Is Scientology A Cult?

I had an interesting comment from Lawtears which I would have published if it hadn't linked to his profile and his anti-Scientology blog. (See my rules about what I publish).

What he said was this: At the anonymous demos, there's guys there that will say scientology is a cult because X,Y,Z happened. What I'd love to know is what your X,Y,Z is, that makes scientology NOT a cult. What are these 3 things (or give me more or less) that make you sure that, yes, scientology is the way for humanity and not a cult?

First of all let me say that Scientology is the way for people who want it. Religion is not something you can force on people. It's been tried in the past and it has brought only misery and suffering. Just look at the last 2,000 years of history alone for many horrible demonstrations of that.

Now we come to the "C" word, "Cult". If we are going to discuss that word then we should define it so we know what we are talking about. Until not very long ago, the mid-1970's in fact, the word "cult" meant: 1. Attentive care; homage; worship. and 2. A system of religious belief and worship. (See Webster's 1913 dictionary: Cult.) In the late 1970s the word was changed to have a sinister meaning. I recommend you read this article on how that happened, it is extremely enlightening: The Lies Behind Bigotry (Chapter 1).

After its redefinition, the word "cult" didn't have a clear cut definition but it had very clear cut connotations. A "cult" was a bad thing, a nasty thing, an evil and destructive thing. It was something to run away from screaming. You may think I'm being funny, but actually those are the concepts that have become associated with the word.

So for the purposes of this discussion let's use the definition given by the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance: Cult (you'll have to scroll down to almost the bottom of the page to find it).
The definition I'll use for this discussion is the one they say is used by the "anti-cult movement", which is: a small, evil religious group, often with a single charismatic leader, who engage in deceptive recruiting, brainwashing and other mind control techniques

So let's break that down.
small - Scientology is not small. The number of Scientologists around the world is a disputed figure, the Church estimates it at 10 million , anti-Scientology elements say it is much less. However, if you take a look at two things: a) the number of Scientology Churches, Missions and Groups (7,500) and b) the amount of press on the subject. You'll have to admit that it isn't "small".

evil - that is such a difficult word to deal with, isn't it? One man's meat is another man's poison. I can only refer you to what is in Scientology books and what is on the Church's website. Take an unbiased look and decide for yourself. I'd suggest you start with the Scientology Video Channel and then move to Scientology Basic Books.

often with a single charismatic leader - L. Ron Hubbard was our "single charismatic leader" for many years. I personally don't know why having a "single charismatic leader" is a problem. Didn't Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and many other religions have the same? Don't musical groups, corporations (e.g., Apple) and other groups have "single charismatic leaders"? If you want make that something bad then go ahead.

who engage in deceptive recruiting - If you want to know what Scientology is all about then go to the Scientology Home Page or buy a Basic Book or watch the videos on the Video Channel. It's all there. I'm sure that anyone with the ability to read can figure out if Scientology is something they want to be "recruited" into at that point. There is no deception. What we believe is all out there.

In fact no one is allowed to take Scientology services unless they themselves have made the decision to. For example, if a child is being pressured by parents to take a course in Scientology and the child isn't interested then the kid will not be allowed to take the course. It is against the rules of the Church for a person to take services unless they have chosen for themselves.

Before you can take any major service in a Scientology Church you will be asked if you are there on your own determinism. If you are not then you won't be allowed onto the service.

who engage in ... brainwashing and other mind control techniques - this whole idea of "brainwashing and other mind control techniques" has been completely debunked in the USA. The use of such terms as "Magnetic attraction, compulsion, captivity, enslavement, kidnapping" first began in the 19th century when the Mormons were attacked by mainstream Christian bigots. This vile tradition has continued and was given a fresh coat of "scientific" paint in the 1970's by such disgraced "experts" as Margaret Singer and the old "Cult Awareness Network". You can read a very thorough academic analysis of this in the article: "Brainwashing": Career of a Myth in the United States and Europe

Another article which examines these ideas is: Conversion and "Brainwashing" in New Religious Movements. It's a long article so you have to be seriously interested in the truth to spend the time to read it.

