What Intelligent Celebrities Say About Scientology

We know the celebrities that used to have some intelligence, John Travolta, Kirstie Alley, Tom Cruise and Nancy Cartwright.  These are the Famous Faces of Scientology.  We know what they have to say about Scientology and its myriad under-corporations.  But what do non-Scientologist celebrities say about Scientology?  We will look at a few of them here today.  Thanks to FACTNET for compiling and keeping these safe for us.

Graham Berry recalls:

"I learned today that after George Magazine did its article on Germany and Scientology, David Miscavige flew east and met with John Kennedy, Jr. After the self-appointed cult leader left the meeting Kennedy thought and said: 'what a nasty piece of work he is.'"

A quip from Howard Stern goes, 'My dad's Jewish and my mom's a Scientologist, so I sell clay tables at half price.'  

In an Open Letter from Steve Allen to Heber Jentzsch, President, Church of Scientology, June 1997:

"When I ran into you at an airport a few weeks ago there was no opportunity to have a talk, but since I have about 49 seconds free between appointments at the office this morning it occurs to me that you might be interested in an idea that I have suggested to you and other Scientologists before. When I spoke at a convention in the East quite a few months ago, a convention at which a dozen or so Scientologists were in attendance, I said something to them along the following lines. 'If I may make a suggestion to you folks, whatever your purely religious views are, you're entitled to them and they are more or less in the category of not anyone else's business. 'But I also suggest that it is not because of those views that your group doesn't have a very good reputation. There are other churches that, in the opinion of non-members, have some truly bizarre beliefs but no one dislikes the individual members as a result of those beliefs. 'The Mormons are a perfect example. No non-Mormon on Earth accepts a word of Mormon assertions about the experiences of Joseph Smith, visits with angels, golden plates, etc. But despite that fact the Mormons have a very good social reputation. A number of my personal friends are Mormons and they are for the most part lovely and socially decent people. 'But - again - the same cannot be said of Scientologists. And if I were you it would occur to me to wonder why. So, to save you a little wondering time, I'll tell you why right now. You have the reputation as just about the worst bullies this side of the National Rifle Association. I've talked this over with some of you and you've said that the terrible harassment's and crimes are a thing of the past, that you've learned from your earlier mistakes, etc. That may be true, and I certainly hope it is, not only for your sake but for the sake of everyone concerned. But to be honest, many people doubt that Scientology has reformed itself in this particular regard."

Writer Tilman Hausherr said of Race car driver Mario Andretti in 1988:


"The logo 'Dianetics' was removed from his car after he said he didn't want to be associated with the publication. 'It's not something I believe in, so I don't want to make it appear like I'm endorsing it,' Andretti said." "Logos are a matter between race promoters and sponsors. That's why Andretti did not know until he came to town that his car would be decorated with seven 'Dianetics' decals."

In 1997 someone commented that Scientology's belief system closely resembles the writings of Issac Asimov.  Far from being flattered, Asimov was alarmed by Scientology and similar systems of pseudo-science.

'Never in history has humanity faced a crisis so deep, so intense, so pervasive, and so multi-faceted,' he wrote. 'There have never till now been so many people on earth so dependent on a complex technology, so burdened by its flaws, and so likely to witness a complete breakdown of that technology in a matter of decades. If we are to pull through we must thread our way carefully through the rapids that lie ahead. At every step we'll be depending on our knowledge, grasp and understanding of science, of its potentialities and its limitations... Under these circumstances, what crime is greater than that of misteaching the public about science?...Humanity has the stars in its future, and that future is too important to be lost under the burden of juvenile folly and ignorant superstition.'

In Skepticism and Science Fiction, 1996, author Greg Bear said:

"The delusional, no-talent charlatans may scoop in more money, but the game is truly not worth the coin. I sleep much better at might than they should. This brings up a case in point that illustrates the real role of skepticism in science fiction. Rumor has it that L. Ron Hubbard, a pretty good science fiction writer of the 1940s, made a conscious decision that science fiction was a mug's game and that the real money was in starting a religion. So he did, using science fiction magazines and a gullible, though very famous, science fiction editor to get his start. No one knows whether he eventually came to believe in what he wrote and sold to others as revealed truth. If I had been Hubbard, I would not have been able to convince myself. I suspect most charlatans realize that they have perverted very real, very useful aesthetic instincts to hoodwink large numbers of gullible people into believing and paying. When we stop being artists, and start being money-grubbing pseudo-prophets, the net is down, the ball can go anywhere in the court, and the audience has changed. This audience knows so little, and cares so little about the truth, that it oohs and aahs at every random serve, every double bounce, every net ball. It does not perceive the difference between an earned point and a flub. The charlatan on the court smiles and receives applause for all. That's not our audience. That's not my game."

From Joe Boyd, quoted in A Mind-Bending Experience in 1997 about Rose Simpson (Singer - Incredible String Band):


"Rose left LRH's cohorts behind years ago and, in her present capacity as mayoress of Aberystwyth, revealed in a recent interview how Scientology had narrowed the band's view of the world and how damaging that had been to their music."


And a great catch by our good friend Arnie Lerma:


"Sunday Nights episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 had a hilarious Scientology Reference... During one scene of Sunday nights show, the 'hero' of the movie walks out of a bar and is jumped by a couple of thugs who proceed to beat him up. The commentary, as he's attacked is, 'LET US INTRODUCE YOU TO SCIENTOLOGY!'" - Mike The Flexing Rectum Rinder . "A picture of a Volcano appears in the old movie being shown, one of the fellows says: 'Oh wow, man, D-ann-ett-ics....' Next guy sez: 'See Page 57, how to get more money out of Tom Cruise..."


Joe Kevany (Comedian):
Some L.A. schools were found to be using textbooks by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, says Joe Kevany. "The methods seem to be working. Several of the students now want to start their own religions when they grow up." - LA Times 4.8.1997


"I'm afraid he went crazy and turned a lot of other people crazy." [Arthur C. Clarke talking about L Ron Hubbard, KFYI radio, Phoenix Arizona 8-9 pm show 1/24/04]

And to the Celebrities who have started on their recovery, Jason Beghe, Paul Haggis, Katie Holmes, and Nazanin Boniadi, welcome back to the real world.

A Legacy of Violence

In the last couple of years, there have been many reports of physical violence done by David Miscavige to more than a few Scientology International Management Personnel.  People are astounded that the Ecclesiastic Leader of the "church" would do such a thing, and if he did, how could he have gotten away with it for so long.  After some research, we can surmise some answers.  The first answer may upset a few people but we have to look at it logically.  That is, given his upbringing, Miscavige almost had to turn out the way he did.  He grew up in Scientology.  His education was almost all in Scientology.  He was a Commodore's Messenger and worked closely with Hubbard for much of his life.  He saw that, when it served his purpose, Hubbard used violence to get his point across too.  Who knows, maybe young Miscavige had his bell rung by the Commodore a few times. No matter who was "supposed" to take over after Hubbard's death, I believe Hubbard personally groomed Miscavige for the Post because he saw in Miscavige what he knew himself to be.  Vicious, Violent and a Coward.  In Hubbard's own words:

"People attack Scientology; I never forget it, always even the score. People attack auditors, or staff, or organizations, or me.  I never forget until the slate is clear."  Not really a "turn the other cheek" kind of guy eh?

Ok, but what about some evidence?  I am glad you asked.

