Scientology & Totalitarianism
by Laura Kay Fuller Senior Thesis,
University of California, Santa Cruz, CA,1999 Prologue About a year ago, I came upon an article about Scientology in a local newspaper1. The author had written on the topic of Scientologists and their censorship of controversial literature on the internet. The word "controversial" was applied to anything critical of the religion known as Scientology, as well as to "secret documents" copyrighted by the Church of Scientology that are published on the internet. It was a standard piece of journalism- the writer offered equal sides of opinions from Scientologists and their critics. Ultimately, the reader was left with the idea that while Scientologists may engage in censorship or other undesirable activities, the church is rather harmless overall. The article presented Scientology as existing on the "fringe" of society, that is as being secondary to the mainstream-a silly and somewhat isolated phenomenon.

I found myself curious as to what Scientology was about and began to ask people what they knew about this group, which seemed quite mysterious to me. I heard many explanations that served to peak my interest in Scientology. Some told me, "It's a religion- they have churches and everything" or "Movie stars like Tom Cruise and John Travolta are into it." Another said, "They hook you up to machines that are supposed to measure your repressed memories." Someone else said, "It's pure evil," while another told me, "I took their psychological test once and they've been sending me tons of junk mail ever since- for the last ten years! I hate those people."

Just what exactly was Scientology? Spurred by my own curiosity and a fascination with what seemed to be an increasingly bizarre history and set of practices, I began to research Scientology more extensively.

The more I found out, the more frightened I became. What I discovered was an organization that is far from harmless, as the news article had previously concluded, but rather one which is extremely dangerous. At this point, I became convinced that others should be aware of what I now consider to be a dangerous and manipulative cult. I find it disturbing that many people do not know about the "dark side" of Scientology; thus part of my motivation in writing is to reveal information and analyses that are generally not available to the public. The end result of my findings lay here in this thesis.

It is crucial to be able to see movements such as Scientology in different perspectives than they might normally be observed or presented. For myself, this involves looking at Scientology in terms of the totalitarian ideological model. However, I continue to owe much to the theories of others who have helped inform my views on this subject. It was through reading Hannah Arendt that I eventually incorporated her theories on totalitarianism into my thesis. Although Arendt focused on two distinct totalitarian movements of her time, Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia, she also stressed that there are numerous ways in which totalitarian movements can appear in the future2. It is indeed a mistake to assume that Arendt's examples are somehow exact models of what totalitarianism looks like, for the nature of totalitarianism requires itself to change and mutate in order to proliferate in various societies. The defeat of the Nazis does not equal the defeat of totalitarianism. As Arendt asserts, we must be continually aware of totalitarian tendencies in our lives, lest we not recognize totalitarian ideologies as they exist around us.

The remaining choice is far more frightening- the possibility of a totalitarian future. In order to resist such forces, one must actively work to stop these movements from gaining power and popularity. A significant component of this involves presenting alternative points of view, by which a movement like Scientology can be judged.

In a way, this paper is an answer to the suggestion that Scientology is something to be casually observed, with the attitude "I'll do my thing, they can do theirs," as the newspaper article had implied. As my thesis will demonstrate, Scientology must be taken seriously, especially if we are to look at it as demonstrating a pattern that has surfaced before, in the form of totalitarianism. This project also communicates what I have learned over the past year, both while researching Scientology and working within American Studies. My work in American Studies has particularly encouraged me to look carefully at that which might otherwise be dismissed as insignificant. Hence, part of the importance of critically looking at Scientology lies in the simple act of critically looking at a movement that very much discourages both its members and the general population from doing so.

While my reasons for choosing this topic vary, ranging from curiosity to political convictions, they are united by my belief that there is immense value in understanding and resisting totalitarian movements.

Even if totalitarianism should emerge in the unlikely form of a science fiction writer named L. Ron Hubbard3, these movements deserve careful attention and public discussion. This is not an objective paper, nor is it a paranoid rant. It is in part a call of warning, but it is also a means for analyzing how totalitarian ideologies function in the world that I live in- late twentieth century American society.

In this way, the project takes on a personal importance, for as I learn to be more aware of the social and political patterns around me, I also gain the ability to recognize that similar patterns have emerged before. Without this historical background, I would be unable to see that Scientology is, in fact, a rather fascinating version of the many ways in which totalitarianism can disguise itself.

Introduction "Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion."

-L. Ron Hubbard, Reader's Digest reprint, May 1980, p.1

Accounts of L. Ron Hubbard's life vary, but the following information consists of only verifiable facts4. Lafayette Ronald Hubbard was born in 1911, the son of a struggling Nebraska businessman. Growing up, he had a wandering existence, living with his parents or relatives in various places throughout western America. He led a wildly romantic youth, in which his dreams and realities often became confused.

Hubbard was a skillful and prolific young writer. As a penniless young man in the 1930's, he began authoring "pulp" science fiction stories for magazines. While writing for the pulps, he claimed to have made a discovery of such philosophical and psychological importance that it would forever change the world. From this discovery, the "science" of Dianetics evolved, first appearing in a science fiction pulp magazine.

Dianetics is an offshoot of a method of psychotherapy concocted by Hubbard from various sources. It is a form of regression therapy, whereby the subject is reverted to an earlier mental or behavioral level.

Dianetics prospered briefly, but later floundered in a sea of debts.

In 1952, Hubbard founded a far more ambitious program. He expanded Dianetics to appear more like a religion, largely in order to enjoy tax benefits. He called this new religion "Scientology." Scientology, Hubbard claimed, could give one the ability to overcome all diseases of the mind and body. Scientology was organized as a series of levels, with the participant required to pay thousands of dollars to pass each one. As a leader, he had profound influence over his followers. The Church of Scientology was constantly in trouble with the government and the authorities. As a means to escape government control, Hubbard in 1967 started the "Sea Org," an abbreviation for "Sea Organization."

The Sea Org was an elite group of Scientologists that formed a private navy, with Hubbard as Commodore. For years Hubbard and his entourage of Scientologists roamed the world pursued by the FBI, the CIA, and various outraged national governments. He tried and failed on several accounts to take control of several countries and at least one continent.

For nearly a decade Hubbard sailed the oceans, surrounded and served by young women in hotpants called "messengers" who did practically everything for him, including dressing and undressing him. The messengers were trained like robots to relay orders in Hubbard's tone of voice. In the mid-1970's, Hubbard directed a covert operation aimed at infiltrating United States government offices in order to launder their growing files on the Church of Scientology. Hubbard himself escaped a prison sentence, but became increasingly paranoid. In 1980, fearing arrest, he disappeared and was never seen again. He died in hiding in 1986- under mysterious circumstances.

While this story may seem incredibly bizarre or even unbelievable, a number of credible sources concur that this is the case5. The facts surrounding Scientology often hold up to the "truth is stranger than fiction" motif. On the outside, the cult may seem to be purely a vehicle for making money. Or it may appear that Hubbard was simply insane, and that consequentially, Scientology is also "crazy."

However, there remain many aspects of Scientology that demand further explanation and in-depth attention. As my thesis will show, the core beliefs of Scientology are revealed slowly to the member, increasingly becoming what mainstream culture would deem "crazy." Yet to Scientologists, their "religion" is the opposite of craziness: it is complete sanity and total freedom. How does the insane become accepted as reality? And more importantly, what ideologies are at play, which allow this to happen?

My thesis argues that Scientology, as an ideology, is moving in a totalitarian direction. Totalitarianism is an extreme form of control of thought, behavior and interaction6. The desire of totalitarianism is complete homogenization. As an ideology, it aims at eliminating difference, so that no variations can exist. Totalitarianism is anti-diversity- it is about the continual process of radical purification. The idea is that everybody moves in the same direction because there is nowhere else to go. Psychologically speaking, everybody's will is unidirectional, marching in the same line. This involves creating a space where there is the constant fear of being watched or reported. Totalitarianism also necessitates the absence of critical thought and the stifling of public discourse because this challenges its ideological goals. Yet the word "totalitarianism" is misleading, for it is never as entirely "total" as it would like to be. There is always resistance and noncompliance.

Using Hannah Arendt's writings on totalitarianism as a basis, I will focus on how different aspects of Scientology reveal similar ideological components to totalitarianism. I will look at several themes including the construction of history, leadership and language, showing how each contributes to the framework of a totalitarian ideology. The latter half of the paper discusses the role of technology within Scientology and how this relates to Arendt's visions of totalitarianism. Finally, I will focus on ideology itself, giving numerous examples of how Scientology functions to build a state of terror, while aiming for world domination.
History "The creation of Dianetics is a milestone for Man comparable to his discovery of fire and superior to his inventions of the wheel and arch."

-L. Ron Hubbard, Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, 1950.
From its very beginnings, Scientology has been preoccupied with its place in history. L. Ron Hubbard saw in Dianetics, and consequentially in Scientology, a discovery of great, momentous importance. He imagined that Dianetics would change everything that followed in its course, and he conceived of it largely as a historical event. Hubbard and fellow Scientologists often describe Dianetics as a "breakthrough"

that enables people to take the next step in a historical process. The message overwhelms the Scientologist with the sense of a larger, ideological meaning for his or her own life. Scientology's emphasis on history is a fundamental part of the group's beliefs and forms the basis for a significant portion of its ideology.

In this essay, I will show how this construction of history reveals a similar pattern when compared to Hannah Arendt's observations on totalitarianism, specifically regarding Nazism and Stalinism. History has been a major factor in the identity of totalitarian movements.

What I mean by "history" is not simply a chronological record of events, but a way of understanding and placing one's position in a series of world events, and using that to justify actions and beliefs.

It is history as ideology, or rather history with a capital "H."7 Totalitarianism tends to stress this meaning of history because it legitimizes the movement's aims and desires. It also provides the member with the sense that they are involved in a dramatic course of action, which will forever influence the world. While this appeals to a desire for personal power, it also functions to secure the movement's aims by introducing history as justification for totalitarian domination. Totalitarianism's desire for power is not so much about individual power as it is about the power of a uniform group to spread an embodied ideology. Scientology's construction of history shares some notable traits with Arendt's theories on the totalitarian ideology, demonstrating a continuity in thought and action which deserves explanation.

Arendt writes that during the Nazi regime, Heinrich Himmler8 gave a speech in which he described the mentality of the people whom he recruited into the SS. He said these people were not interested in "everyday problems" but only "in ideological questions of importance for decades and centuries, so that the man...knows he is working for a great task which occurs but once every 2,000 years."9 L. Ron Hubbard designed and presented Dianetics in a similar frame of mind.

