I was a true believer. Back when I was in the cult, it could do no
wrong. LRH was mankind's greatest friend. Somehow the hand
writing on the wall never seemed to materialize.
Then came the finance police that plundered the missions and
put people like me on the street even though we were the most
valuable beings on the planet. I was still a card carrying member
who took a regular job so that I could continue to audit my pcs.
Then came the illegal declares of my mission holder and the closing
of my mission. Stories were going around about Hubbard going
insane and lots of financial irregularities. I continued to think like a
cult member and, though I was now forced into doubt, I decided
to do my own investigation.
I drove to LA and, following directions from the Zegal tape I had
been given, I found my way to the cult's top secret HQ. I saw the
infamous ship in the desert and was challenged by the security
guards. I drove home by way of Santa Barbara and visited the
AAC. I met David Mayo and ran into my mission holder. The talk
was about saving the tech. David Miscavige was blamed as the
bad guy who usurped the comm line from LRH.
I went back and began to audit for the AAC. We were an island
of "standard tech." We continued to apply things based on the
laws of ARC, The Code of Honor, and Hubbard's other codes. The
only thing wrong with the cult was David Miscavidge. Eventually
legal reasons caused the term AAC to disappear and we became
an independent organization.
After a few years I drifted away from the there out into the world,
still thinking like a cult member. I had Ron's quotes framed on my
walls. I still used the tech and even helped people I met, using it.
Fast forward to 1996, I discovered that the cult was in a war with
the internet and it piqued my curiosity. I began to read ARS and
was led to other critical sites. One message I read pointed out
that all of the stories about Hubbard's life were lies. Then the
message went on to point out, story by story, the actual facts.
Hubbard wasn't a war hero. He wasn't blinded and crippled at the
end of the war. The man was a liar! I went on then to read about
the rest of his life finding out about bad checks, bigamy, outright
fraud and the insanity of his shipboard adventures.
The last straw was seeing that even the stuff that actually did
some good, wasn't even his. I was finally done with the fat man.
Just the fact that once someone is out from under the duress of
the cult to not look, eventually the truth will set them free. Even
M&M will get there eventually, unless they begin to force their
followers to wear the same blinders.