What
can I do if I recently found out my son/daughter
has joined Scientology?
Call us as soon as you can
and we will be able to help and advise you
What is a destructive cult?
1) A cult is usually
characterised by a leader who claims divinity or
a special mission delegated to him or her by God.
2) The leader or
founders [usually living] demand absolute and
unquestioning obedience and are the sole judges
of the member's faith and commitment.
3) Established members are
often guarded, vague, deceptive or secretive about
beliefs, goals, demands and activities until the
recruit is hooked.
4) A cult often encourages
exclusivity and isolation using the excuse that
all outside the cult are totally evil or satanic.
5) Meaningful communication
with family and former friends is sharply curtailed
and the cult becomes the convert's new family.
In most cults ever attempt is made to blur or
eliminate the convert's conscious memories or
his or her former way of life.
6) Cults systematically
employ sophisticated techniques designed to effect
ego-destruction, thought reform and dependence
on the cult..
7) Indoctrinated members
put goals of the cult ahead of individual concerns,
interests, education plans, career, health and
well-being.
8) The cult may maintain
members in a state of heightened suggestibility
through lack of sleep, engineered diet, intense
spiritual exercise, constant indoctrination, controlled
group experiences and manipulation "spiritual"
encounters.
9) Converts may display
symptoms of extreme tension and stress, fear,
guilt, lack of humour, regression in communication
skills/critical judgement/logic skills and reality
testing.
10) Members are pre-occupied
with fund-raising, recruiting and workshop activities.
11) The cult may be found
to be exploiting member's finances.
12) Some groups exploit
members through unpaid employment and poor working
conditions.
**Not every cult shows all
these characteristics, but an organisation that
shows any of them should be treated with some
suspicion.
Why do people join?
In general terms, to simply,
'join' any organisation would infer that an individual
has made a decision to do so. Ordinarily this
would involve an individuals free-will. Generally
'free-will' can be an expression describing, an
individuals will, free from outside influence
or duress of any kind. It would more applicable,
in the case of Scientology, to shift the emphasis
from a rather passive sounding word such as 'join'
to the more relevant and aggressive word, 'recruit.'
Therefore the question should
be: 'Are individuals actively recruited?' and
as a sub-heading: 'And does the process involve
deceptive techniques?' If you try and reason through
why people join Scientology you will be heading
off in the wrong direction. In order to discover
why people join you must first appreciate the
process that led up to joining. It must be said
that we know of nobody that willingly and wittingly
joined Scientology that has not been subjected
to the recruitment process.
Recruitment process:
This is a combination of
four deliberate and structured techniques by trained
personnel. The structure is such that scientology
personnel around the world apply them more or
less in the same order as set out by the late
founder L.Ron Hubbard. This is enshrined now in
internal policy and diligently adhered to. Since
Hubbard’s death in 1986, they are known
as part of the scripture of Scientology.
The way in which the techniques
are undertaken illustrate the levels in which
we believe Hubbard deliberately set out to entrap
and enslave.
The order may vary in the
first instance and I have shown this by a forward
slash:
1) [deceptive] survey
questions/ 1a) personality test/introduction by
a friend
2) high pressure selling techniques
3) undue influence
4) coercive and manipulative mind-control techniques
[Deceptive] survey techniques: Without first identifying
themselves, a scientology recruiter is trained
to stop certain people in the street, who he has
already targeted, by age appearance and circumstance,
and approaches to ask whether they would complete
a simple survey.
This always entails asking the same 3 questions;
these are: If you had the opportunity, who would
you want to be?… what would you want to
do?… and lastly,… what would you want
to have?
Once the survey is completed
the scientology recruiter asks the unwitting member
of the public,… “would like to come
with me to find how you can do this?” This
is quickly followed by another well trained technique
known in scientology, as 8C. This is simply moving
a person, usually the recruiter turns in the direction
of the organisation’s office which is always
nearby, and asks the person to follow them.
The whole process is simply designed to attract
a persons attention just long enough to get them
to return with the recruiter to their offices.