Another article which sums up and links to a huge amount of evidence is: "Liar, Liar": Brainwashing, CESNUR and APA

So according to the experts there is no "brainwashing and other mind control techniques".

Finally, the "cult" word also has the connotation that the target of the word is not a religion. There are innumerable religions experts who have written papers on the religious nature of Scientology: More Research on Scientology.

Heck, even the IRS has recognized Scientology as a religion. You may not like the IRS, but one thing you can't fault them on is sticking to the rules they create. They make a rule, they enforce it. They examined the Church of Scientology and they gave it a clean bill of health.

Also, governments and courts of law all over the world have recognized the religious nature of Scientology: Governments and courts of countries worldwide recognize the religious character of the Church of Scientology

So, that's my answer. What do you think?

Scientology: Answers for A Student

rhcp21490 said

Hi my name is Patrick and I am doing a project about Scientology in school and was wondering if you could answer some questions.

Why did you choose the Church Scientology?
The Church of Scientology forwards and protects the Scientology religion. There is no other place to get true Scientology from.

What initially appealed you about Scientology?
What I liked about Scientology was the logical approach to the questions of life and how to handle the problems of life and the fact that when I applied what I learned I got results.

Do you believe Scientology is a cult?
I already answered that one here: Is Scientology A Cult?

What do you have to say to people who believe it is a cult?
The problem with that questions is that anyone can "believe" anything. Whether something is a "cult" or not depends on the definition of the word and if that definition applies to the activity in questions.

The word "cult" has been so misused and abused that it is not an accurate or scientific word to use when referring to any religion or group in any but a denigrating or pejorative way.

If someone wanted me to tell them why Scientology is not a "cult" then I've answered that in the posts you will find here: Scientology, Brainwashing and Cults.

Are you tolerating to other religions?
Yes. Scientology is not an "exclusive" religion. That means is people from any religion can be Scientologists. You don't have to give up any beliefs or practices to be a Scientologist. I was an atheist before Scientology, so I didn't have anything to give up, but I know Jews, Christians and Muslims who are Scientologist.

Scientologists also are very hot on Human Rights and one of the most important Human Rights is the right to freedom of religion. Here is a video created by a human rights group that was started by some Scientologists: Respect the Religious Beliefs of Others

What would you do if someone tried to convert you to another religion?
Funny you should ask that, because I had a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses at the door today. They were very nice ladies. I told them I was not a Christian but that I very much agreed with the religious philosophy of Christianity. We parted on good terms.

I have studied Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism and I've taken very brief glances at Shinto, Sikhism and a couple other lesser known religions. I see that they are all basically saying the same thing.

Do you feel threatened by other religions?
Scientologists regard people in other religions as friends and fellow travelers on the road to spiritual freedom.

My personal view is that religion and spirituality are vital to this world. Without them we would live in a barbarism. The great religions of the last few thousand years have helped civilize man and have kept alive the hope that man could rise to greater heights and that man can be freed from the travails of this life.

What practices do you perform in Scientology?
There are two basic practices: Scientology Auditing and Scientology Training

Description of Auditing (from Scientology Auditing)
The primary means by which the basic truths of Scientology are applied to the rehabilitation of the human spirit is called auditing. It is the central practice of Scientology, and it is delivered by an auditor, from the Latin word audire, "one who listens."

An auditor does not engage in some vague form of mental exploration, nor does an auditor offer solutions, advice or evaluation. One of the fundamental principles of the Scientology faith is the truism that an individual can improve his conditions only if he is allowed to find his own answers to life's problems. Scientology auditors help individuals to accomplish this goal by guiding them to examine their existence through a carefully structured series of steps that Mr. Hubbard developed. By following this gradient process, individuals can thereby improve their ability to face what they are and where they are - peeling away the layers of experience that have weighed so heavily upon them.

Description of Training (from Scientology Training))
Another fundamental practice of the Scientology religion is training - the study of Scientology principles. Many courses of training are available in the Scientology religion because a person can, as stated, use the truths found in Scientology to improve conditions in every area of life. However, the most important training courses are those through which one learns to become an auditor. That is because the overriding principle in all courses is that Scientology is an applied religious philosophy, and all training emphasizes application.

