Xenu's Boyfriend
Silver Meritorious Patron
Ooooh, I'm probably going to get in trouble for this, but here it goes: :nailbiting:
Someone just posted in one of the threads here:
"I think there's a variety of exes and critics who have different takes on things. We mention our stances, whether those be that the person's now an indie, or that they think it's all crap or that maybe they liked some of it- in interests of candor with our contributors.
That, and freedom of speech and choice is really all there is to that."
My feeling is: not quite. I still wonder what it means to be an ex-Scientologist as defined by this site, and I have yet to get a real answer. When you think about it, maybe there needs to be a new site created for the kind of dialogue this person is talking about in the quote, where these groups (Critics, Scientologists, Ex-Scientologists, Independents) can all come together and argue it out.
I've learned a lot from the posts I've read here, and this site is an incredible resource. And don't get me wrong, I love a good argument. But the way I've been challenged since arriving, I've come to the conclusion, on a certain level, this isn't an ex-Scientology message board at all. It might have started out that way, but it was and continues to be hijacked and derailed by certain people. The pro-Scientology faction makes themselves very felt and they dominate many threads. And I'm not talking about bullshit posts about Tom Cruise - who I couldn't give a fly's anus about. I'm talking about the crucial aspects of breaking down the harm, the grief, the PTSD of Scientology. My feeling is if you really see "two sides" to that, you don't belong here.
(Someone is probably thinking, who the hell does this guy think he is saying this, how long has he been here? But if you're thinking that, you're exactly the person whom I'm talking to.)
What this is, in my humble opinion, is a site on the Subject of Scientology with an emphasis on people who have left the church. Again, that may cheeky for me to say as a newcomer, but maybe it takes a newcomer to say it. Because a true ex-Scientology site would never tolerate consistent pro-Scientology posts, or responses to people who are critical of the church: "Get some freaking facts." "Some of us got major wins..." or "Yes, Lisa McPherson died but medical malpractice happens all the time." I'm not making this up, these are responses/attitudes (paraphrased) I've seen here since I arrived, and I've been like, WTF? Exactly where am I?
I've contributed to the merry go round conversations that go on and on and on where we all find ourselves caught in the matrix, unable to escape. But what I find fascinating is that if you take Scientology out of the equation and you make this instead a forum for survivors of sexual assault and rape (and I don't use this example lightly because for those ex-Scientologists who were in the Sea Org, or RPF'd, the trauma and PTSD may be just as profound), it would be unfathomable as survivors on one part of the site were talking about their personal rape experience, others were saying, "Well, sometimes if you do go out late at night and you're by yourself...", "rape statistics are down lately...." "There are some experiences where people come onto you and still say no..then what do you do?" "See both sides..." etc, etc, etc...
Thank God for posters like Smilla and I Told You I Was Trouble and many others who are kind to everyone but clear and focused about their intention and what is at stake in this battle against the church and there is a battle going on. And people don't need their efforts enervated by exhausting, random, get-you-feet-caught-up-in-the-jump-rope-trip-and-break-your-neck-I'm-not-a-Scientologist-anymore-as-I-defend-the-tech-to-the-death posts.
I'm not trying to personally attack anyone. I just think it's shitty that there is so much oil in the water, as people try to get themselves clean from Scientology's mind control and it's my observation that some people deliberately continue Scientology's process of mystification here, for whatever reason. I experienced it and almost left and I'm not the only one. It reminds me of those pictures of the BP oil spill and the seagulls and wildlife that were covered in grime. This is a very hard place at times to "get clean" when people keep reminding you how "wonderful the tech is" and keep asking you to "see both sides." For the person who haunts the site but doesn't share, who is on the fence about leaving the church and reads the apologies for LRH and his tech, sometimes this presence feels especially sinister.
So yes, free will, yes, freedom of speech, always, but isn't there a question of where that speech takes place and why?
XB
Someone just posted in one of the threads here:
"I think there's a variety of exes and critics who have different takes on things. We mention our stances, whether those be that the person's now an indie, or that they think it's all crap or that maybe they liked some of it- in interests of candor with our contributors.
That, and freedom of speech and choice is really all there is to that."
My feeling is: not quite. I still wonder what it means to be an ex-Scientologist as defined by this site, and I have yet to get a real answer. When you think about it, maybe there needs to be a new site created for the kind of dialogue this person is talking about in the quote, where these groups (Critics, Scientologists, Ex-Scientologists, Independents) can all come together and argue it out.
I've learned a lot from the posts I've read here, and this site is an incredible resource. And don't get me wrong, I love a good argument. But the way I've been challenged since arriving, I've come to the conclusion, on a certain level, this isn't an ex-Scientology message board at all. It might have started out that way, but it was and continues to be hijacked and derailed by certain people. The pro-Scientology faction makes themselves very felt and they dominate many threads. And I'm not talking about bullshit posts about Tom Cruise - who I couldn't give a fly's anus about. I'm talking about the crucial aspects of breaking down the harm, the grief, the PTSD of Scientology. My feeling is if you really see "two sides" to that, you don't belong here.
(Someone is probably thinking, who the hell does this guy think he is saying this, how long has he been here? But if you're thinking that, you're exactly the person whom I'm talking to.)
What this is, in my humble opinion, is a site on the Subject of Scientology with an emphasis on people who have left the church. Again, that may cheeky for me to say as a newcomer, but maybe it takes a newcomer to say it. Because a true ex-Scientology site would never tolerate consistent pro-Scientology posts, or responses to people who are critical of the church: "Get some freaking facts." "Some of us got major wins..." or "Yes, Lisa McPherson died but medical malpractice happens all the time." I'm not making this up, these are responses/attitudes (paraphrased) I've seen here since I arrived, and I've been like, WTF? Exactly where am I?
I've contributed to the merry go round conversations that go on and on and on where we all find ourselves caught in the matrix, unable to escape. But what I find fascinating is that if you take Scientology out of the equation and you make this instead a forum for survivors of sexual assault and rape (and I don't use this example lightly because for those ex-Scientologists who were in the Sea Org, or RPF'd, the trauma and PTSD may be just as profound), it would be unfathomable as survivors on one part of the site were talking about their personal rape experience, others were saying, "Well, sometimes if you do go out late at night and you're by yourself...", "rape statistics are down lately...." "There are some experiences where people come onto you and still say no..then what do you do?" "See both sides..." etc, etc, etc...
Thank God for posters like Smilla and I Told You I Was Trouble and many others who are kind to everyone but clear and focused about their intention and what is at stake in this battle against the church and there is a battle going on. And people don't need their efforts enervated by exhausting, random, get-you-feet-caught-up-in-the-jump-rope-trip-and-break-your-neck-I'm-not-a-Scientologist-anymore-as-I-defend-the-tech-to-the-death posts.
I'm not trying to personally attack anyone. I just think it's shitty that there is so much oil in the water, as people try to get themselves clean from Scientology's mind control and it's my observation that some people deliberately continue Scientology's process of mystification here, for whatever reason. I experienced it and almost left and I'm not the only one. It reminds me of those pictures of the BP oil spill and the seagulls and wildlife that were covered in grime. This is a very hard place at times to "get clean" when people keep reminding you how "wonderful the tech is" and keep asking you to "see both sides." For the person who haunts the site but doesn't share, who is on the fence about leaving the church and reads the apologies for LRH and his tech, sometimes this presence feels especially sinister.
So yes, free will, yes, freedom of speech, always, but isn't there a question of where that speech takes place and why?
XB
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