I have been digging through the wikipedia entry on LRH. This is excruciating but pretty concise. I keep shaking my head when I am not laughing in disbelief.
LRH was a parasite. He leached on people for as long as they allowed, then sulked and pouted and tickled the story line to make himself the undervalued hero. They bald faced lies are in themselves more entertaining than anything he wrote. For every epic fail her re-wrote it to be some great feat to be lauded.
I especially liked this line: The FBI did not take Hubbard seriously: an agent annotated his correspondence with the comment, “Appears mental.”[195]
*laughing* Ya think???????
This lying parasitic waste of skin, no wonder co$ doesn’t want it’s members on the *net*. The truth is out there, and they certainly don’t want members to realize just how much of a load of BS they have been buried under for so long.
Curious – are FICA payroll taxes deducted from the weekly stipend paid to Sea Org and Staff volunteers? In other words, does the CoS treat them as paid employees, including deducting taxes and providing Workers Comp insurance?
Ammo, you are thinking of regular employees. S.O. is not. It is in the same class as monks at a monastery. They do not make enough in “allowance” to pay net Federal taxes. Maybe a few pennies in SS contribution. Workers comp doesn’t apply to them.
I know this may sound stupid but can someone explain to me how an ex-Scientologist could possibly turn into an SP? Does the magic wear off that easily? Is it that reversible or weak?
And why would other busy little good Scientologists have to worry about associating with them? What OT level makes you immune to SP influence? Wouldn’t that seem to be a number one goal of paying all that money? To be immune to the Evil Influence of the Frozen Beef Pies, um Suppressive Persons?
Especially since they are approximately 2.5 percent of the population. That’s almost a couple hundred million of them floating around.
Also, who is creating SP’s faster – the general public or CoS? Cuz they sure seem to be cranking them out at an alarming rate. Has there been a study commissioned? Just curious.
I remember that conversation…I didn’t know RB was listening…hahaha
Crazy accurate , give or take a few words.
Thank you RB for the memories , thank God it’s in the past.
What would happen if you sent certified mail with signed return requirement, to any one being held by DM, would they let them sign, would they forge it, or would they just lie, and say that person moved? Just curious at how they handle messing the federal mail system.
That’s true, Mike, and it also goes for contracted staff as well. I remember all the mail I got while I was on staff had been opened by HCO prior to it coming to me.
Alright, gosh darnit! When the Phil and Judy Show was first run a couple years back, I asked if there would be a follow-up to see which way Phil went. But, nope. Nothing. Now we get a re-run. RB, for the love of Xenu, please draw the sequel.
Phil seems like a real simpleton. But then Judy made things crystal clear. Can Phil be that stupid?
Question: could a public Scientologist (not stafff or sea org) be married to a non-Scientologist? Just curious how the comic strip would look if she wasn’t even a Scientologist.
You can’t give away tyre apples when you only have two! Oh yes you can ! You might as well sell your grandmother to the slave market in slower Slovobia and your little niece to an Arab Prince and you’ll be praised for your “humanitarian contribution” to the most ethical group in this planet. All for the greatest good…in the only worthwhile game, the game of Scientology where everybody wins! Good Lord where is my underwear? I am exterior, I quit the physical universe!
I see a Regraded Being coffee table book. And if you put wooden fold out legs on it, it will be a coffee table book that you serve coffee from. (credit to Kramer on Seinfeld show.)
RB, it wasn’t even a satire. It was the truth. The only difference is that at the end the wife gave him the ultimatum. That I never saw happen in real life. Too bad though.
Mike, I hope you and Leah do an episode on the Scientology NARCONON scam….I would like to contribute to it, from a non- scientologist who has been at one….as an RN, the things I want to share are almost unbelievable….people need to be protected from such cultish places…..there are others who are also voicing this, from their experiences, as well…
That would be a very important contribution. I assume you have made contact at “reaching for the tipping point” where good people have been doing great work for a long time.
The criminal organisation known as the “church” of $cientology gets away with too much, and the ignorance-based quackery they practise in narCONon needs to be stopped.
I’d be very interested in hearing your story. I have a friend who works at a narconon in southern California. She assured me that it’s not associated with scientology and it’s never mentioned to clients. HAH! As a never-in I’d really like to know your take on how it’s run, effectiveness (if any) and any scientology related stories.