The broad path the Scientologist follows through auditing and the study of Scientology materials is known as The Bridge. This embodies an ancient concept - a long-envisioned route across a chasm between man's present state and vastly higher levels of awareness. The Bridge is comprised of gradient steps so that gains are incremental, predictable and apparent.

I hope that answers your questions. If you have more then please feel free to ask more.

A Question from "Magnolia"

Hey Magnolia,

Thanks for your question. You say: I'm curious by nature. I've been searching for a while sites about Scientology. The majority of them, no offence intended, say it is "trash". I can't help but ask myself "why?".

There are sites on the Internet attacking Scientology, but they are not the majority. I just did a search on the word "Scientology" on the three leading search engines and I found 69% of the sites that came back on the first page of results were positive and 14% were neutral. So that leaves only 17% negative. That is not a majority.

There are millions of Scientologists all over the world who are very happy with their religion and how it helps them in life compared to a small number of very noisy people who attack it. The majority who like it are busy getting on with their lives and helping others. The minority are so consumed with hatred that they spend hours and hours each day spreading lies and distortions.

Here is a video of Scientologists giving their opinions about their religion

So now the question, "Why do they attack my religion?"

There are a several answers:
First is the fact that any religious movement and any group that seeks to improve the world and help their fellow man will be attacked by a small minority of bigots:

• The Jewish religion has a huge website devoted to defending itself: Anti-Defamation League.
• According to the "Watch Unto Prayer" movement the Roman Catholic Church is actually a renewed version of the cult of Mithra and other extremist fundamentalist Christians say the Pope is the Antichrist.
• Examples of attacks on the Internet on well known people.

Scientology is just another group being attacked by the same type of Internet crazies.

There are those who make a living out of attacking new religious movements:

• Article on The (old) Cult Awareness Network
• Why do some people oppose Scientology?
• Anti-Religious Extremists

One of the main methods used by these bigoted extremists is to spread lies about a new religion on the Internet. In a paper presented at the annual conference of the Association for Sociology of Religion (ASR), in Chicago in August 1999, Massimo Introvigne said:

Authoritative scholars of information terrorism via the Internet, such as Denning (1999, 101-129), include "perception management" in their studies, in the form of "offensive operations [which] reach the minds of a population by injecting content into the population’s information space". She lists systematic "lies and distortions", fabrications, hoaxes, social engineering, "denouncement" ("messages that discredit, defame, demonize, or dehumanize an opponent"), and -- strictly related to the latter -- "conspiracy theories". Denning also includes harassment through hate mail or "spamming", and even systematic copyright infringement (90-94). The latter, she argues, may in fact become part of a terrorist "offensive information warfare" when aimed at destroying an organization or corporation through the destruction of copyright as one of its most valuable assets.

The sites you have come across calling Scientology "trash" are using "messages that discredit, defame, demonize, or dehumanize an opponent" as described here.

In the same article Introvigne says:

The Church of Scientology is the subject of the largest number of such assaults.

He describes one of the largest websites that attacks Scientology:

Among hundreds of pages, one can hardly find any reconstruction of Scientology’s beliefs, or a philosophical, or theological, criticism of its worldview.

This particular website also attacks individuals who are Scientologists, attempting to encourage others to discriminate against them:

It is difficult to be amused when reading Hausherr’s Web page laundry lists of individual Scientologists and of "companies and organizations owned or managed by people listed as Scientologists". Some are well-known Scientologists such as Kristie Alley or John Travolta. Most, however, are private individuals unknown to the general public. Companies "owned or managed by people listed as Scientologists" (an ambiguous concept) range from law firms to architects, computer businesses, and to Elvis Presley Enterprises (Priscilla Presley is a Scientologist). Finally, there is a list of "miscellaneous support for Scientology", including both academics and other scholarly "cult apologists" (Hausherr maintains an encyclopedia of cult apologists in the form of a FAQ, and posts it regularly to Usenet groups), as well as others accused of being "soft" on Scientology. The latter include the CNN (accused of having "a long record of supporting Scientology"), the IRS (because of the 1993 settlement), the Los Angeles Police Department, and even a lawyer who actually fought against Scientology but settled in terms Hausherr did not approve of. It is unlikely that CNN or Elvis Presley Enterprises will really suffer from being listed in Hausherr’s Web page. A doctor, dentist, or architect in a small town, or a small business, on the other hand, may be easily discriminated against. If "Scientology is evil", nobody should associate with an "evil" business. And who would want a Scientologist as a doctor or architect if Scientologists are "often mentally ill"? Although no actual violence is advocated, the list, a main feature of Hausherr’s site, becomes in fact a "hit list".

