Another in the ever-growing series of essays by Terra Cognita. See earlier posts here: The Horrors of Wordclearing, Why Scientologists Don’t FSM, Respect, The Survival Rundown – The Latest Scam, Communication in Scientology… Or Not, Am I Still A Thetan?, To Be Or Not To Be, An Evaluation of Scientology, Fear: That Which Drives Scientology and Justification and Rationalization.
The Reg
Love em or hate em, the registrar—reg for short—is an icon in every Scientology organization. In most missions and orgs, they’re the most important person on staff. As everyone well knows, the reg is responsible for “regging,” or signing public up for services and taking their money. Simply put: no reg, no income. Orgs live and die on what transpires at the registrar’s desk.
With no exceptions, all routing forms in Scientology include a stop at the reg, who will learn everything they can about the person’s life—including his bank account and credit card numbers. A good reg knows all.
Personality +
Personality is imperative and a good reg must be friendly. Very friendly. They must communicate well, exude enthusiasm, and always be happy to see you. It doesn’t hurt if they’re attractive, as well. In church parlance, they must be “uptone” and have high “ARC.” The more of each, the better.
The reg should be someone with whom you want to be friends—someone you want to hang out with. Since regs work all day and all night, “hanging out” with them isn’t actually possible, but you get the idea. In many Scientology orgs, the reg is your pretended best friend.
A good reg is like a concierge. Their Rolodex is second to none; they know everyone important; and they get things done. No one in an org is more capable than the reg.
But most important, the reg is a salesman. Their bible is Big League Sales, and as long as they close the deal and get you to pay for your next service, the reg is golden.
Purpose and Intention
The purpose of the reg is to help LRH clear the planet by signing up people for their next service and getting them up the bridge. Some contend, their purpose is to fleece as many people as possible out of as much money as they can.
One thing for sure, the reg will take a person’s cash—or swipe his credit card—regardless of his or her financial condition. A reg cannot have any doubts or reservations about asking for money or worry about leaving a person penniless and unable to pay the rent. A good reg believes there is NOTHING more important than Scientology and getting people up the bridge.
I liked the small handful of regs I dealt with over the years. I never thought they were evil and trying to trick me out of all my money, but that they truly believed they were doing the right thing—as delusional as that was in retrospect. Was I naïve? A bit, yeah. I’m proud, though, of all the times I said “No,” and that I’m not impoverished.
Lies
As with everywhere else in Scientology, lying is SOP—standard operating procedure—in the office of the registrar. The reg lies to the public. The public lies to the reg. Everyone lies to themselves.
Few people choose to reveal their true net worth to the reg—which as all Scientologists know is simply counter-intention and “the bank talking.” Common lies and half-truths include, “My credit cards are all maxed-out;” “I have no savings;” “My bills are killing me;” and, “We gotta get the kids through school first.” It’s all right for the church to hide their finances but it’s an overt and withhold for the public to do the same. Financial transparency is not a two-way street in the world of Scientology.
Regs use an assortment of scare tactics to persuade people to hand over their money. “The world is going to hell in a handbasket and there isn’t much time left” and “The prices are going up,” are common refrains. “This is the first time in all our eternity that we have the chance to truly go free,” is another. “You can’t take your MEST—matter, energy, space, and time (basically: physical shit)—with you when you go,” is a fourth, and which essentially means you might as well liquidate all your assets and turn over the proceeds. Since Scientology is the most ethical group on the planet, giving all your money to them is the “greatest good for the greatest number of dynamics.”
The Tag Team
It’s not uncommon to sit for hours with the reg trying to figure out how to buy your next service. They’ll ply you with drink and hors d’oeuvres while they show you reference after reference regarding your next level, and win after win from those who’ve completed it. And if all that doesn’t work they have another ace up their sleeve.
Regs often bring in others to help them get their product. DofP’s, auditors, fellow regs, CO’s, and ED’s are often called upon to help close a deal. FSM’s, too, are frequently asked to help get a person to open his wallet.
Last but not least, regs rely on spouses. If anyone can convince a person to write a check, it’s the husband or wife—who, of course, only want what’s best for their partner.
How many reading this have received a late night phone call from Flag that went something like this:
“Hi, Joe. This is Flag registrar, Felicia. I’m sitting here with you wife, Sylvia, trying to figure out how she can continue on the level. She’s doing fantastic, by the way, and really wants to keep going! How are you doing?”
“Ah…fine.”
“Great! So we just got the TE [tech estimate] from the CS, and Sylvia only needs four more intensives. We thought it was going to take so much more. How great is that?”
