This is an article sent in by one of our intrepid Special Correspondents.
I felt it worthy of its own posting as it highlights some important points.
I recently read an article on Yahoo News about a self made billionaire who has established a philanthropic foundation with 4 billion dollars that he will use to fund criminal reform, education and moral standards. He is not going to do conventional charitable contributions. He has established a highly qualified team to locate workable programs and technologies that will effectively make a change in some of the worst societal ills. This is the Laura and John Arnold Foundation.
Does he know anything about Criminon, Applied Scholastics or The Way to Happiness? No, he doesn’t.
Here we have brilliant technology available combined with a huge means of getting it utilized to bring about real change in the world.
The problem – Scientologists are so tied up in trying to squeeze every possible dime out of the rest of the Scientologists in the field, doing fund-raisers and facing internally that they are not busy doing what LRH lays out in “What we expect of a Scientologist”.
If Scientology’s PR wasn’t such an utterly disastrous situation, one could possibly compile a presentation to many philanthropic foundations such as this to get them involved. But with the current state of affairs, such foundations would be at high risk for massive controversy and they will not take that sort of risk.
Do a simple and very safe test on your own. Sit down at your computer and do a Google search on The Way to Happiness. Ignore the Church sites and the sites that TWTH Chapters have put up and just search for any news site or blog that has reported on TWTH being distributed in their area or any good results from the use or distribution of TWTH.
If you have now done that you will see that there is virtually nothing there. Do the same for Criminon, Volunteer Ministers, Applied Scholastics and Narconon. All you will find is sites put up by the Church, sites from various chapters put up by Scientologists and otherwise mostly bad PR. You will find virtually nothing about these great social betterment programs actually doing something in the world.
The internet today is a real way that you can find out about almost any subject. With reviews from people who have used products and the hundreds of thousands of blogs and news sites – if something as good as these social betterment programs were being effectively disseminated there would certainly be information about it on the web.
I have traveled all over the U.S. and to many countries around the world in the last several years. I never see information or even ads on tv, in newspapers, or any media actually about Scientology, Dianetics or any of these social betterment activities. I never see it on the news with the exception of bad PR reports. The only time I have seen a Scn ad was during the Superbowl coverage and that ad was frankly a very expensive disaster as it attempted to address the bad PR but just did not come off.
The real travesty here is that there is brilliant and workable technology laid out by LRH. Tech that can not only help people get off drugs, but rid them of the harmful effects of having taken them, that can teach people how to learn and how to educate others successfully, that can reform criminals and drastically reduce recidivism, that can teach basic morals and most importantly that can provide spiritual relief and freedom to man – and that technology is being suppressed.
If you have been led to believe that the “attacks” are “signs of success” you are simply justifying the lack of results.
Take Narconon for example. Some of the most horrifically bad PR is coming from this sector. Most recently a huge fraud scandal was exposed where recommendations by doctors have been forged by Narconon so as to collect insurance. This isn’t a sign of success. This is outright out-ethics and criminal activity committed to collect more money. If you have not heard of this you can simply Google search Narconon insurance fraud.
What about the Mission Network? The number of Missions around the world has greatly decreased and many of the ones that do still exist are small and failing. Missions in a back room in someone’s house or Missions that are only open 2 nights a week with 3 people on part time staff – this is the broad state of affairs of the Mission Network. And that includes Missions opened by celebrities with great fanfare that are now closed or have moved to far less glamorous locations. These include the Memphis Mission opened by Lisa Marie Presley and Isaac Hayes & the SOMA Mission opened by Jenna Elfman. What happened to all of the big booming Missions that existed in the 70s and 80s? For any of you who were around then, you know that there were many successful Missions and some were bigger than most orgs today.
International Bridge progress – Grade Chart completions, Clears, OTs and Auditors being made – is the lowest it has been in many years. Wouldn’t you like to see graphs of these stats at the big international events that are held? There is a reason these are not shown.
Don’t believe me? Go into any Class V Org in your area and ask to see the stats of Clears made, Grade Chart completions or Auditors Made. If they won’t show them to you, then you know they are not good. Otherwise, why wouldn’t they be more than happy to show them off. Flag use to often show these graphs in their heyday at events and graduations.
Scientologists have been being heavily pressured to donate to “Ideal Org” buildings, the IAS and a few other things such as leather-bound books, far more than they are expected to donate for their own over-priced services.
Scientologists who have moved or are moving up The Bridge and winning should be involved in many of the incredible dissemination programs that have been laid out and directed by LRH. These include “The Perfect Dissemination Program”, “The Special Zone Plan, the “Volunteer Ministers Program” throughout neighborhoods and communities and many others covered in OEC Volume 6. With the possibilities that exist through the internet, these and other LRH Programs like it could be HUGE. How about a Social Network similar to Facebook that could connect up people and organizations in need of help right in your own community that had all of the basic tech of the Scientology Handbook available to learn on-line and apply it? People who are not Scientologists could easily read these simple references and apply them in their own lives or in their communities.That could be huge.
