The world of scientology missions is even grimmer than scientology orgs.
Here is the latest news from the “ideal” Mission in Ocala. This Mission was opened by John Travolta and Kelly Preston in their hometown as a gift to the community. They fully renovated a building and it was one of the first “ideal” missions. There were a few “celebrity” that came before it: Jenna Elfman in SOMA SFO opened to great fanfare and now an empty shell. Anne Archer’s Santa Monica Mission – opened and then closed almost as fast. Isaac Hayes and Lisa Marie Presley in Memphis – sold off by Benetta Slaughter and now operating out of a strip mall on the outskirts of town. Don’t know what happened to Kirstie Alley’s Wichita Mission, imagine it is dead as doornail like everywhere else in the world (though it does promote itself as a “Mental Health Service” — see bottom).
Now, this is an “ideal” mission, propped up by wealthy sugar-daddies. It is the only real mission that is considered to be a feeder to the Tampa double ideal org (or whatever they call themselves). And yet, in the East US this is only the 3rd mission in the birthday game. I wonder what the 2 that beat them are? And if there are more than 2 dozen missions left in the Eastern US? Cannot be bothered looking it up…
But the most startling news is that they were 39th out of 251 Missions. That is a pretty poor show. But even poorer is the news that there are now only 251 Missions in the world. A decade ago there were more than 400…
That is massive contraction.
Here is the promo on Google for Kirstie’s Mission.
When I left the SO in ’80, I thought management had gone insane.
Now, I see that the insanity and shortsightedness skyrocketed in ’82, when DM dismantled the mission systems which had been doing exactly what they were supposed to be doing, and doing it better than the orgs, by keeping their eyes on the long-term results and re-investing profits in staff and the missions to improve their ability to deliver, not squirrelling away all the cash in foreign banks and forcing their staffs to “moonlight” to be able to just barely survive being staff. Now, there are no missions, only smallish orgs run DM’s way. No org’s staff can survive without being independently wealthy or having a working spouse. Scratch that: any money they have access to is hoovered out of their pockets, and when they get too weak or sick to work, they’re booted into the street with no resources and no prospects, likely Declared SP as well, since they must have done SOMEthing AWFUL to pull ALL that misfortune in.
Great job done! Davey boy. You live better than a king while the system you conquered decays around you. Better start planning ahead so you can
maintain your lifestyle after the chickens come home to roost and you face the music all alone.
In other words, “Run, Davey, RUN.”
John Travolta and Tom Cruz live down town Clearwater next to me in the 2 new buildings they own by the water trying to buy the Aquarium across the street . I want all of Clearwater to meet them and tell them what we all think of them stealing our city he climbs on his boat and I will start filming it as were he live and his boat hope someone will sink it and indestructible buildings he built with a lot
The SMI.org missions website is still as dead as a doornail. They were replaced with a redirect to a cookie cutter Sci-site years ago. Their last update was years before that, an article about the ‘rollicking’ welcome the city of York had bestowed on a new mission in 2007. That seems to have vanished in the mists as well. Listed as inactive: https://opencorporates.com/companies/gb/03235420
// A WAY TO END THE EVIL CULT OF SCIENTOLOGY FOREWER
Greetings Mr. Rinder.
I have seen the documentaries about Scientology in which you have been involved and I was horrified by abuses that the Church of Scientology have subjected their devoted and loyal followers to, from the constant extortion of money, to tearing families apart, to constantly harassing people – your last Scientology job, and up to actual physical abuse. It is run in a manner I would run a cult if I had no regard to human life and dignity and cared only for profit and power, which I strongly believe were the goals of LRH and the current goals of David Miscaviage.
I have a suggestion how to make Scientology disappear and it is EXTREMELY simple, and if it will not make it disappear, it will harm it immensely.
And I believe that you and other formal high figures in the church can do that, since you are smart, talented, charismatic and I think that you still have that zeal of wanting to make a positive change.
// STEP 1
Establish movement that is what Scientology claims to be, but without bait and switch tactics.
