Scientology's "Investigations"

I am so glad the Church of Scientology has staged their "independent investigation" of the St. Petersburg Times.

Of course it's a blatant attempt to intimidate the journalists who have been doing such a good job exposing the church's crimes, abuse and fraud, and the St. Petersburg Times is absolutely correct in refusing to have anything to do with it.

And, of course, the Church of Scientology can never release the "investigation", because it, obviously, would have shown that the journalists did a good job.

But I'm still glad the church did it, because it reminded me of many of the other "independent investigations" they did.

While not quite the same, they are still delightful stories.

One of my favorites is the independent investigation of Scientology's "Purification Rundown".  Non-Scientology doctors were paid by the Church of Scientology to thoroughly test the Purification Rundown and determine how effective (and wonderful) it was.  As with the St. Petersburg Times investigation, the church swore everyone involved to absolute secrecy -- only the church could publish the results.

This investigation was going to put all the critics and naysayers in their place!  This investigation was going to be the basis for a gigantic push to get the Purification Rundown accepted everywhere.

You've surely read the comprehensive Purification Rundown report, haven't you?

You haven't?  Oh, that's right, the Church of Scientology suppressed that report.  Do you need to ask why?

Here's the kicker:  What did the church do when the Purification Rundown was proven, in their own tests, to be bogus?  Did they cease selling and delivering the service?  Did they refund all the monies paid for this proven bogus service?

Nope.  The Purification Rundown is still required for every Scientologist.  They are still pushing their Narconon program, which is based on the Purification Rundown, as the replacement for all other drug treatment programs.

Next:  They did the same thing with their "Hubbard Study Technology".  Another independent investigation sponsored by the church and involving non-Scientology teachers and students -- carefully monitored and tested by independent researchers.  Again, everyone was sworn to secrecy -- only the Church of Scientology could release the results.

You've read that report haven't you?  Oh, that's right, that report was suppressed by the church as well.  Color me surprised.

And, of course, the kicker:  They are still pushing the proven bogus "Hubbard Study Technology" as the replacement for all other study methods.

I'm sure there are even more examples of independent investigations, funded by the Church of Scientology, that never made the light of day.  This latest investigation is just more of the same.  It won't be released.

Regular Scientologists don't know this, but the leaders of Scientology know all about these investigations and their results.

The horrible thing is, they don't care that their "solutions" are proven, by their own research, to be useless and worthless.  They still sell them.  And they still work very hard to throw out all other solutions.  This goes well beyond innocent belief and faith.  When they know their own "solutions" do not work and they still sell them, that is intentional fraud.
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True Believers Confirm That Scientology Is Very Weak

According to the True Believers of Scientology, the Scientology technology is absolutely perfect, 100% effective, a solution to everything, and ...

incredibly weak.

Let me explain this carefully, because the facts speak for themselves.

There are hundreds, maybe even thousands of True Believers who say "Standard Scientology" is absolutely, positively 100% effective.  A vast majority of these self-proclaimed "appliers of standard Scientology" were in the Church of Scientology when David Miscavige was in charge.  They were there as Miscavige destroyed the church and perverted the technology.

And, (this is key) these Standard Scientologists insist that all the problems and failures of the church are all Miscavige's fault.  All the failures, crimes, perversions and abuse are not failings of the Scientology technology, which is "perfect", but the fault of only one man: David Miscavige.

These Scientologists vehemently insist that there is no fault in Scientology, and, if Miscavige were removed all would be well.

Let's go over this very carefully.  Here we have hundreds, maybe even thousands of self-proclaimed "appliers of Standard Scientology", applying this Standard Scientology technology within the Church of Scientology  -- and they were defeated by one man.  All Standard Scientology being applied by these hundreds of Scientologists was no match for one evil man, apparently applying his Super Evil Technology.

That's pretty amazing.  According to them, Scientology is one incredibly weak technology -- one man defeating hundreds of Standard Scientologists.

But that's not all.

According to standard Scientology, any Scientologist who has any contact at all with anyone who has expressed any disagreement with or criticism of Scientology or L. Ron Hubbard will have trouble, will get sick, and will lose their gains from Scientology.  The higher up the Scientology levels a person goes, the more this a factor.  Apparently, there is no amount of Scientology processing that will proof you up against a person who disagrees with or criticizes Scientology.

Let's go over that carefully.  Scientology is, apparently, so weak, that all gains are lost simply because one person has disagreed or criticized the Scientologist, Scientology or Hubbard!  That's what Scientology says.

But wait, there's more!