1a) Personality
test: [described by Scientology as the
Oxford Capacity Analysist (OCA) any relationship
to the seat of learning in the UK is fictitious
and deliberately misleading] Is a list of 200
questions with multi-choice answers. This test
is not approved or recognised by any testing authority
in the field of psychometric testing. Reputedly,
it was designed by a scientologist formerly a
merchant seaman, with no psychological background
or training. We consider this a tool to hook the
person, rather than a genuine evaluation.The results
are invariably designed to highlight an area of
emotional or psychological stress that Scientology
promises to handle. This is no more than a springboard
or cataylist to persuade the person to purchase
a scientology course or counselling to overcome
their alleged ‘problems’ as portrayed
by the test evaluator.
1c) Introduction
by a friend: Statistically the most effective
form of recruitment obviously enacted, in the
most part, by well-meaning friends trying to help
those who perhaps were experiencing difficulties
in their life. This could only be effective if
the unwitting prospective member was ignorant
of scientology and it’s reputation. The
blind leading the blind. However, the blindness
turns into high pressure selling tehniques and
undue influence the moment the person is introduced
to a scientology organisation. This process then
begins with the personality test and evaluationis
the same as highlighted above and begins with
the personality test.
2) High pressure selling techniques:
These techniques are various.Starting with the
person being asked to fill out a personality test.
The test is described as a free service ‘and
doesn’t take long to complete.’ Once
the person has completed the test he is asked
to wait and have it evaluated The test evaluator
who’s training is usually brief and involves
memorising a script which teaches him
to emphasize alleged weaknesses in the answers
given by a test applicant. The preferred outcome
is to hand the applicant over to a registrar [a
trained salesman] who will sell the applicant
a course to deal with the alleged problems highlighted
by the evaluator. It is emphasised that the course
should start immediately if possible
and that a fee is secured for the course in advance;
therefore committing the
applicant and not allowing any time for reflection.
3) undue influence:
Has all but died out in most commercial organisations
because of the law allowing a ‘customer’
to have a cooling-off period in order to reflect
upon their purchase. However in Scientology this
forms the basis of the initial recruiting tactic
and is very effective. Scientologists undertake
hundreds of hours of ‘counselling’
paying as much as £500 per hour. The counselling
actually heightens suggestibility, and undermines
the critical faculties. Indeed, in a 1955 letter,
Hubbard offered his '‘rainwashing'’techniques
to the FBI. While being promised that through
Scientology individuals will regain their ‘self-determinism'
Scientology actually leads to unquestioning acceptance
of Hubbard’s belief sustem and the erosion
of independent thought. To complete the elaborate
and lengthy steps of Hubbards "Bridge To
Total Freedom" takes years and costs in the
region of £200,000. Some Scientologists
have lost their homes and businesses to pay for
increasingly expensive courses. [excerpt from
‘Deceived’ book-on-line]
4) coercive and
manipulative mind-control techniques:
We have attempted to deal with this issue under
the sub-heading of ‘Why do they stay?
Why do they stay?
To explain this aspect in
it’s fullest sense would involve a great
deal of
time and explanation and there have been many
qualified writers who
have looked at this in depth. Notwithstanding,
we summerize with the salient points :-
We start with the 4th category
listed above:-
coercive and manipulative
mind-control: [hypnosis]
When an individual takes
the first ‘small’ and elementary course
they will be exposed to a built-in foundational
program by Hubbard, called ‘training routines.’
[TR’s for short]. The individual understands
from the coursework, their ability to deal better
with their problems.
The TR`s are trance inducing techniques. If the
person carries out these routines or drills properly,
and a course supervisor is at hand to ensure this
is done, they will not only put themselves into
a trance but they will also put the person they
are having to share the drill with into a similar
state. As the drills progress the trance is reinforced
while objectivity and critical thinking diminishes.
Thus becoming highly suggestive. To understand
the significance of this you would have to have
a good grasp of hypnosis and the power of post
hypnotic suggestion. I suggest reading chapt.19
of Anderson’s ‘Inquiry into Scientology’
of 1965 [link here]to add to this perspective.
