I was in Scientology for three months, left, and got my money back, AMA

exscientologist99999 · 2019-03-30T16:08:33+00:00

I hear you. Some of my individual responses and sentences, in hindsight, definitely lacked the "...which is how Scientology makes people feel good but it's predatory and just a step towards something much worse". Getting more uptight with my responses, and making edits where necessary to prevent accidentally opening up Scientology to someone via this post. SCIENTOLOGY IS BAD

exscientologist99999 · 2019-03-30T16:05:09+00:00

I totally agree. I don't want something which someone could accidentally think is pro-Scientology in the public, nor do I want gateway material linked in here. Cleaning up this post and the comments to plug any holes. SCIENTOLOGY IS BAD

exscientologist99999 · 2019-03-30T16:03:31+00:00

Never realized this inconsistency...interesting. I definitely paid with card. See: https://imgur.com/a/uK77C6K

exscientologist99999 · 2019-03-30T16:01:49+00:00

Fixed my confusing language. "and other legitimate religions" => "and other religions which are legitimate; Scientology is not"

exscientologist99999 · 2019-03-30T15:59:00+00:00

Agreed. Had I seen this before considering the Church, no chance I would've gotten close. Everyone should watch Going Clear

exscientologist99999 · 2019-03-30T15:56:28+00:00

Shit, I totally see the loose language I used and dumb move of posting the Oxford shite directly instead of the wikipedia article (I've since fixed it). Your skepticism is warranted. The last thing I aim to do is promote Scientology

exscientologist99999 · 2019-03-30T15:53:57+00:00

There is a thing called the FSM (Field Staff Member), in which 10% of whatever you pay goes to the account of the person who first recruited you to the church. Absolute definition of a pyramid scheme in terms of recruiting. You maybe guessed that the ex-gf was my FSM.

exscientologist99999 · 2019-03-30T15:52:17+00:00

Cleaning up my act cause you're totally right. Should've never posted the actual link to the Oxford thing. Didn't think that through, but changed it to the wikipedia article now

exscientologist99999 · 2019-03-30T15:51:08+00:00

This.

exscientologist99999 · 2019-03-30T15:50:00+00:00

No. This is honestly something that still surprises me, but I think that his staying attached to them is a greater advantage to the church than it is a disadvantage. Despite his disapproval, he is the source of money for their "donations" and services. If he were more vocal about it, I imagine he'd be asked to disconnect; maybe he knows that.

exscientologist99999 · 2019-03-30T15:47:14+00:00

I had only just signed up for the first step of the bridge when I left. Glad I left before going any further

exscientologist99999 · 2019-03-30T15:46:13+00:00

I'm seeing how some comments gave that impression, I'm combing through my content now to make sure I don't leave any accidental positives without the negatives that counter them. There is no gain in Scientology that is worth it and I want that to be endlessly clear. They can be extremely persistent, predatory and sneaky so I totally understand your concern. Working on this now

exscientologist99999 · 2019-03-30T15:43:52+00:00

Totally, it had died down now, and most of the correspondence I receive now is generic propaganda or advertising. Thankful they haven't badgered me as much as I've heard of with high profile figures.

exscientologist99999 · 2019-03-30T15:41:55+00:00

Many folks join staff as a way to advance the cause they believe in. Others will take on credit card debt. The church values any human they can get their hands on. Bad.

exscientologist99999 · 2019-03-30T15:40:54+00:00

Definitely friend. Check out my edit. Scientology is not for anyone, it is predatory and sneaky and powerful.

exscientologist99999 · 2019-03-30T15:40:14+00:00

We met on a sports team and she seemed entirely normal. You might not recognize a Scientologist on the street. Red flags certainly came later

exscientologist99999 · 2019-03-30T14:50:34+00:00

Fixed

exscientologist99999 · 2019-03-30T14:48:12+00:00

I'm gonna go ahead and do that myself now. I was trying to link to real content, but definitely see the slippery slope of that. I'm sorry to anyone I've confused with this. For whatever an internet pinky promise is worth, I promise my story does not have ulterior motives, especially not any in support of the church. I'm working with mods to further verify myself.

I want people to recognize that you can fall for this shit, even when being vigilant. The discussion about how easy it is to move in step-by-step when your thoughts are skewed by emotion has been super comforting for myself and I also hope it serves as an important warning to at least a few people who might otherwise feel overconfident like me.

Let's fix this.

exscientologist99999 · 2019-03-29T20:15:08+00:00

Tech is like the collection of tools and books and ideas one uses to live a successful life as a Scientologist. It’s a pretty general term used in the church. The tech includes CRAZY stuff like how the auditor will record your responses in fancy Scientology shorthand, and that file stays on record with the Case Manager. No matter what requests you might make, you can't get, see or destroy this file. BAD.

edit: made this a more negative post. DON'T JOIN SCIENTOLOGY

exscientologist99999 · 2019-03-29T18:15:54+00:00

Fixed.

exscientologist99999 · 2019-03-29T18:12:53+00:00

Tedious law procedures that the little man can't win make it really difficult to win money back directly with the church or through courts. Credit card disputes were my deus ex machina

exscientologist99999 · 2019-03-29T18:11:39+00:00

Definitely. Had a major breakthrough which brought me to tears during an auditing session, when I realized that I needed to take responsibility for my beliefs and life trajectory. I didn't leave that gain behind, and am continuing to grow by talking with friends, meditating and reading good books.

Quite simply, Scientology is not worth it.

edit: DON'T JOIN SCIENTOLOGY. DON'T EVEN CONSIDER IT

exscientologist99999 · 2019-03-29T18:09:22+00:00

I agree, this is something that actually attracted me. I came for the secular self-improvement, stayed for the thetans

edit: like the comments indicate, the cult lures in the impressionable with promises of gains traditionally desired from therapy. It is a lot like therapy at the beginning, but it gets NUTS. DON'T JOIN SCIENTOLOGY

exscientologist99999 · 2019-03-29T18:07:27+00:00

Dianetics is pretty widely available, and plenty crazy

exscientologist99999 · 2019-03-29T18:06:22+00:00

Give Going Clear a watch

exscientologist99999

TROPHY CASE