So while there are huge outpoints here, let’s look at BASIC PURPOSE and whether Scientology is moving rapidly toward its accomplishment. The basic purpose is to apply workable technology in many facets of life so as to improve conditions, and to expand Scientology so as to achieve this in greater and greater volume.
Maybe one can close their eyes and figure out a way to justify the excessive regging that every Sea Org member, every staff member and most OTs are being pressured to perform to bang away on Scientologists to donate to the IAS and “Ideal Orgs” with absolutely no LRH policy or programs that support these activities. Someone could say – the IAS is our way of funding such programs and dissemination. However after decades of taking in donations to in excess of a billion dollars, why is it these programs are not HUGE and all over the world?
There is truly an intense need of change and demand for improvement in the world to address the greatest ills that plague society at large. Meanwhile we are sitting here with the most brilliant programs and technology that actually could fulfill many of these needs in spades and they are not being made known or actually utilized. And there are many ways and means that these programs could be disseminated and funded without Scientologists having to dole out endless donations or be involved in countless fund-raising activities. They just aren’t being done and far too many people are closing their eyes on this fact.
Here’s another area of hypocrisy: It is part of Scientology culture to be down on welfare, the dole, charity, etc., because of what LRH said in numerous places about rewarding downstats and nonproduction. Yet, all that orgs are nowadays are charities, begging for donations because they can’t support themselves through honest exchange. When you reward non-production, you get non-production. Maybe it’s just proof that he was right about that.
I’d like to chime in regarding the workability of the ABLE or what was once the SoCo programs. I know about APS from being connected to it in the field through an APS school that has been around for 25 years. Once upon a time, a contract with APS was simple: pay your 10% and use their copy right on your promo. That was it. However, along the way this changed into a super micro managing organization. I was trained to say that the study tech was the most amazing discovery of the century bla bla bla, and each school was supposed to go out into their city and promote Ron, use letters from Tom Cruise and John Travolta about how the study tech helped them etc…No trained teacher or principal is going to listen to what a couple of actors have to say about the study tech. More importantly, LRH’s name have never been good PR, and that is just how it is and how it has always been. The fact is that the Church runs the programs and eventually people would see the connection. They would feel betrayed once they discovered that Mr.Hubbard was LRH/Scientology Hubbard. Finally, the church stopped lying outright, and was more covert by saying that the LRH library gave permission for the use of the study tech, drug handling ‘tech’ etc. Still, it isn’t hard to see that the church controls these groups since the internet explosion. In the New Civilization Course that I did on the ship, Ron said not to worry about telling them {public} that what your doing is Scientology…just help them, and eventually they will want to know.
It seems that the Church could have done better by having its own schools, just as other religions have done (the Catholics, for one). Producing good results is what people want, and when they see good results they aren’t so concerned about the connection. Many people send their kids to Catholic schools who are not Catholic in practice. The church did not want to take on these activities, like schools, because they weren’t part of the org board and the public was supposed to do it through Div 6. The problem is that the church could NEVER let go and allow the public just to create with the tech, or the drug data, etc without trying to push things along through orders and demands. Any sign of a successful action and the church wants to own it, pr it to death, micro manage and alter the stats. Delphi has been around for a long time, but has a small population of students, it’s very expensive, and Scientology organizational policies and ethics are used there. I know people who left because of their close connection to the church, however, at least they don’t try to hide it. I don’t know about the last few years, but they didn’t have any academic stats that were amazing, and they use to only take students who scored at certain levels…no remedial students. How nice is that for a population of students! The biggest outpoint of the church is that they have always used PR to cover instead of the way it is intended to be used. They lie even when they don’t need to lie. Also, they don’t want to work with others in forming a group. I talked to Narconon Int, got trained by Bobby Wiggins, talked to many Narconon’s and they suffer from the same church mentality…they told me outright that the 85% recovery rate wasn’t actually accurate, and that they had trouble actually getting the true stats. They can’t be insured by insurance companies—not because everyone is SP–but because they refuse to keep doctors on hand on a daily basis. Narconon has doctors who visit. The places are run by exdruggies who have no training other than what they get at Narconon. I talked to many staff and I was dismayed at what really goes on there. The church has enough money to do it right! The purif can be effective along with Tr’s. It can get products, but if Narconon would set up like other facilities and allow medical staff to run it, and then work with social workers etc on getting people into job training if necessary and other things to support the ex addict, then they could have been stellar. So, as Mike says, there are positive contributions that can be made by using some LRH data, but the organization will never allow it to happen. I had waned to bring the purif to existing organizations, like the Genisis Project as they were very interested in anything that could help withdrawl. There was no way that the church was going to allow that…long story, but same ol’, same ol’
Thank you for your amazing reporting, Mike. !
Mike, you are all truth with this article.
Only the truth can cut through so many feet of armor plate
Well done Mike
On the Narconon front, there is recent breaking news of a class action civil suit in Atlanta covered on their local TV station which include fraud and racketeering charges. This is in addition to the criminal investigations which are ongoing. http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/class-action-lawsuit-calls-narconon-rehab-fraud/nYBTZ/
Awesome news Sinar~ The Communist Cult of $ciendollary is getting exposed for its straight up and vertical stats of Fraud!