Somewhere there’s a parallel universe where scientology is still a cult, but Regraded Being has just been released as a new “cult” movie with a huge budget.
Bit of a sideways skip off topic but there’s an interesting read on Ortega’s site today. That geological survey Hubbard did in Puerto Rico and is raved about in Scioland has had some interesting research done on it. I’m not saying everything you read is always 100% true or accurate but the connotations exposed by the very reason Hubbard was there and the reason he was SENT there seems to lay the groundwork and give an explanation of his mindset for the repetitious scamming aspect of the organisation in later years. He was an incredible opportunist (who failed at that particular scam) and so very, very far from being a humanitarian. The only thing missing in that photo of Hubbard in Puerto Rico is the yellow T shirt. Geezers than man could twist the truth & his PR dept. could sure spin a yarn to cover his tracks!
It’s not easy come to terms with the level of deceit of the founder of the Cof$ after so much effort and wherewithal under the guise to help mankind was given to him. Damn sobering!
“Wow! You’re such a BIG BEING!” So goes the praise and “love bombing” as one’s credit card is charged tens of thousands of dollars for sh*t nothing in return…. Everyone is fair game.
When the credit card bill comes in the mail, the donor is literally sick over it and he’s an “out ethics, PTS POS.”
Way to go from hero to scumbag in one billing cycle. The sheer avarice of this cult is so obvious it’s mind boggling.
Well someone once said “stupid is as stupid does” and safe to say we aint doing that stupid stuff anymore!
No more events, no more regges, no more calls at midnight, no more surprise visits, no more IAS beggars, No more confirmation calls, no more surveys, no more knowledge reports, no more ethics chits, no more course supervisors, no more graphs, no more student points sheets, no more Flog world tours, no more mail, no more no more and no more bullshit ………………………with lots more freedom!
Yo Dave,
The best thing you have ever done was to declare my grody ass a suppressive person! I love being a fully suppressed person having to live life out here on the fringes of the known universe. And I can’t wait for next weeks new A&E episode which no one is going to tell me I cannot or should not watch. That’s what you call TOTAL FREEDOM Dave! You will never have it good buddy.
Title, we all were. When you left, you got your old life back! And I celebrate that with you! When I left staff in Honolulu, I headed for my favorite surf spot in Waikiki. I hated being on staff.
Exactly right on, RB. I’ve often wondered how many other scn households were like mine! Now I know!
As predictable as the phone calls from the org on Thursday before 2:00 begging for money, money, money–every month went like this:
Spouse and I at kitchen table paying bills. Suddenly, spouse leaps up and says, “M F – ing SOB &^%$#@!! The damn electric bill his $50 higher this month than last and the water company is raising rates by two percent! The M-F-ing greedy B*stards! We’ve got to cut back somewhere…”
(With a middle class income we had over $65,000 in credit card debt for cult ‘services” not used — just sitting there for the distant future – bridge,IAS, etc… but small increases in the utilities were killing us)..
Maybe we could conserve by showering twice a week instead of daily? Ride the bus instead of driving?
Pitting husband and wife against one another over finances was common. Criticizing one spouse to the other for one not being “a big being” having “counter intention” and “going into agreement with MEST” (matter, energy, space and time) was such a despicable con. However, it did provide an excuse to sell marriage counselling to “handle it” right?
When things came up such as car and home repairs, dental work, etc., we’d get scoffed at. “Well, that’s just MEST and you’re in a meat body, aren’t you?”
(It’s “just MEST” when it’s yours (roof over your head) but cherch assets; posh brick and mortar idle orgs., are “spiritual….”
Oh, wait…then there’s the food thing. Eating is just a “sacrifice to the GE” (genetic entity). Rice and beans offer all the nutrition necessary for a meat body.
Very good RB, you’ve nailed the ridiculous Scio fundraising bs perfectly. Personally, I’m placing my bet with the physical universe over Scientology. Trudy obviously wants a piece of that action too.
There is little that matches the heart wrenching reality of realising you’re a victim of a scam.
I guess I missed this one, RB. I did not understand this kind of pressure would be applied in such an underhanded manner. I had seen mention of these tactics many times before but today I can see how detrimental it can be when you are cornered at one of these ‘let us help you make more money’ events.
