Memo from a Scientology Insider

Forwarded message:

" I use Kinkos and I can't seem to find a way to get to the alt.religion.scientology newsgroup. I was wondering if you could post the following either on ARS or on your site. What do you think?"

( my reply in email ) Sure, here you go:

Sincerely,
Scientology Insider

First of all, for quite a few years now the ethics section of the Sea Org has been targeting auditors and course supervisors.

Here are a list of just a few who have bit the dust recently and not so recently:

Bob Veach, Class 8, NOTs auditor and C/S. Back about 10 years ago or so Bob was declared suppressive supposedly because he gave one very bad 20 minute session. He had been an auditor and case supervisor in the Sea Org for 20 years. His excellent, excellent track record during that time was not taken into account. He did the steps he needed to do to get back in good standing, but is no longer on staff and is no longer auditing. Reports have it that he has been trying to get his original declare cancelled, but has had no luck. I think the real reason he was declared is because he spoke out for Sea Org parents who were having their time with their children eliminated. Sea Org members who speak out and who look like they could possibly foment mutiny are gotten rid of very quickly. And they are often declared because absolute loyalty is demanded by this management and it has consistently just gotten rid of people who in any way object to anything it does. Dissent, even mild dissent, is not tolerated.

Chris Montgomery, much loved Briefing Course Supervisor at ASHO, was declared suppressive about 5 or 6 years ago. She was accused of some sort of 'out-tech' in her supervising. She was forced to do many degraded things to get back into 'good standing' and it took her 3 years to finally get back into the good graces of the organization. It's rumored that the real reason that Chris was booted out was because she wrote up a critique on the Golden Age of Tech.

Diane McDonald wrote some Knowledge Reports (internal Scientology report) mentioning some non-optimum situations regarding Sea Org child care. She was declared suppressive. Some false charges were trumped up, her good deeds were never taken into consideration and, as usual, she was found guilty by a panel of Sea Organization members. Diane was a Class 6 auditor who had been auditing in the field (though in good standing with the Church) for many years. She was about 55 or so when she was declared. She lost her livelihood. She went deeply into debt and finally lost her home. She wound up in the hospital. Most of her friends were forced to shun her. She eventually did get back in good standing by some reports.

Ruth Nadel, Class 8, was declared suppressive a while back. The organization actually apologized to her about a year later. But by that time she was financially ruined and has not recovered. This apology is rare. It happened a long time ago - probably 15 years ago before management hardened its stance to anyone even mildly objecting to its methods.

Neil Francis, Class 8, had his Certificates allowing him to provide Scientology counselling suspended.

Andy Seidler, Class 6 auditor and C/S, got into trouble because he was helping out by case supervising at the Los Angeles organization when he was asked to help so that a staff member could do training. Even though he had made no long term agreement to stay there, he was attacked heavily when he tried to leave. He was given a Committee of Evidence - sort of like a kangaroo court. His auditor and C/S certificates were cancelled. He did all the 'amends' he was told to do and is currently on course at ASHO. However, he lost his livelihood as a professional Scientologist and had to find other work. He is completely intimidated by Sea Organization staff members and does whatever they say. He has been on the professional metering course now for over one year. A course that should take a couple of weeks. The powers that be keep failing him. This is a typical thing. There is a perverted jealousy/hatred thing that goes on with some Sea Org staff members who resent field auditors for whatever crazy reason. Anyway, he's sort of trapped there on course. If he leaves he will be kicked out of Scientology. This is one way that the staff 'keep their stats up' and their course rooms full.

Field auditors have to route on course to do the 'Golden Age of Tech.' If they don't, they realize that they will be threatened and probably kicked out of the Scientology community. Some just keep a very low profile. Some have stopped auditing and have kind of disappeared. Like Jervis Johnson, Joe Pinelli, Bob Kosal, John Booth, Fred Filios. Some are doing the Golden Age of tech, but very, very slowly as a sort of protest.

The typical Committee of Evidence goes like this. An order comes down from some senior staff member to 'kick someone out' or 'put someone's ethics in' or 'handle' someone. The outcome of the committee is known before the charade takes place. Someone makes up a list of particulars -- alleged 'crimes' the person has committed. They are usually inane and silly. Like the person complained about the air conditioning being broken or the elevator not working. This is made out to be a 'high crime' -- spreading malicious rumors about senior Scientologists. The senior management are extremely hyper-sensitive to any criticism. Say something negative about David Miscavige or write a report critical of management and you will get into a lot of trouble pretty quickly in L.A.

As you are getting into trouble you may run in to Lisa Hamilton, the Director of Inspections and Reports for the Continental Liaison Office Western US. She is about 5' 4", has medium length, medium brown hair. Seems very cordial. She is there to extract information from people about other people. Often the only way a person can get out of trouble with Scientology and avoid being kicked out and shunned is to rat on another Scientologist. Lisa is the one who gently urges people to 'give the dirt' about their friends. She also likes to have people call other people in a very friendly manner while she listens in on the conversations.

