Thank you, SallyDannce, for the kind welcome and the incredibly wise words/thoughts.
(Didn't see a soap box; didn't read a rant, btw.)
As a 'non-ex-Scientologist (I am picking up a SLEW of new labels
, lol) I'm not sure my perpective at this early stage will help anyone else, but I wholeheartedly agree with your point that open dialogue with more non-ex-scis would benefit all concerned. A dear friend who has a rather extreme view against all religions often says the phrase "tax exempt" is wrong -- he prefers "taxpayer subsidized". As I've read/reviewed the available information, one thought pops up quite often -- that there are many taxpayers in the US who would be outraged to learn such exemptions
do subsidize such abusive policies/actions. Subsidized harm - even the idea is repugnant.
Just about two weeks ago I'd thought myself a reasonably well-informed person -- neither genius, nor fool -- and now I'm scrambling to catch up on a very real, very disturbing set of issues about which I knew nothing. Had I heard of Scientology? Yes, insofar as I knew it was a faith-based group started by a sci-fi writer. Beyond that, I recall reading the article about Paul Haggis in The New Yorker, but, while it
was an eye-opener, nothing within the pages prompted me to seek any additional information. It was, at the time, simply an interesting article in a weekly magazine known for interesting articles. The take-away from that article was, for me: Haggis left a group that didn't want him to leave. That was it.
Now, of course, I see there's more to learn.
JB
Hey JB,
Scientology is like a culture. It is rigged with language which creates thought-stopping. Layer upon layer of these words are built up to create patterned behaviour. You do not need fences or walls to control a human being – you simply install mentally controlling concepts, built with cleverly loaded words/language. At its simplest level you can just repeat enough times to a child “you are an ugly little toad” and you’ll get a child who believes they are an ugly little toad.
One of the key aspects of deprogramming an individual is to gradually remove those words from the persons thinking. Scientology is unique in that Hubbard developed an extensive vocabulary where he redefined many English words to bend the thinking (and hence behaviour) of individuals.
A person will never fully become themselves, with their own thoughts/views on life, living and the meaning of chocolate, if they do not dig in and rip apart the Hubbard language. It lurks on automatic and impacts on thinking and behaviour for ever more otherwise.
This language factor has another vital role. It creates the “us and them” system. Those that are programmed and elite and superior and those that are merely “wogs”, beneath the superior scientologist and needing to be programmed/recruited/converted (introduced to scientology). The language keeps the gates firmly closed to outside inspection and provides a barrier for the abuse to remain hidden. For a controlling system to furtively gain control and power over an individual the thought-stopping language/concepts need to be introduced slowly and repetitively. This is what the lower levels, introductory services, of scientology are really about. Many say there is value in the lower level stuff. I thoroughly disagree. It is the stuff that softens the individual in readiness for the next layer and the next layer of control techniques.
The language also is a powerful enabler to con authorities with. Enter the “state sanctioned taxpayer subsidised” status. Anyone in their right mind, with powers to grant charitable/tax exemption statuses, could not allow a group such as scientology to function without external transparent checks and balances. However the mass of language Hubbard invented/twisted, thoroughly disallows an honest transparent inspection of the true aims of the group and the true inner workings of the group.
The issue with scientology being a religion, claiming it is entitled to this and that, is all smoke and mirrors. The issue is NOT whether scientology is a religion though this is the key point that the group uses to protect itself and gain false protection.
The real issue(s) is/are:
What is going on within the inner workings of the group and has been since its inception? What are the true aims of this group? Pushing aside all gloss and spin, what is really going on? Is this group really benefitting society as it claims to be to gain its tax exemption status (hiding beneath a religious cloak)?
I liken it to a mad bad marriage. To the world, the union can appear all things good. The couple offers to outside family and friends a “united happy front”. But anyone over the age of 35 (arbitrary age I just grabbed) is aware that there is an external portrayal (happy couple at family function) and the internal behaviour(s) which can be the complete opposite. As the saying goes “no one really knows what goes on inside a marriage/family except those within it.” So it is with scientology, only the stakes are way higher and the possibility of abuse to occur and be hidden from the outside world is, imo, far easier.
It is not an easy task to penetrate the true inner workings of scientology for several reasons. Hubbard set it up that members were not allowed to discuss “bad, non-aligned agenda” things with “outsiders”. He set it up that your eternity was screwed if you did break this rule. His teachings install phobias into individuals against mental health professionals, the media and anyone that might say one word against him or his scientology.
If someone does leave, I would hazard a guess that something like 80% of those people will never speak about their experiences in scientology. They have these installed thoughts which prevents them from doing so. Also, put bluntly, many who do manage to leave are so psychologically, emotionally and spiritually messed up from their scientology experience, they can’t make enough sense of it to articulate it to any external person(s). So as a mentally controlled scientologist, you don't read anything that is negative about Hubbard or scientology and if you do, the installed thought-stopping phobias kick in and you walk away from such "evil suppressive rantings".
So it is heavy shit the cult of scientology. It gets away with abuse because of the very way it was structured by Hubbard. It takes a mountain of research to fathom this out properly and not get caught up in meaningless deflective details. A study of other totalitarian methods is helpful too. I don’t think one can get a full concept of how scientology actually controls individuals without studying other systems.
The above views are based on my own experiences and observations as I have peeled back the layers that controlled me into believing the fake ideals contained within Hubbard’s system. To empty out the installed thought-stopping words/concepts was hard work and very challenging. Many people (ex-scio’s) do not bother to do this and I can absolutely sympathise with them. It is like undertaking a full volume university program. Bringing in various other subjects to formulate new perspectives, I worked hard to break down the heavily installed concepts that to challenge Hubbard’s ideas was just plain evil. I tested this hard and heavy to discover he was full of himself and full of fake meaningless clap-trap.
Hubbard created a spiritual/mental prison without physical walls. Yes there are physical walls at the sea org level, but the real walls are psychological. If you can wall off a persons thinking from any outside influence, you have a ripe breeding ground for abuse, control and power. You create an individual who lives within a tunnel of mind-control, unable to see outside those walls.
I got free of it. Many others have also. We are not victims. We are survivors of mind control.
JB! 
(and a 
iffin you're a wimmens) Since you are reading bunches I highly reccomend Ethercat's 'Through the Door' site, though there are a few apologists who've done the exit survey most of the 300+ participants are ex's, it gives ya a good sense of things from a different level.
for the recommendation to Ethercat's site - will check it out soon -- and for the beers/rose. (Yes, I'm a woman.) 
<< (me foody-flirttin')
and
C-Ya DC