Does anyone have their own stories of this type of treatment at these ‘seminars’? I apologize if this causes pain to relate old mental (and financial) scars, but I just have a hard time with $cn when they pressure people for money to no other purpose than to enrich the ‘company’.
This is a common practise in scientology, making it really difficult to say no to handing over yet more money to them. I just stopped going to the events in the end, once they realize that threats don’t work on you any more there is no hold there.
We all have stories of seminars for money. Come on. We all have not one but many stories. One that comes to mind is I went to a seminar to learn the thing that they advertised and instead it was just a few token references thrown out by Drew Johnston and then the rest was regging for money. The bad part was they posted big and fat or big and burley SO members at the doors who wouldn’t let you out. Even if you had to go to the bathroom, they’d follow you to the bathroom to escort you back in. And the IAS had the Big Being close where you are the only Big Being responsible enough to do something about it. So they stroke you with love for being such a big being and then leave you gutted after they take your money. YOu can go home and tell your spouse, “but they gave me this IAS pin to put on my lapel.., at least I’ll look good to my friends with this pin…”
“..followed you to the bathroom?” “Wouldn’t let you leave?” This is more than a “prison of the mind” (quote by another blogger). Geesh…when will this frickin cult and all it’s insane ideology blow the f**k up?
I was on staff in the late 70’s. It was great. The focus then every single day was on helping people improve in life. True success stories were in abundance. I myself had life changing wins and still do from those times. Without getting into my case, LRH tech, saved my life.
Back then the ONLY time anyone was asked for money was from just one registrar on their next step up the bridge or from the book seller who was a very knowledgeable guy and who always took time to get to know the person, then shared references in the books to help him improve his condition. People wanted to see him and to buy because of this. So do I think LRH designed SCN to be a greedy money grab like it is today? No.
Update to todays SCN, I went on the Freewinds hoping to find theta and bonding with like minded souls and enhancement. Instead I was approached in piggy back style with heavy rigging from many staff members of all different posts to buy or contribute to this or that the whole time I was there, even at 10 pm while visiting with friends the seminar speaker came buy to beg for money. I held firm and gave them nothing. The last cycle was so bad I was brought to tears and told I was not a Scientologist because I wasn’t a member of the IAS. This shook me to my core because I was always proud of my contributions and felt it meant something. (Evidently years on staff and FSMing, volunteering and applying SCN are no longer qualifiers) I told the guy he needs to look up the definition of what a Scientologist is as I had been applying SCN everyday. Now knowing what I know about the RPF and stats, someone probably had to do time because financially I couldn’t be had. I feel sorry about that. But geesh what other cruise does one go on where they have already spent a couple thousand, then bombarded with to spend more money, or else?
Today SCN church / IAS is nothing but a shell to the basic and true purpose it was meant to be. With all the alterations of the tech and the way it is run now, it is a wonder as to how anyone can get any gains from services anymore. If there is anything to be gained at all, it’s going to be by an independent who has your best interests at heart and not your wallet.
Barney, I realize that it seemed like that – particularly if you were at the right mission or org, and perhaps in the right place as public or lower-level staff to not to be exposed to some of the uglier management goings-on. There were a lot off well-intended people, public and staff, trying to help each other out and carry out their vision of what they thought Scientology was, or could or should be.
What I started to figure out, and have since confirmed from real old-timers and people close to Hubbard himself, is that Scientology was always a totalitarian, money-grubbing operation from the start. What Hubbard worked out on the ships he commanded in the 1960s, with military-style discipline, the RPF to punish and control people, and international money-laundering operations involving suitcases and even pallet-loads of cash, didn’t make it out into the orgs, and then the missions, until the 1970s and 1980s. At that point the Baby Boom had crested and was turning into the Baby Bust, and the waves of idealistic recruits and the flow of easy money ebbed, leaving Scientology to fight over retaining people, and squeezing larger amounts of money out of each of them (hence, for instance, the insane Hubbard-mandated 10% monthly price increases).
Jill, he also found a way to use all the power of the “religion angle” as he put it, such as belief and hope for a better future, to make it especially compelling and coercive. That’s what’s different – and scary.
Well, they called Mike Rinder of course. Wanted to discuss the possibility of getting their grievances aired on the Aftermath show. Something about fraudulent increasing of credit card limits in order to extort money from them by a IA$ registrar.
