With the recent outbreak of measles on the Scientology ship, Freewinds, Leah and I thought it important to highlight some points that are the real story about this ship.
With the exception of Newsweek, generally the media is missing the boat. Their focus is on a case of measles rather than the bigger picture of the Freewinds.
To directly answer the least important question: Do Scientologists believe in vaccinating?
Most Scientologists have little faith in “Wog” (non-scientology) medical care. L. Ron Hubbard believed medical doctors wanted to maintain their monopoly on “healing” and therefore they rejected his “discoveries.” He thus proclaimed them enemies.
Scientologists are taught to believe they are superior beings who can heal themselves with Hubbard’s technology. He proclaimed through the use of Dianetics a person will not even contract common colds.
With that said, there is no exact proscription about vaccines written by Hubbard, though he certainly believed “Big Pharma” was deliberately drugging the world to control the population.
The Daily Beast article “Inside Scientology’s Measles Infested Million Dollar Cruise for True Believers”, includes the following:
Among the most visible anti-vaxx advocates is Scientologist, Jenna Elfman, who came out against SB-77, a 2015 California bill requiring vaccinations before students enroll in school.
At an anti-vaxx rally in May 2015, Elfman told the crowd that when “You open up the door of taking away parents’ rights, you open the door to a constitutional slippery slope.” In a Facebook post from that year promoting a petition against the bill, Elfman asserted, “There is no health crisis (unless they care to create one— wait for it….).” Danny Masterson, another Scientologist (and one facing multiple accusations of sexual assault; he denies them), circulated the same petition, calling the bill in a tweet “California fascism.” And both Juliette Lewis and Kirstie Alley, also prominent Scientologists, came out against the bill. “NO on SB277…no no no…protect your rights to CHOOSE the vaccines your kids and YOU have…they are NOT all HARMLESS…” Alley wrote. “Ur kids,Ur choice [sic].”
Most fundamentally, scientologists believe that if they do get sick, it is only because they are connected to someone or something that is negative about scientology. More on that below…
Scientology and “Wog” Medicine
Wog is a derogatory term used by scientologists to describe non-scientologists or things/ideas not based on Hubbard’s ideas.
Scientologists pity “wogs” — they consider them lower level humanoids unable to truly cope with life and rise to their full potential because they have not availed themselves of the “tech” provided by Hubbard. It is a cold view of the world and everyone in it. Scientologists are only solicitous to wogs to humor them in the hope they will create a good impression and perhaps get them to join up and hand over some cash. Behind your backs, scientologists are generally condescending towards everyone who is NOT a scientologist.
“Acceptable Truths”
Scientologists are taught and believe they are above wog medicine AND wog law.
They are taught how to lie to authorities and tell what is called in scientology an “acceptable truth” to avoid “negative PR” or trouble. Scientologists are trained to tell a “Shore Story” which will be acceptable to the “wogs” “on shore” to protect the operations of scientology (in this case aboard the Freewinds).
Here is a perfect example of a “Shore Story” offering up an “acceptable truth” about the measles case on the Freewinds. It is a typical L. Ron Hubbard inspired “Nothing to see here, we are law abiding citizens on the Scientology Fun Ship”…
According to Bonner, “As Scientologists, we follow every law. The woman is now OK and the measles has past [sic],” — no, they absolutely do NOT follow every law. Not even close.
“We have not been given her identity or whereabouts and none of us care.” And neither should you — we don’t want anyone outside the bubble being able to track this person down and discover who ELSE she may have been in contact with.
“We are “All” prepared to stay onboard the ship for the duration. The staff is wonderful and amazing and we’re all having fun training!!” In fact, the only people REALLY enjoying this are the scientology registrars who have a captive audience to suck money out of.
The Harsh Truth
If a Scientologist or sea org member gets sick, they are immediately pulled into a scientology interrogation to find out who they are connected to that is “anti-scientology” and what transgressions against scientology morals they have been involved with in order to “pull in” this bad situation. In scientology, especially if you are a staff member, you are penalized for being sick.
They are grilled on the lie detector meter (called an e-meter) to see if they have seen Going Clear or The Aftermath or have read anything “negative” about scientology. Once they have the intel, the victim is then sent to the “Ethics Dept” of the Sea Org where they are met with an Ethics officer or Master At Arms, (MAA) who has been provided with the “confessions” and their punishment is determined. For parishioners this often entails handing over money.
Being labeled PTS
This is an acronym for Potential Trouble Source. A state that Hubbard described to explain those who get sick or are involved in accidents despite their participation in scientology (which in theory should prevent bad outcomes such as this). It is “explained” that by looking on the internet or talking to your mother, father, sister, child or anyone who is negative or questions scientology, you become “PTS”. Those sources of negative information are making you sick . You are connected to Suppression. Evil. Unless you disconnect from the evil, you will be trouble to yourself and scientology.
The “PTS” then has to agree in writing that they will no longer look at anything negative about scientology, L. Ron Hubbard or David Miscavige and they very often have to make up the damage to the group for their evil deeds.
If a sea org member is sick, in addition to uncovering their “connection” to negative information or people, they are also interrogated on the e-meter with demands to know what their “evil intentions” are towards scientology and mankind. These sessions do not end until you come up with an answer. And then you are required to confess to wanting to purposely infect the ship or something similar, and admit to seeking the destruction of David Miscavige and every man, woman and child on earth.
This is why scientology has so many “confessions” from former Sea Org members they pull out once those people start exposing the abuses of scientology.
If the “flap” is bad enough, the Sea Org member can be removed from his or her post and be assigned to the Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF) for months and years. There they will be physically and emotionally abused beyond the average abuse Sea Org members bear in order to reform their thinking.
What is the Sea Organization
In 1967, seeking to avoid the efforts of governments to investigate his activities, L. Ron Hubbard took to sea where he would be outside the jurisdiction of the US and British authorities.
He created the Sea Organization, a paramilitary organization that runs scientology in accordance with Hubbard’s policies and directives.
Sea org Members profess their loyalty to Hubbard and scientology by signing a billion-year contract. They live communally and forfeit their former lives, possessions and relationships. Scientology and the Sea Org becomes their ONLY life.
Scientologists believe it is a great honor to hand over their children to the Sea Organization. For it is the Sea Org that is literally responsible for saving mankind.
