when it comes to stuff like this.
Massive overdoses of niacin and cal/mag formulations not only do not provide just that much more benefit, but they can be toxic and cause serious bodily harm. Elron had absolutely no background or qualifications to support his pulled-from-out-his-arse quack treatments and anyone who believes otherwise is a completely gullible fool whose health will suffer for Elron’s sins.
Animals exhibit the same aversion behavior after eating something that makes them sick, does that mean they also have “reactive minds?”
Conditioned food aversion (or conditioned drink aversion) is more biological than mental. People (and animals) are innately predisposed to form associations between tastes and illness. It is most likely due to the evolution of survival mechanisms. Species that readily form such associations between food and illness are more likely to avoid those foods again in the future, thus ensuring their chances for survival and the likelihood that they will reproduce.
You mix calcium and magnesium powders with cider vinegar then add boiling water, and to quote one of my ex colleagues, ‘stir the shit out it’ The concoction tastes truly revolting, and they make you drink several glasses a day when you are doing a thing called the purification rundown. It turned my stomach every time.
That’s just a nice way of saying, “drink it or else!”
The other thing that really made me dry reach was the revolving ‘cal-mag’ drink dispensers at Flag. Chilled cal-mag and people actually bought it in large milk shake sized waxed paper cups and sipped it through a straw… YUCK! I think I heard it referred to as a Scientologist’s white wine once. I guess the only good memory I have of Flag was realizing I never have to go back.`
As someone who has been essentially disconnected from the Big S since 1982, I am fascinated by this blog, and the Aftermath series which I found by accident while channel surfing at Christmas . It is bizarre to see what has transpired in the past 35 years. I have retained a lot of affinity for the concepts, however my husband and I floated away back then as we didn’t want to raise our young family in the SO. We saw the takeover of the running of the church by the CMO and sensed things would go south (which they did, in a much more horrible way than I envisioned). Kudos to all of you.
Thank you Mike, Leah & everyone who is ex-CoS for speaking out…was wondering if LRH ever discussed “after life”…maybe not reincarnation but like heaven & hell…is there’s any considerations given to what happens when you die? Is everyone reincarnated – good or bad people? Do former life “bad” ppl become good next life time or more bad? Piling lifetime upon lifetime of being “bad”…is there a good & bad in CoS?
I’m confused…thank you & sorry for the long question…
Scientology is about the study of the spirit. It is assumed that the spirit is immortal. Not only will a spirit live forever into the future, a spirit has already lived forever into the past. Eternity goes both ways.
The book Science Of Survival by L.Ron Hubbard says theta (Scientology word for spirit) plus MEST (matter energy space and time) equals life. That is a spirit inhabits a body and does so lifetime after lifetime until the cycle is broken. In Buddhism, this is breaking the life/death cycle.
A very evil being could be so messed up that it could never inhabit a body. On the other extreme, a very enlightened being could exist beyond the MEST (physical universe) in a state of bliss, without any need for a body. In Christianity, this might be viewed as “angels and demons” or “heaven and hell”.
Thank you very much…how is the cycle broken? By being clear or achieving OTVIII? Thanks again, I appreciate it.
The end result of OT 7 is cause over life. To me that sounds like it would break the life/death cycle, if that’s what the person wanted.
Getting there is not likely to happen in the C of S due to extreme oppression by Miscavage.
For some reason some of RB’s Friday morning Posts brings me up the Tone Scale from Pity (-0.1) to Cheerfulness (3.5).
Off topic here: I think the reason DM took regular Dictionaries out of the Course Rooms was that there was the possibility one could run into Entheta during Word Clearing.
In other words, years back anyone could use any Dictionary as there was not a definition of Scientology or Dianetics or anything leading up to it. Nowadays there is.
One would have an MU on cults. Ok, Word Clearer takes up cults and it goes to many, Church of Scientology one of many.
Blown Student or OT after that?
“If nothing else we work till we get things done. Even stupid things sometimes. That just may be all it takes to survive in the wog world.”
I would agree. Lurkers, UTR Still Ins, grab your excellent work ethic and leave! You’ll make it!.
Can someone tell me what a regarded being is? Can’t find it anywhere in glossaries.
Regraded. Autocorrect doesn’t accept it as a word.
It’s a play on words. Degraded Being is a scientology term meaning, in brief, a lowlife. A bum. Scientology is also having people re-do things over and over, including the “grades”.
Right on RB. At the Org/mission level, the staff have seen most of their fellow staff leave because it’s raining Miscavige’s psychopathic management from above and Hurricane Leah is pulverizing new public outside the doors. At Orgs and Missions there are just too few new public to support a growing organization.
At Flag, it’s a ghost town with a few old geezers wondering around, but new staff (slaves) still arrive. They are young foreigners (the buses are full of them, I see them everyday)…
Since staff are “free”, they will keep piling in the Flag dorm rooms so Miscavige can fill seats at his events. But, this con job cannot continue forever because as much as Miscavige tries to prevent it, staff still talk to each other….