A movement based on similar reincarnation ideology, that in my opinion should be combined with libertarian ideology, but that’s up to you, not very dissimilar from Buddhism in the aspect of reincarnation, a movement about improvement and enlightenment, helping people and helping humanity, with one of the pillars being that improvement in each reincarnation circle makes you better in the next one and better able to improve yourself and help others.
-ideology based on improvement of self and society while respecting people autonomy and property rights.
// STEP 2
Replace auditing and indoctrination into a money paying zombie into indoctrination into a wanting to be a person who is confident in himself and wants to make a positive change for others, without harming them or their property.
Maybe new auditors could actually be therapists, using real polygraphs or just any other therapeutic techniques, while ensuring PATIENT CONFIDENTIALITY, and not attempting to plant false memories, make up crimes, but instead attempt to actually help people with their problems and guide them, with the practice of “new auditing” not being a compulsory one.
A good example would be making sure that the new adepts, at high levels, can go to a shit-hole in a 3rd world developing country, and with nothing but their knowledge and some help from locals make a water purification facility, treat their ill and sick, improve infrastructure for the new “OT” or what ever levels would be based upon command of actually useful skills and the ability to use them. Just imagine how appealing it would be to the villagers in 3rd world shit-holes to want to join the new movement, since they will see that they will actually be able to help themselves and others.
I suggest combination of classics, philosophy, engineering, art and medicine being the new requirements for OT levels, with the emphasis of actually being able to make those things, purification plants, medical facilities, life saving operations bye themselves, having necessary qualifications and the ability to think critically.
-make people better able to make positive change by instilling useful skills that can save lives and ideology respectful of rights and property rights of others.
// STEP 3
Checks and balances on power inside of the new church, that is having something based along the line of the US constitution and federalist papers, in order to prevent a new Miscaviage.
Internal disputes and punishments inside new movement/church are handled by court, preferably using people with real legal training. Crimes such as assaults and other crimes handled by legal system of residing country of church.
Of course no such physical punishments and disconnections such as present in scientology.
// STEP 4
Utilize power and ability of the new church, based with actual evidence of positive change that will come from an ideology based on self improvement instead of financial exploitation in order to undermine the standing of the Scientology Church and serve as a place for people who are disconnected, ejected, escaped from the church of Scientology and, of course, for those that will become disillusioned by it.
// PS
I am sure that there many more things that I have not covered and you will think of, yet, in my opinion, from what I have heard on that show of Mrs. Reminy, about how you and her and so many scientologists think about helping others, making a positive change, since that was the original reason they joined, it would be something that would appeal not only to me and anybody who wants to change humanity in a positive manner by actually using actual scientific methods, but it can also serve as a safe harbour for disconnected scientologists who are in a horrible distress after the affair.
Itzhak Rabban: Something much like that was briefly attempted. Was called the Indies. Trouble with them was that they depended on escaping scnists. With no new members to speak of in corporate scn (RCS) any more, the RCS doubled down on retention. cutting off the indies sole source of new members and money
One of the reasons Missions fail is because they’re only allowed to deliver basic services and the nearest org is too far away for people to continue up the bridge. Once someone’s done everything he can at the mission, he’s often done for good.
People are only willing to drive so far. Beyond a certain number of miles, it’s too much of a hassle.
For example, the Santa Barbara Org is 35 to 45 miles away from people living in Ventura (and the Ventura Mission). This translates to over an hour of driving each night.
Terra, Missions (until at LEAST until 1990) were allowed to deliver auditing up through the Grades and NED. When did that change?
I’d like to hear the experience of someone courted by SMI to sponsor a mission. Such courtship ended with me in less than 5 minutes when the SMI registrar (salesperson) found out that I was ex-SO. Up until that point, the registrar was showering me with interest and admiration. She turned it off like a faucet and moved on to the next mark.
It would be interesting to hear from someone who got further along in the process.
Note: Leaving the SO makes you unqualified to be a mission holder, even if you left properly and have paid off your freeloader debt. (Yep, no matter how you leave the SO, Scientology gives you a bill for any courses, counseling and therapy you received while working at slave labor wages.)
