Perth IS going St Hill Size
And we know that because… they said so! Should be enough for anyone to buy in.
Still using photos from the ribbon yanking as there is nothing else happening there at all.
As always, it’s fundraising, fundraising and more fundraising…
Gangsters seems like a very appropriate theme.
Still baking cookies
Why?
Nobody is quite sure. But it seems like a good idea.
They send their best OUT of the HGC?
Nah, he is renowned for falling asleep in session. So he cannot take paying pc’s any more. But that doesnt slow down the hype.
Wow, that’s a lot of people to fly to Australia
Must be nobody to audit at Flag It always used to be a big deal to send out ONE auditor due to the loss of delivery potential that represented.
Oh shit…
This is a bad development.
Acting Class from a Master
His IMDB entry consists entirely of 3 low budget shorts (essentially home movies). No wonder it’s free. But he is “currently working with…”
The Chan Man is back
He took over AOLA for an entire weekend. If you saw any of the leaked video of his presentation on Tony Ortega’s blog you have to wonder why AOLA would not have him in ethics rather than delivering seminars in their lobby?
OK, he has an actual real credit
But what is with this “breaking into the industry” with “Problems of Work”? Makes no sense.
This will be REALLY short briefing
Scientology is literally disappearing in Europe. Maybe that’s what they mean — a new civilization without disconnection?
Humanitarian to over 100 ideal orgs?
That is a shit load of money. 100? Seriously? He must be the softest touch since Bob Duggan left the fold.
This is a fundraiser and “seating is limited”? Who are they kidding?
3 time Cause Resurgence Completion?
What is it with these people? What do they attest to each time? “I am now cause over my life”. And then the next day they are not? So they do it again? And they promote this like it is a plus?
Now hiring
What could be better than signing yourself up for 5 years of indentured servitude and fail after fail as they try to get anyone to come into their new building.
Seriously?
Plymouth is going to launch another ship to the “new world”?
Some of this stuff is so weird you could not make it up.
In the small chapel…
Not expecting much out of this one.
$10 to hear this blowhard?
Oh what has Flag come to.
If this stuff is so good how come so many scientologists are failing at life?
LA has the same idea…
Huh?
You are seriously using the Dalai Lama to promote the WTH Fdn?
I bet he isn’t aware of this. You are violating the tenets of your own book.
Just for fun
Courtesy of Jeffrey Augustine. Fast Eddie Parkin was owned by Mr. Peanut this week.
As Jeffrey said, Eddie became what he resisted…
I’m from England and had only known a little about COS mainly because of the crazy actions of Tom Cruise, I started watching Leah and Mike’s show (which isn’t easy in England) I was hooked not with delight but sadness, I cannot believe that such an organisation can still exist in these days, especially with so much influence, I really have sympathy for all involved as despite LRH’s belief we only get one life and it should not be consumed by the COS.
We in the UK think Donald Trump is a TOTAL nutcase however he is probably the one that has the attitude to take scientology down, unless he is a secret member lol.
I tip my hat to all those whom have come forward and especially Leah and Mike, the road ahead is long but the end has to be reached eventually.
Keep up the good work as you are making a difference, also remember if the COS start to harass you then feel safe having the knowledge that if they are concentrating on you they are leaving someone else alone, take it on the chin it just upsets them more.
Ideal Plymouth? Pathetic Plymouth more like. Only thirty Scienos in the area, with a sad looking shop front they can’t afford to heat. They’ve bought a massively over-sized building they’ll never be able to renovate without vast external support. It would be ‘iconic’ if it weren’t on the wrong side of town, sandwiched between social housing and a giant nuclear submarine servicing facility. It’s been standing empty, quietly rotting for years.
Since Auckland and Sydney declared “Going Saint Hill Size” last week, I wonder if that’s why Perth – in an effort not to be left behind in the region – declared this week.
