When I was introduced to Scientology in 1964 it was called The Hubbard Association of Scientologists. I attended an introductory lecture and later did some of the basic courses. I was very impressed and later signed up for The Hubbard Professional Auditors Course. At the time there was nothing like it in the Western World. It was about the philosophy of spirituality, of love and of friendship. I was so impressed with the information that I joined staff and signed a contract for 2 ½ years. Much to the disgust of family and friends I gave up my profession and worked for a few cents a week.
The course room was packed with students learning about Hubbard’s philosophy and really having a ball. In 1965 and 66 Hubbard introduced his ethics policies, and that was the beginning of the demise of Scientology although I did not realize it at the time. There were some quite distinguished people on course and receiving counseling such as lawyers and accountants. And then an “ethics officer” was appointed to staff and he started applying the ethics procedures to staff and public. Staff and public were declared suppressive and the course room emptied out and many of the once friendly public became hostile. This all happened at the Cape Town Organization around 1965 - 66. Even the press started getting hostile with bad articles. I was not happy with this ethics stuff however because of Hubbard’s basic philosophy I persisted and when my contract expired I joined the sea organization.
Signing a billion year contract was not a problem as I accepted the philosophy of reincarnation and I wished to continue in this career as it became my purpose. The first 3 months of my new career in the sea organization at the advanced organization in Alicante, Spain was absolutely brilliant. Lots of friendly students from around the world, and the staff were amazing and friendly. This was however short lived as instructions from Hubbard were to close that organization down and open a new advanced organization in Edinburgh, Scotland. I and a colleague hired a large car and transported all the materials to Scotland and on my return I was transferred to the station ship Avon River later named the Athena docked in Valencia.
This was where all hell broke loose. Hubbard’s ethics policies were applied to me by a bunch of idiots who should have known better and I was deprived of sleep for days on end, was not allowed to bathe and given dregs to eat. This did not last too long and with a new captain this ethics rubbish was stopped and for a couple of years it became quite a joyous experience sailing the Mediterranean and around Europe, it was brilliant.
However while we were docked in Corfu in 1968 next to Hubbard’s flag ship, The Royal Scotsman later named the Apollo, a new course was released called the class 8 course. From our vantage point on our smaller ship we watched students being thrown overboard from a dizzy and dangerous height for mistakes they had made. Some of these students could not swim and a life buoy was put around them making it even more dangerous. Most of these students were terrified when being thrown overboard. I am to this day quite amazed that no-one was killed.
We were advised by the Greek Authorities that we were no longer welcome in Greece and were told to leave, probably in part, due to this vicious and savage practice of throwing people overboard. We left and sailed to Copenhagen with a crew to set up another advanced organization there.
After spending some 18 months in Copenhagen and sailing around Scandinavia I transferred to Hubbard’s Flag ship, the Apollo. I did some counseling of crew members and was later put in charge of all the ships, 5 in total, and had to oversee that things were running OK. By this time Hubbard became ill and left the ship. I had to check on the air conditioning and make sure the filters were working perfectly so that on his return he did not experience the problems he was having with his lungs, probably caused from smoking too much and also he was allergic to some type of textiles and I had to oversee that they were removed from his living quarters.
I then personally experienced some of Hubbard’s viciousness after he accused me of sabotaging Scientology in The Western United States when I was not even there and did not know what was happening. I then decided to leave and come back to South Africa. I spent around another 18 months helping in South Africa and decided to resign in 1981. In 1986 after the death of Hubbard I received a telephone call from a one time colleague on the ship and was asked to return to the land base in Clearwater as they wished to purchase a new ship and required my expertise.
I had to do this at my own expense and purchased tickets for my wife and 3 children.
I inspected the ship and gave my recommendations but I started feeling rather uncomfortable at what was going on at the land base in that young ladies were forbidden to wear makeup or use perfume or get involved in relationships which was not part of the original setup by Hubbard. There were other practices that were foreign to me and distasteful. It had become like some sort of a cult which was outside the normal lifestyle of human beings. After all Hubbard did not stop the girls on the ship from wearing makeup or perfume and in actual fact wrote that some individuals had problems with sweating and needed to wear deodorants. Also my wife who was an experienced registrar had to work late hours and after finishing her job for the day was made to baby sit for other registrars and was denied sleep. Another discomfort I was feeling was except for my daughter who was 5 years at the time and attended public school the 2 others did not.
