ESMB newbie Qs

[succumbubus]

Hi ESMB,

I wanted to say thank you to Emma and all the contributors for providing an interesting website.

I was a Scientology public for a few years.

I've read some of the stories and I learned some interesting new things about Scientology that I didn't get from the other sources I had available, e.g. books or documentaries. I'm glad for my own sake that you guys exist here on the Internet.

I had a few questions that I was unable to answer without creating an account.

1. Are the email addresses of members visible to other members? The FAQ says I should use a throwaway email account, but I wasn't sure why it says this.

2. Why is it not possible to access your website using the Tor browser? I can access e.g. MS2 using Tor, but not ESMB. (Tor is a tool for browsing the web anonymously)

3. Have you ever considered providing a "spoiler tag" for data that Scientologists might not want to see while they are reading this forum? I guess some people will laugh at me for asking this, and maybe it is at odds with the philosophy of the site, but I know that these tags are used on other forums e.g. when discussing video games or movies. I was somewhat annoyed to come across the Clear EP when reading somebody's story (I can't find the actual post right now, but I remember that I found the EP stated in a follow-up reply by a different user, not the story's author)... You can Google "vbulletin spoiler tag" for example to see how to set this up, and of course it would require a bit of searching and editing existing posts, which might be a lot of effort for the moderators, but I think it would be a nice thing to do.

Thank you again.

 

[JustSheila]

Hello Succumbus,

It seems your questions are meant for the ESMB Admin. That would be Ethercat.

 

[Jump]

....

Have you ever considered providing a "spoiler tag" for data that Scientologists might not want to see while they are reading this forum? I guess some people will laugh at me for asking this, and maybe it is at odds with the philosophy of the site

Our excellent mods (we have thousands of them) are already overworked dealing with trolls and spammers.

And yeah, it would probably be against the philosophy of the site. No real religion has little zingers that you have to mortgage your house to hear.

I guess someone will post the Hubbard handwritten OTIII page next for a real laugh

 

[Moderator 3375]

Welcome to ESMB succumbubus.

I have let the Admin know you have some technical questions as she is best qualified to answer them.

Moderator 3375

 

[ethercat]

Welcome, succumbubus.

1. Are the email addresses of members visible to other members?

No.

The FAQ says I should use a throwaway email account, but I wasn't sure why it says this.

If you're concerned about your privacy, that's always a good idea, generally speaking.

2. Why is it not possible to access your website using the Tor browser? I can access e.g. MS2 using Tor, but not ESMB. (Tor is a tool for browsing the web anonymously)

TOR itself is not blocked. Some IP ranges are blocked for abusive behavior toward the server. Some of those IP addresses may be TOR exit nodes.

3. Have you ever considered providing a "spoiler tag" for data that Scientologists might not want to see while they are reading this forum? I guess some people will laugh at me for asking this, and maybe it is at odds with the philosophy of the site, but I know that these tags are used on other forums e.g. when discussing video games or movies. I was somewhat annoyed to come across the Clear EP when reading somebody's story (I can't find the actual post right now, but I remember that I found the EP stated in a follow-up reply by a different user, not the story's author)... You can Google "vbulletin spoiler tag" for example to see how to set this up, and of course it would require a bit of searching and editing existing posts, which might be a lot of effort for the moderators, but I think it would be a nice thing to do.

This forum is not here to protect scientologists from the tenets of their own "religion".

 

[succumbubus]

Thank you.

 

[Jump]

Thank you.

You're welcome.

http://www.xenu.net/archive/ot/

That was the link to the OT levels, prices, EPs .. go have a look. You know you want to

 

[HelluvaHoax!]

.

You're welcome.

http://www.xenu.net/archive/ot/

That was the link to the OT levels, prices, EPs... go have a look. You know you want to

That reminds me of another great newbie question:

In Scientology, there is always a precarious danger from being prematurely exposed to the advanced materials. Which of these two (2) highly confidential upper level materials is more restimulative? OT III or the Prices?

lol

 

[This is NOT OK !!!!]

(Raises hand)

Pick me, pick me! I can answer that one!!

A: THE PRICES!!!!

Q: Which prices are too high?

A: ALL OF THEM!

Q: Ok, but if you had to pick one level that was the MOST too high. which would it be?

A: THE L'S

Q: Why?

A: Running out whole track overts as a Unicorn @ $1,000.00/hr

 

[phenomanon]

I'm just curious as to what exactly this person wants to read here FOR?
Do you want to know what you are signing up for? Is it the truth, or is it the Lulz?
We don't censor our communication here much.
If you don't want to read about the failings in COS, then this is the wrong Board.
You want to read only about what you already know, but don't want to be exposed to so-called Confidential materials?
I'm thinking this Board is too honest for you.
There is an "ignore" button. You can censor the Board yourself.
I think it's BS to protect scn'ists from themselves.
Read it and weep.