Why Tilman Hausherr maintains his hate site is a difficult question to answer but then hatred and bigotry are difficult to understand in this modern world.

Then there are those who see Scientology as a threat to their livelihood:

• This article talks about the motives behind the attacks of "Anonymous" on the Church of Scientology.

Does that answer your question?

Scientology and Brainwashing

I got a comment regarding my article Is Scientology A Cult?. The comment said a lot and you can read it here, but the main thing in it that I want to address is the author's depiction of "brainwashing". This term gets thrown around a great deal and it seems to have whatever definition the person using it wants it to have. Someone buys a used car that turns out to be a lemon and they accuse the salesman of "brainwashing" them. A family member joins a new religious movement and their relatives claim they have been "brainwashed". We see it used in movies and mentioned in books, so I thought this a good opportunity to address what it really is.

The term "brainwashing" (sometimes relabeled "mind control", "mental manipulation" or mental destabilization") is a term that is used by anti-religious extremists and self-appointed anti-religious experts as a tool of discrimination against new religious movements. The term was originally dreamed up by a CIA agent to describe the phenomenon of Americans in Korean POW camps making anti-American statements and in some cases even remaining in Korea after being released. The fact that only 21 out of 20,000 refused to return home was not given much publicity and the impression was created that "brainwashing" was an effective technique that threatened the very foundations of democracy. [1]

In the 1970's the "anti-cult movement" (ACM) hijacked the term and changed the definition so it included almost any human activity that involved changing somebody's mind. It could be applied to the entire spectrum from salesmen to torturers. It thus became a tool for the ACM in its quest to legitimize its activities and make money. [2]

The idea that the ACM created, was that people were forced into "cults" by the use of "brainwashing" and that once in they would robotically follow whatever orders the cult leader gave them and that they could never leave. Religious scholars who actually did research into the phenomenon of people joining new religious movements and then leaving them observed that the most controversial groups criticized as "cults" (including Scientology, the Hare Krishna Movement, and Reverend Moon's Unification Church) had a high turnover rate, a fact hardly compatible with their possession of "magical" techniques for keeping members within the fold. [2]

In the United States the theories the ACM had used to validate their abusive practices, such as kidnapping and coercion, suffered a death blow in 1987 when the report from the "APA Task Force on Deceptive and Indirect Techniques of Persuasion and Control" (DIMPAC) was rejected by the American Psychological Association. The report had been prepared by some of the leading lights in the ACM and it heavily promoted the "brainwashing" theories. The reviewers from the APA threw it out, stating, "it (the report) lacked scientific rigor and an evenhanded critical approach to carry the imprimatur of the APA".

In his comments on the report an external advisor to the APA, Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi of the University of Haifa, stated that "lacking psychological theory, the report resorts to sensationalism in the style of certain tabloids" and that "the term 'brainwashing' is not a recognized theoretical concept, and is just a sensationalist 'explanation' more suitable to 'cultists' and revival preachers. It should not be used by psychologists, since it does not explain anything". [3], [4]

One of the DIMPAC authors, Margaret Singer and an associate, sociologist Richard Ofshe, subsequently took the novel approach of suing the APA and the ASA (American Sociological Association) for having rejected their theories. The suit included respected scientists who had criticized the shoddy research methods of the two. Singer and Ofshe complained that the defendants had conspired to deny them employment as paid expert witnesses in the anti-religious community. The judge dismissed their complaint as "absurd".

And so the "brainwashing" theory died in the United States. In Europe however, which does not have a history of religious tolerance, the "brainwashing" theory is still bandied about by anti-religious groups, however, religious scholars do not support the theory. [2], [4]

So, according to experts, including the American Psychological Association and most religious scholars, "brainwashing" is a myth created to excuse attacks upon groups with different ideas to those of the attacker.