This could be funny if it wasn’t so sad! Breaks my heart to see people who genuinely want to do the right thing get raked over the coals and end up in financial ruin!
Seriously, I’ve got so much respect for everyone who got out of this trap and caught back up financially after getting out. I can’t imagine how overwhelming it must feel to try to leave because on top of letting go of the personal faith/belief part – there’s also the sacrifice and investment made. Walking away must feel so difficult when one’s invested SO much so it’s essentially saying “That was all wasted, too!”
Thanks RB! These truly help enlighten us Never-IN’s as to the many-layered depths that CO$ used to keep people feeling stuck in there (that eventually ends up chasing people out).
Jill, I find it interesting that you talk about Scientology taking people’s money in your first sentence – and the damage of drug abuse in the second.
The way that Scientology manipulates people and sets up coercive environments, including around money, definitely has some parallels to addiction. Also, I think it’s fairly obviously the case, that Scientology encourages members to hate psychiatry and “psychs” partly as a way to redirect any repressed frustrations they may have about the “tech.” Psychological projection, or as Hubbard put one aspect of it, accusing others of what you yourself are guilty of, seems to be an inherent mechanism of Scientology’s high-control, high-pressure environment.
But one thing I’d never before thought of, is that Scientology’s focus on drug addiction, may also be a way to redirect members’ frustration about the ways that they have become “hooked.” Today’s RB cartoon and the make-or-break choice it presents, could just as easily be about the costs of someone’s substance abuse, and at the point of having to making one of those classic choices about whether their addiction or their marriage was really more important to them.
Those examples were in mo particular order. Money doesn’t count more than family. But yeah, I see a cult as a drug in many way. They turn on the PA and pat themselves on the back for the &scores* of people they have helped. 20 is a score, so 22 could be score,s and they certainly are not above fudging the number.
“Gawd. This is so close to the truth it’s hard to call it satire. But then that’s the church of scientology.”
More than close, like a documentary scene. This IS what happens. Can you say “Bait and switch”?
Always a pleasure to get an RB rerun. They’re all so well done and to the point! I really think a gathering of all these would make a terrific cartoon book. Self publishing is something we’ve been doing for over 5 years and it is paying off. You might want to give it a try.
I have been digging through the wikipedia entry on LRH. This is excruciating but pretty concise. I keep shaking my head when I am not laughing in disbelief.
LRH was a parasite. He leached on people for as long as they allowed, then sulked and pouted and tickled the story line to make himself the undervalued hero. They bald faced lies are in themselves more entertaining than anything he wrote. For every epic fail her re-wrote it to be some great feat to be lauded.
I especially liked this line: The FBI did not take Hubbard seriously: an agent annotated his correspondence with the comment, “Appears mental.”[195]
*laughing* Ya think???????
This lying parasitic waste of skin, no wonder co$ doesn’t want it’s members on the *net*. The truth is out there, and they certainly don’t want members to realize just how much of a load of BS they have been buried under for so long.
Phil & Trudy have a stuck flow for sure. Flowing to the Infernal Assoc of Scilons.
Curious – are FICA payroll taxes deducted from the weekly stipend paid to Sea Org and Staff volunteers? In other words, does the CoS treat them as paid employees, including deducting taxes and providing Workers Comp insurance?
Ammo, you are thinking of regular employees. S.O. is not. It is in the same class as monks at a monastery. They do not make enough in “allowance” to pay net Federal taxes. Maybe a few pennies in SS contribution. Workers comp doesn’t apply to them.
Hey Mike and fellow posters:)
I do love reading RB. At the surface of it, these posts are funny. But I never forget the negatives lying underneath.
Just being flippant, but….. what is the outcome??!!!! Which way did they go?!
I know this may sound stupid but can someone explain to me how an ex-Scientologist could possibly turn into an SP? Does the magic wear off that easily? Is it that reversible or weak?
And why would other busy little good Scientologists have to worry about associating with them? What OT level makes you immune to SP influence? Wouldn’t that seem to be a number one goal of paying all that money? To be immune to the Evil Influence of the Frozen Beef Pies, um Suppressive Persons?
Especially since they are approximately 2.5 percent of the population. That’s almost a couple hundred million of them floating around.
