Somewhat random thoughts after returning from an out-of-town trip.
Cognitive dissonance has reached an art form within the walls of the RCS bubble.
Cognitive dissonance is described this way:
Mental conflict that occurs when beliefs or assumptions are contradicted by new information. The concept was introduced by the psychologist Leon Festinger (1919–89) in the late 1950s. He and later researchers showed that, when confronted with challenging new information, most people seek to preserve their current understanding of the world by rejecting, explaining away, or avoiding the new information or by convincing themselves that no conflict really exists.
The “Golden Age” of Knowledge/Tech/OT/Fundraising
If anyone really sits and thinks for a minute about the “Golden Age” scam it is perhaps the best evidence that the end result of Organized Scientology is brainwashed robots. Put aside the simple fact that what was implemented as the “Golden Age” in GAT 1 has now been found to be all wrong 17 years later in GAT 2.
Here is what Miscavige has managed to persuade people:
1. I am the most “on Source” person in the world, nobody even comes close. All I dedicate myself to is making “pure Source” available to everyone.
2. The reason for being so “on Source” is that one must be absolutely true to the precise, detailed, unaltered words of L. Ron Hubbard
3. LRH created all this but really, he was astonishingly incompetent as everything he ever did didn’t really work, it was messed up by others, nobody ever really understood it and now I am having to sort it all out and set it straight.
4. I am making LRH understandable finally and doing everything he wanted because apparently he was unable to make himself clear and understandable.
5. But he was SO precise and exacting that we must hang on his every word, comma and inflection — even the tiniest word is incredibly significant.
6. But he had a lot of it wrong and was incapable of communicating it so it could be properly understood,
7. Now I am going to shift things around, not because I know better, but because I know better what LRH meant and what it is he wanted. Which has not been clear before this. Even though he was so precise in everything he said we cannot alter or challenge a word he said.
This is quite an amazing feat.
And the sycophants who now hang on His every word and pronouncement, have tears of joy running down their cheeks when He tells them this because He is so brilliant and so caring.
He should be applauded. He makes David Copperfield look like a half-assed amateur.
Ideal Orgs — Old News
For a decade, the “solution” to “planetary clearing” has been “Ideal Orgs” and ONLY Ideal Orgs. Consider the amount of money that has been collected from people on the basis that this HAD to be done for the expansion of Scientology. And WHILE that was going on, He KNEW that “everything was fucked up and the Bridge was blocked” (at least according to how people understand His briefing). Didn’t He have an obligation to let people know that he was working on the “real” problem so they would stop wasting time and money on the “old” solution?
Ideal Orgs are now backburnered. No new ones opened in the last 6 months. In fact I heard they ALL had to be replanned, costing millions of dollars, in order to “accommodate” GAG II? Why, nobody seems to know.
But the last big thing is now superseded by the “next big thing.”
Which one is the REAL “big thing”?
Where’s Shelly?
How is it that this was the biggest and most important event in the history of the universe and EVERY Scientologist was expected to be present and Captain Miscavige’s wife was NOT present? She couldn’t make time in her busy schedule to attend?
And what about the Executive Director International? THE person who runs the church (Captain Miscavige has NO involvement in the day to day activities of the church according to his lawyers).
There was no Senior CS International present for the greatest technical presentation and breakthrough EVER.
The President of Church of Scientology International was not present for the ribbon cutting of Scientology’s “cathedral” — but nobody notices?
In fact, the word you hear from staff when asked “Where is ED Int” and “Where is Heber” is a total shore story “They are on post at Int, doing special projects.”
It’s not even a little strange to these people that they were not present?
Miscavige figures He emanates such brilliance that everyone is blinded by His light and don’t notice the omissions all around him. He is right it seems.
Responsibilities of Leaders
See the article by Jefferson Hawkins on Tony Ortega’s blog this morning. As always, Jeff is right on the money.
This policy letter is one of Captain Miscavige’s absolute favorites. It is pounded into people to convince them they should do anything needed to support and protect Him. Couple it with the “Greatest good for the greatest number of dynamics” (with the 3rd counting for 8 as “the church” of course benefits ALL dynamics) and you have the recipe not only for inhumanity and abuses, if not illegality, but it also makes clear why otherwise normal people will lie with a straight face, even under oath if they believe they are protecting the power that is expanding the church. THIS is why it is so important for Captain Miscavige to be seen as the savior of the church, without whom all would perish. Because that in turn engenders fanatical levels of “loyalty” and a willingness to cover up his abuses and crimes.
Declares and Disconnection
Of course, every Scientologist in the world can quote you the old saw: “If it isn’t written it isn’t true.”
This is held as an inviolate truth unless the church says otherwise.
As in:
“You need to disconnect from this person.”
“Are they declared?”
“I am told they are.”
“Have you seen anything in writing?”
“No, but I heard someone else say they had seen something but could not have a copy.”
“Understood.”
See the latest story on the South African blog.
What Is Wrong With These People?
Probably this is ultimately impossible to answer. But at the least most who still go along with this idiocy are too invested to admit they might have been wrong. To think anything other than the party line will in their minds make them completely wrong.
Maybe if they do His “new” Grade IV with NED Ser Fac Handlings they will be able to free themselves from that compulsion to not be wrong.
Good luck with that.
How on earth can you commend Tony Ortega’s blog setting out the utter depravity of Hubbard’s ethics and still believe in Hubbard?
Scientology is rotten because it is the rotten personality of L Ron Hubbard in institutional form. It was rotten when LRH was alive, it is rotten now, and it can never be anything else. Men like DM would be in charge everywhere if Scientology had grown as much as LRH wanted it to grow.
It is time to find the courage to face all of the truth about the depravity of Scientology, not just bits and pieces of the truth.
You are too simplistic. It is easy of course. Those who claim everything about Scientology is fraudulent/evil/destructive are not much different than those who claim it holds all answers to all questions. You also need to recognize there is difference between the philosophy of Scientology and the church of Scientology. If you havent realized this yet, it is time to take a more intelligent view….
Phillip. I am a recovering Lutheran. You, sir, are being too simplistic in your approach. You obviously do not understand the complexity of this topic.
In other words, go away and read up and educate yourself.
Phillip obviously is a newbee to this topic. We really should either educate him or ignore him. I am a never-in and many of you are indies. Thoughts
I don’t think it’s impossible to answer Mike… Well worth the 15 minutes if you can spare it…
Chris — I know you had difficulty posting this. I hope I am more successful. This is a 15 minute TED talk entitled “On being wrong.”
Wow! Mike, I hope you don’t mind if I share this TED. What a fabulous message…
Thanks I enjoyed this. Well worth watching.
I think that this observation is very astute.
After all if GAGII is really such “wonderful” news, why would a person cry? One would think that they would be happy. Isn’t mis-emotion basically emotion that is not appropriate to the present time occasion? The result of the restimulation of losses?
I remember that when RON would announce a new release, discovery or refinement of the Tech that people were happy. They smiled. Sometimes they cheered! THEY DIDN’T CRY!
The simple observation that this reaction IS strange hits the nail on the head.
And you are so right that deep down, the thetan always KNOWS.
“Maybe if they do His “new” Grade IV with NED Ser Fac Handlings they will be able to free themselves from that compulsion to not be wrong. Good luck with that.”