Scientologists have often remarked that in the beginning stages of the cult, they are made to feel part of a group that is making broad strides into the future. In the elite ranks of Scientologists, such as among the Sea Org, members even sign a billion-year contract with the Church of Scientology. Clearly, Scientologists view their movement as an epic undertaking. This ideological understanding of history has tremendous appeal.

Scientologists are able to see the movement, and thus themselves, as making history with a system which is "an evolutionary step, a tool which is used in arriving at a higher level of knowledge."10 As Arendt states, this produced "a mentality, which, like Cecil Rhodes11 some forty years before, thought in continents and felt in centuries."12 This statement is particularly revealing and almost uncanny when compared to L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. As Hubbard writes, "The history of Dianetics would be the history of a voyage of discovery, of an exploration into new and nearly uncharted realms, Terra Incognita, the Human Mind, a land which lies behind your forehead."13 It can be seen here that Hubbard's Dianetics was inspired by imperialism- the desire to conquer spaces with ideological justification. Hubbard himself was the imperialist force making "discoveries" in the name of historical advancement. He was changing history, only this time the conquered space was the "Human Mind."

Interestingly, Hubbard was a great admirer of Cecil Rhodes, even going so far as to claim he was Rhodes reincarnated and dressing like the British statesman.14 This is no coincidence, for both men embodied a mentality which viewed themselves as history-makers with ideas that would "encompass, in due course, the entire human race."15 Hubbard's identification with Rhodes indicates his association with Rhodes' place in history. It also signifies the continuing pattern of a vision of world domination, in terms of imperialist ideology. This is the train of thought on which Scientology is based. In Origins of Totalitarianism, Hannah Arendt argues that totalitarianism is directly correlated with imperialism. She writes that the totalitarian regime could not be possible without the imperialist, expansionist mentality of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. According to Arendt, it was imperialism which proved to be the most influential force for totalitarianism. In fact, Origins emphasizes Cecil Rhodes as the symbolic imperialist, one who aimed for mass annexation, but was limited by capitalism. Hubbard's fascination and admiration for Rhodes proves to be a compelling parallel to Arendt's work. Thus, there exists a historical continuity that both Hubbard and Arendt were well aware of and which served to foster Scientology.

In her writings, Arendt emphasizes the totalitarian movement's need for constant motion. She states that "only a movement that is constantly kept in motion" can achieve "the permanent domination of each single individual in each and every sphere of life."16 Motion here is used to describe the way a group moves both physically and ideologically. In a historical perspective, it means there is no end-point or final goal at which the movement stops. There remains a constant desire to continue moving through space, unimpeded. This motion itself is the goal of totalitarianism, which Arendt describes as being able to "organize as many people as possible within its framework and to set and keep them in motion; a political goal that would constitute the end of the movement simply does not exist."17 In Scientology, the goal stated by Hubbard is to "help Mankind" achieve "total happiness and freedom" through his techniques.18 To reach this goal, every individual, of which "Mankind" is composed, must then take part in Scientology. Constant motion is therefore secured by the group's goals for world domination- and it doesn't stop at planet earth. As Hubbard says, "there is a whole universe to be won."19 Another aspect of a totalitarian attitude toward history is the ease with which historical forgeries are made by the organization. Arendt states that all totalitarian regimes are guilty of "monstrous forgeries in historiography."20 Much of these are outright lies used for totalitarian propaganda. However, this reconstruction of history also serves to aid the movement's ideological mission. L. Ron Hubbard consistently lied about himself. There exists a mountain of evidence proving that Hubbard often made-up portions of his own history or life-story. He greatly exaggerated his accomplishments, to the point where many would call him a megalomaniac. Hubbard denied those things which did not fit into the picture of Scientology he wanted to present, while celebrating those that served to foster the new "science of the mind." The sheer amount and breadth of Hubbard's lies are staggering.

However, Hubbard's historical fallacies were not limited to his own life-story. Much like Hitler and Stalin before him, Hubbard felt free to concoct entire historical fables, based on his own twisted inclinations. In The History of Man,21 Hubbard actually went so far as to claim his book was "a cold blooded look at your last 60 trillion years,"22 and that it proved the theory of evolution. In a narrative style that wavered between fantasy fiction and a pseudo-scientific medical paper, Hubbard devoted much of the book to a re-working of evolution. The grandiose tale began "trillions of years ago" and was concerned with the development of the human soul. Hubbard's evolutionary pathway started with "an atom, complete with electronic rings," after which came a cosmic impact producing "photon converters," the first single cell creature. Each stage of life encountered unique experiences which continue to affect our mental and physical state today, said Hubbard.23 Next came seaweed, jellyfish, and the clam.24 Progressing along the Hubbard time-track, evolution arrived at the sloth, which "had bad times falling out of trees," the ape and the famous Piltdown Man, which was the cause of a multitude of problems, ranging from obsessions about biting to family problems.

These could be traced back to the fact that "the Piltdown teeth were enormous and he was quite careless as to whom and what he bit."25 Indeed, so careless was the Piltdown Man, Hubbard recorded, that he was sometimes guilty of "eating one's wife and other somewhat illogical activities."26 This entire cosmology was constructed to reveal Hubbard's genius, as well as to prove the basis for Scientology's beliefs.

While such historical forgeries exhibit a similar pattern to Arendt's concepts of totalitarianism, there exists further evidence regarding Scientology's totalitarian tendencies. Arendt writes that all totalitarian movements construct history with the object of "revealing official history as a joke, to demonstrate a sphere of secret influences of which the visible, traceable, and known historical reality was only the outward façade erected to fool the people."27 Scientology also exhibits this impulse. The group does this by accusing its critics of conspiring to discredit Scientology. For Scientologists, the secret sphere of influence that masquerades as official (known) history is formed by those people who speak out against the movement. Scientology wants to reveal its critics' version of history as a scam that inhibits one from being free, which the movement claims to be its goal. Members view the idea that Hubbard's life-story is composed of falsehoods as a plot designed to persecute their freedom of religion. When these historical forgeries are revealed, members point to a secret group of people intent on keeping "Mankind from achieving total freedom and happiness."28 The danger of such forgeries is the possibility that "gigantic lies can eventually be established as unquestioned facts, that man may be free to change his own past at will, and that the difference between truth and fiction may cease to be objective."29 It is indeed frightening to realize the degree to which history is used as an ideological tool for totalitarianism. Nonetheless, it has happened before, as Arendt proves by examining Nazism and Stalinism. The end result is a consistent fabrication of reality, without which totalitarianism cannot exist. Hubbard has been partially successful, at least with his followers, in getting them to accept the outrageous historical lies which abound in Scientology. For some Scientologists, it is possible that these histories function as interpretive fables for everyday life. For others, the monumental falsehoods have become unquestioned truths, for to question them is certainly an obstruction to the totalitarian mentality.
....continued.....

Copyright (c) 1999 Laura Kay Fuller
From: Bob Minton <bobminton@lisatrust.net>
Subject: Co$ & Totalitarianism----Leadership & Language 2/5
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2001 22:33:42 -0400
Organization: Lisa McPherson Trust, 33 N. Fort Harrison Ave., Clearwater, FL 33755 Tel: (727) 467-9335
Message-ID: <ff3hnt0q4tasp83qqq3cqhs4qhq3d6cb5i@4ax.com>
Leadership "Have you ever felt that you could do a lot more for this planet if only given the chance in a real group with common interests, common goals and...The greatest leader on this planet!!"

-From a Sea-Org flyer, 1971

Understanding Scientology, as with any movement, requires analysis of its leadership characteristics. The orientation of leadership within Scientology and within Arendt's theories on totalitarianism show how closely the two are often related. Leadership refers to how the leader of a movement thinks, behaves, and conceives of his or her relationship with the group. It is also about how the group member acts and feels concerning the leader. In many ways, L. Ron Hubbard has been the dominant leader of Scientology. Yet, after his death, Scientology did not crumble or disappear. The cult is now under the leadership of David Miscavige, a long-time Scientologist known for his temper and ruthlessness.30 Many of the examples used within this essay will refer to leadership under Hubbard, as there is simply more information available on him. Miscavige, who has headed Scientology for the last twelve years, differs in some respects from Hubbard's leadership style, yet has retained the fundamental characteristics employed by Hubbard.

Studying Scientology, it becomes increasingly clear that Hubbard's "discoveries" were merely re-hashed versions of earlier psychological or scientific theories. Arendt also recognized this quality in the totalitarian leader. She writes that the leader is distinguished by "the simple-minded purposefulness with which he chooses those elements from existing ideologies which are best fitted to become the fundaments of another, entirely fictitious world."31 Much of early Dianetics should seem familiar to anyone who has seriously studied psychology and computer science. Dianetics incorporated a number of ideas from psychology: engrams32, aberrations33, the subconscious, "charge,"34 the value of talk therapy, some rules of therapist behavior. None of these ideas were original or unique to Hubbard. He simply re-phrased them and claimed them as his own. Hubbard added in some half-understood concepts from Korzybski's General Semantics (the "semantic reaction A=A") and Eniac-era computer technology (clear, key-in, bank, erasure, electronic files).

Also interesting was what Hubbard discarded from his sources- any uncertainty about how the mind worked. According to Hubbard, the mind consisted of two compartments, the analytic mind35 and the reactive mind, and their natures were fully known. The fundamental model of the "mind" on which all of Dianetics is based includes a division of the mind into a "bad [reactive] mind" and a "good [analytic] mind." One could re-file everything (as if the mind was a computer) from the bad mind into the good mind and then "erase" the bad one, like a software program. There was no more uncertainty about what the "mind" was, claimed Hubbard- he had discovered all there was to know. Hubbard never backed-up his claims of success with actual evidence.

Furthermore, there was no need to prove the workability of the hypotheses. This astounding simplicity utilized in the creation of Dianetics was the basis for the "fictitious world" of which Arendt speaks. By appropriating already existing theories from various ideologies, while claiming them as his own faultless ideas, Hubbard had begun building the foundation for the totalitarian movement that would follow.

One of the major distinctive traits of the totalitarian leader is that he or she can never admit an error. Arendt writes that "The chief qualification of the mass leader has become unending infallibility."36 Whatever the leader says, no matter how absurd, his words are always right and correct. There are no "mistakes" on the part of the leader, only the failure of the group member to adequately engage in the leader's instructions.

This theory holds true when applied to Hubbard and Scientology. During my study of Hubbard's Scientology audio tape series37, I was struck by the number of times Ron expressed uncertainty about any of the subjects he discussed: Zero. There was not a single "maybe" in any of his lectures. Hubbard claimed that "Dianetics is terribly, terribly simple. You can only mess it up by complicating it."38 Scientology is 100% workable, he said. The only reason Scientology sometimes appears not to work is because people are either altering it or not doing it exactly as Hubbard says. Hubbard could make no error- he was infallible. No one was permitted to challenge the validity of his methods since within the ideological structure of Scientology, it would be the equivalent of admitting personal failure.

