What's funny is that Scientologists who post here obviously do not believe anything about their tech of as-isness, ridges, ARC breaks, invalidation, BPC, etc. Oh well, maybe everyone who has posted here from the church will eventually receive auditing and we can all receive the benefits, a la the Suppressed Person Rundown!
It's an old pattern to send out an overt, obnoxious - somewhat dumb - Scientologist (who can eventually be disowned as being "out tech" and "off policy," etc.), and also send out a slick ARC-full, validating, as-isness-utilizing, BPC-indicating and resolving Scientologist.
The identity presented might be "Scientologist," or "not with the Church of Scientology" but a "Scientologist" (used by Flash), or no longer a member but defends Hubbard, or defends Scientology, the "Bridge," etc.; but both the overt (obnoxious) identity, and the (more covert) identity would be proponents of Scientology.
To be in accordance with Hubbard's "Scientology Intelligence tech," it would be expected that there would be "multiple channels" used, or that at least three avenues of influence, or (overt&covert) attack occur simultaneously or in near succession (working together).
To the extent that the benign component (the "lubrication") of the Scientology machine is lacking, the more destructive components with have their function impaired.
The benign "mental healing" aspect of Scientology is essential for the full and effective operation of Scientology, as its founder planned it, and- right now - under Miscavige, that aspect has been devitalized somewhat, and, thus, the effectiveness of the 'Destructive Cult' of Scientology has been reduced somewhat.
Only somewhat - since the "slick" element is still there, using faux-ARC, etc., and the well-meaning (sincere) tech persons are still around (although in fewer numbers) to be used as dupes.
So, the cult machine keeps running, but not at its full, early 1970s, clip, when it was more dangerous and destructive than it is today; but it was -then - dangerous and destructive with a compartmentalized membership, who were mostly clueless to much of the abuse.
Now, with the anal-retentive Miscavige in charge, the cult machine is running at half-capacity. Some think that's a shame, and would love to see Scientology reformed back to the "good old days" of the 1970s, before Miscavige.
It's not likely the "good old days" will return, of course. Too much has changed. So much information has become available, yet information can begin to disappear, or be ignored, or become lost in a sea of other information (including disinformation). For example, thousands of pages of material became available (although not easily available) as a result of a 1979/1980 (Snow White case-related) federal court order, but only a tiny fraction has made it to the Internet, and there has never been - that I know of - a full public archive easily made available.
There are some summations, an analyses and, perhaps, 1% of the documents (mostly the key Hubbard writings) have become available on the Net, and that's a vast improvement over the "good old days" (pre-Miscavige) when almost of of this material was kept from public view.
Other areas of Scientology have also been exposed - to varying extent - such as (much, but not all of) the Sea Org materials. For example, Hubbard wrote some things just for his (mostly female) "Commodore's Messengers," and I've yet to see any of it on the Net.
And to clarify, the Sea Org was traditionally concerned with "internal," while the Guardians Office (now OSA) was concerned with "external," and the (supposed) absorption of the G.O/OSA into the Sea Org was, IMO, a protective action, and to a large extent a "cover," to create the impression of "reform." Sea Org is still primarily "internal," and G.O/OSA is still, primarily "external." And the Sea Org has had no (1977) FBI search warrants to expose (many, not all) of its secret materials/documents, yet a fair amount of Sea Org material has been leaked over the years, and many have told of their experiences.
Yet there's more yet unseen, in all areas.
Back to the initial point: It may seem as though Scientology consists of only fumbling clods, but it's wise to remember its "successes." It's wise, also, to consider that some of its "successes" are done quietly, and go unknown by all but a few.
How many people have been silenced by Scientology? We can count the ones that we know of, but the rest?
And what of the new breed of "modern Scientologist," who's aware of the Internet, is aware of much of the "entheta" on it, but doesn't care?
Such a person will say, "So what if Ron did this or that, he was super-Kha Khan, for the Tech works! and without the tech we are all doomed. And the Church of Scientology is the only one with all the tech," etc. It's not likely such a person will leave Scientology, or renounce it (sincerely) just because Miscavige has a particular definition for a floating needle, or because of "6 month checks" for those on NOTs, etc., or because some minor changes were made in books, or due to abusive fundraising for buildings (after all, "crush sell," which is almost as bad, has been occurring since the 1960s), etc.
As an example, take the guys who constitute the musical group, "The Jive Aces." These guys are exposed to the outside world to a fair extent, can examine the Internet if they please, yet, apparently, it doesn't matter to them.
They are the new breed of Scientologist, who know about many things and really don't mind.