I’m not surprised that after Hubbard had the Missions bank accounts raided in ’82 that not many would want to have a “franchise”. The ENTIRE point of such a set up is to be able to MAXIMIZE the profit from selling licensed goods or services.
They don’t understand that kind of logic…and never will.
OSD:, they CAN’T understand logic As soon as REASONing is suggested, they A=A it and say “Can’t be reasonable”!
And the logic they used was: “Maximizing profit” = Steal ALL the money we can get our hands on, even if it kills the goose laying such wonderful eggs.
For a long time the mission in my town of 80,000 people was near downtown, a room upstairs from a bail bond place near the jail – the sign on the building was for the bail bond place. I went by a few years ago and the suite Co$ was in was unlocked and empty, mail piled up on the floor. I guess that got too pricy so as of a couple of years ago there is a new address in an industrial park behind the freeway. It is really hard to find, but I went there once looking for it. I couldn’t actually find it – there are a lot of little rooms, but theirs was not labeled, at least as far as I could see. And yet if you look online it is listed as a mission.
Probably what is or was known in New York as an “SRO”….Single Room Occupancy”….cheaper than an apartment or even a studio apt.
Call Ice they are illegal in a Sanctuary city’s Especially Clearwater as well as breaking federal laws even if they are backed by the Federal Reserve people like the Television set is a Answer from the President will over rule them all including the Governor of the state direct action pushed at that point by the constitutional republic that makes is more illegal under federal laws we have to fight on all grounds to wash this thing up at a federal level from the president of Capitalism and against Brainwashing Television shows like Fake News same thing same people own Hollywood
Take a few hours for the shrooms to wear off and then come back and edit that for grammar and punctuation because i have no idea what you are trying to say. k thanx bai
Good Lord! Can you please repost this hash with a few commas and periods thrown in?
No. It would be Wog grammar then. They have their own way with the English language. They butcher it…
Is Jerry an OSA troll having a little fun with us, do you think? No one is THAT bad with punctuation.
I think that’s not human. It reads like some of the bots I’ve run into on other sites. Sort of makes sense, but not quite. No punctuation to speak of.
The original mission system was quite different and gave mission holders far more leeway. In many respects, that was a good thing simply because if gave them freedom to create. Thus, many were far more successful than the nearest orgs. That, of course, could not be tolerated by either Hubbard or Miscavige. Since 1982, the system has crumbled into a “do it my way or I’ll destroy you” viewpoint, knocking out any creativity or compassion. It also killed off any sense of “community”.
Scientology will die over time simply because they have never gotten beyond Grade 4, Service Facsimiles. They’ve always got an excuse why it’s someone else’s fault. They can NEVER be wrong, never admit/take responsibility for any failures. It ALWAYS has to be blamed on others.
A very sad state of affairs. But a perfect mirror of both Hubbard’s and Miscavige’s cases.
Word of mouth has caught up with Snipe-hunting-ology (Scientology).
The public smells a totalitarian snipe-hunt, thanks to the media and ex Snipe-hunter-ologists who’ve exposed Scientology.
Like I told my FSM. If I hit a staff member. I’m out ethics for hitting a staff member. If a staff member hits me. I’m out ethics, and therefore pulled in a staff member hitting me.
You got that right, Joetheta. No matter what, you’re always wrong.
The missions were killed off because they didn’t funnel all their money to Lron. Yeah, fealty to the will of Lron was also involved, but it was mostly about money.
The missions were the best thing that $cienology ever had going for them. They did have enough lee way to use better sales methods and foster a better sense of community. But it was mostly about the money.
I agree with you, thegman77. Scientology will die because its cherch doesn’t use the workable, helpful parts of the philosophy, only the dogmatic, cruel, self serving bits.
(And, people, before you pile on about how ALL of the Scientology philosophy is unhelpful/unworkable/useless/cruel/ self-serving/etc. etc. etc allow me to obviate the necessity for you to do this by giving you in advance my full acknowledgement of, if not agreement with, your evaluations.)