Dave,
Mexico has now been put on notice that they need to deal with their TRAFFICKING ‘bad hombres’ or have it done for them with US airstrikes or whatever it takes.
Word has it that ADVISING U.S. vsits (raids) by the FBI for TRAFFICKING I is being outsourced to Vladimir, since he is an expert at scientology raids; to be done simultaneously at Fort Harrison Ave, Big Blue, Ivar/Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood/N Sycamore Ave. (including your rooftop apartment patio) and at Club Med on the fringe of San Jacinto, Have you informed Kevin at Gold that your tarnished reputation and a groundswell of public awareness increases the possibility of an FBI visit (raid) on a daily basis?
Just so you know, your peer TRAFFICKER, El Chapo, has been complaining about his prison conditions in New York City to no avail.
Happy Friday everyone! 🙂 Enjoy your weekend, have a fun Superbowl Sunday.
Anyone want to carpool with me to Kaye Champagne’s event in Zimbabwe?
http://thedirectory.co.zw/company.cfm?companyid=10667
pariah?
Question: does any of the SO ppl watch TV or radio? Newspapers?
I understand that the normal SO member would not have access to the internet or TV (I don’t think hardly anyone even out of the SO reads actual newspapers these days). When I was in the SO and up until ’82, we always listened to the radio when we worked and many had TVs in their room at INT to watch what we wished. Things changed a lot after ’82 though.
TV is banned for the Sea Org. In 1980 there were TVs in almost every room at the Big Blue and it was not unusual to see Sea Org watching TV over lunch and dinner breaks. Then an order came down from Hubbard that TV was hypnotic or something and all the TVs had to be trashed.
At the Int Base you could buy a USA Today paper in the Canteen, not many did.
Those who have tedious manual tasks often listen to the radio though. In the RPF it is banned, but during the construction projects in the late 80s when the RPF was working around the clock they allowed a radio. They just called it a “paint dryer”.
Marc Headley, in his book “Blown for Good”, credits local radio personalities with partial credit for his awakening from the Sea Org.
Clever RB. There’s got to be some sort of scale of delusion being presented here. Fueled by illusions, seasoned by lies and when simmered long enough with kool-aid resembles carrot cake. It eventually leads you into areas no longer desirable but you’ve eaten way too much and are as sick as a dog, but nevertheless still doing what your master wants.
I love carrot cake, I Yawn! But, will it turn me into a cult member?
Depends who made the cake and for what purpose. You know, candy from strangers lessons and other devious methods of warping appetite fulfillment. I like the creamy frosted pieces best myself.
Is delusion on the Tone Scale?
That’s a good question. The tech dictionary of Scientology defines delusion it in a few ways. My favorite is, “delusion is imagination out of control.” So I don’t think delusion is a position on the scale per se, as one can be deluded about anything, especially if one understands that “control” is the ability to be able to start, change and stop something at one’s own volition. In that sense one can easily view the whole subject of Scientology as a delusion if one so wishes to use Scientology’s own dictionary to explain why Scientologists have no control over the demise of their own organisation. They either have no imagination with which to come up with solutions or have totally lost control of being able direct their imagination, or worse, let someone else do all their imagining for them – that in itself is delusion in the form of group insanity. Ah… Scientology!
The cake is a lie.
What is a lowly galley slave to do when they hear the Centurions diss the Empire? They can’t go to cohort commander, they are chained to the oars. I doubt that Ben Hur had depression when he was chained to the oars. He didn’t have time for that nonsense.
In the clam reality, would any one actually allow themselves to be overheard doubting the Stupor Powerz that Lron granted mortal men? The Knowledge Reports would flow like…..knowledge reports.
Love the Cal Mag line. ‘It’s a brain cleanser, it’s a floor wax….’
So true, talk like that clearly qualifies as a thought crime, and within the 24/7 snitch culture that pervades the $ea Orgy, it would be reported on before anyone at the table had finished eating their Soylent Green meal ration.
Indeed, long-time $ea Orgy members know better than to speak out loud to anyone about their doubts, confusions or disagreements because there’s no one that you can completely trust or they would already be gone. A big part of what has to be the most depressing aspect of $ea Orgy life is the fact you really have no one to talk to in confidence; everything that you say to anyone at any time can and will be used against you in whatever informal and off-policy way that lil davey + evil minions decide upon.
Even worse, not only do Good $cilons have to censor their conversations with others for fear of being ratted out, they have to learn to stop their own private thoughts because having them can be a crime in and of itself if they’re uncovered during metered interrogation sessions. Thus, in $cn, even your thoughts aren’t private and you’re never ever safe, even from yourself. What a terribly sad and stressful way to go through life!
1984 come to life..and definitely not a film. Most seaorgers are far too young to even know what the book/film “1984” was about, more’s the pity.