In addition, the totalitarian leader has a distinct relationship with the group member, whereby the member becomes a sort of miniature clone of the leader. To Arendt, this means that "every functionary is not only appointed by the leader but is his walking embodiment, and every order is supposed to emanate from this one ever-present source."39 The members act on account of the leader, while the leader remains infallible. Thus, any mistake "can only be a fraud: the impersonation of the Leader by an imposter."40 Through this identification with the leader, the member builds a sense of pride and loyalty toward the leader. That is, unless they are unlucky enough to make a mistake. In that case, in order to correct his own errors, the leader must liquidate those who carried out his own orders.41 The multiplication of these mini-leaders also results in the feeling of being constantly watched or supervised from all angles of the organization.

The nature of Hubbard's leadership in Scientology has displayed traits indicating an unsettling similarity to Arendt's theories of totalitarianism. During Hubbard's years on the Sea Org boat, the aging Commodore was able to construct a world virtually of his own creation.

One part of this was a rather bizarre new element called the Commodore's Messenger Organization."42 The CMO was an elite unit made up of children who were the offspring of committed Scientologists. The children acted as messengers, with the original function of serving Hubbard by relaying his verbal orders to crew and students on board.

The messengers were mainly pubescent girls who eventually came to be widely feared little monsters.43 It was the greatest possible honor to be selected as a messenger, and the girls vied for the position. In their cute uniforms, they were trained to deliver Hubbard's orders using his exact words and tone of voice.

If the Commodore had a temper and was bellowing abuse, the messenger would scuttle off and yell the same abuse at the offender. No one dared to disobey a messenger, for she was vested with the authority of Hubbard's leadership.

The example of the CMO serves to show how closely Hubbard's leadership comes to the totalitarian model. Hubbard's messengers were the "walking embodiment" of their leader. However, the messengers were composed of an elite group, while the same rules did not necessarily apply for the majority of Scientologists. When mistakes were made by other Scientologists on board the Sea Org, they were not "liquidated,"

but humiliated.44 Often times, these mistakes were due to Hubbard's picky habits and temperamental moods. In these cases, the member was certainly taking the blame for Hubbard's own errors, while it is uncertain whether he or she was acting in leader's name.

Loyalty on the part of the member is of equal importance for the totalitarian leader. A sense of duty or loyalty toward the leader is necessary because without it, the movement could not function. As Arendt notes about the Nazi Party, "The mutual loyalty of the Leader and the people" was the principle "on which the Reich rested."45 To capture such sentiment, the totalitarian movement requires "concentrated obedience, undivided by any attempt to understand what one is doing."46 This builds loyalty toward the group as a whole as well. Through reviewing the literature of ex-Scientologists, I noticed that many of them mention this mentality of obedience when referring to their personal experiences in Scientology. Many spoke of feeling encouraged not to think about what they were doing, but instead to concentrate only on the specific action involved. For example, the following excerpt comes from a former Scientologist regarding what he felt his duty to be: "I had a few incipient doubts come up, but I didn't think about it too much. My job, as I saw it then, was to understand what to DO, to do it, and to observe for myself what happened. Only what you observe for yourself is true for you. I had to reserve judgement on anything I hadn't yet 'observed,' whether or not it was true."47 This obedience to Hubbard's techniques indicates the same emphasis on loyalty for the leader referenced by Arendt.

Concentration solely on Scientology technique produces a mentality whereby one is directed to ignore independent thoughts. Another former member writes about what she understood to be her role as a dedicated Scientologist: "Stop wavering and apply the tech[nique] exactly in all areas of life. Look inward; all failures stem from your own dereliction of your basic duty to apply the tech[nique] precisely. The only right path is the path of loyalty to Ron."48 Such unreasoning loyalty, once established, obliterates critical thinking not only in respect to the leader, but about the group as a whole. The result is an organization where it becomes nearly inconceivable for the member to violate the leader's orders. Arendt noted that according to Adolf Eichmann "such behavior was impossible."

It was "unthinkable."49 In Scientology, for those who have become dedicated to the movement, the notion of disobedience is likewise, unimaginable. Combined with a sense of duty toward an infallible leader and single-minded obedience to his techniques, Scientologists are well on their way to totalitarianism.
Language "Charge is the electronic bing-bang that hits the pc in the blonk..."

-L. Ron Hubbard, Engram Chain Running, audio tape lecture series, 1963.

Scientology uses a strange language that is altogether baffling to those unfamiliar with it. Speaking in a lingo almost entirely coined by L. Ron Hubbard, Scientologists communicate in words that the average person would find quite perplexing. While this language is technically English, it is composed of hundreds of coded words whose meanings are known primarily by Scientologists. This peculiar aspect of Scientology brings up several questions, such as "What is the function of this language?" and "How does it relate to totalitarianism?" In this essay, I will answer these questions by examining the relationship between language and the thought process in totalitarianism, focusing on Hannah Arendt's Eichmann in Jerusalem. In addition, I will discuss the type of language that influenced Hubbard and the consequences of altering word meanings.

The complicated language of Scientology is an integral part of the movement and distinguishes the group from many others. The official glossary for Scientology and Dianetics50 lists definitions for over 300 words, and these are only "official" terms. Many of these word meanings were altered by Hubbard in order that his new definitions would describe or agree with Dianetic techniques.51 Others terms are simply made-up by Hubbard.52 The terminology of Scientology is influenced by several key areas: science-fiction and computer science.

The language of science-fiction throughout Scientology should come as no surprise, since Hubbard had written science-fiction narratives for many years prior to Dianetics. Science-fiction is defined as "fiction dealing principally with the impact of actual or imagined science on society or individuals."53 Apparently, Hubbard felt little need to do away with this type of story-telling when speaking or writing about Scientology. This is because Scientology is itself a kind of "science fiction." Scientology is composed of undocumented, unproven "scientific" theories, which are then used by Scientologists to form success narratives- in short, it is fictional science. Arendt emphasizes that totalitarian movements rely on building an entirely fictitious world, whereby factuality is increasingly distorted.54 L. Ron Hubbard wanted to make fiction reality- he wanted to write his own "space opera."55 In the upper levels of Scientology, Ron's penchant for science-fiction becomes especially evident.56 Members discover that some 70 million years ago, Earth was part of an overpopulated Galactic Federation. The evil president of the federation, Xemu, ruled that the excess population be sent to Earth, where they were put alongside volcanoes and subjected to nuclear bombs. The spirits, or Thetans, of the victims were then "implanted" with religious and technological images and became stuck together in clusters. Human beings, said Hubbard, were actually a collection of these Thetans, a cluster of alien-spirits or "Body Thetans." Xemu was later rounded up and imprisoned in a mountain on one of the planets. To this day, he is still kept alive by an eternal battery. In order to be a free soul, without the clusters influencing our behavior, one has to remove these "Body Thetans" through Scientology techniques. That is what Dianetics prepares one for!

The language of computer science also highly influenced Scientology-speak. Hubbard borrowed quite a few computer science terms from the 1940's and 50's, once again changing their definitions to reflect the goals of Dianetics. For example, Scientology defines "machine" as "an actual machine in the mind (like ordinary machinery), constructed out of mental mass and energy, that has been made by the individual to do work for him, usually having been set up so as to come into operation automatically under certain predetermined circumstances."57 This definition places the human mind in a mechanical state that can be manipulated accordingly. The mind is thus a version of a computer that can and should be programmed efficiently.

Other computer related words litter the Scientology dictionary:

circuit58, erase59, processing60, terminal61. This phraseology reveals Hubbard's desire to mechanize human thought and feelings, to the point where a simple technique could be used to fix any ailment or "aberration"62 on the part of the subject.

The language of Scientology serves several primary functions. One of these is to construct a style of communication unique to that particular group. The unusual lingo distinguishes Scientologists from other people, building a sense of community that is different and removed from the rest of society. Because Scientology-speak is utter nonsense to the uninitiated, it separates the Scientologist from everybody outside of that group, functioning as communication for the few.63 Thus, the language becomes one of the marked traits of the Scientologist.

Another aspect of language in Scientology is the ease with which members speak in ready stock phrases arising from the cult's beliefs and rhetoric. Stock phrases are words which are often repeated in order to provide an easy explanation for beliefs. To put it another way, they are clichés. Hannah Arendt particularly noticed this trait in Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi war criminal on trial for the genocide of the Jewish people. In Eichmann in Jerusalem, Arendt writes of being struck by Eichmann's capacity for continually speaking in "stock phrases or slogans."64 Eichmann was unable to communicate other than through catch words and Nazi party slogans. "Officialese is my only language," he admitted, testifying to his incapability of "uttering a single sentence that was not a cliché."65 Scientologists also tend to often display this trait. There exists a startling similarity in phraseology between Scientologists. While studying language within Scientology, I became aware of how frequently certain phrases and terms are repeated. This characteristic provides valuable insight into how a Scientologist thinks and speaks. A prime example of Scientology lingo is found in the following excerpt, gathered from a on-line newsgroup:

"Scientology is a religion founded on ethical systems and conduct, by using the understanding that freedom is found for the individual by that individual taking responsibility for their past, present and future. Some criminal organizations have recognized this as a threat to their survival or criminal intent to rob mankind of spiritual freedoms and have thus gone about in quite a methodical fashion to undermine the work of Scientology in the community. Scientology as a religious practice is about the individual taking responsibility for themselves and others across the dynamics. It is a good organization under attack, from ignorance, from evil intent and from those who are not into taking responsibility in general. It is my personal belief that there are suppressive individuals in society, suppressive groups, chaos merchants and the like who knowingly attack the truth either consciously or unconsciously. They are repelled by the fact that others wish to stop criminal action. They are repelled by a group that has the capability to find them out. They are repelled by concepts of freedom, love and honor and higher spiritual concepts."66 The passage above demonstrates the thought processes of an active-phase Scientologist and contains many of the cult's terms and stock phrases used in a natural context. Virtually everything said has been repeated over and over by Scientologists in order to justify their "religion" against attacks by critics. As with Eichmann, the language is full of clichés that are "always said the same, expressed in the same words."67 This curious trait is a revealing factor of the Scientologist mentality. Regarding Eichmann, Arendt wrote that "his inability to speak was closely connected with an inability to think, namely, to think from the standpoint of somebody else."68 Eichmann was unable to think outside of one position- that of the Nazi party.

