I am out of Scientology since the end of 1999.
The LRH circus is on the road since 1950 and I want to give to ARS readers my opinion about the so called "Scientology expansion". Those of you that were into Scientology as staff members as me sure already know this fact.
I was in a middle-sized class V org as an Auditor for years.
The people listed in the Central File of the org were about 40,000 ( also including simple book buyers).
These were names collected along the years and the considerable fact is that only about 200 persons from that potential of 40,000 was continuing with Scientology. It would be interesting to know if the supposed 8 millions of Scientologist were numbered INCLUDING the one-time-book-buyers and the free IAS members (all people are given a six months free IAS membership when they start their first service in Scientology).
It seems to me that the "8 millions of scientologists in the world" is a cumulative stat and that it could be better stated as "Number of people that have had contacts with Scientology in the past plus a little number of people in the present".
The sequence is the following:
a) People come in, curious about improvement and/or helping;
b) many leave since the first days when they know the price of the services/auditing and experiment the level of control that staff members must exercitate on them (staff members MUST do that way because it's written in the tech/policy);
c) many start with training or auditing in Div 6 and go on well but ... when Div 4 gets in they soon leave due to the reg, sups and Directors of Processing handlings and pressures for more services (and for their price), d) fews "heroes" (or easy-to-handle-people) resist and start the "assault course" up to Clear or Class V Auditor. ...This is often a hard way to walk through and many of them leave. Some others arrive to Clear and then, having to fix their finances they stop and often leave the Bridge noticing that Clear is not a status like they read on the Book One. They try to convince themselves and lie to themselves and to others ... but in the end they see that they are facing similar problems as the people that are not Clear so they go out from the Bridge.
(Note: certain type of auditing techniques can give some improvements BUT they are far distant from the LRH promises. If properly delivered they are like psychoteraphy , not more.
Superhuman abilities are just another LRH's false promise).
Others are satisfied by their state of Clear but they have not money to go to do OT so they stop and often they remain stopped forever. Those that have enaugh money and time go into an Advanced Org where they do OT levels.
So we find that a very tiny little number of people succeed in going up to OT.
In my org in the period since 1987 up to 2000 I saw only about 25/30 people going up to OT while at least 30 thousands people came (or simply bought a book) and go away.
Scientology wastes its own public: operating like a frenetic-militar-money- based corporation Scientology throws away its public.
In the effort to succeed in making one OT ... one tiny single OT ....Scientology wastes 1000 (one thousand) people due to its "handling" techniques.
If this is brainwashing .... it is not worth a fig!
e) a very small percentage that want to help joins the staff (does this remeber you something about your own experience?) If we analyse we discover that about the 90% of the people that come in contact with Scientology sooner or later go away.
They now are vaccinated against Scientology and they will not come back again.
The more people Scientology attracts the more people will be vaccinated.
The only variable is time. The most leave Scientology immediately. Others require years before they know what's going on and before they discover how the simple ways to freedom described in "Dianetics", "Self Analisys" and "Handbook for preclears" has turned into a sensless exercise of power and money collecting.
Staff members too have their cognitions along the way: they entered the staff to help mankind ..... but years later they find themselves closed into a slave-working corporation ....
that produces nothing that is worth the incredible sacrifices that the play requires and that is based only on cold statistics!
When I was on staff I considered that the work I was doing (auditing people to free them and expanding the org) was the most important thing on this earth ... I thought that I was doing great things and that I was saving lives. Now I had been vaccinated.
To be sincere I must say that after I left the org I by chance encountered two ex Pcs of mine. They were really touching with me and they told me that they had really good results by my auditing. They expressed their joy to see me and hoped me well and thanked me for the help I gave them in the past.
This was the reason for my entering into the staff so I felt very gratified by their words, having the joy to know that, even after years, they still were happy of the results gained by my auditing skills.
Unfortunately this is only the 5% of Scientology life. The remaining 95% is not so pleasant, as you sure know. The remaining is stats, stats, stats and handlings, handlings, handlings and blasting, blasting, blasting and produce now, buy now, give a huge donation now, now, now ... and so on. People tolerate this only because they hope that things are going to change tomorrow... but year after year things remain the same so, sooner or later, people go away.
The worst of this is that after an experience like that you become careful about help and being helped ....and this is not a good attitude.
Help became betrayal ... this makes me recall a certain HCOB ... do you ex-Auditors remember it?
Bye The voice of truth