Going Saint Hill Size Declared
2/7/19 – Perth
1/31/19 – Auckland
1/31/19 – Sydney
10/18/18 – San Francisco
10/11/18 – Cincinnati
9/20/18 – Cambridge
Wow.. Norman Herring still in after all these years. Such a timid, mild, sweet man. Quiet as a mouse as I recall.. always courteous and very focused. I’m sending him a lot of love I am.
If only Robert F. Kennedy could see the gangsters and dames of $cientology today. I can’t think of an organization that could use a R.I.C.O. enema more than the Ministry of Miscavige. (MOM)
This week’s propaganda seems like more of the same – and weak sauce.
“Going Saint Hill size” seems to be the new “expansion” – a term that must have been subject to Orwellian re-definition, so that it can somehow be achieved according to their internal understanding even when its seemingly obvious meaning is not actually what is happening. Perhaps “Going Saint Hill size” is now just sort of a ritual, like putting cookies out for Santa or New Year’s resolutions, from which no one expects an actual result.
I assume the heart on the promo for the cookie decorating party, is intended to tie it in to Valentine’s Day. I’m sure Hubbard would be turning over in his grave at Scientology, which is supposed to transcend time and culture, resorting to using all the popular “wog” holidays in their (desperate) promotional and fundraising attempts.
So, Noddle Man is back (yeh). Hey, don’t be put off by the bad PR on him, he’s heavily invested in the soy bean market, so you have to take him with a lot of salt. He’ll get you all mastered up on how oats & tea will set you free. Free stir fries start at 7pm, please bring own napkins.
Dear Mike Rinder:
As a “never in”……I am REALLY CURIOUS……
Has ANYONE EVER stepped forward to CLAIM they are in a “new life”…i.e., that they’ve “lived before” & recall their NAME from a PAST LIFE?
For cryin’ out loud……for the love of Mike (& yes we DO love YOU Mike for your bravery!)
.Scientology has been around since the 1950’s…there has GOT to be SOMEONE, even one measly PERSON who willingly will step forward & say: YES, I died 20, 30, 40 years ago and my mother and father were so & so & I remember living at XYZ Street in Anytown or Any Country
OKAY folks…I’ve laid down the CHALLENGE…..ANYONE KNOW of ANYONE who is around TODAY who has LIVED ANOTHER LIFE BEFORE THIS ONE?
I thought so…..
one thing the Co$ didn’t think about was the possibility that people coming back were some of the forced abortions – oops!
Actually, Miscavige was one of them. The kid got thrown out so they raised the afterbirth. Live and learn.
Mike, if the church could only charge for services on a pay as you go and was not allowed to charge for services in advance and sit on account, would that hurt the church?
My thinking here is this, it would take millions of dollars sitting on account out of the hands of Scientology.
2) it would make the church more accountable to the parishioners. They would have to show that their courses actually work and if not people could walk away without losing their investment.
3) the church loses that power of manipulation
4) the church would have to work harder on delivering on all their promises to keep people coming back.
It would be easier to pass a consumer protection law for preventing paying for future services you may never get to use.
Much easier task than trying to get tax exempt status revoked.
It’s like getting Capone on income tax evasion instead of murder, extortion, money laundering, etc.
Just thinking outside the box
COS sound like that Popeye Cartoon Character “WIMPY”
“I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a Hamburger today”…..
COS: You can gladly PAY US NOW for courses you WILL OR WILL NOT be able to take
Something else I noticed recently. You look at the publicity photos that Scientology puts out for their official people like Ed Parkin, and then you see an actual photo of them and they look NOTHING like that. Same with ChanMan. Either the publicity photos were taken when he was a teenager or he’s pulled in something serious. The video that is circulating of him extolling the thetan’s magical powers looks like some sort of a puffed-up zombie version of the guy on the posters for these reg events.
Check out this story: https://www.kcra.com/article/double-murder-suspect-to-use-scientology-as-defense/26238293
Serious questions here. Do Jason Dohring and Isa Totah get paid to do those seminars? It seems like Isa Totah gives a lot of them. And why does a Sci like Grant Cardone give for-profit seminars on his own but not free seminars for the Church?