Consequentially, his mind was "filled to the brim with fabricated stock phrases."69 The quotation from the Scientologist shows how effortlessly the member uses Scientology terms and catch words to defend himself against criticism. Communication without these stock phrases and cult slogans would be near impossible, for they constitute the way the member thinks. Repetition of such phrases within Scientology indicates that members are only capable of thinking in one particular way. They can think only in terms of Scientology-speak and have much difficulty doing otherwise. This does not mean that Scientologists are blind robots that repeat everything they hear. It does, however, mean that Scientologists' thought processes have become so enmeshed in the cult's beliefs, they are unable even to think outside of the cult's language.

Another element of Scientology-speak, which can be seen in the previous excerpt, is the strange juxtaposition of talk about "criminals" with words such as "freedom" and "spiritual." Anyone who challenges Scientology is an evil "criminal," while the group is self-labeled as honorable defenders of "freedom" and "higher spirituality." This paranoid thread runs throughout the language. The theme can clearly be read in the lines about being "under attack,"

along with the omnipresent "chaos merchants"70 and "criminal organizations." Scientology views itself as the victim of a brutal scheme by those who seek to oppose the "truth." The "suppressive"

people of whom the member speaks are defined as those "who actively seek to suppress or damage Scientology or a Scientologist by actions or omissions undertaken knowingly to suppress, reduce or impede Scientology or Scientologists."71 Thus, a constant paranoia is built within the language of the movement. The idea of a worldwide plot to destroy Scientology because it contains higher "concepts of freedom"

is a testament to the group's delusions and irrational suspicions.

Speaking with Scientologists, one frequently encounters such views along with the standard stock phrases. As with Eichmann's case, communication is not possible because the words are consistently used as a safeguard against reality.72 The altering of word meanings remains another language characteristic common to Scientology and the Nazi party. For the Nazis, all correspondence referring to the mass killing of the Jews was subject to a rigid set of "language rules."73 The rules substituted code names for words such as "killing" and "extermination," replacing them with "final solution" and "special treatment." The effect of this language system was to prevent people from equating the unpleasant idea of murder with the horrible actions they were taking. Within Scientology, words meanings are also altered, yet the reasons for the changes are somewhat different. While the Nazis substituted code words to cover-up the reality of their murderous actions, Scientologists are more apt to exchange old words for a new version that better suits their ideology.

An example of this sort of language is the unofficial Scientology term "Raw Meat Preclear." A Raw Meat Preclear is defined by Hubbard as "one who has never had Scientology processing."74 Hence, anyone who is not a Scientologist is equated with "Raw Meat." This is an especially revealing word substitution, as it exposes the insulting attitude taken toward non-Scientologists. The term "Raw Meat" is akin to the massification of bodies into pieces of flesh. It is much easier to harm a person when they are simply packages of meat, and not people with complex feelings and experiences. The result of the Nazis' code words is the same- dehumanization through language. Terming a person as "Raw Meat" also functions inside another dialectic. Because most Scientologists were not always members of their movement, they too were once "Raw Meat." Thus calling another "Raw Meat," the Scientologist unwittingly equates his or her own self as a reconstructable, packagable, utterly manipulatable object.

In addition, Scientology redefines words with the goal of producing an entirely new meaning for them. Often times, such words are a significant clue into the cult's ideology. For instance, Scientology's re-definition of the term "critical thought" particularly exemplifies this case75. Hubbard defined critical thought as "a symptom of an overt act having been committed"76 or "a withhold from an auditor."77 What Hubbard meant is that critical thought is a bad thing; it indicates a criminal act. "Overt acts" and "withholds" are the equivalent of crimes against life and freedom in Scientology. The new definition thus makes it a crime for members to think critically, particularly about Scientology. Any "critical thought" by the Scientologist is immediately suspect. This redefinition makes criticizing anything about Scientology extremely difficult for members, as it is reflected back on them as something they did wrong. Hubbard's message is clear:

critical thought is not the sort of thing any good Scientologist should be engaged in.

The theme of critical thought occurs throughout Arendt's analysis of the totalitarian ideology. Totalitarian movements always work to stifle critical thinking because it challenges the unifying mentality which their ideology necessitates. The fact that Hubbard specifically chose to redefine "critical thought" as a crime is no mere coincidence. Totalitarian movements cannot function with the plurality of viewpoints that independent critical thought provokes. Using language to smother such thinking is a significant step in the movement toward totalitarianism.

....continued.....

Copyright (c) 1999 Laura Kay Fuller
From: Bob Minton <bobminton@lisatrust.net>
Subject: Co$ & Totalitarianism----Technology 3/5
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2001 22:33:43 -0400
Organization: Lisa McPherson Trust, 33 N. Fort Harrison Ave., Clearwater, FL 33755 Tel: (727) 467-9335
Message-ID: <cf3hnt87nevtou0qe25cqc5s7p69mnigkp@4ax.com>
Technology "The E-Meter sees all, knows all. It is never wrong."

-L. Ron Hubbard, Electropsychometric Auditing Operator's Manual, 1953.78 The Hubbard Electro-psychometer, or E-Meter, has become an indispensable part of Scientology. The E-meter is a device which measures the changes in electrical conductivity of the skin that occur at moments of even slight excitement or emotional stress.79 It is similar to the machine used in giving lie detector tests. The rather crude device consists of two tin cans held by the subject or "preclear."80 The cans are attached to an apparatus with several dials and a small window in which a needle moves, indicating responses by registering the change in electrical resistance of the subject's skin.

Scientologists claim the E-meter allows people to "see a thought."81 Originally invented by early Dianetics enthusiast and chiropractor, Volney Mathison, Hubbard eventually patented the device, which proved to be quite a profitable venture.82 Every Scientologist wanted to have his own E-meter and the only place to buy them was from the Hubbard Association of Scientologists. The little gadget would later prove to be an essential tool in Scientology processing.

Scientology processing, or auditing, is a central element of the cult's practices. Auditing usually involves two people: an auditor and a preclear. An auditor is someone trained in applying Scientology techniques and has been through Dianetics processing themselves. The preclear pays to be guided by the auditor through a series of techniques involving the E-meter, which are used to uncover areas of mental distress. The auditor asks questions of the subject, and the movement of the meter's needle is apparently used as a check of the emotional reaction to the questions. According to complex rules and procedures set out in Scientology publications, the auditor can interpret the movements of the needle after certain prescribed questions are asked. These reactions are then used in diagnosing the mental and spiritual condition of the subject.83 During the auditing session, only the auditor sees the movements of the needle. The preclear's role is to answer questions and work to remember painful experiences that have occurred in the past.

Interpreting the motions of the needle, the auditor then coaxes the subject to view a mental picture of the supposed event. The idea is that the same E-meter needle reaction will continue until the person has faced up to whatever is being repressed. In this way, the E-meter is essentially used to uncover buried thoughts or experiences on behalf of the subject. The following is a simplified dialogue showing how the E-meter is typically used in Scientology processing-Auditor:

"Have you ever stolen anything?" Preclear: "No." Auditor (looking at needle moving): "That reads. What do you consider this could mean?"

Preclear (envisioning a past experience): "I'm not sure...Oh yeah, I did steal a candy bar when I was eight years old."

Auditor (viewing needle): "That's clear." (moves onto next question).84 Many Scientologists are initially impressed that the auditor can apparently discover what they are thinking. The E-meter seems like sheer magic in its ability to dredge up forgotten experiences.85 Some members come to regard the instrument with a special, almost supernatural awe. Hubbard claimed that the E-meter was infallible, and as such was an invaluable tool in providing a scientific basis for the methods prescribed in Dianetics.86 The machine revealed what was beneath the surface of the human conscious in a precise and accurate manner, said Hubbard. Above all, he stressed that the E-meter was scientific proof of the workability of Scientology processing.87 For Hubbard, the needle's movements reflected a scientific precision that lent an air of credibility to the movement. The machine was the final indicator of what was true- it did not lie.

The importance that Scientology places on the E-meter and how this correlates with the ideology of totalitarianism is the subject of this section. I argue that Scientology's relation toward its E-meter has come to epitomize the movement's totalitarian leaning toward technology and science. Referring to Hannah Arendt's writings, I will discuss how totalitarian movements use the language of science to propel their ideology. In addition to this, I will consider Hubbard's emphasis on logic and axioms, as well as the mechanized processing it entails. A discussion of the various ways the E-meter is used within Scientology will also be included.

One of the major things that Hannah Arendt stressed about the nature of totalitarianism was that once it has come into the world, it will continue to arise in new ways that we have not considered.88 Arendt was concerned with the many possible forms in which totalitarianism could disguise itself. She particularly felt that science and technology were areas where totalitarian movements would arise in the future. The nature of the totalitarian guise demands that it be difficult to recognize. In the case of science and technology, Arendt wrote that totalitarianism is the last stage in a process where "science has become an idol that will magically cure the evils of existence and transform the nature of man."89 This faith in science, which has become a dominant characteristic of American culture in the twentieth century, is the guise in which Arendt felt totalitarianism was most likely to emerge.

Totalitarian movements always accentuate the scientific aspects of whatever they are asserting. As Arendt writes, "the obsession of totalitarian movements with 'scientific' proofs" is a distinguishing characteristic of their ideology.90 Scientology has exhibited this trait from the very moment Hubbard conceived of Dianetics as "The New Science of the Mind."91 Hubbard's initial approach in writing about Dianetics was that of an engineer seeking practical, scientific solutions to the mysteries of the human mind. Gone was Hubbard's previously racy science fiction prose; it was replaced by a sober and logical textbook style.92 The new scientific thesis rested upon a system of axioms and mechanisms, giving Hubbard the appearance of a respectable scientist laboring away for years to uncover the hidden truth within nature. In reality, Hubbard never held a degree in neither science nor engineering.93 However, this did little to discourage him from writing in the scientific language he favored, as it served to make Dianetics seem more credible and thus more persuasive.

This emphasis on the scientific has followed Scientology throughout its brief history. Hubbard based Scientology on the premise that the human mind is predictable according to certain axiomatic laws of mechanics. He drew elaborate maps of how the human mind works, entitling the sketches "Mind Schematic" and "Analyzer Schematic."94 These maps were the equivalent of linear computer models, complete with Hubbard's wordy and often incomprehensible language.95 Having conceived the notion of a mechanized human mentality, Hubbard then declared that the mind was now subject to a "science of certainty."96 Hubbard's complicated, mechanical outlines are an excellent example of how Scientology exploits society's faith in science and technology to establish a system of unverified scientific proofs as fact. As Arendt notes, every totalitarian movement "asserts that all happenings are scientifically predictable according to the laws of nature."97 In the case of Scientology, Hubbard said that mental behavior was scientifically predictable within the laws of engineering and physics and could be measured accurately with the assistance of an E-meter.