 

[phenomanon]

I'm just curious as to what exactly this person wants to read here FOR?
Do you want to know what you are signing up for? Is it the truth, or is it the Lulz?
We don't censor our communication here much.
If you don't want to read about the failings in COS, then this is the wrong Board.
You want to read only about what you already know, but don't want to be exposed to so-called Confidential materials?
I'm thinking this Board is too honest for you.
There is an "ignore" button. You can censor the Board yourself.
I think it's BS to protect scn'ists from themselves.

 

[HelluvaHoax!]

I'm just curious as to what exactly this person wants to read here FOR?
Do you want to know what you are signing up for? Is it the truth, or is it the Lulz?
We don't censor our communication here much.
If you don't want to read about the failings in COS, then this is the wrong Board.
You want to read only about what you already know, but don't want to be exposed to so-called Confidential materials?
I'm thinking this Board is too honest for you.
There is an "ignore" button. You can censor the Board yourself.
I think it's BS to protect scn'ists from themselves.
Read it and weep.

LOL

or...

Don't read it and sleep.

COS. Church of Somnambulists.

Dr. Hubbard stated that a Scientologist should always avoid and cut an entheta line. This explains why Scientologists always avoid reading and discovering the true nature & activities of Scientology.

 

[JustSheila]

I'm just curious as to what exactly this person wants to read here FOR?
Do you want to know what you are signing up for? Is it the truth, or is it the Lulz?
We don't censor our communication here much.
If you don't want to read about the failings in COS, then this is the wrong Board.
You want to read only about what you already know, but don't want to be exposed to so-called Confidential materials?
I'm thinking this Board is too honest for you.
There is an "ignore" button. You can censor the Board yourself.
I think it's BS to protect scn'ists from themselves.
Read it and weep.

I actually think the Newb is legit, either someone scared of being exposed to the OT levels due to all the marketing hype from COS, or someone who knows someone else who is afraid of exposure. This is also someone unfamiliar with forums, judging from the way the Newb addressed us as a group with questions meant for the Admin. It's too clumsy to be anything but a first gesture from someone who doesn't write on forums. The Newb also must have read the ESMB rules or introductions to know about Emma, because nothing in there mentions Ethercat. So I think it's sincere even if it's not the smoothest way to say hello on a forum.

It reminds me of how I used to be afraid of reading the OT levels until I did. Of course nothing happened. Nothing ever happens from reading them. It's quite a marketing ploy by COS, though.

Succumbubus, it really won't hurt you or anyone else to read the OT levels, so don't worry. You might find yourself thinking they are extraordinarily stupid though, and some real bad sci-fi writing. I think reading them might give you or your friend some relief to find you were worried about nothing.

Even the geological and historical facts we know prove that what L Ron wrote as OT 3 just isn't true.

I completed through OT 4, btw, and Phenomanon did a whole bunch more and was also an auditor and C/S.

 

[ThetanExterior]

It does seem bizarre that someone would be "annoyed" at seeing the Clear EP mentioned here.

In the real world the "EP" of any counselling or course is that the person has achieved the abilities they set out to achieve. But since Hubbard just invented the so-called state of Clear there is no real EP to gain so he had to invent some way to determine the completion of the auditing. Therefore the completion involves saying the magic words - "abracadabra" or "I'm mocking this up myself" or something similar.

Ooops I gave the game away.

 

[Dulloldfart]

I actually think the Newb is legit,

I have to record this for posterity.

Paul

 

[Mick Wenlock]

Hi ESMB,

I wanted to say thank you to Emma and all the contributors for providing an interesting website.

I was a Scientology public for a few years.

I've read some of the stories and I learned some interesting new things about Scientology that I didn't get from the other sources I had available, e.g. books or documentaries. I'm glad for my own sake that you guys exist here on the Internet.

I had a few questions that I was unable to answer without creating an account.

1. Are the email addresses of members visible to other members? The FAQ says I should use a throwaway email account, but I wasn't sure why it says this.

Because there is no guarantee that someone will not succeed in hacking the member database.

2. Why is it not possible to access your website using the Tor browser? I can access e.g. MS2 using Tor, but not ESMB. (Tor is a tool for browsing the web anonymously)

Because sock puppet posters are a plague of the CofS and this site uses IP addresses as one way to combat it. as TOR anonymizes access and TOR users usually use VPN or other tools there would be no way to stop a proliferation of socks.

This is not a site that is intended to be "anonymous" it is a site that respects privacy while also attempting to keep the integrity as clear as possible.

3. Have you ever considered providing a "spoiler tag" for data that Scientologists might not want to see while they are reading this forum? I guess some people will laugh at me for asking this, and maybe it is at odds with the philosophy of the site, but I know that these tags are used on other forums e.g. when discussing video games or movies. I was somewhat annoyed to come across the Clear EP when reading somebody's story (I can't find the actual post right now, but I remember that I found the EP stated in a follow-up reply by a different user, not the story's author)... You can Google "vbulletin spoiler tag" for example to see how to set this up, and of course it would require a bit of searching and editing existing posts, which might be a lot of effort for the moderators, but I think it would be a nice thing to do.

