From: tilman@berlin.snafu.de (Tilman Hausherr)
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
Subject: fwd: Low life expetancy of scientologists & Hubbard on violence
Date: Tue, 30 Dec 1997 09:15:55 GMT
Message-ID: <34b5bb84.3526669@news.snafu.de>
To: Tilman Hausherr <tilman@berlin.snafu.de>
Subject: Hubbard on death
From: Ariane&Alex JACKSON <106231.2751@compuserve.com>
Date: Sun, 28 Dec 1997 20:31:41 -0500
HUBBARD ENDORSES DEATH AND VIOLENCE A study of the life expectancy of Scientologists is very revealing. One of the many fabulous, and false, claims L. Ron Hubbard made was that Dianetics and Scientology increased life expectancy. In Science of Survival, (Book One, Chapter Two, p. 26, paragraph 1&2) he states "The life expectancy of the individual is also proportional to his physical well-being ... and his mental well-being. In other words, Dianetic processing is directly concerned with increasing the ability of the individual to survive ..." In the same book on p. 28 he refers to the life expectancy of a "Clear" (the level Lisa McPherson paid several hundred thousand for, and reached just before she died), "What his longevity is we have no way of knowing at this time but we can only suppose that it is higher than if he had remained aberrated." It is now 46 years after that book was written and we do know what the longevity of Scientologists are. Mr. Hubbards supposition that it would be higher is not supported by facts. Anyone who cares to review the obituaries in the Saint Pete.Times will discover that Scientologists have a significantly shorter life span than non-Scientologists. The national average life spans are 72 for men and 79 for women, which include all deaths at all ages from infant mortality, accidents, homicides, natural causes, etc. The average life expectancy for the six male Scientologists in the obituaries is 59. The average for the 6 female Scientologists (plus Lisa Mc Pherson) is 57. We cannot conclude from this that Scientology shortens life span but it obviously does not extend it and the differences (28% in the case of women) are large enough to invite further investigation to ascertain what, if any, practices in Scientology may contribute to premature death. Putting this in perspective, a woman could have heart disease, cancer, be 30 lb. overweight, have a stroke, smoke 1 pack a day and abuse alcohol and she will still live more than 5 years longer than the average life span of these female Scientologists. Can Scientology officials prove that it does not cause premature death? Only one of the 13 Scientologists even reached the national average. Of course death is not a big deal for Scientologists. It is called "dropping the body" and the body is regarded as a hindrance and a distraction. When Hubbard died, it was claimed that his body was an "impediment" to his research and that was why he had decided to die. In the book History of Man Hubbard wrote " The possession of a ... body is a liability for through that body the being can be given pain, can be regimented by the routine demands of eating and care from harm ... Today we live in a vast cult called Worship the body. Medical doctors, school teachers, parents, traffic officers, the whole society unites into this war-cry, Care for the body ". (Ch.4) This does not mean that Scientologists are encouraged to commit suicide. They are persuaded that extra-terrestrial bad guys are waiting for them when they die and they need to pay lots of money for Scientology so it will make them strong enough to reincarnate. A possible reason for the lower life expectancy of Scientologists is that many of the beliefs embraced by the cult are not only false but injurious. In the case of Lisa Mc Pherson, for example, she would have been regarded as psychotic and evil. Accordingly to Hubbard, "Below all psychotic conduct lies an evil purpose" (Bulletin 9 May 1977). In the same article Hubbard claims that psychotic people kill themselves to avoid their own evil. The Scientology treatment for Lisas condition can be seen by anyone. It is in a book in Clearwater library (Call number 299.936 Hub v. 10 p.579). Essentially, she would have been locked up, fed but otherwise ignored, and someone would come in each day and tell her why he thought she was psychotic. To complicate matters, Scientology also believes that she, like the rest of us, was inhabited by large numbers of disembodied spirits who were crazy and capable of making her physically and mentally ill and/or killing her. But she would not have received any sympathy or compassion because she would have been regarded as consciously and deliberately creating the condition she was in. The so-called "logs" released by Scientology officials are patently incomplete, and probably doctored. They contain no reference to the Scientology actions done on her, they do not include any of the instructions given by high officials concerning what to do to her, and she is referred to by her first name. Reports like these in Scientology have the persons name at the top and subsequently the person is reference to by such technical terms as "the pc", "the Type 3" (psychotic), or "the psycho". Hubbard was painfully aware of the embarrassment that someone like Lisa could cause for Scientology