Independents lie like the Church

One of the most devious lies told by the Church of Scientology is that Scientology is compatible with other religions. Scientology tells its followers that you can be a Scientologist while being a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, etc.

It’s only later, if and when you make it to the upper OT levels – once you’ve invested hundreds of thousands of dollars, years of your life, and very likely turned your back on close friends who are critical of Scientology – that you find out the truth: In Scientology, there is no God, because essentially you are God. As far as I know, that view is incompatible with every major Judeo-Christian and Islamic religion. The story I’m about to relate deals specifically with Catholicism, which strongly rejects the idea of reincarnation — a central tenet of Scientology belief. In fact, Scientology and Catholicism are about as incompatible as two religions can be.

Marty Rathbun should know this. But that didn’t stop him from lying to a neighbor who picked up a Scientology Handbook that Marty had thrown away, read the introduction, and specifically asked if he would have to give up Catholicism to pursue Scientology. Marty lied and told him he wouldn’t.

Dox: Go to this blog entry and run the video. When you get to 0:45 or so, you’ll hear Marty say:

“He read the introductory part of it, all about the religious [sic] and all that stuff, and he got to the end of it, he said ‘It’s kind of interesting, but do I gotta, like, get rid of Catholicism, you know, if I do this?’ and I said, ‘No, no, no, no. That’s just a PR part. Get into the meat and potatoes of it.'” — Marty Rathbun

Now, this story smells a bit, because IIRC the Scientology Handbook does include the lie that you do not have to give up your religion to be a Scientologist. (That is the “PR part,” so in a way, Marty was telling a half-truth.) Scientologists don’t encounter “past lives” doctrine until well into their Scientology indoctrination. Nevertheless, here we have Marty, who supposedly wants to “reform” the Church of Scientology – and yet he’s telling the same lies that the Church uses to lure newcomers.

You can accuse me of harping on a tiny detail, and you’d be right. This is just another bit of evidence that the idea of Scientology “reform” is baloney. Nothing has changed in sixty years. LRH = DM = MR. It’s all the same shit; it’s simply coming out of a different asshole.

ML,
Caliwog

Follow-up: Re-reading this post this morning, I wondered if I should have titled it “Marty lies like the Church.” But I decided to leave it. A large group of Independents seem to have identified Marty as their leader (see “propitiation” on the tone scale, peoples). They largely agree with what he says (although that could merely be an illusion forwarded my Marty’s Draconian censorship. And at the end of the day, you are known by the company you keep. If you are an Independent and you think Marty was wrong to lie to his neighbor, please speak up. Remember, unlike Marty’s blog and Church-backed sites, comments on Caliwog’s blog are not censored. ML, CW

Listen between the lines: Independents want a Scientology world

The latest video from M&M talks about Scientology’s goal of planetary clearing, specifically a Church declaration that they will clear the planet (all people will be Scientologists who have achieved the Scientology state of Clear) when all orgs (Scientology churches) are upgraded to Ideal Orgs.

In the video, Mike Rinder take issue with this. “There’s a hundred orgs,” he says, that need to be Idealized (my phrase, not his). “Allocate $5 million per,” he continues. “That’s $500 million. It could be done in two months. They actually have the money… so if that actually is the solution to planetary clearing, why isn’t it being done?”

Okay, folks, did you get that? The goal of the Church is to make everyone a Scientologist (which we knew) and M&M don’t take issue with this. They don’t say “This goal is wrong, people should be able to practice religion as they please.” Nope, they’re saying “The Church has the resources, why aren’t they doing it?” (Their usual answer is that Church leader David Miscavige is an SP who is trying to destroy Scientology. If only that were the case!)

What about people who don’t want to be Scientologists? Keep in mind what Tom Cruise said about suppressive persons (SPs) in his famous video. (4:45: “Maybe one day it’ll be like that… SPs, like, they’ll just read about those in the history books.”) According to L. Ron Hubbard – the guy who these people believe has all the answers and speaks only the truth – 2.5% of the population are SPs. They are evil, insane, beyond salvage. Even Scientology can’t help them.

