scooter
Gold Meritorious Patron
From “The Guru Papers: Masks of Authoritarian Power”
By Joel Kramer and Diana Alstad
“But a cult in decline has more trouble selling itself. . . Members and the guru become withdrawn and the focus gets more internal, insular, and isolating. . . The fun is over. The rewards are now put into the distant future (including future lives) and are achievable only through hard work. This not only keeps disciples busy and distracted, but it is necessary because the flow of resources that came with expansion has greatly diminished. This glorification of work always involves improving the leader’s property (the commune or ashram), increasing his wealth, or some other grandiose project.” (p82)
Got a phone call the other day that got me interested (at least briefly) in the slow and painful demise of $cientology here in Oz. I started phoning around my friends to see what was happening and here’s the latest gossip.
The org.s are doing shit – really shit. The Mel exec.s you see in the promo who look physically ill when they’re flown to other cities to talk up the Ideal Org lies? They know how shit Melbourne is really doing. Why do you think they look like they do? It’s due to an overdose of creativity with facts.
And even tho’ more than a few SO members are living in the Mel org building at Ascot Vale in what amounts to a sizeable garrison mission and some are there to full-time recruit, it’s just not happening for them. Why?
How’s the VSD?
The Co$ brand was smashed several years ago, but the fanatics have other “whys” as to what’s happened to their “public.”
The “old” public plead “ARC-broken” or “too broke” or whatever, when really they’ve left. Quietly. For various reasons, many won’t publicly announce they no longer belong to that UFO batshit-crazy Xenu-and-the-DC8s cult founded by a deluded sci-fi writer. Seriously OSA, it’s way out of your grasp now as an “external situation.” Which is why you’ve pretty much given up on it and concentrated your energy on the remaining Faithful.
New public? A joke. Apathy about new public is tinged with paranoia as they may be plants for Big Media or Anons in real-life troll mode.
The AOSH ANZO is empty. There are very few Aussie residents who go there. And most of the security effort is aimed at the crew. Who (like the CLO) are mostly Taiwanese these days. The English-speaking crew have either largely left or are trying to. 70%(?) of SO crew these days are imports.
And just what visas are they on, OSA? THAT is a nightmare you have to live with, now isn’t it?
And the conditions? Well, how much money for food etc. is there? And the tighter the security and worse the conditions are, the harder it is to keep blaming Rathbun and Rinder et al for the poor state of affairs.
GAT II given an enthusiastic reception? Try quiet desperation. And there’s been a lull in media because really, who cares? A producer for one of the major networks told me a few months ago they weren’t going to do any more cult stories until after Christmas at least. There’s nothing left to protest or report.
But there are a few skeletons that will fall out of their cupboards, probably after Christmas. One of them is potentially a real killer blow and, as far as I know, OSA have NO idea about it.
But – will there even be any OSA left to “handle” them?
By Joel Kramer and Diana Alstad
“But a cult in decline has more trouble selling itself. . . Members and the guru become withdrawn and the focus gets more internal, insular, and isolating. . . The fun is over. The rewards are now put into the distant future (including future lives) and are achievable only through hard work. This not only keeps disciples busy and distracted, but it is necessary because the flow of resources that came with expansion has greatly diminished. This glorification of work always involves improving the leader’s property (the commune or ashram), increasing his wealth, or some other grandiose project.” (p82)
Got a phone call the other day that got me interested (at least briefly) in the slow and painful demise of $cientology here in Oz. I started phoning around my friends to see what was happening and here’s the latest gossip.
The org.s are doing shit – really shit. The Mel exec.s you see in the promo who look physically ill when they’re flown to other cities to talk up the Ideal Org lies? They know how shit Melbourne is really doing. Why do you think they look like they do? It’s due to an overdose of creativity with facts.
And even tho’ more than a few SO members are living in the Mel org building at Ascot Vale in what amounts to a sizeable garrison mission and some are there to full-time recruit, it’s just not happening for them. Why?
How’s the VSD?
The Co$ brand was smashed several years ago, but the fanatics have other “whys” as to what’s happened to their “public.”
The “old” public plead “ARC-broken” or “too broke” or whatever, when really they’ve left. Quietly. For various reasons, many won’t publicly announce they no longer belong to that UFO batshit-crazy Xenu-and-the-DC8s cult founded by a deluded sci-fi writer. Seriously OSA, it’s way out of your grasp now as an “external situation.” Which is why you’ve pretty much given up on it and concentrated your energy on the remaining Faithful.
New public? A joke. Apathy about new public is tinged with paranoia as they may be plants for Big Media or Anons in real-life troll mode.
The AOSH ANZO is empty. There are very few Aussie residents who go there. And most of the security effort is aimed at the crew. Who (like the CLO) are mostly Taiwanese these days. The English-speaking crew have either largely left or are trying to. 70%(?) of SO crew these days are imports.
And just what visas are they on, OSA? THAT is a nightmare you have to live with, now isn’t it?
And the conditions? Well, how much money for food etc. is there? And the tighter the security and worse the conditions are, the harder it is to keep blaming Rathbun and Rinder et al for the poor state of affairs.
GAT II given an enthusiastic reception? Try quiet desperation. And there’s been a lull in media because really, who cares? A producer for one of the major networks told me a few months ago they weren’t going to do any more cult stories until after Christmas at least. There’s nothing left to protest or report.
But there are a few skeletons that will fall out of their cupboards, probably after Christmas. One of them is potentially a real killer blow and, as far as I know, OSA have NO idea about it.
But – will there even be any OSA left to “handle” them?