Calcium and magnesium is ok, but most health sources say it’s better to take a supplement that also contains zinc. cal-mag-zinc. I take a multi-mineral tablet every other day along with a multi-vitamin.
(also if I’m exercising a lot, aminos and certain other supplements, and some herbals) but everyone should research and decide on their own needs after consulting their health care professional.
Now the thing that concerns me is the high levels of “B” vitamins, especially niacin, that they make a person take in the purification program. That’s not so wise.
I don’t think it is wise to take frequent overdoses of calcium like that. A normal supplement is ok, but large doses like they do ?
Sounds like a recipe for kidney stones to me.
Right, I agree. I said that I take a multi-mineral tablet every other day (on advice of my doctor). I also said everyone should research, and decide on their own needs, after consulting their health care professional. I did not advocate taking cal-mag in the way Scientology says to. I never said to take overdoses of calicium.
I would never talk like that to anyone even my 3 husbands while in the SO 77-96. Closest was when my 3rd husband (Jack Kruchko) was helping me get through a Doubt Condition in ’93. I told him at the time “I’m in doubt but I don’t want to be in doubt”. It blew over and unsolved and forgotten by all but me. I ended up getting kicked out in ’96. My one and only ‘case’ complaint (Hung up at Doubt) until 2003 when I paid for 87hrs of NOTS to ‘solve’ it. LOL. What was I thinking? I should have known something was up when the Case Supervisor insisted I get a ‘Leaving Staff Sec Check’ that had never been done in ’96 (7 yrs earlier) at my own expense even though I know policy very clearly states it should be at the org’s expense. Then I’m not clear (after sec check done OT III style). WTF? I did think enough to know that I’d never again go back in session. I gave my husband all the left over hours and some 20K balances to ‘clean him up’ after requesting a divorcee – the beginning of getting honest with myself as to my own future.
I wasn’t thinking as well as these guys are. I’d factually been in a great depression (a non word in Scientology so it doesn’t exist) since just a few years after I’d arrived in Nov ’77. I remained in one unable to see my own reality (or at least know I was not seeing it clearly) until only 6 years ago. Still working on it every day. Thanks for helping me think 🙂
Anyway ~ I was going to say. Now that we know there is such a thing as Depression, How many of us were or are possibly still depressed. The more persons speak out the more will be healed from this mind poison.
And as mentioned yesterday here and there – the Joe Rogan #908 with Leah is a must listen. Therapeutic 🙂
The most depressed Scientology staff members may be the ones most likely to stay in.
Cece, So good to see you! I agree and have found the healing that comes from telling all our stories and the healing that comes from watching, laughing ,crying through Aftermath and the healing Imfeel seeing old friends here, so very powerful. ?
Something to consider is adrenaline. You lived with constant, baseline fear, which causes adrenaline and corticosteroid production. Your body and mind may be recovering from that.
Cece, you are one very honest being and I admire and applaud you for it.
RB, you are a very subtle fellow and constantly – often amusingly – accurate in your perceptions. Bravo!
Click here to donate? You’re defected and still asking people for money.
Even though you are a troll, you bring up a point that I like to clarify every now and then.
1. The reason the “Donate” button was added to the blog was because many people asked for it. They wanted to contribute what they could to something they thought was helpful, and felt most comfortable being able to use Paypal as it is generally secure from the prying eyes of scientology.
2. I find it pretty sanctimonious for scientology to run the line “you are just doing this for money” for three reasons:
a. I have never made enough money out of anything related to scientology to support my family
b. Scientology has gone to great lengths – in accordance with the policies of L. Ron Hubbard – to “cost me my job” and to interfere with anything I HAVE done to earn money to live on. If the net result of this WAS to be me earning money for exposing the abuses of scientology, then it seems that would be poetic justice
c. If there is one thing that is true about scientology it is that you have to pay for EVERYTHING. You will get NOTHING unless you pay. The difference with me is that I do this blog, help people, talk to the media and others whether anyone donates a cent or not. There is no requirement to “donate” here as there is in scientology.
This bears repeating every now and then. Thanks for prompting it. Some people here who never even noticed the “Donate” button might even decide to make a donation today thanks to your comment.
Oops, another OSA footbullet.
You tell ‘ em Mike.
Well played.
Bif is, what’s that term again? It’s on the tip of my tongue….. ummmmmm……Aha!!! I got it! He’s a fucking idiot!
Thank you Mike ? ????
In fact I’ve just made a small donation, Mike works tirelessly on this site, giving up a lot of his own time for no pay. The site has been a valuable resource on my journey out of scientology so it’s about time I said thanks.
🙂
Donated last week to Mike and I’m really happy and satisfied the money is being used for the betterment of what was it…. 6 million members (or was more like 30 or 40 thousand.) of Scientology. Believe what you read here. Or better yet, look all over the Internet. See who has more FACTS to disseminate.