Again and again, these "appliers of Standard Scientology" justify Scientology's continual failure to produce the stellar results promised on The Scientology Grade Chart by saying, "Well, that wasn't Standard Scientology".  In the entire history of Scientology, there is not one documented case where a true Clear was produced; there is not one documented case where a true OT was produced.

Again and again, the excuse is that it wasn't "Standard Scientology".

Do you see what that means?  Thousands and thousands of people studying Scientology, trying as hard as they can to exactly practice Standard Scientology, for over sixty years, and they couldn't do it.  Apparently, Scientology technology is so sensitive that the slightest variation makes it invalid and it won't produce the promised results.  That is not what you could call a "robust" technology.

No, that's the opposite of robust.  That's a very, very weak technology!

All this is exactly what these Champions of Standard Scientology are saying, but they're not paying attention to what it means.  It means that, deep down, they believe that Scientology technology is incredibly weak.
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How Scientologists Will Destroy Scientology

We all know that the Church of Scientology has collapsed but that isn't the subject of today's post.  Today I'm talking about the belief system of Scientology as embodied by the ex-churchies calling themselves "Independent Scientologists".

A number of these stalwart true believers are factually and thoroughly destroying Scientology.

Now, in my opinion, some parts of the Scientology technology are beneficial, or could potentially be useful, and should be investigated.  A majority of Scientology technology could be considered harmless -- if someone wants to work with it, no known harm will befall them.

A small, but growing, portion of Scientology is harmful, destructive or just plain evil.  The Church of Scientology itself, under David Miscavige's direction, has been emphasizing and building upon these harmful parts. It now could be said, with some validity, that the evil parts of Scientology have become the dominant technology used by the church.

Earlier escapees from the Church of Scientology, often referred to as the Freezone, have, for the most part, discarded such harmful aspects of Scientology.  However, many of the newer ex-churcies, these new "Independent Scientologists" seem to have embraced the most disturbing, most barbaric, most tyrannical aspects of Scientology as practiced by the Church of Scientology.

Early on, L. Ron Hubbard said that Scientologists should not consider Scientology the only way out, and not even the best possible way out.  They should, he said, only consider Scientology as a workable way out.

Hubbard also admonished his followers, most specifically auditors, to never, ever invalidate or evaluate for others.

As with David Miscavige's Church of Scientology, a number of these "Independent Scientologists" do not seem to follow these precepts from Hubbard.  They are offensive, insulting and arbitrary.

They will tell you that Scientology is perfect, and that all other technologies are wrong-wrong-wrong.  And if you don't agree with them, completely, you are evil, you have crimes, you must accept the "truth" of Scientology and follow all the "formulas" and "procedures" to "correct yourself" and become a good, compliant, obedient, "standard" Scientologist.

These autocratic Scientologists are heavily into labels: you are a Suppressive Person; you are a "No Case Gain" case; you have "continuous present time" crimes, and on and on.

They are always and forever right, can never be wrong and you must agree with them or suffer the appropriate consequences.  They can dictate to the rest of the world because they are applying STANDARD SCIENTOLOGY.

Of course this only describes a few of the "Independent Scientologists", but they are the vocal ones -- and few of the others dare voice any disagreement!

It's the Church of Scientology mindset all over again.  The threats, the accusations, the labels, the invalidation and evaluation, the capricious and punitive "assignment of conditions", the attempt to dictate what other people see and think, and the suppression of dissent.

This attitude and public face of Scientology guarantees the destruction of Scientology.  Sane people will categorically reject these tinpot dictators and their crazy communication.  Appropriately so.

Obviously, I'm not talking to these fanatics. I wouldn't expect these self-proclaimed "STANDARD SCIENTOLOGISTS" to listen to reason -- but I do expect the other Independent Scientologists, who are sane, who do know better, to challenge these fanatics.  If you truly believe in Scientology, then you must protect it from the fanatics.  You must let them know that they do not speak for Scientology and they do not speak for Scientologists.  Call them out for the fanatics they are.

More than the fanatics, it is the silence of other Scientologists in the face of such fanaticism that guarantees the destruction of Scientology.
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The Church of Scientology Responds!

This is very good.

The Church of Scientology has gotten quite upset with my post The Church of Scientology Loves Disasters as quoted in Catholic Online's article Scientologists in Haiti: Volunteers or Vultures?

It seems they took issue with my statement:

“The Church of Scientology provides no money towards the victims in Haiti. None. Not one penny. The church supplies no food, no water, no medicine, no building materials, no personnel, no expertise, nothing for Haiti.

