"If Scientology is so bad, why did you stay in so long?" How many of us have been asked that question? There is really no single good answer to that question but there are a few answers that might give one an insight as to why a person might stay in even after they have seen some bad things, or have come to the realization that Scientology has not done what it promised.
From the very first time you walk into a Scientology Org (Place of business), You are exposed to the false promises of Scientology. In Dianetics, you are told that you can go "Clear". This means that you will have full objective memory of your entire life, and be free of illness. In Scientology, you are told that if you buckle down and study hard, spend a whole lot of money, and do everything you are told, you can go full OT. (Operating Thetan. Supposes that the Spirit has all the powers of a God) Which is interpreted by L. Ron Hubbard as "A thetan who is completely rehabilitated and can do everything a thetan should do, such as move [matter, energy, space, and time (MEST)] and control others from a distance, or create his own universe; a person who is able to create his own universe or, living in the MEST universe is able to create illusions perceivable by others at will, to handle MEST universe objects without mechanical means and to have and feel no need of bodies or even the MEST universe to keep himself and his friends interested in existence".
As a staff member, or member of the Sea Org, you are told that you are responsible for accomplishing something that has never been done before on planet Earth. You are going to create a world without war, crime and insanity. The mechanism by which Scientology plans to achieve this goal is by the process of "clearing" the planet. You are also promised that you will receive all of your training and auditing (Scientology counseling), at no cost.
The above, then, is the carrot. Always dangled in front of you but out of reach, designed to keep you plodding along.
Now let's take a look at the stick. The stick, in Scientology is what they call "ethics and justice". It is designed to accomplish only this: To keep you in line, and to keep you from making waves. What they tell you is that you cannot go up the "bridge to total freedom" if your ethics are not 100% in. They tell you that the purpose of ethics is defined as "rationality toward the greatest good for the greatest number of dynamics" (parts of life, such as self, family, groups, etc.). The purpose of ethics is said to be "paving the way for getting tech in." But Hubbard also said, "the purpose of ethics is to remove counter-intentions from the environment. Having accomplished that, the purpose becomes to remove other intentiondness from the environment." What that statement really means is that anyone or anything that stands in the way of Scientology's stated goals of "clearing the world", is to be removed.
So what if you have read something by Hubbard that you totally disagree with? First, you are told that you have a misunderstood word, or words, that are getting in the way of your understanding of Hubbard's infallible logic. If you have looked up these words in the dictionary, and defined them to yourself as perfectly as a human is able and then still disagree, then you are sent to ethics. In ethics, it is pounded into you that if your really got what Hubbard was saying that you would, of course, agree. Or maybe it is that you are connected to someone who is antagonistic to Scientology. Also if you are ill. you are probably connected to someone who doesn't take to Scientology's ways. At that point, you may be pulled off your course to take another course called the PTS/SP course. (Potential Trouble Source/ Suppressive Person). And of course you will be expected to pay for this course.
If you are staff, or Sea Org, this applies to your post (job) as well. If your statistics for the week are lower than they were the week before, you are assigned a lower condition and sent to ethics to see how you can raise them. This applies to every staff member in Scientology. It looks, at first glance, like it makes sense. But let's look a little closer.
You are a dishwasher in an org, and your usual statistic (number of plates washed), is two thousand per week. Now this week, you have only washed 1900 plates. Your stat is down. You have automatically gone into a lower condition than normal. You will have to apply the Scientology conditions formula to get back up again. It does not matter if staff members have been shipped out for training, or have quit. It does not matter if there are fewer Scientologists on course or auditing that week. In Scientology it is your condition and your responsibility.
And if applying the ethics conditions does not fix your problem, not to worry, there is always justice. In Scientology, justice equals punishment. This can come in the form of having to prove your value to Scientology, usually in some sort of financial form, all the way up to being declared a Suppressive Person (excommunicated). Get punished enough, and they figure you will fall back in line and be a good little drudge.
As for the lump of sugar, that is done in a gradient as all things are in Scientology, only this one is in a downward gradient. As you grow in Scientology, the lumps of sugar are smaller and they come with less frequency. At first, whether you are on staff or a public person on a course or auditing, it seems like everyone is always clapping for you and giving you kudos. (Can anyone say love bombing?) Then as you go along, more and more is expected of you with less and less praise. Finally, it boils down to 2 or three words. You get a WD (well done) on your paperwork if you meet expectations, and if you exceed expectations, you might get a VWD (very well done). Unless you are Tom Cruise. Then you will get a medal and called the most valuable Scientologist on Earth. Which has pissed off a great deal of staff and Sea Org personnel. But mostly you accept the WD or VWD because it is part of the human condition to need at least a little praise along with being knocked down all the time. Everyone needs some kind of validation in life. If you have ever been on staff in Scientology, you know all about invalidation.
Thank you so much for sticking it out with me. Please understand that what I post here is my own viewpoint from things that I perceived while I was in the "church", as well as from my research since I have been out. I realize that other people may have different views and if so, I welcome all comments. Please remember to share this post and to subscribe to this blog. Again, I thank you.