Good response Mike. First of all what is a Scientologist doing questioning anyone about donating when they have turned into a Real Estate Holding company and not just asks for donations to buy their empty buildings but demands money out of their parishioners.
I can only hope that if there is a 2nd season of Aftermath, that you get paid well for it. You so deserve it.
I will also add that contrary to what SCN lies about, none of my family who spoke on Aftermath was paid a cent to speak out and I seriously doubt any of the others who spoke on the show were paid.
Thanks, troll! I had not ever noticed the Donate option before.
I have been following your blog since becoming hooked on the A&E series but have never commented before. Never in but experienced cult-like situation in an independent fundamentalist group for a short time. Other than long-term trust issues, it doesn’t compare to the gross abuse in the Scientology cult.
I will continue to follow your blog and encourage you to keep up the good fight. I know you are making a difference!
Wasn’t Biff the name of bully In the movie “back to the future” ?
Appropriate !
Hope Mike will make a shit load of money, it would be poetic justice.
This obsession about who makes how much and out of what , is so vulgar. Let people ‘s actions speak for themselves .I am thankful for Mike’s dedication to help.
Beautifully and truthfully stated!
Marie, Biff is also a good way to describe a face-plant, which is pretty much what he ended up doing lol
Bif….THANK YOU for telling me to donate to Mike. I didn’t even realize that I could. Perhaps someday….you’ll see the light…and leave the COS. Internet tough guy. EPICALLY BORING!!!!!
Mike….you have done so much to help others…..and I truly admire you. Keep Going!!!!! You have so many people behind you!!! YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE!!!!
Yours… OverTheBridgeTPA
Thanks so much to you and others who have reached out today. Always appreciated. And I put it to good use.
Mike you rock!
Oh crap! I forgot to reach out. But, you’re awesome, my friend! You and Leah make one hellava team! I hope it keeps going.
What a troll! We love you Mike:)
Caution: Pit Bull Alert
Yes, Bif, we donate to Mike. Unlike your greedy, criminal cult which does NOTHING for anyone and trumpets that its “changing the world” with its “help” and other such similar bullshit, Mike Rinder actually DOES help people, people who have been damaged and scarred by your cult’s cruelty and lies. He works diligently and continuously and produces, and he does it quietly and without fanfare or boastfulness. He just produces, and is effective, so, yes, we donate to him as we are able, and when we are able, with gratitude for how he helps and with no small appreciation of the fact that we are not being shamed, cajoled or badgered to do so. His blog is free, his help is free, to donate is wholly optional and some of us do so when or if we can. In short, Bif, how about you just fuck off? That’s it.
Ok, people, I’m sorry, I know I just fed the troll, but what can I tell you, its one of those days…
Why, that sounds like a wonderful idea Mike. I will make a donation right now!
Bif, go crawl back to Devious Miscarriage or your own fetid troll lair. We are pointing, laughing, and jeering at your hilariously stupid attempt at trolling.
Thanks troll! Never knew that was even an option! Donated! ???
Excellent answer to the Troll, Mike. I was one who pushed you to put a donate button up and have contributed and will continue to contribute. According to LRH, money is an energy flow, and you flow energy to the things you want to get done, as in “what you put your attention on, you get.” So I flow my energy (money) to Mike and Phil and Willie and others so that people get real help, even if it means help leaving the cult. I am so glad to not be giving to the IAS who claims they help the world with your donation, but upon checking, you find that the only VMs at any disaster, are enough to get good photo ops and nothing more, and they do that at their own expense. The IAS doesn’t pay a dime to send them there. So that begs the question, if the IAS doesn’t take your donation to pay for airfare for VM’s, what do they do with the money? Could it be they use it to pay high priced pit bull attorneys like Kendrix Moxen or Monique Dingaling to cover for DM and his transgressions? Mike, keep doing what you do. And I hope that you get paid well for doing A & E. That show takes a lot of work from you and Leah and not just physical work either. It takes its toll emotionally and brings you both to tears more than once in the series. You should get some compensation for all that.
Thank you Cindy. You have been a staunch supporter for a long time! Appreciated.
Biff Tannen provides us with an excellent opportunity to clarify some essential points concerning $cn and money. Mike points out that any donation made to him in support of this blog is truly a voluntary one in which your choice to donate or not donate has nothing to do with your ability to read and participate in discussions on his blog.
In contrast, Biff’s “Back to 50’s” cult euphemistically describes members’ required fee-for-service payments as “donations,” when in reality no one receives the service unless they pay the fixed price. There is no sliding scale for less-well-to-do $cilons to avail themselves of; no free auditing for the poor and needy; no price breaks at all, except for the occasional discount given on IAS status levels, where you can become a Patron Victimonious Maximus for 25% off if sign up this week, making something that’s essentially worth nothing at all less expensive than usual. The only thing free in $cn is your escort to the reg’s office or to ethics; everything else requires you to pay through the nose for it…NO exceptions!
