In Part 1 of this series, we started looking at Marty Rathbun’s 31 Factors for Scientologists to Consider, the rickety framework upon which the Independent Scientology movement is built. There was so much bullshit in the introduction, we didn’t even make it to the first factor. Let’s continue, shall we? Here’s Marty:
One: Scientology has been taken over by a self-appointed dictator, David Miscavige, who has turned the Creed of the Church of Scientology, the Code of a Scientologist, and the Credo of a True Group Member on their heads and instituted the virtual practice of Reverse (Black) Dianetics.
Let’s not forget that Scientology was started by a self-appointed dictator, who was living out his fantasies of grandeur. Anyone who has read up on Hubbard knows how he fucked up his chance at commanding a ship. So what did he do? He got himself his own damn navy, buying ships with his parishoner’s money, and made himself the Commodore. Let’s be fair: For Hubbard, Scientology wasn’t just about making money; it was about living out the fantasies borne of his failures.
But I digress. As for the Creed, the Code and the Credo, as I said in the last blog entry, these are fancy PR jobs that are incompatible with Hubbard’s technology and intentions.
“Two: In his quest to attain power Miscavige forcibly removed no less than four Hubbard appointed executives senior to himself, and dozens of Scientologists who had created scores of huge, effective Scientology centers. Miscavige used threat of force and violence in clearing the path to control of all Scientology organizations and assumed the self-created position of Chairman of the Board. He was never assigned by Hubbard and holds a position that was not created by Hubbard.”
There is a lot of debate as to whether DM is the rightful heir to Hubbard’s throne. Aaron Saxton maintains that David Miscavige was Hubbard’s intended choice, and he explained why in this blog entry. It is true that the position of “Chairman of the Board” was never invented by Hubbard, but swapping titles is nothing new in the Church. Executives (including Hubbard himself) constantly change titles, usually to avoid legal liability.
Is Miscavige’s well-documented use of “force and violence” anything new? No, it’s part of the culture of Scientology. Hubbard may not have been much for fists (he probably didn’t have Miscavige’s small-man complex) but he was a legendary hot-head. Somewhere there’s an MP3 file of him screaming at a Messenger (one of the hot-pants-clad teenage girls he had waiting on him hand and foot) (if anyone has a link, I’d be grateful). Meanwhile, you can read these true stories of Hubbard and decide for yourself if he was any less tempermental than DM.
“Three: Since securing his position of power, the statistics of Scientology have steadily decreased in spite of Miscavige’s public proclamations to the contrary.”
That’s the problem with Scientology stats: No one really knows what is happening, although it’s clear that the Church is declining – mostly because the Internet has let the world know that Scientology is basically a UFO religion designed to milk people’s wallets. Remember, Marty still believes in Xenu… and the Introspection Rundown.
“Four: Miscavige has conducted a campaign to fortify his personal power by denigrating and depowering anyone who personally knew and worked with Hubbard. That includes, but is not limited to, the members of Hubbard’s family. The operation served to consolidate his personal power while immeasurably harming the vigor and image of Scientology.”
This is my favorite – in fact, it’s the one that inspired me to write this article – because it implies that Hubbard’s family was somehow special.
Scientology teaches that Scientology itself is more important than family, which explains the high divorce rate and the frequency of family disconnections. Hubbard was a terrible husband and a lousy father. He was a bigamist, denied the existence of one of his wives, and let the third one – the one he supposedly loved – go to jail while he went into hiding. Hubbard all but denied the existence of the children who didn’t go along with the program (a lie that Marty himself implied was true in his laughably awful Ode to L. Ron Hubbard). And let’s not forget Hubbard’s reaction when he found out that Arnie Lerma was banging his daughter.*
(* Okay, I don’t actually know if Arnie and Suzette were doing the nasty, but it’d be really cool if they were. Scientology may have infiltrated the Justice Department, but one of the guys who did the most damage to Scientology did some infiltratin’ of his own! High five! You know what I’m talkin’ about!)
“Five: Miscavige accomplished his coup by commandeering the only line of communication to Hubbard during the last five years of his life, plying Hubbard with embellished and false reports of a dangerous environment to keep him out of communication with Sea Org members and his family. The reports falsely accused Hubbard’s family and lifelong friends of selling out to the enemy and that Scientology orgs had been infiltrated by psychiatric and government interests. He prevented true reports from reaching Hubbard in order to make his actions appear necessary and on policy and to solidify his position.”
Bullshit like this really irks me. The implication is that Hubbard had no idea what was going on during the last few years of his life, and was somehow kept in isolation. Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit.
Hubbard went into hiding in order to avoid prosecution. He was labeled an “un-indicted co-conspirator” in the break-in that sent his wife, Mary Sue, to jail. We know that Hubbard was the micro-manager to end all micro-managers, and yet we’re supposed to believe that this uneductaed kid, Hubbard’s former cameraman, was suddenly able to isolate Hubbard from the Scientology empire he worked his whole life to build up? Come the fuck on!! Hubbard’s isolation was self-imposed, and the eyewitness accounts (let’s not forget that Marty wasn’t around) are that he was anything but isolated from Scientology.
I believe that Hubbard was still calling the shots, but he was unwilling to face the consequences of his ill-gotten gains… although he was all too willing to let his own wife face the consequences for him. What an absolute piece of shit he was.
Okay, I think that’s enough for today. I’ll continue this series if I don’t get bored with it first. (Update: I didn’t. Here’s Part 3.)
ML,
Caliwog
Caliwog's Blog 