So in order for the planet to be cleared, 2.5% of us are going to have to disappear.

With all due respect to Mike Godwin, isn’t that how Hitler started?

The good news is that Scientology is hog-tied by LRH’s policies. It’s difficult to get much done in a Scientology organization, either official or un-official. Still, anyone who thinks Scientology isn’t truly dangerous to the rest of us should think again. Scientologists may not much done very quickly, but they certainly have the will and the motivation, and that’s dangerous. Let’s not forget that they cowed the IRS into submission.

The rest of the video goes on to accuse the Church of constantly promising that the next big thing is always right around the corner, instead of simply releasing what they have. Why are they doing this, M&M ask? If they have everything they need to clear the planet, why are they promising something new instead of delivering?

The answer is right in LRH tech — the bits that Mark and Mike are apparently hoping people won’t read. LRH was constantly making such promises; in fact, he encouraged his marketing minions to always say that something new was on the way.

“Write and act like you have new news,” LRH wrote (HCO PL 20 August 1979, DIANETICS AND SCIENTOLOGY ARE NEW).

The answer to your question, Mark and Marty, is that DM is doing more or less what LRH said to do.

Now perhaps in your next video, you could tell us what exactly will happen to the the 2.5% of us who are SPs when and if “planetary clearing” is achieved?

ML,
Caliwog

Can Scientology be reformed?

Ray Randolph’s post on Marty’s blog has sparked a renewed debate on whether Scientology can be reformed in such a way as to leave out the harmful bits.

Several protesters cite the Bible as an example. There are millions of Christians who don’t stone adulterers to death or kill their daughters for having premarital sex, even though the Bible tells them to. Can’t Scientology undergo a similar transformation?

Here’s the problem with the Bible argument: The Bible was written thousands of years ago by unknown authors in a handful of ancient languages. It has been subject to numerous translations and interpretations, to the point that the entire legitimacy of Christianity, according to some, rests on whether a single word should be translated as “virgin” or “maiden.”

That’s not the case with Scientology, whose tenets were written by a single man, one whose existence is not in question, in more-or-less plain English – and where the English is less plain, there are extensive definitions given for made-up or redefined words. And where the Bible is often terse and vague, Scientology author L. Ron Hubbard’s writings are laboriously long and incredibly specific.

So are Hubbard’s followers free to pick and choose which bits of the tech they believe in? Not according to Hubbard, they aren’t.

Most people are familiar with the Keeping Scientology Working (KSW) policy, in which Hubbard stated that his “technology” must be applied exactly as written in order to deliver the promised results. But KSW isn’t the only example of this – it is a recurring theme throughout Scientology. (I’ve cited a few examples at the bottom of this post, but I recommend you read a few random policies and see for yourself how often this comes up.)

Hubbard clearly saw that people interpret religion as they see fit, so he admonished his followers not to do the same. He even came up with a term for this: Squirreling. Squirreling is defined by LRH as “Altering Scientology and offbeat practices. It is a bad thing.” To be a squirrel in Scientology to be one of the devil’s minions. Hubbard reminds his followers over and over and over again that the tech must be used in its entirety and exactly as written in order to work.

If you don’t understand this, then you aren’t as familiar with Scientology “tech” as you ought to be.

Scientology is not just a set of kooky beliefs. If all Scientology did was take people’s money and convince them that they are space aliens trapped in human bodies, this blog wouldn’t exist.

But Scientology does much more than that. It attracts people through unscrupulous means and tells them whatever they need to hear to get them signed up. It encourages people to forgo standard, proven medical treatment for quackery invented by a known charlatan. It actively seeks to isolate members, encourages them to dismiss criticism of the subject without reading it, and teaches that devotion to the group is the highest possible calling. And it does all this with one hand pointing to the sky and the other reaching into its victim’s wallets.

People say Free Zone or independent Scientology is harmless – but is it? If a Free Zoner uses auditing and touch assists to treat his cancer instead of going to the doctor, is that harmless? If a parent takes their schizophrenic child off of their psychiatric medication because Hubbard says “Psychs are evil,” is that harmless? If people accept that the proper treatment for a person having a psychotic break is to lock her in a room with untrained laymen who refuse to talk to her, is that harmless?