Thanks for posting the very good news!
I really hope Luis Garcia can go all the way and not take any buy-outs from the CCof S$$$$.
Please Luis – if you are reading this – please, please – go all the way and depose David Miscavige – please never settle for money and a gag order by the Cult!
I think you have some of the World’s finest attorney’s representing you.
The Cult can’t hurt you because the World is watching the internet.
The Cult’s tactics of fair game are over – the tides have changed.
Easy for you to say.
I understand your dream but let’s not forget that Luis has to do what he has to do. Luis has integrity in spades, I’m sure he will do as much as he can. The cult has lots of money and they will suck you dry if they can get away with it.
I second Blown SP’s plea to Luis Garcia to please don’t take any settlement the church offers you in return for silence or at all. If you run out of money due to the church drawing it out so that you’ll go broke, ask for help in that case and we’ll all donate to you like we did to the Headleys. Just don’t sell out please. This could take DM down and so we are all rooting for you Luis!
Yes we will help – thanks Jane Doe!! Love your attitude!
Tony S – some person at some point will go all the way – don’t underestimate people! Of course the cult tries to break people – nothing new there – but FRAUD is FRAUD!! Maybe this will be the year!!
Go Luis Go! Go all the way!!
http://youtu.be/-s8iie0zZ-g
Kaboom!
1999 or so … WISE used to come into the org with the ED’s & OTC’s blessing told by all parties just mentioned we had to sign 10% of our income over to them if you have a business. In fact they wrote me up for leaving their “seminar” or whatever it was they had me to come in under false pretenses of something “new & exciting”.
I know several people that are completely broke and bankrupt from belonging to WISE. Some spent $40-$80 grand a year to be told to “promote”. WISE is a scam! It is part of the front groups like Volunteer Minister’s. The VM people are individuals that pay to help – the Co$ does nothing but send Gold crews to film them helping and then take credit for others helping. The volunteer’s even have to purchase the yellow T-shirt. The yellow vans are not licensed and just sit in the parking lots of the Morgues – all part of the “smoke and mirrors”. VM’s do really nothing compared to Salvation Army and Red Cross.
Professionals paid the WISE consultant $20K each year for their consulting. The practitioner spun – the WISE consultant regged them for their entire bridge on debt – they lost their homes, filed BK, spun and spun and spun! Anyone out there flourish because of WISE? I have not seen it – eventually they are broken by the cult. It is a front group for the cult! WISE is a joke, in my humble opinion. They tried to “force” me to join and pay $1,500 and annual fees – no one belonged anymore. I told them unless there was a group that could benefit my business – it is a waste of time, money and effort.
To my knowledge WISE is no longer permitted to consult and charge fees to those who are already Sciendollarists, only those businesses owned by raw public. When I queried the logic of this I was told that WISE was using admin tech to recruit new Sciendollarists and that those already on board had the tech. Crazy, huh? Here the existing Sciendollarists have to pay dues to WISE but if they need or want consulting they’re not allowed to receive it from their own group!
Actually, I’m referring to the certified WISE Consultants who charge fees. These guys are not permitted to work for existing Sciendollarists.
LRH’s Affluence Attainment Formula says “do the things that won before, not new things untried.” The simple truth is that when Scientology was at its high point of booming in the early 70’s there were no big advertising campaigns. WISE and TWTH didn’t exist yet. Narconon, Applied Scholastics, Crimanon, etc. were in their infancy and a total non-factor in dissemination. And the Success Through Communication Course and the Life Improvement Courses hadn’t yet been created. The early 70’s boom was based on missions selling DMSMH in the context of the “total freedom” button, not “something can be done about it,” and giving new people big wins fast on real TRs and Life Repair, followed by a short runway that directly produced co-auditors on HQS and the HSDC. This resulted in strong positive word of mouth. Mission and org volume outflow (the exact form of which was relatively unimportant) was also necessary in order to activate inflow through existing students, but the inflow didn’t come in from where the outflow was directed. It always came overwhelmingly from existing students FSMing in their friends. This was the simple formula that worked, and would work again if repeated. The core of it, however, is giving new people big wins fast, and that means true Standard Tech and short runways. So it will never be done again in the Church, at least under the current management.
Opps — not bed — bet 🙂
One comment about Narconon —
This was started in prison by Willy Benetiz — with apparently excellent results. The prisoners did TRs. I don’t believe they did anything else. TRs.
Somewhere along the line it was introduced outside of prison and then the purification rundown became part of the program. I’m willing to bed the results dwindled.
Years ago the husband of someone who became one of the senior execs at CCLA (after divorcing her husband) … was an alcoholic. He did extensive purification rundowns and continuously reverted to drinking.
An addict — Narconon … versus the benefits of purication rundown are simply not the same thing.