Think you are missing the concept of "ex". that would be like putting spoiler alerts on an EX game players board.

Thank you again.

Good to see you here.

 

[JustSheila]

I have to record this for posterity.

Paul

I usually do welcome Newbs. Maybe you should read a lot more Newb threads because you miss a lot. I've probably welcomed over a thousand Newbs to ESMB, but let's start with this past week:

!

It's good to have you here.

Take your time, tell what you wish as you wish and as you are comfortable. We've all been there and are happy to be here to offer whatever support we can to you, too.

Incognito!

Thanks for joining us. This is a good group with many others who experienced similar things.

I can completely relate to how you feel, especially the bolded part.

During the first few years I was out, it was so many years ago that counselors didn't know how to deal with cults. So I had a few sessions that went pretty much nowhere. Things have changed, though, and there are trained psychologists who now even specialize in cult recovery. My counselor had a good heart, though, and observed and told me something extremely helpful:

He told me my thinking was structured.

Scientology created that structure. Before Scientology, I wasn't that way.

We have structures in our brains, usually developed when we are young. There are language structures, math structures, direction structures, all sorts of structures.

Scientology created a structure with a lie that it was more basic than the other structures. It created a structure to be senior to all other structures, like a pyramid, with all thinking going through a tiny little funnel to be reinterpreted through scientology think.

You can get rid of the information piece by piece and it will take years. IMO, to be rid of the scn structure itself and free your mind and life from it means you have to let go of some serious scientology basics. To me, these are:

That all aberration stems from past lives. FALSE
That a 'Basic on the Chain' exists from E/S recall that resolves experiences. MOSTLY FALSE, but OCCASIONALLY TRUE so UNRELIABLE as FACT.
That what you recall in sessions are your actual past lives. FALSE. It's what you imagine.
That you or anyone else has OT abilities others do not have. FALSE
That Scientology makes you superior or different. FALSE
That your reality is true. NOT A FACT. It's often FALSE so UNRELIABLE as FACT.
That life is simple, you just label and categorize people, especially those you don't understand or who disagree with you. FALSE

Others can add many more, I'm sure.

A couple of weeks ago I did an interview for a book and told the interviewer that even after teasing apart all the false facts of scientology, I still had a structure. The structure, though, is no longer scientology.

I put something else into the structure void that was once scientology. Something I liked more, something that made more sense and doesn't hurt me.

It takes a while, but you'll work out your own principles and personal code. That's what scientology replaced and that's what you have to put back in your life - your own ''senior datums," your own priorities.

Then instead of working hard to fit in, you can just be yourself. There will still be people who don't understand you, those who see you think a act a little differently, but does it matter? There are so many nice people in the world who would have the same principles as you, that believe in things like love, compassion, honesty and honor, and these things trump the minor differences in thinking.

I wish you success, luck, love and friendship with the best kind of people throughout your new life.

Take it in perspective with the 1500 or so posts I've written on ESMB this past year alone, not the 30 or so you didn't like where I wasn't at my best. I'm not perfect.

 

[Victoria1]

Welcome, succumbubus.



No.



If you're concerned about your privacy, that's always a good idea, generally speaking.



TOR itself is not blocked. Some IP ranges are blocked for abusive behavior toward the server. Some of those IP addresses may be TOR exit nodes.



This forum is not here to protect scientologists from the tenets of their own "religion".

Victoria here.
I cannot access my account, because I somehow got logged out.
I haven't signed in, in ages, just using the "remember me" function.

i kept my password very simple though and I'm pretty sure I remembered it correctly. Of course I can't be sure.

I cannot figure out how to recover it.

I used to be InPresentTime on this forum, with thousands of posts. Same thing happened to that name and I just quietly started over.

I just don't want to do that again, please help me.
What can I do?

 

[JustSheila]

Victoria, I have reported your post so that the Admin (Ethercat) is made aware of it and can assist you. Please be patient.

I sort of remember you as InPresentTime. Welcome back.

 

[ethercat]

Victoria here.
I cannot access my account, because I somehow got logged out.
I haven't signed in, in ages, just using the "remember me" function.

i kept my password very simple though and I'm pretty sure I remembered it correctly. Of course I can't be sure.

I cannot figure out how to recover it.

I used to be InPresentTime on this forum, with thousands of posts. Same thing happened to that name and I just quietly started over.

I just don't want to do that again, please help me.
What can I do?

Victoria1, I adjusted your usergroup from Newbie to Registered Member so you should have PMs now. Check there for a message from me about how to proceed. Let me know here in the thread if you can't access it.