“Ah…yeah…that’s good.”
“I know! So Sylvia and I were talking and she said you have money in your Charles Schwab Investment One account to cover the hours. How fortunate is that, huh?!”
“Ahm…yeah.”
“And by the way, Joe, Sylvia just raves about what a great guy you are. What a lucky girl she is!”
“Ah…thanks.”
“She’s really doing well, too, and none of us want any barriers to get in her way, right? So I’m gonna put Sylvia on the line. Here she is.”
“Hi, honey.”
“Hey, babe. How’s it going?”
“It’s going really good. My auditor is great. It just makes so much sense to not stop and then have to come back sometime in the future. In the long run, it’ll be way cheaper to just stay and finish the level right now. So Felicia and I were thinking that maybe you could transfer the money…”
Been there; done that.
(I’ll leave the full, unedited version to Regraded Being.)
The Letter Registrar
The letter reg—who’s really not a reg at all—is one of those posts in Scientology rated just below apprentice janitor in value and importance. The grueling qualifications for the post are: a) English is not their first language, b) English is not their second language, c) English is not their third language, and d) they must not have graduated from an accredited high school.
Per LRH, the letter reg “finds individuals who want something and writes that person letters that help him or her to get it.” Apparently, they find what this “something” is by looking through horrendously out-of-date files of people who bought a book or did a service sometime in the distant past. Ninety-nine point nine times out of a hundred, this person has blown and hates Scientology with a passion, is living in a hut in northern Finland, is OT8 and not interested, or died in 1978.
I’ve received HUNDREDS of ridiculous letters from letter regs over the years and have yet to answer one. Does anyone actually acknowledge these guys? What do they do every Thursday at two? They can’t have anything to report.
Hy Levy
Perhaps the best—and most sad and frightening—account of a Scientology registrar is the one that was published in the Tampa Bay Times about Hy Levy. The man regged millions and millions of dollars over his sixteen years at Flag, but unfortunately, died of cancer shortly after leaving. The story is captivating.
Still not Declared,
Terra Cognita
Old Regs, wonder where they are today:
Charmaine de K…… (South African lady reg charming person)
…..my gosh my memory is fading, the man who was FSO reg for years, Reuvain Marcus ?
Where their salesman post-Sea Org/Reg skills have landed them today?
Mik Wenlock’s story:
http://exscn.net/content/view/43/103/1/1/
Thanks for the link Chuck. It’s great to get the real behind the scenes skinny after having overdosed on the kool-aid for far too long.
Thank you so much for Mik Wenlock’s story. I never knew this interesting story.
Just wow. The longer I’m out the more I learn.
I got regged by Charmaine, hated it, David Light-he made me cry, overwhelmed, and Hy, he was nice.
IAS regges and their briefings were so manipulative. They had an RV in Portland and they’d pull marchers in. I got my first briefing from the charming dentist guy. Something Hughes.
Then they reached for my wallet. From feeling special to feeling wrung out in the space of five minutes.
This post brings memories pouring in and names dinging into my head.
The biggest memory is the stress of owing so much money abd that I was a car crash or long, maybe not so long, illness away from bankruptcy. For years.
Why did I stay?
Why did any of us stay?
Because if we looked too close may be our heads would explode.
Thanks for another great article. “English is not their second language.” Still laughing about that.
In Scientology, the size of the lies told are inversely proportional to the size of the audience. Statements to the press are usually denial of something true or distortions of something factual. Statements at international events really push the envelope and are loosely based on something factual. At an Ideal Org fundraiser with 20 attendees, the bullshit gets laid on pretty thick. But when YOU are the entire audience the reg observes no limits in what they’ll say. Stories made up out of whole cloth, made up statistics, hell, they’ll even lie about LRH policy. The worst, IMO, are IAS regges. I don’t think I ever had a conversation with an IAS reg where I wasn’t lied to.
Thank you for link on Hy Levy
This – THIS article is a gem, Terra. I had a mini panic attack just reading the 2WC in the “late night phone call from the Flag Reg to the PC’s husband. Cringe! That is just the way Reg’s talk. So glad I’m out of there.
Look at what the enterprise that sells “wins” cognitions and “stable gains” turns people into. Self-obsessed, fretting and gullible, these spineless cowards who won’t stand up for themselves and who snitch on each other all swear scientology has helped them. Pretty funny, huh?
A damn fine lot indeed Roger! When the shit hits the fan, exactly how many scilons would you want in your trench?
Long answer: zippo
For someone so recently coming out, these articles – very good articles – must be cathartic.