Nowadays Sea Org members cannot have children. But before those rules were implemented, both my children were born and raised in the Sea Org by the Sea Org. My wife and I did not raise our children. The Sea Org did. They were (and still are) Sea Org members first. Our job was our Sea Org job, not parenting. We rarely saw our children, no distraction was tolerated to Clearing the Planet. No bed time stories, no family vacations, outings, first school plays, graduation of Kindergarten, dances, Valentines Day, Mothers Day, Fathers Day etc etc. It is a horrible way to grow up, and I wish now I could change it.
The Sea Org creates a nazi youth mentality in children. Their Sea Org training is harsh, their miserable lives are clouded by the idea that they are on a very important mission, giving them a sense of purpose and creating an alternate personalty devoid of empathy and compassion. They are in reality groomed to be victims of abuse (and to some extent so is every child raised a scientologist).
This explains why it is so easy for young Sea Org members to disconnect from even their scientology parents.
The Freewinds is NOT a Cruise Ship
The Freewinds delivers Scientology’s ultimate service: OT VIII. It is the only place in the world where this most exalted level of scientology is available. (Though there are only a handful at any given time who have completed OT VII ready to do OT VIII so they allow other scientologists to come on board for lower level services as long as their bank accounts are adequate — at times the Freewinds has been so cash-strapped it could not buy fuel so sat at dock for weeks).
This is the pinnacle of scientology at the top of “The Bridge to Total Freedom” — a confidential level that all Scientologists seek to achieve. Most scientologists spend a large part of their lives, sacrificing careers or families, but certainly hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to get to OT VIII. Before this, they must progress up the Bridge and through the earlier “OT Levels.” These materials are confidential to scientologists until they have made their way “up the Bridge”, but they have been available on the internet for years.
Hubbard promised immortality and spiritual freedom as one progresses up his Bridge. For scientologists, Hubbard’s “technology” holds the answers to life, including promising you can be cured of the causes of all illness and disease on OT V (New Era Dianetics for OTs or “NOTs”). OT’s believe that they will be given the keys to move into their next life with TOTAL recall of this life. They are sold lies. That is why many who finally reach OT VIII leave. They realize they have made it to the top and it is not what was promised and hoped for during their ascent.
Horrors of the Freewinds
The Freewinds promotes itself as being “off the crossroads of the world”, and this is in some ways true. It is outside the purview of the US Government. It is not in the media spotlight. It is an enclosed and controlled world with no outside intrusion.
The majority of people on board the Freewinds are the crew of the ship. Sea Org members. They exist in an isolated bubble within the larger bubble that is scientology.
The Freewinds, has over the years, been a convenient place to keep dissidents or those scientology does not want in public view. Even things that would otherwise generate interest or outrage have gone largely unnoticed (See for example when it was discovered the ship was contaminated with blue asbestos and Sea Org and other workers had been exposed).
Former crew members of the Freewinds have provided extensive testimony concerning abuses aboard, including deaths being covered up and people held against their will.
In 2004 a Mexican Sea Org member who was an engineer on the ship named Jorge Arroyo went insane. He needed professional mental help. Instead he was locked in a small room under guard. He hanged himself in the shower. When his body was discovered, the ship left Aruba and sailed to Curaçao, because the Freewinds had better public relations there. Jorge’s body was removed in a black bag so that no one saw. Jorge’s brother, who was also an engineer on the ship, was lied to and told he had a heart attack. Jorge’s family in Mexico was told the same lie. This is something the Mexican Government should be investigating.
Ramana Dienes-Browning wanted to leave the Sea Org. She was forced to spend a year in the engine room and on decks (doing hard labor) as punishment for wanting to leave.
Colm McLaughlin was held against his will, escaped onto the dock and was wrestled back to the ship — the local dock-workers were told he “was drunk.”
Don Jason escaped by using a rolling pin to slide down the lines tying the ship to the dock.
These are the real stories that need to be told. They are the tip of the iceberg.
The Freewinds being in the news for the first time is the opportunity for the truth to be revealed.
As with everything in scientology, whenever you scratch the surface it is ALWAYS worse than it appears at first glance. This is not a cruise ship with an isolated case of the measles, it is a scientology prison-ship full of ugly secrets.
lRH promised victory over death. He also said”The way out is the way through”. Therefore to win over death, one must die.
When I left the Freewinds when it was discovered that I had AiDS they sent me to”Dr” ( He is not a licensed doctor) James Keppler who told me that the meds the doctors would give me were worse than HIV AIDS. He was very opposed to vaccinations and gave me materials to read opposing them. He worked on LRH in 1978. As a result of his “advice’ I very nearly died.
Mike’s right in saying the freewinds is NOT a cruise ship, they have a pool onboard I don’t think a single person used it during the entire time I was there, I saw one person using the gym, these features are up on deck and probably kept there for show rather than intended for use. Similiarly they have someone who is supposed to encourage you to go ashore for activities, the majority of public don’t leave the ship, and even if you do you have such time pressure on you that there is no enjoyment to it, I think the most time we had was 3 hours off one time, and even then we had to work late catching up on the crappy course they make you buy when you get on the ship. You can’t even relax at meal times, apart from the fact you are running to a deadline you are expected to rate every meal and if you give it anything less than outstanding then you get a member of the kitchen crew coming to speak to you as otherwise they get into trouble for being ‘downstat’. There is the obligatory sea org recruitment video showing, and beware if you are young and single you are an ideal candidate for high pressure tactics to get you to stay and become a staff member. You have to complete a routing form to get onto the ship, running round finding people to sign this can take two days, of course it includes a visit to the IAS office, as well as others each trying to get extra money out of you eg for upgraded accommodation, buying scientology themed crap from the onboard ‘gift’ shop. They take your passport away and to get it back you have to complete the leaving routing form, once again they try to get you to stay longer and you have to convince them you have had a wonderful experience even if you can’t wait to leave that hell hole!
Thanks for the info on the Ship Gimpy. One thing to add. If you make the mistake of recognizing a friend of yours sitting at the OT VIII table at meal time and join them at their invitation, you will be asked to leave and get another seat somewhere else, as “this table is solely and only for those on OT VIII.” I asked why others can’t sit there too and they said that OT VIII is an important auditing thing and they don’t want their VIII’s having any invalidations or bad reactions from sitting with “others” (read “the unwashed”). They don’t want their VIII’s going PTS they said. Talk about elitism.