Also, who is creating SP’s faster – the general public or CoS? Cuz they sure seem to be cranking them out at an alarming rate. Has there been a study commissioned? Just curious.
I remember that conversation…I didn’t know RB was listening…hahaha
Crazy accurate , give or take a few words.
Thank you RB for the memories , thank God it’s in the past.
What would happen if you sent certified mail with signed return requirement, to any one being held by DM, would they let them sign, would they forge it, or would they just lie, and say that person moved? Just curious at how they handle messing the federal mail system.
Certified mail cannot be accepted per policy.
Even if it contained money?
Wow, that is crazy, and sad. There is so much a person must justify to themselves in order to accept this way of life.
So any mail I send my brother in Clearwater will be opened by Scientology before it gets to him?
If he is a Sea Org member, Yes.
That’s true, Mike, and it also goes for contracted staff as well. I remember all the mail I got while I was on staff had been opened by HCO prior to it coming to me.
Its a simple rule – if your outgo exceeds your income, your upkeep will be your downfall.
Alright, gosh darnit! When the Phil and Judy Show was first run a couple years back, I asked if there would be a follow-up to see which way Phil went. But, nope. Nothing. Now we get a re-run. RB, for the love of Xenu, please draw the sequel.
Phil seems like a real simpleton. But then Judy made things crystal clear. Can Phil be that stupid?
I was married to him, and yes. And he chose Co$ over family. A decade later he’s still broke, frustrated, and has not and will not move up the Bridge.
He hasn’t been to Kool-aid drinkers anonymous yet.
Scientology is SO DREARY!
It took me ten years to get out of debt, LOL …
Question: could a public Scientologist (not stafff or sea org) be married to a non-Scientologist? Just curious how the comic strip would look if she wasn’t even a Scientologist.
I believe so as it would be a way to get someone else into Scientology.
You can’t give away tyre apples when you only have two! Oh yes you can ! You might as well sell your grandmother to the slave market in slower Slovobia and your little niece to an Arab Prince and you’ll be praised for your “humanitarian contribution” to the most ethical group in this planet. All for the greatest good…in the only worthwhile game, the game of Scientology where everybody wins! Good Lord where is my underwear? I am exterior, I quit the physical universe!
I see a Regraded Being coffee table book. And if you put wooden fold out legs on it, it will be a coffee table book that you serve coffee from. (credit to Kramer on Seinfeld show.)
RB, it wasn’t even a satire. It was the truth. The only difference is that at the end the wife gave him the ultimatum. That I never saw happen in real life. Too bad though.
I did. He close Co$. He’s miserable and broke and still stuck. I have the family, friends, and a good life.
Mike, I hope you and Leah do an episode on the Scientology NARCONON scam….I would like to contribute to it, from a non- scientologist who has been at one….as an RN, the things I want to share are almost unbelievable….people need to be protected from such cultish places…..there are others who are also voicing this, from their experiences, as well…
That would be a very important contribution. I assume you have made contact at “reaching for the tipping point” where good people have been doing great work for a long time.
The criminal organisation known as the “church” of $cientology gets away with too much, and the ignorance-based quackery they practise in narCONon needs to be stopped.
I second this recommendation!
I’d be very interested in hearing your story. I have a friend who works at a narconon in southern California. She assured me that it’s not associated with scientology and it’s never mentioned to clients. HAH! As a never-in I’d really like to know your take on how it’s run, effectiveness (if any) and any scientology related stories.
Somewhere there’s a parallel universe where scientology is still a cult, but Regraded Being has just been released as a new “cult” movie with a huge budget.
I like this movie idea!!!
Bit of a sideways skip off topic but there’s an interesting read on Ortega’s site today. That geological survey Hubbard did in Puerto Rico and is raved about in Scioland has had some interesting research done on it. I’m not saying everything you read is always 100% true or accurate but the connotations exposed by the very reason Hubbard was there and the reason he was SENT there seems to lay the groundwork and give an explanation of his mindset for the repetitious scamming aspect of the organisation in later years. He was an incredible opportunist (who failed at that particular scam) and so very, very far from being a humanitarian. The only thing missing in that photo of Hubbard in Puerto Rico is the yellow T shirt. Geezers than man could twist the truth & his PR dept. could sure spin a yarn to cover his tracks!