Hi Terra Cognita,
I thoroughly enjoy every one of your posts. They bring back a lot of the OMG!!! moments I experienced during my first few months of leaving the church.
The other day I was looking at some 3D sidewalk artwork created by some very talented people. If you look at it from a very specific viewpoint, it appears to have depth and distance and seems very real. You only have to take a half step to the right or left to realize it’s just an illusion. A flat lifeless colorful illusion.
To most people ‘still in’, Scientology is a very real thing that offers promise and hope of an ideal state of existence. I believe your words can help and may have already helped some of them to take that half step away from their fixed viewpoint.
Thanks
R.B.: Thanks. Love your posts, too. And great metaphor!
Thanks TC.Your articles are refreshing.I appreciate your non-judmental style.You paint clear pictures.
The Hy Levy stories of Regging above is a good link. Videos not working, here it is : All credit to Tampa Bay Times
Scientology Inc Registrar Hy Levy (RIP) Unburdens his conscience
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu_AKpPibwM
AND
Scientology Inc, the Relentless Pursuit of Money and more Money
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaq2kj8waog
It was a good story that the Tampa Bay Times put out.
Does anyone know if any articles were published by them about Phil’s billboard? It is odd that the Tampa Bay Times were so Anti-SCN and have been quiet as of late. I wonder if the cult used a straw buyer to purchase the newspaper or something or perhaps have some SCN’ers in management at the newspaper.
I have to tell you that my wife and I….. Wish Hy Levy a great life …where-ever he may be and we cannot thank him enough for not acknowledging our fully paid up invoice,for Flag services (we had bought from John Lundeen), when he still held the post of cashier.
That BETRAYAL opened our eyes, opened our wings and we finally flew away for good, from the nest called Scientology.
Thanks Terra. Would be nice to see an article on the indie’s as well, as in my opinion they have jumped from one frying pan …… into another.
Mike Moretti
Hi Mike, So good to see you. Your last paragraph touched me because I can tell you understand the jumping from one frying pan to the other.I have no quarrel with Indies I think if one wants to helpfully audit others then that is their choice.However I will never back away from my SO story because I have lost too many good strong people to the dark side of cos.Some mentally could never come back after OTIII Lovd & hugs to you❤️❤️
If El Con’s Scamology could even deliver Grade 1 as advertised, every mission on the planet would be packed and could charge $100,000 (EASY) for that level alone. Staff would be wealthy. Independent auditors would have a waiting list years long.
People stuck under El Con’s mind control are almost legally incapacitated or they would see this TRUTH.
Another really good article by Terra Cognita. It’s always informative and well-written, and it makes things even more clear with the personal examples of regging experiences. Looking forward to more from T.C. – Mike Rinder, this is a good site.
The Reg’s office was Insanity Central. But since regges no longer reg for actual services, it’s the IAS regges who are the freaks. I’m thanking myself that I never had to deal with regges much, on any flow.
“Insanity Central” is a perfect term.
Hi Terra Cognita, Thank you for another dynamite comment that shows the Dark Art of Regging.You have the lies used to suck unwary bodies into cos exposed for all to see.I am sorry the letter regges gave you pause.When I was one @ Asho F and then ASR I was an exception to what you encountered.I always thought that the secret upper OT levels should be free of charge if they were that incredible.That might of been why I was in such hot water with GO/Intel.One of many reasons.lol.You have done such a service with your posts.I admire you.XO
You’re too kind, Ann B.
The most effective ‘reg cycle’ that I ever witnessed was when the International Finance Police raided the mission network in the early 80s’ These guys gave new meaning to the phrase strong arm tactics. Of course, due to trickle-down theory (in reverse) this same strong arm was applied to public scientologists and there was a mass reduction in membership. Not nearly enough, but it was a start. The IAS seems to be the modern scientology version of the Finance Police with a more ‘personal’ touch.
The bottom line when it comes to regging: if scientology were able to deliver on even a fraction of what it promises or has promised, there would be no need for a reg at all. The citizenry would be busting down the doors to get services. There would be no need for G/OSA, ‘ethics officers’, Ideal Orgs, FSMs, the IAS war chest, shadowy front groups or any other bullshit that is currently being inflicted on the membership of the cult.
The Finance Police and the IAS arrived on the scene around the same time, though they had different origins.
The Finance Police were sanctioned by Hubbard who got routine (sanitized and embellished) reports about their activities “cleaning up the criminal Mission network…
Funny to see Clifford Woods, who was at one time International Finance Police In Charge now being a full time FSM/Consultant/vulture. Still taking money from people.