Biff and his fellow trolls seem to have imbibed so much Kool-Aid that the fact that the cult constantly and continuously projects its own crimes and immorality onto its perceived enemies just doesn’t ever register with them, despite the fact that it’s so incredibly obvious to everyone else who’s paying attention. Accusing folks of having made money off of their work, when the cult has scammed billions from its fleeced flock, is the height of clueless projection and about as silly and ineffectual as you can get.
At a price of close to a half million or more just to go up the bridge – without even adding in the coerced IAS donations and sec checking costs – Biff needs to keep his eyes on the prize of making money to give to the cult if he wants to stand any chance at all of exorcising imaginary space alien spirits and attesting to super powers that no one has actually ever gained. It’s a long way to the top, so you better rock n’ roll in getting the cash to finance your journey up the bridge to Total Spiritual Enslavement and Complete Other-Determinism!
Going out on a far fetched limb and responding as if you aren’t merely a troll. IMO negatively commenting on the donation aspect reflects a mindset unable, or maybe just unwilling, to understand context. “Here’s what I have to offer – If it has value to you and you can and want to donate, go ahead” and the “you must pay for what will save you AND THE PLANET regardless of your ability to do so or you are an evil being” pitch of Scientology are so far apart that no equivalency exists. But your comment was valuable to me personally as a takeoff for musings on some of the Joe Rogan/Leah Remini interview. And since I’ve spent the last couple of days exhausted with flu, doing nothing to the point of boredom, I do kind of appreciate the spark (although not the attempted slur on Mike Rinder).
Leah made some comments on compliments from Joe she felt weren’t the best. Joe commented that words can mean different things based on the person and intent. All could have been banter. But it does seem like I’ve heard a lot about an intense Scientology focus on memorization of Hubbard’s words and defining them very specifically. A rejection of the idea of context or subtlety. That need for black/white certitude which denies individuality and questioning.
I’m wondering how that focus works with everyday human interaction. Many ex-scientologists believe that they did gain communication skills from the first courses they took which seems maybe contradictory. Or maybe I’m laboring under misunderstandings. So, if anyone is so inclined, I’d appreciate your take on the subject.
I’m one of those who won big on the comm course and passed it along later in a mission structure. In that mission (well before 1982), the comm course took an average of six weeks and produced fabulous results…including several Clear attestations, later validated at AO. Though a professional communicator at the time, I’d never realized what a “comm cycle” was and that it included communication BOTH ways. That was actually startling to me and its application really helped my professional career.
In our current US society, there is rarely any true public communication, merely arguments and “sides taken”. The yelling and screaming over who is “right or wrong” precludes any real communication. Just constant bull baiting. Very sad. As well, it’s a worldwide phenomenon. Sadder still.
I’ve met scientologists who have done all the available communication courses but still don’t realize that communication is a two way flow, I dreaded encountering these people as they just didn’t shut up. Like Thegman I think I did gain something from the comm course in that I learned that listening is just as important.as getting your point across.
I think that this edition of RB does a good job of exemplifying the more subtle approach that people like Steve Hassan are now recommending using with those still in groups like Scientology, such as asking them what originally attracted them to the organization. Rather than an approach that might be perceived as an attack, and which then makes people defensive, questions like this get people thinking about discrepancies such as the difference between their own ideals and what the organization has ended up , and starting to question themselves.
There are a couple of cognitive biases at work here, but the most obvious is that of creeping normality (related to escalation of commitment):
Creeping normality or death by a thousand cuts refers to the way a major change can be accepted as the normal situation if it happens slowly, in unnoticed increments, when it would be regarded as objectionable if it took place in a single step or short period. [wikipedia]
Perhaps the most relevant of the others is the one that helps keep in a situation like an organization that is not working out as originally expected, (irrational) escalation of commitment or “sunk costs,” exemplified by the old anecdotal analogy of the frog in the pot of boiling water*:
The phenomenon where people justify increased investment in a decision, based on the cumulative prior investment, despite new evidence suggesting that the decision was probably wrong. [wikipedia]
* The boiling frog is an anecdote describing a frog slowly being boiled alive. The premise is that if a frog is put suddenly into boiling water, it will jump out, but if the frog is put in cold water which is then brought to a boil slowly, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death. The story is often used as a metaphor for the inability or unwillingness of people to react to or be aware of threats that arise gradually.
The whole Regarded Being Series needs a book.
And copies of that book sold at nearby bookstores to the Scientology organizations.
+1! Outstanding idea, Chuck!
I’d love to have all of the Regraded Being strips together in a book. Every now and then I remember one that I’d like to re-read and it’s hard to find it. Now, how best to get Regraded Being strips into the hands of members so they can read them and think?
You and me both, T.J!
