Vacation-interrupting bullshit alert!

I am, technically, still on vacation, but I made the mistake of signing on to check out Marty’s site, and there’s something that I just gotta comment about.

It’s a blog entry by Mike Rinder entitled Survey: What Impinges — Results. Now, I’ve got a lot to say about this blog entry, and probably will when I’m back home, but one particular bit stood out.

Mike Rinder talks about the LRH article What Your Fees Buy. Kudos to Mike for pointing out that this article was changed from “fees” to “donations”. (The last time Marty talked about this policy, he seemed to imply that it was always about donations. I accused him of using DM tech, seeing as how the change to “donations” was made after LRH died. Looks like M&M were paying attention!)

What really stuck in my craw was this:

But what you pay for SERVICES has to cover all manner of expenses as Scientology receives no government handouts.

Excuse me? NO GOVERNMENT HANDOUTS? Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit.

First of all, there have been plenty of occasions when governments have been tricked into paying to use LRH’s “study tech” or even his “administrative technology”. Scientologists will argue that this isn’t a “handout”, per se, as there was “exchange” of money for a “valuable final product” (the Study Technology, and I’d argue against its value.) Still, that was taxpayer money going to Church coffers.

But let’s not forget the big handout: THE CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY IS A TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATION. We don’t know how much the Church takes in, but it’s fair to say that the Church is saving millions and millions of dollars that should be going to Federal, state and local governments. There is ample evidence that the Church of Scientology was established and is run as a business, and yet they are tax-exempt just like a proper religion. And yet they use taxpayer-funded services such as public roads, police protection, the courts (oh, man, do they use THOSE a lot!), even Medicare for sick members with physical problems that aren’t helped by LRH’s quack theories.

And Mike Rinder has the GALL to say that the Church doesn’t get Government handouts?

The Church sought out tax-exempt status for DECADES before DM finally strong-armed the IRS into granting it. Back in the 1960s, LRH had his auditors wear collars and crosses strictly to give the illusion that Scientology was a religion. (Before that, it was a form of psychotherapudic analysis, because psychotherapy was a hot-selling prospect.)

No government handouts, my ass.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m goin’ back to my vacation.

ML,
Caliwog

A break from blogging

I’m going to be taking a break from blogging for a few days. I know the timing is lousy; it looks like the pressure from Scientology protesters is having an effect on Marty, who is circling his wagons, making excuses for his behavior, and addressing his posts more to the faithful than the general public (note the increased use of Scientologese).

But something has come up and I must pursue it – a deep black OSA line that appears to be a form of Reverse Protestation. If I don’t pull the string on this, DM’s use of anti-radicalism could cave in our PTSness and totally destroy the comm line of proper Scientology protest.

Just kidding. I’m going on vacation. See you in a few days.

ML,
Caliwog

The Legacy of the Tech

A few quotes from, and comments on, Marty’s recent post, The Legacy of the Tech:

For the past several days I’ve been sharing some thoughts. To some it evidently sounded like reactive venting.

I think that would be me (among others).

While I meant everything I wrote, I was also conducting a differentiation drill and a roll call or sorts…A number of OSA Intelligence Black Ops lines were revealed and rendered ineffective in the process.

“I wasn’t losing it; I meant to do that.” One of the interesting things to note is the use of the passive voice when discussing the supposed “destruction” of an enemy. LRH did the same thing; alleged victories were discussed in the passive voice. This always piqued my interest. Criminals often speak of their crimes in the passive voice as a way to disconnect themselves from their actions and avoid guilt or blame. That said, note that when Marty discusses real crimes he committed – the latest being how he drove away and left a prostitute to get beat up by her pimp – he uses the active voice. Just an interesting little tangent. Anyway…

I am not trying to create followers.

Then you’re doing it wrong, because you’ve got a flock of mindless sheep posting agreement with everything you do. Try this experiment, Marty: Post something you don’t mean or that you think is a bad idea. “I disagree with Caliwog, but I think he’s got a good point on thus-and-such, and we should listen to him with an open mind.” And watch what happens – your cheering section will tell you what a good idea it is. It’s funny that you and Mike refer to Church members as “sheeple” (which they are). By shaping your version of the truth and censoring criticism, you are creating your own flock of sheeple. Just like David Miscavige. (You guys worked together for years, I guess some of his influence was bound to rub off.)