Sea Org visits were a pain in the butt. They invariably dismantled a thriving project, removed valuable and productive employees, or offended curious public people, leaving the mission to clean up after they left.
Two questions:
1. AFAIK, there’s a mission in Clearwater and another in Bellaire. Do they feed Flag rather than Tampa Org?
2. What’s it cost to open a mission these days?
The Mission in Bellaire is very busy however ALL of their public are already Scientologist, who can’t afford Flag , are not allowed at Flag , or children of people at Flag. I know ,I was on staff there for many years.Many Scn flocked to that Mission because Kathy Feshbavh was the Mission holder and ,DM’s sister and niece were on staff there.
The Clearwater Mission had been there for 30 years ,the parking is always empty.
So to answer your question B.Mission, Cw Mission, and Tampa Org do NOT flow people to Flag. Flag flows people to them. Because in Tampa Bay like other parts of the country.
It’s hip to hate Scientology. But to the people in the bubble. It’s the fastest growing Religion in the world.
Only in their minds are they the fastest growing cult…..errrrrrrr…..I mean religion, in the world.
Joetheta, thanks. Interesting that Bellaire & CW missions and Tampa Org live off of Flag’s rejects.
Feel free to post your experiences at the Bellaire mission. With the backing of the Feshbachs and the Miscaviges, that should be an Ideal Mission.
I go by there every day on my way to work and back home and the most I have ever seen in there is 1-3 people, not including the person at the front desk. The people I know that go there are Flag rejects and people looking for a lower price for the same service.
That illustration at the head of this article showing the Titanic going down is appropriate for $cientology as a whole. Just think how much nicer it would be if it said “Freewinds” on the prow. A Wookiee can hope……
AAAROOUGH!
I bought a Mission Starter Package in the mid 1980’s in Miami. It was a waste on money.
Did you expect anything less? Of course it was a waste of money. Giving a dime to this cult is a HUGE waste of money. So thankful I bailed in ’82…
I did a lot of my services at the old mission here in Ventura, CA. Back in the 80’s and 90’s it was in a decent building, run by Tom and Cathy Steiner. Staff were friendly for the most part. I did my purif (twice), TR&O’s, Self Analysis, Life Repair auditing and lecture series. I have been offlines almost 20 years. I was eventually locked in the Resistrar’s office (Jim Hamrey at the time) along with 7 other staff members demanding all my credit cards and bank info to get a loan taken out to buy a Bridge they were selling. I was done.
But I know that mission moved to a different location and now has moved again. It is now basically in a warehouse type building in a business/industrial area of Ventura, nowhere near public. There wasn’t even a sign on the door when I went by.
But not to worry…the new Idle Morgue here will be a huge event and will clear the millions of Ventura county residents!! Or not.
*Registrar…damn phone. And I think the correct spelling was Hamry.
Yes Hamry. AOLA got Louise and daughter Kate.
I remember Tom Stiener and Jim Hamrey from Riverside Mission, 1978.
I’m betting on the ‘or not.’
> staff members demanding all my credit cards and bank info to get a loan taken out to buy
This is why i use the “stick a vacuum cleaner into your pock and suck until you get lint” analogy.
While a few religions only have their hand out for donations, most of them have their hands in your pockets. Some of them (e.g. the prosperity gospel and any televangelist) stick a vacuum cleaner into your pocket and suck until they get lint.
SCIENTOLOGY, however, has that vacuum cleaner suck until it gets blood.
Then it turns around and sells that blood to the blood bank. Along with any of your organs they managed to suck up as well.
This is because Scientology is a scam to get money – even their scorched earth capitalism approach makes sense viewed through that lens. Why else would you be asked to pay now for a service you won’t get until later? Because then Scientology will be making some money off the interest accrued in the meantime EVEN IF you later demand a refund which by the way they aren’t willing to give.
When i was 12 years old, i realized that organized religion was all about money. Seen through this lens, a lot makes sense – even the difference between “doing charitable works” and “talking about doing charitable works” that you see between relatively benign religious sects and the more money grubbing ones. In this Scientology shows its true colours. Is there any religion that talks about charity more but does less in proportion to their income than Scientology? The only ones that i can think of that even approach their level are the Prosperity Gospel (obviously) and Mormonism (they built a mall that cost more than their charitable donations in the last 20 years – like wtf, right?).
jmsr
“When I was 12 years old, I realized that organized religion was all about money”.