First, thanks to the excellent blog of Sharone Stainforth:  

Joe van Staden, Captain at the time till he was fired, in Birth of the Sea Org:

The time I got fired in Corfu went something like this. One of the commodore’s messengers came up to me and informed me that the commodore wanted to see me. At that point I had no reason to suspect that anything was wrong, but as I approached his office and noticed some of his aides including Mary Sue avoiding eye contact with me and making haste to vacate the area I knew – here it comes. Before I even entered his office there he was in my face screaming at me for making a dog’s breakfast of the ship. Then he took a swing at me, I ducked and felt the swoosh of air over my head as he missed the target. For a second there I thought he was going to go down as he lost his balance. Next he screamed at me telling me to go fix up my mess. I only found out what he was talking about once I got out on deck and one of the messengers informed me. 

Here is the thing; the Apollo spent most of her life up north in very damp conditions. Since she entered the Med the timber deck above the commodore’s office began to dry out. As a consequence it resulted in some leaking into LRH’s office leaving visible rust streaks down the bulkheads. The short of it is I was fired as captain, once again, and put on the deck force to fix up “my mess”.

And Otto Roos:

"One day, when all the XII's were on leave, except myself, he sent a Messenger down, stating he wanted the folders.  After refusal by myself (C/S hat) he became 'Commodore' and ORDERED the folders up, sending some hefty guys down to just get them (a cabinet FILE full!).

 They were just TAKEN, and that was that.

A few days later I was called up to his office and upon entry was hit, kicked, screamed and shouted at.  (Even the Aides were not in sight, they were hiding as he was really mad!)

He just blew his stack on finding the references to 'discreditable' reads and the contents of some of the personal folders."

Then from Xenu Directory Net:

November 1984

CLEARWATER—Possibly the highest-ranking, most influential Scientologist to defect from the Clearwater-based, international sect has sued Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard for more than $225 million.

Citing physical abuse, the intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment and the violation of his civil rights, Howard D. "Homer" Schomer, the 49-year-old former treasury secretary of the sect's Author Services Inc. branch, is demanding a jury trial and damages of $226,528,200. Schomer's claims, if proved true, offer a dark view of the inner workings of an arm of the most visible yet secretive of the world's "new religions."

Schomer's suit alleges that he, having voiced reservations about Hubbard's true aims and those of his myriad of organizations, was subjected to intense interrogations for hours at a time, denied food and water, accused of stealing money and being an FBI or CIA agent, spat upon, threatened with bodily harm, locked up under guard and told he would be "falsely thrown in jail."

Schomer fled the sect in December 1982, and went into seclusion before filing his suit on Oct. 25. "I was frightened because I didn't know what was happening and terrified of what they could do," Schomer said during an interview Friday. "I was threatened with injury and with going to court because they said they would bring false witness against me.

"And it still terrifies me what they can do to me, and that's why I didn't come forward sooner. But I 

realized that eventually I had to do something, so I came out in the open. 

And then, possibly the most damning from Monday, 23 April 1951 (UPI) Los Angeles:

The wife of L. Ron Hubbard, 40, founder of the Dianetics Mental Health Movement, filed suit for divorce today, charging he is suffering from a mental ailment.

Mrs. Sara Northrup Hubbard, 25, said "competent medical advisers" had examined her 40-year-old husband and concluded he was "hopelessly insane" and should be placed in a private sanitarium for "psychiatric observation."

She said doctors told her her husband was suffering from a mental ailment "known as paranoid schizophrenia."

Mrs. Hubbard also charged he subjected her to "systematic torture" by beating and strangling her and, denying her sleep.

Her suit said Hubbard once told her he didn't want to be married and suggested that if she really loved him, she would kill herself because a divorce would "hurt his reputation"

Mrs. Hubbard described her husband's Dianetics research foundation as his "alter ego" and said the institution did more than $1,000,000 business last year.

When informed of the doctors' recommendation that he be placed in a mental institution, Hubbard took their 13-month-old daughter, Alexis, from Mrs. Hubbard's apartment and went into hiding, the suit charged.

The wife also said Hubbard told her he was unmarried when they were wed Aug. 20, 1946, at Chestertown,

Md., but it was not until December, 1947, that he divorced a former wife, Mrs. Margaret Grubb Hubbard, at Port Orchard, Wash.

Mrs. Hubbard asked $500,000 damages to compensate for the loss of "the golden years of a woman's life" and annulment of their marriage if the court finds she never was legally married to the Dianetics founder.

How do Scientologists get away with violent actions?  First, they help get local officials elected, and they attack local officials that are against them.  Second, in many cities where there is a large Scientology population, they are actually a large employer of off duty police officers as "security officers".  Take a look at the short video below.

Sexual Abuse Permitted in Scientology

There have been more than dozens of cases of Sexual Abuse and Sexual Abuse of Children in Scientology that were never reported to officials or if they were reported, not until years later.  The reason is, in order to keep the dark side of Scientology out of the public eye, Scientologists may not take their legal differences, or even criminal complaints outside of the church but must handle them internally through mediation.  Also there is this.  Scientology ethics always assumes that if something bad happens to you, that you are responsible for pulling it in on yourself.

Then there is the policy of 1st of September 1965 entitled “Ethics Protection” written by Hubbard in which he says:

“When people do start reporting a staff member with a high statistic, what you investigate is the person who turned in the report. In an ancient army a particularly brave deed was recognized by an award of the title of Kha-Khan. It was not a rank. The person remained what he was, BUT he was entitled to be forgiven the death penalty ten times in case in the future he did anything wrong. That was a Kha-Khan. That’s what producing, high-statistic staff members are – Kha-Khans. They can get away with murder without a blink from Ethics…. And Ethics must recognize a Kha-Khan when it sees one – and tear up the bad report chits on the person with a yawn.”

This policy not only pertains to staff with high statistics, but public Scientologists as well, as long as they are big producers (bringing in lots of money).  Hubbard also said that he did not care what his staff members did as long as they were “ up-stats” (helped make money) for Scientology and implies that staff can get away with murder in a blink of the eye, and not to bother him with details.

Examples of these policies are rampant and I will only give you a few of them here.  

First is the story of the late Alexander Jentzsch, the son of Scientology president Heber Jentzsch.  From the Scientology Cult website:

In Scientology Inc., the reputation of David Miscavige comes before all else. Which was also seen in the tragic loss of Lisa McPherson who, while she lay dying, was driven to a hospital 45 minutes away — no doubt to put some distance between her and the Flag Land Base where she had been neglected, while Morton Plant Hospital was only blocks away in the other direction. But of course putting PR first is just another way of saying "cover up."

And on that theme, Alexander had already fallen into a well-worn groove. Behold, Alexander Jentzsch was the victim of a child predator inside the Church of Scientology when he was 12 years old. The incident was covered up the Church of Scientology executives and neither the boy's father nor mother were ever told about it by the Church. Yet you can bet David Miscavige KNEW ALL ABOUT IT. He receives info on ALL potential legal liabilities. Karen only found out on July 2010 when multiple former executives from the area where Alexander was working contacted Karen and told her what had happened to her son. Here's what they said:

Witness #1:

"I was a member of the Sea Organization from August 1989 till August 2007. It was when I worked in the Office of Special Affairs Flag Land Base, that I learned about the rape of Alexander Jentzsch, then a 12 or 13 years son of Karen De La Carriere and Heber Jentzsch. I started working in OSA in January 1997 and it was during that year when I learned about the rape through my then co-worker Annie Mora, who had been

assigned to keep an eye on Alexander from the point of time he was received at the Flag Land Base.

