When I first started this blog, my primary intention was to clear up the misinformation about Scientology, the Church of Scientology and ex-Scientologists. Sometimes I think I've done a good job. Then there are times, like recently, when I'm amazed at how much misinformation still persists.
Katie recently had her dad fire all her Scientology "handlers" and help her file for divorce from Tom Cruise in New York.
The media has gone absolutely crazy with the news and got some very important things totally wrong. Don't they do research any more?
What the media got right:
The media has rather consistently framed Katie's actions as an "escape from Scientology". Correct, it is.
The media has viewed Scientology as weird and dangerous. Again, correct.
The media appears to consider Suri turning six as the primary trigger for the divorce and Katie asking for sole custody of Suri. I also believe this is correct.
There are other, less important things, that the media got mostly right.
What the media got wrong:
No, Suri was not in any danger of being "sent to the Sea Org". That outcome is not and was not in the cards. While I have never seen or heard of a six year old in the Sea Org, that isn't the point. Celebrities do not get sent to the Sea Org and Suri, because of her parents, is a celebrity.
Many years ago, Yvonne Jentzsch, who ran Scientology's "Celebrity Centre" used to make some celebrities "honorary Sea Org members". These people never did any Sea Org things, they just continued whatever they were famous for, but that idea died with Yvonne.
Today, celebrities, and their children, are coddled and, if they are top tier like Tom or Katie, they are assigned "handlers" to spy on them and keep them isolated.
No, Suri going to the Sea Org wasn't what Katie feared.
Suri was not in danger of being "sent to the RPF". That's just stupid.
Suri was not going to be "interrogated" (Sec Checked), at least not right away.
None of the media understood the very real danger Suri was in.
Suri's actual danger:
L. Ron Hubbard said that you don't "audit" a child before they turn six. Auditing, in this case, means all the Scientology activities that use the "e-meter".
So, that meant no "counselling sessions", no "word clearing" (no Scientology courses) and no "Sec Checks". And that meant that Suri wasn't getting any of the standard Scientology indoctrination.
But that was just about to end. Suri was six. Time to get her "in session" and "on course". You just know that Tom was heavily pressuring Katie to get Suri active in Scientology.
The divorce is Katie's unequivocal answer.
Good for you Katie, you did exactly the right thing: get Suri somewhere safe where the cult can't indoctrinate her.
UPDATE
It has now been reported (July 9th) that Katie and Tom have reached a settlement in this divorce.
This was completely expected. Tom Cruise would have received strict, emergency instructions, directly from David Miscavige, to "keep Scientology out of this!" The divorce was tied directly to Scientology and every report was mentioning all the reasons why Katie needed to get Suri away from "Scientology's evil, abusive, cultic influence" (or something like that). Miscavige would have been going insane.
So, Tom needed all this to go away. Details have not been announced, but IMHO Tom pretty much had to give Katie what she was asking for to make this settlement happen so quickly.
UPDATE 2
I hate to brag but, as the details have been leaked about the settlement, it looks like my prediction was the only one that called it 100%. Katie got everything she asked for and Tom got the "shore story" that this had "absolutely nothing to do with Scientology", just as I predicted.
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Showing posts with label Trap. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trap. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Monday, December 20, 2010
"Real, live OTs!"
Well, this is certainly good news. An Independent Scientologist has announced that he is producing "real, live OTs".
Isn't that wonderful?
In addition, can we also assume he is producing "real, live Releases" and "real, live Clears"?
Think about it, even L. Ron Hubbard, in all his years, never produced real, live Releases, Clears or OTs. Hubbard himself was not Clear and was not OT. We now know that when Hubbard died, he was quite sick, in pain, hiding from the law and ultimately betrayed by those he trusted. Hubbard could not produce the miraculous results he promised, even on himself.
No, there is no verified evidence that anyone ever fully gained the promised, miraculous Abilities Gained from Scientology's Grade Chart -- not via Hubbard's personal auditing, not via Church of Scientology auditing and not via any outside Scientology practitioner's auditing. It never happened.