Is anyone on or near the dock/ship in Curaçao so that if/when the quarantine is lifted, the world will be able to see who was on that ship, if there were any “famous” people aboard. If there isn’t someone there, there should be.
All blame falls on the leader who must have pulled in this PR disaster.
His “church” is dying, his flock is abandoning him, and he has ousted anyone who could handle the situation.
What a piss-poor leader he is!
Monica Pignotti was in the Sea Org who worked on the Apollo from 1970 to 1975.
Monica Pignotti discusses her Scientology Experiences (1989)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Qy3DbO8CDI
I came upon this the other day. It made me think of LRH and how he’d steal anything with a kernel of truth, wrap it in his mystery sandwich BS and call it his own. I don’t believe the Tao Te Ching (Way of Life) has ever purported to heal physical ailments through the power of the mind, but if you read this with the eyes of a con man looking to make a buck you sure will.
“The Way of Life” (ISBN 0451626745)
-71-
“To know you are ignorant is best;
To know what you do not, is a disease;
But if you recognize the malady
Of mind for what it is, then that is health.
The Wise Man has indeed a healthy mind;
He sees an aberration as it is
And for that reason will never be ill”
Yeah… I think he metaphorically means you’ll never be ill… not “You’ll never get the flu again and if you do, you did something to deserve it!”
Bernard Bonner:
“As scientologist, we follow every law”…
(Every one that we’re forced to follow, that is). Given any chance, we’ll do a “Kim Jong Un” and SAY we’re going to comply while actually doing the complete opposite.
If you think that Scientologists look down with pity on “wogs,” it takes no stretch of the imagination to think what Int/Gold Base staff members thought, not only about wogs but fellow Scientologists and not only fellow Scientologists but fellow Sea Org members. But not only fellow Sea Org members, but fellow base staff Sea Org members. Basically, it came down to the fact that everyone except for LRH and David Miscavige was a completely useless degraded being. Of course, we all know where that viewpoint originated, don’t we, Dave?
Hubbard? Miscavige learned at the feet of the master, and while he’s carried on as an effective narcissist and sociopath, he’s had other handicaps like not being such a glib and even charismatic public persona, nor having the flair for creating the illusion of a constant flow of new “tech” to keep followers on tenterhooks.
We learned how to “Game the system” and playing Games. No excuse for that. I wish there where more people who would address this phenomenon of playing games. Sometimes with other people life.
The section on “Being PTS” is an excellent example of magical thinking.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_thinking
Kyle – Many years ago after I left Scn I took up Transcendental Meditation for two or three months but I got bored with it. They had this worldwide meditation day when everybody around the world was supposed to meditate at the same time of day which would cause some kind of shift or impact on world consciousness. Good intentions I guess. I don’t know if they still do it.
In TM they give you a mantra which you repeat over and over in your mind while meditating, taking the mantra ever “deeper”. It turns out my mantra was the name of some Hindu goddess. TM used to say that some of their advanced meditators could levitate but debunkers said they only saw people who seemed to be hopping a bit.
I think the govt just wants to stay out of it and look the other way because of the cult being labeled a “religion “.
I blame the government for granting the cult tax exempt status.
I ju set hope no new people get involved in the cult.
It’s funny to hear how they didn’t have $ to pay for gas?
Why don’t they use their billions $.
It’s also funny how it’s suppose to raise your IQ. But yet it takes these “smart” OT8s to finely realize they’ve been scammed,
IM not a fast student, or even considered “smart”, but I could tell something was never quite right with Hubbard’s material.
That shows you right there that their IQ never gets raised.
I can only hope that someone on that ship is desperate enough to get off that they talk. Unfortunately, they may be too scared since the ship is now docked in its home port. If the stories about the others attempting to flee in curacao are remembered, it will likely make them less likely to believe that they will get help.
I also hope that the news stories continue to probe scientology. I noticed a slight uptick in stories this week. Today there was a story about the Canadian case involving a lawsuit about low wages. It was settled out of court- likely in a bid to quash publicity- but the reporter asked for anyone with information about scientology to contact him. I sent him an email, and hopefully he will look into the cult. Otherwise we all need to keep educating as many people as possible- eventually someone will listen.
Kat
Be careful that “reporter” could be an undercover Scientologist.
Robert,
I vetted him first. he’s legit.
Kat
I have been lurking the past year after watching Leah Remini on A&E.
I have been jacking off my temporal lobes with Scientology L’s and the Bridge to Total Freedom for many years. I have attained levels of delusion never experienced before. I am tired of chasing the carrot on a stick. You are all right. There are no Clears or OT’s. I am a Clear and an OT and I have nothing but shattered relationships, ruined career, bankruptcy, foreclosure, financial ruin, multiple marriages and divorces plus horrible memories from my life in Scientology. I am so excited to have made the decision that I am done and I am out. I will be going all the way down the rabbit hole now to read and watch everything I can find regarding the truth about L Ron Hubbard and Scientology. Thank you for your Blog and the show Mike. I would probably have stayed in forever and gone down with the sinking ship. Scientology is nothing now. Membership is at an all time low. Thank you everyone.
Wow. Awesome.
Congratulations on finally getting out.
There is so much to read and rabbit holes to go down to find out the whole truth about scientology and its leader. These will help you unravel.
But the greatest thing I found in my life out was a new freedom and appreciation for so much good on the outside and I wish you the best of it. I hope you discover beauty, love, peace, kindnesses, empathy and compassion and many new and wonderful friendships.
Thank you Mary. “Unravel” is right. You give me hope that I can restore my compassion, kindness and empathy back. My friends and family told me throughout the years that I lost my humanity and became more and more arrogant, controlling and that I have no empathy. One friend who disconnected from me told me I became phony. They told me that with every divorce, I acted like it was no big deal. They knew I filed bankruptcy and said I acted like that was no big deal. Ruining your life is a big deal. Scientology trains you to not feel or show emotions and to pretend all is well when it is not. Being fake, phony, arrogant, having no empathy are all side effects of Scientology training, auditing and “group think” from being a Scientologist in the cult of Scientology. I was brainwashed into believing I had super powers and it was nothing but a lie. My ego got inflated. What hooked me was manipulating me to put money on account for my Bridge. That was my trap. I did not want to be wrong that “Scientology worked”. I was deceived into signing the contracts and then the implanted idea about “being SP” if auditing did not work coupled with I knew that REFUND was a filthy dirty word in Scientology and that they would not refund the money ever and that I would be declared SP if I asked for a refund. Cringe
OFG, it sounds like you have a lot of self-awareness, which is a critical starting point.