The rape incident involved a female FSO Dept 5 staff Marie Warren, seducing Alex to have sex with her in one of the crew berthing apartments. Once this incident became known by Annie Mora she was executing the immediate handling which included making sure the knowledge of the rape isn't  spreading not only inside the church but to the outside; it would have been devastating to the image of the church to have this crime become general knowledge. Another action was to transfer Alexander and Marie out of Florida to California to help cover it up from the Authorities. Needless to say Alexander´s rape was a huge flap and would be the kind of incident OSA staff would automatically deal with, hence my knowledge of it."

A Scientologist by the name of Donald Anthony Strawn, also known as Tony Strawn, was convicted in 1995 to thirty years in prison for sexually molesting two girls, ages 11 and 13. The children were in his custodial care at the time. Scientology directed (under threat of expulsion) that the mother not report the incident to the proper authorities, because the church could "handle" his "aberration".

Astra Woodcraft from Ex Scientology Kids said:

I was 13 years old. I think I was 13. Everyone had beer and got drunk. I think the first night or the second night I was up there, I was sitting next to him and I had had a few beers and so had he. And so had  everyone else. And he put his hand down my shirt and down my bra and started feeling me. And I...it really scared me and I asked my friend later, I said, "What's Wally [Hanks] doing? Why did he do this?" And she said, "Oh. Don't worry. He just does that with the girls. That's just what he does but don't worry about it."

And along this line, Adeline Dodd-Bova said:

"These were the children of dedicated Scientologists. Students' files revealed previous teachers' statements of incidents of physical and sexual abuse. All of these cases were reported to the principal. The reports were "handled" by Scientology alone. Teachers dared not report these crimes on their own outside the school for fear of losing their jobs."

Yolanda Howell wrote:

One little baby I knew in the Sea Org got herpes during a Cadet Org epidemic. A 14 year old girl disclosed to me how she and a few other little girls were leaving the Cadet Org in the daytime and performing sexual services for one of the girl's uncles in exchange for money. A man who worked in the Cadet Org admitted he was sexually molesting the children. Although these incidents were written up, as far as I know they were never "handled".

And finally the statement of Tommy Gorman:

It was around 2001, beginning in May when I decided to go see my friend Jennifer Stewart, because she was still on staff at the Mountain View Org. My mother asked “Tommy, have you talked to your friend Jennifer lately?” I said “No”. I thought about it and thought, hey I should call her. I called her home and her mother picked up the telephone and I asked if Jennifer was there. She said no, she is at Gabriel Williams’ home. Jennifer’s mother told me she would call Jennifer and tell her to call me.

Later that day I got a call from Jennifer. I was happy to be on the phone with my bud. I said, hey, can you come over tomorrow? And she said, I have to ask Gabriel, (who was also her boss at Mountain View Org). I said, no, you need to ask your mom and dad, NOT Gabriel. Jennifer said, NO, I have to ask Gabriel. So I said fine, ask him NOW. I heard Gabriel say “uhmm”, so I started to talk very loud and said, “Let Jennifer come over Gabriel.” Then Jennifer said, “Wow, Gabriel said I can come over!”

The next day I picked up Jennifer at BART ( Bay Area Rapid Transit ) at 4 pm. Jennifer looked a lot heavier, and not the same happy girl I knew. She was wearing a turtleneck. The day was kind of warm and I was confused because Jennifer had told me many times before she does not wear turtlenecks, because she hates them.

I gave Jennifer a hug and she jumped back, and I felt confused.. We then talked for hours in my car. I was joking with her about something and tapped her leg and she again recoiled from a touch. At one point I started to talk about Gabriel a lot, and then Jennifer threw up. I continued to discuss Gabriel because I knew something was very wrong. 

Whenever Gabriel’s name came up she was say everything was fine, everything was great, over and over again. I thought this was very weird. It was as if she were in a trance. I finally started yelling at her, to tell me what was going on, and I asked her if anyone had hurt her. Then she started to cry, very hard, for a very long time, and kept talking but I could not understand what she was saying. I asked her what happened, but she said, that she could not tell me.

I asked if she was wearing her turtleneck because she was trying to hide something. I finally got her to let me look under the neck area of the turtleneck. Jennifer had some mark on her neck. When I looked at it closely later on, I saw that she had a right hand mark on her neck when I was looking at her on my left side. She had a thumbprint on her neck on my right side and a couple of finger marks. I asked Jennifer if I could see her arm, and then saw a mark on her arm, she told me she also had a mark on her leg. Jennifer said, “No one will believe me, and Gabriel will kill me and my whole family.” I spent the rest of that night trying to comfort Jennifer. I asked whether Gabriel did this, she said “yes.” She finally admitted that Gabriel had raped her. It was clear to me that Gabriel had threatened Jennifer’s life and had raped her and choked her.

Gabriel was a Scientology staff member at the org in Mountain View, and because of "high production" as reflected by his "statistics," meant that he made Scientology a lot of money. Because of this he was considered by Scientology policy, written by L Ron Hubbard, to be "above the law." This policy is called the “Kha Khan” Policy.

I knew the policy. And I knew that it would be a problem to report this to Scientology because they would protect him, because of his worth to Scientology, and that is exactly what they did. L Ron Hubbard’s policy states that SP’s (enemies of Scientology) always spread false and alarming rumors about up-stats, (high income producers). Hubbard directs staff to investigate any individual who reports or tells, on an “up-stat”.

There is no room in our society for a "church" to have a policy that "it's ok for you to do anything you wan't to people, especially women and children, as long as your stats are up and it doesn't get around".  Scientology still practices this.  Please see the video below.

Scientology and PTSD

BEWARE OF CULT SHOCK

Almost everyone I have known that has been in a cult has PTSD in some form or another.  Just about everybody that has been in Scientology has told me about PTSD symptoms.  But Scientology claims to cure PTSD.

From Scientology Missouri:

"Rather than mask the symptoms of the disorder or attempt to handle it using theories developed by studying rats, Dianetics therapy uses effective techniques based on the case histories of thousands of hours of therapy.  In fact, some of the earliest “patients” which were addressed by L. Ron Hubbard in his researches were fellow veterans of World War II.  L. Ron Hubbard found effective techniques that could be learned by anyone to handle anxiety, stress and being “stuck” in traumatic incidents.  It is also an effective means to address the psychosomatic effects that are caused by past and present trauma."

And from DMSMH:

"The traumatized soldier in the CNN article mentioned above is planning to go to school for 4 years to become a therapist in hopes that she’ll be able to help other people with their stress. However, in a matter of an afternoon, she can be trained in Dianetics techniques which will permanently eradicate the effects of such stress and leave the person alert, and ready to carry out their life with sanity and happiness."

Every Ex-Scientologist I have ever spoken with has at least 4 of the following symptoms:

Symptoms of PTSD: Re-experiencing the traumatic event

Intrusive, upsetting memories of the event

Flashbacks (acting or feeling like the event is happening again)

Nightmares (either of the event or of other frightening things)

Feelings of intense distress when reminded of the trauma

Intense physical reactions to reminders of the event (e.g. pounding heart, rapid breathing, nausea, muscle tension, sweating)

Symptoms of PTSD: Avoidance and numbing

Avoiding activities, places, thoughts, or feelings that remind you of the trauma

Inability to remember important aspects of the trauma

Loss of interest in activities and life in general

Feeling detached from others and emotionally numb

Sense of a limited future (you don’t expect to live a normal life span, get married, have a career)

Symptoms of PTSD: Increased anxiety and emotional arousal

Difficulty falling or staying asleep

Irritability or outbursts of anger

Difficulty concentrating

Hyper-vigilance (on constant “red alert”)

Feeling jumpy and easily startled

Dr. Margaret Thaler Singer, Ph.D. says:

"After exiting a cult, an individual may experience a period of intense and often conflicting emotions. She or he may feel relief to be out of the group, but also may feel grief over the loss of positive elements in the cult, such as friendships, a sense of belonging or the feeling of personal worth generated by the group's stated ideals or mission. The emotional upheaval of the period is often characterized by "post-cult trauma syndrome""

In a recent article, David Love says:

"I escaped from an intimidating and dangerous cult—Scientology—on October 28, 2009. The days and months that followed throughout the past two years have been an ordeal I would not wish on anyone."