“…if scientology were able to deliver on even a fraction of what it promises or has promised, there would be no need for a reg at all.” Yes indeed.
We demonstrated exactly that in our little org in the early 80’s. We were down to about 11 staff or something (and no Reg) and three of us realized that we did not have to follow the heavy-handed screaming and yelling FOLO orders as far as what we could do to raise the income. All we needed to do is make sure everyone was happy with their service. (Which was not what we were being yelled at to do–we were being ordered to do crush regging tactics.)
We put no attention on a Reg or “We need money RTFN!” We put all our attention on the tech and qual lines. We also had received a great org program from QEI in Exec Strata about raising our income via tech and qual and we did each step of it.
Long story very short, within 2 months our GI was increasing in an affluence trend, the ED took home $240 or something like that for a week’s pay, I got $180 or thereabouts. Our personal income still varied but it was way better. The ED would have to pop into the Reg office and see what the person’s next service was and if they wanted to pay for it he helped them with it. He wasn’t the kind of guy to pull all the reg crap at all. Plus he knew they’d get more if they got great results. So it was a very calm and easy conversation.
You do need someone to sign people up, to “register” people. That’s all. Our ED finally got one of the other staff members to do it instead of him. After she realized she didn’t have to crush reg anyone she said OK and had a blast working with happy pcs and students. You DON’T need all the kill tactics that are drilled into people’s heads these days. It just proves once again how out-tech the whole thing has gotten.
Irrelevant. The “tek” delivered EXACTLY like EL Con said results in collapse. You are spewing the “No real Scotsman” fallacy.
FAIL
Right on it Mike, good call.
Mike: What’s the “No real Scotsman fallacy”?
Terra, http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/No_True_Scotsman
In this example it is “No true scamology org has to reg hard”. You find cult members using variations of this when you point out the lack of tek results. The response is “that wasn’t really scientology being delivered.” Or, “he wasn’t REALLY trained.” Or, the “true LRH tech”. The logic quickly spirals into circular “logic” and insanity.
Had not heard of NTS before — this precisely describes the favorite tactic of scientology.
The NTS is an informal logical fallacy. The “formal” ones are also found in a cult members tool belt. Mike, as you know/have said before, LRH tried to dissuade scientologist from studying the subject of logic.
He had a VERY good reason for doing so.
A key datum in Scientology is knowing how to blow.
Yes I made a similar comment recently about how a good reg simply programs the “prospect” and lets him get wins from Scientology and the rest takes care of itself. Worked in my Org as well. Easy-peasy. Again, like most other nonsense, the heavy regging started in the early 1980s and this has been followed by the IAS and Idle Org regging, which takes precedence now as no exchange must be given. So even the regging is squirrel and has been for decades.
By the way Mike, your mention of Clifford Woods and what he is doing these days is of no surprise to me. He slung his hat into the squirrel kool-aid drinking ring decades ago.
“Again, like most other nonsense, the heavy regging started in the early 1980s”
Again, a COMPLETE fabrication and a lie by someone who is still a brainwashed El Con Cult member.
Another vitriolic rant from NoWinski – I was there but then I forgot – Mike has never been “there” – always stuck in some long-gone incident.
Mike (Nowinski) – did you ever consider that you were one of those public who didn’t get any case gain or wins and therefore had to be regged heavily in the 1970s – even when regging heavily was not in vogue! Like dragging blood out of a stone?
It appears to me, as someone who judges other people on whether they’re applying Root Cause Analysis correctly as part of what I do for a living, that Scientology isn’t doing so if regging is their solution to NCG. According to Occam’s Razor, the simplest solution is that Scientology does not work 100% of the time if applied standardly. But that can’t be, can it? L. Fraud said it worked.
I trust William of Ockham a helluva lot more than L. Fraud.
Espi, let me dissect that El Con datum Fool was spewing.
Case: El Con bifurcated a person’s mind into analytical and the rest being “case”. negative elements & insanity.
NGC = No CASE Gain. When undergoing El Con’s mind warping treatment those who resisted and did NOT gain MORE case (insanity and negative attributes) were put into the same category as SP’s (2 1/2% ers).
I WAS a NCG person. Fool gained MUCH case on the other hand. Until he is what you see today.
Sometimes El Con threw the truth in there but with a twist and a laugh (privately to himself)…
You’re right. Hard sell is the absolute worst way to sell something. I have yet to go into an Apple Store and been pressured. That’s what happens when you have a product people want.