The group think that says we must have a certain structure, we must have clear-cut direction from above, we must have a hierarchy that tells us which way is up, we cannot entertain an independent thought – and Lord forbid, a created thought that does not align with what we have been told we must know in order to conduct our lives properly.

I’m pulling out of context a bit here; you’re saying that this “group think” is a bad idea, and a result of the “C of M implementation of Reverse Scientology.” See, Marty, this is my whole point – what you are talking about is exactly what Hubbard intended. He instilled this group-think while making his followers believe they were thinking independently. He did this by getting people to replace their own ethics and values with his. He preached freedom, and yet he wrote Keeping Scientology Working which basically codifies the group-think. See why I think LRH was such an evil genius? My gosh, Marty, you’re so close to seeing the scam of Scientology, but you’re not quite there… true freedom is just a few steps away, Marty!

I have been working steadily and will continue to along the following lines in order to make the attainment of that statement of purpose possible:

1. Differentiate the subject of Scientology from the Church of Scientology.
2. Differentiate L Ron Hubbard from David Miscavige.

You can work at it, Marty, but you’ll never quite get there, because it cannot be done. The fact is that the Church of Scientology is practicing the subject of Scientology. Maybe they’ve made a few alterations here and there, but the reason the Church commits the crimes that it does – the crimes that you helped commit, I might remind you – is because those crimes are hard-coded in LRH policy. And I’m not talking about what only Scientologists view as crimes (i.e. teaching Scientology incorrectly and therefore subjecting man to spiritual damnation). That’s bullshit, a series of red herrings designed by LRH to keep Scientologists’ minds closed and their wallets open. I’m talking real crimes – breaking up families, bleeding members for money, and encouraging people to pay for cures that don’t work instead of pursuing proper medial, emotional and mental treatment.

And as for differentiating DM from LRH – well, yes, that can be done; the problem is, you insist on doing it by lying – by blaming the crimes of LRH on DM. The problem with lies, Marty, is that they just don’t stand up. And the problem with lying about the crimes of LRH is that he left copious amounts of proof behind. LRH lied about himself – a lot – but he couldn’t lie about his intentions. LRH suffered from diarrhea of the typewriter. He was such a control freak that he felt the need to codify everything. “If it isn’t written, it isn’t true” was his mantra and his downfall, and as you’re finding out – just as DM has found out – the advent of the Internet makes it very difficult to lie about LRH and Scientology. And as long as you continue to post lies, I and many others who think like me will continue to post the truth.

The way I see it, Marty, you’re angry about how DM treated you, and you just want to see him gone – not for the good of Scientologists, but because you want to get even. And the sad part is, the more you wage your battle against David Miscavige, the more you seem to act like him.

No surprise, as you both have the same master and you’re both singing off the same sheet of music.

See, that’s the real legacy of the Tech.

ML,
Caliwog

Taking off the gloves

In his post Blood Money, Marty makes the point that it’s time to stop turning the other cheek with regards to Church-going Scientologists.

The church is dead. Those who cannot see it are not Scientologists*…Maybe some of you have the time to continue to treat them with kid gloves. I do not happen to have that luxury…Perhaps we can be a bit more assertive on a one to one basis in pointing out the evil that bots are perpetuating by enabling it.

* (Newbie note: This doesn’t mean people who aren’t Scientologists. It means Scientologists who are not acting like Scientologists. Scientology is black or white: If you’re not applying proper Scientology, you are not misguided or wrong, you are simply not a Scientologist. There is no middle ground. This is what Marty means when he says the current Church is not delivering Scientology. They are delivering the same old courses, but Marty feels they have either been altered or not administered correctly. In LRH’s mind – and therefore in Marty’s – one doesn’t say in this case that the courses are not being delivered correctly; one says they aren’t being delivered, period. Like I said, black or white.)

I happen to agree with Marty. I’ve been involved in some blog conversations with people who share my view of the Scientology “religion” (which is that it’s a scam and a crock) but are sympathetic to Marty. The gist of their arguments is that David Miscavige is committing crimes, and Marty is helping to bring down DM, so that’s a good thing. And I see their point.

But there’s a lot more to Marty than that, and Marty is right: It’s time to stop handling him with kid gloves.

First of all, let’s not forget that Marty was part of Scientology’s upper management for many years. He was near the top, helping DM and the Church to perpetrate many of those same crimes he is attempting to expose. To his credit, Marty doesn’t try to hide this. He admits to being physically abusive. He admits to breaking up marriages. In fact, many of his former victims are now his chief ass-kissers. (I’m looking at you, Mike Rinder and Jim Logan.)