Griffee Blythe, the Senior C/S of the Advanced Org in L.A. hates to get into trouble. She also just gets rid of people who rub her the wrong way. She doesn't like sick people, so she often bars them from getting services at AOLA. She is one of the people who flunks videos of long-time field auditors so that they have to do drills over and over and waste their time. She was the one who called in all field auditors to do videos. Of course, the result of this was that if you went in your certificates where suspended unless you immediately paid for a course and got started on the Golden Age of Tech. She would always find something wrong with the video. Griffee is one of the meanest people in Scientology currently. She is behind a lot of intimidation and a lot of the kangaroo comm evs. She is somehow related to David Miscavige. His step sister in law or something. Many old-time Sea Org staff members are intimidated by her because she will not hesitate to off-load (kick out of the Sea Org) a staff member who gets in her way. She off-loaded the Chaplain at ASHO, who had been a loyal Sea Org member for over 25 years. So, there are a number of very highly trained Sea Org members in L.A. who are not in the best of health who have to do Griffee's bidding or they know they will be kicked out and liBarry Rossve as absolute paupers because Scientology has never made any Social Security payments for their staff. These people hanging on a thread include: Rosalind Reeze, juvenile diabetic with severe complications, staff auditor at the Continental Office in L.A., , who is a NOTs auditor but doesn't audit currently because he has long-term, severe lung problems. But he's a Class 8, so he can be on comm. evs of highly trained people and find them guilty at Griffee's command. Then there is Bruce Gaines, who has had open heart surgery and is partially disabled from heart trouble.

People in the Religious Technology Center freely state that the 'old time' auditors couldn't audit. Even auditors at the Flag organization in Florida. Staff members in the RTC like Hansueli have told people that many of the auditors just had so much false tech from their training that they were almost incorrigible and that it is easier to just train new people with the Golden Age of Tech than to correct the auditors who were trained before. Many veteran Sea Organization auditors have been put on the Rehabilitation Project Force or have been demoted. Like Randall Reese at AOLA, Peter Specker, Susan Salaman, etc. Any internal criticism of the Golden Age of Tech is met with harsh punishment -- demotions, etc.

Committees of Evidence are invariably kangaroo courts. The staff members who are on these committees know that they have to find the person guilty or they will wind up being demoted or meeting an even more horrible fate. The findings of these committees are almost exactly the same. And the recommendations are usually alike with very slight variations. You have to A) Do lower conditions (recant) B) Get 'security checking' at your own expense (pay for being interrogated at a cost of between $5,000 and $30,000) C) Do an amends project to make up the damage for your 'crimes' (usually invented) D) Pay for and do courses to become a fully trained up Golden Age of Tech auditor.

When the Golden Age of Tech came out the Class 8 course in Los Angeles was shut down and the students on it were kicked off it. It has not opened again yet. Hardly anyone is on the Class 6 course. The few students who are on course are on the professional training drills course or the professional e-meter course. Of course, many of the people on these courses are being forced to do them, which they've already done or done the equivalent of, or they will lose their livelihood and their friends. So, let's look at the statistics. Zero Class 8 course completions in a 5 years. Hardly any one on the Class 6 course, so very few people are becoming Class 6's. In 4 years there have been 4 OT 7 completions and 1 OT 8 completion and aren't these people who had already attested before? So, the bottom line is in Scientology these days more people are going down the bridge than up the bridge.

A new wrinkle in the lives of field Scientologists has occurred. If you left the Sea Org and have not fully paid off your debt, you are no longer allowed to engage in any Scientology activities. You can't go to events or things like that, if it is known that you still have a debt. If you have family in the Sea Org you can't communicate to them until you pay your debt. And some 17 and 18 year old ex-Sea Org members have tens of thousands of dollars in debt.

Ethics is being used more and more to get people on course. Basically, it's 'be on course or get kicked out, lose your job and your friends and family members.' It works, too. Especially vulnerable are parents who have kids in the Sea Org. More and more, Sea Org members are being estranged from their families. You can hardly ever call a Sea Org member. Communication is often limited to letters and most of the letters are screened.

If you get declared you can't talk to anyone except for Richard Valle, the justice chief on the Continental level in the Western U.S. This is for the West Coast, anyway. He just parrots off the same lines from one or 2 policies. He doesn't follow policy at all. He just rubber stamps things. He is about 19 years old. Or you can write to the International Justice Chief, Mike Ellis. Mike is about 45. He takes orders, too. Never answers questions. If you quote Scientology policy in your comm. ev. often the people on it will actually laugh at you. It's that blatant. From reports of people who have gone through these procedures, the people on them are extremely polite and cordial. They even seem like they are on your side. Then you find out that they find you guilty of silly things or things you never did. Sometimes they will scoff at you. I guess they think that they 'have their TRs in.'

David Miscavige seems to have the fixed idea that a perfect auditor is one who never flubs an auditing question. He's probably just trying to be Tom Cruise and figures that auditors are actors and the worst crime for an actor is to flub a line. So an auditor is supposed to have perfect form and never flub a line. It makes for very robotic auditors who seem pleasant at first, but are so self-conscious and afraid of making a mistake that it's hard to talk to them.

Some of the staff members are so far gone that they think that all of this is OK because didn't L.Ron Hubbard say "Ethics exists to get technology in"? So -- you just use more and more intimidation until you get people to pay for and attend courses. And they have to seem to be happy while they're on course, too, because Lisa Hamilton and other people like her are watching and if you don't look happy, well, you might just be expelled.

That's all for now.
Scientology Insider