That made me laugh. The chances of this occurring would be about the same as someone being allowed to find DM as an SP Search and Discovery PTS auditing, no matter what the meter indicated! The auditor would have to not-is the cognition, and invalidate the PC which would kill the F/N and the auditor’s integrity in one fell swoop.
But ironically, real, complete non-quickie grade IV auditing with no “agenda” would likely handle this phenomenon referred to as “cognizant dissonance” in a person.
All you Indies do REALISE that this essay about power regarding Bolivar,in addition to being Makemerich’s favourite – which is kind of interesting, but not surprising – was WRITTEN by L Ron Hubbard!
‘He’ wrote this barbaric and horrifying viewpoint… and if this was how he thought others should behave (and he was criticising Bolivar and his wife for not doing as he suggests) then what in the world would make you believe this man, Hubbard, had any interest in ‘helping mankind’ and therefore inventing a ‘helpful system’??? If this is how he thinks, and was what he believed was the proper way to conduct oneself, then what were his true goals… ? Please take a moment to think about that…
Indies ALSO suffer from cognizant dissonance. OT levels (which have NEVER produced a single OT or a person more able than people who haven’t done them (objectively) yet are being done by Indies is an example. There are countless other examples. As you have observed.
Dear Enthralled,
If all religions were judged by the mental acuity of every member and by the number of people who slavish follow certain texts or all of them – then every major religion out there today, should be in line for immediate dismantling.
LRH made a historical assessment of one of the most charismatic leaders of all time. Bolivar had the rare gift of being able to “glow things right.” Which means possessing the force of personality needed to get people to act on his behalf, even when it might not be in their own best interests.
When I first read this, I never got that this was the gospel. I just never did. I saw it as a statement of what things were like when Bolivar existed – his time and place and the mores that everyone followed then. “Hear the thump of a enemy’s body falling in the night.” I took this as a metaphor, not as a literal call to action. My translation: support the people that support you. Love the people that love you.
Does DM take it literally? Shit, DM takes everything literally. He is incapable of conceptual understanding. He interprets this policy as he interprets every policy, book, tape and candy bar wrapper – what’s in it for me?
Most Scientologists — understand this, because they never lost sight of the goal of SCN. Free beings. One simply doesn’t become free by slavishly following the dystopic rambling of a hyperactive little pinhead.
Odd
There is not one word or sentiment of ‘love’ in the essay regarding Bolivar… so best stick to what is written and assume he meant every word, rather than twist and turn to try to alleviate your conscience and the morals society as a whole instilled in you (and ignore CO$ and Hubbard’s idea of ethics) that attempt to invent what you believe ought to be written between the lines… right?
I take this literally, as does DM… the difference is I would never dream of acting on it – DM would in a heartbeat, and evidently has/does. I don’t dispute the evilness and horror of Davey Makemerich and his effect on CO$ since stealing the power position, but I also, unlike you, don’t ignore or rationalise away the direct negative effect Hubbard and his writings had on it too. Whilst the CO$ and the Scientology subject/philosophy may be two separate things, I have read enough about both now to see that the evil comes from both entities and cannot be entirely attributed to ‘one man’ – there are distinctly ‘two men’ to blame – HUBBARD and MAKEMERICH.
Thank you, I appreciate your willingness to discuss the topic.
🙂
Dear Enthralled,
You’re welcome. I am not interested in closing my eyes while I whistle past the graveyard. This is not what I am doing.
With that said, there are two data that I feel you are not considering in your broad assessment of this policy (which I truthfully don’t care a whole lot about, by the way) and how its application has effected SCN or its members.
Datum One — having been in SCN for 40+ years and having worked in very senior management, in Class V Orgs, in missions and at Narconon, I have extensive first hand experience of who has done what and why. In my opinion there are now more bona fide Scientologists OUTSIDE of the RCS than within it – no question in my mind. The vast majority of this group, DID NOT slavishly follow the Bolivar policy. And if they happened to have “fallen off the wagon” for a brief period, they quickly regained equilibrium and soon righted themselves. So, many more people, as I see it, never followed the Bolivar PL as you suggest. As a result of this, far fewer people today, are actually following this policy and others, and those that are, represent a much smaller percentage of Scientologists as a whole. So, in my opinion few people are actually affected by the robotic adherence to any datum, than ever before.
Datum Two — I have known directly and indirectly approx. 1500 Scientologists/staff over these 40+ years and this represents the body of knowledge from which I draw my conclusions. Thus, when I state that few peoples followed this policy blindly, that is my actual observation and I will stand by it.
This is merely one of many policies, suggestions, ideas, what-have-you, put forth by LRH, that some adherents grabbed like a life-preserver in two feet of water, and used, to beat back the saner and more reasoned approach of the majority. Therein, I believe, lies one of the greater outpoints (some might say tragedies) of our 3D. That we allowed a few over-reaching, myopically dedicated tyrants to rule the roost. My opinion of course, but I have witnessed a lot.
Let’s face it, there are words and passages within Bolivar that could be construed to condone violent behavior. However, as I peruse my recent track, I seem to recall passages in the Bible, the Koran, the Torah, the Zen of Motorcycle Maintenance, that have been construed to condone what, two millennia of violent and aberrant behavior.
There’s fault to be found in what LRH wrote and/or how he wrote certain works. There is far more fault to be found, in the Idiots and dead-from-the-neck-up zealots with agendas.
Odd
The answer to “what is wrong with these People” that I found is very obvious: They can no longer observe or think for themselves or think at all.
That seems to be the end-product of the current state of spiritual technology in the COS.
People who are blind and cannot think.
That also explains the reports of the many people bursting into tears at the recent events.
At one level a thetan knows.
I maintain that having only LRH as source and being permitted only to learn and think with his thoughts but not add to them or develop them further has resulted in a spiritual incest and can only result in such. Their minds have been replaced with accepted think.
Sorry – last sentence should be ‘…from the Mike Rinder’s of the world”
Wow some great points made in this thread. I would add that for me the Stanley Millgram experiment laid out in Martha Stout’s The Sociopath Next Door explains to a large degree why so many are still in. They are unable to disagree with authority. Most everything from staff or management is delivered authoritatively. You don’t get phone calls asking if you would like to attend an event – you are cut out of the decision altogether with a jump to a “So I’m going to confirm you – OK? or something Your never consulted with how you feel as much as told how it is (I’m going to brief you). In some way it’s like Q and A ‘ing with a telemarketer – they have a comeback for most any objection and your left with a 180 vector disagreement as your only alternative to agreement. Also most of us consider that the tech has its benefits which can make it tough to sort out in an environment where so many display a kind of blind faith and trust and agreement. I guess sometimes it’s easier to let it slide than go against the multitude (or so it seems). Fortunately we can draw inspiration and courage from the Mike Rinder’s and of the world.
“What Is Wrong With These People?”
“It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.” – Twain
One way that cognitive dissonance is quieted is the often employed phrase and idea, “Your Bank doesn’t want you to go free.”
This is used effectively at the reg desk when a guy is maxing out his credit cards and the real-time “WTF am I doing??” flares up. He is encouraged to (mis)assign such moments of cognitive dissonance to his “bank.”
It is an insidious mechanism, because the guy fights his own logic and rationality with this, assigning ALL mental discomfort to this enemy, Bank, which he will ultimately defeat, he believes, only with the help of the church.
Good one, John Doe. You totally nailed it. And those of us who have left are the poor victims of our case. We just weren’t tough enough to overcome its ferociousness.