Marty claims to have proof of David Miscavige’s illegal acts – and yet he has done nothing to put DM behind bars. Why not? If he has the power to put DM away and put a stop to the abuses, why the hell hasn’t he?

And then there’s the fact that Marty’s basic premise – that the crimes of Scientology are the fault of DM – is a lie. The truth is that most of Scientology’s abusive behavior was originated by L. Ron Hubbard. This is not an empty accusation; the proof is right there in LRH’s policies. You can download them from Wikileaks and read them for yourself.

(Incidentally, my saying that DM is not to blame for the crimes of Scientology has gotten me labeled as an OSA spy [OSA is the Office of Special Affairs, the Church’s secret police force) and a DM supporter. So let me clarify: DM is just as guilty of these crimes and abuses as LRH. I’m simply saying that the abuses weren’t his idea; he’s just picking up where his mentor left off.)

And then there’s the factor that led me to start this blog in the first place: Marty censors comments. He censors a lot of comments. The usual reply to this is “His blog, his rules.” And I agree. But Marty claims to be giving his followers the truth, when in fact he’s delivering a carefully-edited version of the truth.

There are plenty of blogs run by independent Scientologists that do not censor comments, but rather allow respectful anti-Scientology comments to stand and be argued by Scientology supporters. Leaving Scientology is a great example, and you’ll notice that the conversation in comments (at least those that I’ve seen) amounts to a high-level exchange of ideas, rather than the mindless rhetoric-spewing ass-kissing that follows each of Marty’s posts.

Matter of fact, I can only think of two organizations that employ such Draconian censorship of opposing ideas: One is Marty’s blog, and the other is the Church of Scientology.

LRH redefined the word “reasonable” to be a bad thing; it meant coming up with reasons to justify something that is not OK. Marty is suggesting that Independents not be “reasonable” about people they think are wrong. And I agree with Marty. Let’s not be “reasonable” about him and his followers. Let’s remember that Marty still firmly believes in LRH. He believes that we are aliens trapped in “meat” bodies on a prison planet. He believes that locking Lisa McPherson in a room and not talking to her was the right way to address her psychotic breakdown, and he does not believe that this ridiculous idea of LRH’s was what killed her. (I’m not just making suppositions here; all of this is revealed in his blog posts and comments. Search and read for yourself.)

Marty Rathbun believes in the tenets of Scientology, which is a dangerous and harmful religion.

Scientology must be stopped, and that doesn’t mean we stop at criticizing David Miscavige. It means that we, as protesters, must ensure that ALL of the truth about Scientology – including its beliefs and the source of those beliefs – must be brought to light.

My hope is that we will do our jobs so well that Marty himself will realize the truth about LRH and come to the same conclusion about Scientology as so many others, including myself: That it’s nothing more than a scam designed to enrich a very evil man. A scam so well thought out that it’s still working a quarter-century after the evil man’s death.

Thanks, Marty, for the inspiration.

ML,
Caliwog

The truth about Scientology and private investigators

One of the most frequent accusations leveled against David Miscavige by Marty Rathbun and other Independents is the hiring of private investigators. The whole concept of a church employing private investigators is pretty darn ridiculous, and Marty is right to condemn it – but he’s not right to blame this practice on David Miscavige. Good ol’ Slappy is simply following orders from the founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard. Proof can be found in Hubbard’s Manual of Justice, published in 1959, about a year before DM was born:

Overt investigation of someone or something attacking us by an outside detective agency should be done more often and hang the expense. It’s very effective. — LRH

Okay, so LRH hired private investigators – but surely he was just using them to gather intelligence, and not to intimidate, as DM seems to do, right?

Wrong.

Often investigation by a private detective has alone closed up an entheta* source or a squirrel** organisation. In fact at this writing I can’t remember a time when it hasn’t! The reason for this is simple…The smell of police or private detectives caused them to fly, to close down, to confess. — LRH

* Entheta: "Enturbulated theta." Scientologese for bad news or anti-Scientology sentiment.

** Squirrel: Altered Scientology practices, or one who uses such altered practices.

Okay… but surely LRH wouldn’t condone such massive spending on PIs, as David Miscavige is doing? After all, their invoices are being paid by parishioners’ fees… sorry, donations.