and that was why he wrote, " ... we would rather have you dead than incapable." (Policy 7 Feb 1965 Call number 299.936 Hub v 7. p.564). Lisa was regarded as incapable. Hubbards conviction that death was unimportant is also reflected in his recommendations that violence be used. In a bulletin of 15 Nov 1957 (Call number 299.936 Hub v. 4 p. 191) he brags about ramming a broken bottle into someones face , how good it made him feel, and how therapeutic it was. In a bulletin of 19 Aug 1967 (Call number 299.936 Hub v. 8 p. 111) he recommands violence as necessary for anyone to be effective. In the same volume, in a bulletin dated 12 Feb 1967 (p.85) his suggested violent solutions include that a woman should give sex to pay for the murder of a political opponent, the daughter of critics be handed over to "Negro troops", and "for-sale Indians" be paid to kill. He also suggests a way for his followers to show devotion to their leader, with "the dull thud of one of his enemies in the dark". But these recommendations are overshadowed by Hubbards version of a final solution. In Science of Survival (Call number 158.9 Hub p. 170) he says "There are only two answers for the handling of people from 2.0 down on the tone scale (by this he means anyone who is not a Scientologist), neither one of which has anything to do with reasoning with them or listening to their justification of their acts. The first is to (make them a Scientologist). The other is to dispose of them quietly and without sorrow ... The sudden and abrupt deletion of all individuals occupying the lower bands of the Tone Scale (i.e. non-Scientologists) from the social order would result in an almost instant rise in the cultural tone ..." He then praises a Venezuelan dictator who, he claims, eradicated leprosy by destroying all the lepers. Of course this is just freedom of religion and speech guaranteed by the First Amendment. One of the reasons Scientology is now in a stronger position and closer to realizing Mr. Hubbards solutions is a practice he termed "government by blackmail" by which he meant controlling the government by blackmailing officials. An example is the IRS which for decades denied Scientology religious status and successfully defended its position in the Courts. Then the IRS started auditing Scientologists because they were Scientologists and they were deducting money paid for Scientology. Scientology rounded up IRS whistleblowers and threatened civil suits and criminal charges against the agency and individual officers who ordered the audits. The IRS suddenly decided Scientology is a religion and now refuses to respond to questions about the obvious inconsistencies. While there is concern about using campaign contributions to buy influence, it should be remembered that it is cheaper and more effective to use private investigators, spies and former employees to accumulate blackmail material. Scientology uses its members confessions against them and uses P.Is, spies and whistleblowers against enemies to gain defeat or compliance. It worked for the Mafia on J. Edgar Hoover and it worked for him on a great number of elected and appointed government officials. Right now, Scientology officials probably know more about Bernie McCabe than he does. If they choose to use this method on expert witnesses, they could probably produce a team of medical examiners who would swear that Lisa Mc Pherson is still alive. Hubbard also ordered that if blackmail material was not found, it should be "manufactured". But really, it is unfair to criticize Scientology when we do not understand the enormity of the job they are doing. We are, however, given a glimpse in a policy letter of 30 July 1963 where Mr. Hubbard writes, " ... finding exactly what each one of us faces and how in the Between Lives Areas ( i.e. the bad guys waiting for us when we die) bids for a change of mood ... The penalty for our failure is condemnation to an eternity of pain and amnesia for ourselves and for our friends and for this planet ... Those guys up there mean business. Weve got to match or better their energy level and dedication or we lose ... Somehow, despite our condition and the degraded environment were in, weve got to keep the dedication and the guts to carry through no matter what comes ". (Largo Library Call number 289.2 Green Vol.4 p. 345.) This is also an example of how Hubbard redefined morality for his followers and got them focused on their priorities. The ONLY concern for a Scientologist is to do every thing he or she can to help Scientology. All other concerns such as family, profession, society and even the law of the land, are trivia unless they might impact on Scientology. Finally, a quote from a tape by Hubbard that is used to whip up Scientologists and get them paying, maxing out their credit cards, signing staff contracts, etc. Hubbard speaks with a melodramatic, halting, emotionally laden voice, "In all the broad universe, there is no other hope for man than ourselves. This is a tremendous responsibility. I have borne it too long alone. You share it with me now" (RJ 67). After hearing this, Scientologists are led in a standing ovation to a photo of Hubbard, and then ordered to see a salesman and/or recruiter. Alex Jackson
Clearwater, Dec 1997.