Apparently OSA is adrift. They are attempting to handle the “disaffected field” (which is to say, the whole field), by calling people in or visiting them in their homes. But instead of questioning the field, they are finding that they are the ones being questioned.
Most public Scientologists by now are familiar with the abuses, the Policy and Tech violations. They have read the St. Petersburg Times articles, and have read this blog and others. So when OSA shows up, they find themselves being asked about these things. And they have no answers.
Public: “This whole Ideal Org thing is out exchange. LRH said not to ask for donations, yet that is all they are doing nowadays.”
OSA: “Well, um…you’re right, sure, that’s wrong…”
Public: “We have friends that have been forced to disconnect from their children. That’s wrong.”
OSA: “Well…you’re right, that shouldn’t happen…”
Public: “I’ve read about these staff beatings – is that true?”
OSA: “Well, um, we can’t confirm or deny it…”
Really OSA, this is your “handling” these days? The trouble is, these OSA people know its the truth. They can’t fight it any more. They are not going to confirm it, but they can’t deny it.
Meanwhile, several people have mentioned the exodus from Clearwater that is now in full swing. A real estate agent there who handles most of the properties owned by Scientologists, now has 78 former Scientologist homes up for sale.
What’s the opposite of “Mecca”? Maybe “Diaspora.”
And that’s not me saying it, that’s the MAA of one of the Sea Org Orgs in LA.
This same MAA reported that the majority of OT VIIs and VIIIs have now stopped supporting David Miscavige’s “Ideal Org” program.
A special unit has now been set up at the CLO specifically to handle disaffected public. And that’s a major undertaking as it is, according to their own reports, virtually the entire field.
The Dir I & R at the CLO couldn’t handle it. He got doors slammed in his face more times than he could count.
When one OT didn’t open her front gate to two CLO staff who came to her home, unannounced, they jumped the gate. When the OT objected, they reported her as “disaffected” and she was called in for an interview.
Staff members, wake up.
When the top level, OT Scientologists are mostly disaffected…
When top level former staff and Sea Org executives are disaffected…
When former productive Mission Holders are disaffected…
When former top auditors and C/Ses are disaffected…
…maybe, just maybe, there is something to be disaffected about.
Maybe there is something very, very wrong with David Miscavige’s Church of Scientology.
In recent e-mails from the Church’s Facebook Police, Marc Headley was characterized as “doing everything possible to give good Scientologists bad news.”
I guess the definition of a “good Scientologist” these days is someone who only reads what the Church permits them to read.
And that certainly does not include Marc Headley’s new book, Blown For Good.
Why? Because it’s full of “bad news.”
Also known as “the truth.”
Seriously, the book is a must-read. It gives a rare and detailed look at Scientology’s notorious International Base in Hemet, California.
The Church will do everything in its power to keep you from reading this book. They will impugn Marc’s character, tell you that the book is “entheta” and so on.
Read it anyway. Get a copy any way you can and read it.
It is a powerful narrative – compelling, detailed. It shows you what daily life is like in the vicinity of Church leader David Miscavige. It describes a nightmare world of abuse and insanity.
Bad news? Sure.
But the good news is, it’s now being exposed to the light.
LRH says in Dianetics 55!, “If one gets himself into trouble by communicating, he should further communicate. More communication, not less, is the answer, and I consider this riddle solved after a quarter of a century of investigation and pondering.”
With that as one of the basic principles of Scientology, one would think that Facebook and Scientology would make a great match. After all, Facebook has the stated goal of “Giving people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.”
Not so fast.
More open and connected? That’s the last thing David Miscavige’s Brave New Church of Scientology wants. That’s why, if they’re going to use Facebook at all, they use it in reverse.
To disconnect people.
To that end, OSA has mobilized a group of Scientologists to act as “Facebook Police.” They are tasked with scouring Facebook for people with “forbidden” Friends. Then they write to people and “advise them” that certain of their Facebook friends are “in bad” with the Church. They are doing this, of course “for your own good” and “just to give you the information.”
It started, as we reported earlier, with JoJo Zawawi advising people that they should disconnect from Sherry Katz. “Sherry Katz has resigned from our Church,” says JoJo. “She is committing suppressive acts and attacking the Church and making effort to pull people off the Bridge. I have personally verified this with OSA Int. I recommend that you delete your Facebook friend connection with her.” She ends with ”xoxox” – lots of hugs and kisses to go with her generalities and character assassination.