Just because a group can’t yet afford to hire private investigators or build their own private prison camp doesn’t mean they are practicing a “kinder, gentler” Scientology.

Protesting Scientology is not a game. It’s not a fun reason to wear a mask on Saturday or something to write about during your coffee break. Scientology hurts people. Scientology kills people. And I am not just being dramatic – the practice of Scientology has caused injury and death. That’s not an idle accusation, THAT IS A PROVEN FACT.

Can Scientology be reformed? No fucking way. If you don’t believe that, then you don’t know enough about Scientology.

I urge you to learn.

ML,
Caliwog

“When you want results you had better use standard techniques and procedures. I have sweated through their testing for years… ‘failures’ are caused by use of non-standard techniques and procedures.” — LRH
“‘Offbeat’ Processing,” Ability Magazine Issue 78, June 1958

“Standard tech works. Use it and it only.” — LRH
HCOB 20 July 1972 Issue II, DISTRACTIVE AND ADDITIVE QUESTIONS AND ORDERS

“No student may be advised to do anything except standard technology.” — LRH
HCO PL 20 February 1964, REGULATIONS

Watch out for red herrings

I haven’t commented on any of Marty Rathbun’s posts in a while, but his latest (“A Worker’s Paradise for Tom Cruise“) is a great example of what is wrong with Marty and his merry band of Independent Scientologists.

The post is Marty’s analysis of an alleged memo to David Miscavige’s office about a conversation between the memo writer (Director of Vehicles) and Tom Cruise. Marty doesn’t mention the source of the memo, and since he’s usually happy to credit things to his OSA sources, I’m guessing it could have come from the hard drives that Daniel Montalvo stole*. The memo is also half a decade old.

When you read Marty’s blog entry, note that his analysis precedes the memo itself. Instead of presenting the memo and then sharing his thoughts, Marty tells his people what to think in advance, and then shows the memo. This is typical Scientology – Church publications uses similar tactics – and judging from the comments from Marty’s sheep, it worked. Here’s what I suggest, dear Caliwog fans: Read the memo first (it’s the bold bit at the bottom) and then read Marty’s analysis, and tell me if Marty might not just be smoking something other than tobacco.

Want my opinion on the Tom Cruise memo? Okay, here it is: WHO FUCKING CARES? We know Miscavige is spending tons of Scientology parishoner’s money to kiss Tom Cruise’s ass, but that’s not a scam he invented – he’s doing exactly what Church founder L. Ron Hubbard instructed him to do.

LRH repeatedly talked about the importance of attracting celebrities, as they are opinion leaders and generate lots of publicity on their own. He even published a list of celebrities to be recruited into Scientology. Per LRH’s own tech, romancing Tom Cruise is actually a very sensible and cost-effective thing to do – after all, look how much publicity Scientology has received through Mr. Cruise’s antics. (One wonders, had LRH lived to see the type of publicity Cruise generated, would he have revised his policies?)

The reason posts like this piss me off is because Marty is skillfully misdirecting his sheep from the real issues, just like LRH did and just like current Church management does. By getting them rallied up about Tom Cruise, he’s giving them a place to focus their energy and their anger. It keeps them from thinking too much about the real source of Scientology abuses: L. Ron Hubbard.

Why should we care? Ask any ex-Scientologist why they gave up Scientology – not just the organized Church, but the whole subject – and most, if not all, will tell you that they started to see the holes and the inconsistencies in LRH’s “tech.” They started to question, and that led them to the realization that Scientology is a scam, and that they had been had.

People can only concentrate on so much. LRH knew this (he uses the term “attention units,” which is a pretty good description). LRH threw out tons of red herrings, and Marty is doing the same.

