Thanks for that. I wasn't going to post this until I saw your candid take on it. It made me change my mind. . .
I like Hy too.
But, joining Hubbard's cult inevitably makes fine people into liars, manipulators and con men--just like Hubbard. How could it be otherwise?
One doesn't join a cult or terrorist activity and last long without adopting their methods and justifications.
Hy became a liar and a manipulator. He did it in a skilled, oft-times charming and always aggressive way. But he became part of Hubbard's con game, despite being such a likable fellow. How do I know this? Because of of my personal experience with him.
When he very seriously warned me that: "If you don't buy this next auditing right now, you are not going to make it," he was doing everything in his power to scare the living daylights out of me and bully me into obeying his demands. It was despicable then and it is despicable now. But I really do understand how he became a terrorist.
Perhaps if I had been a true believer, I would have made that final leap into the abyss--surrendering what vestiges of authorship over my own life remained. I really believe that moments like this are pivotal and if one makes the wrong choice, one can easily have ended up like Lisa McPherson. Perhaps, not physically dead, but certainly mentally and spiritually dead. And this includes the death of ones own life and dreams.
I just floated away from Scientology at that point, bit by bit. It concerned me at first that I was "not going to make it". Nobody likes a death sentence hanging over them. Nobody likes to hear that they are dying. Scientology and Scientologists smile when they make such morbid pronouncements to you, thinking it is no big deal.
Scientologists working in an org assume control of your life just like it is some casual video game that they are playing and if they don't "win" with you, they just push "play again" with another person.
There is no personal connection other than money. You give money you are a hero. You don't give money--you die! It's Hubbard's rules and when Hy was on Hubbard's team he played by those rules.
At that time it was crystal clear that "you are not going to make it" was a technical and personal evaluation that I was NOT GOING TO LIVE without paying money. It also meant that I would suffer endless eternities for not having paid money.
The point is that Scientologists will do virtually ANYTHING to "get their product".
I still like Hy. I haven't seen him since that moment a couple decades ago. It was also the last time I saw any reg or did any Scientology.
I guess I did make it, Hy.
Did you make it, Hy?
Maybe you made it half-way, having blown the CoS and hanging out at the oasis watering hole known as Indie Scientology.
Keep going buddy, that feeling of freedom and elation you felt when you left the Sea Org is great, but there's much more where that came from when you leave Hubbard's Scientology cult. So keep working on that Routing Out Form, Hy baby.
Do I think you owe me a personal apology? Hell no! I understand you were simply an actor reading the lines of your script as they were written. You don't owe me anything. But you owe it to yourself to keep reading and learning about the true nature, practices & history of Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard. The facts are out there--just awaiting your discovery.
Finally, Hy, I have untold admiration for your having stepped up and told the truth about Scientology's "money machine". It is whistle-blowing extraordinaire. Thanks so much for putting your wonderful intelligence and communication skills to such great use!