Of course, it backfired, with Sherry’s friends, for the most part, standing by her (even if they felt they couldn’t do it openly on FB).
Soon JoJo was joined by Marty Kassowitz. Marty repeats the generalities, and adds that he has “seen Sherry’s attack data.” Oh really? So writing a KR about tech and policy violations is now classed as “attack data?” Read it again, Marty.
Marty has a short memory. He forgets the time he was declared, and how Bobbi stood by him, believed in him, knowing he was not an SP. You don’t have to turn on your friends, Marty. You might at least listen to their story.
The next Facebook policeman to show up? Brittany Sierra Garrett. Brittany writes to a Scientologist, “I noticed that you friended Marc Headley. He’s a Church attacker and flat out doing everything possible to give good Scientologists bad news. Are you aware of this?”
Oh, you mean his new book, Blown For Good? The one where he tells his personal experiences of what went on at Scientology’s International Base for the fifteen years he was there? The book where he reveals all the craziness, abuse and human rights violations that go on behind the scenes of Miscavige’s Church? And that gets summarized by Brittany as “bad news.” Yeah, it’s bad news. Bad news for anyone who wants to keep David Miscavige’s abuses secret from Scientologists. Tell me something, Brittany, have you read the book? Then how do you know it’s “bad news”? Because that’s what OSA told you to think and say? What happened to that little thing we call self-determinism?
Then Steven Gary Schlussel joins the fray, warning people about friending a certain person “He is disaffected,” says Steve, “ into other practices and no longer considers himself a Scientologist… I figured you should know.” Just, you know, “for your own good.” Another person sent out the same basic e-mail, to eleven more people.
Anyone who knows the person Steve’s referring to knows that he is a sweet guy who wouldn’t hurt a fly. OK, he’s no longer a Scientologist. So what? Does every single one of our friends have to be Scientologists? Last time I read Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (which the church pays endless lip service to), it stated “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief.” Presumably that includes Scientologists – right OSA? Or is your endless quoting of this document just PR window dressing after all?
As to being “disaffected” with the current Church of Scientology – well, who isn’t, Steve, who isn’t?
Also, perhaps Steve’s memory is short as well. He was the subject of a Non-Enturbulation Order a couple years ago after he left the Sea Org at the Freewinds where he was the music director. That order was shown to anybody in LA who knew him asking that they cut him off from any comm lines into the music business that he might be trying to reestablish. Steve might also think about those who stood by him.
So that’s Facebook to David Miscavige’s Brave New Church – not a tool to “make the world more open and connected,” but a tool to make the world more closed and disconnected.
Maybe David Miscavige will end up banning access to Facebook altogether for Church members, joining Syria, China and Iran. They, too, were afraid that public criticism and opposition to authority would pollute their followers.
And maybe if people were more open and connected, they’d find out that all this “reliable information” they are getting fed from OSA about their friends just ain’t so.
The world is watching to see how rank-and-file Scientologists react to the growing reports of abuse, violence and criminality among Scientology’s highest echelons.
How those individual Scientologists react will determine, to a large measure, how the subject of Scientology itself is perceived, now and in the future.
Consider the reaction of lay Catholics in the wake of the 2002 Boston Globe coverage of the priest abuse scandal. Parishioner meetings in the basement of St. John the Evangelist church in Wellesley, Massachusetts, soon expanded, thanks to the internet, to conferences of thousands – lay Catholics, victims of clergy sexual abuse, theologians, and priests from around the United States and the world. The resulting organization, Voice of the Faithful (VOTF), grew to 30,000 members within a year and is now a strong advocate for lay oversight of their parishes and dioceses. Their motto is “Keep the Faith, Change the Church.”
Whatever one might think of Catholicism, there is no doubt that these members were strong, independent thinkers not afraid to stand up to their Church elders. They had a sense of moral outrage about priest abuses and cared enough about the future of their Church to do something about it.