The 3 time Cause Resurgence guy is a Credit Accelerator?? Well no wonder they are using him to teach you how to get credit fasterand bankrupt even quicker!!!!!!
Can anyone vouch for the actual number of Scientologists who show up for these events? I keep envisioning 10 – 15 “parishioners” scattered amongst 100 or so empty chairs. Am I wrong?
Plus a few staff who are just there to eat the leftover tacos and spicy chicken wings. 😉
The exciting event that takes place at the Inglewood Ideal Org is what caught my attention this week. Just image, you’ll get to attend graduation and witness a Skype presentation with Bernard Bonner!!! SKYPE for gawds sakes.
I won’t bore everyone here with the results of my interweb searches for Mr. Bonner’s credentials and company profiles. They are unimpressive to say the least. Full of vagaries and phony graphs just like our favorite cult. If this is all that Mr. Bonner has to show for 30 years of experience I’m not going anywhere near the guy. Kirsti Alley uses his services which is a shame because as a certified Kool-Aid Celeb Cultie she has full access to Hubbard’s sacred prose on anything to do with running a business (or cult) in the form of the ‘green vols’.
Let’s just say that if seeing a company called Credit Accelerator and scientology mentioned together doesn’t raise a HUGE RED FLAG, you just haven’t been paying attention and deserve to have your accounts emptied and your business ruined as a result of applying Mr. Bonner’s WISE version of Hubbard’s failed ‘admin tech’.
Jeff Augestine is a national treasure. The Mr. Peanut kerfuffle was hilarious to watch and Ed Parkin has been swatted by an imaginary corporate logo. Nothing like that has happened since the Road Runner ran over Dick Nixon in the late ’60s.
Poor Michael Chan, does he ever get to open up his suitcase and change clothes? How can his ‘successful’ granite roof tile business run with Chan never there? Chan must be OT 10, with the ability to clone himself.
When I was in and asked Chan what his total revenues were for the year they were about $1M. I thought and he thinks this is successful???
Can someone please explain what Saint Hill size means? Every time I read it I think of ‘Supersize Me’ the documentary where Morgan Spurlock ate nothing but McDonalds for a month and almost died. I need some more information….
Kat – St. Hill is/was LRH’s HQ in England. At the time it was established, I believe it boasted the largest compliment of members in the world, as well as being as physically imposing as the size of the LA facility, if not the Gold Base installation. This was after he had left the US to dodge prosecution for income tax evasion, and before he was literally kicked out of England. He then went to sea where he started the SO (Sea Org . .anization). Anybody – feel free to comment on any incorrect fact here. Thanks!
Thank you for the information! I wasn’t aware of the name of his estate there or had forgotten. (I’m not/never was a Scientologist so sometimes the more obscure snippets and jargon escape me!) Thanks again
That’s right Belynda for Saint Hill although Saint Hill “size” is even more specific. It is used in the context of encouraging other orgs to “Go Saint Hill size.” It was determined that an org has a “make-break” point–in other words, it needs to get to a certain size for it to be viable. The size of Saint Hill, back when LRH was directly involved with it, was used as the standard that all orgs should try and achieve in terms of number of staff, amount of delivery and so on and so forth. (Had to throw in that Hubbardism!) Of course, the joke is that even orgs that have reached “Saint Hill size” immediately shrink, often because they never really achieved Saint hill size–they just had people flown in to make the target temporarily who then left and things collapsed back.
MattWH rightly points out Mike’s really great article explaining St. Hill. Here’s the link: https://www.mikerindersblog.org/the-hype-for-saint-hill-size/
What a COMPLETE lie. Norman Herring was NOT part of the original group of LRH Class XII trained auditors. In the 80’s he was a Class IV auditor at FSO auditing grades. I knew his wife at the time.