References:
- [1] Brainwashing and the Cults: The Rise and Fall of a Theory
- [2] "Brainwashing": Career of a Myth in the United States and Europe
- [3] APA Memo of 1987 with Enclosures
- [4] Documents on Brainwashing Controversies and the APA

Oppressive court decision overturned in Russia

It is interesting how, in the 60 year history of Dianetics and Scientology, you will see a repeating pattern: a court comes out with a ruling against Scientology, the Church appeals, the appeals court throws out the lower court decision and the corruption involved in the lower court decision is then revealed.

Some examples are Spain, Italy and Australia. In those cases it took many years to get the oppressive decision overturned, so the fact that it only took a few months to get such a court ruling thrown out in Russia is a sign of how far that country has come on the path towards a free society.

Here is the English translation of the story:

Surgut city court ruling that Scientology materials are extremist overturned

October 12, 2010

On October 12, the Khanty-Mansi district court overturned the decision of the Surgut city court, which ruled as extremist works of L. Ron Hubbard containing the basics of the teachings of the Church of Scientology.

The March 26, 2010 decision of the Surgut city court was made behind closed doors. No one representing the Scientologists was allowed into the process. The prosecutor, and then the judge, decided that the fundamentals of the doctrine of the Church of Scientology are extremist. The prosecutor later acknowledged in an interview that he did not read the materials and relied on expert analysis. An expert was recommended by Galina Vydrina, an adviser to the governor of Khanty-Mansi who has long been fighting against non-traditional religions. The expert was anti-cult specialist Evgeny Volkov, who, instead of answering the court’s questions, summarized his “scientific” theories without even browsing through half of the materials submitted for analysis. The court as well did not familiarize itself with the materials by Ron Hubbard. The entire judicial process lasted 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Believers in the local community (whose representative is Alexander Ilyin) feel that this decision was taken in retaliation for the recognition by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that local authorities had violated the rights of Surgut Scientologists to freedom of conscience.

Despite the fact that the decision of the Surgut city court had not yet taken effect legally, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation illegally added these materials to the list of extremist materials. Since the publication of this list, law enforcement agencies have been on the hunt for these materials across the country from Blagoveshchensk to Krasnodar, conducting searches and raids, unsealing materials at customs, calling citizens to administrative proceedings.

“The Surgut decision is a disgrace to the judicial system. As a citizen of the Russian Federation and as a lawyer, I’m glad it has been overturned. Even though it would have been excellent grounds for an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, I believe that the ability of the court of appeal to make decisions independently of religious preferences and of the political situation bears witness to the triumph not only of law but of common sense,” said lawyer Galina Krylova.

The head of the chief Scientology Center in Russia, Natalia Dvoryadkin, explained that the works of R. Hubbard have for over 50 years been distributed worldwide in 165 countries. The total circulation of the published materials today exceeds 81 million copies. For more information about the Scientology religion visit the sites Scientology Russia, Church of Scientology Moscow, Facts on Scientology in Russia.

(Here is the original: Surgut city court ruling that Scientology materials are extremist overturned) .

Scientology - My Story

Lawtears said in response to my post "Is Scientology A Cult?": :
Interesting, but not quite the stuff I wanted. I want your fire/passion/spirit.

Think of it this way. A guy once said "I think therefore I am." I want YOU, the thing that does the thinking in your case, to tell me about X,Y,Z that's happened in YOUR life. The joys and well as (non-financial) cost.

In your own brevity, of course. No doubt you could write for months about yourself, as anyone could.

It's not about the semantics. It's the person behind that I'm wanting.

Lawtears

Okay. So looking over your original comment again in light of the new comment, I think I get what you're asking for. Unless I'm way off the mark, you want to hear my experiences that say, "This is my religion. This is the spiritual path for me. This is something good." If I'm wrong then you can leave another comment and I'll try again :). I think you also want some of the tough times I've had to go through, so I'll give you some of that too.