In today’s world, self publishing is both easy and inexpensive. We’ve already published three of my wife’s books and two more are in the works. With artwork, like RBs, we would suggest only hardbound books. Check out IngramSpark.com. They do an excellent job with colour printing.
Right on!
Today’s RB post was dead center on target.
When I began Scientology in May of1968, the E.E. “Doc” Smith and Heinlein books served as “hidden data lines” that many of us clung to in order to give meaning and purpose to our irrational slavish devotion.
If that delusional mindset among Sea Org members has indeed endured for over a half century, it’s a remarkable example of the mind’s capacity to elevate fantasy over objective reality.
In reality, Scientology actually produces far more mental and emotional dysfunction than it has ever purported to alleviate, despite its hyperbolic, unproven claims.
For me it was Jettero Heller from Mission Earth, unbelievably I read the entirety of that series 4 times! Each time trying to get more data on how I could achieve the level of perfection exhibited by l ron’s hero.
RB hits the nail on the head again. The signs of desperation coming from Scientology are everywhere. Just look at their promotions. And if you still get calls or emails they all feel forced or rushed. No quality promo anymore. The sinking ship is hard to hide. Only bubble dwellers don’t see it. The big bad SPs are feared. If you don’t look maybe it will all go away.
Wait….what? The ship is still afloat? I thought for sure it would be in Davy Jones locker by now…
Ah yes, the “Cal Mag” snake oil.
It is so funny to me now – that at FLAG – they put a glass of Cal Mag next to your bed at the Fort Homicide.
Kind of like saying –
“Heh, we know we are certainly not friendly here at Flag. We also realize that we fleece everyone of their last nickel, we will drain your stock portfolio, bankrupt you and your entire family and manipulate YOU to rob your Grandmother of her last dime.
So to make up the damage – please have this little, tiny glass of Cal Mag on us….and everything will be just fine now.
And by the way – you will pay and pay and pay for this little, minuscule piece of “help” we are giving you….count on it! We will financially ruin you!”
Cal Mag – Hubbard’s made up snake oil to “make it all better” after Scientology has ruined your life.
Outta have little fridges outside all Ethics Officer’s offices, for the waiting area, with fresh Cal Mag Kool Aide pitchers.
If the old timers could allow themselves to really think, this would probably happen.
Good one RB!
That’s a BIG if, Mike. They’d have to break through all the brainwashing that they’ve been through.
Ah, poor Kevin! He simply came to understand that he won’t be ruling the galaxy like he thought.
They all just need to read Lawrence Wright’s “Going Clear…” final pages, the LRH admissions to Sarge.
They need to read Marty’s 3rd book, “Meanwhile Back at the Ranch” chapter, telling LRH’s final conversation interactions with Sarge.
They’d all realize LRH had serious despair and doubt at the end of LRH’s life, and that the OT running program was LRH’s next “case” action.
They are missing the final thoughts of L. Ron Hubbard to put their whole Sea Org lives in context of what LRH thought about it all.
YEs, the problem though Chuck is that they would dismiss it as lies. The church would tell them “Sarge was just an alcoholic/drug addict/FBI agent/pedophile who has no clue because he had been removed from any position close to LRH because he was unable to maintain the ethical standards required, and he only said those things for money and to get his name in print.” ANd they would believe it.
I believe Sarge. It rang true to me, and I don’t think he had any reason to lie. He apparently was very fond of L.R.H. I never met the man, but what he said was believable.
Oh, I believe him too. I knew Sarge and I spoke to him in person about this before it all became public knowledge. This devastated him. He was astonishingly loyal to Hubbard. And remained so even after all this. He felt bad about telling the truth as it made Hubbard into a mere mortal. I don’t doubt his words for a second. ANd they are NOT inconsistent with everything else that IS known.
Mike, As an aside, Sarge said that Ray Mithoff gave LRH an end of life assist. Was Ray there when he died?
Yes
When I was LRH Ext Comm Aide at INT, Sarge was one of the Couriers. For many years Sarge and Marty would drive back and forth from INT to LA secretly delivering boxes of correspondence and people. So, he was my “junior” and I got to know him extremely well. Sarge was as honest as the day was long and a true friend of mine.
When I heard Sarge was ill, a year or so ago, I got his phone number and called him. He was NOT upset about LRH or his time in SCN or the SO. My call was not to question him but just to comfort him and let him know he still had a friend in me. A bitter apostate, he was not. One of the last things he said to me on our phone conversation was that he was happy he was in the SO and how many great friends he got from the experience.
Sadly he passed away about a month or 2 after our phone conversation. RIP Sarge, you will be missed.
I found Sarge’s account of Elron’s latter years and ultimate demise to be honest, sincere and very believable. However, due to the huge significance attached to the manner of his demise and his health prior to it, some additional corroboration from others, like Ray Mithoff, who were also there to witness his dying days would be invaluable to have.