But now we find, after decades of Scientology failing to produce any of the promised, miraculous results, this Independent Scientologist has finally succeeded!
"Holy cats! Real, live OTs!"
...
Of course, if you look for specifics, if you look for any evidence that someone he audited is actually "cause over matter, energy, space, time, life and thought", you won't find any.
Now, I don't mind someone believing whatever they want to believe. That's their business. And I do know that Scientology can make some people temporarily feel wonderful.
What I object to is the trap.
Scientology traps people because they promise and promise and promise these miraculous results. I know of people who, even today, continue to tolerate the most horrible abuses and who ruin themselves to pay and pay and pay -- all because of this one specific promise: They believe that some day they would be cause over matter, energy, space, time, life and thought.
It's a lie and it is there only to trap people.
I object, as strongly as I can, to anyone who continues to promise this lie in order to trap people within Scientology.
If you promise "OT" but only deliver a temporary "I feel wonderful" feeling, you trick people into coming back again and again (and paying again and again), believing you will eventually actually deliver on your promise. It's a trick, and it only works until the person wakes up to the fact that you can't deliver what you promised and that a temporary "I feel wonderful" is as good as it gets.
And since you know you've never delivered "OT", your continuing to "promise" that is fraud.
Isn't that wonderful?
In addition, can we also assume he is producing "real, live Releases" and "real, live Clears"?
Think about it, even L. Ron Hubbard, in all his years, never produced real, live Releases, Clears or OTs. Hubbard himself was not Clear and was not OT. We now know that when Hubbard died, he was quite sick, in pain, hiding from the law and ultimately betrayed by those he trusted. Hubbard could not produce the miraculous results he promised, even on himself.
No, there is no verified evidence that anyone ever fully gained the promised, miraculous Abilities Gained from Scientology's Grade Chart -- not via Hubbard's personal auditing, not via Church of Scientology auditing and not via any outside Scientology practitioner's auditing. It never happened.
But now we find, after decades of Scientology failing to produce any of the promised, miraculous results, this Independent Scientologist has finally succeeded!
"Holy cats! Real, live OTs!"
...
Of course, if you look for specifics, if you look for any evidence that someone he audited is actually "cause over matter, energy, space, time, life and thought", you won't find any.
Now, I don't mind someone believing whatever they want to believe. That's their business. And I do know that Scientology can make some people temporarily feel wonderful.
What I object to is the trap.
Scientology traps people because they promise and promise and promise these miraculous results. I know of people who, even today, continue to tolerate the most horrible abuses and who ruin themselves to pay and pay and pay -- all because of this one specific promise: They believe that some day they would be cause over matter, energy, space, time, life and thought.
It's a lie and it is there only to trap people.
I object, as strongly as I can, to anyone who continues to promise this lie in order to trap people within Scientology.
Dear Scientology practitioner:
If you promise "OT" but only deliver a temporary "I feel wonderful" feeling, you trick people into coming back again and again (and paying again and again), believing you will eventually actually deliver on your promise. It's a trick, and it only works until the person wakes up to the fact that you can't deliver what you promised and that a temporary "I feel wonderful" is as good as it gets.
And since you know you've never delivered "OT", your continuing to "promise" that is fraud.
Stop claiming you can produce the results promised for "Release", "Clear" and "OT" -- because you haven't, no one has!
Tell the truth about what you actually do produce so you are not committing fraud.
Tell the truth about what you actually do produce so you are not committing fraud.
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Saturday, June 12, 2010
The Scientology E-Meter
There is a lot of misinformation, speculation and strange claims about the Scientology E-Meter. Since I try to clear up such confusing areas, it is high time I tackled this subject.
People (who have not actually studied or used the e-meter) very often claim the instrument is bogus; can't work; doesn't work. It has been described by uninformed critics as "a crude lie-detector".
I recently had a conversation with someone who had heard it was only measuring skin resistance and reacted only to sweat and grip. This is not accurate.
I have to tell you -- it works.