Our job as Scientology protesters is to keep Scientologists focused on the truth: The truth about LRH, the truth about the Tech, and the truth about Scientology. We basically just have to keep them focused on their own subject, particularly the less savory bits that Marty Rathbun and David Miscavige would rather they don’t see. If we do that enough, they’ll eventually see Scientology for what it is and they will leave on their own. No more Jason Beghes losing fortunes, no more Tory Christmans losing their spouses, and no more Lisa McPhersons losing their lives. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

ML,
Caliwog

* Speaking of Daniel Montalvo, Marty hasn’t mentioned him in quite a while. Did David go back to the Church? And if he did, will Marty return the $8,000+ in donations he says he collected on Daniel’s behalf?

UPDATE: Two days after this post, Marty posted an update and an accounting: Daniel Montalvo: The Latest. Yay Marty!

Mike Rinder’s survey, Part 2: What the results teach us

Congratulations! You made it through last week’s lecture about Scientology surveys and marketing. Today, we’ll talk about the more interesting stuff: The results of Mike Rinder’s survey and how they can help the Scientology protest movement.

In his blog entry “Survey: What Impinges — Results“, Mike talked about his survey of Independent Scientologists to find out why they left the official Church of Scientology. And in those results is some excellent information for us protesters on how to communicate with Scientologists, especially Independents who feel they are “out,” but are actually only free of David Miscavige’s church and not the teachings of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

According to Mike, the top results were:

• 68%: Out-tech (improper teaching of LRH’s Scientology)
• 64%: “Vulture Culture” (constant haranguing for money)
• 36%: Squirrel ethics/injustices (improper use of Scientology’s in-house justice system)
• 36%: Lying in the media

First of all, notice what’s not on the list: Anything about Xenu, interplanetary warfare, and the like. No surprise, since this is a survey of people who still believe in the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard. To me, this served as a reminder that many Independents are hard-core Scientologists. These are people with free access to the Internet, and aren’t likely to be swayed by obvious fallacies in Hubbard’s sci-fi universe (like the fact that the volcanoes described in the Xenu story didn’t exist at the time Hubbard said the incident took place).

No, these folks believe that David Miscavige has hijacked the Church and is willfully destroying it by running it counter to LRH’s intentions. Luckily, LRH left an extensive written record in the form of policy letters, bulletins, and directives. With tens of thousands of written pages to wade through, it’s no wonder that Marty and Mike are able to easily convince their followers that DM is working against LRH – but in fact these policies show that DM is, for the most part, running Scientology exactly as Hubbard intended.

68%: “Out-tech”

According to Mike, “OUT TECH was the most common response.” According to LRH, “The term ‘OUT TECH’ means that Scientology is not being applied or is not being correctly applied” (HCO Bulletin of 13 September 1965, OUT TECH AND HOW TO GET IT IN). When out-tech happens, parishioners don’t get the promised results.

“Of the 68% who answered with this,” Mike writes, “most said it was problems with Clear or being sent back to re-do steps on the Bridge.”

This is not a new problem. In the book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (available online here; beware, it is copyrighted material), LRH promised that Clears would have optimized senses, freedom from “all psychoses, neuroses, compulsions and regressions,” as well as increased intelligence and perfect memory and recall.

“The dianetic clear is to a current normal individual,” wrote L. Ron Hubbard in Dianetics, “as the current normal is to the severely insane.”

Unfortunately, that didn’t work out. In his book Bare Faced Messiah, Russell Miller wrote that in 1950, before a live audience at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium, LRH presented a young woman as the “world’s first clear.” But despite her “perfect recall,” she couldn’t answer audience questions such as what she had for breakfast on a day eight years before or what was on page 122 of Dianetics. In fact, when Hubbard turned around, she couldn’t even recall the color of his tie.

