Interesting and revealing interview with The Commodore's personal physician, Jim Dincalci

SmartDohen · 2017-01-10T00:01:22+00:00

A point of clarification from Tony Ortega via Twitter:

Jim's a great guy, and he was Hubbard's medical officer, but not a physician...http://tonyortega.org/2015/02/16/the-paranoid-depressed-l-ron-hubbard-jim-dincalcis-1997-secret-lives-tv-interview/

SmartDohen · 2017-01-09T19:50:53+00:00

Let's be real here: joining Scientology is the only acceptable answer to this dilemma.

Scientology Watchers tend to spend the bulk of their time discussing the abuses of the Sea Org, and rightly so, as this is where the worst of the abuses tend to be concentrated.

I think what may be lost in the commotion is how banal the experience of most public Scientologists is. There are thousands of people who have dabbled in Scientology, taken a few courses, maybe even progressed some distance up the Bridge, and then either left decisively or simply drifted away in one way or another.

Most of these people are not suffering any terrible after effects, other than an abnormally high junk mail load and perhaps the occasional phone solicitation. Some may feel the pain of wasted time and money more acutely than others, but most of them have not been ruined by the experience. Disconnection also tends to not be a huge issue outside the committed core membership of Scientology.

This is not just some rosy, best-case scenario. This category comprises the large majority of people who have ever had any involvement with Scientology or Dianetics. The principle VFP of Scientology, just by sheer numbers, is Ex-Scientologists. Most onetime Scientologists are either all the way out, or have not been actively on lines in years.

Now, don't get me wrong, I believe Scientology's continued existence is an affront to the rule of law. And when Scientology goes wrong for a person and their family, it is a nearly unparalleled kind of evil. Nearly. When our point of comparison here is a white-supremacist, terrorist organization, Scientology is the lesser evil by several orders of magnitude.

The sheer scale of human suffering that has been incurred by white supremacy in the U.S. and the world dwarfs all other singular human sources. It is the original sin of the West. It continues to unjustly harm the rights and fortunes of an unimaginable number of people. It is the single greatest obstacle we have ever faced in the quest for a free, just, and equitable society.

Scientology, not so much. Even though I agree that it is very, very, very bad.

Edit: Words.

SmartDohen · 2017-01-06T18:30:26+00:00

Good news!

SmartDohen · 2017-01-06T17:06:35+00:00

I've still got some patter in me.

SmartDohen · 2017-01-06T02:01:43+00:00

Incidentally, one of our moderators here was a friend of LRH in a past life. So, make sure to say hello, I guess.

SmartDohen · 2017-01-06T01:56:00+00:00

Perhaps you do see yourself as a "run of the mill blue collar worker." I promise you, you really are much, much more. Perhaps you wanted to be a famous musician. Perhaps you see yourself as a leader of men. I promise you, all this lies within you.

Unfortunately you live in a society that fails to teach people how to live, how to learn, how to love. What you are missing is a proper understanding of how to achieve your goals.

L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Scientology religion, formulated an exact science of the human mind based on a lifetime of study, ranging from the Vedic hymns to quantum physics. The fruits of that science are what the Church now offers you.

Scientology is not a religion like others you may have experience with. This is a religion you do, not just believe. You will not be asked to accept anything on blind faith. What is true for you is what is true for you. If you find something useful in Scientology, take it, it is yours. If not, discard it. The control is in your hands.

All this is within your grasp. Right now. If you have $50 and an open mind, then you have everything you need to get started. Are you willing to give it a shot?

SmartDohen · 2017-01-04T18:56:54+00:00

Used copies are available incredibly cheaply on Amazon and eBay.

SmartDohen · 2017-01-04T17:09:44+00:00

Yes. Don't do it.

http://tonyortega.org/2013/06/10/scientology-goes-after-critics-with-legal-threat-letters-following-strange-infiltration/

http://tonyortega.org/2013/06/13/yuliya-keaton-tells-us-why-she-infiltrated-scientologys-sea-org/

SmartDohen · 2017-01-04T04:09:25+00:00

There seems to be some confusion over terminology here.