Anyway — this whole Narconon thing has irritated me for years and today I’m particularly irritated so I thought I would weigh in … I’ll go back to solitaire …
🙂
I have in the past been involved with LRH’s social betterment groups. I have seen the successes and know there is a great need for LRH tech in education, the criminal justice system, drug abuse and other social service areas. I for one experienced first hand the reach for LRH tech. Recently I’ve been thinking about it and how I can do this again and still handle my finances. Then surprise, Mike publishes his new post today on “Scientology Introversion.” It speaks a lot of truth. To me DM has used these groups to rake in the monies and get PR for the himself and the church. But there are a lot of people on staff and volunteering who are very dedicated to trying to help man improve himself and to help handle broken lives. They are not doing it for PR. They do it because they care. But, DM doesn’t make it easy for them and there are barriers.
“There is truly an intense need of change and demand for improvement in the world to address the greatest ills that plague society at large. Meanwhile we are sitting here with the most brilliant programs and technology that actually could fulfill many of these needs in spades and they are not being made known or actually utilized. And there are many ways and means that these programs could be disseminated and funded without Scientologists having to dole out endless donations or be involved in countless fund-raising activities. They just aren’t being done and far too many people are closing their eyes on this fact.”
This speaks not just to the C of S and its staff, executives and church members it speaks to each one of us. I don’t want to be one of those people closing my eyes any more on the fact that the world is in need of change and we have a workable technology to bring that about. It is rolling up one’s sleeves and starting to make a difference; Joining forces with other people of the same mind and intentions and together making a difference, one person and one group at a time.
The bottom line is that Crazy Davey is the SP. Of course the tech could be used to it’s full potential, but he finds that too much of a threat. He needs people to cower around him. So that is what is happening. And the tech is NOT a church. No Divine Source… it’s just great tech. Sensible observations on how to put more order in your life. However… once it starts to masquerade as a church (for tax reasons)… that is where it starts getting into trouble. What if it was just a terrific Self Help tool? It’s not Gospel according to LRH. Gimme a break. It’s nice self-help stuff. I have spent time with an Enlightened Master… and the energy is unmistakeable. It is of love, acceptance and total joy and celebration of aliveness. There are no rules. Just peace.
To my mind, the tech is nice. It is not a mystery school. LRH is not God. Nor is he a prophet. His a smart guy who wanted to create a religion, created a massive amount of work with some good insights in it. And ended up miserable, running from his supposed persecutors and drugging himself into oblivion. Does that sound like a Buddha? A Christ? A Mahavir? An Osho? He had some good shit that has been usurped by criminals. They are making boatloads of money off the stupid and unwilling-to-looks. The criminals will strip as many people as possible of eveyrthign they have and then try to make off to wherever they go to.
Question: Does anyone know if Crazy Davey is the only one in on this plan? Are there others that he is fronting for? Is he the only one narcissistic enough to be visible in this charade? I was told many years ago that there were a few people who had taken over and were reaping all the money.
Zana, well since you asked, here is a possible answer. I don’t know if it’s true, but a friend told me this. Here is what she said|:
A veteran upstat SO member, over 25 years in, Gary Titus (married to Debbie Titus), told her that the SO had been able to read a NON-BPI reference by LRH about leaving the planet to go to somewhere else in the solar system when things got bad enough or the time was right. And also there is reference there and in other places of “Target Two.” (as in the next planet to Clear). And she said that Gary said that Ron said that the SO would board the rocket and launch off the planet to some other place. My friend offered her own opinion that the reason DM is amassing as much money as he can is so that he can have the spaceship built, which takes tons of money. One man can’t possibly spend as much money in one lifetime as DM has already squirreled away (pun intended.) So she thought he was going to use it to have a rocket built and he and his Bromance brother, Tom Cruise would be on it as well as a handful of faithful SO members who were deemed good enough to be let on the rocket ride to another planet. I know it sounds outlandish and space opera ish, but what if????? It would explain DM’s obsession and insane drive to milk as much money as he can out of the blind flock.
This is all delusory. There is no Non BPI reference from LRH. There is no spaceship. But this is about as believable as the “Ideal Orgs are going to clear the planet” story — and plenty of people buy that….
Jane Doe – I wish I had heard that story about the spaceship long ago. I would have cognited a whole sooner that things had taken a turn for the dippy. Some may think they are “on Source” but they sound like the are “on sauce”.
Another explanation for Miscavige’s obsession with milking the public of money, would be that an SP harms in the name of “help”. He gives “good cause”, sets up a MESTy purpose that would appeal to many, but in truth the plan is as much to disempower others (the public,staff and SO), and to destroy the church, as it is to empower himself.
Another explanation is that many in the SO have no understanding about money. I often had the impression that regges have an almost childlike approach on the topic of money. The only thing they know about it is that they want it. And because they are not really getting much of it themselves, they have no qualms about asking for it because they don’t feel out exchange at all. I once heard Brandy Shaw saying that when you reg for a donation, don’t believe that the person you are asking has not got any money. They really think that the public are just holding out on them, and THAT is the reason for the resistance. Just bloody-mindedness. And they believe the public are out ethics and need to be brought to understand the purpose. Miscavige uses and abuses the ignorance and zeal of the SO, criticizes and punishes them if they do not get the “product” etc, and so he destroys them as much as he destroys the public and the church.