Here’s my cognitive dissonance ~~
The great most important, most vital, earth changing event in Scientology history, at a cost of $145 million and 15 years to build ~~
Has no press release on the Scientology site as of today 21 November
http://www.scientologynews.org/press-releases/church-openings/index.html?view=all
The cognitive dissonance didn’t end for me until I decided there was a possibility that everything was bull. At this point there is freedom to evaluate in a new unit of time. Now I realize this is the way I should have been studying and evaluating all along.
One outpoint or piece of nonsense does not make it all bad or wrong. One truth does not make it all accurate. Constant vigilance is required with all study.
Very good comment Les. Thanks.
+1
Last time I spoke with someone in the Church it was the CJC. After that conversation, no one in the church was allowed to speak with me again. I asked the CJC if I could view the paper / materials of which she had mentioned, because what she was saying just did not add up. I asked if she was positive about the data she was verbalizing, because it was not true for me what she was saying. She said no, that I was not allowed to view the papers that she talked about. I said – “If it isn’t written it isn’t true. ” I said I would like to see the papers and that in earlier days these papers were always available to view. She said that she was the CJC, and because she was the CJC then I was to believe what she says. I should believe her because she was the CJC – and that I shouldn’t be questioning her. I was then ‘ Dead Filed’ (no one allowed to talk to me, nor was I allowed near any Scientology etc) because I mentioned the statement, “If it isn’t written it isn’t true ” and because I questioned what she was saying, that didn’t just take her word for it. I also have thousands of $ dollars on account for service not delivered. When you are ‘dead filed’ the church has ‘no resposibility’ to deliver these paid services.
Hallie Jane,
Bravo. I agree with your overall assesment and cannot add to it. Certainly, trained and educated scientologists who can freely use critical thinking are a dying breed in the RCS today, if not extinct.
For so long, auditing has been pushed off on the public, because it’s lucrative. I had so much CI, eval and inval when I was doing my auditor training because I was OTV and not getting on to VII. I was told all the time that a solo auditor is just as competent as a Class V or Class VI and that I was basically wasting my time. B.S! I just ignored anyone who talked to me like that and carried on. Believe me, I looked around and found I was a minority.
I know all sorts of public, trained and untrained, highly processed and minimally processed. On both sides, I have seen slavish devotion to DM and all his diabolical schemes of wrecking the training side of the Bridge, making it drearily slow. Everything to them is wheee and woohoo! Not to mention all the out-tech on the auditing side and messing up people’s cases big time. I quit all auditing in the RCS because it was tortuous, making me physically ill and making me doubt my sanity.
Have you noticed OTVIII’s getting cancer, MS, heart attacks, dying, etc? I know more that several. This is a huge outpoint. The fundamentalists have little to say about that. It’s always, “well he’s PTS to his wife, his mom”, etc. Always blaming someone else, anyone but the cob. It’s an evil that cannot be confronted in a slavish, fundamentalist state of mind.
Thanks Pepper. I would have minus 1000 interest in the brainfuck that is now training in the rcs. What unbelievable suppression you had to endure, just trying to help other people. For what it’s worth, you seem very sane. I don’t get the appeal of dm….really, never have. I do think these people are in some restimulated state, are overt products and just plain acting weird. I have noticed a lot of OTs not doing well. An ex-pc of mine who was a very cool, smart person was cross-eyed (literally) and was babbling to herself. She was OTVIII. It was alarming. I’m so glad I sought relief form a wonderful indie auditor, which I recommend to anyone who’s been abused with squirrel, altered tech. Take care of yourself.
speaking of cognitive dissonance.
i just don’t understand why the tech can’t be used to correct the COS?
if one says it can, then why isn’t it? what ever that “why” is, then why is that the “why”?
don’t make excuses about this or that, because then THIS or THAT is the REASON. and if that is the reason, then there is NO excuse, because you now know the “why” and as such, the tech should be able to handle it.
there is no controversy about whether cars work or not, or about radios and TVs……..because they work. they actually produce what is claimed they produce. nobody argues whether electricity is true or not. whether a hammer will fall if you drop it.
because these things are evident.
why is there controversy among the public (wogs) at large whether the tech works or not?
nobody wants to argue with you, if you have the goods, i want them too.
when i see somebody driving a car, i don’t want to say “oh that’s just bullshit”. i want to say “shit i gotta get me one of them too”. no controversy, no argument, no nothing, just acceptance because it works. when IBM says they made a new computer, nobody says it’s not true, nobody argues about.
if the tech worked we wouldn’t even be talking about it. we’d just be living it.
there would be no strain in getting it spread and adopted by all.
cars spread like wild fire, so did radio and TV. they all boomed because they didn’t have to be sold, no one had to be convinced.
the way the internet caught fire and has swept the globe, is the way the tech would catch fire.
if it worked just as the internet works. i’ve never heard anyone ever say the internet doesn’t work.
the tech may have made you feel better about something…..done something for you…….but that has nothing to do with whether we evolved from clams or not. it has nothing to do with any other parts of what the tech claims it can do. your “win” does not confirm anything outside of your win.
your wins are your own. they mean nothing to other people.
people, if your “technology” works, then fix this fandango once and for all.
then nobody will say it doesn’t work. you can count that the orgs will be booming then.
do what you say can be done or admit the TRUE WHY.
shit or get off the pot.
WS — this is a valid and somewhat interesting question, but the way you phrase it isnt likely to get you any REAL responses. Why be so accusative and argumentative?
The fact of the matter is that you are talking about a religion (or philosophy if you will) and not IBM.
Belief/religion/philosophy is subjective as hell.
I think really you are asking how it is that there are a lot of writings by LRH that claim Scientology and its organizations are self-correcting. Then if everything is true as claimed, why hasnt it self-corrected.
The obvious answer is that it is not all as is claimed. I have made this point a number of times — nobody can claim that Scientology “Admin Tech” is a workable system. There is NO org that has steadily expanded over 50 years. If the argument is that it just “isnt applied” then that is self-evident too. It will NEVER be applied then, and is NOT able to be applied.
Hi WhiteStar,
You’ve asked a good and valid question. I’ll give you my take. Lady Squash over on John P’s blog basically said the red tech (the auditing techniques, case supervision, lectures and write-ups) is designed to help and assist, the green tech (administration) is designed to control and squash you. Now did LRH mean red and green when he said it was self-correcting? I don’t know, but green is patently a disaster and is used to literally control and squash people (although allegedly intended to create a safe space in which auditing could occur).
As for the cars comparison, people are not cars. LRH tried to make a spiritual therapy production line with over hyped claims (washes EVEN whiter!). Obviously that didn’t fly. I have never had auditing, but I have had counselling from a psychologist and looked into that field a little. From my experience I can say that not every approach in psychology works for every case (there are several approaches for PTSD, for instance) and the relationship with your therapist and how safe you feel about opening up to him or her makes a huge difference in your progress. Each person is indeed unique, cars are not. As such, each person will respond differently, and you have not one, but two people in therapy (conselor and client). In auditing, you have the auditor, PC and C/S, plus ethics personnel. That does not create a safe environment in which to open up and make any progress at all.