Well… a complete lie is not necessarily accurate. If his breath can be seen on a mirror there’s heaps more potential for that lie to grow & grow or maybe branch out into a few more ‘wow factor’ additives. Nothing the Cof$ says in true, never has been, but it’s all about one being more magnitudedup than another. The stars await…
True that I Yawn.
I remember Norman when he was a “returning vet” to Clearwater, since he wasn’t there at the Daytona to Clearwater move even, he came to the Flag Land Base I think in 1977 so he has his gaps in his years for service that’s for sure.
And like you said, he was a Flag Land Base era Class 12, not an original on the Apollo of the vintage when the L’s first came out.
But, he’s a cool cucumber, very meek and doesn’t talk much, just gazes attentively at life, and I wonder what swims in his brain as he looks upon the world, his views, were they articulated, would be historical to have in the public domain, to give an inside look into the minds of the Class 12s, even those slightly Johny Come Later than the others.
Chuck, he was already concerned in the early 80’s with the really harsh ethics atmosphere at Flag. Can’t imagine how he feels since DM took over the CoS from Hubtard.
Of course and as per usual Wynski twists the statement to suit his own ends. Being part of a training program for Class 12s is not the same as becoming a Class 12 (at that time) – any fool can see that. It’s the blur of all those HCOBs you were running off in Mimeo eh Wyn or was it the definition of “Remimeo”? Suggest u lurn ta reed – or rather stop fabricating nonsense.
Hey. Y that definition I was in training as a Class XII under Hubbard too when I did the Student Hat on the Apollo. Think I will start using that as part of my impressive bio!
Thing is though Mike it seems Norman made it through to Class 12 whereas after the debacles of miscomprehension in the comments generally which you allow and even promote, you need to retrain on the Student Hat!
You also don’t need to defend Wynski by deflecting his nonsense comment – there is no defense.
The point was he was NOT “part of the original Class XII training program under LRH”. Why you want to fight and argue about that and try to be right about it is anyone’s guess. He was not. Period. You want to play your games and wriggle and slide to try to be right about something that is ridiculous.
It looks to me like Scientology is weasel-wording again:
“He was part of the original Class XII training program for the delivery of the L-Rundowns”
It seems to me that all they’re specifically claiming there is that he was part of the first L-Rundown training for Class XIIs – something later, I presume, though I don’t understand the details of that training. Typically, it appears intended to imply the grandiose claim that he was part of the original Class XII training program under LRH – but to avoid actually saying that, so that whoever produces the propaganda can justify to themselves that they’re not really lying, just telling “acceptable truths” and not responsible for the mis-comprehension of people who don’t parse the words like a grammar teacher or a lawyer.
It’s still shameful, and reflects badly on the actual mores and ethics of Scientology, and their deteriorating state, that they resort to such propaganda tricks, and can’t be trusted to simply tell the truth and live with the integrity of that being good enough. The fact that the people who put out this material often resort to the childish trick of saying something they know is likely to be misunderstood, as if it’s not actually a lie, tells us that they have remaining human compunctions about their compromised truthfulness, and know that it is fundamentally wrong. It reminds me of the sort of disingenuous and mendacious things that the North Korean regime puts out.
And Foolproof, petty details of the specific example aside, what do you think of the fact that Hubbard produced an organization full of liars – and almost based on lies? Shouldn’t he himself have had the integrity never to lie, rather than, say, telling provably false stories such as about his relationship with Aleister Crowley, that because of his playing fast and loose with the truth, cast doubt on other things he said (and, apparently, set a bad example that his adherents have ended up following)? Do we know – or do you have some standard for judging – what his threshold was for telling lies and telling the truth, whether he would lie about Crowley but not about things like “research,” or whether he might have lied about anything and everything? And if you think the “subject” is separate from Hubbard, does it then itself call for a rigorous relationship to the truth and honest communication, unlike the deceptiveness that Hubbard modeled and the CofS now practices, or do you believe it is justified to lie to others whenever you think it serves a purpose (not just theoretic extremes, such as in a situation where someone has a gun to your head) – and do you do so here to defend Scientology?