It’s not easy come to terms with the level of deceit of the founder of the Cof$ after so much effort and wherewithal under the guise to help mankind was given to him. Damn sobering!
“Wow! You’re such a BIG BEING!” So goes the praise and “love bombing” as one’s credit card is charged tens of thousands of dollars for sh*t nothing in return…. Everyone is fair game.
When the credit card bill comes in the mail, the donor is literally sick over it and he’s an “out ethics, PTS POS.”
Way to go from hero to scumbag in one billing cycle. The sheer avarice of this cult is so obvious it’s mind boggling.
How could I have been so stupid?
Well someone once said “stupid is as stupid does” and safe to say we aint doing that stupid stuff anymore!
No more events, no more regges, no more calls at midnight, no more surprise visits, no more IAS beggars, No more confirmation calls, no more surveys, no more knowledge reports, no more ethics chits, no more course supervisors, no more graphs, no more student points sheets, no more Flog world tours, no more mail, no more no more and no more bullshit ………………………with lots more freedom!
Yo Dave,
The best thing you have ever done was to declare my grody ass a suppressive person! I love being a fully suppressed person having to live life out here on the fringes of the known universe. And I can’t wait for next weeks new A&E episode which no one is going to tell me I cannot or should not watch. That’s what you call TOTAL FREEDOM Dave! You will never have it good buddy.
You are not stupid, you wanted a better life and got scammed in the process.
Title, we all were. When you left, you got your old life back! And I celebrate that with you! When I left staff in Honolulu, I headed for my favorite surf spot in Waikiki. I hated being on staff.
And THAT is why only suckers ever attended a scamology “prosperity” seminar.
Exactly right on, RB. I’ve often wondered how many other scn households were like mine! Now I know!
As predictable as the phone calls from the org on Thursday before 2:00 begging for money, money, money–every month went like this:
Spouse and I at kitchen table paying bills. Suddenly, spouse leaps up and says, “M F – ing SOB &^%$#@!! The damn electric bill his $50 higher this month than last and the water company is raising rates by two percent! The M-F-ing greedy B*stards! We’ve got to cut back somewhere…”
(With a middle class income we had over $65,000 in credit card debt for cult ‘services” not used — just sitting there for the distant future – bridge,IAS, etc… but small increases in the utilities were killing us)..
Maybe we could conserve by showering twice a week instead of daily? Ride the bus instead of driving?
Pitting husband and wife against one another over finances was common. Criticizing one spouse to the other for one not being “a big being” having “counter intention” and “going into agreement with MEST” (matter, energy, space and time) was such a despicable con. However, it did provide an excuse to sell marriage counselling to “handle it” right?
When things came up such as car and home repairs, dental work, etc., we’d get scoffed at. “Well, that’s just MEST and you’re in a meat body, aren’t you?”
(It’s “just MEST” when it’s yours (roof over your head) but cherch assets; posh brick and mortar idle orgs., are “spiritual….”
Oh, wait…then there’s the food thing. Eating is just a “sacrifice to the GE” (genetic entity). Rice and beans offer all the nutrition necessary for a meat body.
“Right now you have a very important choice to make.” RUN FOR THE HILLS AND DON’T LOOK BACK!
I’m a bit too old to run, can I catch a bus instead?
COS HQs for Canada moving to Guelph, Ontario.
https://www.guelphmercury.com/news-story/7581208-church-of-scientology-headquarters-moving-to-downtown-guelph/
Very good RB, you’ve nailed the ridiculous Scio fundraising bs perfectly. Personally, I’m placing my bet with the physical universe over Scientology. Trudy obviously wants a piece of that action too.
There is little that matches the heart wrenching reality of realising you’re a victim of a scam.
I guess I should tell them that Fatso said, ‘If the GI is down, do not resort to selling postcards or FUNDRAISEING. Solve with more Scientology.’
They are aren’t they? Isn’t that Scientology – applied religious scamology?
I wonder what management/regges/etc say when anyone has the balls to point out these words from Hubbard regarding fundraising.
Absolutely zip… (the sounds of crickets would be deafening if such a scenario every presented itself).
“Fatso”. lolol
The entheta flowing from this Regraded Being is restimulating my bank! And I couldn’t be happier…
Rick, I re stimulated my bank once. They threw me out of the building.