However, in keeping with
this, the individual while oblivious to what has
changed within himself, immediately associates
this ‘good feeling’ [eupthoria is
a common sign of hypnosis] to the introduction
of scientology. Hubbard strengthens this falsity
by writing in the coursework, that they have not
experienced hypnosis, but only ‘reverie.’
The individual is highly suggestive and simply
believes what they have been told. [or read].
Suppressive People:
Also in the initial courses
another primary or foundational concept is introduced.
This is the existence of ‘anti-social’
forces [SP’s -Suppressive Persons] They
are described by Hubbard as actively trying to
‘suppress’ [restrain or subdue] the
innate ability of an individual to exist on a
higher spiritual level. Also anyone connected
to a suppressive person will be a ‘potential
trouble source’ Thereby setting the foundational
principle on which Hubbard later relies upon if
the individual receieves any trouble from their
family or loved one when seeking to continue further
with Scientology.
A person is asked to note down as part of their
course work any person[s] who has stopped them
[suppressed them] in the past from doing what
they wanted to do. If the recruiter has done their
job correctly most of the individuals will be
of such an age that the only people in the past
who have supposedly prevented them from achieving
more than they believed they could, would have
been their own parents. This realisation is not
discouraged. [This thought process is considered
basic ‘thought reform’ and of course
can only be installed while under duress, or in
a heightened state of suggestibility caused by
a trance-like condition.]
This concept ordinarily
would be totally unnacceptable, and discarded
out of hand, even if the individual was on bad
terms with their family. However, when an individual
excepts this concept under duress it then forms
part of their memory or thinking process. [this
has recently termed circa. 1994/5, as ‘false
memory syndrome’] Unfortunately, when the
unwitting individual is out of this highly suggestive
state the false memory remains as current or present
memory.
The character and personality of the individual
begin to change. They have become almost overnight,
a Scientologist. Often the new member will keep
their membership a secret for some time.However
the effect of this particular transition becomes
evident when the family or loved ones who have
noticed the change, question the individual. If
Scientology is mentioned in any negative way the
response initially will be defensive, if the comments
continue this will turn into into irrational [anger,
shouting]or further out of character behaviour.
The scientologist will begin to believe they are
in the presence of a ‘suppressive person’
and mentally disregards the opinion of that person.
If the family member persists even in a reasoned
and rational way the scientologist may again resort
to anger, aggression, or simply just walk away
ending any further conversation, therefore ending
any attempt, futile as it may be, of reasoning.
This is the use of thought
reform to alienate the scientologist from their
loved ones. It also has the added advantage of
being used on the member when anyone attempts
to reach them or if they inadverantly read a negative
article or see any negative reaction to Scientology.
What can I do?
Contact us. Let us know
what has happened.We can advise and in many cases
help you through this difficult period in very
constructive and positive ways.
If you have called us before but have since given
up, for whatever reason, get in touch again. Together
we will try to pick up where you left off. What
has happened to you, has happened to hundreds
maybe thousands of other parents in almost identical
ways throughout the world.You, as a whole family,
are the victims, not just the member and you have
a voice that should be heard too.
“So don’t get tired of doing what
is good. Don’t get discouraged and give
up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at
the appropriate time”
[Gal.6:9]
Never give up, love
never fails. Be encouraged, for despite how you
may feel, there can never be a situation where
hope is entirely lost. We know from experience
that most families have tried to reason with a
loved one entrapped in this organisation and have
failed; sometimes miserably and sometimes with
great suffering. In fact anger and sometimes bitterness
are exchanged by both parties, leading so often
to an agreement not to talk about the subject
ever again. Whereupon the conversation and any
visitation is subsequently reduced to almost a
simple level. This is of course invidious and
is effectively, emotional blackmail. In many cases
also the member has already disconnected from
the family altogether.. We encourage you to not
accept what has happened in the past and to look
at what this is doing to your relationship. It
doesn’t have to be this way.
This organisation, like all destructive cults,
seeks to control it’s members. However It
can’t do this so if there remains someone
outside who loves the member and still may have
some positive influence over them.
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