Thus, utilizing the E-meter as a source of scientific evidence for its theories, Scientology can continue to spread the fantasy it is based upon. The result is a movement where "ideological lies are supposed to be believed like sacred untouchable truths," each surrounded by a carefully elaborated system of "scientific proofs."98 Another correlation between Scientology's relationship to science and the totalitarian ideology is the revealing name that Hubbard chose to call his religion. "Scientology" is derived from the Latin scio (knowing in the fullest sense) and the Greek logos (study)99. An exact definition of the word would be "knowing how to know," a phrase which Scientologists always refer to when discussing the origins of the word.100 Hearing the word "Scientology," one is reminded of science;

that is, science with an -logy stuck onto the end of it. This combination of word connotations produces a meaning which seems to be half scientific and half philosophical- in short, scientific philosophy.101 Interestingly, Hannah Arendt wrote that ideologies themselves are "known for their scientific character: they combine the scientific approach with results of philosophical relevance and pretend to be scientific philosophy." This is exactly what Scientology does, as its name testifies. Scientology functions as an ideology, for it orders ideas under the subject matter of a science. Arendt states that the suffix -logy in ideology, and, I would add, in the word Scientology, "indicate nothing but the logoi, the scientific statements made on it."102 Such ideological thinking within Scientology is significant because it characterizes the totalitarian desire to build a fictitious world. The application of a scientific model functions merely as a justification for that desire. Hubbard's logical procedures, which are the foundation of Dianetics and Scientology, begin with an axiomatically accepted premise which "deduces everything else from it, proceeding with a consistency that exists nowhere in the realm of reality."103 Returning to the subject of the E-meter, it is critical to examine the various ways Scientologists have used this technological apparatus over the years. In 1959, Hubbard introduced "security checking," known as "sec checks," whereby Scientologists are interrogated, having to answer long, prepared lists of questions about their moral transgressions.104 The E-meter is used as a lie detector throughout these "sessions." Scientology defends sec checks as a way of handling hidden "overts", i.e., harmful acts.105 Apparently, one of these "harmful acts" is addressed with the question "Have you ever had any unkind thoughts about L. Ron Hubbard?"106 A careful record is kept of all confessions, which has proved to be a highly effective means of silencing dissidents. Due to strong criticism, the procedure was later renamed "integrity processing," using the exact same list of questions as the earlier "security checks."107 Scientology presumes that any of its members might become a security risk at any time, and the "accuracy of the E-meter" is used to blackmail those who turn against the movement.108 Many people also view the E-meter largely as a biofeedback device. In biofeedback, the subject learns how to control his or her own unconscious physical responses by manipulating them with conscious mental control.109 These people argue that while the E-meter may help people, there is little if any real measurement of repressed experiences occurring during auditing. Instead, subjects experience a heightened self-confidence as they learn how to pass the E-meter's tests by controlling their own thoughts. The more familiar a Scientologist becomes with the E-meter, the easier it can be tricked, much like a lie detector. The biofeedback viewpoint contradicts Scientology's official position that processing "discharges the harmful energy connected with the preclear's reactive mind."110 Nonetheless, it is another way of viewing the E-meter which has gained a following within factions of dissident Scientologists.

While ways of understanding the E-meter vary, it is crucial to recognize how the device reflects Scientology's totalitarian attitude toward science and technology. Scientology insists that the E-meter is the final indicator of the truth, consistently relying on the "scientific proof" of this machine to further its ideology. Hubbard's overwhelming vision of mechanical processing, leading to his "science of certainty," was based on the notion of a scientifically predictable human mind that obeys axiomatic laws of logic. In addition to this, Scientology uses the E-meter as a lie detector, gradually building a state of fear and paranoia for its members. All the while, the movement continues to rely on a `pseudo-scientific philosophy that has proven itself to be a defining characteristic of the totalitarian ideology. It is only when such an ideology aims to obliterate all opposition, as I will discuss in the following section, that it begins to reveal the absolute terror that forms the basis of totalitarian domination.

Copyright (c) 1999 Laura Kay Fuller Continued..

From: Bob Minton <bobminton@lisatrust.net>
Subject: Co$ & Totalitarianism----Ideology 4/5
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2001 22:33:44 -0400
Organization: Lisa McPherson Trust, 33 N. Fort Harrison Ave., Clearwater, FL 33755 Tel: (727) 467-9335
Message-ID: <9f3hntg1pjrad8usodtuoubtdrome178lt@4ax.com>
Ideology "To in any way encroach upon the Church or distract one from moving up the Bridge to Total Freedom is the ultimate crime."

-Religious Technology Center Information Letter111 As an ideology, Scientology is moving in a totalitarian direction.

Addressing the beliefs and practices that exist within Scientology further serves to expose a movement which contains several key elements of totalitarianism. In this final section, I will look at some notable characteristics of Scientology and parallel them to Hannah Arendt's theories on the nature of the totalitarian ideology. I will focus on the following themes within Scientology: world domination, anti-government and psychiatry conspiracies, momentum and constant revision, the building of a state of terror, and Scientology's own prison system- the Rehabilitation Force Project (RPF). While reading this, it is important to keep in mind that all totalitarian movements are predisposed to ideologies because they explain everything as the mere example of a set of natural laws. Embracing such an ideology, the movement is thus able to "thrive on this escape from reality into fiction, from coincidence into consistency."112 It is only when this fiction is indistinguishable from reality that totalitarianism can survive.

A major feature of Scientology is the group's stated mission to "clear the world."113 By "clearing the world," the movement wishes to make every person on this planet not only a Scientologist, but reach a state called "clear" in Scientology processing. The origins of "clear"

go back to L. Ron Hubbard and his enormous influence on the construction and language of Scientology. "Clear" functions as both a noun and a verb in Scientology lingo. To be a "clear" is to have deleted the contents of the reactive mind by transferring the data stored there into another mental compartment called the analytical mind. The analytical mind supposedly functions at a higher awareness level than the reactive mind. Therefore, "to clear" a person is for them to realize that they no longer need their reactive mind, enabling them to "confront and resolve buried trauma" through the filter of the superior analytical mind114. This is one of the most important goals in Scientology. It is a significant step on the Scientology "Bridge to Total Freedom" that Hubbard laid out.115 The fact that Scientology aims at world domination in the form and language of "clearing" is a major sign that the movement is indeed totalitarian. As Arendt has noted, "The struggle for total domination of the total population of the earth, the elimination of every competing nontotalitarian reality, is inherent in totalitarian regimes; if they do not pursue global power as their ultimate goal, they are only too likely to lose whatever power they already have."116 Totalitarian movements do not think in terms of national borders.

Instead, the movements are distinctly borderless in their goals for domination. The Sea Org is an excellent example of L. Ron Hubbard's desire for Scientology to exist without the limitations of national borders. Created by Hubbard as a means to escape government control, the Sea Org is an elite group of Scientologists who sail around the world on a gigantic boat wearing naval uniforms117. What is distinct about the Sea Org is that it epitomizes Hubbard's ideological goals for Scientology. Not subject to any national laws, the Sea Org was Hubbard's fantasy of a planet where Scientology could roam and spread without limits. According to Arendt, all totalitarian leaders consider their country of origin to be "only temporary headquarters of the international movement on the road to world conquest."118 Scientology is similarly international in the scope of its organization. In fact, the movement is even inter-planetary in the desire to spread its ideology: After they clear earth, Scientology plans to "clear the universe."119 A revealing action taken by Scientology was the planned infiltration of a country. The BULGRAVIA project (BULgaria, GReece, Albania, YugoslaVIA) began in 1992 with initial plans to establish industries, newspapers, transportation, and telecommunications systems in Albania as the first step in establishing a Scientology state in the Balkans.120 The idea was to form an area called Bulgravia, which would be completely dominated by Scientology. Though it is difficult to believe that Scientology could accomplish this, such actions conform to totalitarianism's ultimate goal of world conquest. No matter how distant this goal may appear, totalitarian movements "consider no country as permanently foreign, but, on the contrary, every country as their potential territory."122 Another basic tenet of totalitarianism is the belief that "the world is divided into two hostile camps, one of which is the movement, and that movement can and must fight the whole world." Scientology also fulfills this description. Hubbard felt that Scientology was involved in a grand scheme of good versus evil, and even initiated a secret project to uncover the "Soldiers of Light" and the "Soldiers of Darkness."123 While the Soldiers of Light are those people who are in favor with the Church of Scientology, according to Hubbard, the leaders among the Soldiers of Darkness are the government and the entire psychiatric profession.124 Scientology's extremely anti-government and anti-psychiatry stance is a fundamental concept of the movement. Government and psychiatry are inextricably linked, claimed Hubbard, who stated that "Psychiatry and psychology, spawned by an insanely militaristic government, find avid support from oppressive and domineering governments."125 Scientologists see a global conspiracy taking place, whereby psychiatry and world governments have combined to suppress Scientology. It is precisely this belief in "one mysterious worldwide conspiracy"126 that all totalitarian movements require in order to build the model of domination about which they themselves fantasize. As Arendt noted in the case of the Nazis, "The delusion of an already existing Jewish world domination formed the basis for the illusion of future German world domination."127 While the government is the evil empire, Scientology focuses on psychiatrists as the most visible enemy of the movement. The choice to target psychiatry was not a random one, for totalitarian movements never pick their enemies arbitrarily.128 Part of the reason Hubbard hated psychiatrists with such a passion was because they were the first people to criticize the methods and claims of Dianetics. Hubbard knew that the psychiatric profession would dismiss his ideas, so he concocted an elaborate conspiracy whereby insane psychiatrists were ruling the world, creating robot-like drones and generally harming and injuring their patients.129 In addition to this, since many psychiatrists saw Dianetics as an unfounded sham, they were instantly labeled as "Suppressive Persons" or "SPs"- the ultimate condemnation in Scientology.130 SPs are, of course, synonymous with anti-Scientologists. Thus the one group that Hubbard knew would surely criticize Dianetics was conveniently accused of a worldwide conspiracy to warp people's minds and discredit the truth of Scientology.131 Scientology's battle against the evils of psychiatry also entails the elimination of all psychiatrists. Hubbard's objective was to eliminate every single psychiatrist by looking for crimes in their past.132 Suitably, criticizing Scientology was defined as the maximum crime.

Much like Hitler and Stalin before him, Hubbard's plans drew on how to abolish his enemies through whatever means were available.