Before I get into a lot of caveats about that statement, about what it doesn't do, let me first establish what it does do. The following is a description of a test, called the "pinch test", that anyone trained in the e-meter can do to anyone to show what the e-meter does. I've done this myself on non-Scientologists, it is pretty convincing.
The "Pinch Test"
The person with the e-meter, let's call them the operator, sets the meter up and hands the other person the electrodes, the "cans". The operator then has the person watch the needle while the operator pinches them, hard.
The person will see the needle immediately and quickly move to the right in response to the pain.
The operator then gives the command, "Recall the moment of the pinch." When the person does so, they immediately see the same motion of the needle, usually a bit smaller. The person can, again and again, recall the pinch and, the instant they do so, see that needle motion, a little less each time.
If you know someone who has a meter and has been trained, they can do this for you.
This is obvious proof that the meter really does react to the thought.
This is actually pretty amazing.
There is another test, a drill used during training, where the student puts another student on the meter and says, "Consider the events of today." The other student does so. When the first student sees a distinctive needle movement, he says, "That". As prearranged, the second student immediately thinks of something else for a little, and then thinks the same thought he was thinking at the moment the first student said "That". The first student is supposed to see that same needle movement and say, "That is the same thought."
Every graduate of an e-meter course has done this drill and passed it.
This shows that different thoughts can cause different and individually identifiable needle motions.
The unproven theory about all this is that some thoughts have "charge" attached to them, that this "charge" impinges on the body when the thought is "activated" by thinking it and this effect can be detected by measuring the change of resistance of the body.
There is no proof that this is true, but it's the only explanation at this time and it does seem to fit the current evidence. It sure would be nice if someone competent did some scientific research on this.
So, that's what the meter can do. Here's what it can't do.
It can't read or measure emotions. It can't tell truth from lies. It cannot tell what a person is thinking. It cannot make a person do anything. It can be rather easily fooled. And the meter is affected by many other factors than just thoughts.
The meter is affected by sweat, the grip on the cans, body motion and some other things. This is a significant problem and requires much training on the part of the operator and much instruction of the person holding the cans (the "preclear"). Of course, sweat doesn't cause needle movements because it is slow to occur and very slow to evaporate, but sweat can affect the range, causing the meter to read too low. Likewise, dry hands can make the meter read too high.
Preclears are carefully instructed on grip, and this is also why each meter comes with many different sizes of cans.
The meter operators are instructed and drilled on body motion, so they can, it is hoped, recognize and ignore needle motion caused by that.
The e-meter, as sold by the Church of Scientology, is a very expensive, but still somewhat primitive instrument. It has never been analyzed in any scientific way. It has many limitations. The meter is quite easily fooled, if you know what you are doing. The mind is a complex thing and the meter is a very simple thing, so problems can and do occur because the meter reads on something other than what is expected.
More research has been done in the Freezone concerning the e-meter and they claim they have improved it, but there is still no independent, scientific research on the e-meter.
How the E-Meter is part of the trap
It is the fact that the e-meter actually works that makes it a very integral part of the very effective trapping mechanism of the Church of Scientology.
Very early on, every new Scientologist is led to believe that they cannot keep any secrets from the e-meter. In session, when the auditor asks about their secrets, their bad actions, the meter reads. And the auditor won't stop until the meter stops reading, meaning the Scientologist has "told all".
In this way, the Church of Scientology can and does get all the person's crimes, sexual problems, secrets and so on. Every session starts with those questions. The church's files are quite full and quite complete.
In addition, the existence and apparent effectiveness of the e-meter convinces the new Scientologist that the rest of the Scientology tech must be just as effective.
Of course, neither the e-meter nor the Scientology tech is as effective as claimed. But that isn't obvious at the beginning. By the time the Scientologist might detect the failings of both, they are usually too far into the indoctrination and can't perceive the flaws any more.
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People (who have not actually studied or used the e-meter) very often claim the instrument is bogus; can't work; doesn't work. It has been described by uninformed critics as "a crude lie-detector".
