Oh that's silly. ESMB does provide that service, as much as it ever did, and better than any other Internet place ever has, and in an atmosphere of free communication.
IMO, you're making too much of this. It's not that bad.
MartyWorld is the next step for CofS true believers.
ESMB is their next step after that.
And that's good.
I have to disagree with you Veda. I agree with Emma on this one. (just so ya know Veda, the rest of this post is not aimed at you in any way. You have over all the years of this board's existence provided extremely helpful information to disentangle people from Hubbard's lies and machinations.)
When I got out at the end of 2007 there was no Martyworld. I came here to ESMB as my first landing spot. OCMB was another place - but it was not a friendly place from what I could see. ESMB was different then, it's much more like OCMB now.
There were many more tech tolerant posters on ESMB back in 2007, 2008. A few of them went to martyland as ESMB became ever more hostile to the subject of scientology, many just stopped posting and went on with their lives. So the balance shifted more to the anti-scientologists.
Someone newly out is not going to find ESMB a very friendly place. Dillpickle is a good example of how a new poster runs into trouble here. She was not a newly out though, just a new person to the board, but a scientologist. She held her own, but she came here thinking this was ex rather than anti forum and soon found herself in hot water because of her pro-tech beliefs.
There is very little tolerance here for Scientologists. Almost anything they hold to be true is going to be heavily criticized and ridiculed. I've been very active on the board for the last 4 months or so. I've seen the ripping. Hell, I've done my fair share of J&D too, it's my specialty.
It took me quite while to digest enough information to really get a handle on the subject. It wasn't a few months process either. I've been out almost 5 years and it has taken almost that long to get a really clear sort-out of some things.
I don't know that there is anything that can be done to make ESMB a better place for the newly outs. I do not think that going to Martyworld is a good first step. I do not think that those that go there will eventually migrate here, some will, many will not. I think it is much more likely that they will nestle into a comfy little group that prefers to keep drinking the magic-juice than to venture into the nasty wilds of SP-land and really find out about LRon.
I still think that there is something to the 'tech'. People have a right to believe what they wish. As long as they are not hurting others then they should be left alone to believe what they want.
It does seem that some are on a crusade to make ex-scientologists and will not tolerate anything less because of course they know better than this poor deluded Scilon. Seem to me it's a matter of respect. Many don't respect Hubbard or Scientology and that lack of respect is often vehement and leads to the person who is expressing their beliefs being disrespected or at least feeling that they are being shown great disrespect.
This board helped me a lot when I made my decision to leave the Co$.
Of late, I've been thinking that my time here is really done. I like to hear the latest news on things, but the shredding of anything 'tech' is really quite unpleasant and makes me think I should move on like many others have. This is no longer a place where one is free to discuss the good and bad, only 'it's bad', 'it's BS' is really acceptable. It is certainly valid to dissect what is wrong with Hubbard's stuff, but it's done, for the most part, in a rather hostile fashion. Some can take it (Gib for example), for many though, they will just put up shields and find somewhere else to hang.
I understand the enormous damage and hurt so many have endured from their participation in the Co$. Each of us had a dream of becoming a better person, making a better world. Help was betrayed. Good people destroyed. You have to get over it or it will continue to destroy you. I feel for people like Sharone. Hell, I feel for myself. When you've spent 30+ years believing in something like I did, dedicating your life to it and then you pull the plug - well fuck me - it sure isn't easy, especially when you're in your 50's and having a mid-life crisis to boot. It's not a couple month affair to get your head straight from something you have spent your life in since you were 19.
So I guess all I have to say is having some compassion and tolerance for the Scientologists that come here would make ESMB a better place for those just leaving the Co$. There are going to be a lot more leaving. Better to have them here than under Marty's spell, of that I have no doubt.