And Margery Wakefield says:

For several weeks I was confined to a room on the second floor of the hotel. Meals were brought to my room. One evening I was told to pack. The next morning I was escorted to the airport in Tampa where I was told to pick any place out of the state of Florida, and to go there. I was being given a one-way ticket. I was in shock. I knew what this meant. I was being "offloaded" (Scientology's form of exile). I was no longer welcome in Scientology, which had been my world for twelve years.I flew back to Wisconsin, where my parents were living. My father met me at the airport. Soon I was sitting in the living room of my parents' home, staring at the snow drifting outside the window, trying to assemble my fractured sense of reality into some kind of coherent and workable mental order. For the first week, all I could do was work a huge jigsaw puzzle of Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany. Slowly fitting the pieces together seemed to correspond to an internal process taking place in my mind. I was still unable to think.I noticed that when my father turned on the television, there were periods of time when I would stare at the screen, yet the words of the announcer were in a foreign language. I knew that was strange, because my father was understanding it just fine. My relationship to reality was tenuous for a long time. I had periods of "floating" when I experienced a strange feeling of being disconnected from everything around me, and felt blissfully apart from it all. The bliss was short-lived. Feelings of terror soon emerged as I began to deal with my predicament. I had been exiled from Scientology and would probably be declared "SP" (Suppressive Person), a death sentence not just for this short lifetime, but for trillions of years to come. It was a scary thought. For the first few weeks, I couldn't go anywhere by myself. I felt too fragile. Even walking around the block by myself became a major challenge. The sudden and unexpected rejection by the cult had caused a complete loss of psychic cohesion that would take months to rebuild. I was, to be blunt, a "basket case."

Scientology has a lot of nerve to claim that it cures PTSD.  Do not fall for their PR campaigns.

If you have a story to tell, please share it.  Thanks for dropping by today.  I hope you come back soon.

The Psychology of an Abusive Cult Leader

I decided to look into the lives and teachings of some abusive cult leaders and see if there was a pattern and to see if David Miscavige, and of course L. Ron Hubbard fit into these parameters.  I found that there has been a lot of work in this area, and indeed, there are many traits that almost all abusive cult leaders have in common.  These studies have included the likes of Jim Jones (Jonestown Guyana), David Karesh (Branch Davidians), Stewart Traill (The Church of Bible Understanding), Charles Manson, Shoko Asahara (Aum Shinrikyo), Joseph Di Mambro (The Order of the Solar Temple aka Ordre du Temple Solaire), Marshall Heff Applewhit (Heaven’s Gate), Bhagwan Rajneesh (Rajneesh Movement), and Warren Jeffs (polygamist leader).  According to psychologist and ex-F.B.I agent Joe Navarro

"What stands out about these individuals is that they were or are all pathologically narcissistic. They all have or had an over-abundant belief that they were special, that they and they alone had the answers to problems, and that they had to be revered. They demanded perfect loyalty from followers, they overvalued themselves and devalued those around them, they were intolerant of criticism, and above all they did not like being questioned or challenged. And yet, in spite of these less than charming traits, they had no trouble attracting those who were willing to overlook these features."

Let's take an amalgamation of these leaders and see what traits they have in common:

Here are the typical traits of the pathological cult leader you should watch for and which shout caution, get away, run, or avoid if possible: 

He has a grandiose idea of who he is and what he can achieve.

Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, or brilliance.

Demands blind unquestioned obedience.

Requires excessive admiration from followers and outsiders.

Has a sense of entitlement - expecting to be treated special at all times.

Is exploitative of others by asking for their money or that of relatives putting others at financial risk.

Is arrogant and haughty in his behavior or attitude.

Has an exaggerated sense of power (entitlement) that allows him to bend rules and break laws.

Takes sexual advantage of members of his sect or cult.

Sex is a requirement with adults and sub adults as part of a ritual or rite.

Is hypersensitive to how he is seen or perceived by others. 

Publicly devalues others as being inferior, incapable, or not worthy.

Makes members confess their sins or faults publicly subjecting them to ridicule or humiliation while revealing exploitable weaknesses of the penitent.

Has ignored the needs of others, including: biological, physical, emotional, and financial needs.

Is frequently boastful of accomplishments.

Needs to be the center of attention and does things to distract others to insure that he or she is being noticed by arriving late, using exotic clothing, over dramatic speech, or by making theatrical entrances.

Has insisted in always having the best of anything (house, car, jewelry, clothes) even when others are relegated to lesser facilities, amenities, or clothing.

Doesn’t seem to listen well to needs of others, communication is usually one-way in the form of dictates.

Haughtiness, grandiosity, and the need to be controlling is part of his personality.

Behaves as though people are objects to be used, manipulated or exploited for personal gain.

When criticized he tends to lash out not just with anger but with rage.

Anyone who criticizes or questions him is called an “enemy.”

Refers to non-members or non-believers in him as “the enemy.”

Acts imperious at times, not wishing to know what others think or desire.

Believes himself to be omnipotent.

Has “magical” answers or solutions to problems.

Is superficially charming.

Habitually puts down others as inferior and only he is superior.

Has a certain coldness or aloofness about him that makes others worry about who this person really is and or whether they really know him.

Is deeply offended when there are perceived signs of boredom, being ignored or of being slighted.

Treats others with contempt and arrogance.

Is constantly assessing for those who are a threat or those who revere him.

The word “I” dominates his conversations. He is oblivious to how often he references himself.

Hates to be embarrassed or fail publicly - when he does he acts out with rage.

Doesn’t seem to feel guilty for anything he has done wrong nor does he apologize for his actions.

Believes he possesses the answers and solutions to world problems.

Believes himself to be a deity or a chosen representative of a deity.

Rigid, unbending, or insensitive describes how this person thinks.

Tries to control others in what they do, read, view, or think.

Has isolated members of his sect from contact with family or outside world.

Monitors and or restricts contact with family or outsiders.

Works the least but demands the most.

Has stated that he is “destined for greatness” or that he will be “martyred.”

Seems to be highly dependent of tribute and adoration and will often fish for compliments.

Uses enforcers or sycophants to insure compliance from members or believers.

Sees self as “unstoppable” perhaps has even said so.

Conceals background or family which would disclose how plain or ordinary he is.

Doesn’t think there is anything wrong with himself – in fact sees himself as perfection or “blessed.”

Has taken away the freedom to leave, to travel, to pursue life, and liberty of followers.

Has isolated the group physically (moved to a remote area) so as to not be observed.

When a cult or organizational leader has a preponderance of these traits then we can anticipate that at some point those who associate with him will likely suffer physically, emotionally, psychologically, or financially. If these traits sound familiar to leaders, groups, sects, or organizations known to you then expect those who associate with them to live in despair and to suffer even if they don’t know it, yet.