Is this the same Clifford Woods who was in the SO recruiting staff for new Ideal Orgs such as when Las Vegas went Ideal Org? If so, did he leave SO and is now staff and FSMing for a living? Any data on Clifford Woods?
If scientology was built on Truth, and if the promises were at all real, that would mean that, at some point unbeknownst to me…
I would have moved to a parallel universe of some unobservable dimension.
“I would have moved to a parallel universe of some unobservable dimension.”
Facebook much?
“The citizenry would be busting down the doors to get services.” THIS.
The Letter Reg being below apprentice janitor caught my attention. Writing letters is one of the ways that parishioners and Staff get out of lower conditions, ie: Liability. Been there, done that.
A few years ago I received a letter to a family member from a woman who was an IAS Reg at PAC. She was a well known figure of annoyance to students. I was surprised to see the CC letterhead and her name at the bottom. Apparently she was taken out of PAC and moved to CC to be a Letter Reg which is a major step down from being an IAS Reg. Still, it might be a respite to her because I used to see her in desperate straits trying to convince people to attend a briefing after Course, or to even talk to her in the first place. Students were pissed off at IAS regs bothering them when they came in to do Courses and this woman was known to be an expert at it.
I can see why ‘IAS Reg’ (oh, so much could be said there) did not get its own heading in TC’s article because Hy Levy’s story is very compelling.
Many Scientology registrars have no conscience and are not the slightest bit concerned that their efforts bring about bankruptcies, divorces, home foreclosures and the elderly on welfare.
Scientology has perfected sociopathic sales techniques.
TRUTH!
I was a reg for most of the time I was on staff, which was from 1972 to 2004. I’ll confess to being friendly, most of the time. I agree with much of how you described regges here, and don’t feel too maligned by it. (Perhaps, Terra, one day we can meet and do a little bit of BLS drilling and see if we can find something in it to bring about a mutual line charge…)
Amongst the policies of Scientology were a couple issues devoted to pricing in OEC vol 3. I don’t have the issues to hand, but, as I recall, the basic idea was that international management would, from time to time, re-evaluate and adjust prices. The idea was that the cost of one intensive or one Academy course would be the equivalent of so many weeks of pay for the median income of a laborer for that time period and area.
There were no price adjustments at all between when I got in Scientology in the late 60’s and when LRHED 248 came out in September 1976, and then there was this adjustment that came out to increase the prices at 5% per month. In my org, we talked about it and figured that those increases would continue for about 4-5 months tops.
Well, they lasted for years!
In 1978, price increases were still in effect when ‘LRH ED 301 Int’, 17 Dec 78 “Ron’s Journal 30, 1978—The Year of Lightning Fast New Tech” came out. Also, Dianetic Clear was announced about the same time. Thousands and thousands of people attested to clear within months and the AO had a heyday with the price increases. This reflected well even in Int GI as well, I am told. AO and FSO GI was so good that it disguised the fact that GI from the Class V orgs was in danger or non-existence.
The regges in most of the Class V orgs were not getting any benefit at all from the price increases by that time. No one bothered to push the price increases after a while because, in a Class V field, you get through your list pretty quick and you know what’s going to work and what’s not. Someone who said “no” to your price increase argument one day is not likely to change their mind 6 months later. Div 6 services were priced well beyond the reality of new people coming in and no one was buying training and processing anymore as they were priced out. This was one of the main beefs at the mission holder’s conferences in ’82.
I used to think “there’s NO way that LRH could know what is going on in the Class V orgs and be OK on these price increases”, but I found out otherwise as I was getting briefed to go on various missions in the early 80’s. He was fully aware of them, but he saw also these various stat surges that would occur in various areas when SO personnel would go out and rape and pillage and max out credit cards and regges would force themselves into people’s homes and refuse to go without closing the deal. And, somehow, Ron imagined that orgs could do that every week of every year! Those orgs where SO missions came in and regged like that always slumped afterwords, and would spend months repairing the field.
If those Vol 3 policies had been implemented instead there would not have been that engram in the group. The 5% price increase period was a long and painful 3d dynamic engram.
So, if I were to get into my DeLorean and do a little time travel, those policies would have been implemented and the price increase ED would never have existed.
The other adjustments I’d make back in those days would have been to mercy kill the completely off policy IAS while it was still an idea and before a dollar had been regged and to send David Miscavige to cramming and ethics for wanting to implement his squirrel “Ideal Org” program that has distracted people from paying for services now for years. These “whales” who feel that their financial successes were due to Scientology? If that were true and they had money to burn it could have been given (or loaned, at low or no interest) to their less affluent Scn friends to give them a leg up. Thing about how many fairly priced Academy packages could have been purchased for each one of these statuses!
