Oh, are you claiming that 'controversational' is a typo? Pity, I thought it was rather impressive as portmanteau words go.
Your shameless (because that's what it is, shameless) bigging up of the fat bastard known as LRH debases you as far as I'm concerned. There's no reason why you should give a flying fuck whether or not I respect you William, but I'd have a hell of a lot more for you if you stopped this 'scintillating brilliance' nonsense and came to your senses, it makes you look like a perfect sucker. Hubbard was an inveterate con-man and he has you by the balls mate, and frankly, I'm embarrassed for you.
I can appreciate loathing for Hubbard.
If you find no value in the work he produced then he would be mere huckster. Of course even if he were only conman I'd still take my hat off to the sonofabitch for doing it up bigtime and dying in bed...
As to your respect, I can get along without it but I'm always grateful to have the respect of people I like...
I'm not going to repeat such things as my gratitude for what his work made possible for me to do for my lifelong best friend as he lay dying of cancer but tell a story I've not told before.
After auditor training in SF I came back east and hung around Bobby Ford's Cambridge mission. One evening he did the old 50's group process "Infinite Space" which I found somewhat impressive. Not long thereafter my pal Billy Martin and I were visiting his fellow ironworker. The two of them were talking shop in the kitchen and I was in the parlor with Steve's wife. I mentioned dianetics and she asked about it so I did the Infinite Space process after which she opened her deep blue eyes and said "I had electroshock treatment a few years ago. Ever since then my head has felt stuffed up. Now my head doesn't feel stuffed up." No placebo effect, no preparation, no mention of the horrors of psychiatry; extra virgin olive oil. I'm sure all scientologists in good standing will wig out because I didn't hustle her right into the church but I had reservations about how the thing was run from the first.
Soon thereafter the magnificent Gordon Bell appeared at Bobby's place and caught me up in his slipstream and I was off to join staff at FCDC where I was posted as Staff Staff Auditor. One morning at muster I ran the seven commands of the Infinite Space process on those assembled. Not long after that, probably less than a month, I was over at 1827 19th St where Ron had lived with his family in the Fifties and I noticed a box of old PABs and other such. I reached in and pulled one out. I held it in my left hand so I flipped it open to the back page which read "Someone was asking recently for the commands of the Infinite Space process so here they are". And there they were. The first six were as I knew them but the seventh was not "Get the idea of Infinite Space" but "Get the idea of infinite Time"
I found a true magic there Stratsie...