This article was sent to me some time ago from a Scientologist, before Ask the Scientologist even existed. It was published elsewhere, but I'm finally posting it here, to give it an official place to live.
It is odd to me that the answers to these questions, which are perfectly normal questions, are not available. Ask any Scientologist in the field these questions and they don't know. This is alarming, and strange.
This is the document I received:
Seven Questions Every Scientologist Has the Right to Ask
The following list was compiled after discussions with a number of Scientologists. There are questions we all have about current Scientology events, sometimes unstated, sometimes just nagging feelings. The list below is intended to get such questions out in the open where we can discuss them in a forthright manner, and, hopefully, find answers.
1. Who runs our Church?
This is not a minor point, yet, outside of half a dozen familiar faces that appear at events, Scientologists in general do not know who is in charge of the Church. LRH (L. Ron Hubbard) designed a system of Church management that involved managing committees and oversight groups who would act as a system of checks and balances within the Church.
So who are these people? Specifically, who, by name, are the executives of RTC (Religious Technology Center), the members of the Watchdog Committee, and the International Executives under ED Int?
Why is this information kept secret? Shouldn't we know who the people are on these posts, and their qualifications (such as training and auditing level)? And shouldn't we know when they are removed or demoted, and why?
2. What are the stats?
LRH stresses the importance of managing by statistics. Yet the average Scientologist has no idea of what the international statistics are. The stats shown at events are typically short-term. Yet, long term, what are the statistics of such things as Clears and OTs made, Auditors made, membership numbers, books sold and so on.
In other words, how are we doing? And specifically, what do the statistics look like long-term, from back when LRH was on the lines? How do today's stats compare to, say, the mid-1980's? Wouldn't you like to know?
3. Who owns the copyrights to LRH materials?
It is supposed to be CST - the Church of Spiritual Technology. But who is that? Who are the people on their Board of Directors, by name? Where is CST located? Shouldn't we know this?
4. What happened to broad dissemination?
There used to be big campaigns for Dianetics in the 1980's, with TV ads and so on. It seemed like Dianetics was everywhere. What happened? Why don't we have big campaigns like that anymore?
5. How did this practice of regging for pure donations get started?
We are regged for everything from IAS donations to the Superpower building to the local org's building fund.
Yet such donations without exchange for services were never done when LRH was on the lines. Donations were for services. With the forming of the IAS (International Association of Scientologists), this idea of just regging for pure donations got started, and now it seems like a major push from the Church.
Why? What is this based on? Why was it not done when LRH was on the lines but is done now?
6. Where does the money go?
Between donations and services, we give a lot to our Church. Shouldn't there be some sort of accounting for how it is spent, such as one might expect from any church or charity?
Certainly there are orgs to support, but the Church doesn't found or support hospitals, orphanages or charities like other Churches do. Entities like Applied Scholastics, Narconon and WISE all tithe to the Church. Local organizations send a portion of their income weekly to Management.
Flag sends the bulk of their income to Management. Money flows up the lines. How is it then spent? Don't we, as the ones donating, have the right to know?
7. Are the revisions to LRH materials on-Source?
Books have been and are being edited and recompiled. Tape lectures have been and are being edited. Compilation books are appearing "based on the works of LRH." Are these materials faithful to the original LRH works? Who is doing these revisions? Based on what?
How can an individual Scientologist know that the materials he is provided with are correct? How can we, as individuals, enforce "Keeping Scientology Working"?
You may personally have other questions. The point is, don't we have the right to ask such simple, obvious questions about our Church and expect answers?
If you agree that there should be more openness, more transparency and more accountability within the Church, pass these questions to your friends and discuss them. Take them up with your local Org or Mission. Write to International Management about them. Make your voice felt.
Beware of those who try to keep you from asking these questions, or any others you may have. There is nothing wrong with asking questions. You do have rights, and you do have a voice in your Church.
-
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
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A great post, Bill. I'm sure as a belief system, Scientology would be much better if it just called an end to its status as a "pay and obey" religion.
ReplyDeleteBlasphemy! How dare you challenge the Church with your QUESTIONS! Rot in Hell you heretic! There will be no place in Heaven for YOU! Just kidding! In my humble opinion, these simple, innocent questions would bring a swift end to organised Scientology if they were honestly answered by Management, whoever that is.
ReplyDeleteHi "Just Bill",
ReplyDeleteReally like this post. Right on!
To my mind the only question a Scientologist needs to ask is, “Does this stuff work?”
ReplyDeleteRe: The only question.
ReplyDeleteYet another question that Scientologists are forbidden from asking.
From the letter from Garcia to COB:
ReplyDelete"2. You are lying to the public with stories of “Unprecedented Expansion” by using squirrel stats in violation of LRH’s policy.
LRH emphasized time and again that there is only one way to gauge the expansion of Scientology:
“The most direct observation in an org (or a country) is statistics. These tell of production. They measure what is done.
It cannot be said too often that management is best done by statistics.
…Run only by statistics.”
HCO PL 5 February 1970
Statistics, Management by
(OEC Vol. 7, p. 514)
“Stat management is the only kind of management you can do on a production scene. Management by statistics was brought to a fine art in Scientology admin tech. To discredit it is, of course, to court failure.
HCO PL 20 September 1976-1
Org Series 35-1, Stat Push Clarified
(OEC Vol. 0, p. 696)
“By actual experience working and managing in many activities, I can state flatly that the most dangerous worker-manager thing to do is to work or manage from something else than statistics.”