With those adjustments made, and with a staff properly trained to work with people to give them wins and dedicated to treating people with decency and respect, I’d wager that most of us would still be on post or on service.
In such an environment, not only the regges would be super friendly, but everyone else would be as well, including the org public.
Above should state “Think about how many fairly priced Academy packages…”, not “Thing about…”
Superb comment Dan. Says everything (that went awry with regging) in the nutshell of your paragraphs above.
If I had a time traveling DeLorean; I’d go back to the first time I was mentally/spiritually dominated by a Scientologist/Covert Hypnotic Operator and tell him to take his bullshit cult and jam it up his ass.
Friendliest assholes I ever met were reges. A reges hat, more than often than not is worn from above by execs.
What I did find disgusting (it took a few years to work this out) was, as a sup for many years I never saw one reg ever do auditor training. Maybe they did elsewhere but they sure didn’t in my org or the AOSH done the road.
For all that spruking and pitching how wondered the tech is and ‘you need it now’ therefore hand over all your money or the sky will fall in, reges are the biggest hypocrites God ever shoveled guts into. To me they are completely full of shit and do not/will not/cannot practice what they preach – in my book that rates just about as low as low can go in trustworthiness.
Also, when I audited in the HGC, staff as well, the reges never flew as cases either. I have no time for Scientologists as it is per se but even less for reges. They can all rot in hell as far as I’m concerned and it’s where they belong.
They never went up the Bridge because every time they had a failed close it was off to cramming. And if cramming didn’t work, off to ethics. At CC Int I was constantly dealing with the reges – mostly sec checking them or getting any review sessions done so they had ok for Cramming. They never ever ever did anything else but corrections on regging, during any study time they did have.
And if they failed close, they got cramming and were expected to get back out and close that same person, same day. Ridiculous. What does that have to do with Clearing people?
What does clearing have to do with people?
YUCK! What a horrible existence it must be to be a reg so close to top. I am glad I was just a small time techie stuck in a Cl (then 4) 5 Org in the backwoods so to speak. The closer to the top of the Scientology tree the greater the stench.
You paint the picture of the reges sole purpose in life very well and indeed it has ZERO to do with anything but money. What solid, failed cases that system produces anyway and reges sit pretty close to the top of the heap, just under their RTC controllers.
I love Terra Cognita days here at Mike’s blog!
Same here. She nails it every time.
Dave,
One of the best understood pleasures in the adventure of conquering the now vast and ever expanding (exponentially) Known Territory is handing another one of your IAS Regs his ‘first failed reg cycle’.
Information from one of my sessions at flag was used by reg a mere hour after the session ended. The “look-in system” is fact and the data gathered is open to others. Nothing is sacred in this cult, well except the money of course.
That really sux!
Honesty, integrity and Scientology – a study of treason in practice. For all the promises made in real life by that organisation the results, if any, are always accompanied by more promises and more demands for money. They took lying and turned it into a art-form that they only judged effective by dollars acquired. The spin off from that practice (if one is relatively sane that is, imo no-one with two shackles to rub together likes being lied to) results eventually in one form or another of hate!
Calls and visits late at night. Being hounded at work. I had fsm’s who wanted me to hit up my husband as soon as I had our baby. You know, him being in an exalted state of mind and all. They even visited me in the hospital to see if I had regged him.
Reges asking people to hit up their dear grandma for their inheritance early. Vultures
The IA$ reg is a whole other animal. They will come to your house at all hours of the day or night, ambush you and stick to you like a pit bull for hours, with “tag” people, until you cough up.
…”until you cough up.” Simi, are you telling me that I can puke on a reg? Cuz that that would be a lot of fun!
It’s only fair since they’re more than happy to shit on you.
OSD,
In your case, you can fling dirty diapers at them.
Less than 2 weeks away…
Another brilliant ploy: “Give me the rent money and just avoid the landlord.” I first heard that one around 1979.
Very True, Pac Base Lebanon Hall.
“Give us your rent money”
Simi, here’s another one: don’t spend money on dog food because dogs are degraded beings. Someone actually said that, although it was a long time ago, and I hope that person got better and out of the church.
@Hennessy. I did not ever hear the one about the dogs, and good thing I didn’t (or maybe bad, maybe I would have gotten out sooner).
My dog has a bigger soul than 75% of the people I know. I don’t know if that means I know bad people or my dog is a big soul, but if someone called her a degraded being, they would happily leave my sphere of friendship.