Hire them and damn the cost when you need to. –LRH

Hmmmm.

In my opinion, Marty is right to condemn David Miscavige for using private investigators to harass ex-Scientologists, members of the media, and other perceived enemies of the Church. But he’s wrong to give the impression that these crimes originated with David Miscavige. That’s a lie, and as a former member of Scientology management, no one should know that better than Marty Rathbun.

ML,
Caliwog

P.S.: If you haven’t read the Manual of Justice, you should – it’s a quick read and it shows a side of LRH that the Independents don’t want you to see. Cof$ acknowledged the MoJ as a legitimate Scientology document in a 1995 court case, Religious Technology Center vs. Netcom. You can read it online at Xenu.net or download scans of the original from Wikileaks.

Cause and effect

Thursday, August 12th: Yours Truly posts LRH on Disconnection, presenting proof that disconnection is an LRH policy, not a DM policy.

Saturday, August 14th: Marty Rathbun posts Pimps, Prostitutes and Disconnection, defending disconnection as defined by LRH.

Coincidence? You be the judge.

Marty cites the “idiots running a campaign against me because I don’t choose to listen to their abusive, infantile comm[unication]” (I assume that last refers to all the comments we post that he censors). For the record, I’m not the only idiot running a campaign against Marty; there are others, and not just from the Church. My favorite is this blog – I have my problems with Marty, but this guy (an Independent Scientologist, apparently) frickin’ hates him. (I LOLd at this hilarious entry about the bird on Marty’s page.)

Is Marty starting to crack under the pressure? He has violated one LRH principle: “Don’t ever defend. Always attack.” (LRH, HCO PL 15 August 1960, DEPT OF GOVT AFFAIRS)

Regardless, I’d like to answer what Marty said about disconnection.

Marty is correct; sometimes deciding to cut someone off is a good idea. (Although his example of leaving a beaten, bloody prostitute because she told him to go away is a pretty piss-poor example. Why didn’t you call the police, Marty? What kind of a human being watches a man beating up a woman, starts to intervene, then wimps out and drives away? Oh, I know – one who has been brainwashed by LRH and allowed Scientology to replace humanity.)

Marty says, “You’d also be a fool by ignoring the real consequences of allowing a Suppressive to continue to make your life hell.”

A point that has merit… except for the use of the word “Suppressive.” LRH has several definitions of a suppressive person, including “one that actively seeks to suppress or damage a Scientologist or Scn [Scientology] by suppressive acts” (LRH, Technical Dictionary of Dianetics and Scientology).

Marty, if you’re reading this, that is the key. LRH defined an SP as an evil being, one intent on destruction of all things, and one who seeks to damage Scientology. Therefore, to a Scientologist – like you – anyone who seeks to discredit Scientology – like me – is positioned with the other definitions of an SP: One who is insane, bent on destruction, psychotic. In LRH’s words: “All characteristics classified as those of the ‘suppressive person’ are in fact those of an insane person” (HCOB 28 November 1970, PSYCHOSIS). In other words, only an insane person would oppose Scientology. That’s bullshit, but it’s what you believe.

David Miscavige doesn’t “force” disconnections any more than LRH did. All DM does is point to LRH policy: Handle or disconnect. Everyone has a choice, and those who disconnect are choosing to follow LRH policy, even when they know it’s wrong. Just like a beaten-down prostitute.

So in fact,the only ones “forcing” Scientologists to disconnect are the Scientologists themselves. Like you, leaving that poor woman to be her pimp’s punching bag.

I can’t believe you don’t see the irony in your prostitute story, Marty. You are totally LRH’s bitch.

But unlike you, Marty, I’m not content to simply get in my car and drive away and let the abuse continue. I want to see the abuse brought to a stop. I want you and your followers to see who the real pimp is.

I’m not doing this because I’m an idiot who is mad that you won’t listen to my infantile comm. I’m doing it because I’m an idiot who is free – truly free – and I want you to be free, too.

ML,
Caliwog

LRH on disconnection

I’ve been working on an article that was a reply to Marty’s blog post of August 11th, Ayatollah Miscavige and Radical Scientology, in which Marty compared David Miscavige’s actions to radical Islamic terrorists. (No, really.) My goal was to show that each of the accusations Marty leveled against David Miscavige could be attributed to L. Ron Hubbard, and I was going to do so simply by quoting LRH policy with no additional comment.