Amen, Brother.
A young couple I know went to their local church to ask about a Baptism for their newborn son. The FIRST thing the church asked for was their Income Tax return from the previous year…that way the “church officials’ would know what % of their income this young couple were going to HAVE to “tithe” per week…..WOW…….
wut.
The only people who should see your tax return are you, the person you file jointly with (i.e. spouse or s/o because it’s their tax return too), your accountant if any, and the tax people.
What this church is ACTUALLY saying to this couple is “we don’t expect you to be truthful with us and we expect you to LIE to us.” Is this couple sure they want a relationship with these people? They are starting from a position of broken trust…
James, then went to another church (same religion) outside their own parish and had their son Baptized…..that church didn’t ask for any financial information…… The first church was only interested in $$$, not in welcoming an innocent newborn baby into their religious community….it was an eye opener.
Cathy Steiner once told me that she understood the difficulty of not seeing one’s children due the demands of 16 hour work days, because “she had a dog.”
I must say I like JT even though I’ve Never met him but he’s likable so could it be a tax write off for them heck I think we all need a tax write off U get one,I get one we all get one but I’d rather see them give free healthcare to we the needy than plop money into more run down buildings but that’s just Me I don’t have a million Years to wait & if they really wanted to make it Good & really help ppl they could’ve been so much higher & done so much good rather than what do they do to help,right …:)
Hey, I’ve got it. They want to have an individual building or ideal org or mission for each and every member of the church! Soon all 14,032 Scientologists will have their very own mission and they can be the God Hubbard tells them they can be, just so long as any income (phahaha) they make gets routed back into the main church.
They’re actually at least approaching the point, where the idle orgs have as much space as the members’ homes. The math works like this:
* The average American has about 675 square feet of living space
* Ideal orgs are around 40,000 square feet, and if they have 75 active members (a number that’s been verified for a couple of orgs, though some have fewer and some more) that’s about 535 square feet per member.
I think that sort of thing has them headed for trouble with the IRS.
“…headed for trouble with the IRS.” Although I wish that was true, I’m not counting on it.
Any other CEO of any other organization on earth with the same level of attrition, doing such a crappy job of bringing in new “customers” (despite cooking the books) would have been shitcanned by its Board of Directors a decade ago. The fact he hasn’t means it was definitely a coup and he is nothing but a cheap dictator. He sure runs the place like a banana republic. And what “religion” has its inner circle run around in paramilitary uniforms ostensibly to imitate the founders highly inflated military experience?
I’m sure there was a time when hanging a shingle and running a mission might have been fun. It was all yours. I think Betty Filisky had fun hiring/firing being the boss and making good money.
Now SMI runs it. Sounds like a drag to be beholden to them. Don’t know what’s the fun in it now. The church of scientology now is one big drag.
Fun, now there is a concept. Just looking at David Miscavige makes me want to take a shower. That douchebag sucks the fun out of every room he has ever entered.
Betty Filisky is one of the ones I heard about getting power drunk, and I thought the mission was taken away from her. It at least sounded like she abandoned her son to Scientology, who in turn was abandoned and also died young. If not in her case, I’ve heard too many stories not to believe that some of the missions didn’t really run off the rails, though others were well-run and maybe even in some cases truly ideal scenes.
It seemed like the fun days were when things were booming, and idealistic young people were flooding in without even too much recruiting effort, maybe even more just because of the times than what Scientology was doing. Now dealing with management or the general public has got to be excruciatingly awful.
Betty kept double books which is how hers made money… she did not send it up the lines. She keep people on “run downs” for YEARS… and did not send people up the lines either. When the SO came to recruit she would warn everyone NOT to join and to stay at the mission. She told the semi-truth about life in the SO and that was pretty scary. She also would distract the SO folks when they came… take them out to dinner, they stayed at her house, etc. Betty had a plan and worked it… Ricky was collateral damage to her and she was willing to sacrifice him to her reach her own ends. Richardson was a cult within a cult.