Late 70s it was smooth – you paid for your service, went on and did it; once completed you yourself went back to the Reg to see what was next (of course with C/S guidance). No one ever harassed me or others.
Mid 2000s the Reges even found/got pre clear’s data from sessions and used it to ‘convince’ them why 3-4 more intensives should be gotten.
Auditors, instead of going over the auditing hours targets they should meet that day started to be told, over and over, that they should reg their pcs after sessions, or take them directly to the registrar after the last session and, if the quotas set for the AUDITORS were no met, well, too bad, no one could go home until done.
Around 2007-2009 the person’s case was so messed up that I know of public that despite his 10 intensives paid ended worse than before. (Finally he quit); another person, before starting her session, was being ‘handled’ by the D of P, Qual Consultant and auditor to pay for the IAS. They even asked her how much her ring cost hinting she could use it to pay her donations (and this is not a made up story).
A criminal, insane, abusive ‘religion’ don’t you think?
[in the late 70’s] “No one ever harassed me or others.”
B.S. I watched all kinds of people being hounded by regs in the late 70’s. Constantly harping on the price increases, buy now Ot packages crap.
1971-2 …. “postulate checks ” … borrowing from relatives … yes it is much much worse now because of IAS & other status regging … but remember that BLS was put in in 1973.
Bingo Joe!
My experiences as a public person who began taking intro courses just prior to the inception of that insane 5% per month price hike scam in the 70’s was that the reges at the very successful mission that I was affiliated with seized upon this impending series of monthly price hikes to reg the hell out of me and everyone else that I knew!
One of them was even courteous enough to explain how the compounding effect of that price hike scheme was going to make it even more costly than one might have casually assumed (i.e., $1000 x 1.05 = $1050; $1050 x 1.05 = $1102.50…) While I was indeed thankful for the lesson in compounding interest, it ended up having the exact opposite effect on me than the reg had intended.
I did a little more calculation on my own and came to the (SLAP, upside the head) realization of just how incredibly expensive an intensive of auditing was going to be in a very short time. Then I figured out exactly how much each hour of auditing would cost and compared it to the pitifully small hourly wage that I was earning at the time and had the further epiphany that there was no possible way that I could afford to attain my Total Freedom going about it in that way.
Tragically for me, instead of just kissing my Eternity goodbye at that early point in my association with $cn, I decided to go on staff and make my way up the bridge while doing my part as a good comrade thetan to see that all of my fellow humans made it out of the Trap asap 😉 Color me Kool-Aid devotee number 87, 439, or there aboutst.
Looking back on it all, I feel very fortunate NOT to have had the money to squander on climbing up the Bridge to Total Financial Ruination and Other-Determinism, and the good sense to extricate myself from a life of semi-indentured servitude to the cherch before my whole world became centered around cult relationships and I became cut off from my family and non-$cn friends.
There but for the grace of Xenu go I.
Hubbard had most of us hypnotized. I recently listened to a few of his lectures and was amazed at how little he had to say – just going on and on while casting his spell over a captive (captured) audience.
🙂
@sylvia, you may not have been harassed by regges in the 1970’s, but you were probably in the minority if that is truly the case. I guess it depended on the size of your pocketbook and potential assets the amount of attention a reg paid to you.
I was personally hounded by John Barber in the 1970s. He was a smooth talker and he was relentless. I understand he is still in and still regging. I learned within months of meeting him that he would always be happy to see me. I spent long hours in his office explaining to him why a postulate check was an idiotic idea. I never wrote one. Even in the ’70’s my ex-husband and I got to the point where we covertly called it “scamatology and diamondetics” because of the incessant attention on mo money mo money.
When my father died, in 1984, shortly after I left my ex, I got lots of new “friends” almost immediately who would constantly harass me about buying my bridge with my inheritance. I did NOT. I bought a grand piano and a house before they could touch the money and completed my exit from scientology around that time, thoroughly disgusted.
Ah yes, Johnny Barber… I remember a time when he took 25 cents from a homeless guy that used to hang around the mission (early 80s). 25 cents does nothing to add to the GI, but it was supposed to ‘unstick a flow’ or some such nonsense. And while 25 cents is nothing to the org even when there is NO income happening, 25 cents to a homeless guy might mean a few bites to eat that day. Pathetic.