I think it is not as cut and dried as LRH or his followers would have liked (as you said, if it worked like that, we wouldn’t be having this discussion or this blog). However, I do think it a worthwhile attempt to ditch the green, keep the red and practice it in a safe space without the over-the-top claims, drop the delusion and wishful thinking and see what it actually can do for a person. For a lot of people, this is what it was originally supposed to be about, after all: helping people in their lives. Not making them into some pre-fabricated god coming off the production line.
DollarMorgue — interesting point. Let me address it this way.
People prepare food dishes all the time. When Mom does it, she uses lamb. When grandma makes it, she uses beef. When Aunt Tess makes it, being a vegan she comes at it from a totally different perspective. All three taste great – but there’s no single source or way of doing it. Many approaches work equally. That’s Green on White.
When baking bread or a pie or a delicate French torte – everyone I have ever spoken seriously with about baking has told me this. FOLLOW THE RECIPE! This is red on white.
The Tech is followed 100% because that is how it was developed, tested and proven to work. LRH attempted to streamline organizations and he came up with some pretty cool technology within this area – like the Data Series. But Green on White simply doesn’t produce results like auditing tech. Part of the reason is that SCN orgs are such a Frankenstein-like organism, part religion, part business, part military and part MLM, that I’m surprised anything actually works at all.
If it had been run like a business, under business principles with business common sense and rules of engagement – like not hiring 90 people when it could only afford 18 – then more Churches would have been successful and many of us would probably still be working there.
The ting about “if only” is it doesn’t matter. It wasn’t done and common sense was ditched, not used. Give red a try without the pressure on the PC to measure up to some over-the-top claim and see how he does in life. This is a time of honesty.
DollarMorgue
I try not to deal with an “if only” because they seldom create anything other than agita (heartburn). My statement was a simple comparison between the efficacy of Red-on-white vs. Green-on-white.
“It wasn’t done and common sense was ditched, not used.”
That’s correct but … so what? What exactly is the point being made?” If common sense was universally applied, Viet Nam wouldn’t have happened, Nixon wouldn’t have had his head up his ass, Clinton would have kept it in his pants and George W, Bush would have chosen Elmer Fudd as Vice President instead of Dick Cheney and gone after Weapons of Little or No Destruction..
I get it that we, the Church, all Scientologists and everyone associated with this religion could have done a better job — but thinking in this way, helps us how?
“Give red a try without the pressure on the PC to measure up to some over-the-top claim and see how he does in life. This is a time of honesty.”
The truth is, there are thousands of people who gave Red a chance and won – with or without the pressure.
But you’re right there have been over-the-top claims over the years; hyperbole for the sake of hyperbole and the net result was a muddled and muddied field. Thousands of people who got sidetracked on the BS.
What HAS to be differentiated though is the Tech versus the Hype. If you go DM=Scientology=The Tech= All there ever was — then essentially we’re F**ked because apparently then, we can’t have one without the other and in my opinion that is simply untrue.
If you listened to LRH tapes from throughout the 1950s, he’s over-the-moon in love with the potentials of SCN. But can anyone blame him? It would be like Edison have 317 electric lights in his house after he perfected the light bulb.
If he claimed a thetan could unmock a house or a city, was he delusional, or was he thinking in the context of the potential as he saw it in 1952? And does this invalidate what came next? I say no. He kept at it. 500 hours of Book One auditing became 100 hours of Creative Processing became 15 hours of Dianetics and engram running and so on for the same level of case gain. It kept getting better and more refined and easier to do.
Who’s to say what full OT means. Was Da Vinci OT? What about Queen Elizabeth I? Michelangelo or Newton, or Mother Teresa or Martin Luther King? OT in my book means meeting or exceeding one’s expectations and abilities given certain environmental factors that tend to create resistance to that progress.
Not trying to be pedantic — at all. Just feel strongly about the efficacy of the Tech and to insist (if I may) that LRH was just a man — brilliant in his own way, flawed in his own way. You know, like everyone else.
Odd
The word on the street is that field auditors are being told they can finish any PC they are currently on and then must cease and desist auditing until they have done the new St Hat, Pro Trs and Pro Metering. May be retrains on Acads- source was unsure. And of course two new meters. And of course no retraining/retread rates because these are NEW courses. And most of these guys would have been under the retraining orders that has to be done for Gat 1. . Could Miscaviage just possibly have a hidden evil intention on the subject?
If these courses are new, why do they call it “GAT Phase II?” That’s an MU on “phase”, isn’t it. A phase is a type of activity in the sequence of activities for ONE action. If a student has to re-do the entire action from scratch, it is not a phase, for Christ’s sake!.
Actually, I should have said, “A type of action in the sequence of actions for ONE activity”.
It’s a euphemism Aquamarine. A ‘used car” becomes a Pre-owned car. It’s all horse shit in the end – forgive the pun 🙂
Scorching post. The faithful ,who have to cope with the contradictions and falsehoods spewed by Miscavige in word and ordered deed, and who have to explain away all the out-Tech, off-Policy crap and built in inconsistencies bombarding them constantly as an inherent part of being a good Church member these days, must find it a constant battle to keep their heads from exploding.
I believe getting rid of a lot of classed auditors with gag 1, was a major factor in the demise of the critical thinking skills of rcs members. I remember reading something on Scn-cult.com where the writer said, that the highly trained admin people were working in concert, and didn’t even have to discuss things to understand what the next conclusion or action was. Their critical thinking skills were highly developed, from word clearing and studying the data series. This also occurs in the tech area where seasoned tech terminals become more and more in concert, as their depth and breadth of tech becomes a logical process, that is actually,…..simple. There is a favorite little bulletin of mine that says ” the pc will be able to confront to the degree that he feels safe”. (paraphrase) We all know this to be an asset to our own auditing, but what about the left side of the bridge, where half the case gain is supposed to be occurring? HALF! 50%! My point is that, the left side of the bridge needs to be done in a safe environment as well, for the individual to be able to confront, his own study, his own case, another person’s case and all the varied actions necessary, to achieve case gain on another person. OI Vey! The left side of the bridge is as much about cogniting as the right and this can only occur in a spiritually safe space. When the auditor audits a grade 0, then audits a couple more, then audits 20 more, his view of communication expands and compounds to a very pan determined level. Case gain is occurring for the auditor, making OT closer and more real with each session. The most vital subproduct necessary, on the training side, is FULL CONCEPTUAL understanding, which can only be achieved with critical thinking. Then, the road to OT on the left side can begin and continue. This is a complicated and lengthy process, Ron said, you learn to audit by auditing. At one point I was getting my own interiorization rundown and auditing 5 others at the same time. I had the cogs 6xs. That’s what I call case gain. There were many outpoints before gag 1, but I feel it was a major blow to the auditors/cs’s, trained on LRH’s watch, and to the fundamentals of what causes case gain to occur, on the training side, in the first place. It devolved from there. The fundamentals of a safe space, autonomy over one’s conceptual understanding, autonomy over one’s optimum randomity to learn, freedom to make mistakes and correct them, freedom from introverting ethics harrassment, encouragement and validation, actual help with lavish study tech, and allowing the gradients to occur on the individuals own terms, all involve critical thinking. For all this to have vanished on HALF of the vehicle for producing OT, is like a car company no longer making engines. This educated group is the group that drives the wins of pcs and preots, this side has steadily declined, so cognitions don’t occur, full conceptual understanding doesn’t occur, certainty doesn’t occur, out of valence and circuitry rather than OT is achieved. Defining OT in my own words would be: an in valence, in integrity, in ethics, causative critical thinker. Instead of crystal clear fresh water, we’re getting more and more mud. I think we could call it a lahar (a mud flow) at this point. So my answer to the question of what’s up with these people, (sorry so long) is that the bridge has been dismantled. If any charge is being handled it’s at the expense of leaving lots behind, so the result is an overrun, underrun, introverted, exhilarated, unstable overt product. I rest my case.