“Betty kept double books…money…she did not send it up the lines.”
I never thought there’d be an instance where I’d be in favor of fraud and embezzlement but my spontaneous thought upon reading this was, “Yay, Betty, good for you!”
Peace Maker, Rick Fillisky is the son of Betty Fillisky. He was in the SO when she died. And now one of the commenters said he died too? Is this true? He is relatively young to be dying. The last time I saw him was in late 80’s or early 90’s and he had by then left the SO and was working for a Scn company. Can you confirm if he is alive or dead?
Cindy, Rick died a couple of years ago, and his father John died last year. I have heard that Rick was kind of strange.
Yes, Peace Maker, to say that Rick was strange is an understatement. What did he die of? Still, it is sad that an entire family of Clears and OT’s and staff members are dead before their time. I think being on staff or SO takes years off your life.
Cyndi, I’m not certain of the details. Come to think of it, I wonder if it might have been something deliberately played down. His father lived to be pretty old, at least one out of the three….
Mary, I believe Hubbard banned ‘fun’ from the onset. Having any sort of fun was out ethics. And don’t get me started about smiling!
I have a friend who lives in Ocala and she says that they are only open 2 days a week and very short hours. Basically dead.
“…very short hours.”
What…1 hour? Too long?
Like 4 hrs 13 min short?
The empty mission scene is like the empty org scene which is like the disappearing Scientology scene.
The Church of Scientology sucks at getting in new people. There have been blips but even in the 80’s Scientology was yesterday’s news.
Scientology also sucks at keeping people in. Crush regging, exorbitant prices, maniacal control games and a horrible reputation add to the many reasons to leave. To run a mind control cult, you need to control the flow of information. With the internet, you just can’t do it without appearing bizarre.
Without the mega-donors, the COS is toast.
It just seems to me that Scientology is a big pyramid scheme. Those people in their glittery gowns and tuxes getting awards with bigger and bigger names because they have donated more and more money remind me of Amway awards catalogues that they would put out of big sellers. Portraits in the best gowns and suits dripping in diamonds because they brought in the most people and got them to buy the most stuff. Or Mary Kay with their pink Cadillacs for their high sellers.
And not just pink! It was pepto bismol pink!
My sister’s Mission in Johannesburg, South Africa – called the Norwood Mission, always wins the birthday game and it is a separate little building on the property of her house, which was originally my parents house (before they died). It is tiny. It is located in a suburb of homes. There is no walk by traffic. It is surrounded by walls and even has spikes on the walls (due to crime in SA) and electronic gates to the property. If the property was to be sold, it would be considered a “guest house” or “granny flat”. That’s how small it is. Yet every single year they win the birthday game and she stands on the stage with Miscavige to win that award.
What is the birthday game again?
The Birthday game is a game all the missions and orgs play to see who has the highest statistics for the year, in their continental area, for LRH’s birthday on March 13th. So my sister’s mission would win the award for the highest statistics in the whole of Africa as the best Mission.
Speaking of birthdays….Happy birthday to you Lowie
Wishing you a very happy birthday, Lowie!
Wow. Thanks for the visual Lois.
In order to open the Ocala mission, the Melrose Mission in Hollywood was closed down. Chris & Iris Baumgardner ran the small (1 course sup) Melrose Mission but Travolta wanted them for Ocala. At least the story was that it was he who wanted them. So they packed up and left CA for FL. Anyone know if they’re still the mission holders? My opinion of them would be censored.
Went to downtown Clearwater this afternoon to look for retail space
for an anti-cult reading room. It may take $20 million of Miscavige’s money to re-vitalize this area. There was only great prosperity in the large craft brewery on
Cleveland street. Lots of customers for that. Did see one space for rent on
Ft Harrison Ave that might work. But in truth, the tourist display said that Clearwater
has been trying to re-vitalize its downtown since the 1930’s when the highway
was built to the west. Lots of luck on this one.