Totalitarianism, rather than representing the will to dominate others, is about the destruction of alternate viewpoints and the homogenization of thought as a continual process.131 This continual movement, which simultaneously destroys and purifies, is the true direction of totalitarianism. The momentum of totalitarian domination aspires to be unlimited as it spreads around the globe, as exemplified by Scientology's desire to "clear the planet." The momentum also arises in the enemy status of psychiatry declared by Scientology. Here, the organization functions as a "movement whose advance constantly meets with new obstacles that have to be eliminated."134 Another significant part of this motion involves the constant changes and revisions in policy which characterize all totalitarian movements. As Arendt states, "the perpetual-motion mania of totalitarian movements can remain in power only so long as they keep everything moving and set everything around them in motion."135 This need for constant motion also pertains to the rules, regulations, and beliefs within the group. In the case of Scientology, both theories and practices are repeatedly revised, illustrating the "swift and surprising changes in policy for which totalitarianism has become famous."136 L. Ron Hubbard was particularly fond of revising the techniques for Dianetic therapy and later employed the same actions in Scientology processing.137 Hubbard would make elaborate designs concerning the proper way to proceed along the "Bridge to Total Freedom," proclaiming the supreme accuracy of his theories, only to change them later on. It was not unusual for a Scientologist, who had spent years in the movement, to have to repeat processing levels because Hubbard had found the techniques flawed and thus had them re-designed.138 An obvious reason for the frequent revisions was simply the fact that the methods did not work in the first place.

The miraculous cures promised by Hubbard were frequently proven false by the members' own experiences, hence Hubbard's need to provide new improved versions in order to keep Scientology afloat. However, the frequent revisions also demonstrate the continual motion within the framework of the group itself. In the higher "OT" levels of Scientology, new "grades" appear every few years, shrouded in secrecy.139 There is no real end to the movement. When a Scientologist reaches one level, there is always another they must pass. Knowledge is always one step further away; it is continually kept in motion. As Arendt observed, "a political goal that would constitute the end of the movement simply does not exist."140 Only a movement that is constantly kept in motion can achieve totalitarianism's greatest wish: namely, the permanent domination of each individual in every sphere of life.141 According to Arendt, the ideological "axiomatic" laws that all totalitarian groups claim to represent are movements of themselves.142 When Scientologists talk about Hubbard's "science of mental health," the theories are viewed as a sweeping movement executing the laws of History and Nature. As Hubbard remarked, "The man who avoids the Bridge to Total Freedom will be eventually be swept along and tumble into nothingness. Not only does he gain nothing but he inhibits progress."143 Because the ideological movement aims to be completely unopposed in its motion, a degree of terror is inevitably entailed. Terror is experienced when there is no where else to turn and the most unimaginable nightmare has become reality. This type of terror can only become total when it becomes independent of all opposition. In other words, only when there is nobody to stand in its way can totalitarianism achieve the total homogenization it desires. In this manner, "terror is the essence of totalitarian domination."144 Scientology's "Ethics" system is one particularly telling way that this sort of terror arises in the movement. Devised by Hubbard in the mid 1960's effectively as a form of social control, "ethics technology" emphasizes the cult's totalitarian nature. Under the rules of "Ethics," anyone thought to be disloyal, slacking, or breaking the rules of Scientology, was reported to an "ethics officer" and assigned a "condition" according to the gravity of the offense.145 Various penalties were attached to each condition. In a "condition of liability" for example, the offender was required to wear a dirty grey rag around his or her left arm.146 The worst that could happen was to be declared an "SP" (suppressive person), which was tantamount to excommunication from the church. SPs were defined by Hubbard as "fair game" to be pursued, sued and harassed at every possible opportunity.147 The penalties described under the Fair Game order are as follows: "May be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologists. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed."148 Scientologists who associate with an SP are labeled "Potential Trouble Sources" and forbidden further auditing or training.149 Members are, in effect, ordered to cease communication with anyone considered unfriendly to the Church of Scientology. This produces an effect, which Arendt noted, occurs in all totalitarian movements: "Mutual suspicion, therefore, permeates all social relationships."150 This all-pervasive atmosphere of distrust exists even inside the group itself, as members are continually encouraged to be on guard for "dangerous thoughts."151 Such dangerous thoughts were also measured by the E-Meter, so even thinking a negative thought about Hubbard or Scientology could show up during auditing.152 Hubbard insisted that his Ethics system should be applied to non-Scientologists as well.153 As Arendt observed, "The category of the suspect thus embraces under totalitarian conditions the total population; every thought that deviates from the officially prescribed and constantly changing line is already suspect."154 Simply because of their capacity to think, human beings are suspects by definition under totalitarianism, for the ability to change one's mind is a ever present threat to homogenization and compliance.155 Ethics was more than a set of laws made by Hubbard. They were absolute rules in accordance with the movement's ideological goals, designed to apply to every individual, so that disobedience was not an option. Such a punishment system eerily corresponds to Hitler's dictum that "The total state must not know the difference between law and ethics."156 Penalties for lower conditions in Scientology's Ethics hierarchy were harshest for those in the Sea Org- punishments included sleep deprivation and the assignment of physical labor.157 The worst of Ethics was perhaps Hubbard's initiation of the chain-locker punishment in 1968, during the Commodore's reign on the Sea Org.158 A chain-locker is a dark hole where anchor chains are stored. A tiny manhole gives access to the cold, wet and unlit lockers below the bowels of the ship. When a crew member was in a low enough Ethics condition, he or she would be put in a chain-locker for up to two weeks, kept awake and fed by a suspended food bucket.159 The "overboarding" practice also occurred under the Ethics system, in which case an unlucky Scientologist was ordered to be thrown off the deck of the boat.160 While such punishments are certainly cruel, they also demonstrate the state of terror which was being built within Scientology.

Scientologists were accustomed to following Hubbard's auditing techniques and did not question the reasoning behind another set of commands, such as those in Ethics. Instead, they simply answered or carried them out. Many spent their time trying to stay out of trouble, hoping they wouldn't be the next to receive a punishment.161 What resulted was a situation where members could not imagine doing anything other then obey Hubbard's rules. In their minds, there was nowhere else to turn except towards the one all-encompassing ideology they knew. They had lost the capacity to oppose the movement, even when it had clearly become a nightmarish version of reality. This is precisely the goal of totalitarianism. The creation a fictitious world where everything is possible is a central assumption of all totalitarian movements. Consequently, "every crime the rulers can conceive of must be punished, regardless of whether or not it has been committed."162 In 1973, Hubbard replaced the chain-locker and overboarding punishments in favor of new, profoundly effective means of domination- the Rehabilitation Force Project, or RPF.163 Convinced that his orders were not being carried out with sufficient diligence, Hubbard established the RPF as a disciplinary unit for anyone who failed to comply with orders, made mistakes, or fell short of their production quotas.164 While on the Sea Org, Hubbard became convinced that there were evil people on board with hidden evil intentions.165 The RPF was designed for such people, or as Hubbard termed them: "degraded beings"

and "psychotics."166 Used as a daily threat, the RPF had, at one point, almost one-third of Sea Org members assigned to it.167 RPF members were segregated, having their own space away from the rest of the crew. Discipline was harsh and bizarre, while members were expected to adhere to a rigid schedule of physical labor.168 The RPF is still in use in Scientology organizations throughout the world. Those assigned to RPF can only speak when spoken to, eat table scraps, and sleep shorter hours than other Scientology staff.169 RPF members are meant to comply immediately and unquestioningly with any order. They work a full day, doing physical labor, and are expected to spend five hours confessing their "overts" and revealing their "Evil Purposes."170 The RPF is, in effect, a Scientology penal colony.

The fact that both Ethics and the RPF originated on the Sea Org is not a coincidence. The Sea Org was Hubbard's fantasy of a world of his own creation, which could sail limitlessly without the constraints of national or governmental borders. Scientology's horrific punishment systems only serve to verify totalitarianism's fundamental belief that in a fictitious world, everything is possible.171 One cannot help but be reminded of the Nazi concentration camps when hearing about incarceration in the RPF. Physically, there are unavoidable similarities between the two camps. Undesirables are separated from the rest of society, under the pretense of an movement that "functions according to the principle that whoever is not included is excluded, whoever is not with me is against me."172 Conditions are disgusting and prisoners are trained to comply with all orders. The incarcerated are targeted as enemies of a movement whose purifying motion must continue in order to prove its ideology. Of course, a critical difference is that the Nazis systematically killed their prisoners.

The RPF does not lead to death, as it did for so many in Nazi camps.

Therefore, the forced labor camps of Scientology differ is this crucial respect. In addition, the RPF is not designed for those psychiatrists and government agents said to be conspiring against Scientology, but for the members of the movement itself. This too, however, is the tendency of totalitarianism, which always turns against even those in the movement, for nobody is safe when everyone must be on guard.173 According to Arendt, the Nazi concentration camps were an example of totalitarianism in power and served as "special laboratories to carry through its experiment in total domination."174 In this manner, she identifies the camps as the "true central institution of totalitarian organizational power."175 I would argue that Scientology's RPF is similarly the result of a movement that is headed in a totalitarian direction, but which has not yet become a regime. Nonetheless, there are major indications that the group contains distinctly totalitarian elements. A punishment system such as the RPF is not only horrifying in the fact that it exists; it is also based on an ideology of terror.

To organize the entire texture of life according to such an ideology can only be carried out under a totalitarian regime.176 That is what Scientology is striving for- to create a world where the line between reality and fiction is erased and the capacity to distinguish truth from falsehood is abolished.177 While the ideology of terror is indeed powerful, it is critical to realize that the dream of totalitarianism is never complete. As long as there are people to stand in the way of its movement, the non-totalitarian world will continue to exist.

Copyright (c) 1999 Laura Kay Fuller Continued..

From: Bob Minton <bobminton@lisatrust.net>
Subject: Co$ & Totalitarianism----Footnotes & Source List 5/5
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2001 22:33:45 -0400
Organization: Lisa McPherson Trust, 33 N. Fort Harrison Ave., Clearwater, FL 33755 Tel: (727) 467-9335
Message-ID: <4f3hntom5chsg4t1s2da687kdv13hqtuus@4ax.com>
Footnotes & Source List 4/4 1.Metro Santa Cruz, February 1998.

2.Arendt, Hannah, Origins of Totalitarianism, (1976).

3.L. Ron Hubbard is the founder of Scientology.

4.Information on Hubbard's life comes from Jon Atack's A Piece of Blue Sky, Bent Corydon's Messiah or Madman? and Russell Miller's Bare-FacedMessiah.

5.Atack, A Piece of Blue Sky, Corydon, Messiah or Madman?, Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah.

6.Lane, Ann, Hannah Arendt, Class Lecture, 21 January 1999.

8.Heinrich Himmler, a prominent member of the Nazi party, was responsible for the organization of the SS-men, who compromised an elite formation of Nazi stormtroopers.

9.Arendt, Hannah, Origins of Totalitarianism, p. 316.

10.Hubbard, L. Ron, Scientology 8-8008, 1953.