Hallie, thank you. Its the slows, stops and and out-tech on the auditor training line that really sadden me.
— out of valence and circuitry rather than OT is achieved.—
Yikes, that is exactly what is happening. Good on you, Hallie Jane
I think one of the reasons so many are still in is the problem of being able to confront evil. It is an unthinkable thought, that DM and his close companions could be such bad persons. So much evil in one place? Impossible! And talk to others about observations of outpoints? To anyone on Solo NOTs just one thought might cost the person $1,000 or more. So you curtail your mind and rationalize, ‘there must be reasons which we don’t know, but management takes care of things’. Pure survival instinct. — When I found out about the evil in CoS I first thought: Oh, mistakes have been made. So I reported the outnesses. The result was, that I was heavily investigated, etc. And after several higher ups all made the same or similar mistakes (I am gentle calling them mistakes) I realized the thing was rotten. Every report acted as a missed withhold. And I left. Almost in time. GAT is and was a joke. My own internship certificates are still valid, no matter what some pope declares. How many hours does he have in the chair? Confronting so much evil where you thought there was kindness and ideals of reaching worthwhile goals for humankind, that is truly tough.
OUAT — good observation and I agree with you. Part of this is also the fact that you are constantly inculcated that Scientologists are the most ethical beings in the universe and are a cut above regular humanoids etc etc etc. These people then cannot contemplate that someone at the very pinnacle of Scientology could be a lunatic.
Once Upon A Time, how wonderful to see your name here again! I’ve missed your posts for the past year or two on Marty’s blog and hoped that you would reappear one day. Your insights are always glorious! Hope to see more.
i see cognitive dissonance in every walk of life. all people suffer from it at one time or another, be it in large or small measure.
you name the group, relationship, issue or school of thought and within it you will find some measure of cognitive dissonance.
the only saving grace i see is that it cuts both ways……after awhile it turns on itself, no matter how much you try to get the jingoism going again, the “sheep” just don’t want to hear it.
humanity is a work in progress.
Oh, yeah, almost forgot. “1. I am the most “on Source” person in the world, nobody even comes close. All I dedicate myself to is making “pure Source” available to everyone.”
Really? Someone show me the LRH…in his original voice or handwriting…that moving NED serfac handling to Grade IV was the Source’s intention. Otherwise, it just stinks of Miscavige’s non-sourciness.
Well actually POT NED Ser Fac handling was part of Grade IV when NED was before the Grades.
That said.
The NED Ser Fac handling was done after a lot of left side handling on NED (handling Ser Facs is right side per Xdn) meaning the full NED grade according to an HCOB obviously squirrel man overlooked in his efforts to recover lost tech entitled “The Key to Expanded Dianetics” not to mention a full and complete DRD and full lower Grades up to IV.
Anyhoo…
You can see all the complications Mr. Macsquillage has created by putting the NED back into Ser Fac handling.
It’s like a total stop to anyone training on Class IV these days (I mean he or she has to do a NED Course which is now after Class IV) or anyone coauditing the level for the same reason.
And can you imagine trying to run Ser Facs which go pretty much whole track on someone who’s still stuck in Drug Engrams or even close to PT accidents or illnesses?
Sheeeesh
Good luck on that.
“In fact I heard they ALL had to be replanned, costing millions of dollars, in order to “accommodate” GAG II? Why, nobody seems to know.”
Mike, I can tell you why. Without the unjustified promise of GAT II hanging over their heads, people couldn’t have been fleeced for the 200%-overage fundraising performed in the name of Ideal Orgs. And had the wool pulled over their eyes at the same time.
It’s the same kind of extortion that allows Miscavige to *force* Ideal Orgs to send staff to Flag for interminable indentured servitude. Their Ideal Org would be verboten from delivering GAT II unless staff minimum training requirements were met.
There’s also a concrete possibility that the auditing rooms all had to be rewired to allow the reads-recorder to be installed in C/S offices and RTC offices. Don’t forget the classrooms and internships that need to be made reads-recorder compatible.
When ASHO was redone about 1995, a whole giant evolution had to be done to place the meters in the auditing rooms, course rooms, qual, and ethics with Forest Green(tm) Mark Super VII Quantum meters. Of course, the courserooms and internships needed E-meter simulators, too. All that took a pile of bucks.
Ideal Org bookstore officers (if they have one) are no doubt being “palletized” with huge (unnecessary) shipments of New-New-New Student Hat ™ materials, Levels packs and recordings, Mark VIII Ultra Bitchin'(tm) E-meters, E-meter reads recorders and E-meter books.
With the Death of Dictionaries in GAG II (http://possiblyhelpfuladvice.com/?p=13697), Missionaires have been patrolling the halls, impounding the auditing room dictionaries, courseroom dictionaries, the course admin dictionaries, and the dictionaries belonging to the students themselves. This forces the org and students to cough up cash for only the “approved” dictionaries, which translates into pallets of dictionaries that have to be stocked in the bookstore.
During the Mark Super VII Quantum meter introduction phase, Missionaires were patrolling the halls and courserooms, impounding (gasp) regular plain old Mark VII meters and only releasing them when the students coughed up the $1200 bucks to get them upgraded. (How could they tell? They didn’t have a solid brass logo on the face and the case, all part of the “upgrade”.)
The engramic phase of GAG II has still to hit the Ideal Orgs.
Don’t forget that in GAG II, Ideal Orgs *still* don’t have the staff needed for Clearing on a Planetary Scale. ‘Cuz they still don’t pay the staff.
But buildings, oh yeah! The buildings needed to be upgraded to accommodate GAG II.
Ah yes the old “it’s in writing but you can’t see it” trick.
Actually the GO started this one.
My response was always to demand to see the issue and would end up signing another multimillion dollar bond to read some squirrel GOD written by Jane, Mo or Herbie.
Who I secretly called the three stooges 😉
Anyhoo
A lotta Churchies are good on “if it isn’t written it isn’t true” part but then since we are on the subject of cognitive dissonance accept the above response with no further questions asked.
Example:
“There is an written SP declare and expulsion for John Doe for various crimes against humanity, etc….” whatever “but you can’t read it”
“Uh….okay.
“Well just as long as it’s in writing…
“I guess.”
Sheeesh
Never mind getting beyond that point of actually querying the order. I mean if it’s written by someone in authority it must be true.
Which brings us to Simon Bolivar.
Funny how a policy that Ron wrote on the “rules of power” could be twisted into some kind of oath of fealty to an authority.
Why this is so is covered in the lecture entitled “Study and Intention” which if it hasn’t been removed from the Student Hat has probably been butchered (meaning taking all those nasty Scientology terms like R6EW, R6, etc out) beyond comprehension but even if it hasn’t it’s doubtful if any student currently on course will ever get to it before blowing off “The Basics” or being “M4ed” to a three swing ARCX “F/N” (I mean who cares about indicators these days just as long as that “F/N” swings back and forth at least 3 times) into total apathy.