Fortunately, these days there is a lot of good material on cultivating empathy, and I hope that you can find things that work for you. One general exercise I’d recommend, which Hubbard specifically forbade as part of his attempt to make others narcissists and psychopaths in his own mold, is to volunteer to help others – totally “out exchange” by Scientology standards.
It’s a typical of high control groups or cults, that while promoting ideals like world peace and saving the planet, they actually bring out some of the worst in people. I wish you the best.
lRH promised victory over death. He also said”The way out is the way through”. Therefore to win over death, one must die.
Congratulations on this decision, OfG.
You may have lost a lot and suffered a lot but you are head and shoulders above the Still Ins who will not, cannot confront and deal with the truth, as you have.
I don’t say that lightly. I am not flattering you just to make you feel good. I do mean it. HEAD AND SHOULDERS above those stubborn cowards still in.
You can rebuild, you are still alive, you are aware. You said, “I am so excited to have made the decision that I am done and I am out.”
That strength, that awareness, the persistence that got you out will be that get you through the hurdles and impediments to come. As Yogi Bera famously said, “Nothing is over, until its over!”
Never mind your chronological age, your life is beginning again.
Stay the course; you’re on the right tack, OfG. Keep sharing with us. We learn from you; you learn from us. Keep going down that rabbit hole and getting all the data you want and need, sort thru it.
In brief, really well done., OfG. OUTSTANDING, I’d say!
Aquamarine – thank you. I appreciate the encouragement. I do agree with you. It takes a lot of courage to confront the truth. The truth hurts. The betrayal cuts like a knife. Scientology wraps its tentacles around every aspect of life so there is no escaping this pain from the betrayal. For your information, most Scientologists are in doubt most of the time.
As you know, there are many traps to keep them in Scientology and many tricks so they won’t look, however, most sense something is wrong and they hide under the radar. “Pretending” is a way of being in Scientology and Scientologists lose touch with reality. I think they go insane.
You’re welcome, OfG.
“I think they go insane.”
I KNOW they go insane.
Pretending to see what you DON’T see: pretending NOT don’t to see what you DO see…continually… day in, day out…year after year…to others…to oneself…while, at the same time, convincing oneself and being convinced one is on the road to TRUTH… if THIS isn’t the road to insanity, what is?
OFG…. Thank you for your courage. It takes a lot of chutzpah for someone like you — with all that invested to see the truth and get out. I wish all the best for you. My ex-spouse has been in for 40 years and does not have the strength it takes to see that.. Despite losing two marriages and a daughter (who died in a terrible way). Scn could not/would not help her.. It’s too terrible for my ex-spouse to even realize.
BTW: the “wins” you’ll have getting your own self back will far exceed those you thought you got in the cult!
titlewaves – thank you. I have OT friends who also won’t confront the truth. It is traumatizing to deal with this shit. I can understand many who can’t deal at all. I made a postulate in Scientology that I want the truth about everything. I guess my postulate came true. Scientologists get trapped in Scientology trying to solve their own human problems. The traps are many. People get stuck in the trap of Scientology who train members to lie and lie and lie about help. People harm others in Scientology and they harm themselves. By the time they realize it, it is too late, their lives are ruined.
OfG, Congratulations! If you need one more nail for that coffin; just one more example of how Hubbard not only stole credit for being “source” and then manipulated the results after others had done the heavy lifting .. well, check this out. Suffice to say, the following account by first “Clear” John McMaster about how scientologists were for ever more made both PTS and in constant need of ethics “handling” in one fell swoop: https://backincomm.wordpress.com/2014/05/22/come-home-john/
Thanks scn-911. I will check that out. Going Clear is the SCAM of the Century.
Thanks for sharing your story – and sorry to hear about what you went through. If you are willing and able, I hope you will share more, including what it is like being a members in recent times, and what’s going on at the orgs.
How, for instance, do you realize that membership is at an all time low? Many of the still-ins seem to buy into the propaganda about “expansion,” with some even believing that there are 20 million members somewhere.
Peacemaker – thank you for your support. How do I “realize” that membership is at an all time low? Great question. Here is the answer – short, sweet and works standardly when applied. I actually LOOKED! I actually went around to the Ideal Orgs and observed with my own eyes the facts that they are all empty. The Ideal Orgs are nothing but vacant and dead. Our tiny Org has been shrinking every year for a long time and you get used to seeing people leave all the time. The tech keeps members silent as to where they are. Staff will lie about where they are. It did not take me going OT to finally get it. The propaganda says one thing. When one looks as LRH says to – one sees a totally different thing. Every Scientologist knows Scientology lies. Hell – we lie to ourselves the entire time we are in. It just takes a bit of confront to do something about the lies – like LOOK, KNOW and then leave. The lies never end. Pretty soon one does not know the difference between make believe, pretending and the truth. It is very destabilizing and makes one dependent on Scientology. Once you get out, you start to feel more and more stable because the truth is stable.
So happy for you. I truly hope you get all the help, support and resources to hopefully get your life and relationships restored. Take care you brave human. Love from Melbourne Australia
Thank you Kim. We are all warriors together. We were in a Concentration Camp of the Mind. We freed ourselves and we need to help free others. Keep telling people the truth about Scientology. I make it my goal each day to tell 10 people about the Scientology scam. I meet and talk to a ton of people each day and I get paid to do it. I love that I can suppress Scientology and get paid to do it.
Welcome out!