And if Miscavige was saving up for a spaceship (or even anything credible and honourable), I am sure he would he would have cut his own spending on custom made shoes and suits, private chefs and jets, cars, boats, yachts, personal accommodation, birthday parties for pals……
I think I saw that movie, it was called “Moonraker!”
PS to last post. Gary Titus, a smart and caring upstat veteran SO member told this to my friend about the SO and DM going off in a space ship. Gary has since that time dropped his body from a heart attack. RIP Gary. You were always high ARC with me and your wish to help shined from you like a beacon. I”m sorry DM worked you to death so much that you died in harness without seeing any of the sights outside the bubble.
Great post, well said. The true spirit of Scientology; rejuvenating in me the drive of the good ‘ol days.
With regard to the statements — “Take Narconon for example. Some of the most horrifically bad PR is coming from this sector. ” — note the development this morning from Tony Ortega:
Class-Action Lawsuit Alleging Fraud Filed Against Scientology and Narconon
http://tonyortega.org/2013/06/04/class-action-lawsuit-alleging-fraud-filed-against-scientology-and-narconon/
In my opinion, to those still in the RCS, what they hear and see at events are “proof” that their donations are having a profound impact on society.
For many years when I attended these things it never occurred to me that I was being blatantly lied to. For many years it never occurred to me to question or even entertain the slightest doubt that what was related at Int Events was other than total truth.
I lived in a Scientology bubble. All my information about Scientology came from the church. A simple twist of fate changed all that for me, but I still know and communicate with those still in, and it is obvious to me that they entertain no doubts about data fed them at Int Events. It does not occur to them to even question; to entertain the possibility that their church is lying. I was like that.
Yes, me too Aquamarine. And everyone I knew. We would all have these happy happy smiles after an event. We would feel the warm glow of accomplishment and forward progress. Far back in your mind you could hear the noise of the lies bouncing around and failing to mesh with reality. But the idea of following down that clanking noise was just to frightening. Your spouse, your family, your job. It was just so much easier to close your eyes. I believe however that as time goes on slowly slowly a sorting process is occurring. Higher confront people leave or drift away. The low confront people stay behind. The lower the confront, the longer it takes. Years from now, when DM is going and a billion dollars in reserves mysteriously “missing” there will still be people that have his photo in their wallet and wish for the days when DM was their leader and hero. I barf at the thought.
🙂
The events can also lead to an easing of the discomfort of the “cognitive dissonance“, are kind of an acknowledgment that what one is doing is “not wrong”, pushing the popping up out-points and doubts out of view.
IMO, one of the huge steps to get out of the cult is to permit oneself to “having been wrong” and overcoming the loss of having infested so much for a cause which didn’t turn out to be what one was assuming it is.
… having “invested” (not infested)
Yes, to “permit oneself to be wrong” is key. They have a dream, a vision of something great or potentially great being achieved, something great based on the greatness and workability of the tech, and this vision is posted up there in their minds, and its tough to have to admit that its not happening, that it will not happen, that its just the RCS’s perpetrated illusion and their own delusion Very tough to confront, especially when it dawns on you that its all been done in a calculating and deliberate manner.
Well these programs are all so “brilliant and wonderful”. I take issue with that. What makes a program brilliant and wonderful are demonstrable and reproducible results. Until those are out there in volume, I hold my judgment on those programs. I have been fed enough propaganda I need facts.
And here we are coming to one of the reasons demonstrable and reproducible results are not out there in volume: Compulsive control and the obsession to dominate.
One icon of the American industry, IBM, one day thought they could dominate the game and control the industry. When they adopted that concept it drove them right to the abyss.
The same abyss the COS is moving closer to every day, because they also try to compulsively control and dominate. It made them so isolated and irrelevant that they and their wonderful and brilliant programs judged by their actual products are at best a bad joke if not criminal endeavors.
Unless tech is not being used in volume and produces results in even larger volumes, all that is wonderful and brilliant about it is that Scientologists can pad themselves on the back and how wonderful and brilliant they are having this tech. It is mental masturbation.
An approach where Scientologists do not present themselves as the all-knowing saviors having the tech for any ills under the sky, but taking the pieces of the tech into a particular field without prejudice and objectively measure the results, that would be something new.
A feat the COS can never accomplish.
Gerhard — are you taking such a strident, contrarian position just to stir up controversy?
I certainly do not disagree that there is a lack of products. It was the point of this posting.
But I know I have personal experience — and I am sure there are others who have too including the person who wrote this piece — of improving conditions and helping people with this stuff. I don’t need anything done on a grand scale to prove to ME that they have value. The point of this post was to say “Why can’t people actually USE them to help, rather than turning them into a PR tool?”
To say that use of WTH or helping teach people to look up words is “at best a bad joke if not criminal” is simply an extreme and provocative opinion, itself not based on facts or common sense.