Never mind getting to the policy “The Hidden Data Line” which was written the same day that “Drills Allowed” was issued which the so called “Golden Age of Tech” is a total violation of that tells the student the obvious that if someone says its written or in writing that one should at least have the sense to actually read it or demand to read it.
Anyhoo…
Mike what you say could be one reason for such cognitive dissonance but I’d like to add a few others.
Some people just don’t want to think for themselves. These are the kind of people who want a strong “leader” to tell ’em what to do like say a Stalin or a Hitler or a Miscavige.
Historical fact.
Yeah some say the Ol’man was that way but the truth is that he stated many times not to accept anything he said without trying it out for yourself and seeing if it was true for you.
Documented and recorded fact.
Miscavige has displayed no such conceit.
Another thing is many of these people get an “exchange” of sorts with the organization.
I covered this earlier but I’ll cover it again.
To them the Org is sorta like the Ghost Busters. I mean who ya gonna call if one of your Scientology employees gets out of hand and threatens to report you to OSHA or SEC or something like that for say unsafe or illegal business practices?
Yeah you guessed it.
Another one as say you’re a celeb but want to have a tryst with some hot babe while keeping your wife in the dark in some secluded spot say like the int base.
Or who’s gonna be your personal escort service when lookin’ for a new wife?
Yeah you guessed it.
Or say you have all kindsa connections to the Dark Side or Big Media but you dig Scientology especially the ethics which you can pervert to your own special uses but you have this minor hurdle of some HCOB/PL that’s says that people like you are poison on Org lines.
I mean who ya gonna call?
Anyhoo…
Then there are those who I mentioned earlier who want a pablumized ,regurgitated version of “Scientology” who never want to see a dictionary or an encyclopedia or have to chase down a reference that might clarify what they’re reading or have to research other fields other than Scientology like say actually read Freud’s as translated by Brewer “Outline of Psychoanalysis” or actually study up on their own and find out who Wilhelm Reich ( BTW he wrote a great book entitled the “Mass Psychology of Fascism” which I recommend which does a pretty good job of explaining what is currently going on in the Orgs these days) actually was or that there was an actual department in the NKVD known as Smersh.
Things that’d be easier these days with Google (oh I forgot good Scientologists these days aren’t allowed on the internet) and all that whereas in the old days we had to get a Library card (as far as I know there has been no proscription against going to the local library or maybe that’s a lost cause because libraries have the evil internet and there is probably something in writing which one can’t read or whatever) and learn the Dewey decimal system to get the references and background.
Anyway you have people like that.
Funny how RTC has worked supposedly diligently on making the subject easy to understand that they’ve extended the runway so far that time spent in actual study would rival many Masters and PHDs in most colleges.
So much for making a Dianetic auditor in 2 weeks or a Scientology Auditor in 6!
Ironic how the law of unintended consequences works.
Or maybe it is intended so that the student gives up studying and his or her dreams of coauditing on the new “lightning fast” courses which now take years to do and buys big bucks auditing at Flag. The only place that has any of those strange creatures known as “auditors” left who the only difference between them and a homeless person is that they aren’t pushing around a shopping cart.
Oh well.
‘Nuff said.
What a coincidence!
The 3 monkeys look like the 3 SO squirrels in the Squirrel Watcher, Volume 1, Issue 4.
http://veritas.scientology-1972.org/mailings/sw-1-4.htm
Interesting comment made in that link about the distinction between ‘Scientology’ and ‘The Religion of Scientology’. Any further elucidations would be helpful.
I stayed and kept my mouth shut out of fear. Fear of what they would do to my mother, who was financially wholly dependent on members. Fear of not being able to do my bridge, even though, despite 30+ years ‘in’ (born in) I had never done one single bridge action and had no subjective reality of what it was like. The magical hype and ‘wins’ were my frame of reference. I was afraid of losing my ‘only way out of the trap’, even though I could not see the trap and could not see how I was ever going to make enough money to climb that bridge. That Scientology was the only way out was unshakable truth for me, as it is what I’d been indoctrinated with since I could talk.
Sure, there are still quite a few people left from the 70’s, but there are many who have never made it far up the bridge and are still hanging on, hoping that next promise will come true.
Funny, only after the fear and information vaccuum drove me onto the Internet did I understand that even if eternity exists and is attainable as LRH postulated, the environment and operating basis the bridge is offered in make it an impossibility.
People still in are shackled to their dreams and are afraid of shadows. The only power the church has is the power they grant it. I think the audience went hysterical at the GAT2 event, not because they were thrilled, but because they were in pain and too far gone to realise it.
Great post Mike, as usual. David Miscavige has been declaring Hubbard an overt product maker at every event since the first GAOT.
I’ll drop some very fresh news as well. Hubbard has been critisised a lot for his methods in dealing with Giants . He did not fight back the way people wanted him to. He fought back on his own terms.
There is a new book out by Malcolm Gladwell called David and Goliath. Best seller, flying off the book shelves. Which more or less describes the “Davids” that win, in a “David and Goliath struggle”. Malcolm lays out “survival of the fittest” when out numbered and over shadowed, and illustrates an operating basis much as the one Hubbard took to defend himself. The book is amazing.
And for those that have been beaten up with critisism for the choices they have made surviving in this battle zone, the book will bring tremendous relief. Highly recommended! Hubbard truly was a David, in a David and Goliath situation. This is a truth ALSO. And the lot of us in the Independent Movement have inherited this lot, with the C of S becoming the Goliath under Miscavige , that turned on it’s own. This book will bring fresh inspiration to everyone.
http://www.amazon.com/David-Goliath-Underdogs-Misfits-Battling/dp/0316204366
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants
Very heartening to see this, Oracle, amid the popularist LRH bashing taking place.
“What’s wrong with these people?” They are explaining away (to themselves) The Outpoints so as to Feel More Comfortable. They can’t confront The Outpoints – it’s a low confront of evil compounded by their own out-ethics causing a lack of perception – big ethics blind spot.
The good news is “these people.” are an ever decreasing minority – the most out-ethics, the most blind, the most complicate.
Yes, I know some still in who have explanations for the outpoints. The few to whom I refer here are highly trained, long term in, good people. Their explanations had me mentally eye-rolling. They know better. I KNOW they know better. There has to be something deeper, driving them, kind of – some stable datum, uninspected, as Mike wrote about in an earlier article. Something that remains stronger than what their training and common sense tells them.
Fortunately for me, my stable datum has always been the concept “Seek to live with the truth”. That what got me into Scientology, and while leaving was a process for me, it was this stable datum of mine which got me out of the Radical Church.
.
In talking to many Kool Aid drinkers, most say the same thing in similar words, that what keeps them in is that “I want my spiritual freedom and this is the only place to get it.” or “Scn is the only game in town.” The carrot of “spiritual freedom” is what keeps them coming back and staying in despite cognitive dissonance. I would like to let them all know that the pure tech, the standard tech is outside the church and they can reach their “spiritual freedom” nirvana by getting auditing on the outside. There are many good, highly trained auditors out here.
Aquamarine is speaking of the “highly trained, long term in, good people.” This is a special breed. This is not robots. This is, for example, Michael and Divonna Lewis, Joe and Annette Hochman, et al. They HAVE to know, but they stay. All I can imagine is they don’t want the disconnection and their field practice is so huge that in their minds they have too much to lose financially. But IMO, the out-integrity must be so huge for them because “they know,” the “something deeper” could be some sort of blackmail. That’s the only explanation that makes sense to me. Otherwise, perhaps they would take their whole group and leave loudly like Hellen Chen did, and Dani and Tami Lemberger.