Here goes:

When I first came across Scientology I was at University studying Physics. I got interested because the person who told me about it said she used to be shy and it handled that for her. At the time I was horribly shy and I really didn't want to be, so I thought I'd give it a try. I started on the communication course and kept seeing the words "Church of Scientology" all over the place. I was not interested in Churches or religion so I simply ignored it and carried on.

The first problem I hit was when I came across the definition of the word "thetan" (a word that is much ms-defined on the Internet, but simply means an individual as a spirit). Because I was an atheist at the time and studying sciences I couldn't accept this idea of a spirit. I brought this up to the person running the course, saying, "I can't believe this. I'm a scientist." and, much to my surprise, he said, "You don't have to believe it. Just make sure you understand it and then see if it applies in life or not." There was no force, no "this is holy writ", no trying to persuade me that I should believe, none of that.

When I finished that first course I felt great. I had reduced my shyness tremendously. Before the course I would walk around feeling like I had a cloak wrapped around me so I wouldn't be noticed (not literally but figuratively). After the communications course that had gone away, I didn't feel like I needed to hide anymore.

The next big win I had was when I did the course on study and education called the "Student Hat". When I finished that I felt like I could take on the world, because I knew I could study anything and succeed at it. One of the most important things in education is for the student to be able to evaluate the accuracy and truth of what he is studying. He has to be able to think for himself in order to do this. Authoritarian education is doomed to failure. The student may pass tests with flying colors, but once he is free of the "Authority" he is very likely to reject the education by never using it. A student who is allowed to make up his own mind is far more likely to use the data successfully. That is one of the key principles of education used in Scientology.

Over the next few years I took more courses and received Scientology Auditing. Through all this I gained many new abilities. One big one for me was that I could stand up in front of a group and say something. I'd never been able to do that before. It was after one particular piece of auditing that this occurred. One day I was in a meeting of 40 or 50 people and I just stood up and said something relevant to what we were discussing and then I sat down. Suddenly I realized what I'd just done and, more incredible still, that I hadn't even thought twice about it - I just stood up and said my piece.

Another huge win was realizing that I was a spiritual being and not a body. This came about during some auditing. I felt so BIG as a being that I realized I was bigger than my body. It was like I (as a being) was a thumb and my body was like a small sliver of wood that was stuck in it. It's a difficult phenomenon to describe but it is a wonderful feeling. This video may give you an idea: The Parts of Man.

Another great ability I gained was the ability to help other people. I had joined staff at a Church and I was put in charge of staff enhancement, which included Scientology Training and auditing for staff. Sometimes I would have to help people who were stuck in study or who were having some problem in life which was interfering with their progress. The fact that I could effectively help people with the Scientology that I had learned was a huge win for me. The tools I used were usually simple things such as those given in the Scientology Handbook and I'd get amazing results. For example, there was one guy who had never gotten along with his parents and rarely even spoke to them. After getting into Scientology they had gotten rather belligerent because they'd heard some false data about it. So I helped him become a friend to his parents so that not only were they fine about him being a Scientologist, but he and his parents now talked a lot because they actually liked each other.

I also got to help people who were not on staff. One of my greatest wins was helping a guy whose business was failing. I applied the L. Ron Hubbard Admin Technology and we solved his business problems. After that he became very successful and is still running a successful business twenty five years later. In fact I saw him at Flag just a few months ago and we had a great time catching up.

Probably the toughest time for me was in the early 1980's. I was in the Sea Org and there was a lot to do. It was hard work, but very rewarding, then I got a new senior who was a total bitch. One of the nastiest people I've ever had the misfortune to meet. It took a few months, but she eventually wore me down and I left the Sea Org. A few months later I found out that she had been expelled from the Church along with another person who had given me a really hard time. I felt a great relief to realize that it wasn't just me being a dick. (There is more on what happened at that time here: Answer to Comment on Fair Game.) That was also a tough time for the Church. Some very unpleasant people had wangled their way into high positions in the Church and were doing a wonderful job of destroying it. Luckily some good people spotted what was going on and handled it. New policies were put in place to make sure nothing like that ever happened again and those policies have been successful to this day.