Every time I re-stimulate my bank, they charge me interest…
That’s some funny shit Dude lol!
Old Surfer Dude, you are my role model. 🙂
I guess I missed this one, RB. I did not understand this kind of pressure would be applied in such an underhanded manner. I had seen mention of these tactics many times before but today I can see how detrimental it can be when you are cornered at one of these ‘let us help you make more money’ events.
Does anyone have their own stories of this type of treatment at these ‘seminars’? I apologize if this causes pain to relate old mental (and financial) scars, but I just have a hard time with $cn when they pressure people for money to no other purpose than to enrich the ‘company’.
This is a common practise in scientology, making it really difficult to say no to handing over yet more money to them. I just stopped going to the events in the end, once they realize that threats don’t work on you any more there is no hold there.
As a cheap Scotsman, they never got a lot money from me.
We all have stories of seminars for money. Come on. We all have not one but many stories. One that comes to mind is I went to a seminar to learn the thing that they advertised and instead it was just a few token references thrown out by Drew Johnston and then the rest was regging for money. The bad part was they posted big and fat or big and burley SO members at the doors who wouldn’t let you out. Even if you had to go to the bathroom, they’d follow you to the bathroom to escort you back in. And the IAS had the Big Being close where you are the only Big Being responsible enough to do something about it. So they stroke you with love for being such a big being and then leave you gutted after they take your money. YOu can go home and tell your spouse, “but they gave me this IAS pin to put on my lapel.., at least I’ll look good to my friends with this pin…”
“..followed you to the bathroom?” “Wouldn’t let you leave?” This is more than a “prison of the mind” (quote by another blogger). Geesh…when will this frickin cult and all it’s insane ideology blow the f**k up?
I was on staff in the late 70’s. It was great. The focus then every single day was on helping people improve in life. True success stories were in abundance. I myself had life changing wins and still do from those times. Without getting into my case, LRH tech, saved my life.
Back then the ONLY time anyone was asked for money was from just one registrar on their next step up the bridge or from the book seller who was a very knowledgeable guy and who always took time to get to know the person, then shared references in the books to help him improve his condition. People wanted to see him and to buy because of this. So do I think LRH designed SCN to be a greedy money grab like it is today? No.
Update to todays SCN, I went on the Freewinds hoping to find theta and bonding with like minded souls and enhancement. Instead I was approached in piggy back style with heavy rigging from many staff members of all different posts to buy or contribute to this or that the whole time I was there, even at 10 pm while visiting with friends the seminar speaker came buy to beg for money. I held firm and gave them nothing. The last cycle was so bad I was brought to tears and told I was not a Scientologist because I wasn’t a member of the IAS. This shook me to my core because I was always proud of my contributions and felt it meant something. (Evidently years on staff and FSMing, volunteering and applying SCN are no longer qualifiers) I told the guy he needs to look up the definition of what a Scientologist is as I had been applying SCN everyday. Now knowing what I know about the RPF and stats, someone probably had to do time because financially I couldn’t be had. I feel sorry about that. But geesh what other cruise does one go on where they have already spent a couple thousand, then bombarded with to spend more money, or else?
Today SCN church / IAS is nothing but a shell to the basic and true purpose it was meant to be. With all the alterations of the tech and the way it is run now, it is a wonder as to how anyone can get any gains from services anymore. If there is anything to be gained at all, it’s going to be by an independent who has your best interests at heart and not your wallet.
The earlier part of your story parallels mine, Barney.
Barney, I realize that it seemed like that – particularly if you were at the right mission or org, and perhaps in the right place as public or lower-level staff to not to be exposed to some of the uglier management goings-on. There were a lot off well-intended people, public and staff, trying to help each other out and carry out their vision of what they thought Scientology was, or could or should be.
What I started to figure out, and have since confirmed from real old-timers and people close to Hubbard himself, is that Scientology was always a totalitarian, money-grubbing operation from the start. What Hubbard worked out on the ships he commanded in the 1960s, with military-style discipline, the RPF to punish and control people, and international money-laundering operations involving suitcases and even pallet-loads of cash, didn’t make it out into the orgs, and then the missions, until the 1970s and 1980s. At that point the Baby Boom had crested and was turning into the Baby Bust, and the waves of idealistic recruits and the flow of easy money ebbed, leaving Scientology to fight over retaining people, and squeezing larger amounts of money out of each of them (hence, for instance, the insane Hubbard-mandated 10% monthly price increases).