Exactly Mike. Norman (who was a REALLY nice guy for sure) was NOT part of the original XII program. Like you mention he was probably on the ship at some point in time when the program was being run. He wasn’t even a Grad IV when I knew he and his wife so impossible that he was on that actual pgm on the ship years earlier as one had to be a B.C. grad (according to Greg W.) to have been placed on it.
It would be interesting to know exactly how many people attend these “events”.
Susanna,
I’d opine that like me when I was in, most Scientologists, if they were being honest, don’t like events and attend only because they can’t get out of them with some acceptable excuse.
As to how many, attend I know for a fact that for the last ten years or so of my being “in”, too – low event attendance was a continual issue with staff at my org. My org was a small one. In the 10 years before I left, the most I ever saw at an event was about 50, and out of them, roughly 18 – 20 were staff (who absolutely MUST attend all events.) The usual amount was roughly 30 people, pretty much half of whom were staff.
The other day I saw on line a sweatshirt with “SORRY I’M LATE I DIDN’T WANT TO COME” on it.
Ooohh, to attend JUST ONE MORE cult event…so I could show up in THAT 🙂
i’d keep a jacket on and make sure to get seated in the VERY FIRST ROW.
Then before event started, before the lights went out, I’d take the jacket off, and stand up so everyone could see it.
Before getting thrown out
I really have this picture 🙂
But I’ll never get invited. I’m too dangerous 🙂
SOMEONE PLEASE do this!
Order the sweatshirt and I’ll reimburse you or I’ll order it myself and send it to you.
TOO FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!
First, that Gangsters and Damsels poster is some laughably bad photoshopping.
Second, nobody in Kansas City is going to buy into Scientology. A more midwestern city there could not be. Spending huge amounts of money to yell at walls and play with play-doh isn’t going to fly there. Not that Scn seems to care if anybody even comes into their buildings anymore…
Mr. Rinder, if you haven’t done this before, maybe it would be interesting to write about what St. Hill size actually means, and how many orgs have achieved this (snicker)
I don’t want to get into profiling, but I would bet a nickel the two staff members pictured in the recruitment poster are Eastern European not Kansas farm folk. Make that a dime…
There is an entry here on St. Hill Size: it’s called The Hype for “Saint Hill Size”
Using the Dalai Lama in their ads is like pretending the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church supports their endeavors. I find it sacrilegious. From a group that practices attack as a matter of course during their daily life, they dare to pretend the Dalai Lama, who teaches compassion, right living, honesty in all aspects of life, and he serves the “poor,” is just wrong!
This using of the Dalai Lama and or Buddha always gets a rise out of me. The difficult part is that Scientologists are so brainwashed that they think Hubbard had some connection to Buddhism.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. Hubbard tried to hijack Buddhism and even went so far as to claim he was Buddha’s teacher. Nothing but lies coming out of Hubbard. He even claimed on OT VIII that he[Hubbard] was some sort of magical combination of Scientology and Buddhism. This is a joke. Buddha himself in the Pali Canon called people like Hubbard “stupid men”. In original Buddhism there is no such thing as a thetan. Buddhism ran counter to the notion of the spirit which was prevalent at the time. But I have had conversations with Scientologists on this subject. They are hard-headed. When I left Scientology in 1989 the last thing Flag tried to use to recover me was an anti-Buddhism policy letter. It said that all Buddhists were in a “black hole” and only Scientology could get them out. More contradictions. More lies. More stupid people.
I was never in Scientology but worked for Response Target Marketing in St Louis.
I worked for the nut bags Scientologists Barry and Claire Coziahr. They were bat shit crazy Scientologists.
They collected money up front and then did a horrible job making sure people were serviced. They had tons of unhappy customers and lots of laws suits they completely ignored.
It was insane.
