Marty Rathbun, Mike Rinder, and his followers have repeatedly accused Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige of practicing “reverse Scientology,” which they say is designed to ensure that people never get gains and that Scientology dies out.
I’ve never bought into this idea, insisting instead that David Miscavige is simply following in L. Ron Hubbard’s footsteps — y’know, one scoundrel following the instruction of another. But now it looks like I might have been wrong. Reverse Scientology exists – and it was invented by LRH!
I made this discovery in this article by Gerry Armstrong, which quotes from a 1956 bulletin in which LRH wrote:
“Great revolutionary movements fail. They promise unlimited freedom. That is the road to failure. Only stupid visionaries chant of endless freedom. Only the afraid and ignorant speak of and insist upon unlimited barriers.
“Fixed on too may barriers, man yearns to be free. But launched into total freedom he is purposeless and miserable.
“A race which is educated to think in terms of freedom only is very easily entrapped.”
— LRH, Professional Auditors Bulletin 84, THE REASON WHY, 15 May 1956
Okay, did you get that? According to LRH, complete freedom is a bad thing.
Ten years later, LRH wrote:
“Having had some time to think this over and having studied the matter with great care, I have isolated the most successful response to meeting any and all attacks on Scientology, its organizations and Scientologists and as of this date this becomes policy. ADVOCATE TOTAL FREEDOM.
“This is also the basic purpose of Scientology and the basic purpose of people, so it all agrees well.
“SCIENTOLOGY IS THE ROAD TO TOTAL FREEDOM.
“The precise practice of Scientology obtains total freedom.” [emphasis added]
— LRH, HCO PL 15 Feb 1966, ATTACKS ON SCIENTOLOGY
And so began Scientology’s Total Freedom bandwagon – despite that in LRH’s own words, “only stupid visionaries chant of endless freedom.”
I imagine the response from a Scientologist might be that LRH was constantly making new discoveries, and that new policies often replaced old ones. True – but the 1956 essay saying total freedom was a bad thing was incorporated in the book Fundamentals of Thought, and the passages quoted still remain as of the 2007 reprint (see for yourself).
So let’s get all this straight:
1956: LRH says that total freedom is a fool’s errand, and that a group that seeks complete freedom will fail and open themselves up to entrapment.
1966: LRH says that the goal of Scientology is total freedom.
So, basically, LRH turned his organization in the direction of pursuing something which will lead to ruin and entrapment. He instructed them to pursue something which he said cannot be obtained.
Isn’t that Reverse Scientology?
ML,
Caliwog
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