Sorry to hear that was so disappointing to you.
It doesn’t have to be Scientology. Walk down the Vegas strip and get cornered into a *time share advantage*
LRH didn’t invent snake oil, he just found a new way to package it.
Jill, he also found a way to use all the power of the “religion angle” as he put it, such as belief and hope for a better future, to make it especially compelling and coercive. That’s what’s different – and scary.
Is there a part 2? Cause I wanna see what Phil’s gonna do next.
Then R.B. did a good job writing, again.
Well, they called Mike Rinder of course. Wanted to discuss the possibility of getting their grievances aired on the Aftermath show. Something about fraudulent increasing of credit card limits in order to extort money from them by a IA$ registrar.
This could be funny if it wasn’t so sad! Breaks my heart to see people who genuinely want to do the right thing get raked over the coals and end up in financial ruin!
Seriously, I’ve got so much respect for everyone who got out of this trap and caught back up financially after getting out. I can’t imagine how overwhelming it must feel to try to leave because on top of letting go of the personal faith/belief part – there’s also the sacrifice and investment made. Walking away must feel so difficult when one’s invested SO much so it’s essentially saying “That was all wasted, too!”
Thanks RB! These truly help enlighten us Never-IN’s as to the many-layered depths that CO$ used to keep people feeling stuck in there (that eventually ends up chasing people out).
Happy Weekend, all!
Ditto!
Gawd. This is so close to the truth it’s hard to call it satire. But then that’s the church of scientology.
That’s the Cult of Scientology.
I cannot imagine how hard it is to say, *no fuckin more*. You have taken my money, you have taken my family. You have taken my youth and my dreams.
We can see the damage done by drug abuse. We can see the ravages of mental illness.
This disease that feeds like a parasite on our very souls is almost impossible to explain.
I want to tell you that your speaking out matters. It really matters. Please don’t stop. If your voices are silenced the fight may have been in vane.
You all leave me in awe at your strength, your dedication, and at the way you are really making a difference in this planet.
It might not be exactly what you set out to do. But damned you are going to do it anyway. DM and LRH and co$ be screwed.
THAT is winning the good fight.
Jill, I find it interesting that you talk about Scientology taking people’s money in your first sentence – and the damage of drug abuse in the second.
The way that Scientology manipulates people and sets up coercive environments, including around money, definitely has some parallels to addiction. Also, I think it’s fairly obviously the case, that Scientology encourages members to hate psychiatry and “psychs” partly as a way to redirect any repressed frustrations they may have about the “tech.” Psychological projection, or as Hubbard put one aspect of it, accusing others of what you yourself are guilty of, seems to be an inherent mechanism of Scientology’s high-control, high-pressure environment.
But one thing I’d never before thought of, is that Scientology’s focus on drug addiction, may also be a way to redirect members’ frustration about the ways that they have become “hooked.” Today’s RB cartoon and the make-or-break choice it presents, could just as easily be about the costs of someone’s substance abuse, and at the point of having to making one of those classic choices about whether their addiction or their marriage was really more important to them.
Those examples were in mo particular order. Money doesn’t count more than family. But yeah, I see a cult as a drug in many way. They turn on the PA and pat themselves on the back for the &scores* of people they have helped. 20 is a score, so 22 could be score,s and they certainly are not above fudging the number.
“Gawd. This is so close to the truth it’s hard to call it satire. But then that’s the church of scientology.”
More than close, like a documentary scene. This IS what happens. Can you say “Bait and switch”?
Always a pleasure to get an RB rerun. They’re all so well done and to the point! I really think a gathering of all these would make a terrific cartoon book. Self publishing is something we’ve been doing for over 5 years and it is paying off. You might want to give it a try.
I can see a book on the horizon!
I see misty eyed Scientologists quickly turning to tears if such a book was ever presented to them.
Yes. You should put them all together and publish.
RB is capturing very relatable insights into the scientology culture in a way, as far as I know, no one else is doing.
In your spare time I’m sure you can get it whipped out. 😉