Disconnection is okay. Except when it isn’t. Except when it is.

Hi again, everyone!

Sooo, today Marty Rathbun posted a copy of actor and independent Scientologist Michael Fairman’s lawsuit against his chiropractor. As you probably know, the Fairmans quit the Church and were declared Supressive Persons, so in keeping with L. Ron Hubbard’s instructions, his Scientologist chiropractor disconnected from him, his wife and their daughter. The Fairmans are suing for a number of reasons, among them religious discrimination and failure to turn over medical records when requested.

Now, I imagine the reason Marty considers this news is that it would appear that the chiropractors violated their doctor-client privilege by somehow letting the Church of Scientology know that the Fairmans were clients.

I’m just a lay-wog, but near as I can see, this argument holds about as much water as L. Ron Hubbard’s Fruit of the Looms. First, if you can spell “Wikipedia,” you can find out for yourself that the Fairmans were declared SPs. And second, the Church believes in public executions, and ethics orders such as SP Declares are posted for the public to see. Bottom line, much as Marty’s crowd loves conspiracies, it won’t be hard for the defendants’ lawyer(s) to show that the Fairmans’ departure from the Church and subsequent SP declare was broad public knowledge.

But let’s get to the bigger issue: Is it wrong to refuse to treat someone because of their religious beliefs?

Answer: OF COURSE IT IS. And wouldn’t it be wonderful if the courts ruled that Scientologists cannot refuse to do business with other Scientologists who have left the Church?

Of course, that’s going to put Marty in a hell of a spot. He’s trying to preserve LRH’s true tech. So let’s take a look at what LRH says about disconnection:

“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.

“A Scientologist can become PTS [Potential Trouble Source] by reason of being connected to someone that is antagonistic to Scientology or its tenets… 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.”

— L. Ron Hubbard, HCOB 10 September 1983, PTSness AND DISCONNECTION

Wow, that’s going to be awkward. Especially since Marty has defended the practice of voluntary disconnection — you remember when he turned his back on a prostitute who was getting the shit beaten out of her by a man, rather than call the WOG police. (Read his version and mine.) Marty’s defense of disconnection parrots LRHs:

“I happen to agree with LRH’s observation that with the First Amendment freedom to speak comes the corollary right not to receive communication one is not interested in receiving… I wholeheartedly advise someone disconnect from a genuine source of suppression, who despite efforts to handle, continues to suppress.”

— Marty Rathbun, Pimps, Prostitutes and Disconnection

Let’s look at this logically. One can understand that, from a Church-going Scientologist’s perspective, an independent Scientologist is “a genuine source of suppression.” Therefore, according to both LRH’s and Marty’s logic, it’s perfectly okay to disconnect from them.

Except it’s not okay to disconnect from them, because in some cases, such as this one, “disconnection” – even, as Marty terms, it “voluntary disconnection” – is illegal.

If this case succeeds, it could be a huge blow for the tech. We’ll have case law showing yet another bit of LRH’s policy that is discriminatory and illegal.

Oh, wait… isn’t Marty dedicated to upholding and protecting LRH’s tech?

Well, that’s okay. If the case loses, Marty and his sheep will point to this as proof that the Church of Scientology has paid off a corrupt judiciary. If it wins, and results in further inquiry into the illegal practices inherent in Scientology, Marty can cite it as proof that the government is corrupt and opposed to religious freedom. Y’know, just like the Obama Administration.

Either way, Marty wins. And either way, Scientology loses.

ML,
Caliwog

Related: LRH on Disconnection