Two writers on the subject used the label "Trust Bandit" to describe the psychopathic personality.Trust Bandit is indeed an apt description of this thief of our hearts, souls, minds, bodies, and pocketbooks. Since a significant percentage of current and former cult members have been in more than one cultic group or relationship, learning to recognize the personality style of the Trust Bandit can be a useful antidote to further abuse.

The Profile of a Psychopath

In reading the profile, bear in mind the three characteristics that Robert Lifton sees as common to a cultic situation:

1. A charismatic leader who...increasingly becomes the object of worship

2. A series of processes that can be associated with "coercive persuasion" or "thought reform"

3. The tendency toward manipulation from above...with exploitation--economic, sexual, or other--of often genuine seekers who bring idealism from below.

Steve Hassan (former cult member turned psychologist) says, "It's shocking to me that so many people today have not even heard of Jonestown". But Hassan observes the lasting psychological effects every day in his work with former cult victims, and he says cults are growing more powerful and more cunning in their deceit--often by using psychological research findings--while the public remains largely unaware of them.

If cults are going to abuse lessons from social psychology, psychologists must study how they are doing this, Cialdini says. More attention to researching and working with cult victims is needed, Hassan adds. For example, psychologists need specific training to work with former cult members, who often suffer from dissociative or panic disorders, he explains.

"There are lots of individuals who are suffering," Hassan says, "and they need our help."

Referring back to Hubbard and Miscavige, I think you can see that they share too many of the above traits to be ignored and that indeed, people who have loved ones in the "church" of Scientology should have grave concerns for the well-being of those loved ones.

Thanks for dropping by.  I will be interested in your views.  If you have the time, please see the video below to look into some of the mind of L. Ron Hubbard.

Attention Parents

Kyle Brennan's death (you can read about it here) is one of too many deaths of young people at the hands of Scientology.  Scientology and the Clearwater Fl. Police Dept. (who are somehow controlled by Scientology) claim that he committed suicide.  I as well as many have doubts that it was suicide but, if it was indeed suicide it was, in my opinion, a case of Depraved Indifference Homicide.  You see, Kyle's father, at the command of Scientology, took Kyle's anti-depressant/anti-anxiety medication away from him and locked it in his trunk.  This left Kyle in a state of instant withdrawal with no medical, or any other, supervision.  Anyone with a brain could see that this was an invitation to disaster.  Kyle's father was afraid that as he was connected to a person (His Own Son), who was on psychiatric drugs, and if he didn't handle his son, (get him off of the drugs), he might not be able to continue to receive services from Scientology.  Kyle's mother, Victoria Britton, spoke publicly for the first time last night with God Discussion on Blog Talk Radio.

This by Denise Brennan:

Below is a podcast of a three-hour radio show last night, February 15, 2013. In my opinion it is one of the most important recordings ever made about the dangers of organized scientology and how it can hurt any of our children. 

There were several very helpful panel members and people who called in but the main person speaking for the first time publically was Victoria Britton, the mother of Kyle Brennan who died tragically at the "mecca" of scientology in Clearwater, FL. Victoria's love, compassion, goodness and pain shown through to tell a story that we all need to hear.

I highly recommend that people listen to this and pass it on to all possible media contacts so it can be spread even further.Kyle Brennan could have been the child of any of us. And what happened to Kyle could happen to any of our children. I wish every mother and father in the world could hear this.

Listen to internet radio with God Discussion on Blog Talk Radio

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Contact your State representatives and senators and ask them to enact laws against depriving children and young charges of medical attention or medication in the name of religion or faith healing.  Recently the state of Oregon in the U.S. passed a law that makes it illegal for parents to deprive their children of medical attention because of religious beliefs:  

"Lawmakers said if parents don't get medical attention for their kids, they will be charged with manslaughter if not murder.

"That they do not seek medical care when their child is suffering much less dying is just inexcusable. They have a right to practice their own beliefs on themselves but the state of Oregon says you don't have the right to practice your belief on your children," said State Representative Carolyn Tomei."  You can read the full story here.

Thanks for coming by today.  I hope you will be back.

Scientology's Bad Times - Why I Am Afraid

No doubt that Scientology is in the midst of its worst time in history politically, legally and in the press.  Big law suits, F.B.I. investigations, the press and media, are all having a field day taking pot shots at the "church".  While many of us feel that the end of the "church" is near, bringing cause for a party, it is also a time of consternation.  In many cases past, cults, especially ones with charismatic leaders, have gone to great lengths to avoid criminal investigations, law suits and mass defections, many times to the point of extermination of their flocks.  While I have some hope that Scientologists may have enough of their own minds left to avoid such a tragedy, I have no doubt that David Miscavige is the kind that would, if he felt pressured enough, order a final solution.  Or, he may just order new quarters for the International Base be built in some third world country where he can be a law unto himself.

In the second case, he even has Hubbard policy on his side:


"Somebody some day will say ‘this is illegal.’  By then be sure the Orgs [Scientology organizations] say what is legal or not." - L. Ron Hubbard, Hubbard Communications Office Policy Letter, 4 January 1966, "LRH Relationship to Orgs"

This is not a joke.  While the rest of the world is busy laughing at the antics of Miscavige and his minions, The "church" has been busy making social and political inroads in the third world countries.


In 2003, the National Ministry of the Interior for Taiwan recognized the Church of Scientology of Taiwan as a charitable religious institution, officially adding it to the rolls of the country's recognized religions.  Young Scientologists take to the streets during peak traffic, and distribute copies of The Truth about Drugs series of drug education booklets.  Over the past year alone the Church of Scientology conducted 99 drug education events in Taiwan and distributed 45,150 anti-drug booklets.


Friday, June 11, 2010
Papua New Guineans join church of Scientology
By ALISON ANIS

MORE than 300 people in the National Capital District have signed up for training courses offered by the church of Scientology through its team of volunteers, The National reports. Since its official opening and welcoming ceremony on Monday, Scientology volunteer ministers have attracted many city residents to their exhibition tents at the Murray army barracks playing field. Australian team leader Mathew Andrews confirmed yesterday that he had recruited seven PNG volunteers to help with the training of participants who signed up to learn more about the group and its ways. “Many people have shown an interest. “We are getting about 100 people a day and have more than 300 here with us,” Andrews said. He said since putting out advertisements in the newspapers, he had been getting between 30 and 40 calls a day from people wanting to know more about the organisation. Andrews, who was running a training program for the new recruits at the campsite yesterday, maintained that Scientology was all about helping people help themselves and others in overcoming life’s problem and make the world better.

And then there is this:

In Tonga, part of the Samoan chain, Scientology has been busy bringing its Narconon style of alcohol rehabilitation to the area.  Tonga has, perhaps, the highest indigenous alcoholism rate of all the Pacific Islands.  Scientology/Narconon has been setting up alcohol and drug education and rehab centers there as part of its Pacific Campaign. 

No cause for concern?  I would like to remind you that Papua New Guinea is a law unto itself and  that West Samoa and Taiwan have NO extradition treaties with the U.S.  You see some cause for fear here?
I welcome your comments.

Thanks for dropping by today.  Be sure to bookmark this blog and come back often.

Christmas Tears

I woke up crying a few times last night.  Those of you who know me best will know why.  While many of us will spend the holidays with good friends and loved ones, sharing a good dinner and good cheer, there is a large group of people who will be alone or in small numbers around the world for the sake of a lie.

These people have been beguiled into believing that their sacrifice, giving up on love, life, happiness and joy, will be to the benefit of all mankind in creating a "world without war, crime or insanity, where honest beings can have rights, and where Man is free to rise to greater heights", and don't we all want that?