They told me how cool Scientology was but I researched it on line and was horrified they were involved with this thug organization where the leader beats the staff and people go broke buying a Spiritual enhancement system of exorcising demons off of them due to Xenu’s naughty tricks. I passed politely so I could keep the job until I found other work but was a bit fearful they would sue and harass me if I said anything critical but true about the cult Scientology so I kept my findings to myself. I found a saner company and environment out in the scary world of wogs and am doing well.
I have been following the show on A&E with Mike Rinder and Leah Remini because of the crazy experience.
I would not recommend Hubbard’s works. I experienced first hand how working for these Scientologists using the Ron Hubbard system of MISS MANAGEMENT causes lots of problems and eventual demise of your business like Response Target Marketing.
Keep up the exposure Mike and Leah – people are talking about it everywhere.
“Thug organization” was the BEST.
They’re thuggish, they’re scarily delusional, they follow dated science fiction and dangerous crackpot pseudo-psichiatry as gospel, they cover up a financial/real estate scam, and they are so unbelievably TACKY in their promos. I understand these are mostly for the folks still in, but really, and no offense here: only mind control can possibly explain how the above material would be appealing to (or even taken seriously by)… well, anyone. It all looks straight out of Saturday Night Live.
If anyone doubts the power and terrible effects of an imersive evil cuture of brainwashing, these Thursday Funnies posts are super compelling evidence.
I always enjoy your Thursday event posters. Gangsters & DAMES?? Really now!
Mr. Peabrain – good one Jeffrey Augustine. You must of had fun creating that.
Every Thursday morning as I go through these advertisements I get more and more nauseous! It’s actually hard to make it all the way through. Lol. Gangsters and Dames is at least hilarious. Very appropriate for the cult. So insulting to women in this day and age really tho. Of course all these events like that are so silly.
It’s funny that Normal Herring is in two of these funnies. There is something fishy about Herring. Also, Jim Bridgeforth says you will learn how to “change your finances forever?” Sure. Give your money to Scientology and it will change your finances forever!!
I thought exactly the same thing!!!!
There was a time in the counter culture revolution that this church, mainly through its mission network, could lure people in but not any more. I just don’t see any appeal but maybe that’s because I actually hate the church of scientology.
This church’s shelf life has expired, even if it weren’t a lying, cheating abusive organization but that doesn’t help.
The cult is like old bread ….. hard as a rock on the outside and stale and moldy on the inside.
Indeed, there was a time – at one point in the 1960s, something like a thousand people a week were pouring into Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco, coming with little more than the hope that they would “find themselves” or whatever they were seeking. Orgs and missions could easily “body route” a fair number of those sort of people, with something like the “mystery sandwich” lure.
I don’t think there is any real appeal anymore because there is not the sort of widespread interest in new philosophies and gurus that there was at the boomer youth’s and Scientology’s peak, and because Scientology is dated and the test of time has shown that it is not delivering anything extraordinary – plus of course it’s even acquired a bad reputation, to boot. What interest there was, was often more due to the fact that Scientology was willing to promise people whatever it was that the generation of “seekers” wanted – to fix their “ruin,” and later under more aggressive regging policies, to make almost anything in their lives better – than what Dianetics and Scientology could actually deliver. And I think that much of the positive atmosphere, and a certain amount of personal growth, that some remember fondly from that era, came more what from the idealistic and well-intended participants themselves brought to it, than anything the orgs and missions really had to offer in the way of “tech.”
An off-hand comment: I lived in San Francisco for 10 years, beginning in 1976 (then moved over to Berkeley). EST was a big thing at the time, and I rubbed shoulders with and dated a few ESTers. The Course in Miracles was also in vogue at the time. In all my years there I dabbled around with some touchy-feeling stuff, but I can’t remember ever hearing a word about scientology from anyone. Even in its suposed hay day it wasn’t well known.
I do remember reading an article on scientology in one of those weekly alternative papers at the time, and the gist of the article was how expensive it was to go “clear.”
bix, thanks for that interesting bit of perspective from the time.
