Scientologists: What IS the Greatest Good?

L. Ron Hubbard taught that all decisions should be made on the basis of the "greatest good for the greatest number of dynamics". This is how Scientologists believe they are supposed to weigh things and make decisions.

The "dynamics" that Hubbard referred to were:

The first dynamic, self, is the effort to survive as an individual, to be an individual and to fully express one’s individuality.

The second dynamic is the urge toward existence as a future generation. It has two components: sex and the family unit, including the raising of children.

The third dynamic is the urge to survive as a member of a group. A company, a political party, a church or a social organization are all examples of the third dynamic.

The fourth dynamic is the urge for survival of man as a species. All of the races of man together constitute the fourth dynamic.

The fifth dynamic is the urge to survive for all life forms — animal or vegetable and anything directly and intimately motivated by life.

The sixth dynamic is the urge for survival of the physical universe and reflects the drive of the individual to enhance the survival of all matter, energy, space and time –the component parts of the physical universe.

The seventh dynamic is the urge toward existence as a spiritual being.

The eighth dynamic is the urge toward existence as infinity. This is also identified as the Supreme Being. Thus, this dynamic can be called the infinity, or God, dynamic.

I'm not saying this is the correct way to make decisions, I'm merely noting that Scientologists are supposed to do it this way. They are supposed to balance all these "dynamics" to get an "optimum solution".

But they don't. They are not allowed to. They are forced, by the Church of Scientology to do what David Miscavige wants. They are not allowed to evaluate, for themselves, what is the "greatest good". All that is required of Scientologists is compliance.

But let's do the forbidden evaluation, shall we? Let's see how David Miscavige's "solutions" stack up in the "greatest good" test! We can only look at the first four. Determining what is the "greatest good" for the physical universe, God and such, is a bit presumptuous, if you ask me, so we'll skip those.

• First dynamic - Self: Scientologists who fully support Miscavige's solutions are, to a person, deeply, deeply in debt -- all their credit cards are maxed out, extended and maxed out again. If they own property, the property is mortgaged to the hilt. If they can manage to keep up on their monthly payments (and this is a major problem), it is only the minimum -- so they are only paying on the interest. This means it will be "forever" before they can pay their debts.

"Good" Scientologists have no time for relaxation, no time for family and friends. If they have any free time after work and weekends, it must be spent on Scientology courses, volunteering at the church or fund-raising.

If a Scientologist's credit is not maxed out and if they are not constantly involved in Scientology, they are made to feel very, very guilty. Heck, even if they are doing all of that, they are still made to feel guilty that they are not doing even more.

Scientologists might claim that they are taking courses, getting processing in order to improve themselves, but that's not quite what's happening for most of them. Most are buying books they've already bought, taking courses they've taken before and otherwise covering ground they already covered. Instead of moving forward, most are moving backward. In addition, many have found themselves in trouble and are now off lines, getting "security checked" and doing ethics programs and conditions. If you check, you'll find that, for the most part, Scientologists are not "progressing up the Bridge" but are paying for and doing something else required by Miscavige.

No, Miscavige's Church of Scientology and its constant demands makes every Scientologist's personal life much more difficult.

• Second dynamic - Family: A "good" Scientologist has, by now, "disconnected" from any and all family and friends who are not 100% gung-ho Scientologists. This is actually true. Miscavige's church requires total commitment from all its members. If a Scientologist had any friends or family who were not in Scientology, the Scientologist was required to work on them to get them into, and busy, in Scientology.

So, typically, all a Scientologist's friends and family become separated into two groups: Those who did get involved, and those who refuse to get involved. See where this leads? All those who refused to buy into Scientology must be "suppressive" -- and the Scientologist must "disconnect" from them. As it is proven that Scientology actually appeals to less than 1% of the people exposed to it, this means that virtually all Scientologists have had to "disconnect" from more than one of their immediate family.

No, Miscavige's Church of Scientology breaks up families; separates spouses; disconnects parents from their children. It is a very rare Scientologist who is still connected to all his or her family. See Ex-Scientology Kids for more information about this serious problem.

Perhaps this is why Miscavige has recently redefined the Second Dynamic as "creation", so it's OK to break up families -- families are no longer part of the Dynamics.

• Third dynamic - Groups: This one is a bit strange. You see, David Miscavige has redefined the third dynamic to mean only the Church of Scientology. "Good" Scientologists may have no other groups in their lives. Work, clubs, neighborhood, friends - they are not included in Miscavige's definition of the "third dynamic". When Miscavige (and, therefore, everyone else in the church) talks about "the third dynamic" he is referring to only one group. If the Church of Scientology improves, but every other group in a Scientologist's life declines, well, that's positive, you see!
  

The stress of heavy debts and heavy guilt, and the lack of time, makes the "good" Scientologist a poor member of all other groups. At work, the "good" Scientologist is constantly stressed about time and money. They need a raise, or a better job, but they can't put in the "extra effort" that other staff can. The "good" Scientologist is never available for emergencies, or important work projects in the off hours -- they're at the church, on course or out fund-raising.

The fact that the Scientologist's time is all wrapped up in Miscavige's projects means they have no time for their friends, their neighbors, or their clubs.

The Church of Scientology actually destroys the Scientologist's participation in any group but itself. No, it isn't very "pro-survival" for groups.

• Fourth dynamic - Mankind: Miscavige's Church of Scientology claims to have the answers to all of Mankind's problems. If you read the Scientology press releases and web sites, you would be convinced that all the problems of Earth would be solved if only Scientology would do its magic.
  

And, if you've seen any of David Miscavige's wondrous events, you would be equally convinced that the church is solving all the world's problems.

The only problem is, it isn't happening. The incidents reported by Miscavige, when investigated by others, can't be found. The areas that "were improved" are found, on inspection, to be unchanged -- not actually improved at all. The "leaders" who are quoted in the event videos can't be found, aren't actually the leaders they were proclaimed to be or, when contacted, say they where quoted out of context. The huge "successes" reported in the events are, on inspection, simply not true.

The Church of Scientology "solutions" are untested, or when tested by unbiased observers are found to be not particularly effective or noteworthy. If these solutions actually solved the problems, the Church of Scientology would have some proof that this is so. Trust me, the church desperately needs such proof and would have eagerly provided any such proof to the world.

The fact that the church never provides any proof means there is no proof. There are only press releases with vague stories of "success" but no real evidence. There are only flashy event videos of questionable veracity.

Any evaluation of "greatest good for the greatest number of dynamics" must require that the data used for the evaluation be real and absolutely true -- otherwise the conclusions would be incorrect.

So, Scientologists, take an honest look at your first Dynamic. Are you flourishing, or struggling? Are you happy, or stressed and worried? Are you living the life you want to live?

Take an honest look at your family. Do you get on well with everybody in your family? How are your parents, your children, your siblings? Or have you been forced to disconnect? Do you miss your family?

How about groups? Are you active in the groups you should be, or want to be, part of? Or are all activities not dictated by the Church of Scientology pretty much off limits? Do you miss your previous friends and activities?

How about mankind? Do you simply believe that the church is having an effect on the world, or do you look for some evidence on your own? Do you see any evidence?

According to Hubbard, it's up to you to evaluate for yourself, using real data, not just "what you've been told". It's up to you to make the decision -- and not just "follow orders".

It's up to you.
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