Just as tommy davis got it right when he said that if Elron lied about healing himself of his disabling war injuries, then all of $cn was built on lies, it’s just as conclusive to note that if Elron’s health condition and ultimate death were as Sarge described them, then all of the subsequent claims made by DM and Pat Broecker concerning his purported conscious choice of “dropping the body” and going on to research upper OaTy levels were just so much bullshit, cynically designed to keep the con going.
Here are excerpts from an email exchange with Sarge and a friend (posted with permission):
Recollections from Steve ‘Sarge’ Pfauth who helped take care of and was present when LRH died,
“I know that Gene Denk left during Xmas and New Years (Dec 1985-Jan 1986) to be with his wife in Lake Tahoe. He returned in early Jan.
Ray Mithoff, who was Senior C/S Int, was brought in by Pat about a week before LRH’s passing to run a death assist process on LRH. LRH had had a stroke and wanted to die.
Pat came back to the Creston ranch from Int a day before LRH left (died). Pat brought another last will for LRH to sign.
I went in the Bluebird motorhome as a witness to the signing. LRH was in his nightgown and was pacing up and down complaining that his head hurt and to please get this over with. He sat down and signed the will and I witnessed it along with I think Annie.
The next night Annie, Gene and I waited in the stables apartment drinking coffee and waiting to hear that he is gone. Pat and Ray were in the bluebird. About 3 or 4 am Pat came in and said ‘He is gone!’.I was stunned even though I knew it was going to happen. Annie looked stunned too. After a while we were both crying.
Pat took off right away and met DM and others to show them how to get to the ranch. The coroner was called in when Pat returned. I was asked to witness the death cert and I saw LRH’s dead body in his bed. I had to get busy with feeding the animals and handling the contractors and got to the store and buy food etc.
…
LRH sent for Ray(Snr C/S) to run death assist processes which help to let go of the body. He had said that he wanted to leave and do rehab by circling a specific star. He was going to find another place to go to and not come back here (earth). He said he had failed with Scientology on this planet and he wanted to rehab and start over somewhere else.
…
I knew Vaughan Young. He was brought to the ranch by Pat Broeker to develope a shore story for newspapers and the Scn public. Much of what Vaughn wrote is fabrication and supposition. Please don’t take his rantings as fact. They are not.
LRH was doing very well in 1983 and was very active and used to go for walks and drives around the property. In 1984 he had some physical problems and Gene Denk was brought to Creston as his doctor. He was still active much of the time in early 1984 but toward the end of 84 he was in bad health and didn’t leave the Bluebird often.
Pat was gone from the ranch a lot starting in 84 and would only spend a few days a week then toward the end would be gone for weeks at a time. LRH was mad at him I know. I don’t know the specifics.
In Jan of 1985 Annie came to me and said LRH was very sick. We tried to get hold of Pat but couldn’t. Gene insisted that LRH needed to go to the hospital. So Annie, Gene and myself loaded LRH into the back of our station wagon and Annie and Gene took LRH to the hospital in Santa Maria. Gene told me that LRH had pancreatitis and was very sick.
Annie finally got hold of Pat. LRH spent about 5 days in the hospital and was released. Pat came to the ranch and we went to Santa Maria and picked LRH up and drove him home. During the time in the hospital LRH quit smoking. He came home but still wasn’t very active and stayed in the Bluebird motorhome a lot.
LRH was in ill health most of 1985. Pat again was gone most of the time and would make an appearance in the middle of the night with some com or he would call and I would meet him to get the com. I don’t know and didn’t know at the time that he had had a stroke. I knew he was sick but I assumed it was the pancreatitis still bothering him.
Again, LRH was in ill health and wanted to drop the body because it was a big problem for him. He wanted to move on. When he had Ray come to the ranch it was to help him drop the body via death assist processes. It worked and he died.
LRH was bed ridden most of the last week or so. He could get up but was very shakey and his hands were shaking when he signed the will. LRH told me that there was a specific star that ‘they’ used to use for rehab. He would circle the star for a while and get better.”
Yep! That’s what they would do. Good old character assination. And, they’re pretty good at it.
Well of course Sarge was an alcoholic, drug addict, FBI agent, pedophile. I thought that was a given for every one who left Scientology. The thing I can’t figure out is how they got in in the first place since scientologists are smarter than all the wogs in the world. And get close to Hubbard? He was THE smartest guy in the room, no wait, the world. Yeah. That’s the ticket.
No. Smartest guy in this universe as well as all other universes. C’mon Barbara, he’s universal…
What is cal mog?
It’s a “natural” sedative, supposedly, it relaxes and calms you down. I experimented with it, rather than taking it after a hard physical workout which was my routine, and it would lessen muscle pain etc. I tried taking it BEFORE hard exercise, to see if there would be no after exercise muscle pains, cramps etc. Either way, worked to alleviate cramps and muscle pains, but I think a doctor ought be seen when you are taking it in high doses, since I’m sure it disrupts something or other.