HCO PL 7 July 1970
Data Series 14, Working and Managing
(OEC Management Series Vol. 1, p. 68)
“Therefore the only organization that is a sound organization is one WHOSE EVERY ACTIVITY can be tabulated by statistics.”
HCO PL 13 March 1965, Issue III
The Structure of Organization—What Is Policy
(OEC Vol. 7, p. 660)
“NEVER RUN OR MANAGE BY ANYTHING BUT STATS.”
HCO PL 15 April 1982, Issue II
Finance Series 29, The Counting of Gross Income
(OEC Management Series Vol. 2, p. 374)
LRH clearly lays out the 2 major stats for Scientology Orgs:
“Orgs have only 2 major final valuable products. One is well-trained auditors. The other is satisfied pcs.
…Tech and Admin policy exist only to assist making these two products IN VOLUME.”
LRH ED 131 INT
Life Repair Block
8 December 1970
(OEC Vol. 4, p. 145)
“The product of an org is well-taught students and thoroughly audited pcs.”
HCO PL 17 June 1970RB
KSW Series 5R, Technical Degrades
(OEC Vol. 0, p. 14)
“The individual statistic of any organization (except SH) is:
HOW MANY TRAINED AUDITORS EXIST IN ITS AREA.
The individual statistic of Saint Hill is:
HOW MANY TRAINED AUDITORS ARE THERE IN THE WORLD.”
HCO PL 4 October 1967, Issue I
Auditor and Org Individual Stats
(OEC Vol. 4, p. 118)
The training of auditors is, therefore, the single most important activity in Scientology, and its statistic is the single strongest indicator of the success or failure of Scientology management. But you don’t give any stats on these!
LRH also spells out, in numerous policies and bulletins, why auditor training is the senior product of all orgs and a must for all Scientologists:
“When you, as an auditor, accomplish your mission with a single preclear, you increase your confidence and your general ability, you increase your capability and what you can do for the universe at large and you win.”
The Auditor, 1968
You As An Auditor
(Tech Vol. VIII, p. 169)
“Getting to be an excellent auditor is a must if one merely wishes to live. But one dynamic isn’t enough. It takes all the dynamics to make a freedom. Therefore, to be Clear is not enough. To be a cleared auditor and to handle and audit people is a must if we wish to be totally free.”
Ability Mag., Issue #72
Late April, 1958
(Tech Vol. IV, p. 329)
Cont'd:
ReplyDelete“As an auditor you can do something about life, you can confront it and have a much wider, broader view of life and people than any person, regardless of their state of case, who is not an auditor.”
The Auditor, 1968
You As An Auditor
(Tech Vol. VIII, p. 169)
“It is surely, surely true that nobody will make OT without training.”
HCO P/L 17 March 1965 Issue I
Clearing and Training
(OEC Vol. 4, p. 614)
The system you replace it with is made up of unquantifiable generalities (“broad-scale impact out there”, “every ethnic, religious, and national concern on Earth”), and therefore cannot be managed by an actual statistic.
“Even the manner in which we gauge our expansion has utterly changed. In previous years it focused on our internal statistics. Today our expansion is measured by broad-scale impact out there, helping cities, states, and entire nations.”
IAS 21st Anniversary celebration, 2005
(reprinted in Impact issue #112, p. 52)
“Our expansion is no longer gauged by what takes place inside our churches. Rather, our expansion is now such that it is gauged across every ethnic, religious, and national concern on Earth.”
LRH Birthday Celebration; March 2006
(reprinted in Scientology News, issue #33, p. 48)
Thus, according to you, LRH’s way of measuring expansion (“internal statistics”) is now old and no longer used.
You have introduced a wide array of new statistics to Scientology. These are often highlighted at events, along with large graphs of “highest evers,” as evidence of Scientology’s “expansion.” Some of these stats, as featured in Scientology News issues # 33 through#40, include:
“People helped”
“Hours on OT projects”
“Ideal Org Fundraising”
“Volunteer hours in building orgs”
“Population of cities with new groups”
“Number of citizens aware of Human Rights”
“Shopping Malls playing our Human Rights PSAs”
“Number of dirt particles removed during film restoration”
“Number of miles of distraction-free voyages”
“Number of terabytes of processing memory”
“Inches of press”
“Square feet of book cover cloth”
“Feet of lamination”
You have also invented some “Future stats” and this is, of course, a contradiction in terms, since statistics by definition measure production already done:
“A statistic is a number or amount compared to an earlier number or amount of the same thing. Statistics refer to the quantity of work done or the value of it in money.
A down statistic means that the current number is less than it was.
An up statistic means the current number is more than it was.
We operate on statistics.”
HCO PL 16 December 1965, Issue II
Organization of the Int Exec Division—Statistics of the International Executive Division
(OEC Vol. 7, p. 89)
LRH on future stats:
“When you first inspect an area for products, you just look… Don’t listen to how they are going to get 150 products; just look and walk around with a clipboard…
“…If you don’t see receipts for 150 shipped products, they don’t exist and never have… Products that are only in people’s heads don’t exist.
Dreams are nice—in fact they are essential in life—but they have to be materialized into the physical universe before they exist as products.”
HCOB 23 August 1979R
Issue III Product Debug Series 1R—Debug Tech
(Tech Vol. XI, p. 507)
At nearly every international event of recent times, you have touted what can only be called “future stats.” Usually stated in reference to some new Ideal Org, your wording has included “potential for…”, “can fit up to…”, “will be able to handle…”, and “with a capacity exceeding…”
Example: ”The new test center for Tampa Org can handle 155 raw public at any given time.”