You have a right to your opinion and I posted your comment. But I did not want that to be interpreted as me being in agreement with your extremism.
You are correct Mike and I agree that the tech is extremely workable in the right hands. If someone judges the workability of the tech based on current statistics it would certainly appear that it doesn’t work…and as I state in my other posts on this matter I believe their is a credible explanation as to why.
I believe Gerhard is applying “look don’t listen” but has simply not uncovered the correct why.
Hi Mike,
I am not for stirring up controversy for the sake of controversy. But controversy for the sake of better insight and honest exchange of different viewpoints is nothing bad in my opinion. And tolerating and understanding other viewpoints without prejudice is a virtue.
You need to read my post again. I talk about the ‘programs” that are supposedly save the world. The programs are Narconon, ABLE, WISE and so forth.
It is obvious the proposal to looking up words is about as criminal as the advice from the dentist to brush your teeth twice a day. So twisting it that way is kind of missing the point and quite off the argument I make.
Any of the programs run by the COS from Narconon through WISE and ABLE have elements of fraud and criminality in them. Some have reached the criminal justice system others haven’t. That is a verifiable fact. Still the COS sounds of at every event its propaganda how wonderful and brilliant those are.
I think I know and mentioned one of the key reasons why these programs do not work. But before I fall into the same lingo as the COS I want to actually see, how these programs indeed change the world otherwise it sounds like an echo from the last event. Repeating the same litany one can hear from the COS.
Is that the position of an extremist? I do not think so. I think this is about getting real.
At a subjective level I have seen the tech works and produces remarkable results. That does not mean I am in agreement with the hype and the actually unfounded claims made for these social programs.
I do believe the tech has the potential to make a big difference. But it has to be done and actually factually demonstrated before one praises the Lord. I see it as a challenge to bring the tech into social programs and show how beneficial it is. It is something for us to do in the future.
Gerhard — thanks for clarifying and I did misread you. My apologies. I 100% concur with your last two paras. Sums it up perfectly. Thankyou for taking the time to make sure I got what you meant straight.
Thank you, Mike, for giving good perspective on this. I am still vacillating on whether to sell all my books and CDs and emeters (at a big loss, I might add) just to get them out of the house and go on with my life. Or if there might be something intelligent that I can integrate into my OWN intelligence to make my life better. The jury is still out on that one. I’m pondering it. I find LRH pretty boring to listen to. Even so, a lot of what he has said has truth and validity to it. And some of the weird stuff about aborting fetuses and laying blame on mothers for sneezing while they are pregnant… well, that’s just a little too much for me. However… like a poet who can only reach a certain level of consciousness it moments of exhaltation … and after that, his life is a mess… it seems as though that’s what LRH may have been. A few moments of exalted wisdom… and, without the streaming of Love through his soul, it all fell apart. Love is the glue that could hold it all together and gives it perspective. There was No Love there. And so his life was wasted. As a great master (Osho) once said, “Love is the only miracle there is. Love is ladder from hell to heaven. Love learned well, you have learned all. Love missed, you have missed your whole life.”
Gerhard
You are quite correct in my opinion.
You mention compulsive control and the obsession to dominate which are indicative of someone who is not cleared on the help button. (deadly quartet : Help,Control,Communication,Interest)
As I mention in my post above the help button is actually very alive in Scientology today as reactive. No help will be accomplished in social betterment whether the tech works or not until that button is cleared.
This is why an honestly caring person can accomplish results just by talking to someone with whatever limited means they have at their disposal and why a person armed to the teeth with workable technology but an FU attitude will fail every time.
Gerhard, I salute you for your incredibly true and strong statements.
I’m so sick of hearing them beam with delight: “Aren’t we lucky that WE have this Tech!” Yet when I hear their TR-1 while they try to pass an E-Meter drill it almost makes me scream.
I have some sympathy with Gerhard on this actually. On the one hand there’s no doubt that there are some elements of some of these programs that can be beneficial but one needs to be very selective and cautious and apply what is only routinely and provably successful in the field. If you strip away Narconon’s PR and propaganda for example you will find the Purif and TRs based program slightly less successful in terms recidivism according to data I have see than more conventional rehab programs. And yes, looking up words in study can only be good thing, but to take the logic leap from there that Applied Scholastics is “the solution to illiteracy” is a step too far. I think that as with the subject of Scientology as a whole we have to be able to afford ourselves the luxury of being highly selective about what to use and when to use it. And further, before we start being didactic about ANY piece of “tech” we should be very very certain we aren’t still viewing it though the rose-tinted Scientology goggles.
How many companies are there in the Fortune 500 that use Admin tech? One? None? I don’t know but after 50 odd years of it being around if it really was the solution to booming a company somebody would know about it and have shown it by now. TWTH is no better really than some of the pamphlets I regularly get through my door from various Christian based religions promoting common sense virtues in life. It certainly isn’t going to create calm in a war zone The tendency since very early days to over-promise and under-deliver has been one of THE reasons Scientology will never be more than a minority activity. IMHO of course.