The fact is, Scientologists have been having trouble with the technology for years, and LRH addressed the subject repeatedly: If a Scientologist isn’t getting results, it’s not because the tech doesn’t work; it’s because something was done wrong – bad technique, a misunderstood word, etc. LRH’s tech, according to LRH, is perfect:

“You’re never led by anything into departing from Standard Tech. The only reason it doesn’t work is that it hasn’t been applied.” — LRH [emphasis in original]

HCO Bulletin of 25 June 1970, C/S Series 11

Now, it’s hard to argue with a Scientologist who thinks that the tech works; faith in LRH’s technology is a belief that is built up slowly and carefully until it is a solidly-built wall that is difficult to knock down. Luckily, there are lots of cracks in the mortar, and many Scientologists eventually see the daylight shining through. So how can we apply this data? By reminding Scientologists that trouble with the “technology” is nothing new, and that the Church is simply following LRH’s orders: If the tech doesn’t work, find out where you screwed up. And since LRH isn’t around to issue new updates that plug the leaks, the Church has to make do with what’s there. The only way the tech works is if the person thinks it works – but the provable results just aren’t there, and never have been.

64%: “Vulture Culture”

Mike Rinder explains the #2 reason: “64% said it was the VULTURE CULTURE that shoved them out the door. More horror stories of late night reg visits, money being taken off account without permission, absolutely no concern for Bridge progress – just relentless and incessant ‘Give me your money. All of it. Now. Take a loan and give me more.'”

The fact is that Scientology has always been expensive; in her 1969 article, The Tragi-Farce of Scientology, and in the follow-on book, The Scandal of Scientology, Paulette Cooper talks about the high prices of Scientology, and in the 1970 bulletin What Your Fees Buy, LRH brags about low staff pay. That said, the evidence does show that the current Church management is more obsessed with heavy donations, and that they are demanding donations for donations’ sake in addition to – and often in place of – donations in exchange for a service or a product.

What can we, as protesters, take from this? We can emphasize the fact that Scientology has never been a free “religion.” It has always charged money for its version of “the truth,” be that $5 for a copy of Dianetics or $300,000 or more to achieve OT8. The fact is that just about every major religion asks for donations. They have to, because legitimate religions don’t charge for the truth. Anyone can get a free Bible, or at the very least can get someone to tell them the contents. Nothing is hidden – not even the hard-to-believe stuff like burning bushes that talk or virgins getting pregnant or guys who walk on water. Only Scientologists charge for the truth, and use the promise of the truth as a sales tactic. (Advanced-level Scientologists aren’t even allowed to talk about space aliens – this despite the fact that a good percentage of Americans believe there is life on other planets.)

LRH’s own words show his obsession with bringing in cash. There’s famous and oft-quoted bit of LRH policy that says, “MAKE MONEY. MAKE MORE MONEY. MAKE OTHER PEOPLE PRODUCE SO AS TO MAKE MONEY.” This comes from HCO PL [Policy Letter] 9 March 1972 Issue 1, INCOME FLOWS AND POOLS, and the full policy letter isn’t as sinister as this quote would lead one to believe; the policy talks about the corporate structure of the Church and the quote is from a list items that make up “the governing policy of Finance.” Still, one has to wonder why a religion would need such a carefully-structured and sales-oriented financial policy.

In fact, if you listen to enough lectures and study enough of the tech, you’ll spot a pattern: When he talks about his technology, LRH is frequently vague, glazing over complex explanations with phrases such as “and so on” and “it’s very interesting”. And yet, when he speaks or writes about the Church’s administrative policy – especially marketing, sales, and finance – LRH is never vague. I’ve never heard or read an “and so on” when LRH was talking about money – only very precise and exacting instructions.

36%: Squirrel ethics/injustices

Mike says: “The next highest percentage (36%) was squirrel ETHICS/INJUSTICES. Many mentioned being on the other end of an ethics cycle where the Church protected a big contributor in direct violation of standard policy.”

This is probably true, although it’s based on anecdotal evidence – and there is just as much anecdotal evidence about ethics operating on LRH’s whims back when the old man was alive. It doesn’t take much web surfing to find stories of LRH’s famous screaming fits and temper tantrums. Although Church-going Scientologists will avoid web sites with anti-Scientology “entheta,” Independents are pretty web-savvy. If you have the opportunity, point them to some of these stories about LRH and ask how they are that much different from the stories today about David Miscavige. (This also explains why Church-going Scientologists have a hard time accepting “entheta” about DM – the people telling the stories are apostates who are lying out of anger at the Church.)