This list may be a way to start checking out the rabbit hole.
https://whyweprotest.wikia.org/wiki/Former_Church_of_Scientology_members_who_have_spoken_out
Wow – thank you for the list. Thank you for your kind words. I know some of the people on the list but I think there are a TON of people whose names are not on this list but should be. Mine, for example. I can tell you the mORGue I went to has dried up over the last decade. It was always small but now it is really tiny. There are a few families that keep it open. The diehards. I have witnessed that every Org seems to have them. So many people are not going in anymore. They learn how to survive Scientology and avoid SP Declares by giving acceptable excuses like – I am not interested at this time, paying off debt, too busy with work and family etc. Those excuses work. I am stoked I will never ever EVER get regged again.
We only add people to the list who have spoken out using their real name.
Should you decide to use your real name to post here, AND is there proof on the net that you were once in (e.g. at https://www.truthaboutscientology.com/ ), then you can be added.
Same goes for every one else. We know by far most people who ever got in are out (I think I once estimated 95%) , but by far most people never speak about it. Which, of course, is perfectly fine.
Thank you TrevAnon. Honestly, I am not as courageous as you guys are about coming out publicly. I don’t know if I will ever be able to come out in public. I am still freaking out. The mind fucking fear based Scientological implants are reeking havoc with my frontal lobes. I was so scared when I watched Leah Remini and Mike Rinder on A&E that I honestly thought they would “know” and knock on my door. How does Scientology do that to us? I was so freaked out, I blocked all windows, made sure I was alone and binged watched all fucking 3 seasons in a few days. I cried, I screamed, I went nuts. Believe me Mike Rinder and Leah Remini when I tell you that this show is so perfect for the Scientologist in Doubt. Know that you will be getting many more out. EVERY SINGLE Scientologist is CURIOUS ABOUT the show on A&E. BELIEVE ME. EVERYONE in Scientology wants to know what the fuck happened to Leah that Leah was able to pull off one of the most effective BLOWS to Scientology since Xenu threw the aliens in the volcanoes and blew them up with H-Bombs. They will never admit it out loud but they are curious. All it will take is something to happen to them “personally” by Scientology or Scientologists and as we all know, everyone gets fucked many times by Scientology and Scientologists. It is only a matter of time. Thank you so much for your care and support.
Out for Good – Everyone appreciates your honesty and sincerity and what you’ve been through is no laughing matter.
However…………….,”……..one of the most effective BLOWS to Scientology since Xenu threw the aliens in the volcanoes and blew them up with H-Bombs.” laughter! That quip hit my funny bone. Thanks for the laugh, OfG. 🙂
Richard – Thank you. I am happy I made you laugh. WINNING! LOL
I stopped joking around when I got into Scientology. It was a high crime. Now – I will poke fun at Scientology and Hubbard every chance I get. The little dwarf Miscavige too.
Congratulations, Out for Good!!!! Welcome to the truth and to wonderful friends you now have on this blog.! I’m very glad you found your way out. Do you have kids or relatives still in the church? Is disconnection a consideration? I hope not. And I hope you can give us more of your story and your name once it is safe to do so. I’d love to know the Ah Ha moment when you decided you’d had it. Read and view and talk and find the truth and be brave enough to go down the rabbit hole. And things will go up from here for you.
Cindy – thank you. The Ah-ha moment. Hmmmmm. There were a ton of them over the years but the Scientological traps were many and the traps coupled with the carrot on a stick kept me in waaaaaay too long. The traps were hard to free myself from. I did all of the auditing and training services and I got worse and my life got worse. Then applied the PTS / SP tech and disconnected from friends and family that did not agree with Scientology or Hubbard and had the balls to say so. Once I started to look and go down the rabbit hole to the truth – I realized that THEY WERE ALL RIGHT and I immediately reconnected with them all and told them they were right and that I was sorry. They also watched Mike and Leah so they forgave me very quickly. Also – what I noticed is Scientologists don’t care about anyone. There is no love or care. No one helps you. Ethics is crazy. I noticed that Most scientologists get worse over time and are crippled and failing in life. My Ah-ha moment: I watched Mike and Leah on A&E. I watched Scientology – the Aftermath. The truth set me free.
OUt for Good. I got goosebumps reading your post. This makes my day to know that someone who was so entrenched in Sc that they did all training and all auditing that was there, actually watched The Aftermath show and started allowing themselves to look after that. That is so great that you did that. Do you have family still in the church? I hope they have the courage to watch Leah and Mike’s show too.
You said you noticed that, “Most scientologists get worse over time and are crippled and failing in life. ” This is true for me too. I noticed it around me and in myself too. I told a friend of mine that I was doing way better in life when I was just new in Scn, and was below the level of Clear and had no auditor training at all. That was the height of my success and good life and it all went downhill from there until I was on OT VII and broke, not doing well in a job, on and on. I had that cog and immediately couldn’t have that. Not after all the training and auditing I’d done. It would make me wrong to have that cog. So the cognitive dissonance kicked in hard and I decided not to look at how I was doing before and after and just compartmentalized it. Wow. Imagine a cognition of that magnitude and just squelching it. I did just that and I bet many in the church are doing it. That is why Mike and Leah’s Aftermath show is so important. It gets people to really look and think and research more and some eventually leave as a result.
Welcome to a whole new world OFG! Here’s wishing you all good things to come. There are many people who care and will support you. Way to go!!! ☺
Thank you Ann. You are a sweetheart.
OFG,
Welcome to sanity! Let me know if there is anything I can do to help. Im a ‘never-in’ but always willing to listen.
Kat
Out for Good, welcome to freedom!
“The Road To Freedom” is a farce; when one is in Scientology one is owned.
Others who replied to you have said good things already. About the emotions, you are spot on. I’m an ex too, and my emotions were frozen when I had left and when they loosened up again, it has been often a roller coaster ride. When working through the indoctrination backward, getting all the info and connecting the dots, I have been so often in turmoil. It can take some time to get the equilibrium again; be patient with yourself, you are doing good.
How you tell and describe your experiences and thoughts is very, very good. It is often difficult to describe these situations, but you have an ease with it so that it is communicating really well. This is very valuable and it is great that you speak out.
Wish you all the best!
Pluvo – thank you for your kind words and understanding. Frozen – YES! It is a roller coaster ride. I get triggered by so many things. I just listened to a you tube video about the malignant narcissist and gas lighting today. Wow – That is how Scientology fooled us all. Gas lighting is SOP in Scientology. Scientology is a malignant narcissist that uses gas lighting to trick and deceive. The lies are huge!