Thanks Martin. Perhaps I misread what Gerhard was saying.
“The tendency since very early days to over-promise and under-deliver has been one of THE reasons Scientology will never be more than a minority activity. ”
Gerhard, I think that, in many if not most cases, what you say about the COS 4th dynamic activities turns out to be true. But this has NOT been true in all cases. In the past where the purpose has been to actually HELP others with the Tech, there has been, to my observation, great success both in drug rehab and education. For Example, back in the ’60s and ’70s Willie Benitez, the person who actually founded Narconon with LRH’s blessing and assistance, was very successful in getting people off drugs, out of the criminal justice system, and on to leading productive lives. The deciding factor in my opinion is and has always been INTENTION. Where this tech has been applied for its purpose of helping others, it has been very successful even when compared to other programs with a similar purpose. It does cost some money to deliver these products, but when the overriding purpose is to help others, collecting that money is a secondary purpose done only to keep delivering and is not painful or difficult.
However, when the PRIMARY purpose of the activity becomes to accumulate money and/or to USE the good name previously earned by help groups to create “good PR” for the Church, that’s when things fall apart. It is all about Intention and Honesty. Truth be told, if these groups did actually produce the products that the TECH is capable of in volume, the COS would garner some “good PR” …..but only as as a SECONDARY result of sponsoring them. However, that original intention to help was changed over the years and these groups have morphed into cash cows and “PR capers”.
These wonderful 4th dynamic programs have been greatly weakened or destroyed.
Miscavige and the COS have shot the horse they were riding on and now they wonder why they are all bunged up and lying in the gutter.
I seem to recall that the Drug Rundown was originally part of the Narconon Proigram.
Anyone know if that is correct and if so when it was taken off the program?
I assume that you are talking about the Scientology Drug Rundown and/or the Dianetics Drug RD. These were both delivered in the COS and I believe still are. Of course they are also delivered in the Indie field.
As far as I know auditing was never a part of the Narconon program. If anyone in a Narconon program wanted auditing they had to go to an org after completing the program.
Gerhard – this is thought provoking and a very valid post! I think too much credit is given for programs Scientology “sells” but has yet to produce anything the world deems “working”. I don’t need a Scientologist to say it works – I need the overall population to say it works.
I recall giving the cult credit for my successful business to try to get others in Scientology – bring them to my office and show them the results of 20 years of hard work I did w/o the tech of L Ron Hubbard. I never got into debt – I treated customers with care and concern. It is simple – the tech for admin has some truths but some of it is loonie – like training people to think … not paying your bills and coming up with a system to pay and hold off creditors.
This is done because the Class Five Morgues and Missions never have any money – it all goes to the top – so of course, they need a system to not pay their bills…Corporate Sciendollary keeps them broke on purpose. Make the staff think it is their fault their Morgue is a Morgue – and the poor staff are in constant confusion spinning round and round … never getting anything done!
Thanks for letting me vent!
Mike,
I think Miscavige realized some time ago that the money and effort involved in real dissemination was too much. You can see the dismantling of Central Marketing Unit and Pubs Orgs 15 years ago and the subsequent rise in stature of the IAS. Dissemination efforts were only supported if they could be used for potential video footage at events in order to initially drive in-house sales of things like “Special Edition” leather bounds or new releases. This has now morphed to straight donations to IAS or the fund de jour.
Like waiting for the arrival of the releases of advanced OT levels, I am sure parishioners believe that once we have all the ideal orgs in place, we can unleash the broad dissemination campaigns, a complete inversion of policy on this matter as well as common sense.
“The real travesty here is that there is brilliant and workable technology laid out by LRH. Tech that can not only help people get off drugs, but rid them of the harmful effects of having taken them, that can teach people how to learn and how to educate others successfully, that can reform criminals and drastically reduce recidivism, that can teach basic morals and most importantly that can provide spiritual relief and freedom to man – and that technology is being suppressed.”
And the tech can give an understanding of life, to better handle problems, upsets, relationships. This is what Scn is really about. Putting up OT III material is a very small fraction of Scn and is done only to try to confuse and discredit the very workable subject.
Mike, you are totally right. Using tech, admin and ethics in the local community through social networks is a fantastic idea. The idea is not to recruit or to make money or clear the planet, but just to help and improve one’s life and those around us. That’s the simple solution. It doesn’t cost a penny and you don’t even need authorisation.
Full ownership of one’s own dynamics is not permitted in the CoS. So long as you have to answer to someone then you’re a slave. DM’s speciality is keeping everyone on a leash (in case they turn around and bite him).
I’ve thought about this exact thing myself–even to the point of who and how it would get funded, but didn’t know anyone who could help significantly. I wish I was settled enough financially so I could do this 24/7 like I wanted to when I first found out about Dianetics. For years I was a succesful VM, successful at Book One and simple assist actions. I’ve saved marriages, taught kids how to study so they could quickly learn what they missed in a school year so they could move on and not get held back a grade, and supervised drug rehabilitation and the Purif, all to exellent results.