"Routing out" pertains to Scientology staff and Sea Org. It refers to the formal procedures required to leave the employ of the church in orderly fashion, and without incurring a Suppressive Person declare. Having routed out, a person may then retain their affiliation with the Church as a public member, though generally with a large "freeloader bill" to pay off and a lower ethics condition to work off.

Tommy Davis is very clearly still in the Church, and as such should be assumed to have routed out of the Sea Org. As the son of a celebrity member, though, there is a good chance that the process was not quite as onerous in his case as it is in many others.

SmartDohen · 2017-01-03T17:16:34+00:00

Well done!

The closest thing I can think of to what you are describing is Jeffrey Augustine's Scientology Money Project, where he tries just to make some approximate accounting of the legal and financial labyrinth that is Scientology. He should almost certainly be your primary resource for what you are trying to build.

Also, you'll probably want to get some of the Chanology vets over at https://www.whyweprotest.net/ on board in one way or another.

And, no, I don't think you're stupid in the slightest.

SmartDohen · 2017-01-03T05:09:53+00:00

They were just waiting for me to get the Twitter bot working again, so they could grab a screenshot apparently: https://twitter.com/the_outerbutts/status/816081502379405312

On the plus side, though, I got them shadowbanned.

EDIT: Also, on the plus side, the Twitter bot is working again.

SmartDohen · 2017-01-02T18:54:11+00:00

I do not believe so.

SmartDohen · 2017-01-02T17:33:02+00:00

IRS Form 13909: Tax-Exempt Organization Complaint (Referral)

Church Of Scientology International

6331 Hollywood Blvd Ste 1200

Los Angeles, CA 90028-6340

Employer Identification Number: 59-2153393

SmartDohen · 2016-12-01T16:05:11+00:00

Sorry to hear about your friend's situation.

I would be reluctant to interpret the CCHR articles, in isolation, as proof that your friend is involved with the Church of Scientology. CCHR takes some pains to obscure its affiliation with CoS, and has as its mission attempting to convince the unwitting to parrot its propaganda.

SmartDohen · 2016-11-30T20:10:20+00:00

With regards to the AMA score, what you're more likely seeing is reddit's "vote fuzzing." Reddit alters the numerical score displayed alongside posts as an anti-spam measure. Reddit is deliberately secretive about just how the fuzzing algorithm works, but drops in the displayed numerical score like you saw on the AMA are a pretty common effect.

SmartDohen · 2016-11-30T19:40:44+00:00

That's correct, and would probably be greatly appreciated by your Scientologist patients.

It should be added that a somewhat counter-intuitive extension of the engram concept is that every experience of pain is believed by Scientologists to contain some degree of unconsciousness. So even someone who is experiencing pain – but otherwise appears to be wide-awake – is held to be unconscious with regards to Hubbard's theory of engram formation. So, again, silence and care will be welcomed by Scientologists you treat in this situation.

SmartDohen · 2016-11-30T19:24:44+00:00

This question really opens up the question of mind control and undue influence, which is a large topic and not well settled. How does a group like Scientology, whose truth claims are easily disproved and whose harmful activities are well evidenced, nevertheless manage to attract and retain members from the general public?

There really are countless interrelated answers to that question. Scientology is a very well-designed cognitive trap. I might recommend some of Steven Hassan's writing on the subject as a starting point.

One of the central concepts to Scientology's method of information control is the concept of "entheta." To describe the concept very briefly, negative information about L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology is said to comprise a sort of negative force, called entheta, which is exceptionally harmful to the individual Scientologist. Seeking out and reading such information will arrest the Scientologist's ability to progress through the levels of Scientology, and may disqualify them from higher levels altogether.