You probably know by now that I am talking about the members of Scientology's Sea Organization and especially, those members that are in the RPF (Rehabilitation Project Force, Scientology's Prison Camp).  It is unnecessary at this point to go into the hard indoctrination (brainwashing) the people have gone through to bring them to this point of denial of all good things in life.  Be assured that most people, myself included, would bend to command intention (whatever happens to strike the fancy of David Miscavige at the moment).   You know what they say, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."  All of us who were ever in the "church" of Scientology believed, at one time, that we were doing the greatest good for the greatest number of beings, not only on Earth, but the entire Universe.

I am also talking about the hundreds of people, many who I know, that will be forbidden to be with their loved ones over the holidays because of Scientology's abominable policy of Disconnection.  When a Scientologist has fallen out of favor with "church" they are Declared a Suppressive Person (excommunicated)  and any and all Scientologists are forbidden to be with, or even speak to that person.   Friends, family, all you have ever been close to abandoning you because you dared to publicly leave the "church".  This is your permanent punishment for not following the mad rantings of the, now deceased, man who would be the master of the world. 

Here is my Christmas Wish.  That all of you PLEASE JOIN ME in my prayer  (or sending out positive thoughts into the Universe) that this is the last year that these good, well intention'ed people will have to go through the Christmas season without being around those that they love.  Thank you.

Hubbard - Mankind's Greatest Friend

From the "church" of Scientology's Official website on Hubbard:

Philosopher, humanitarian, author, artist, educator and administrator—L. Ron Hubbard served us in a myriad of ways. In turn, he is quite literally viewed by millions worldwide as Mankind’s greatest friend: by those now literate, by those now drug-free, by those who used his work to reclaim their honor and self-respect, by those who enjoy new-found prosperity, morality and the unmatched joy of artistic creation.

So let's take a look at our great friend.  First, let us look at a major precept of human decency and morality.  Honesty.  Can we as humans be true friends with others without it.  I don't believe so.  So what does Hubbard say about lying?  Here are a few quotes for you.

"THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN CONTROL PEOPLE IS TO LIE TO THEM. You can write that down in your book in great big letters. The only way you can control anybody is to lie to them. … He's got to tell you lies in order to continue control, because the second you start telling anybody close to the truth, you start releasing him and he gets tougher and tougher to control. So, you can't control somebody without telling them a bunch of lies."

And from the Philadelphia Doctorate Course we have:

"Now, you say, "We have to be absolutely truthful and sincere; and sincerity is the main thing, and truthfulness is the main thing, and don't lie to anybody, and never…" and so on, "and you'll get ahead." You — brother, you sure will. You'll get ahead right on that cycle of action right toward zero"

As a matter of fact, if you are employed in Scientology's Office of Special Affairs, part of you training is lying.  That's right.  Every OSA member is required to take the Intelligence Course which has a different type of Training Routines (indoctrination).  This one is called TR-L (Training Routine - Lying).

INTELLIGENCE SPECIALIST TRAINING ROUTINE - TR L

Purpose: To train the student to give a false statement with good TR-1 . To train the student to outflow  false data effectively.

Position: Same as TR-1

Commands: Part 1 "Tell me a lie". Command given by coach. Part 2 interview type 2 WC by coach.

Training Stress: In Part 1 coach gives command, student originates a falsehood. Coach flunks for out  TR 1 or TR 0. In Part 2 coach asks questions of the student on his background or a subject. Student gives untrue data of a plausible sort that that student backs up with further explanatory data upon the coach further questions. The coach flunks for out TR 0 and TR 1, and for student fumbling on question answers.

Click here to read the rest.

So much for honesty huh?

So how about the rest of the human condition?  In Scientology it is estimated that 20% of all of the human population on earth fall below 2.0 on the Scientology Tone Scale.

Click here to see the Tone Scale in full.

20%.  Not too many huh?  Let's look at the numbers.  There are currently 7 Billion people in the world.  So 20% would be about 1.4 Billion people that fall into the category that Scientologists would call degraded beings.  What would Hubbard have us do with these poor souls?  Have a look from Science of Survival:

"The only answers would seem to be the permanent quarantine of such persons from society to avoid the contagion of their insanities and the general turbulence which they bring into any order"

"In any event, any person from 2.0 down on the tone scale should not have, in any thinking society, any civil rights of any kind..."

Homelessness, joblessness, depression, mental illness, and so on would not be allowed.  They should be"disposed of quietly and without regret" This would include anyone who is in chronic pain (1.8), covertly hostile (1.1)(This includes all sexually aberrated  persons, defined in Scientology as L.G.B.T or even someone who masturbates regularly), people in fear, despair, terror, sympathy, the chronically ill, the dying.  Among others.  Oh yeah, don't forget those who are antagonistic toward Scientology. I want you to get this. 1.4 Billion people should be removed from society or euthanized.

And what about those of us who publicly oppose Scientology?  Hubbard doesn't pull any punches about that.  He says that we may "be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked, sued or lied to or utterly destroyed." 

Lastly, would "Mankind's Greatest Friend" be a racist?  I will give you a few examples:

"The South African native is probably the one impossible person to train in the entire world — he is probably impossible by any human standard." 

– L. Ron Hubbard, PAB No. 119, 1 September 1957, as published in Level 0 PABS (c.1968, The American St. Hill Organization).

"As long as a white foreman is there, they will prevent soil erosion; but the moment that a white foreman turns his back — boo! There goes the whole program."

"And you finally get up to the point of where he's [native] supposed to take care of something, a lesson which has never been taught to the native of South Africa."

–L. Ron Hubbard, 15th ACC (Power of Simplicity) lecture "Education: Point of Agreement", 30 Oct 1956.

 What Gall!  And finally, from a letter to his first wife Polly:

"You shouldn't be scrubbing the floor on your hands and knees. Get yourself a nigger; that's what they're born for."

Thanks for being here today.  Please come back soon for more.  You comments, as always are welcomed.

The R.P.F. - Scientology's Prison Camp

The fence that you see above is located at Scientology's "Gold" Base, not too far from the city of Hemet, California in the U.S.  As you can see, the stainless steel razor spikes point both ways, not only to keep people out, but to keep those on the inside from escaping.  Did I mention this is a "church"?  Can it possibly be that the "church" of Scientology has it's own concentration camp?  Read on.

Possibly the worst policies L. Ron Hubbard ever came up with were the policies that constitute the Rehabilitation Project Force (R.P.F. for short).  Scientology upper management will tell you that is is a voluntary work/study/religious retreat to help rehabilitate Sea Organization members and get them back up to where they can be productive members of the group.  It is actually a prison camp to punish those Sea Organization members that have angered management in some way or another.  Some are thrown into this work/punishment detail just because they wish to leave the Sea Org or Scientology.

Once in, members are in and punished until they are back in the good graces of the management.  This has been known to last up to 6 years and more.  Members of the R.P.F. are not allowed to communicate with anyone outside of the R.P.F.  They are not allowed to eat at the same times as other staff.  They are only allowed to sleep in separate quarters, usually filthy places with only one bathroom for all members.  They are not allowed to communicate to their friends or family by phone or letter unless it would cause a flap (bad p.r.).  If they are permitted to call, their calls are monitored by a security person to make sure they don't say where they are or how they really are doing.  Letters out must be read by security personnel before they are posted.  If an member is having a hard time making it in the R.P.F., no problem.  There is always the R.P.F.'s R.P.F. The only reason for that organization is to totally break the member to make them pliable and willing to follow any command.  Sleep deprivation, filthy food and quarters, not being allowed any personal time, hard work, no socialization are all part of this "program".