This is turning out to be a difficult post to write, because there are so gosh darn many LRH quotes to pick from. It’ll take me at least a week!

In the mean time, I wanted to share an excerpt from one of the LRH policies I found. This is what LRH has to say about disconnection in HCOB 10 September 1983, “PTSness AND DISCONNECTION.” (PTS means Potential Trouble Source, and it is defined as a person connected to a Supressive Person, which is an individual who is antagonistic towards Scientology.)

The term “disconnection” is defined as a self-determined decision made by an individual that he is not going to be connected to another. It is a severing of a communication line.

It is much like trying to deal with a criminal. If he will not handle, the society resorts to the only other solution: It “disconnects” the criminal from the society…

A Scientologist can become PTS by reason of being connected to someone that is antagonistic to Scientology or its tenets. In order to resolve the PTS condition, he either HANDLES the other person’s antagonism…or, as a last resort when all attempts to handle have failed, he disconnects from the person. He is simply exercising his right to communicate or not to communicate with a particular person.

Earlier, disconnection as a condition was canceled… This put Scientologists at a disadvantage.

The bare fact is that disconnection is a vital tool in handling PTSness and can be very effective when used correctly.

Therefore, the tech of disconnection is hereby restored to use…

In truth, an SP is absolutely, completely terrified of anyone becoming more powerful. In such an instance the PTS isn’t going to get anywhere trying to “handle” the person. The answer is to sever the connection.

The technology of disconnection is essential in the handling of PTSes. It can and has saved lives and untold trouble and upset. It must be preserved and used correctly. — LRH

Remember, kids, Scientology does not break up families. And even though Marty and the Independents believe firmly in LRH and LRH tech, we needn’t worry about disconnection; Independents only want pure LRH tech. Like…

Like what I just quoted.

Uh-oh.

ML,
Caliwog

Marty calls dismissal of Headley lawsuit “a blessing in disguise”

Marc Headley is an ex-Scientologist who wrote an excellent book entitled Blown for Good: Behind the Iron Curtain of Scientology. Marc and his wife Claire bravely locked horns with the Church by suing them, alleging labor law violations and two forced abortions. Last week, a federal judge dismissed the case — and Marty Rathbun has the gall to call the dismissal “a blessing in disguise”.

Marty’s blog entry goes into a long explanation about conservative judges vs. liberal judges, and predicts that the dismissal will be reversed on appeal (and for once, I hope Marty is right).

At the end, we finally get to why Marty thinks this is a blessing in disguise. The case was apparently dismissed because the judge felt that delving too deeply into the accusations would violate the Church of Scientology’s Constitutional protection as a religion.

That’s not good for the Headleys or the Scientology protest movement, but is good for Marty. Very good, in fact. Marty writes:

If Fischer’s ruling becomes law, RTC will become virtually powerless to seek the courts’ assistance in blocking, or even harassing, independent delivery of the religion of Scientology…In other words, my words this time, if RTC* wants to bring a case that in any way opens up an inquiry…into your practice of Scientology when your practice is Scientology doctrine-motivated, they will swiftly be shown the door by the court.

(* RTC: Religious Technology Center, the organization that owns the copyrights and trademarks of the Church of Scientology.)

As it happens, I don’t think Marty’s argument is correct, as RTC usually sues based on copyright infringement. As far as I know, religious organizations are allowed to hold copyrights.

No, the real reason this ruling is so good for Marty and his crew — which Marty conveniently fails to mention — is that this ruling also bolsters the Church’s tax-exempt status, something it seems clear Marty does not wish to go away. Remember, Marty gives Scientology “auditing” for money, and has a donations link on his page. (It’s worth noting that donations accepted without giving anything in return are against the LRH doctrine of exchange, something Marty and his band of merry Independents regularly attack DM for doing. Hello, kettle? This is pot…)

There was one bright spot in Marty’s post, which is that the judge ignored the 21-page declaration he wrote on the Headleys’ behalf. It’s basically a rant written to further Marty’s personal vendetta against David Miscavige. I doubt it would have done the Headley case much good, although I’m sure it was great for Marty’s ego.

If you haven’t read Marc Headley’s book, I highly recommend it; you can support the Headleys by ordering it from their site. Marc’s story is unique in that it documents the crimes of David Miscavige and the Church, but does not defend LRH — Marc was born into Scientology, but never bought into LRH’s bullshit scam doctrine.