On the other hand, consider the reaction of members for the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) when their church was faced with charges of sexual abuse of minors. Law enforcement and social workers entering their compound encountered fear and mistrust from those inside. These members were silent, afraid, uncooperative. They denied knowledge of any wrongdoing and refused to speak out against their elders. Ultimately, it fell to courageous former members (like Carolyn Jessop) and law enforcement to bring their Church leaders to justice.
Whatever one might think of the FLDS and its beliefs, one is left with the impression that its members are cowed and muzzled, afraid to speak out against their leaders. And yes, one hears stories of people having to escape from their compounds and being pursued by “security guards.” The word “cult” comes to mind.
So how will Scientology be perceived?
Well, that depends on the reaction of rank-and-file Scientologists.
If they remain silent, claim ignorance of any wrongdoing, refuse to speak out against Church leaders, people may well think that Scientologists are too frightened, too cowed by their leaders, to speak out. They may conclude that Scientology has become an oppressive cult, where no challenge to the authority of the leaders is permitted, and where anyone speaking out is punished or expelled. A group where they are taught to fear the outside world as “enemies” and close ranks behind their leaders, no matter what they do.
On the other hand, if Scientologists stand up and speak out, if they call for reform, if they withdraw their support from corrupt leaders, then the world will know that these are people who stand behind their beliefs, who actually practice what they preach, who do have a sense of moral outrage when their fellows are abused.
We stand at a turning point in history. Individual Scientologists stand at the fulcrum. Which way Scientology turns hinges on the actions we take now.
Are Scientologists frightened followers, only thinking and saying what their leaders permit?
Or are they strong and courageous men and women who are a living embodiment of the philosophy they espouse?
The world awaits your answer.
As might be predicted, once Sherry Katz, New OTVIII, had published her Knowledge Report about Tech and Policy violations by the current Church of Scientology management, they were quick to issue a Suppressive Person Declare on her, and send it to all of her friends.
The declare was sent by e-mail all around Los Angeles and forwarded to other areas. One isn’t even supposed to send KRs by email, let alone an SP Declare, but someone goofed and it went out. And it has backfired. OSA Int has tried to “pull it back” stating that it was never meant to be BPI and that they are “issuing a new “official” one.” Oops. Too late. Sherry already had copies of the declare in hand, forwarded to her by a number of her friends.
Our support goes out to Sherry. It is not easy being the target of one of these issues, particularly as they are normally, these days, filled with half-truths, innuendo and generalities.
But the truth is, the action really backfired on the Church. As a result of this issue going out, Sherry has received a flood of support from both those who have left the Church and those who are still in. And ironically, the e-mail from JoJo Zawawi, telling Sherry’s friends to disconnect from her on Facebook, resulted in a flood of Friend requests. Sherry has copies of not only JoJo Zawawii’s email suggesting disconnection on Facebook but also a similar e-mail from Marty Kassowitz.
It is times like these when one discovers one’s true friends. LRH defined a true friend in these terms: “What a true friend does. For one thing they stand up for one, give him council, they help him in adversity, they safeguard his reputation, won’t hear ill of him, share his triumphs, ignore his faults.”
Sherry’s Declare issue is a masterpiece of generalities and innuendo.
In HCO PL 2 June 65, “Writing of an Ethics Order,” LRH says this:
“When writing an Ethics Order, don’t ARC break its readers by leaving out the data. …
“Where did it happen? Is it in our area? What did he do? Who did he do it to? What’s the evidence? …
“Don’t be unspecific or you leave people in a huge mystery. …
“Always put in what you know, nothing you don’t know and only what you have evidence or witnesses for. Ethics Orders are issued on real data, not opinion.”
I’m sure this is one of those PLs that is “no longer in use” in the Brave New Church of Scientology. Certainly modern SP Declares leave out all the pertinent information – actual names, events and specifics.
For instance, the issue says Sherry was a “source of enturbulation” at Pasadena Org. But it omits to say that her “enturbulation” consisted on writing Knowledge Reports on the alteration and non-application of HCOBs and HCO PLs in that organization, the ripping off of her technical personnel by CLO, the efforts of the then Flag Rep to stop her from questioning and protesting the flood of random programs coming into the org, and many other outnesses.