11.Cecil Rhodes was a British statesman and imperialist responsible for gaining considerable British territory in the late nineteenth century.

12.Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, p. 316.

13.Hubbard, L. Ron, Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, 1950, p. 400.

14.Miller, Russell, Bare-Faced Messiah, p. 183.

15.Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, p. 323.

16.Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, p. 326.

17.Ibid., p. 326.

18.Hubbard, L. Ron, What is Scientology?, 1963.

19.Hubbard, Dianetics, p. 407.

20.Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, p. 332.

21.The History of Man was originally published in 1952 under the title What to Audit. Since then, it has been continually used and sold by Scientologists.

22.Hubbard, L. Ron, The History of Man, p. 3.

23.For example, the mollusk (one of Hubbard's key evolutionary stages) had trouble catching air while rolling in the surf for half a million years, pumping sea water out of its shell as it breathed. Hubbard called this mollusk the "Weeper" or the "Boohoo." Weepers had the anxiety caused by trying to gulp air before being swamped by the next wave. 'The inability of a pre-clear [amateur Scientologist] to cry,' Hubbard explained, 'is partly a hang-up in the Weeper. He is about to be hit by a wave, has his eyes full of sand or is frightened about opening his shell because he may be hit.' 24.Hubbard maintained that many stigmas also come from the clam stage.

The clam's big problem was that there was a conflict between the hinge that wanted to open and the hinge that wanted to close. It was easy to restimulate the engram [unconscious memory or feeling] caused by the defeat of the weaker hinge, Hubbard pronounced, by asking a pre-clear to imagine a clam on a beach opening and closing its shell very rapidly and at the same time making an opening and closing motion with thumb and forefinger. This gesture, he said, would upset large numbers of people. 'By the way,' he warned, 'your discussion of these incidents with the uninitiated in Scientology can cause havoc. Should you describe the "clam" to some one [sic], you may restimulate it in him to the extent of causing severe jaw pain. Once such victim, after hearing about a clam death, could not use his jaws for three days.' 25.Hubbard, The History of Man, p. 97.

26.Unfortunately for Hubbard, just twelve months after The History of Man was published, the supposed fossil remains of primitive man found in Piltdown Common in southern England were exposed as a hoax. The Piltdown Man had never existed.

27.Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, p. 333.

28.Hubbard, Dianetics, p. 407.

29.Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, p. 333.

30.Information on David Miscavige comes from Jon Atack's A Piece of Blue Sky and Russell Miller's Bare-Faced Messiah.

31.Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, p. 362.

32.Engram: "A moment of greater or lesser 'unconsciousness' on the part of the analytic mind which permits the reactive mind to record the content of the moment." Basically, an engram is a painful past experience stored by the unconscious mind in times of stress. It is defined by Dorland's Medical Dictionary as "lasting mark or trace."

(Corydon, Messiah or Madman?, p. 396, Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah, p.

151).

33.Aberration, as defined by Hubbard, was a constraint imposed on the brain by physical or emotional harm. (Miller, p. 154).

34.The idea of past, submerged memories containing an emotional electronic "charge" that can possibly be contacted and released.

Retaining charge can affect the subject adversely.

35.The object of Dianetics is to clear the reactive (bad) mind, so that the analytic (good) mind could function, like the optimum computer, at full efficiency. Consequentially, the individual's IQ would rise dramatically, he would be freed of all psychological and psychosomatic illnesses and his memory would improve to the point of total recall. (Miller, p. 154).

36.Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, p. 348.

37.Hubbard, Dianetics Lecture Series, 1978, Engram Chain Running, 1963.

38.Hubbard, Engram Chain Running. Arendt notes that the official handbook for the Hitler Youth program emphasized that Nazi ideology is "clear, simple, and definite, so that every comrade can understand and cooperate in their solution." (Origins of Totalitarianism, p. 348).

39.Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, p. 374.

40.Ibid., p. 375.

41.Ibid., p. 375.

42.Information on the CMO comes from Russell Miller's Bare-Faced Messiah.

43.Time and space unfortunately do not permit me to examine this aspect of Scientology further. However, the girl messengers' obedience to Hubbard strongly suggests the keeping a dominant gender order, at least within the Sea Org. There is also a voyeuristic and arguably sexual element to the girls' roles in relation toward Hubbard.

44.Punishments for mistakes included having to jump overboard off the huge boat, wear a gray rag tied around the arm, or simply be screamed at by another Scientologist. Later in my thesis, I will discuss a more severe form of punishment, the RPF.

45.Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, p. 374.

46.Ibid., p. 324.

47.The author wishes to remain anonymous, Operation Clambake, available from http://home.kvalito.no/~xenu/disk/NOTs/gb1.htm.

48.Pignotti, Monica, My Nine Lives in Scientology, p. 174.

49.Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem, p. 92. Adolf Eichmann was a prominent German Nazi war criminal and leader who headed the Jewish extermination campaign.

50.The Scientology and Dianetics Glossary is available at http://www.scientology.org/gloss.htm.

51.For example, "auditor" is defined as: "a person trained and qualified in applying Dianetics and/or Scientology processes and procedures to individuals for their betterment; called an auditor because auditor means one who listens." (Scientology and Dianetics Glossary) 52."ARC: a word made from the initial letters of Affinity, Reality and Communication, which together equate to Understanding. It is pronounced by stating its letters, A-R-C. To Scientologists it has come to mean good feeling, love or friendliness, such as, 'He was in ARC with his friend.' One does not, however, fall out of ARC; he has an ARC break." (Scientology and Dianetics Glossary) 53.Merriam Webster Dictionary, 1994.

54.Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, p. 388.

55.From The Scientology and Dianetics Glossary: "space opera: of or relating to time periods on the whole track millions of years ago which concerned activities in this and other galaxies. Space opera has space travel, spaceships, spacemen, intergalactic travel, wars, conflicts, other beings, civilizations and societies, and other planets and galaxies. It is not fiction and concerns actual incidents and things that occurred during a person's existence in this universe."

56.Atack, Jon, A Piece of Blue Sky, p. 31-32. Hubbard's original document, called OT(Operating Thetan)3, can be seen at http://home.sol.no/~spirous/CoS/secret.html.

57.The Scientology and Dianetics Glossary. The following definitions also come from this glossary.

58."circuit: a part of an individual's bank that behaves as though it were someone or something separate from him and that either talks to him or goes into action of its own accord, and may even, if severe enough, take control of him while it operates."

59."erase: to cause an engram to 'vanish' entirely by recounting, at which time it is filed as memory and experience and ceases to be part of the reactive mind."

60."processing: the application of Dianetics or Scientology processes to someone by a trained auditor. The exact definition of processing is: The action of asking a preclear a question (which he can understand and answer), getting an answer to that question and acknowledging him for that answer."

61."terminal: anything used in a communication system; anything that can receive, relay or send a communication; a man would be a terminal, but a post (position, job or duty to which a person is assigned) would also be a terminal; also, things with mass and meaning."

62."aberration: a departure from rational thought or behavior. From the Latin, aberrare, to wander from; Latin, ab, away, errare, to wander. It means basically to err, to make mistakes, or more specifically to have fixed ideas which are not true. The word is also used in its scientific sense. It means departure from a straight line.

If a line should go from A to B, then if it is aberrated it would go from A to some other point, to some other point, to some other point, to some other point, to some other point, and finally arrive at B.

Aberrated conduct would be wrong conduct, or conduct not supported by reason."

63.This is not to say that Scientologists do not want to spread and share their language. Quite the opposite- they are very adamant about making Scientology terms available to the public and work diligently to do so.

64.Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem, p. 48.

65.Ibid., p. 48.

66."sdraper". 20 Jan. 1999. On-line posting. Newsgroup alt.religion.scientology.

67.Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem, p. 49.

68.Ibid., p. 49.

69.Ibid., p. 53.

70."Chaos merchants" is L. Ron Hubbard's word for evil people with intent to destroy Scientology.

71.The Scientology and Dianetics Glossary. "Suppressive actions are high crimes and result in dismissal from Scientology and its organizations."

72.Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem, p. 49.

73.Ibid., p. 85.

74.Hubbard, L. Ron, Lecture, 16 January 1968. Non-Scientologists are also called "Wogs," which Hubbard adapted from a British racial slur to describe Arabs and Asians. It is a demeaning term, standing for "Worthy Oriental Gentleman." In Scientology it is used to describe the Human race. (Messiah or Madman, p. 402).

75.Hubbard, L. Ron, Lecture, 23 August 1971. (Messiah or Madman?, p.

325.)

76.The Scientology and Dianetics Glossary: "overt act: an act of omission or commission which does the least good for the least number of dynamics or the most harm to the greatest number of dynamics." In Scientology-speak, "dynamics" are motivations for survival. An overt act is thus an act against life.

77.Ibid., "withhold: an unspoken, unannounced transgression against a moral code by which the person was bound. Something the preclear did that he or she is not talking about. A withhold is always the manifestation which comes after an overt. Any withhold comes after an overt."

78.Wallis, Roy, The Road to Total Freedom, p. 116. The same phrase also appears in Hubbard's E-Meter Essentials, 1961.

79.Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah, p. 203.

80.A "preclear" is an individual who has not yet achieved the state of "clear," a state in Scientology which Hubbard said enabled man to become totally free from the contents of his reactive mind. Preclears are amateur Scientologists who must engage in the auditing process in order to work their way up "the bridge"; that is, "The Bridge to Total Freedom" which Scientology claims to have mapped out with scientific certainty.

81.Hubbard, E-Meter Essentials, 1961. Available at http://e-meter.org.uk/page06.htm 82.Atack, A Piece of Blue Sky, p. 128. An E-meter currently costs about $3500. This figure was confirmed by my recent encounter with Scientologists on 24 April 1999.

83.Malko, George, Scientology- The Now Religion, p. 63.

84.Penny, Wakefield, Social Control in Scientology: The Road to Xemu, p. 106.

85.Corydon, Messiah or Madman?, p. 152.

86.Hubbard, E-meter Essentials, p. 35.

87.Ibid., p. 36. It was mainly Scientologists who stressed the accuracy of the E-meter as a scientific measure of "mental energy."

Numerous independent (i.e. non-Scientology initiated) studies have concluded that the E-meter is an extremely poor diagnostic tool.

Scott, Perry, A Study of E-meter Frequency Response, http://www.ezlink.com/~perry/CoS/freq_resp.html.

88.Lane, Ann, Hannah Arendt, Class Lecture, 28 January 1999.

89.Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, p. 346.

90.Ibid., p. 345.

91.Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah, p. 153. Dianetics first appeared in the May 1950 issue of Astounding Science Fiction.

92.Ibid., p. 153.