Scientology was actually in decline by about the mid-1970s – as was almost everything else that had depended on the flood of baby boomer youth, that began to ebb and turn into the “baby bust” around then. It might have been the “now religion” (the subtitle of a book) and a bit more in the popular consciousness a decade early, but was falling by the wayside along with love-ins and Jesus freaks (I expect a lot of people won’t even recognize those once-prevalent terms, which is the point). A few of the missions continued to sort of thrive for a few more years, increasingly relying on “hard sell” tactics and other pressures, including pioneering the technique (that the orgs now use) of getting members to go into unsustainable and sometimes fraudulent debt.
Plus negative media such as you mention, started to come out, even in local papers – it’s particularly interesting to hear that you actually read and remember such a piece. Then in 1977 the feds busted Scientology and Hubbard’s wife for domestic espionage, and in 1979 the Riverside mission was raided over one of the loan fraud schemes.
I remember the era of est and the Course in Miracles, and then Lifespring (related to est) and Avatar (started by a former Scientology mission holder), which I think all reflected a change in popular interest to group courses of limited scope (and cost). Before I encountered Scientology in person, I had it confused with Synanon, a recovery group that turned into a religious cult and made the news for putting a rattlesnake in the mailbox of an investigator.
Peacemaker, thanks for filling me in. I did read about the cherch’s decline in the ’70’s but that was a while ago and I’d forgotten it.
Oh yes, Synanon, “The Tunnel Back” from addiction. It did help a few jazz musicians before it went off the deep end. I remember reading a quote: “Chuck Dederich is my God and Synanon is my religion.” Sounds familiar, don’t it?
I had a friend who did Lifespring. He got me to one of their recruiting talks, but they really didn’t “reg” me much; nothing like what scientology does. My friend was so wound up he wanted to lend me money (which he didn’t have much of) to take it. No go (for one thing, I was too busy going to AA meetings, LOL).
Take care,
Bos
bix, glad if that was useful – it’s a somewhat confusing subject, seemingly fraught with misconceptions, that I try to clarify every time I get the chance. And I’m in the habit of writing assuming that newcomers may be reading, so I may tend to over-explain, and hope that the authors of comments I’m responding to don’t take that in the wrong way.
Anyway, from what I can tell, a lot of the people who seem to like to write about positive experiences in Scientology in the late 1970s and early 1980s, were at missions that were seemingly still doing well – and were maybe not among those who saw or suffered the growing abuses and frauds at those missions, which were propped up in good part by increasing resort to the sort of “hard sell” and “ethics” tactics that we see used at the orgs nowadays. It was easy to get a mistaken impression of the general state of things, and the fact that the most obvious signs of decline coincided with Miscavige taking over control make it easy to blame everything on him.
I think it’s important to understand that Scientology was suffering from the same decline in interest and participation that hit just about all the other groups of its ilk and era in the 1970s, as generations and society itself changed, and that Hubbard was actually the source of most all the dysfunction that developed, with Miscavige just following in his footsteps. It was an interesting time, with all sorts of things going on, wasn’t it?
Norman Herring. That he’s stayed for 48 years and his career ups and downs, amazing.
His personality isn’t one to excite a crowd, just that isn’t his nature as a speaker.
For a historian of the Class 12 history, were Norman to be capable of explaining what he’s witnessed as one of the longest living Class 12s of the movement, that’d be interesting, but I don’t think he’s insightful enough nor capable of getting the words out of his mouth to tell his long history in the movement.
Things probably sort of vanish out of his memory banks, moment by moment, that’s the only way I think one could put up with being a Flag Class 12 for these decades he’s been that highest techincal quackery position for the movement.
