This is for lurkers who don't know how this all works. When you are in scientology you are constantly told through hundreds of hours of Hubbard lectures that there is a state called "OT" and if you persist you can achieve a state where you have near super human powers. Many don't believe it at first and don't get in for that as they would just like to help themselves and their friends, but year after year this MYTH begins to take hold and you begin to believe you can achieve this state and be free from all troubles, and you are taught to believe that if many around the world achieved it, then the positive influence of these individuals would calm the planet and bring sanity and order to it.
Along this way though it becomes assumed by everyone there that these states DO exist and it turns into them saying that the ONLY sane thing you can do is to stay on this route and you should make WHATEVER sacrifices necessary to stay with it as the ENTIRE WORLD needs you to do it. I'm actually understating as they really believe the ENTIRE UNIVERSE needs you to do this.
The problem is that they have been yet to prove that they can create anything like this state but people don't seem to notice and they take this world savior personality to the absolute extreme. Many give up decades of their lives, and give up friends and family as it's THAT important.
A big plan for the church which they sell as the solution to the problems of the world, is to get 10,000 people on "Solo NOTS". That is another name for OT7 which is a very high "OT level" - OT8 is the highest offered. Having that number of people on this high "OT Level" should bring enough calming influence to society as bring order and sanity back to the planet. This level can take over 10 years and auditing on the level is done alone and must be done daily. The materials for this level are deep scientology secrets and expect people in possession of them to defend them with their lives as they are the secret of secrets. Rex Fowler was on OT7 and this is why Fowler's wife said what she said about the briefcase. The idiocy is that the materials are all over the internet and nobody gives a crap except them.
Hubbard was insane by most accounts and came up with a lot of seriously abusive policies as the years went by. When Hubbard went into seclusion and died, David Miscavige muscled his way in to become his unappointed successor and was intent on perpetuating everything abusive ever set up by Hubbard and adding some new ones of his own.
One of his real beauties was the IAS or International Association of Scientologists. This a division of the church that supposedly runs various campaigns to forward the goals of scientology to keep scientology available for all mankind etc. They claim they run programs to get kids off drugs, help criminals return to society and various other humanitarian programs. But from many accounts only a small percentage goes to what they claim, and a lot goes to handling court cases etc. and other indulgences like celebrity birthday parties. Membership in the IAS, even though not set up by Hubbard, has become mandatory if you want to do the services there. I believe a lifetime membership is now $3,000.
The problem is they don't stop there. They have some of the craftiest and most aggressive sales people you could ever imagine. They are constantly asking for more money and we are talking BIG money. Some have "donated" millions to them. The work in teams at times, and if they target a particular person they will surround that person with numerous IAS personnel and basically work you over mentally looking for any button or weakness for as long as it takes until they get compliance. We are talking thousands and thousands for nothing in return except a tax write off. They also have financial specialists who will "help" you get enough loans and credit to come up with the money.
They use many techniques to get compliance. They usually talk about some situation somewhere that is such an emergency that untold numbers of people will die if you don't help and that you are the only one who can as you "get it". They often refer to some specific area so it is consistent with the Fowler case that Africa was mentioned. They also try to get you to believe that there is some sort of Karma entity out there watching you and no matter how destructive this donation seems it would be to you, you will be ok and probably even make the money right back as you've done such an act of good.
Another of the techniques they use is to dangle the "OT" button in the guys face. As I said earlier you are taught to believe that these incredible states exist but if you don't act as expected they might just prohibit you from achieving them. "Your eternity" will be in jeopardy. It's completely extortion but the threat they wave in your face is a total fantasy, you just don't know that at the time.
This behavior has had disastrous results as they will and have pushed people to the point of bankruptcy, mental breakdown and even death. They will not just give the money back. They are in reality unconcerned about the negative effects this has to the person but the Fowler case has the dreaded "Bad PR" which they are very concerned about and will make many attempts to find a way to bury this or distance themselves from it.
I could go into further detail but I'm just trying to give people an idea of what happens. It has not been stated yet if Fowler gave the $200K to the IAS but when any scientologist hears $200K "donation" they immediately think IAS. These guys put EXTREME, LIFE/MENTAL HEALTH THREATENING pressure on people and this was not the first case of it sending someone to the breaking point.