93.Ibid., p. 57. Hubbard claimed to have a degree in both civil engineering and nuclear physics. These were outright lies. He dropped out of college after two years upon receiving very poor grades and failed the only class he ever took in molecular and atomic physics.

94.Hubbard, Dianetics: A Modern Science of Mental Health, 1950, p.

420, 424. Hubbard's linear maps of the human mind were included in the 1950 release of Dianetics. Interestingly, the maps were removed in later editions of the book, most likely due to increasing criticism of his "science of the mind" and allegations of hoax. Hubbard was well-known for constantly changing his theories of "scientific certainty."

95.Ibid., p. 421. An example of Hubbard's writing: "When exterior determinism enters into the human being so as to overbalance his self determinism the correctness of his solutions fall off rapidly."

96.Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah, p. 201.

97.Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, p. 383.

98.Ibid., p. 384.

99.Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah, p. 202. Hubbard erroneously believed the word "scientology" to be his own invention. Actually, Alan Upward coined the word in 1907, using it to characterize and ridicule pseudoscientific theories. In 1934, A. Nordenholz, a German advocate of Aryan racial theory, had also used the word in an obscure philosophical work. (Atack, A Piece of Blue Sky, p. 128) 100.Malko, Scientology- The Now Religion, p. 61.

101.Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, p. 468.

102.Ibid., p. 468.

103.Ibid., p. 471.

104.Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah, p. 243. Many of the question reflected Hubbard's morbid preoccupation with sexual deviation ("Have you ever had sex with a member of your family?) and a wide range of crimes were also probed ("Have you ever had anything to do with a baby farm?" and "Have you ever done any elicit diamond buying?") 105.Corydon, Messiah or Madman?, p. 433.

106.Atack, A Piece of Blue Sky, p. 151. Burroughs, William, Naked Scientology, p. 85. When Burroughs had a "reading" on this question, he explained it saying "He's so beautiful, he dazzles me. I can't help resenting it sometimes.." Apparently this was enough to clear the meter and move onto the next question.

107.Touretzky, David, Secrets of Scientology- the E-meter, http://www.cs.cmu/edu/~dst/Secrets/E-meter. The cost of "Integrity Processing" currently ranges from $250 to $500 per hour.

108.There is justification for this suspicion, as thousands have left the movement, including many who are now leaders in the fight against Scientology.

109.As defined by Merriam Webster Dictionary, 1994.

110.Hubbard, E-Meter Essentials, 1961.

111.Atack, A Piece of Blue Sky, p. 308.

112.Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, p. 352.

113.Hubbard, Scientology- A New Slant on Life, p. 76.

114.Corydon, Messiah or Madman?, p, 438. Once "clear," the Scientologist is ready for the advanced OT levels. OT3, which I mentioned earlier, is where the member finds out about Xemu.

115.Atack, The Total Freedom Trap, p. 14-15. Hubbard's elaborate therapeutic "Bridge" begins with the Communication Course Training Routine, or "TRs." Supposed to enhance the ability to communicate, the TRs have been called "the most overt form of hypnosis used by any destructive cult."

116.Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, p. 392.

117.Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah, p. 263. Sea Org members also live on land as well. Their visual trademark is the navy sailor suit they wear.

118.Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, p. 411.

119.Corydon, Messiah or Madman?, p. 354.

120.http://keshet.bluesky.org/bulgrav.htm.

121.Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, p. 415.

122.Ibid., p. 367.

123.Atack, A Piece of Blue Sky, p. 376.

124.Ibid., p. 376.

125.Hubbard Communications Office Bulletin, 29 January 1980. (Ibid., p. 261).

126.Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, p. 351.

127.Ibid., p. 360.

128.Ibid., p. 424.

129.Atack, A Piece of Blue Sky, p. 262. According to Hubbard, psychiatrists "were on their way to turning every baby into a future robot for the manipulation of the state and every society into a madhouse of crime and immorality." Scientology movies portray psychiatrists as crazy men, laughing sadistically as they stab mice with needles. Scientologists are told that psychiatrists frequently use electroshock therapy and lobotomies on their patients. (Voytinsky, Michael, Among the Clams-An Afternoon with Scientologists, 1997, available from http://www.xenu.net.)

130.Ibid., p. 34.

131.Many people have remarked that the language of psychology is a profoundly powerful and dominant way of understanding in late twentieth century America. Although a discussion of this topic is beyond the theme of this thesis, it is interesting to note that Hubbard may have been quite aware of the epistemological forces he was up against. At the same time, Scientology presents itself as a self-help group, which is a significant part of the psychotherapy culture that Hubbard claimed to despise.

132.Hubbard, The People, 20 March 1966. (Atack, A Piece of Blue Sky, p. 161). Scientology also induces a phobic reaction toward mental health practitioners, so members are usually unwilling to seek professional help in untangling themselves from the cult.

133.Lane, Ann, Hannah Arendt, Class Lecture, 26 January 1999.

134.Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, p. 425.

135.Ibid., p. 306.

136.Ibid., p. 409.

137.Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah, p. 243.

138.Atack, A Piece of Blue Sky, p. 35, 146.

139.Atack, The Total Freedom Trap, p. 15. Hubbard was supposedly hard at work on the newer OT levels before he died, so the Church of Scientology can continue releasing the new levels at its discretion.

OT (Operating Thetan) 8 is the currently the latest level in the Scientology grade chart. Although OT8 is highly guarded, information has leaked: Among other things, OT8 asserts that Hubbard created all the living beings in the universe.

140.Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, p. 326.

141.Ibid., p. 326.

142.Ibid., p. 463.

143.Hubbard, Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, p. 404.

144.Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, p. 464.

145.Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah, p. 251. The strict "Ethics" system is accounted for by adding up points to measure the production level of each Scientologist. The "stats" are then graphed according to point value. Staff members are assigned an "Ethics Condition" every week in accordance with their stats. A slight upward trend on the graph is called Normal, while a level graph, or a slight downward one, is termed Emergency. For each Ethics Condition, there is a "Formula" to be applied, which is supposed to get the individual's stats to rise.

(Atack, A Piece of Blue Sky, p. 172.).

146.Ibid., p. 252.

147.Ibid., p. 252.

148.Hubbard Communications Office Bulletin, "Penalties for Lower Conditions," 18 October 1967. (Atack, A Piece of Blue Sky, p. 175).

149.Atack, The Total Freedom Trap, p. 18.

150.Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, p. 430.

151.Ibid., p. 422.

152.Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah, p. 348. There was a particularly feared phenomenon on the E-Meter called a "Rock Slam," when the needle wavered violently, apparently indicating a discreditable thought.

"Rock Slams" almost inevitably led to long periods of incarceration in an RPF.

153.Atack, A Piece of Blue Sky, p. 173. The results of this decision were sometimes ridiculous. For instance, at Saint Hill (Hubbard's Scientology center in England), a local caterer was put into a condition of Liability for running out of apple pie. When he failed to apply the Liability Formula, he was declared Suppressive, which meant that Scientologists could not communicate with him, let alone buy his replenished stocks of apple pie.

154.Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, p. 430.

155.Ibid., p. 430.

156.Ibid., p. 394.

157.Atack, A Piece of Blue Sky, p. 173. The milder non-Sea Org penalties required that the offender "Must wear old clothes. May not bathe. No lunch hour is given and such persons are expected not to leave the premises. Lowest pay with no bonuses."

158.Ibid., p. 180.

159.Ibid., p. 180.

160.Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah, p. 292.

161.Atack, A Piece of Blue Sky, p. 181.

162.Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, p. 427.

163.Atack, The Total Freedom Trap, p. 17.

164.Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah, p. 321.

165.Ibid., p. 321.

166.Corydon, Messiah or Madman?, p. 442.

167.Atack, A Piece of Blue Sky, p. 206. The RPF rapidly swelled to include anyone who had incurred Hubbard's disfavor. "If the cook burned Hubbard's food-RPF. If a messenger complained about someone- RPF."

168.Ibid., p. 206. From the affidavit of Gerald Armstrong, March 1986.

169.Atack, The Total Freedom Trap, p. 17. Many Scientologists work for the organization, doing various jobs. Typically, pay is pitifully low.

170.Ibid., p. 17. Only when RPF members accept the authority of their superiors are they allowed to leave the RPF, which can take up to two years to complete.

171.Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, p. 437.

172.Ibid., p. 380.

173.Ibid., p. 370. A case in point here is Hitler's R"hm purge of 1934, when high level Nazi official Ernst R" hm and his colleagues were killed for having a differing opinion regarding the direction of the Nazi regime.

174.Ibid., p. 392.

175.Ibid., p. 438.

176.Ibid., p. 363.

177.Ibid., p. 385.
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------- Origins of Totalitarianism, San Diego: Harcourt, 1973.

Atack, Jon, A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed, New York: Carol, 1990.

------- The Total Freedom Trap, Sussex: Theta Communications, 1992.

Burroughs, William, Naked Scientology, Bonn: Expanded Media, 1978.

Cooper, Paulette, The Scandal of Scientology, New York: Tower, 1971.

Corydon, Bent, Hubbard, L.Ron Jr., L. Ron Hubbard- Messiah or Madman?, New York: Lyle Stuart, 1987.

Garrison, Omar V., The Hidden Story of Scientology, London: Arlington, 1974.

Heldal-Lund, Andreas, Operation Clambake, http://www.xenu.net.

Hubbard, L. Ron, Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, Los Angeles: The American St. Hill Organization, 1950.

------- Dianetics Lecture Series, Audio Tape Series, Los Angeles:

Bridge Publications, 1978.

------- Dianetics and Scientology Technical Dictionary, Los Angeles:

The American St. Hill Organization, 1975.

------- The Dynamics of Life, Los Angeles: Bridge Publications, 1983.

------- Engram Chain Running, Audio Tape, Los Angeles: Bridge Publications, 1963.

------- The History of Man, Los Angeles: The American St. Hill Organization, 1952.

------- Scientology 8-8008, Los Angeles: The American St. Hill Organization, 1953.

------- Scientology- A New Slant on Life, Los Angeles: The Church of Scientology, 1972.

------- Slaves of Sleep, Los Angeles: Bridge Publications, 1993.

------- What is Scientology?, Los Angeles: Bridge Publications, 1963.

Malko, George, Scientology- The Now Religion, New York: Delacorte, 1970.

Miller, Russell, Bare-Faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard, New York:

Henry Holt, 1987.

Penny, Bob, Wakefield, Margery, Social Control in Scientology: The Road to Xemu, Factnet BBS, 1993.

Pignotti, Monica, My Nine Lives in Scientology, http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library Shelf/pignotti/, 1989.

Wallis, Roy, The Road to Total Freedom: A Sociological Analysis of Scientology, London: Heinemann, 1976.

Copyright (c) 1999 Laura Kay Fuller.

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