I have heard many horror stories of friends that have been in.  Here are just a few quotes:

From Tonja Burden - "... In the RPF you were labeled 'treasonous' and forced to work 18 hours a day.7 days a week and oftentimes received only 'rice and beans' and water. During this time I personally observed a person chained to pipes in the boiler room in the Fort Harrison building for a period of weeks. In the RPF I saw people screaming and crying during the constant auditing on the E-meter. RPF prisoners were forced to undergo auditing in order to audit out their evil purposes against Hubbard and Scientology. I cried virtually the whole time I was in the RPF."

From Hana Whitfield - "Certain infractions caused the person responsible to be assigned to the RPF's RPF, a place in the lower boiler room under the Fort Harrison Hotel, among the boilers and hot waters pipes which rambled and hissed 24 hours a day. The place was only dimly lit. It consisted of interconnecting-spaces through which one had to crawl on hands and knees at times past or underneath huge pipes and massive 10 foot high boilers. It had a dark, forbidding, somewhat scary place. One of my buddies was assigned to the RPF's RPF for two months for refusing to divulge confidential information for which she had been bonded in the Guardian's Office. She was kept in that space ex-communicado for the entire time, with limited bathing and toilet privileges, all the time being threatened and verbally harassed by RPF superiors. She finally emerged a broken, silent, sullen person who soon after managed to escape from the RPF and the Fort Harrison Hotel. Her name was Lynn Froyland."

From our good friend Suzi Nefertiti a.k.a. Mary Abadi - an average day in the RPF - "Basically, it consists in getting up early before everybody and going to bed very late after everybody else. Fatigue is omnipresent. Just 7 hours sleep is not enough to compensate for a forced labor work in a hell cadence. The person's resistance, even in good health conditions begins to decay. At this rate, after a week of forced pace — I would not wish to my worst enemies (except Miscavige and other bastards) — I felt my strengths lowering. Cramps becoming more and more frequent were all the more painful since I had to continue running no matter what. Aching all over, sweat had also become a fearful enemy. Florida's hot and humid climate with the accelerated rhythm of constant effort provoked an important sweating which was responsible for an accumulation of bacteria. The thing was to protect ourselves from potential wounds at all cost. No preventive measures was ever taken and of course, no medicine, not even antiseptics or antibiotics were allowed in case of injury or illness.

Actions stations would occur by 7AM. All I had was 5 minutes to be ready; get dressed with a dirty black trousers, a dirty black tee-shirt, and remember the black ribbon around the left arm. Well well! like Jews with a star sewn on their torn coat during the second World War of evil memory... or like the red letter sewn on the heroin's dress of a famous novel; The Scarlet Letter from Nathaniel Hawthorne. Standing for adulterous, the letter A stigmatized the woman's "sin" heavily reproved and socially condemned by puritan moral prevailing in 17 Century Boston. Hester Prynne is sentenced for adultery to be put in the stocks. She is to forever wear the symbol of her sin, the big red letter A sewn on the bodice of her dress.

In the RPF, the dark ribbon is the representation of discrimination; the illegal and arbitrary segregation of the person. The person is plainly ostracized. It is the same thing really except that we no longer live in 17th Century. Of course the RPF is contrary to the Rights of Man, violates every Constitution and must be forbidden by the Governments would they only bother to assume their responsibilities and make proper legislation so that no intern prison belonging to any group or "religion" call it a labor camp, gulag or RPF be tolerated on their soils. I guess that the will of politics would be awakened when a politician's daughter or son were to be be ensnared by a cult and be interned in one of those camps or worse, were to commit suicide.

The RPF illegal forced labor camp is all the more intolerable since this humiliation is presented as an expiation for adept's so-called "crimes" and which is forced to accept his need for Redemption. On top of that imagined by a perverted madman, sadistic and paranoid schizophrenic guru.

But let's come back to the story.

As a precautionary measure, I always wore a clean tee-shirt underneath the black and dirty one. Fortunately, I had a dozen tee-shirts in my suitcase. Every night after the 30 seconds shower I coated my body with talc in order to protect my skin against sweat. We all suffered from heavy sweating. I recall this young woman terribly suffering from an important infection which had been developing under her breasts. Instead of healing, the wound had been expanding to such a degree that purulent blisters had reached her navel. When I saw that infection I told her: "Here, have some talc, take mine." She looked at me puzzled.

— "I think you should wear a cotton tee-shirt under your bra in order to isolate your breasts. That may help to stop the infection." I added.

She answered that she didn't have any so I spontaneously gave her 2 tee-shirts of mine.

— "You can wash your tee-shirt every night so you will always have a clean and dry tee-shirt for the day after."

She had a sort of trembling.

— "Why are you doing this? Why are you helping me?" she asked.

With the passing of time, I realize how pathetic was this woman's reaction. How was it possible that someone should help her? She had lost the notion of solidarity! (something very present in regular prisons or prison camps.)

To me it was just a matter of assisting someone in danger; her infection had definitely become too large to ignore it. Unlike others, I felt compassion. In the RPF, it's every man for himself.

Among the 8 girls living in the same room I was the only one to offer some help. But each girl was having her share of suffering, each girl was trying to survive the best she could and then I had just arrived to the RPF, therefore I was not weakening yet. I could still afford to help someone...

We used to take a bus taking us to the Fort Harrison. That bus was infested with cockroaches. First, I refused to sit down since the bus was crawling with cockroaches which did not mind to step on us but then with fatigue overpowering me, I relinquished to sit down. Every moment of rest had become a priority so we all just merely move our hands or feet once in a while to dismiss bigger ones...

At the RPF "mess" (room in which meals are eaten in the Armed Forced), it was a matter of feeding ourselves the best we could. Cereals in the form of unappetizing porridges were proposed. To hold out and despite my disgust in eating solid food in the morning, I reluctantly swallowed every kind of soups or pigswills, as long as they had milk in it. The RPFer in charge of bringing the food was warmly welcomed by everybody since he had managed to find a milk gallon; I watched as he was being applauded and sadly deduced that milk was not an obvious foodstuff in the RPF.

"Muster" or "roll-call" would then take place. The shabby-looking gulag battalion pastiched military muster for review or inspection. Everyone is supposed to answer his name by "Hi Sir". Any delay, be it one second, is heavily sanctioned. The sorry spectacle of four RPF tottering columns was a wretched sight; twenty people struggling to stand to attention looked far more as an East German extermination camp than a glorious glittering "corps d'elite" Sea Org members. I could not help thinking that it was impossible avoiding to relate the cortege of mere shadows that we had become with the flashy group in full uniform pictured in the cult propaganda magazine and supposed to lead mankind on "the road of total freedom." Ironically, we were imprisoned and carrying the same chains we had all come to set man free from. Quite obviously, there was an horrendous booby trap I could not figure out.

The first standing order of the day was to clean the Fort Harrison stairs (approximately 15 floors) I was given a bucket, a floor cloth and a twin, in this case a very young lady barely18 years old.

As we started to clean the steps one by one on our knees, she asked me the reason of my RPF assignment. I answered in a relaxed off-hand manner that since I wanted to leave the best way out, I had come up with was to violate the SO ethical code, that is to say never have sexual relationship outside marriage.

— "I went out 2D" (esoteric language for having sexual intercourse.) "And you know what?" I added, "we didn't even have time 'to materialize' because they caught us just before we did!"