36%: Lying in the media

Sayeth Mike: “35% said they saw Tommy Davis or the wicked witches LYING on TV or read the over-the-top Freedom Mags. Its always good to know what a great job the C of M PR machine does to swell the ranks of those who see the real truth.”

This is my favorite one, because lying to the press is a Scientology tradition that predates David Miscavige. In fact, Mike Rinder himself was a Church spokesliar for years – if he’s such an LRH scholar, why did he go along with the program? Probably because lying to the press was LRH’s program. Hubbard hated the press. Let’s hear from the old man himself:

“There are no good reporters… In all the history of Scientology no interviewing reporter ever helped. They all meant the worst when they acted their best and we are always sorry ever to have spoken. Even if the reporter is all right, his newspaper isn’t and will twist his story. We have done best when we have blocked off reporters and worst when we’ve been nice.” — LRH

HCO PL 26 December 1966 PTS SECTIONS, PERSONNEL AND EXECS

“A continuous assault on public morale occurs in the press and other media. Happiness or any satisfaction with life is under continuous attack.” — LRH

HCO PL 14 December 1970, GROUP SANITY

LRH even lied to the press himself: Check out his one and only television interview, in which he lies about his marriages. (Scientology later did an in-house interview with LRH, which they claim was his only filmed interview – another lie. You can see that one here. Warning, it’s long. And a bit boring.)

Considering the treatment Scientology has always received in the press, it’s not surprising that LRH wasn’t a fan. Yes, it’s true that the Church spokesliar of the moment almost always looks bad in the press. So did Heber Jentschz, so did Mike Rinder when he had the job, and so did LRH. This isn’t anything new, but the nature of the Internet means that Scientology’s media face-plants are simply easier for the world to access.

Bring the truth

Thanks to Mike Rinder’s survey, we know more about what the Independents are thinking, and thanks to Wikileaks, we can read LRH’s actual policies and shine the light of truth on the lies of both the Church of Scientology and LRH’s apologists (many of whom, by the way, may not even realize that they are lying.)

Let’s not forget, my friends, that Scientology is a harmful practice invented by a man whose intention was to bilk money out of people who seek nothing less noble than to find the truth or improve the world. Our job as protesters is to be alert and well informed. The truth is on our side; all we have to do is keep talking about it.

My heartfelt thanks to Mike Rinder for publishing his survey and providing the protest movement with such excellent data. I can’t wait to have you on our side, Mike.

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

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.

Liars, damn liars, and Independent Scientologists

Okay. I promised myself I was going to get the blog back on track this week. I have the third part of my Admin Tech series ready to go, plus another mind-expanding article from Aaron Saxton. But then I popped over to Marty’s blog this weekend. Maybe it’s a personality flaw, but I can’t see bullshit without pointing at it and screaming “BULLSHIT!” – and Friday’s post is such a big, steaming, huge pile that I just can’t let it go.

The post in question is entitled There Is No Such Thing as Disconnection, and it’s authored by Christie Collbran, the young girlfriend of Mike Rinder. The title, for the record, is not the lie I’m talking about; Ms. Collbran is referring the Church’s standard line, which all of us, both protesters and Independents, know is not true.

No, the lie is down about six paragraphs. The article is about Mike’s attempt to visit his elderly mother, a member of the Church of Scientology (OT8, no less), while visiting Australia for his Today Tonight interview. According to Christie, Mike and and his mother wrote to each other after he left the Church, but after the St. Petersburg Times articles – which probably made it clear that he was an SP (Suppressive Person, an enemy of the Church) rather than just a a PTS (Potential Trouble Source, one who is merely connected to an SP) – Mike’s mother disconnected from him. And when he came to visit, she hoofed it.

The lie:

This was a total perversion of PTS/SP technology. There was nothing suppressive about her comm[unication] line with her son and she was forced to cut the line due to the control designed by David Miscavige.

This one actually left me staring at my computer with my mouth hanging open.