Then I thought about, and tested a little bit, dealing with the gross fallout of Miscavige’s actions every single time I tried to disseminate. Big problem. I could see two ways around it—get him and his slaves/influence the heck out of there for real (going to take more time—years?), or come up with the fast and effective elevator speech about how it used to be good stuff and it has now been altered by “new management” into a scary, harmful and undesirable thing (takes a fwe minutes). You’d easily get around how and why it’s so messed up now and the person you are talking to would figure it out and also stay away from the organized churches so as not to get contaminated. At least you’d have some space in which to deliver simple actions to help the person with their immediate difficulty. If they want more they’ll come back to you. and ask about it.
I’ve got half a mind to pack up and join someone(s) who has the means to do this and wants to get back to it or who needs more people. Anyone interested?!
“Intention” and “purpose” form the backbone of true help.
If one would step over the sleeping body of a drug addled teenager to walk in to any organization and then donate (or have extorted) money and/or time towards social betterment,then that person is a hypocrite.
Perhaps the greatest gain I have gotten since leaving Scientology is that I regained my love for my fellow man.I am now guilty of continuously rewarding “downstats” by giving handouts to and chatting with bums and those in need.Perhaps I am gullible or perhaps it is that I see a fellow human being who is suffering and could use a helping hand.Ironically,you would not have found me doing that while I was “in”. My purpose was so much higher that I was above these lowly creatures and any help was accompanied by the clause “what can you do for me and my dynamics!” That is not help.
So today you find that Scientology Organizations and most members are completely incapable of true help on any dynamic and thus they are out of control and cannot effectively communicate.Is it any wonder then, that their programs of help fail miserably?
If Scientology is to survive into the future in any form then this button needs to be thoroughly cleared on those who forward its aims and technology. And not in a superficial “I’ll help you if you help me” manner,but in true “I actually give a shit about you” manner
Unfortunately, I’ve always felt that the various social betterment programs were never more than PR. Their only purpose was PR. Actually helping people, without ever needing praise or approval like in the Code of Honor, was never the basic purpose. There was always an angle behind all of it: to get people into Scientology, to get them to accept Scientology, not to just help people because it’s part of the Scientology culture to simply help others. It is always “Here is some help. LOOK AT ME! SEE MY BRIGHT YELLOW TENT AND BRIGHT YELLOW SHIRT WITH EMBLEMS ALL OVER IT? I AM SCIENTOLOGIST AND USING SCIENTOLOGY TO HELP YOU!” Blech. I mean seriously, were you ever asked to volunteer because people needed help, vs because “we need to get out there and get noticed and look good”? If the “Church” actually delivered some real auditing and auditor training in volume, then they’d do some good.
Mike, thank you for this truthful, thought-provoking post. I would love to see LRH’s tech actually applied to out there. Forgive me for any stupid questions, but can these organizations be created and manned up and not be sued by the RCS? For my part, I wouldn’t care what something is named. LRH’s tech works, helps people, and definitely should be used, but how? Do we call it something else?
This is really spot on. This article addresses the fundamental lie- “In order to get these programs accepted we need you to donate tons of money”. The TRUTH is this” “These programs have been composed without regard to survey tech and we need your donation in order to shove them down the throats of an unwilling populace”. The TRUTH tells you at once why the donate, donate, donate strategy does not work. What is actually needed is that first the repute of the CofS would have to be repaired (DM stepping down, enforced disconnection abolished, refunds given where requested, all declares reviewd and cancelled where incorrect etc etc) Then actual SURVEYs would have to be done and programs composed that actually fit the needs of the world – not the needs of the next “stroke my ego” Miscavige event. Programs based on survey would tend to get picked up and carried along on their own steam. Here is another truth- a program that won’t carry on its own will never carry no matter how much money you put behind it. The reason LRH social betterment programs struggle is that they are infested with DM orders and arbitaries and restrictions. Not to mention that even minor start up costs can’t be covered because everyone is broke from donating to IAS. What a clusterf*&k.
Roy you said it! Thank you Mike and correspondent for this awesome article. When I was “in” the church, I too believed with all my heart that all these social betterment programs were actually making a difference. Now I see they never made a blip on the radar at all. My guess is that DM funneled the money off the donations to TWTH and other things and that these groups never got all the money that was raised for them. And your post sounds like a great Strat Plan on how to actually help society and how to take back the church and repair it’s out PR. Good plan Roy!
I’m sure you will see sure this just as Marty does but you asked a question and I want to answer it for you. The reason why the real world doesn’t indulge in “the tech” is because unless you are indoctrinated in Scientology from the start, we read this LRH “tech” and it sounds like it was written by a science fiction writer. It is simply not taken seriously by the real world.
I’m very pleased to see that we continue to expose what’s going on. Church management and their sorry followers have no right to judge us, they are the ones who suppress, they are the ones who need to do amends, they betrayed the trust.
Excellent Mike!! Truth! Church SCientologists are watching a magic show.
Continue to expose the facts. The demented misfit may never pull his head from where the sun does not shine (not the sand).