My wife and I decided to leave and one morning early we packed our bags and quietly left for the airport and left for South Africa. We had to borrow money for the tickets from my wife’s parents. After we returned to SA I informed the guys in Clearwater that they must refund me the money I spent on the airfare or else. They did without any argument but declared me suppressive and an enemy of Scientology.
In conclusion I think that Scientology could have become quite an accepted part of our culture had Hubbard not introduced his writings on ethics which from 1965 – 66 started alienating people and created a hostile press. Further his attacks on psychiatry and possibly academia also alienated Scientology further. Miscaviage continued with Hubbard’s unacceptable and disgusting practices of ethics procedures and is further alienating scientology from the world and it seems that soon they will become a lonely little cult servicing each other if they carry on their unethical path of dividing families with their disconnection policies. The last statement I recall Hubbard making to me is “that the executives in the sea organization have forgotten about the more gentle nature of Scientology”. It reminds me of the Crusaders who went about killing everybody because they thought that their cause was a God given one and the only one.
My suggestion to those on staff is to make sure that in their contract there is some sort of retirement bonus or similar. You will get older and you will die.
My suggestion to Miscaviage is to get a brain and knock off your unethical anti social procedures that are dividing friends and family. Hubbard was not infallible and made mistakes which I can verify. Further there are many more spiritual practices coming into being today that preach love and friendship and are becoming acceptable in our society. Even science has become involved with new discoveries in quantum physics. Miscaviage you will have to compete with these practices and adjust if you wish to survive.
In conclusion I believe that the seeds of Scientology’s destruction were sown when LRH brought out his ethics policies and especially the conditions and their formulas. Maybe the conditions are natural phenomena but some of the harsh formulas such as wearing a dirty rag around your arm or working 48 hours nonstop and being deprived of sleep are not. Being put in a chain locker for the condition of enemy is to say the least just plain stupid. Being thrown over board is criminal.
The following orgs visited as a missionare all voiced or indicated their distaste and sometimes horror for Scientology ethics: Copenhagen, Stockholm, Malmo, Gothenburg, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Bulawayo and Pretoria. Not to mention the utter disgust by some of my fellow crew members.
I think there are some valuable teachings in Scientology. During my first years while doing the HPA I received valuable information and it changed my life. We must somehow get rid of Miscaviage and I think this is quite possible.
That's my storey.
Travers Harris
The course room was packed with students learning about Hubbard’s philosophy and really having a ball. In 1965 and 66 Hubbard introduced his ethics policies, and that was the beginning of the demise of Scientology although I did not realize it at the time. There were some quite distinguished people on course and receiving counseling such as lawyers and accountants. And then an “ethics officer” was appointed to staff and he started applying the ethics procedures to staff and public. Staff and public were declared suppressive and the course room emptied out and many of the once friendly public became hostile. This all happened at the Cape Town Organization around 1965 - 66. Even the press started getting hostile with bad articles. I was not happy with this ethics stuff however because of Hubbard’s basic philosophy I persisted and when my contract expired I joined the sea organization.
Signing a billion year contract was not a problem as I accepted the philosophy of reincarnation and I wished to continue in this career as it became my purpose. The first 3 months of my new career in the sea organization at the advanced organization in Alicante, Spain was absolutely brilliant. Lots of friendly students from around the world, and the staff were amazing and friendly. This was however short lived as instructions from Hubbard were to close that organization down and open a new advanced organization in Edinburgh, Scotland. I and a colleague hired a large car and transported all the materials to Scotland and on my return I was transferred to the station ship Avon River later named the Athena docked in Valencia.
This was where all hell broke loose. Hubbard’s ethics policies were applied to me by a bunch of idiots who should have known better and I was deprived of sleep for days on end, was not allowed to bathe and given dregs to eat. This did not last too long and with a new captain this ethics rubbish was stopped and for a couple of years it became quite a joyous experience sailing the Mediterranean and around Europe, it was brilliant.
However while we were docked in Corfu in 1968 next to Hubbard’s flag ship, The Royal Scotsman later named the Apollo, a new course was released called the class 8 course. From our vantage point on our smaller ship we watched students being thrown overboard from a dizzy and dangerous height for mistakes they had made. Some of these students could not swim and a life buoy was put around them making it even more dangerous. Most of these students were terrified when being thrown overboard. I am to this day quite amazed that no-one was killed.