Anti cult reading room……………… with neon sign at night. Pass out free intro lecture tickets and ask them if they would like to take a cult personality test.
We can have anti cult body routers dressed white medical smocks. Students doing a course practical and spotting level of cult hypnosis until spotting is 100 percent standard.
Now that would be some great street art!
Hi Brian,
The idea was to build a large three story structure in downtown Clearwater as
an international anti-cult center. It fits great from a marketing viewpoint. Miscavige would even fix up the neighborhood for it. But after looking at Clearwater downtown yesterday, I scaled it back to an anti-cult reading room.
Downtown seems to be growing in cult beer brewing and bars. I would not be
surprised to see a pool room next. I am now considering Clearwater Beach
or the intersection of 19/Gulf to Bay. It makes perfect sense. I do not think
anyone is going to hop in a car and shop near flag when they can go to a
mall with free parking. You need a ton of quarters to park on Cleveland street.
The area near Osceola is now mostly zoned commercial also. There is an Islamic center now on Ft. Harrison. TC needs a great new home.
G
Keep us posted, G. There are a number of us who might be willing to help with your endeavor. I for one, am intrigued.
Great,
Will keep everyone posted on progress.
Yo, Brian! Sign me up! I’ll even work for free!
You had me at large craft brewery…
(Mike: please post this reply ONLY with the typo corrected instead of the 2 above where the typo is noted)
Please?
Mike, this is going on in the Church of Scientology everywhere.
I have said this before, and I will say it again as it is a shining example of the truth.
L. Ron Hubbard PERSONALLY opened the Hubbard Dianetics Research Foundation in Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1950 and it was closed by 1952. I was born in Elizabeth a few years after it closed. It re-opened with OT staff in 2000 then moved to a bigger location in town but was closed for good by 2005. I remember seeing the Scientology “Men in Black” in front of the building when I went past shortly before. A park was named after L. Ron Hubbard before it closed that no one really knows why it exists. It is a small park and you cannot fit more than 3 or 4 small school buses in it. All the Scientologists that staffed the mission and owned the International House of Pancakes next door have left town. A plaque in the back room of a dental office on Westfield Avenue in a 95% Hispanic community is all that remains of the church in the state where L. Ron Hubbard wrote the Dianetics book and the city where he first officially opened the practice of it.
Why?
I knew the mission holder Bruce Dobin (much to my surprise). I was not aware we had previously met. He was at my apartment’s front porch banging on the door and windows yelling at me with another church member he brought with him instead of selling Dianetics books. I called the Police by the way and made him sign an agreement to never contact me again. That order is still in force. He is the only person I ever had to do this with in my life. And he is OT VIII. The Police removed him from my property.
Mike, there is always a TRUE real reason why Scientology churches close. It is never what the church says is the reason (i.e. they are under attack from religious hate mongers – which doesn’t even make sense by the way). If someone is at home in his pajamas waiting for his mother and sister to return from the grocery store, is that the definition of out spreading hate? I don’t think so!” But the church got such a kick out of hearing Mr. Dobin and his wife Sharyn Mason Dobin tell them this hairbrain story. I have documents (legal ones) to back up every single word I just said.
The truth is the church brings its problems on itself, each and every time. Even my ex-girlfriend whom I have just gotten back in comm with again for the first time since before my Scientology fiasco started, was telling me the other day what she thought about the body thetan story. I didn’t know she knew about it until she brought it up. I was going to wait for the right moment to ARC with her on it, but A LOT of people are talking about this with me, instead of the church talking about it with them.
The Church of Scientology is the source of its own problems. To use the church’s own vernacular “They are mocking it up themselves”.
Just the above whole message was my point and all below it was a correction. You are the best.
Incidentally, Bruce Dobin FINANCED the whole mission out of his pocket.
The church did not pay one cent of the mission’s expenses.He bought the books, the signs, the chairs, the tables, paid the rent, the phone, the electricity and harassed me as well all out of is own pocket. Just like John Travolta, Kelly Preston, Lisa Marie Presley or Anne Archer.Just to mention. 🙂
Lawrence, thanks for sharing your story, I think that provides a lot of insight into how Scientology operates at the street level, so to speak.