“But they claim, in their press releases, that their Volunteer Ministers are 'a major relief agency' helping in Haiti. If they do nothing, how can they claim this?"

Well, do I need to issue an apology?  Do I need to make a correction?

Let's take a look at the Church of Scientology's claims, shall we?  Here's the "facts" from Tommy Davis, Church of Scientology spokesman:

- Volunteer Ministers who have served or are currently serving in Haiti: 146

OK, but a lot of people would not call that a good thing.  These Volunteer Ministers have been known to interfere with vital, legitimate help.

- Doctors, nurses and EMTs transported to Haiti since January 16: 394
- Doctors, nurses and EMTs on waiting list for next VM flight: 100

These were not Scientologists.  The Church of Scientology is trying to claim credit for what other organizations are providing. These other organizations accepted the church's offer of transport, not realizing the church would try to claim credit for all their good work.

How many Scientology doctors has the church provided?  None!  How much medicine and medical equipment has the church paid for?  None!  What has the Church of Scientology done besides fly planes donated by others?

- Approximate individuals directly helped by Volunteer Ministers: 41,000

And that "help" was... what?  "Touch assists?"  Directions to the locations where the victims could get real help from real aid organizations?  Interference in the activities of the real aid organizations?

- Approximate meals served to patients, refugees and medical teams: 6,000
- Tons of food and supplies transported to Haiti since January 16: 20
- Tons of food and supplies distributed with World Food Program: 420

The Church of Scientology wants you to think that they supplied the food, but the Church of Scientology didn't give one penny for these supplies.  It just so happens that Volunteer Ministers were there, as were hundreds of other non-Scientology volunteers, to assist in distribution.

Oh, and by the way, the Church of Scientology didn't pay a penny for the Volunteer Ministers to be there.  Those Scientologists paid their own way, and use their own money while there.  The Church of Scientology didn't and doesn't help.

Seven MDs and two Volunteer Ministers gave tetanus shots and delivered hygiene supplies to 175 villagers in a remote area cut off from supply lines.

Seven non-Scientology doctors.  Note that all the other non-Scientology volunteers who were there and helped are carefully not mentioned -- as if the Scientologists were key organizers.  Nope!

And the claims go on and on, I won't bother quoting them.  In each claim made by the Church of Scientology, they want you to to be fooled into thinking they organized things (they didn't), they provided food, doctors, specialists (they didn't) and were doing vital, important work (the Volunteer Ministers are untrained, fit only to "help" the real relief agencies).

Go ahead and read the full statement from the church.  Look at what isn't being said.  Look at the carefully worded claims.  Note that the Church of Scientology's official statement confirms everything I said. The Church of Scientology didn't supply anything, didn't pay for anything, didn't send doctors, didn't send skilled personnel, didn't pay for food, clothing, shelter -- even for Scientology volunteers, in short, they are making vast claims without having to pay a single, solitary penny.

No, what I said in my post is absolutely true.  The Church of Scientology didn't spend a penny to help the victims of the Haiti earthquake.  But with this "response" they continue their real agenda -- using disaster as a public relations opportunity without spending any money.

Sorry Tommy, no corrections or apologies coming from here -- I told the truth and your church is trying to profit from disaster.

What I said before still stands -- even more so:

All decent people, including Scientologists, should add their voice to absolutely condemn the Church of Scientology for their disgusting greed in the face of such human suffering.

Squirrel!

If you love a good comedy, especially one with a hefty dose of irony, then you will be loving the accusations all the various flavors of Scientologists are slinging at each other.

It really is quite wonderful.

Squirreling: The act of using Scientology techniques in a form different than originally described by Hubbard is referred to within Scientology as "squirreling", and is said by Scientologists to be a "high crime".

According to the Church of Scientology, every single person who practices any form of Scientology outside of the church is a squirrel -- unless, of course, they pay a licensing fee to the church.

So the Church of Scientology is crying that, well, everyone else is a squirrel.

Oh, this is a terrible insult!.

One of the earlier breakaway groups was the rather large Ron's Org groups established by "Captain" Bill Robertson.  Robertson established his Ron's Org because, in his words, the Church of Scientology was squirreling the tech.

Other individuals and groups have broken away from the Church of Scientology before and since.  Many of them have also accused the Church of Scientology of squirreling.   However, these other individuals and groups avoided joining Ron's Orgs because, they said, Ron's Orgs were squirreling.

David Mayo, kicked out of the Church of Scientology for protesting David Miscavige's squirreling of the tech, established his AAC (Advanced Ability Center) group to deliver "standard Scientology".  He was, of course, condemned by the church for squirreling the tech.