John Barber wasn’t able to make a go of it on staff pay and like everyone else on staff was moonlighting. Used car salesman no less. He was good at that and kept a few beans on his own table as a result. From what I could see, he was never able to pull off the friendly, ‘high toned’, lots of ‘ARC’ thing most regges were able to pull off, he always had that used car salesman vibe. Sad to hear he is still a reg and still in. He never struck me as someone who was so infatuated or dedicated to scientology to stay around. I guess I was wrong on that count.
Ol Silvia at Flag; Vampires do exist.
Just read the above link. It’s unbelievable what this man and others like him have to endure. I’m glad he got away. Thanks for posting it.
And this is a religion?
The article about Mr. Levy is heart-wrenching. I did have the pleasure of meeting him after he left.
Will Rogers: “I never met a man I didn’t like.”
IAS Reg: “I never met a Scientologist I couldn’t con.”
It’s never, ever been a religion. It has, though, been a business masqrading as a religion. But, we know it’s vicious, evil, toxic cult. They’re just a shade above Jonestown.
I suspect you are very well known to a lot of the $cientology public and declaring you would create more of a problem than not.
Thanks for another great article TC.
I hereby declare you a keen observer.
Yo Dave,
Grow a pair and tell Julian to get Terra Incognita goldenrodded fucking NOW…… you chicken shit yellowbellied sap sucker!
🙂
On the other hand, who really cares!
For anyone interested, there is a viewpoint on the human predicament here where you can watch the Crash Course on Economics, Energy and the Environment. It is a free video series.
http://www.peakprosperity.com/
Once again, perfectly said. So many lies and not just with the reges. In the beginning it was like a kitten playing with a ball of yarn (new scientologist) and was a lot of fun but as time went on that ball of yarn was wrapped around and around and around and becoming more and more smothering.
That was my tenure in this church. I had no idea how manipulated and controlled I was til I couldn’t breath. Too late. A big price was paid for my ignorance and naivety. Losing the money was nothing compared to everything else I lost. In fact, I’d pay all the money and stuff I have to get back everything else I lost.
I share you sentiments Mary. I am also even more happy now with everything I have gained, not that it lessens the loss for sure.
Chief among them is the fact I would not have believed that people in general and my kids more specifically (and myself more pointedly) would or could fall prey to something like the cult called $cientology.
It happens, and it is far more widespread that simply with our favorite cult. It is part of human DNA I suspect and without some radical changes I think there are some real rough roads ahead for all concerned.
A kitten hung up in a ball of yarn is apt. How about a dinosaur getting stuck in the La Brea tar pits?
I think there are some scientologists in those La Brea tar pits. LOL
Yes. At the very least, they’re flows are definitely stuck!
Perhaps it’s time to tar and feather Dave. ?
Dunno, I hope it might be like warning labels on cigarette packages and mandatory time periods where one can pull out of a financial agreement. Not only should buyers beware, but those particularly uncrupulous individuals and organisations who ruin it for everybody else should be brought to task and some have been.
Anyway, story about Doing The Right thing regarding smoking: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/may/23/axa-to-divest-18bn-of-tobacco-investments
Yes, Coop, we have gained a lot too. For sure.
It could be suggested that all Scientologists are reges in waiting. Any member of that organisation who promotes it in any form and that includes just remaining in it, is setting others up for being regged, especially themselves, again and again. The ever so long gradient of indoctrination resulting in so much loss does have a end though, and that is better than nothing. I too would love to get back all I had put into that dream but we are out and a lot wiser about cults – that is a good thing. Cults and the mechanisms they use are getting more & more exposure with the advent of the internet, that is also a good thing. The massive loss of members of the Cof$ and its empty buildings is good evidence. There will always be idiots in this world but at least it’s a little easier to see them now.
The difference between a registrar and a rapist is that a reg is better at seduction.
Hi Mephisto, Liked your comment,but may I add rape is a crime of power and control.Seduction is not part of the equation in my experience.So regges really do want total,power and control over all who venture near them.Always
Thanks for your response Ann. My sentiments for regges can be summed up in two words: Fuck ’em!
Hi Mephisto, Love your post.Fuck em is so much better than Hip Hip Hooraying ever was.xo
The fact that a “reg” is needed after a person “goes clear” is an admission that “clear” is a meaningless term used to trap people into the cult. Same for Oat Tea levels, et al.
Mike: Never thought of that, but so true.
The last week I was on staff I asked a reg why one would have to hard sell and OT 3 to do OT 4 if they were as El Con said they were. The Reg replied that I would understand when I got to the level. To which I replied, “So I’ll either get more abberated (and not want freedom) as I climbed the Bridge or something is wrong with the processes.” The reg then told me to leave the office.
Internal illogics is what got me to see the light as a teen.