I have always understood that the missionholders were expected to completely finance the mission themselves, in keeping with how Scientology implements its principle of “exchange,” in which nothing is ever given to an individual for free – with a few extremely rare exceptions, particularly for celebrities. In fact, as I’ve noted elsewhere, Scientology seems to expect to profit by selling expensive mission (franchise – including books and materials) packages to people who more often than not will never be able to actually get a mission up and running.
You are welcome. 🙂
The reason missions never get up and running is because they are not real missions.
Scientology technology has worked for me in the past and performed seeming miracles when applied exactly correctly by the book and only the technology that applied specifically to me at this time. There is no denying or invalidating this fact.
Unfortunately missions and churches are unable to do this on their own. This puts them in the category of criminal organizations not good will groups. 🙂
Very well said, Lawrence. Criminal organizations, not good will groups, are precisely what Scientology missions and churches are, for the reasons you stated.
And when you follow the policy that all critics are criminals and enemies of Ron and mankind; you have the applied philosophy that creates this environment. Ron’s words are the causal connection regarding Scientology’s plight.
HCOB words become ideas. Ideas become actions and actions become destiny.
The infamy of Scientology is the result of Ron’s applied ideas.
For instance: sued, lied to or destroyed.
Or how about this fav of the critics: ruined utterly.
It’s not just ruined. It’s ruined utterly.
There are massive conceptual land mines strewn through the insidious creepage of immoral ideas in the Scientology experience.
The source of Scientology’s demise is L Ron Hubbard’s writings.
“It is a small park and you cannot fit more than 3 or 4 small school buses in it.” I believe the word for that is “garden.” Leave it to Scientologists to pee on your leg and tell you it’s raining for something like that.
Garden is a better word. Or perhaps “The small foliage area”. In any event, garden is a better description. Thanks. Here are some other terms for the plot of land “The L. Ron Hubbard Vegetation Area at Westminster” “The LRH Knoll at Ormond” “LRH Elizabeth Commons” “LRH Estates of Elizabeth” and there is a whole list of jokes one can tell about this sad piece of real estate. 🙂
…and they’ve pulled it in, BIG time!
When I left the cult, I pulled in my FREEDOM! How ’bout that for Super Powers? Nothing beats walking away…
I meant to say “If someone is at home in his pajamas waiting for his mother and sister to return from the grocery store, is that the definition of out spreading hate? I don’t think so!”
My apology for the typo. 🙂
Make an advance payment to ensure you get your copy of the LRH sequel ‘Missions Out Of Time’ coming to org bookstores soon.
Great book! Started reading it and never ran out of time!
Mike
i admire your strength of purpose
great work with leah remini
scientology is total fabrication based on hubbard science BS
but compare to HEAVENS GATE and you will see comparisons #
follow through with TRavolta building how much $ for what and what does it do to help
The other part of religion missing from Sci. is worship of God of Christ for me Christian but Scientology worships what some creature that came to earth 100000 years ago ?
ps I don’t have blog or twitter just email not technical enough
# I have article on HEAVENS GATE how to send to you ? STAND WITH YOU strength to leave that cult such pain but true to your values Mike
A while back there was an analysis, that fewer than 100 of the missions really had any activity. The rest probably represent mission (franchise) packages that someone bought – which are profitable for Scientology to sell, and which FSMs probably get a commission on – that lay dormant.
I have kept an eye on the mission scene for years, though I’m not up to date on the latest count and activity. But my guess would be that only about half of that 100 or so have office space outside of someone’s home, and only about half of that remainder really have a storefront operation (which may still only be part-time), while the rest are just run out of the missionholder’s full time business like a dental or financial services office.
Generally, the missions that had storefront operations are downsizing to office space, the missions that were in office space are downsizing to the missionholder’s home or sometimes now co-locating with an org (mostly just to keep up appearnces), and some are finally going out of business as the old missionholders die off. If anyone has a more current picture of things at their fingertips, I’d be interested to see it.