And so it goes.  Each new breakaway accuses both the Church of Scientology and all previous breakaway groups of squirreling!

So, today, you have all the newest Scientologists who have left the Church of Scientology, but who still believe in Scientology, eschewing the Freezone and all other non-church groups and calling themselves "Independent Scientologists" -- although they are, truly, no different than those who have gone before.  Of course, all the older breakaway groups will undoubtedly accuse these newest ex-churchies of being squirrels, since they are tainted by Miscavige's squirreling!

So, it appears that everybody practicing any form of Scientology, inside or outside the church, are, in fact, all squirrels.

Well, I have something to add to all this.  Since L. Ron Hubbard knowingly used the "Ls" and "NOTS", both of which are proven to be authored by David Mayo (not Hubbard), not to mention Hubbard adopting into Scientology various techniques from many other people, I'd like to add to this universal list of squirrels the name L. Ron Hubbard.

There, the list is now complete.  Might as well call it Squirrelology, everybody is doing it!

Look, a squirrel!
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The Scientology Conundrum: What Are Lies?

It is quite interesting to me that Scientologists who are now waking up to the fact that David Miscavige has been doing bad things and is a liar, still believe almost everything Miscavige and the Church of Scientology had said in the past.

For instance, while finally seeing that David Miscavige has been corrupting and destroying Scientology, some Scientologists still believe that the criticisms and protests against the church are “unfounded”, “anti-religious” and “a conspiracy”.  They believe that Anonymous is a "terrorist, hate group" in the pay of big drug companies.  They believe that all critics are "suppressive persons".  They believe that the Freezone is filled with squirrels.  They believe these things because David Miscavige said so.

You would think that, seeing with their own eyes some of the blatant and profound falsehoods that Miscavige has been spreading, Scientologists would automatically question everything the Church of Scientology has been claiming. Now, it isn’t necessarily that everything was lies, it is just that the source of all the church’s proclamations, David Miscavige, has been proven to be a destructive, corrupt, habitual liar – so, really, you have to be suspicious of everything Miscavige or the church has said.

You’d think so. But many Scientologists, while rejecting a few, isolated and obviously false statements by Miscavige, still accept, without question, just about everything else.  This really doesn’t make any sense.

Well, the problem is that most Scientologists don’t realize what they are doing.  They have been trained to always completely trust all information coming from the Church of Scientology leaders.  Always.  And they have been trained to always reject all negative information about Scientology coming from any source.  Always.

This has become so automatic that it ends up operating below the conscious awareness for many Scientologists.  They “know” something is true, but they don’t realize their only criteria for “truth” is that the source was the Church of Scientology.  They also “know” that anything at all negative about Scientology “is false”, but they don’t realize their only criteria for that judgement is that the church said it was “false”.  Even when a Scientologist sees and thinks negative things about Scientology, they still reject such negative information from elsewhere as "false".

The simple concept that the Church of Scientology might be lying simply cannot be contemplated by true Scientologists.  It isn’t that they considered it, evaluated it and rejected it; it is that they cannot even consider it.

And most don’t know they have this blind spot.  They actually believe they are being intelligent, logical and observant.  They will get quite upset with the idea that they are not in full command of their thoughts and conclusions.

This makes it difficult for these Scientologists to come to terms with, and effectively handle, what is and has been going on in their church and in the world.  It is quite difficult to reconcile a church that is “always right” and “superior to the rest of the world” with the obvious and consistent failures Miscavige and the Church of Scientology have created.

So what to do?  How does anyone talk to a Scientologist about this stuff?  What does a Scientologist do to inform themselves?  What is true?  What are lies?

Simply listing list all the “facts” from Miscavige and the church that have been proven false, with all their associated links to documents, evidence and other proof simply does not work.  Scientologists, after all, have been trained to automatically reject such information – Scientologists are probably not going to suddenly throw off all that Scientology training in a day.

But they will.  Most Scientologists actually want to know the truth; the problem is that they are only used to accepting “truth” from the church.  It will take awhile for Scientologists to break that habit.

I have one piece of advice for newly-awakened Scientologists.  You do have one piece of information you can be sure of, because it is obvious now: David Miscavige is a liar and has been for decades.  This is what you know.  As for everything else, you can now find out for yourself.
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Ask a Question

The old Ask a Question thread has gotten quite large and unwieldy.  It's still there and has some great questions, but please put any new questions into this thread.

I'm serious.  All questions and suggestions are welcome.
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