Welcome back to reality, Out For Good! I used to be extremely religious, and even within mainstream religions there are movements that over-emphasize how hellish the real world is and how badly you need to stick to their ways, lest ye be devoured. Scientology takes it to the extreme. In your new freedom, you will hopefully restore a healthy love for the world, and at the same time, a healthy ability to think more critically of it, too….but on your own instincts, not those of El RH or anyone else.
Yes – “Eat or be eaten” Francis. Thank you. I do get that now. Scientology will chew you up and spit you out and leave you for dead after taking and consuming all of your resources. Scientology will leave you broke and broken and then blame you. I have seen most people in Scientology treated this way – used and abused.
I hope there is a season4 of Aftermath with Leah and Mike. The more exposure to crimes the better. Legally they are almost impenetrable. PR wise not so much Spreading the truth is our best exposure of truth ??
Rosemarie,
I COMPLETELY agree. It is obvious that the US government is unprepared to handle the situation of a “religion” that routinely commits crimes in the name of that “religion”.
Kat
Len, by sister cult you mean Sea Org? NOI?
Thx.
Crap – that is misplaced.
Len said: It is not an overstatement to observe that Scientology, like it’s sister cult, has blood on it’s hands.
The rest of the comment was about the code which I’d read umteen times but looks very differently now.
I think the outbreak of diseases on the ship is a lead-in to a potentially bigger story. I’m talking about all the senior citizens in isolated environments like a ship or the hole or one of the compounds that is surrounded by razor wire.
In the past, I’ve tried to sound an alarm that one day, there will be a “tipping point” and many of the older people will no longer be able to care for themselves and may well be victim to fast-spreading diseases. The mentality of the monsters who run this scam is such that they really have no intention of providing required medical care and there could be large numbers of elderly people who will die from a lack of care. The big question is whether that story will ever make it out to the public and if it does, will law enforcement finally conclude, “Enough is enough!” and maybe there is a line being crossed. The line between religious freedom and willfull homicide or even manslaughter. I see a whole lot of cases of manslaughter happening among the aged population of cult members.
I just hope the monster winds up in prison for these crimes against the elderly.
I agree. Once the elderly are broke and unable to generate funds anymore be it their own or others, they aren’t relevant. And if they begin to cost money, they are disposed of even quicker. My mom is one of those “elderly” people. When she disconnected from me, I begged her to save some of her money and keep it private and not to tell them. So that she could afford, board and care for her self. I tried to tell her they will take every cent and she will suffer more then the loss of her only daughter and grandkids. She was sobbing. That was a hard goodbye for us both.
Oh geeez Lora – another one. So sad for her. Maybe she is one of the hundreds waiting to route out? Perhaps you can try and phone?
Lora, that just breaks my heart. Thank you for posting that for others to see.
Those elderly are there of their own free will, Skyler. They cannot be forced to leave the cult. They have to WANT to leave. They have to DECIDE to leave. THEN they cannot be kept AGAINST THEIR WILL. Unfortunately, they are perfectly at liberty to stay in the cult’s Sea Org of their own free will. This applies to ALL Sea Org members. Provided they STATE that they’re where they want to be, of their own free will, that no onE is forcing them to stay (that’s called “kidnapping”) and provided that no ABUSE has been REPORTED to the police, no one is going to INVESTIGATE.
I’m a businesswoman with many friends, business associates and some family.
If one day I decide, without saying anything to anyone, to just leave, to join up with some isolated Wiccan commune or something and I pick up and go, and if this commune has no phone and no email and there’s no way to reach me, someone I know would assuredly report me. missing. I’d be traced and found. But if I say to the authorities,
“Thank you for your concern, but I’m not breaking any law, I am where I want to be, no one is abusing me or forcing me to stay, I’m living my life, and, no I don’t want to make a public statement, nor do I wish to ever again speak to anyone I once knew. Please respect my privacy and leave me alone,” – if I communicate THIS to the authorities, then I MUST be left alone, per LAW.
That’s how it rolls in the US of A.
This is the situation with the Sea Ogres, of all ages.
You can make a decision, informed or otherwise. But a criminal organisation, such as the Co$, can exercise undue influence and the decisions that the victims take are not their own.
Undue influence is a thing in court – also in the US of A. The victims are not entirely at fault.
Check out “opening minds: the secret world of manipulation, undue influence and brainwashing” by Jon Atack.
Sorry jens. Ain’t gonna happen UNLESS you can get the person declared incompetent. Which ain’t going to happen because when you get a Heber on the stand he will be very lucid. This is rooted in the human right of Freedom of Association. You DON’T want the gov’t messing with that unless one is an idiot. Because there will ALWAYS be a TEENY, TINY % of the population that lack the common sense to not get duped and you don’t want to scrub the rights of the other 99.9999% of the population who has common sense enough.
Well said, Wynski.
Years ago there was a film wherein young people lay down in the middle of a busy road. I forget the name of this film but it caused a huge stir because a few young kids saw this film, went out and did the same thing , got run over and died, if I recall correctly. Possibly just injured, I forget. Anyway, arguments sprang up that films should not show such acts because they caused young people to copy them and lose their lives. It was the film’s fault because the young people had thought what the film characters did was “cool”. Well, sure, but WHAT “young people”. Out of, say, 10 thousand kids, how many would be mental or stupid or high enough to FOR REAL lay themselves down in the middle of a busy road or highway because some characters they identified with in a film did it? No kidding, if they’re that impressionable and mental or drugged out, they wouldn’t be long for this lifetime anyway. Completely absurd.
Right Aqua. Evolution has got us to the point where we are now. A HUGE part of that is the NATURAL weeding out of those who are deficient. Penalizing everyone else because a tiny fraction are defective is completely insane.
What about Heber’s child (or children)? Who never had the freedom to form their own choice?
I’m saying that courts do take undue influence seriously, no matter how much some people like to blame victims.
And the criminal organisation known as the “church” of $cientology wants everyone to blame the victims exclusively.
Hello AM. You are quite correct, of course.
Isn’t brain-washing an incredibly insidious way to commit crimes against people? You convince them that they want to give you all their money and to go into debt in order to borrow as much money as they can and then give it to you. When your family asks where all your money has gone, you tell them that you wanted it to give it to the monsters and they should just go away and leave you alone.