From the very first time you walk into a Scientology Org (Place of business), You are exposed to the false promises of Scientology. In Dianetics, you are told that you can go "Clear". This means that you will have full objective memory of your entire life, and be free of illness. In Scientology, you are told that if you buckle down and study hard, spend a whole lot of money, and do everything you are told, you can go full OT. (Operating Thetan. Supposes that the Spirit has all the powers of a God) Which is interpreted by L. Ron Hubbard as "A thetan who is completely rehabilitated and can do everything a thetan should do, such as move [matter, energy, space, and time (MEST)] and control others from a distance, or create his own universe; a person who is able to create his own universe or, living in the MEST universe is able to create illusions perceivable by others at will, to handle MEST universe objects without mechanical means and to have and feel no need of bodies or even the MEST universe to keep himself and his friends interested in existence".
As a staff member, or member of the Sea Org, you are told that you are responsible for accomplishing something that has never been done before on planet Earth. You are going to create a world without war, crime and insanity. The mechanism by which Scientology plans to achieve this goal is by the process of "clearing" the planet. You are also promised that you will receive all of your training and auditing (Scientology counseling), at no cost.
The above, then, is the carrot. Always dangled in front of you but out of reach, designed to keep you plodding along.
Now let's take a look at the stick. The stick, in Scientology is what they call "ethics and justice". It is designed to accomplish only this: To keep you in line, and to keep you from making waves. What they tell you is that you cannot go up the "bridge to total freedom" if your ethics are not 100% in. They tell you that the purpose of ethics is defined as "rationality toward the greatest good for the greatest number of dynamics" (parts of life, such as self, family, groups, etc.). The purpose of ethics is said to be "paving the way for getting tech in." But Hubbard also said, "the purpose of ethics is to remove counter-intentions from the environment. Having accomplished that, the purpose becomes to remove other intentiondness from the environment." What that statement really means is that anyone or anything that stands in the way of Scientology's stated goals of "clearing the world", is to be removed.
So what if you have read something by Hubbard that you totally disagree with? First, you are told that you have a misunderstood word, or words, that are getting in the way of your understanding of Hubbard's infallible logic. If you have looked up these words in the dictionary, and defined them to yourself as perfectly as a human is able and then still disagree, then you are sent to ethics. In ethics, it is pounded into you that if your really got what Hubbard was saying that you would, of course, agree. Or maybe it is that you are connected to someone who is antagonistic to Scientology. Also if you are ill. you are probably connected to someone who doesn't take to Scientology's ways. At that point, you may be pulled off your course to take another course called the PTS/SP course. (Potential Trouble Source/ Suppressive Person). And of course you will be expected to pay for this course.
If you are staff, or Sea Org, this applies to your post (job) as well. If your statistics for the week are lower than they were the week before, you are assigned a lower condition and sent to ethics to see how you can raise them. This applies to every staff member in Scientology. It looks, at first glance, like it makes sense. But let's look a little closer.
You are a dishwasher in an org, and your usual statistic (number of plates washed), is two thousand per week. Now this week, you have only washed 1900 plates. Your stat is down. You have automatically gone into a lower condition than normal. You will have to apply the Scientology conditions formula to get back up again. It does not matter if staff members have been shipped out for training, or have quit. It does not matter if there are fewer Scientologists on course or auditing that week. In Scientology it is your condition and your responsibility.
And if applying the ethics conditions does not fix your problem, not to worry, there is always justice. In Scientology, justice equals punishment. This can come in the form of having to prove your value to Scientology, usually in some sort of financial form, all the way up to being declared a Suppressive Person (excommunicated). Get punished enough, and they figure you will fall back in line and be a good little drudge.
As for the lump of sugar, that is done in a gradient as all things are in Scientology, only this one is in a downward gradient. As you grow in Scientology, the lumps of sugar are smaller and they come with less frequency. At first, whether you are on staff or a public person on a course or auditing, it seems like everyone is always clapping for you and giving you kudos. (Can anyone say love bombing?) Then as you go along, more and more is expected of you with less and less praise. Finally, it boils down to 2 or three words. You get a WD (well done) on your paperwork if you meet expectations, and if you exceed expectations, you might get a VWD (very well done). Unless you are Tom Cruise. Then you will get a medal and called the most valuable Scientologist on Earth. Which has pissed off a great deal of staff and Sea Org personnel. But mostly you accept the WD or VWD because it is part of the human condition to need at least a little praise along with being knocked down all the time. Everyone needs some kind of validation in life. If you have ever been on staff in Scientology, you know all about invalidation.
Thank you so much for sticking it out with me. Please understand that what I post here is my own viewpoint from things that I perceived while I was in the "church", as well as from my research since I have been out. I realize that other people may have different views and if so, I welcome all comments. Please remember to share this post and to subscribe to this blog. Again, I thank you.
Excellent analogy Robert. Thank you for these insights, you've been on a roll lately and this blog is becoming quite the treasure trove of valuable explanations into how Scientologists get stuck on the inside.
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