There is another “opinion leader” that admitted to me that she “knows.” She runs one of the big social groups. It’s the money from the IAS, AND she believes she can do more good by staying in because she travels around the world to 3rd world countries and helps people in those places using the IAS funds. Also, she is low on the bridge, and not trained.
Michael and Divona have a daughter in SO and a son in Scn. I think that is their reason for not leaving. Divona re-did the Purif recently for like the 3rd time! And this time as an OT VIII. It must be so degrading for them to buckle under like this.
And to add to last comment, Michael and Divona Lewis have already seen that Narconon tech doesn’t work.
Gato Rojo, you wrote the truth and did it well. I agree with you that auditor training is a must to help you see the evil. LRH said that the SP’s attack the tech division first and very hard. And if you are auditor trained, you can remember and go back and read what the original words were from LRH on the subject under question and then see what is being done now and you can see the outpoints. But if all you’re read are the Basics, that won’t help you spot the altered tech, missing tech, added to tech etc. Isn’t it funny how every 17 years a new GAT I or II or whatever comes out. 17 years is about one generation in Scn, so the new young kids that they recruit are about that age, young enough to never have known that Scn was any different or was better in earlier years. DM is evil and big time evil and hard to confront evil.
Something to consider: people in Scn know at least something worked for them being there. Anyone staying in the church for 20+ years at least has benefited from something. Anything.
I knew something was wrong, while being both staff and public. I knew a lot was wrong. And I had read every blog and letter including Debbie Cook’s. But I still hung on, in my own way, “okay, I want auditing but I’m not donating towards IAS!”
Then one day I went fishing with a very special person, and got the truth on what the tech is like outside of the church. I didn’t even KNOW people were auditing and training, let alone it being higher quality than the church, AKA standard.
And in my mind, that day on the boat, I said goodbye to the church of Scientology and never turned back. And it was one of the happiest days of my life.
So something to consider, is maybe they aren’t all wack-job robots, but rather just people continuously reaching out for the next carrot.
After all, why did you stay?
Me? Misguided loyalty; rationalizing outpoints; fear of losing friends and contacts; the desperate clinging on to the hope that further auditing and training in the “church” would handle it. But beyond all of that – I was seduced by LRH’s oft stated – and completely untrue – rationale that ONLY Scientology was the vehicle to rescue individuals and therefore the entire population from mental and spiritual slavery and the Church was the ONLY vehicle for delivering it – equally untrue. I think in order to be willing to leave the Church you ALSO have to be willing to reevaluate everything you have been led to believe. Personally I have found it useful to distance myself from all things “tech” while re-educating myself with all sorts of other sources of knowledge and wisdom. If and when I do re-visit it it will be with a far more measured, sanguine and educated point of view.
Completely agree with you, Martin. 100%. A spiritual path is one with many roads available to be walked.
Good point Anon!
Glad you rediscovered Standard Tech in the Field.
My story is very similar. In fact worse. Having worked on the original “Squirrel Busters” project and having to FES and Program PCs and Pre OTs who had gotten into say AAC, Amprinistics, Est, CADA and the ever popular Wild Bill Robertson’s wild ass version of tech. You might say I had a datum of comparable magnitude and had no idea back then there were actual terminals applying Standard Tech out there.
(Funny we weren’t getting any mea culpas from them pleading to be accepted by the coup currently running the Church…..
Hmmmm
Anyhoo…)
So I lived under this mistaken impression that no how bad it was in the Organization it wasn’t as bad as what was out there.
Sheesh!
For me the Golden Age of *out* Tech was the final straw.
I mean I wrote truck loads of reports on the alteration of the HCOBs they were purportedly based on. Refused to run justifications on the Missed Withhold rudiment and counting the number of times the needle swung before calling the F/N.
Anyhoo…
I made this rediscovery of an HCOPL entitled “Drills Allowed” that basically said STDs (that’s Squirrelly Tech Drills) were in violation of it and demanded a PL that canceled it.
Well my firefight went all the way up to RTC and actually a nice RTC rep (not like those gestapo type they have in the Orgs these day) though somewhat patronizing told me basically paraphrasing that they spent a lot of money on the Golden Age of Tech and that they had no intention of changing it because some twerp like me insisted on Standard Tech but not in those exact words.
In other words think of all the money we spent on those packs which are treated like delicate sacred scrolls, or those stupid Emeter “Simulators” which showed “reads” that could only have been generated by a robot or doll body off the track and not a living breathing human being, or the Quantum that picked up radio signals from outer space better than the PC or Pre OT sitting in front of you and had a needle so sensitive that any static electricity in the environment would make it persistently rock slam and an auto adjustable sensitivity that obscured any F/N after a blow down etc (in other words a piece of shit disguised as an “emeter”) and let’s not forget all the money spent on promoting this unusual solution based on the wrong why that even auditors personally trained by the Ol’man himself were somehow “blind” or whatever.
In other words she was giving me the 411 that this now the “Brave New World” of Scientology and we spent all lot of money and put all our chips on the table and I’d better like.
So instead of saying “thank you sir may I have another”. I said to myself I’m getting the fuck outa Dodge.
Because no matter what I said or wrote in reports that they were going to continue to drive the Golden Age of Tech down everybody’s throat because they spent a lotta money on it and besides they were RTC or whatever and “Scientology” was now what they said it was.
RV, thanks for that intense rundown of your experience. Did you ever
do a full write-up that can benefit others?
Lars,
That’s a good idea I may post something about it sometime in the future.
GAG II, Anybody ever commented how accurate that acronym is ?
Church Scientologists would rather err with Galen than be right with Harvey. I mean err with Miscavige than be right with Hubbard. I mean err with Mike than be right with Marty.
Wait.. I confused too!
Good question, what keeps these people not only believing, but supporting the insane world of the sociopath? Is like the theory of the stable datum; they have adopted whatever idea of ‘salvation’, ‘spiritual freedom’, ‘saving the planet’ or whatever and, letting this stable datum go, will cause intense confusion to the point go overwhelm.
You have also the resultant actions of SP/sociopaths with their insidious mechanisms of nullification and absolute control and, unfortunately, he has managed to nullify any self-determinism these people may have had in the past. The generalities also cause dispersal.
There may be other aspects of why these people don’t see the numerous lies, but in the end, they are the ones deciding how they want to live; it is their choice and, yes, pity but not everyone chooses to be a leader and creator of his own life, so I guess we let them be.
Mostly correct. Many of us are keeping our heads down, waiting to see what may happen.
Gatchild,
This is a very interesting comment.
What I CAN understand is that one would wait with taking action until one had good certainty which side was honest and really pro-survival.
But let me ask you this: If you realize the ship you are on is sinking, would you just wait to see what was going to happen or grab a life boat and get row as fast as you can away from that ship?
Spectatorism in the first situation could well end in death, which, when dealing with a real SP is not an unlikely situation.