Jesus wept, Christie, do you actually believe that? What you’re talking about is not a perversion of PTS/SP tech (LRH’s methods for handling PTSs and SPs) – it’s exactly what Scientologists are supposed to do. And Mike’s mother wasn’t forced to cut the line due to the control designed by David Miscavige. She was forced to do it due to the control designed L. Ron Hubbard.

It amazes me that Marty can get his followers to swallow this line of bullshit. PTS/SP “tech” is very clear on what to do: “Handle or disconnect.” Turn them around or turn them loose. That concept didn’t originate with David Miscavige; it originated with L. Ron Hubbard.

Now, Independents and other LRH apologists are quick to point to a 1968 policy entitled “CANCELLATION OF DISCONNECTION,” and say that DM reinstated disconnection in the early 80s (while LRH was still alive). This policy refers to handling PTSs, not SPs; LRH is crystal clear on the concept that SPs are insane, poisonous, violent, and must be avoided at all costs. Besides, despite this one reference, LRH’s mantra to “handle or disconnect” runs rampant throughout Scientology policy. Disconnection did not stop in the 1970s, and the reinstatement of this policy took place in 1982, when LRH was alive, well, and very much in control. No question in my mind: Disconnection is an LRH policy, plain and simple.

But hey, don’t take my word for it – after all, I’m nothing but a lousy two-bit scum-sucking suppressive person myself. No, instead I invite you to listen to L. Ron Hubbard talk about it in his own voice. The recorded lectures from the PTS/SP course are available at www.suppressiveperson.org/pts-sp-lectures, in both MP3 and transcript forms. (I recommend the transcripts – it’s easier to stay awake – but it’s fun to hear Hubbard say the words himself.)

You can also download the checksheet and policies from the PTS/SP course (“How to Confront and Shatter Suppression” – the one Tom Cruise talks about in his famous video) from this MegaUpload page. And lastly, Wikileaks has the PTS/SP Handling Checklist, which dates from Hubbard’s days and was discontinued in the DM era. It’s a list of policies to follow, most of which you can look up and read for yourself in this collection of HCO bulletins from Wikileaks.

Fifteen minutes of searching through a few PDFs – probably less time than many of Marty’s sheeple put into reading his drivel and kowtowing in the comments section – will put paid to Christie’s lie that David Miscavige is behind the policy of disconnection. Oh, yes, disconnection exists – at the behest of L. Ron Hubbard.

I say shame, shame, shame on Christie, Mike, and Marty for spreading this lie to many of the very same people who have been hurt by this abusive LRH policy.

Of course, the automatic response from the Independents is “David Miscavige altered the tech!” True, changes in PTS/SP policy were made – but as we’ve seen, LRH’s words on the subject were very, very clear.

But let’s say it’s possible that DM did change the policy, going so far as to hire a voice actor to re-record those LRH lectures I cited earlier. Mike’s mother is 80 years old. She’s an OT8. I imagine she’s been in Scientology since many years before DM’s takeover, just like her son Mike. If there was a massive shift in PTS/SP policy, don’t you think she’d know? And do you really think she’d let that stand between her and her son?

The sad truth is that by refusing to talk to her own son, Mike’s mother is simply following policy. LRH policy.

“One treats a suppressive person pretty rough.”
– L. Ron Hubbard, HCO PL 5 April 1965, HANDLING THE SUPRESSIVE PERSON/THE BASIS OF INSANITY

Forgive me for carping on about this, but it just makes me so freaking angry. It’s nice that Marty and his Independents have a problem with disconnection, but why are they lying about its origin? Why are they trying to pin it on David Miscagive, when there is overwhelming evidence that it was originated by L. Ron Hubbard?

Some might ask, “What’s the difference? If they want to practice Scientology without disconnection, then more power to them.” But, you see, you can’t practice Scientology without disconnection. Marty and Mike say that real Scientology is based on pure LRH tech. But disconnection is pure LRH policy. As is lying – or, more properly, telling an “acceptable truth” in the interest of good public relations.