Interestingly, Marty Rathbun wrote the forward to Marc’s book, even though he has written on his blog that he and Marc disagree about LRH. According to another blog entry, Marty says he was a guest at the Headleys’ house. I wonder if he’ll still be welcome once they find out that Marty considers their case dismissal “a blessing?”

Read Marty’s blog entry here. The SP Times article about the case dismissal is here.

ML,
Caliwog

P.S. Some good news — the SP Times article acknowledges that there are two anti-Church groups, one who opposes Scientology and one who practices it. Go SP Times!

“Twisted and sick”

Friday’s post on Marty’s blog, entitled “The land of milk and honey and virgins galore,” refers to an email sent out to Church of Scientology members asking for money and alluding that their donations will help speed the release of Operating Thetan levels 9 and 10. Marty calls the letter “twisted and sick,” and likens it to the promise of rewards in the afterlife that suicide bombers believe await them.

This makes me angry. By my moral standards, pedophilia is twisted and sick. Rape is twisted and sick. Genocide is twisted and sick. Writing an email asking for money isn’t even in the same zip code.

Likewise, I’d like to see Marty explain to a roomful of relatives of September 11th victims how a person who donates to the Church of Scientology compares to the suicide bombers who killed their loved ones. (Talk about twisted and sick.)

So yes, this makes me angry. But not at Marty Rathbun.

It makes me mad at L. Ron Hubbard, because this is indicative of what Scientologists really believe.

Naturally, Church-goers wouldn’t view this email as twisted and sick, but Marty’s opinion stems from a belief that is common to all Scientologists: That LRH’s teachings are the only possible hope for mankind, and that time is running out.

Marty and his followers genuinely believe that David Miscavige is destroying the subject of Scientology. (If only they were right!) So to them, the idea of raising money for incorrect Scientology – and dangling the carrot of OT9 and OT10 in order to do it – really is as twisted and sick as pedophilia, and that reaching for the carrot really is as bad as flying an airplane full of people into a building full of people.

And that makes me angry at LRH and the belief system he instilled.

It also makes me feel a little sorry for Marty, Mike, and all Scientologists, both inside and outside of the Church. It demonstrates the grip that L. Ron Hubbard has on his followers – a grip so strong that it remains as tight as a vise almost a quarter-century after the ol’ fraud’s death.

I urge you to read Marty’s blog entry and the email contained therein, and keep in mind that this isn’t just a man exaggerating to make a point. This is a man who really believes what he’s saying.

This is a man who thinks he is out of the cult, but is still very much in.

And if you think Scientology outside of the official Church isn’t dangerous, please think again. Just as there’s no such thing as a safe cigarette, there’s no such thing as safe Scientology.

ML,
Caliwog

F/Ns and B/S

Yesterday’s post on Marty’s blog, entitled Why for the Golden Age of Tech and F/N confusion, talks about the “floating needle” debacle. This is one of those issues that only Scientologists really care about, but I wanted to address this post because, like much of what Marty writes, it contains some slickly-concealed bullshit, and exposing bullshit is what this blog is all about.

A floating needle is a reaction on the E-Meter that usually indicates one has reached the end of a certain process. From what I understand – and I haven’t delved very deeply into this, because like most non-Scientologists, I really couldn’t care less – David Miscavige and/or his staffers apparently changed or revised the definition of a floating needle. This is actually a pretty big deal, because achieving a “F/N” can save you some serious dough, as it means you don’t have to go on with hours and hours of expensive auditing. Scientologists don’t seem to care too much about the money; their concern is that if someone gets a F/N and it isn’t recognized, the process can be “over-run” – doing too much is just as dangerous as not doing enough. (In reality, this is just another “out” for the tech not working. “You didn’t get gains? No, it’s not because the tech doesn’t work; it’s because you were over-run.”)

But F/Ns are not my concern. I want to talk about the content of Marty’s post, which is unusually heavy in Scientologese and therefore more excruciating to read than normal. So let’s all take out our baloney detectors, turn them on and warm them up. Ready? Here we go.

From Marty’s post:

Church auditors are being trained to be slaves to procedure, a method LRH stated could lead to the loss of the entire subject of Scientology.