The SP declare also states that Sherry was the subject of a 2007 Non-Enturbulation Order. Sure. Her seniors didn’t like all of her Knowledge Reports. Sherry went to the Freewinds in late 2007 to get help handling the escalating situations at the Pasadena Org. When she returned, the FR who had issued that Non-enturbulation Order was being removed from post.
Sherry continued her Knowledge Reports and refused to compromise with the Policy and Tech outnesses. She refused to go into agreement with Auditor Code violations, unrealistic programs, and CLO management terminals pulling her Tech staff off post to reg them for the Basics or recruit them for other posts. After a year and a half on staff, writing reports, refusing destructive orders, and being constantly attacked for being “non-cooperative,” “rude,” or “writing too many KRs” (actually stated to her senior by the ED), and running her division “autonomously”, Sherry decided to look for a deeper, underlying source of all the insanity. She writes,
“I realized, after getting a brilliant 10 August interview from an OTVIII, Class VI friend of mine, that there was not one person at the Pasadena Org that was suppressing the org. Not one suppressive in the group. All these people were my friends, most of the staff were OTV or above with a majority of these OTVIII. These were good people, I knew these people. No one in that org had an evil bone in their bodies. It affected me greatly when I realized that all these caring, hard-working dedicated staff members, these OTs were simply being used as pawns in an insidious game. So, I started to dig. As a trained Data Evaluator, it didn’t take long to find who was really at the bottom of all the insanity. I realized also that it was no accidental strategy when Miscavage stated at a Maiden Voyage I attended ‘The way to boom an org is to get the OTVIIIs at the helm and let them run with it’. But make sure they do not get trained as Executives so they fail miserably. That is the key. I, fortunately, did not fit into that pigeonhole. I was trained, I knew my policy. I am not, by nature, a calm, easy-going individual. Anyone who knows me can certainly attest to that. I fought back noisily. Obviously, I was trouble.” (See Messin’ With the Eights, Part 2)
She continues:
“I had thought I was joining staff at a Church of Scientology. Scientology as laid out by the writings of L.Ron Hubbard. I petitioned 3 times in 3 years to finally get permission to join staff from RTC. I routed on staff the next day. I wanted to help boom a faltering Pasadena Org. But when I couldn’t actually get Scientology applied in that org, I relinquished my support as is my privilege. I could not agree to be part of a group that did not apply standard Policy and Tech. I got on a Leaving Staff Routing form. I did all the steps (including an O/W write up with meter exams, etc) except the final one (the Leaving Sec Check) which, after lengthy phone conversations with the Sr. C/S Margaret Supak (Freewinds), was determined, for case reasons, to be put off .”
Sherry is also accused, in her SP Declare, of “associating with known squirrels.” Sherry commented to us that “the only squirrel group I’ve ever been a part of was, ironically, the Pasadena Org.”
Let’s keep in mind that a squirrel is one who alters Scientology. With that definition in mind, David Miscavige’s Brave New Church of Scientology is right now the largest squirrel group on the planet.
This is what happens when people try to speak out against the off policy actions of the current Church of Scientology management. They get threatened or cowed into silence. If they persist, they are issued with “Non-enturbulation orders.” If they still persist, they are declared “Suppressive.” It’s all about control and quashing any dissent. David Miscavige only wants people on staff who will meekly go along with whatever destructive actions he orders.
Sherry, welcome to the ranks of those deemed “Suppressive” by David Miscavige. You are in good company.
In contrast to the heartfelt stories of abuse by former staff members in the recent St. Petersberg Times articles, the Church of Scientology’s response comes across as cold, arrogant and filled with utter contempt and hate. It’s issued over Tommy Davis’s name, but in all likelihood was written by Miscavige himself. It bears his imperious stamp.
The stories of the former staff are compelling. They are rich in detail. They tell their stories with emotion, and without guile. My heart went out to these people as they related their stories of abuse, criminality, pursuit and oppression.
And all the Church can say is “they are lying.” Really? All of them?
So I suppose they sat around and dreamed up all of these detailed stories, then meticulously co-ordinated them with each other so that the details matched, then rehearsed them and rehearsed them so they could deliver them convincingly. And maybe they took an acting class in their somewhere.