It’s almost a perfect kind of crime. So perfect, there has to be a law against it. Sigh.
Skyler, you can’t make laws against stupidity. It isn’t eh gov’ts job to run around with people trying to instill common sense.
I think there is more potential for the elderly folks to be taken financially. I’ve heard of a person who is over 75 that was talked into getting credit cards with $70,000 so the person could take classes. There’s no way for this person to pay that off in this lifetime.
Hello Lynne. I was only ever involved with this scam for a few days. The reason I feel so strongly they must be taken down is because of a story I heard where a team of “Reg’s” came to an elderly couple’s home and lambasted them 24 hours a day – refusing to leave them alone until they agreed to give the scam a large sum of money they recently inherited so that their daughter (or granddaughter) could take courses that she needed to take to save her life.
At least they had these people convinced she needed these courses to save her life.
If you are interested in my story, you can read about it here:
http://www.forum.exscn.net/threads/hello-from-ali-shibaz.49451/
It is post #13.
That post should have all the details about how that team of reg’s bullied and browbeat that elderly couple until they agreed to hand over all the money they had recently inherited.
I hope you will be able to find that story using my link. Please let me know if you have any difficulty. The best way would be to send me email to:
sevswe16@mail2world.com
Was this person physically forced to charge 70K on his/her credit cards?
Did this person have dementia or Alzheimers?
If the answer is “yes” to either of the above, there might be a legal case.
OR did this person, legally sane, merely succumb to clever, well pitched, high pressure sales tactics?
Such sales against those who are vulnerable/lonely/inexperienced
/gullible/ ignorant/elderly are certainly IMMORAL.
Unfortunately, they’re not illegal.
Of course, FRAUD is illegal.
It all depends upon what is PROMISED, and then, what is DELIVERED.
AARP says that some elderly people are extremely LONELY which is why they’re willing to give con artists the opportunity to get to know them. Someone is reaching out and TALKING to them. Its a big deal.
In this instance, I’d say the CRIME (not the legal crime, but the moral one) is someone SO alone, so lonely, that ANYONE calling on the phone, ANYONE professing some sort of interest in them, is welcome, even an unscrupulous, calculating salesperson.
Yes Aqua, were the caring family members BEFORE the sales people arrived?
My in-laws are old. We don’t live near them so we Skype them once a week and talk via phone several times a week. They KNOW to pass by us any major financial matters and also through their atty. We make sure they get special safety equipment installed in their house as they get older to prevent accidents, etc. NO ONE is going to scam them because they will call my cell phone the moment someone tries to sell something expensive or needing a contract.
Some time back you covered the big $ci.. shindig where Shelly’s husband proclaimed all of the “great accomplishments” of the past year. In reading that, I tried to put myself in the clam mindset of “whatever he says, has to be true” and concluded it would be inspiring to the most insulated clams. (Telling people the lie they want to hear, as truth, is almost always joyfully accepted.)
So with that thought in mind – Shelly’s husband can easily proclaim that this year “interest in $ci.. reached an all time high with coverage by all the networks, magazines and newpapers”. Of course he’ll attribute it to people wanting lrh’s blather (a lie), but the clams can be euphoric in their bubble until they question why no growth came from all of this “positive” coverage.
PS In Bonner’s post he says the “measles has past” – does this mean this set of measles had previously been with other women?
Phillip, buddy, I hate to give you bad news, but, these measles have not only been tramping around, but, the women who contracted this set of measles, I’ve been told, is the Worst ever seen. I’m sorry to break the news to you.
OT (Off Topic)
One of my morning rituals consists of having a look at Wikipedia’s landing page. Reading the ‘Did You Know…’ and ‘On This Day’ sections is kind of like a trivial pursuit exercise for me.
Today I noticed in the ‘On This Day’ section there was this:
1991 – Time magazine published “The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power”, an article highly critical of Scientology, leading to years of legal conflict.
I clicked on the link to the main article and had a nice walk down memory lane. Our tireless proprietor was even mentioned in the article. Congrats Mike you’re world famous!
A word of warning to newbies, never-ins, cult doubters – sideliners and UTR lurkers who read this blog. Reading these type of articles and clicking on the handy links that Wikipedia provides can lead to some real time consuming rabbit holes. Click at your own risk. However, the great benefit of clicking these links is that your ignorance will be cleared up faster than a cult reg can empty your pockets and you will never be blindsided by that flavor of stupidity again.
Reading these types of articles and clicking on the handy links that Wikipedia provides can lead to some real time consuming rabbit holes
Oh my lord, I can attest to that!! Trust me, it’s not just Wikipedia! I started reading Mike’s blog just a few months ago, which lead to another one. And then another one. And then another one. Rince/repeat X I don’t even know how many anymore. LOL.
I’ve been trying to catch up on 10+ years of various blogs and posts. Feel free to check back on my progress in about 2 years. Haha 😉
What a mess of low life, lying crap Scientology is. It’s about time the ship of the damned received some well deserved international attention for the despicable human rights abuses it camouflages itself behind by fronting itself as an elite lifestyle with the purpose of saving humanity. But OMG!!!! imagine being ordered by the sovereign authorities of the waters that ship is in to remain onboard for 3 more weeks! And to make it even more crappy than it already is, I seem to recall (it really stretches my memory though) but even Hubbard wrote in a LRH ED that the AOs of the world were to deliver OT8. So what is the purpose of the ship? The above information lays it out in gruesome detail.
You are correct. AOLA sold OT8, many many of them back in the day…
“MANY ARE CALLED
FEW WE CAN AFFORD TO TURN AWAY.
HELLO? IS ANYBODY THERE…?????”
Yes, Peter, I’m still here. Now quit waking me up!
Hello Peter. What a great name you chose. Have you ever seen the old movie about a doctor turned pirate named Peter Blood? It’s a really good movie and it was a great name for that pirate too.
That’s good to know. I was worried it was a medical condition.
I know that Suzette [Hubbard] was vaccinated against small pox. That’s about all I know about it. I don’t know Hubbard’s general attitude about medical disease prevention other than what he wrote about it via-a-vis Dianetics and PTS condition.
