> cya711@aol.com (Cya711) wrote:

> I thank the following people, from the bottom of my heart, for taking the time
> to respond to my question of WHY they became involved in Scientology in the
> first place.

I never became involved in Scientology. I was a huge science fiction fan in my earlier days (I still am) and tried to read some of the LRH early pulp works. I hated them. To be fair, I didn't like most of the early pulp. I just wasn't very believable to me. I didn't like Heinlein much (a sacrilege to some), nor Edgar Rice Burrows. Ursula LeGuin was more my style. If an author doesn't develop some sense of the humanity of the characters, I just can't get into the stories. I was never a big fan of superhero stories or comic books, either. Probably for the same reasons, that the characters are so strong and perfect that end up coming across as completely shallow and unbelievable.

So, I knew a bit about Hubbard as a sci-fi author, and I had heard about him starting a cult religion. But I wasn't familiar with the details of Scientology.

One day, back in my college days in the 70s, a roommate brought home a copy of Dianetics, which I picked up and began to read.

Within the first 5 pages, I sincerely believed L. Ron Hubbard to be insane. I slogged through a few chapters before putting it down for good. My roommate and the person who gave the book to him, and one other person with whom I worked were all immune to Hubbard's crackpotisms. No one I knew who read the book joined the cult. And all of us thought the self-help value of Dianetics to be pretty damn close to zero.

And that was pretty much my knowledge of Dianetics, Scientology, and Hubbard until 1995. That's when the RTC used an ex parte motion in a courtroom in San Jose, CA, to get a "Writ of Seizure" to have their lawyers, escorted by police, enter the home of Dennis Erlich, in Los Angeles, CA. They seized his computer, his floppy disks, his checkbook registers, and even hair from his comb. This made a big splash on the internet. I read about it while reading a cross-posted message on the newsgroup sci.skeptic.

I became a critic of the cult of Scientology right then and there. I've been a critic ever since. This cult must stop intimidating and bullying and psychologically manipulating people. If they do not, I will try to ridicule it out of business.

Michael Reuss
Honorary Kid

From: (IDA J 007)
Date: 28 Jan 2003 17:10:15 GMT
Message-ID: <20030128121015.16762.00000303@mb-cc.aol.com>

>Subject: Re: I want to thank the following people who answered my post!
>From: Michael Reuss michaelreuss@attbi.com
>Date: 01/27/2003 11:54 PM Pacific

Thank you Michael for letting us know how you became a critic of Scientology.

I was long time friend of Dennis and shortly following the raid I started getting strange phone calls which didn't take me long to realize the cult had found my phone number in his files. By a stroke of luck I had placed a pass word on my phone so My records could not be viewed by one of their investigators. Even "I forgot my password" didn't fly with the phone company.

I too had a copy of Dianetics within a few months of the publication. I read three chapters at that time and decided it was pure hogwash written obviously by someone if not insane, high on those red pills that were popular in the fifties. A teacher friend of mine had read it and saw it in a different light.

Even thought we could practice the "auditing" bit ourselves. I told her she would have to find someone else Years later I read, and recorded the number of times Hubbard wrote about abortion. Unbelievable then and now. I have found few readers of this book who have actually finished it. Three chapters is about the limit.

I became a critic in l976. I saw personally the disastrous effect on families, not just mine but others. Among the many books that I have read to further understand the indoctrination, I found" Battle for the Mind" by William Sargant one of of the best. Eric Hoeffer's "True Believer" is another must read imo.

Later I found "The Mind Alive" by the Overstreet Brothers which I often quote.

This was published about the time Hubbard was creating "Dianetics" .

Robert Jay Lifton, Margaret Singer and Steve Kent have published such wonderful books and papers on manipulation of the mind, I am ever grateful to them.

Keith Henson's paper on "Drugs, Sex and Cults is another worthwhile publication.

I always read your posts Michael, thank you for your imput these past years. I am sure they are appreciated by many.

Ida Camburn

WHEN MENTAL HEALTH IS TREATENED From "The Mind Alive" by Overstreeet

That which promotes psychic health and the full vital aliveness of the mind deserves support. That which undermines such health --encouraging fixation, regression, perennial immaturity, and blockages of relationship between the individual and his environment--is suspect.

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