Norman is the kind of guy who doesn’t speak hardly at all when you are around him. For that reason, a really smart outsider, like it would have been such a boon to grasp what the lives of the Class 12s at Flag really have been, all their decades of duty doing Hubbard’s highest proficient pseudo-therapy-quackery to the highest paying Scientologists in the movement’s history, it’d have been a joy to read of their lives doing their quackery. If only a great writer like Lawrence Wright had weeks or months of access to interview a large swath of the Class 12s enough to get what their lives leading up to their Class 12 perches were and what their lives as Class 12s are today as Class 12s. One would think a subject would share the lives of their highest proficient members, and the Class 12s are the top of being a technical quackery proficient Scientologist.
That would have been interesting reading, I think. If a really good author writer had the Class 12s to itnerview for a year and write what all Class 12s have been all these decades.
Karen Delacarriere I wish she would write her career. She was even far more proficient as a Class 12 than Norman, if one is grading the top Class 12s in the movement’s history.
But it all being quackery, but also, in 100 years, those ex members who do write, the way into the future interested observers of Scientology will appreciate what today’s ex members write.
Contact Professor Stephen Kent to send off your important history for his massive Scientology subject archives. He follows all the protocols for following anyone’s wishes for their private history writings.
Someone ought to interview Karen, about Class 12 history he knows to give that whole Class 12 history a chapter of its own in the Scientology subject.
Fascinating info Chuck! I would love a book by Karen as she does provide amazing insight.
Hello Chuck. I use to be the Cramming Officer for the Class XIIs and, boy, Norman was a hard working guy, honest and dedicated.
That he is now falling asleep in session is no wonder, after all the staff has been deprived of sleep for years on end and they spent their sleep time making the quota for the IAS or in call-in begging for people to come in.
What is amazing is that he has not opened his eyes yet, that is a pity indeed. This trip will give him a break from the madhouse of Flag…hope he can get some sleep.
I had several auditors fall asleep. One actually got a command out of his mouth while he was falling asleep. I called him out on it and had to get my “similar overt” off. During the Basics push when even the auditors had quotas and I believe during IAS month of October at Flag when they were called to tag on reg cycles was the worst for them and for me. So glad I got out of there.
I had a top HGC auditor fall asleep on me in session and several kind of nod off and then catch themselves. Most of the time it was after an All Hands of moving furniture all night into new quarters or something. Even the auditors had to stay up all night doing heavy mest work and then report for duty early the next day. Shameful.
Yes. It was not uncommon to watch an auditor at Flag “check out.”
Norman has the ultimate mild personality. He didn’t become a class XII until sometime in the 90’s though. He is one of the original South African public that joined Flag staff.
Class 12 history from Karen would be interesting! What about Malin Gelfan who was/is a Cl.12 , 1981 and perhaps earlier then that — and still in ?
Karen has written and spoken about the Class 12s history a bit. A lot more could be done.
For the subject of Scientoloyg, the Class 12s are still a massively un-researched and really lay out the L rundowns, and summaries of the “wins” and exactly how few people got the out-of-the-body with visio perception during the running of the Ls quackery.
The top quackery of Scientology by the top pseudo-therapists, and it could all be neutrally laid out minus calling it quackery every sentence, which I why I have thought then chosen not to take up the task. “quackery” just bubbled up every few minutes I think about the whole Hubbard pseudo-therapy and exorcism.
But the theoretical nuts and bolts ought to be laid out.
“SYLVIA says” commenter above who was a Class 12 Cram Off, if any researchers are watching the comments, well Sylvia is someone a researcher ought to interview for sure!
How many Scientologists read your blog? Hmmm….
‘How many Scientologists read your blog?’ . . . Considerably More than Don’t – Guaran-damn-teed!
I believe any scientologist in good standing (and wants to remain that way) that knows they will never hold the cans again is reading this blog and watching The Aftermath. Any scientologist that thinks they might have to do a meter check or do some service where they have to hold the cans again don’t want to take the chance. Then there are the few die-hards, who are very small in number, that have actually wrapped their minds around reading or watching or listening to anything negative about the church of scientology or david miscavige is “entheta” and the desire or even the accident of hearing or seeing something negative is because of some prior overt that the person committed. That’s a very sad mindset.