Yet this is exactly what the Church expects us to believe. And not only that, they tell us that these people are all malevolent criminals, perverts and lunatics. Despite the fact that these people devoted many years of their lives to the expansion of Scientology, despite the fact that these people passed the rigorous screening to be allowed to go to the Int Base, despite the fact that they were trusted with high positions in the Sea Org, suddenly we are asked to believe that they are all the dregs of humanity, every single one of them.
As proof, they offer up snippets from their PC folders and ethics files. Juicy little tidbits from their confessions. See? See how evil they are?
This sort of thing should send chills down the spine of every Scientologist. Because they are also saying, “step out of line and we’ll go through your folders.”
It’s called an ad hominem argument, or, to be more exact, ad hominem abusive. An article in Wikipedia describes it in these terms: “Ad hominem abusive…usually involves insulting or belittling one’s opponent, but can also involve pointing out factual but ostensible character flaws or actions which are irrelevant to the opponent’s argument. This tactic is logically fallacious because insults and even true negative facts about the opponent’s personal character have nothing to do with the logical merits of the opponent’s arguments or assertions.”
It is a logical fallacy – a deliberate attempt to divert an inquiry by changing the subject.
Here’s another logical fallacy. The rebuttal says that the accusations cannot be true as Scientology has 8000 orgs, missions and groups, millions of members, and “some of the most successful social betterment programs on Earth.” Even if these things were true (and they are not – see my analysis of these sorts of claims here), it is not a rebuttal. It is an argumentum ad populum. “We can’t be guilty as we are so popular.”
Or how about this one. They accuse the St. Pete Times of “providing a platform to impugn the name of the ecclesiastical leader of Scientology, denigrate the religion and cause undue harm to its parishioners.” In other words, if you expose abuse, fraud or criminality in the management of Scientology, you are “attacking my religion.” Please.
Are you saying that abuse, fraud and criminality are an integral part of your religious belief system? Are these things vital to your religion?
“You can’t attack Miscavige because he’s a religious leader.” Really? Does that give him a carte blanche to commit any abuse or crime?
The whole “don’t attack my religion” stance goes beyond a mere logical irrelevance. It’s a red herring, a deliberate attempt to divert attention from the subject of Church abuse and crime by changing the subject.
The point is, these tactics are obvious. It is obvious to even the most casual reader of the St. Pete Times that the Church is trying to cover up, to divert attention, to impugn the reputation of anyone who dares to blow the whistle on them. Their tactics are transparent, obvious and clumsy.
With every word they utter, they strip away their mask and reveal themselves for what they are – an arrogant, fanatical criminal gang.
We just received the following message from Sherry Katz, who recently posted her Knowledge Report on Marty Rathbun’s blog. Sherry says:
“I thought you and all who read your blog might be interested to know, that, in demonstration of the new ‘no disconnection’ policy in Scientology, as stated by Tommy Davis just a couple days ago, this Scientologist, JoJo Zawawi, (in the photo) sent around the following to three friends of mine who then forwarded it to me. Evidently, JoJo was not informed of the ‘no disconnection’ policy. Perhaps OSA Int was not informed either. Here is what JoJo sent:
‘Subject: Sherry Katz
Dear ____,
Sherry Katz has resigned from our Church. She is committing suppressive acts and attacking the Church and making effort to pull people off the Bridge. I have personally verified this with OSA Int. I recommend that you delete your Facebook friend connection with her.
xoxox JoJo (Zawawi)’
Love, Sherry.”
Jojo – didn’t you get the memo? Disconnection has been cancelled, according to Church spokesman Tommy Davis. As Tommy stated, “There isn’t any such policy in the Church dictating who you can and cannot be in communication with.”
So stop contradicting Tommy Davis! And while you’re at it, you might also follow the LRH Policy on “if it isn’t written, it isn’t true.” Demand some specifics in writing from OSA as to exactly what Sherry did. And if you can’t get it from them, you can read Sherry’s own Knowledge Report here. She did put it in writing. And while you’re at it, you might also read Mary Jo Levitt’s KR, Geir Isene’s Doubt Formula, and Paul Haggis’ letter.
That’s right, Disconnection is cancelled. Tommy Davis said so, twice.