She burst out laughing and she told me her story. Roughly, her situation was the following; she didn't agree with some decisions from up lines management, she stood fast and didn't allow herself to be swayed (thus sent to the RPF).

Being born in the cult, having known but the cult, perspectives projected by her towards the exterior world were extremely reduced.

— "I have no diploma, I could never work in the 'wog world'" (racist term to signify everything that do not belong to the cult.)

— "Do you have any family outside?" I ventured.

— "Yes, my mother is in England. I don't know her and she is 'declared'" (a person declared is a person arbitrarily declared a "suppressive being" by the cult: i.e. ostracized.) "I don't have the right to see her. Besides, could I adapt myself in a country I do not know with a mother whose face I don't even recall? If I failed to get in tune everything would be over for me. I have no choice; I must endure."

This lucid, clear-minded 18 years old young lady, with her long blond hair saying that she had no future outside the cult was deeply moving. Suddenly, I realized the horror of isolation to which every youngsters born and raised in the cult are abandoned to. They can't escape, and how could they? They are prisoners inside of the life they will never get to know outside...

She glanced a fearful look at me: was I going to betray a confidence she shouldn't have ever made? I reassured her with a smile.

— "Don't worry. I won't say anything. Well, the outside world is not that terrible you know, after all, I've come from out there!"

I'll never forget her sad and resigned look. She said dreamy:

— "Yes, maybe, who knows?"

In fact, she was an Exec from CMO INT (high executive from the International Commodore Messengers Org, very senior org in the cult.) She was to stand up for me once when one of the RPF warder took it out on me with no apparent reason. She literally jumped on the bigot:

— "If you don't leave her alone immediately I swear I'll remember you when I get out of here and you know that I'll get out before you do!" (RPF warders are on RPF program too.)

Anyway, the guy was nailed to the spot; not only did he forget all about me but everyone kept a respectable distance ever since. It is true that in the cult complex hierarchy CMO INT execs have almost every power. Thinking it over, I think I gave her a little hope; it wasn't that bad outside...

The day would continue with the cleaning and scouring of every toilet of Fort Harrison building reserved to the "public" (scientologists coming from all around the world for "services") We actually "liked" to do it since it was deliciously air-conditioned inside and frankly, compared to other RPF hardship, sponging up sinks had almost become our idea of having fun! I only feared that someone should recognize me in such a slave get-up, with a hand brush, bent over a bowl-shaped part of a toilet.

A misfortune buddy almost fainted when cleaning a mirror; she stopped dead staring at her own image with horror. Well, the poor girl didn't already look well but now she had just turned green. We were all looking dreadful, dirty, shaggy-haired and were quite in a bad shape. The thing was to carefully avoid meeting our face. She started to cry. She just could not afford to breakdown. She was putting herself at risk by sobbing in front of scientologists. It was awfully "bad PR" (bad public relation). Suddenly one of us said with her nasal Oklahoma twang:

— "Well, what should I say? Look at me! I look like Frankenstein whereas you only look as if you had seen him!"

Everybody laughed and the poor girl somehow pulled herself together. She then cautiously kept avoiding every mirror reflection. There was a sort of solidarity but very rare and punctual. Relationships were mostly lived in terms of power struggle. Orders were constantly shouted, we were hustled from morning to evening, no slowing down even in the sun, sanctions would shower on us:

— "Take a lap! Take two laps! Take five laps!" ( a lap consists in running around the Fort Harrison garage ramp.)

The mirror young lady had a hard time to follow the pace. She would stumble over, fall, get herself hurt, and would always be behind the pack (late) and I would tremble for her. RPFer's bosun (warder) was pretending not to see her. So I thought that she would be spared as she was obviously of a frail nature. In fact, it's highly probable that her fall was programmed. I witnessed an odd conversation looking like bets in racecourses:

— "That one, I give her 2 weeks!"

— "I don't give her another week myself!"

Well I will never know what happens when the person can't take any longer (maybe she's assigned to the RPF's RPF) for I chucked out before it ever became my turn. I don't even dare to think about it... There were the dangerous tasks to perform. The garbage detail was particularly strenuous for the fair sex. Men would challenge us making fun of our poor efforts to get up enormous and filthy garbage cans. Some girls would exhaust themselves out in vain; I would just save my strengths protecting the best than I could my fingers, my feet, my body in general. An accident might happen and no treatment would be granted, furthermore there is no hospital in the RPF; there is not even an emergency kit.

There was a definite lack of everything; salary already reduced to the third part was suspended for the vast majority of the RPFers. So everybody would soon become indigent. Suddenly, you can no longer buy cigarettes (only unrestricted items allowed), your toothpaste, soap or deodorant... Would you allow me to stress that women still having their periods, find it extremely degrading not having enough cash to buy a box of tampax (some women suffer from cycle troubles due to stress and fatigue; same symptoms occurred in concentration camps.) At least, this is what I could experiment for myself and I was utterly happy to have some tampaxes in my car gloves locker. How humiliating it is to find oneself in complete poverty when one has given away a fortune for the cause and is subsequently working as a beast of burden! What a despair it is to notice one is reduced to slavery whereas one had come in pushed by the winds of freedom in order to align in the ranks of those working so that man would be set free!

The end of the day would be a piece of anthology. As I said, there was the special gulag training (5 hours training = 5 hours indoctrination) Such a training was mandatory of course and consisted in a cortege of forced confessions of imagined crimes and treacheries of every kind (mental torture called O/Ws). By any means, I knew that before I got there I had to restudy the same HCOBS & PLs (guru's nonsense) I already knew by heart. Well then, I shall continue to act stupid; I would spend hours on a 10 pages long bulletin called "Keeping Scientology Working" and pretended to be busy by turning the dictionary pages which would allow me to remain seated most of the time. You see in the RPF and other gulags, luxury is motionlessness. The thing is just to remain in complete stillness. Moreover, RPF's indoctrination is delayed but, who wants to think about it? Anyway, two RPFers had noticed my little game and as they were up to the same one themselves we would once in a while glance at each other in beaming mirth! That's what being called "mutual out ruds" (esoteric expression meaning a negative conniving attitude, being a party of something or someone.)

At the end of the day, coinciding with the end of special gulag indoctrination, we were supposed to — well at least it was highly encouraged — take the floor to say how pleased we all were and how wonderful and fabulous it was to follow a convict's program without forgetting to stress we were all thankful to hope that one day Redemption would occur thanks to the marvellous technology of the best friend Earth had ever bore! I always refused to participate to this farce where we had on top of that to applaud everyone's fantastic gains! I would simply put a mongoloid grin on my face which actually fitted very well on submission grounds and approval of every nonsense that could be heard. As long as I seemed to agree to the whole masquerade and as long as I looked vaguely stupid, I knew I would be allowed to vogue over relatively peaceful waters. Anyhow, I was delighted I had done some theatre acting when I wondered; under the false aspect of a tranquil lake, furious roaring fortieth currents and other howling fiftieth wind streams were preparing devastating tidal waves..."  You can read her full testimony as well as others here.

Before you go, I would like for you to hear in her own voice how this has effected her even after being out of Scientology for years.  The psychological pain that many of us have been is why we protest so hard.

Thanks for coming by.  I hope you have been educated a little.  You comments are welcomed as always.  Here are a few references by Hubbard about the RPF, just click the titles.

THE REHABILITATION PROJECT FORCE

RPF—RIGHTS AND RESTRICTIONS

THE RPF’s RPF

RE-EDUCATION STEP