Greta
I haven’t really considered your last question there as regards the sheeple public people, because I ran away from the Sea Org and had that wonderful inside view for decades. But I just thought about it for a while–why do the PUBLIC stay? There’s no Hole or RPF for them to get stuck in, no fences around them and they all have driver’s licenses and passports if they want…
I think one reason is being able to think they are in the favor of His Greediness and that he likes them. The being near power concept. I know that people being pounded for money get told things like “It will be looked upon very favorably” and we all know who would be doing that looking. He does (did?) the photo shoots with big IAS donors, etc. So they get some sort of glory out of that. To really stretch it, maybe they think if they stay in his favor they will be invited for a first class seat “when everyone leaves Earth.”
I think another reason they don’t see through it is in The Sociopath Next Door, where regular people just can’t fathom that kind of evilness and insanity, and even when they see it they explain it away for themselves and anyone else who will listen. They still think they are helping the cause. Why THAT is maybe gets described later in the book and I haven’t gotten that far yet. But regular people have a conscience, and to decide that DM is doing wrong after all these wonderful stats he’s accomplished is just not nice to think about. It’s a sociopath technique to play on that conscience and use it to the limit. He excels at it.
Another reason of course is the forced disconnection. I wonder how many people are still in because of family. Leah took the whole clan out, but who else can maneuver that within their family without having one of them rat them out first. I’m thinking that many people without lots of connections still in there have actually left, but the ones with family or bosses or significant employees/associates think they have to stay put or at least act like it.
Either way, even with the pressure and mental torture I received I managed to see through it and started comparing what was being pushed vs. how things used to be. The worse I was treated the more I knew something had really gone wrong. My auditor training played a huge role in seeing through the garbage. That may be another reason–public nowadays don’t train and don’t learn about the mechanisms of insanity and evil and don’t have the confront to see it for what it is. The Basics don’t make you audit and confront another person and their aberrations. You can walk away from studying them and still not see what’s in front of your face.
I talked too much today but I wrote this in the hopes that people on the fence will read it and start to look a little deeper. Here’s hoping….
gato rojo,
I think you’ve well covered the basic reasons public stay in. What caught at me while reading your comment was about how back then you started to compare “what was being pushed vs how things used to be”.
I think this ability to compare Scientology’s former scene with its current scene is a key factor in waking one up. That said, once a public has his eyes opened, it then becomes a question of what this person considers to be his greatest good, i.e., leaving, staying in, or going under the radar, and this decision is highly influenced by how the disconnection policy would apply in his or her situation.
It is just my opinion, but I believe there are many still-ins with plenty of cognitive dissonance who live with it and stay in because of disconnection.
I also believe there are plenty of pretending-to-be-ins who don’t make waves for the same reason. Also I believe that many pretending-to-be-ins are lurking here and elsewhere, not posting, just gathering data, as part of a process, while at the same time keeping their heads down and keeping silent.
I am one of those “pretending-to-be-ins” and agree 100%. I lurked on ESMB for about a year before i got the nerve to start posting.
I do keep my head down as far as the church is concerned due to fear of disconnection from my daughter/son and very young grandchild. Otherwise……
There are a lot of us under the radar people who now read Mike, Marty, and ESMB.
Truth always wills out!
“There are a lot of us under the radar people who now read Mike, Marty, and ESMB.”
I am soooo glad to hear this. I had wondered and hoped there were a lot. It makes me wonder, how much of that “over the top” enthusiasm for last weekend’s releases were just an act?
Hello to any of my under-the-radar friends out there! Glad you’re here – enjoy your journey.
Hey, loriisfree, so happy to read what you just wrote about a lot of UTR’s lurking here Yes, truth always wins in the end. So it took you a year of lurking to post, huh? Well, take a big win on that, OK? I lurked on Marty’s blog for 2 years before I drummed up the nerve!
Please go to the events. We need your input, we need your eyes, ears and mouth.
Thanks
I would if I didn’t have to work this weekend. New job so can’t take off. Am planning on next event though.
Yea, when the “new books” were first introduced, I asked one of the folks at the org “Didn’t Ron read his own books? The answer I got was that he was so busy working on other things, he didn’t get a chance etc etc. Many of the basics were written in the 50’s. He died in 1986. And, by the way, he did read his books. I heard him say so on one of his lectures. He was talking about how he was reading 8-8008 and that he was amazed by his own work. So the person who “wrote the book” on how to detect sp’s, couldn’t do so when it came to his own writings? I don’t think so. In the 30 + years when he was alive, not one Scientologist realized this and pointed this out to Ron? Only after he died this is discovered? And only by one guy? The purity of the tech was extremely important to LRH. But I guess those damn sp editors got the best of him. They were so tricky that Ron himself didn’t realize they sabotaged his books.
We’re so lucky to have DM!
“In the 30 + years when he was alive, not one Scientologist realized this and pointed this out to Ron? Only after he died this is discovered”.
What was “discovered” was LRH’s copyrights were running out, and all LRH’s works would then go into the public domain. So David Miscavige handled all those pesky semi-colons, added what text he liked and deleted what text he didn’t like, and renewed the copyrights under the name of some church entity. That is my understanding of the back story, the Real Why as regards DM’s Basics.
I dont think so. If that WERE true, then there is no copyright protection on the earlier editions of the books…. If anything it was a means of increasing income.
greetings, mike. works published or registered before 1978 currently have a maximum copyright duration of 95 years from the date of publication, if the copyright was renewed during the 28th year following publication (such renewal was made automatic by the copyright renewal act of 1992; prior to this the copyright would expire after 28 years if not renewed). the date of death of the author is not a factor in the copyright term of such works. therefore, the co$ has lrh’s dianetics and scientology writings well protected for the time being. cheers!
Yes, the church was heavily involved in lobbying for the copyright renewal act.
I get what you’re saying, Mike.
I have to confess I find myself utterly dumbfounded that you wrote:
“In the 30 + years when he was alive, not one Scientologist realized this and pointed this out to Ron? Only after he died this is discovered? And only by one guy? ”
Yet you fail to apply that same logic when it comes to Ron being the ‘only guy’ capable of inventing/discovering the Scientology tech, the only and best workable system despite other professional’s negative opinions, in … well, whatever it is you people believe – whether it be 60 years or 60 trillion…? Talk about cognitive dissonance…
So agree, EnthralledObserver. More and more these days, I seem to hear from people on blogs that have ‘one foot out the door’. But the foot that’s stuck inside is still glued to the ‘Ron is Source’ crap. LRH was the plagiarist that started all this nasty shit. Just remember the overboarding, kids in chain lockers, disconnection, and the ‘everyone who’s not a scilon is the enemy’ attitude he had. What a charlatan.
Loved your comments today. The first time I heard the words “Golden Age of Tech” I thought to myself, “That’s kind of a Tech Degrade – how can you say that?” I had been “out” in the non-Scientology world already for over a decade, but in good standing, doing all the things necessary to establish a professional career that COULD HAVE BEEN useful for getting aspects of the tech implemented in society. And, as an ex GO person, I knew I had been painted with the taint of that vilified group, so my speaking up would have been written off as CI. The enthusiasm and pride of the person telling me about the “Golden Age of Tech” kind of dumbfounded me because it was such an in-your-face insult to LRH and the Tech as he had established it. I didn’t understand how the person couldn’t see that. Already, the brainwashing was underway.
Hey Dave, What’s next on the agenda?
Bob Rezonnico, a mission holder in Oakland used to give a series of lectures once a year
on the history of Scientology. .. Basically at the end one wondered how on Earth Scientology survived L.Ron Hubbard ? David Miscavige has outdone Bob by taking this to an art form.
Like L. Ron Hubbard, who is he ?