As reported here, last year Davis told CNN’s John Roberts, “There’s no such thing as disconnection as you’ve characterized it…Scientology actually mandates – it’s really part of the code of being a Scientologist – to respect the religious beliefs of others, so certainly a Scientologist is going to respect their family members’ beliefs…We consider the family to be a building block of any society, so anything that is characterized as disconnection or this kind of thing is just not true. There isn’t any such policy in the Church dictating who you can and cannot be in communication with, it just doesn’t happen.”
He’s just repeated the statement, in response to Paul Haggis’ letter. An AP story here reports that “Davis again disagreed with Haggis and said the church doesn’t mandate disconnection with anybody and that it was an entirely ‘self-determined decision.’
So it’s official. There is no Disconnection. The Church does not mandate who you can and cannot be in communication with. They said so.
Here’s a little back history for you. Most Scientologists don’t know that LRH himself cancelled Disconnection way back in 1968. He announced that fact in HCO PL 15 November 1968, “Cancellation of Disconnection,” and added, “Since we can now handle all types of cases disconnection as a condition is cancelled.”
Disconnection was reinstated by HCO Bulletin of 10 September 1983, “PTSness and Disconnection.” The Bulletin noted that “Earlier, disconnection as a condition was cancelled,” and stated it was “hereby restored to use, in the hands of those persons thoroughly and standardly trained in PTS/SP tech.”
The only problem? It wasn’t written by LRH. According to a statement by the late Robert Vaughn Young, “…The directive that I wrote concerned the Scientology policy of ‘Disconnection.’ The order to do this came from David Miscavige. Miscavige said that we had to reinstitute the Policy of Disconnection and that I was to write the policy for this. I wrote it and it went through several revisions. It was not sent to Hubbard for his approval, but was issued into the Church of Scientology.”
Makes one wonder what else Miscavige issued over LRH’s name.
But the good news is, all that is in the past. Disconnection is now cancelled. They announced it.
If you have been disconnected from family or friends, from your children, your parents, your spouse or anyone else, please, contact them. Send them a letter or an e-mail. Call them. Visit them.
Print out the quotes from Tommy Davis, and if anyone from the Church objects to your contacting your family or friends, show them Tommy Davis’ words. Tell them to contact Tommy Davis if they have any questions about it. Tell them disconnection is over, and you have it in writing from Davis.
I am serious about this. Take the Church at their word. Contact your family and friends now.
After all, the Church wouldn’t lie, would they?
Addendum: A friend of mine, who was there at the time, informs me that Miscavige’s 1983 reinstatement of Disconnection was to stop people from hooking up with David Mayo, who Miscavige had removed from technical lines and expelled. Mayo was offering OT Levels at about a fifth of the cost.
Well, the first completion from Flag’s Grades program has rolled off the line, and is being touted all over LA as the poster child for David Miscavige’s new, faster-than-ever Grades. As you may have heard, all OT Ambassadors have been given “mandatory” orders to select people to Flag for their Grades. They have stiff quotas, and are being pounded to get more people to Flag.
Never mind that this takes preclears from their local orgs, who are already struggling to get by, with their course rooms and HGCs empty. Never mind that it is the Orgs who are supposed to deliver Grades, and then select them to the AOs and then to Flag. Never mind such a minor thing as Bridge flow. No, don’t think about those things – they have to be gotten to Flag fast so they can be signed up fast, so they can get through their Grades fast.
And exactly how are they getting them through their Grades so fast? Well, because they are delivering Quad Grades, not Expanded Grades. Yes, that’s right, Quad Grades.
And that’s not the only thing being stripped down for speed. A former C/S who recently trained at Flag said that they were informed by the Qual Division at Flag that two out of three LRH HCOBs on the State of Clear were no longer to be applied. They were “no longer in use.”
I seem to remember a reference called Technical Degrades – HCO PL 17 June 1970: “The effort to get students through courses and get pcs processed was considered best handled by reducing materials or deleting processes from grades. The pressure to speed up student completions and auditing completions was mistakenly answered by just not delivering.”
But we don’t have time to read all that. We’ve got to hurry, hurry, hurry and get more people to Flag for their fast, fast Grades!
Would you like fries with that?
Addendum: Now get this: before pcs are allowed to get their Grades at Flag they have to sign a nondisclosure agreement that they will not tell what they were audited on. Of course – they don’t want it to get around that Flag is delivering Quickie Grades!