I recently had a conversation with someone who had heard it was only measuring skin resistance and reacted only to sweat and grip. This is not accurate.
I have to tell you -- it works.
Before I get into a lot of caveats about that statement, about what it doesn't do, let me first establish what it does do. The following is a description of a test, called the "pinch test", that anyone trained in the e-meter can do to anyone to show what the e-meter does. I've done this myself on non-Scientologists, it is pretty convincing.
The "Pinch Test"
The person with the e-meter, let's call them the operator, sets the meter up and hands the other person the electrodes, the "cans". The operator then has the person watch the needle while the operator pinches them, hard.
The person will see the needle immediately and quickly move to the right in response to the pain.
The operator then gives the command, "Recall the moment of the pinch." When the person does so, they immediately see the same motion of the needle, usually a bit smaller. The person can, again and again, recall the pinch and, the instant they do so, see that needle motion, a little less each time.
If you know someone who has a meter and has been trained, they can do this for you.
This is obvious proof that the meter really does react to the thought.
This is actually pretty amazing.
There is another test, a drill used during training, where the student puts another student on the meter and says, "Consider the events of today." The other student does so. When the first student sees a distinctive needle movement, he says, "That". As prearranged, the second student immediately thinks of something else for a little, and then thinks the same thought he was thinking at the moment the first student said "That". The first student is supposed to see that same needle movement and say, "That is the same thought."
Every graduate of an e-meter course has done this drill and passed it.
This shows that different thoughts can cause different and individually identifiable needle motions.
The unproven theory about all this is that some thoughts have "charge" attached to them, that this "charge" impinges on the body when the thought is "activated" by thinking it and this effect can be detected by measuring the change of resistance of the body.
There is no proof that this is true, but it's the only explanation at this time and it does seem to fit the current evidence. It sure would be nice if someone competent did some scientific research on this.
So, that's what the meter can do. Here's what it can't do.
It can't read or measure emotions. It can't tell truth from lies. It cannot tell what a person is thinking. It cannot make a person do anything. It can be rather easily fooled. And the meter is affected by many other factors than just thoughts.
The meter is affected by sweat, the grip on the cans, body motion and some other things. This is a significant problem and requires much training on the part of the operator and much instruction of the person holding the cans (the "preclear"). Of course, sweat doesn't cause needle movements because it is slow to occur and very slow to evaporate, but sweat can affect the range, causing the meter to read too low. Likewise, dry hands can make the meter read too high.
Preclears are carefully instructed on grip, and this is also why each meter comes with many different sizes of cans.
The meter operators are instructed and drilled on body motion, so they can, it is hoped, recognize and ignore needle motion caused by that.
The e-meter, as sold by the Church of Scientology, is a very expensive, but still somewhat primitive instrument. It has never been analyzed in any scientific way. It has many limitations. The meter is quite easily fooled, if you know what you are doing. The mind is a complex thing and the meter is a very simple thing, so problems can and do occur because the meter reads on something other than what is expected.
More research has been done in the Freezone concerning the e-meter and they claim they have improved it, but there is still no independent, scientific research on the e-meter.
How the E-Meter is part of the trap
It is the fact that the e-meter actually works that makes it a very integral part of the very effective trapping mechanism of the Church of Scientology.
Very early on, every new Scientologist is led to believe that they cannot keep any secrets from the e-meter. In session, when the auditor asks about their secrets, their bad actions, the meter reads. And the auditor won't stop until the meter stops reading, meaning the Scientologist has "told all".
In this way, the Church of Scientology can and does get all the person's crimes, sexual problems, secrets and so on. Every session starts with those questions. The church's files are quite full and quite complete.
In addition, the existence and apparent effectiveness of the e-meter convinces the new Scientologist that the rest of the Scientology tech must be just as effective.
Of course, neither the e-meter nor the Scientology tech is as effective as claimed. But that isn't obvious at the beginning. By the time the Scientologist might detect the failings of both, they are usually too far into the indoctrination and can't perceive the flaws any more.
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