For totally frazzled Sea Org members at the end of the day who are replaying their hectic absurd Sea Org lives before hitting the hay, then Cal Mag helps them hit the sack.
Also, they are NOT allowed to take long walks away per Problems of Work book, to deal with their exhaustion and insomnia.
Might be Cal Mag is the chemical “natural” fix for their self imposed fads of not letting their members take decent long walks.
——————-
I think someone with money, ought set up nearby bookstores, and sell all the critical books on Scientology, make them available, so Scientologists who accidentally slip into the bookstores and read some useful information before their self-censoring kicks in.
I wonder what it would take to get the permit to have a “Book Mobile” and sell from it, the critical books whole long list, in drive by or parked conditions near the Scientology installations?
It would be really cool to have these books offered, but I don’t think many Sea Org members would risk being seen purchasing them. They keep a pretty close grip on their lives and what they can read, they would probably be afraid someone would tell on them and get them in trouble. There doesn’t seem like any easy way to get them stuff to read – maybe by dropping leaflets like they do in North Korea?
That’s why I like the billboard idea, by an ex-member whose adult children are disconnected – it is easily seen by anyone, but I don’t know if the message is strong enough or clear enough. For former members – if you saw a billboard saying ‘call me’ – what effect would it have on you, would it make you think? What other way is there to get information to those still in?
Even if the sales is non viable, just the visual glancing at a “Book Mobile” with a display of 20 odd book covers, and the Sea Orgers or Scientologists would at least know that there were 2 dozen ex-member and detailed critical books on Scientology, and it would just be sort of a show and tell quick load of evidence.
Of course 99percent of them would dismiss it, and hesitate to look once they knew of the Book Mobile, on second and third time trips.
But, the first initial image of a Book Mobile with covers of the books, would stick in their brains nontheless.
As a joke, selling criticial books along Sunset Blvd, as a gag, would probably sell more books than DMSMHs get sold on the streets, or down by the LA Test Center Bldg, I always wanted to get a permit for street vending and just sell all the alt.scientology trinkets, and Xenu braclets, etc, etc.
That’s actually a really cool idea, Chuck. You’re right, just the sight of all those books written by ex-members, all lined up together would certainly make an impression on people. Do they ever have street faires or flea market type gatherings nearby?
Calcium and magnesium.
It relaxes the muscles,supposedly,when one is stressed and also helps u to sleep at night.
It’s taken daily when one is on the Purification Rundown.
I am no longer ,” drinking the kool-aid”, but I still occasionally drink Cal-mag.
Oh, you have better cast iron stomach than I have, half your luck Joe. Makes me dry reach to even smell that stuff now. And some people don’t believe the reactive mind exists with the purpose of attempting to protect its body. Poison yourself with something and see how the mind responds trying to take it again.
High doses of calcium are absolutely dangerous. It can cause ulcers, kidney problems, kidney failure, bone loss…all kinds of things. This is not something you want to mess around with. I wonder if a survey of the older generation of scientologists would find an increase of kidney and bone related diseases.
Like everything else the cult touches, the concept of taking vitamin/mineral supplements got hijacked and turned into a dangerous quack remedy. The simple understanding that a whole lot more of a good thing may not be a whole lot better just never seems to have dawned on the Dark Age $cilon culture when it comes to stuff like this.
Massive overdoses of niacin and cal/mag formulations not only do not provide just that much more benefit, but they can be toxic and cause serious bodily harm. Elron had absolutely no background or qualifications to support his pulled-from-out-his-arse quack treatments and anyone who believes otherwise is a completely gullible fool whose health will suffer for Elron’s sins.
Animals exhibit the same aversion behavior after eating something that makes them sick, does that mean they also have “reactive minds?”
Conditioned food aversion (or conditioned drink aversion) is more biological than mental. People (and animals) are innately predisposed to form associations between tastes and illness. It is most likely due to the evolution of survival mechanisms. Species that readily form such associations between food and illness are more likely to avoid those foods again in the future, thus ensuring their chances for survival and the likelihood that they will reproduce.
I’ve been called an animal on occasion… rrrrr….
You mix calcium and magnesium powders with cider vinegar then add boiling water, and to quote one of my ex colleagues, ‘stir the shit out it’ The concoction tastes truly revolting, and they make you drink several glasses a day when you are doing a thing called the purification rundown. It turned my stomach every time.
It’s an “acquired taste” that every scientologist is expected to acquire…
That’s just a nice way of saying, “drink it or else!”
The other thing that really made me dry reach was the revolving ‘cal-mag’ drink dispensers at Flag. Chilled cal-mag and people actually bought it in large milk shake sized waxed paper cups and sipped it through a straw… YUCK! I think I heard it referred to as a Scientologist’s white wine once. I guess the only good memory I have of Flag was realizing I never have to go back.`