I asked Rowan’s nanny about the subject when she was in my office playing one day but she didn’t know about her vaccination status and had not seen her get any at an age when she should have. But, that would have been up to Diana…
Thank you Mike! I went to the FW’s once in the 90’s to talk with my husband who they were trying to go to get to go to Europe to “handle” Adnon Kashogi’s son. (He being the TOP ARMS DEALER at that time, and his wife at Flag…becoming a $cientologist).
I arrived and was ordered to:
“STAND ASIDE!” (Not allowed on, due to medicine I took for Epilepsy). They finally Ok’d me on. I got my husband to promise not to go. He was a total wreck after OT 8.
I remember that time. It was top secret who was to come aboard for the lowly staff members. Just that some of the richest person was about to come. I figured out anyway that it must have to do with the Kashoggis (Adnan Kashoggi).
“Arms dealer”, that is what I thought also with disgust. It felt so wrong regarding the proclaimed “Aims of Scientology: A civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war,… . “Without war”?… and then pay court to the Kashoggis?? Unbelievable! It’s all about the money. Disgusting! No integrity!
The executives and CMO were crazed with excitement, and there was a hectic as if the King of some important country would come. I felt so wrong. But then it came to nothing. Later I heard it was all about the arms dealer’s wife.
When I did my OT VIII on the ship, I said to myself I would never ever EVER step foot on the Freewinds ship again. While doing the level, I realized that all of the OT levels were based on BELIEF. There was nothing scientific about it.
Yes, the story about XENU is all true. Cringe.
Confession: I thought the entire story was bullshit when I read OTIII – the story about XENU. I went through with it because I had spent so much money.
It’s bullshit. You don’t have BT’s & Custers all over you and you need to audit them off. It is a money making scam for the cult.
Lurkers – Get OUT of Scientology. You are going to regret it if you don’t. You WILL get hurt too.
Leave now and never look back.
And you don’t have to do dianetics only to find out you don’t have a reactive bank (that Ron/DMSMH told you, you did) and that you were mocking it all up – well yah, duh!
They take away all the rights of their members, they take away choice (forced abortions), and have the audacity to use freedom as an argument for anything they don’t agree with. Hypocrites devoted to smoke and mirrors at its best.
Isn’t it ironic that ” the world’s coolest religion ” and ” the tech that is senior to life itself “, relies so heavily on elitism, punitive measures, and aggressive and arbitrary labelling ? Is it not ironic that ” the most ethical group on the planet ” has, for over 6 decades, ruthlessly imprisoned, human trafficked, defrauded, physically and sexually abused, and otherwise shat on and destroyed not only its adherents, but its critics and those who seek to expose and stop this heinous “ecclesiastical” behavior?
SCIENTOLOGY: ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS WORSE THAN YOU THINK.
Some call the MeasleWinds a ship of fools. That only applies to the paying customers. For the crew, it is like the Trireme that Ben Hur had to row when he was a Roman slave.
Thanks to all the exs who spent time on the $cineo ships, we know what really goes on there. it is not ‘spiritual perfection’, it is a floating Dachau.
Older people often find that the frequency of getting colds is reduced. At 65 I get one every few years now instead of every few months.
If Scientology cannot even prevent colds, something that can occur naturally with age, then it cannot do much health wise. Try yoga or nutrition or getting enough sleep something that works.
Hubbard himself is proof that Scientology does not improve one’s health. He was an overweight broken down old man who died of a stroke at 74. In his final years he was senile to boot. Claimed people were breaking into his quarters to steal his shoes, wear them and then return them.
Hubbard made various pronouncements claiming that measles were mostly or entirely psycho-somatic, such as this in Dianetics:
“Measles, for instance, can be just measles or it can be measles in company with engramic restimulation, in which case it can be nearly or entirely fatal. A check of many subjects on this matter of childhood illness being predisposed by, precipitated by and perpetuated by engrams causes one to wonder just how violent the diseases themselves really are. They have never been observed in a Cleared child and there is reason to investigate the possibility that childhood illnesses are in themselves extremely mild and are complicated only by psychic disturbance, which is to say, the restimulation of engrams.”
A 1968 confidential lecture seems to imply that measles and other diseases are just part of an “implant” intended to reduce a supposed ridiculously large population that once lived on this planet, in Hubbard’s “space opera” cosmology:
“For instance, there is cyclical illness which is dictated in the various R6 implants. A fellow was forced to get sick at the age of five, followed multiples of five, and he’s supposed to get sick from this and from that, and from the other thing. Measles and, you know he’s supposed to have and that’s certain. They predict his health, in other words. When he’s fifty he’s supposed to something or other. What they’re trying to do is make a body cave in. See?
Problem R6 was trying to solve was overpopulation. With some 250 billion inhabitants on this planet, the average through this federation was 178 billion, hundred and seventy-eight billion beings per planet.”
Those and others are collected at: http://scientology-research.org/the-infectious-disease-angle/
Information on Measles Vaccinations
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/diseases/child/measles.html
Wow – you put it right out there – this is complete madness and control – i find it difficult to understand how it can continue in this day and age. is nobody in authority looking
Mostly not.
Scientology’s Creed begins with the words ”We of the Church believe…” and concludes with “…the spirit alone may save or heal the body.”
This nonsense reinforces a group-think conspiracy-driven mentality that all but rejects the lifesaving science of Immunology, and has consequently contributed to innumerable deaths that would otherwise have been preventable.
It is not an overstatement to observe that Scientology, like it’s sister cult, has blood on it’s hands.
Go GET EM Mike and Leah!!!
Does anyone have any info on the next season of Aftermath?
Does anyone know if there will likely be another season? If there is another season, would anyone have any ideas as to what topics may be discussed in this next season?
I surely do hope there will be more seasons. I hope there will continue to be season after season until the monster winds up in in the penitentiary for life. That would be a most wonderful outcome of this show.
Stay tuned, as soon as we know exactly what is happening and when we will let everyone know.
And wouldn’t some true stories from actual Freewinders make some great shows!
Agreed
Wonderful! Thanks so much Mike.
Personally, I’m hoping for some episodes about elder abuse – especially if there is any evidence about a potential upcoming collapse of the care for all the elders who can no longer care for themselves.
Skyler, most of the worst cases just get off loaded to relatives and die. I don’t think that the SO has ever had a policy of paying for professional palliative care.
What I’m saying is that there is no history of care to collapse…