The Truth About Scientology web site is proud to announce a new feature:

The Regime Report.

The Regime Report is a (semi-)regular column by Scientologist "Murray Luther."

The home page for the Regime Report at Truth About Scientology is

http://www.truthaboutscientology.com/read/regime/

- part of the Recommended Reading section (http://www.truthaboutscientology.com/read/ ).

I hope to be able to present a new column every week or so.

Welcome, Murray, and thanks for sharing your thoughts with us!

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Welcome To Tyrants 'R' Us

By Murray Luther Unofficial Correspondent for the Church of Scientology

Greetings.

This is the first entry in what will become a series of reports and commentary on the Church of Scientology. For the record, I'm an OT, a trained auditor, and an experienced Church staffer with over twenty five years of involvement in a wide variety of Scientology activities. I've also made significant money contributions to the International Association of Scientologists.

I've noticed that there are no journalists or media pundits who have sufficient knowledge and understanding of the workings and procedures of Scientology that can provide a clear and accurate picture of what's happening with this ever-controversial church. On top of that, you'd be hard pressed to find a Scientologist-in-good-standing with enough integrity that they'd be willing to publish honest reports. I may very well be the first--at least the first who is currently a reputable member.

Up until now, the media has had to rely on either ardent Scientology critics with hostile agendas, or the deceptive public relations spin of Church officials in order to get what has been an incomplete picture. I intend to change that. Make no mistake, I'm neither an apologist nor a critic. I'll just call it as I see it, without regard to whatever prevailing opinions may be in vogue at the moment.

I'm sure there will be those who suspect that I'm an internet troll, an OSA spook, or perhaps some off-planet Marcabian operative. You decide.

There are a number of reasons why I'm doing this. Mainly, I've come to a point where I cannot remain silent about the abuses, excesses, mismanagement, and downright incompetence of the Church. Nor can I just look the other way. It's come to the point where I can no longer tolerate the cover-ups and justifications the Church uses to excuse its misdeeds. I can't simply close my eyes to the misleading PR campaigns, covert intelligence and legal harassment the Church uses to preserve its power.

The zeal and determination by which Scientologists pursue the goals and purposes of their church has left virtually no room for sincere and genuine criticism and dissent, making change and reform impossible. I've always been aware of the Church's militant approach in its single minded effort to expand Scientology. But now I've reached the point where I can no longer accept that their ends justify their means.

I don't think it's an overstatement to liken the Church of Scientology to a totalitarian regime. The "Oxford Concise Dictionary of Politics" defines totalitarianism as "A dictatorial form of centralized government that regulates every aspect of state and private behavior." Compare this definition to what is normal procedure for the Church: If you disagree with any Church policy you are required to restudy the policy and clear up your "misunderstanding." This procedure is designed to "handle" your disagreement. Policy is to be rigidly followed, never questioned. Then there's the "Security Check" where the private lives of Scientologists are thoroughly scrutinized in order to establish and maintain proper behavior.

A Scientologist is required to live the totality of their life in strict accordance with Church mores. Withholding any trespasses on these mores is never tolerated, not even to the slightest degree.

You could even go as far as describing the Church as fascist. The same dictionary describes fascism as "the notion that there are fundamental and basic truths about humanity and the environment which do not admit to question. . . ascribing complex phenomena to single causes and advancing single remedies. . . predicated on the existence of a secret world wide conspiracy by a hostile group seeking to manipulate the masses. . ." By comparison, Scientologists believe that there is a "reactive mind" that is the single source of all human aberration, and Scientology is the only workable remedy. And Scientologists believe that it is the field of psychiatry that is single-handedly undermining our civilization today.

Scientologists are at all times subservient to the group. The group is always senior to the individual. The individual exists only to serve the group. Scientologists live and breathe every moment of their existence in order to contribute to the goals and purposes of the Church. I don't recall the precise moment, but I began to wonder about the actual nature of this corporate entity popularly known as the Church of Scientology. I started nosing around the internet, with a curious but skeptical frame of mind. After a year of research and investigation I came to an unpleasant conclusion: I am indeed a member of a totalitarian regime.

To understand the position in which I now find myself, one needs only to consider that this writing of mine is treason of the worst kind in the eyes of the Church. By merely speaking my mind publicly, I become a danger and liability to the Church. By merely communicating with people (particularly the "wrong sort of people"--those labeled "suppressive"), I become the enemy--someone whom the Church will be compelled and obligated to silence. Such is the arrogance and tyranny of the Church of Scientology .

Being an orthodox Scientologist hasn't only become distasteful, it's gotten embarrassing. The Church's fanatical attempts to squash their critics is the sort of thing you might expect from an inept dictatorship.

And just like an inept dictatorship, the Church has created most of their own problems, and they've made most of their own enemies. In recent years I've grown weary of discussing Scientology with the general public because it so often involved having to explain and downplay all the anecdotal stories of mishandled public. I found myself less and less willing to use PR spin to clean up other people's messes.

Rather than continue to explain away these messes, I've decided to evaluate and discuss them instead. In subsequent reports I'll provide candid analysis of the current Church scene as well as my opinions regarding the various conflicts that exist between factions both within and outside the Church of Scientology. Sort of the Church's version of Father Guido Sarducci, without the Italian accent. Stay tuned, there'll be more to come.

Murray Luther is the pen name of a Scientologist of over twenty-five years who currently remains in good standing with the Church. He's the founder of the Scientology Independent Network, (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Scn_Ind_Network/) an advocacy group for former members of the Church of Scientology.

All views expressed here are those of Murray Luther and do not necessarily reflect the views of truthaboutscientology.com or scientology-lies.com.

All material by Murray Luther is copyrighted, with all rights reserved by the author. Material posted by Murray Luther on the internet may be reproduced for non-commercial use only.

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