Why are Marty and Mike lying about this? I have no idea, and I really wish I knew. Are they misinformed? I doubt it; they are life-long Scientologists, and if you and I can find the truth in a matter of minutes, surely they would have stumbled upon these policies sometime during their decades in Scientology.

The bottom line is that for whatever reason, Marty and Mike are willing to lie to their followers and the public, just like the Church of Scientology. To me, that makes them no better than the Church of Scientology.

It’s funny, because in his Today/Tonight interview, Mike Rinder admitted that he lied for the Church, and urged us to believe that he is now telling the truth.

Instead, it seems he now has his girlfriend lying for him.

ML,
Calwog

Must-read: A Piece of Blue Sky

WARNING TO INDEPENDENT SCIENTOLOGISTS: This blog entry discusses a book which presents evidence that L. Ron Hubbard was an immoral charlatan who started Scientology as a business. Further reading could prove dangerous to the notion that David Miscavige is the only criminal to head up the Church of Scientology. You have been warned.

A Piece of Blue Sky is one of three excellent autobiographies of L. Ron Hubbard (the other two are Bare-faced Messiah by journalist Russell Miller and L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman? by Bent Corydon). All three are great reads, and all Scientology protesters should read at least one, if not all. (If you prefer works of fiction, I suggest the Church of Scientology’s official L. Ron Hubbard site.)

It’s hard to pick which of the three bios is the best, but I happen to think A Piece of Blue Sky is a great one with which to start out. Author Jon Atack is a former Scientologist who, like the Independents, was driven out by the tyranny of David Miscavige’s new regime – but unlike the Independents, Jon took further steps that led him to see the truth about L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology, and he published A Piece of Blue Sky in 1990.

A Piece of Blue Sky tells many of the Hubbard stories the Church would prefer to see buried, including his bizarre dalliances with Satanism, his pleas for disability payments (remember what Hubbard said about rewarding down statistics?), and my favorite, the time he used his World War II command to commit an act of war against Mexico. The book paints a clear picture of who Hubbard was and how his personality set the tone for the crimes of Scientology. Naturally, the Church sued and harassed Atack, and to this day there is an injunction against distributing the original version of the book in the UK.

A Piece of Blue Sky is available online in HTML and PDF format. You can find it here.

ML,
Caliwog

“The only way out is through – Community”

In yesterday’s blog post, entitled The only way out is through – Community, Marty talked about “creating Independence communities” (which probably means trying to rope Freezoners into the Church of Rathbunology).

I think the operative word here is “create,” which can mean “to bring into existence” or “to produce through imaginative skill.” For Marty, the latter definition is definitely more appropriate.

For while Marty claims to bring his followers (and the media) the truth, in fact he is creating his own version of the truth, editing events and weeding out comments that disagree with his viewpoint. If you post a reply that agrees with Marty, it will appear. If you post one that presents evidence that DM’s evil deeds are based on LRH policy, it will most likely not pass moderation.

To be fair, this kind of censorship wasn’t Marty’s idea. The Church of Scientology regularly practices censorship and has done since the days of LRH. The idea is to protect Churchgoers from “entheta” – a made-up word that essentially means negative energy. The real reason LRH came up with the concept of entheta is to keep Scientologists isolated from the real world and real truth. (That’s why the Internet has had such a devastating effect on the Church. One wonders what LRH would have written about it. He probably would have said that it was started by psychiatrists.)

One has to ask: Why does Marty feel the need to shield his Independents from the truth? Clearly, now that they are out of the Church, independents can see plenty of entheta. There are lots of great forums, like the Ex-Scientologist Message Board, where Independents and non-believers freely mix.

Does Marty think his followers are not smart enough to handle the truth? Is he afraid that they will figure out that he, like LRH, is not being 100% honest and truthful?

Or is Marty simply following in the footsteps of L. Ron Hubbard and David Miscavige?

Marty ends his blog post with a long LRH quote. I’ll end mine with a short one:

The only way you can control people is to lie to them. When you find an individual is lying to you, you know that the individual is trying to control you. — LRH, Technique 88

Read Marty’s original blog post here.

ML,
Caliwog