After the nasties were kicked out, I went back into the Sea Org and had a good couple of years. During that time I did a stint on the Rehabilitation Project Force (RFP) and benefited from it. Eventually, I decided I wasn't contributing well as a Sea Org member, so I decided to leave. Leaving wasn't a big deal. I did the things required of one when one leaves, found myself a new job and that was that.

Since then I've continued as an ordinary Scientology Parishioner and as a Volunteer Minister. I've done more training and auditing and have continued to use my skills and knowledge to help others. I've helped save some marriages, helped people get over severe losses, helped people with drug problems and more.

I'm not full-time at my volunteer work, my wife and I have raised two kids and I've kept a full-time job going since I left the Sea Org. I wish I could do my volunteer work full-time, but helping people in this way pays diddly-squat financially, although it pays me huge amounts spiritually. There is nothing in this world better than effectively helping another.

I could go on and on about other personal gains, such as the huge gains I got from the auditing level called OT V, but I don't want this to turn into "No doubt you could write for months about yourself". So I'll stop.

I hope that answered your question and if not then just drop me another comment.

Answer to Comment on Fair Game

Flowers accused me of lying about "Fair Game":

"Fair Game, may have been canceled, however this does not apply to enemies of the Church, or SPs as you like to label anyone that is critical of the practices of the Cult of Scientology."

How do you answer someone who is a fanatic? No matter what you say they aren't going to believe you. However, for the benefit of anyone who is reading this to find data, here is a personal story for you about "Fair Game".

In the early 1980s I was expelled from the Church of Scientology. Yup, that's right, poor little, innocent me, in whose mouth butter wouldn't melt. I messed up big time and did something that, when I look back upon it, makes me cringe, and quite rightly I was expelled and "declared" a suppressive person. So, if "Fair Game" existed, according to the fanatics I should have been attacked, spat upon, harassed, etc., etc. So what really happened? Absolutely nothing, zip, zilch, nada. Kinda boring, but that's what happened.

It took me some time, but I handled it and did the necessary steps (there are only 5 of them) to get back in good standing with the Church.

Anyone can screw up so there needs to be a way to make up for the damage and get back in good standing with your community. In the world outside Scientology you get thrown in jail and you do your time and then you are allowed back into society. In Scientology if you screw up you get tons of chances to make good the damage and change your ways, and if you don't you will eventually (after lots of chances) be kicked out. If you do get kicked out then there are ways to get back in and it isn't hard. But that is all there is to it.

There is no "Fair Game", Flowers. I know you aren't going to believe me but that's your problem not mine.

What does Scientology have to do with the occult and black arts?

This answer can also be found on my "Questions about Scientology" page.

Jim Gatos asked:
What, if any, are Scientology's connections, previous and present, with the occult and the Black Arts?

Grahame answered:
Short answer: None.

Longer answer: I guess this relates to your earlier questions about Alistair Crowley to which I gave this link: Was L. Ron Hubbard involved in a satanic cult before he founded Scientology?.

If you want to answer this question for yourself to your complete satisfaction then you should study some Scientology (such as the book "Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought") or the links I give at the end of this, then study some occultism or black-artism and then compare the two. That's really the only way for anyone to answer the question.

Personally I have no clue what sort of things are covered by the "occult" or "Black Arts" as I've never studied or dealt with them. However, to answer your question, I did look up some terms on Wikipedia (I know this is probably not the definitive source of data on these subjects but it gives a quick overview):

In the article for the word "Occult" it talks about "magic, extra-sensory perception, astrology, spiritualism, numerology and lucid dreaming". There is none of that in Scientology. The article also says that Buddhism and Hinduism are not generally considered as occult and Scientology is somewhat comparable to Buddhism and Hinduism.

I had a quick look at "Magic" and the same applies there - nothing to do with Scientology.

I looked at "Black Arts" and there were several links from there so I chose "Black Magic" as the most applicable. The article says that "black magic" is a form of "magic," so again, this has nothing to do with Scientology.

Data on what Scientology is:
Scientology: An Analysis and Comparison of its Religious Systems and Doctrines by Bryan R. Wilson
Scientology: The Theological Fundamentals of the Scientology Religion
Scientology Axioms and Basics
Scientology Principles and Application