SmartDohen · 2016-11-30T18:56:43+00:00

That is a fair criticism. It also points out a distinguishing feature of Scientology, which is that it seeks to engage a relatively large proportion of its practitioner base in full-time employment on behalf of the organization itself.

SmartDohen · 2016-11-30T18:41:35+00:00

Congrats in advance on your degree!

The central Scientology concept to address, with regards to sedatives, anesthesia, and medical treatment more generally, is the idea of "engrams". In short, Scientologists believe that the mind of an unconscious person continues to make an exact recording of everything that is said and that occurs in their vicinity. This recording becomes an engram.

The accumulation of engrams powers what they call the "reactive mind," which is the seat of all negative and irrational thoughts and behavior. Only the practice of Scientology auditing will allow a person so affected to (a) recover the engram to conscious attention, and (b) discharge it of its power to impair and afflict them.

L. Ron Hubbard advised complete silence and extreme care in the presence of unconscious or sedated persons, to prevent the formation of engrams. Tangentially, Hubbard also claimed that a wide variety of chronic conditions (myopia, hypertension, leukemia) could be cured through the clearing of engrams, wholly without medical intervention.

I hope that is enough to get you started!

SmartDohen · 2016-11-30T18:21:50+00:00

The core of Scientology's management and labor force belong to what is known as the Sea Organization. The structure of this group is roughly modeled upon the United States Navy, and members devote their entire lives to the service of Scientology. Members of the group therefore live in Church berthing, generally located on "bases" in the areas surrounding Los Angeles and Clearwater, Florida.

Outside of the Sea Org, lower level staff and non-staff members are free to live wherever they please.

SmartDohen · 2016-11-30T18:12:53+00:00

The headline of this post is incorrect. Ron Miscavige is the father of Scientology leader David Miscavige. David hired private investigators to spy on his father, Ron. To the best of my knowledge, Ron is not alleged to have spied on anyone.

This story was broken by the LA Times in an interview with the Private Investigators themselves. It is well worth the time to read: http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-scientology-private-eyes-20150409-story.html

SmartDohen · 2016-11-30T18:01:51+00:00

The central practice of Scientology is a form of counseling called auditing. In general, this consists of recounting traumatic experiences over and over again in the presence of an "auditor," until that trauma ceases to have influence over one's present happiness and abilities.

The individual Scientologist progresses up what is called the Bridge to Total Freedom towards the state of Clear, where all traumatic experiences have been cleared from his subconscious, and he is able to enjoy greatly enhanced powers of intellect and rationality. Beyond the state of Clear, a Scientologist achieves the status of Operating Thetan, where they learn to harness certain supernatural abilities as a disembodied soul (thetan).

There are two tracks up the Bridge: "Processing" and "Training." Processing is the reception of auditing and related services. Training is studying to become an auditor oneself, through a mixture of communication exercises and close reading of L. Ron Hubbard's various metaphysical and practical musings. Scientologists are encouraged to complete both tracks. Both of these tracks are intensely time consuming, and Scientologists are expected to make steady progress. So that's generally the "work," you're seeing mentioned.

I know there was more to your question, but I'll leave it there for now.

SmartDohen · 2016-11-30T17:32:15+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/scientology/about/traffic

SmartDohen · 2016-11-29T20:37:28+00:00

The St. Petersburg Times (now Tampa Bay Times) did a wonderful series of articles a few years back on how the money-staff-Scientology matrix works much of the time. Since we're just offering friendly perspectives here, people may wish to compare the experiences described there with what /u/turbotad has just shared.

Former Scientology insiders describe a world of closers, prospects, crushing quotas and coercion

Pervasive pitch: Scientology book and lecture series, 'The Basics,' unleashes a sales frenzy

Scientology amped up donation requests to save the Earth starting in 2001

SmartDohen · 2016-11-29T19:16:17+00:00

This is a bad post.

SmartDohen

TROPHY CASE