We were advised by the Greek Authorities that we were no longer welcome in Greece and were told to leave, probably in part, due to this vicious and savage practice of throwing people overboard. We left and sailed to Copenhagen with a crew to set up another advanced organization there.
After spending some 18 months in Copenhagen and sailing around Scandinavia I transferred to Hubbard’s Flag ship, the Apollo. I did some counseling of crew members and was later put in charge of all the ships, 5 in total, and had to oversee that things were running OK. By this time Hubbard became ill and left the ship. I had to check on the air conditioning and make sure the filters were working perfectly so that on his return he did not experience the problems he was having with his lungs, probably caused from smoking too much and also he was allergic to some type of textiles and I had to oversee that they were removed from his living quarters.
I then personally experienced some of Hubbard’s viciousness after he accused me of sabotaging Scientology in The Western United States when I was not even there and did not know what was happening. I then decided to leave and come back to South Africa. I spent around another 18 months helping in South Africa and decided to resign in 1981. In 1986 after the death of Hubbard I received a telephone call from a one time colleague on the ship and was asked to return to the land base in Clearwater as they wished to purchase a new ship and required my expertise.
I had to do this at my own expense and purchased tickets for my wife and 3 children.
I inspected the ship and gave my recommendations but I started feeling rather uncomfortable at what was going on at the land base in that young ladies were forbidden to wear makeup or use perfume or get involved in relationships which was not part of the original setup by Hubbard. There were other practices that were foreign to me and distasteful. It had become like some sort of a cult which was outside the normal lifestyle of human beings. After all Hubbard did not stop the girls on the ship from wearing makeup or perfume and in actual fact wrote that some individuals had problems with sweating and needed to wear deodorants. Also my wife who was an experienced registrar had to work late hours and after finishing her job for the day was made to baby sit for other registrars and was denied sleep. Another discomfort I was feeling was except for my daughter who was 5 years at the time and attended public school the 2 others did not.
My wife and I decided to leave and one morning early we packed our bags and quietly left for the airport and left for South Africa. We had to borrow money for the tickets from my wife’s parents. After we returned to SA I informed the guys in Clearwater that they must refund me the money I spent on the airfare or else. They did without any argument but declared me suppressive and an enemy of Scientology.
In conclusion I think that Scientology could have become quite an accepted part of our culture had Hubbard not introduced his writings on ethics which from 1965 – 66 started alienating people and created a hostile press. Further his attacks on psychiatry and possibly academia also alienated Scientology further. Miscaviage continued with Hubbard’s unacceptable and disgusting practices of ethics procedures and is further alienating scientology from the world and it seems that soon they will become a lonely little cult servicing each other if they carry on their unethical path of dividing families with their disconnection policies. The last statement I recall Hubbard making to me is “that the executives in the sea organization have forgotten about the more gentle nature of Scientology”. It reminds me of the Crusaders who went about killing everybody because they thought that their cause was a God given one and the only one.
My suggestion to those on staff is to make sure that in their contract there is some sort of retirement bonus or similar. You will get older and you will die.
My suggestion to Miscaviage is to get a brain and knock off your unethical anti social procedures that are dividing friends and family. Hubbard was not infallible and made mistakes which I can verify. Further there are many more spiritual practices coming into being today that preach love and friendship and are becoming acceptable in our society. Even science has become involved with new discoveries in quantum physics. Miscaviage you will have to compete with these practices and adjust if you wish to survive.
In conclusion I believe that the seeds of Scientology’s destruction were sown when LRH brought out his ethics policies and especially the conditions and their formulas. Maybe the conditions are natural phenomena but some of the harsh formulas such as wearing a dirty rag around your arm or working 48 hours nonstop and being deprived of sleep are not. Being put in a chain locker for the condition of enemy is to say the least just plain stupid. Being thrown over board is criminal.
The following orgs visited as a missionare all voiced or indicated their distaste and sometimes horror for Scientology ethics: Copenhagen, Stockholm, Malmo, Gothenburg, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Bulawayo and Pretoria. Not to mention the utter disgust by some of my fellow crew members.
I think there are some valuable teachings in Scientology. During my first years while doing the HPA I received valuable information and it changed my life. We must somehow get rid of Miscaviage and I think this is quite possible.
That's my storey.
Travers Harris