Marty is referring to something LRH said in the Saint Hill Special Briefing Course (SHSBC) lectures. Now, I have no doubt that LRH said that being a slave to procedure is a bad thing. However, the whole of Scientology is about being a slave to procedure. LRH frequently contradicts himself, and this is one of those contradictions – it goes against what he said in Scientology’s most important policy, Keeping Scientology Working (KSW):

Getting the correct technology applied consists of: 1) Having the correct technology; 2) Knowing the technology; 3) Knowing it is correct; 4) Teaching correctly the correct technology; 5) Applying the technology; 6) Seeing that the technology is correctly applied; 7) Hammering out of existence incorrect technology; 8 ) Knocking out incorrect applications; 9) Closing the door on any possibility of incorrect technology; 10) Closing the door on incorrect application.

— L. Ron Hubbard, HCO PL 7 Feb 1965, KEEPING SCIENTOLOGY WORKING

Basically, KSW says that one must use the technology exactly as given. It’s all about following procedure. And KSW isn’t the only example; there are dozens, if not hundreds, of policies giving exact procedures and emphasizing that they must be followed precisely. Not just on technical matters, but on things as diverse as writing ads and planning budgets.

Anyone who thinks that Scientologists are not supposed to be slaves to procedure is delusional. I’m sure that LRH did say that being a slave to procedure is bad; my best guess is that that was an effort to make Scientologists believe they can think freely. Anyone on the outside looking in can see that Scientology is all about being a slave to procedure.

More from Marty:

Instead of completing the films, LRH spent the last five years of his life in seclusion, securely planted there by Miscavige’s deft false reporting ability. On the one hand he reported how LRH would wind up publicly pilloried and possibly in the penitentiary if were to come anywhere near the Int base.

This is one I haven’t heard before – the concept that LRH did not voluntarily decide to go into hiding, or did so only because he was deceived by David Miscavige. The truth is that LRH really was in danger of serving jail time. A grand jury in New York was investigating the campaign of terror waged against Paulette Cooper by Scientology, and a group of Scientologists (including LRH’s wife Mary Sue) had recently been sent to prison for breaking into Federal buildings and stealing documents, a crime for which LRH had been named an “unindicted co-conspirator.” If DM was indeed warning his mentor and boss about these dangers, he wasn’t “false reporting,” he was telling the truth. The fact is that LRH ditched his wife, family and followers to protect his own ass. (He did not stop making money, though – there is evidence that he was still receiving a very sizable income from the Church, and it was during this period that he wrote several sci-fi works including Battlefield Earth and Mission Earth.) LRH was hardly the helpless, hapless, victimized old man that Marty makes him out to be – he was alive and alert and in full control of his faculties.

DM cross ordered LRH by creating ostentatious studios, over-the-top Hollywood level film standards and a whole new “priority” for Golden Era Productions (DM’s event extravaganzas).

Not entirely true. Sure, this may have happened, but the idea of creating a mini-Hollywood in the desert was LRH’s idea, and there are plenty of tales out on the Web about Hubbard’s filmmaking days. Incidentally, David Miscavige was a cameraman on Hubbard’s training film productions.

To prove his wrong why “they don’t know how to get an F/N” right, and to make the rest of the world wrong, Miscavige made Scientologists slaves to procedure and redefined an F/N so that nobody could achieve one.

Note the last few words – nobody could achieve an F/N. This will come as news to all the Church members who have seen floating needles in their auditing. (Not that I think a floating needle means anything; one can make the needle float with just the right grip on the e-meter “cans.”) Incidentally, if I were a Scientologist, I’d point out that according to LRH, one sign of a suppressive person is that he or she speaks in generalities – such as “nobody can achieve a floating needle.” But I’m not, so I won’t.

So there we are — four examples of outright lies or, at the very least, questionable truths. And the best part is, since the post is so much gobbledygook to those who don’t speak Scientologese, Marty can easily pass these “untruths” onto his flock, and through lies can build the belief that everything bad in Scientology comes from David Miscavige.

There’s also a point to this post that is not so obvious. Marty and the Independents accuse DM of meddling with the tech. Some of his decisions (like the constant re-releasing of the “basics” books due to “transcription errors”) have an obvious profit motive, but other actions, including some that Marty talks about in this post, indicate a desire for DM to put his stamp on the tech – and this, to me at least, is further evidence that David Miscavige is a true believer. For more on this subject, see Aaron Saxton’s excellent article on this site, Was David Miscavige LRH’s Chosen One?.

Keep spreading the truth, my friends: Scientology is rotten to the core, and the core of Scientology is L. Ron Hubbard.

ML,
Caliwog