A tale of two friends.
I'll begin with a close personal friend of my 1st wife and I. Reserved, brilliant, a person who needed a highly structured life, though he never reveled in it. His ability to see where the planet's dispositions would lead it were truly clairvoyant. 30 years later, his "seeings" are still accurate, and on target.
Sadly, his need for structure, exactness was often carried by him like an open sore. It was there that the C of S sunk their hooks.
A few months later, broke, stressed, he informed them it was time to "take a break". He was in need of some perspective, and... he also needed to make the money flow "back up", if he was to continue. We'd had no contact with him during those months, until his "break".
What followed was the most despicable, systematic destruction of someone's life one could imagine. They attacked through his friends, neighbors, family, even his ability to work. His family with our help, at times, went as far as to move him out of one residence, in the middle of the nite, and relocate him. Rarely did it last 2 weeks, before they had found him again, and the harassment continued.
His "crime"? He needed some space. Had not spoken "against" the org, just needed money, and some time to continue. Their efforts over the next two years made this impossible. To this day I still believe that the C of S was in part responsible for his successful efforts to get away from them forever. Unable to live any form of civil life, he committed suicide.
My friend was not mad, he was driven there, if such a thing is possible. 25 years ago, when this happened, if I could have located the people who had done this, I would have happily sent them along after him.
I don't think I have shared this with 4 people in my entire life, so understand that the subject, and the "Church" (dear god what a name) isn't something I am fond of.
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I just have to bring up the fact that the practice of calling naysayers "subversives" has got to be the most telling form of self-identifying psychosis available in the English language.
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I have a friend of some 15 years. I have worked with him professionally off and on. He and I have probably spent 6 - 15 hours every month at each others houses, meals, sporting events, and lots of conversation. He is a degreed physicist, and engineer, I would say he is both intelligent, and honest. A good friend.
Yeah... a Scientologist. He was an auditor for them, in fact, and also shows some skill in what he's called their "touch system" for relieving pain and other things. I must also add that he has no association with the C of S, and has not in the 15 years I've know him. In fact he has never mentioned them at all, only the "process". But, not a meeting goes by where he does not respond, at least twice, with the words, "You know, Ron says that...".
And for 15 years, I have found few premises brought up in this fashion, that I disagreed with, but I have always internally cringed because of my experience with the org.
Yes, 15 years is a long time to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Frankly, I've yet seen anything that couldn't be gained through other means. Also, until a post in Bill Ryan's thread, I never looked to "other" orgs who used the LRH stuff, nor knew they existed. I knew many groups existed but most seemed, at quick glance, to be nothing but "protest" or "refusenik" groups, so I had no interest.
So, now I know "something else"
Thanks to Bosr (thank you) I have copies of 20 books, to look through. Perhaps a chance at "getting a bit smarter" on the base subject. Perhaps engage in some deeper conversations with my friend on it.
And perhaps begin a process of separating some knowledge from a disgusting method of using it, and in the process get a handle on some forgiveness.
Thanks for the thread. There's my rant, and rave.
Fred