A posting by an anonymous reader, on the newsgroup alt.religion.scientology [called "ars"] that expresses my view of what we are dealing with and why something must be done about Scientology.

Title: To understand $cientology - read George Orwell's 1984

Date: 19 Apr 2000 18:13:11 -0000

The more I've read about and looked into $cientology over
the years, the more I've come to the realization that it can
be better understood by reading Orwell's book, 1984.  For
example, the doublespeak/doublethink practiced by it's
adherent's. (You can see examples right at this moment in
ars - Claire, VelcroKitty, querty, etc. etc.)

The Co$ also amply demonstrates it's insatiable lust for
power in it's treatment of current members (RPF - arbitrary
Sec/Checks - use of coercion and fear to keep them in line),
ex-members (being designated S/P and enemies), critics (Fair
Game policies still being applied), and the judicial system
(twisting and subverting the intent of the law through
intimidation, coercion, blackmail - Moxon, et al)

$cientology is managed and controlled by Miscavige and a
hand full of lawyers and accountants, none of whom are
practicing $cientologists. There have been, literally,
hundreds of examples of this lust for power over the last 50
years. Have a read of the following excerpt from the book.
The parallels are striking and ominous. This is why Germany,
which has had direct experience of these tactics under
Hitler, considers $cientology such a dangerous cult. They
recognize it for what it is! Simply change "Party" and "Big
Brother" to $cientology.

1984 - George Orwell
Part III Chapter 3

Quote/
    'There are three stages in your reintegration,' said
O'Brien. 'There is learning, there is understanding, and
there is acceptance. It is time for you to enter upon the
second stage.'
[...]
    'As you lie there,' said O'Brien, 'you have often
wondered - you have even asked me - why the Ministry of Love
should expend so much time and trouble on you." ... 'Do you
remember writing in your diary, "I understand ~how~: I do
not understand ~why~"? It was when you thought about "why"
that you doubted your own sanity...'
[...]
    'You understand well enough ~how~ the party maintains
itself in power. Now tell me ~why~ we cling to power. What
is our motive? Why should we want power? Go on, speak,' he
added as Winston remained silent.
[...]
    Nevertheless Winston did not speak for another moment or
two.
[...]
    'You are ruling over us for our own good,' he said
feebly. 'You believe that human beings are not fit to govern
themselves, and therefore -

    He started and almost cried out. A pang of pain had shot
through his body. O'Brien had pushed the lever of the dial
up to thirty-five.

    'That was stupid, Winston, stupid!' he said. 'You should
know better than to say a thing like that.'

    He pulled the lever back and continued:

    'Now I will tell you the answer to my question. It is
this. The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We
are not interested in the good of others; we are interested
solely in power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or
happiness: only power, pure power. What pure power means you
will understand presently. We are different from the
oligarchies of the past, in that we know what we are doing.
All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were
cowards and hypocrites. The German Nazis and the Russian
Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they
never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They
pretended, perhaps they even believed, that they had seized
power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just
round the corner there lay a paradise where human beings
would be free and equal. We are not like that. We know that
no one seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it.
Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a
dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes
the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The
object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture
is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin
to understand me?'
[...]
    'We are the priests of power,' he said. 'God is power.
But at present power is only a word so far as you are
concerned. It is time for you to gather some idea of what
power means. The first thing you must realize is that power
is collective. The individual only has power in so far as he
ceases to be an individual. You know the Party slogan:
"Freedom is Slavery". Has it ever occurred to you that it is
reversible? Slavery is freedom. Alone - free - the human
being is always defeated. It must be so, because every human
being is doomed to die, which is the greatest of all
failures. But if he can make complete, utter submission, if
he can escape from his identity, if he can merge himself in
the Party so that he ~is~ the Party, then he is all-powerful
and immortal. The second thing for you to realize is that
power is power over human beings. Over the body - but, above
all, over the mind: Power over matter - external reality, as
you would call it - is not important. Already our control
over matter is absolute.'
[...]
    'But how can you control matter?' he burst out. 'You
don't even control the climate or the law of gravity. And
there are disease, pain, death -'
    O'Brien silenced him by a movement of his hand. "We
control matter because we control the mind. Reality is
inside the skull. You will learn by degrees, Winston. There
is nothing that we could not do. Invisibility levitation -
anything. I could float off this floor like a soap bubble if
I wish to. I do not wish to, because the Party does not wish
it. You must get rid of these nineteenth-century ideas about
the laws of Nature. We make the laws of Nature.'
[...]
    ...'How does one man assert his power over another,
Winston?'
    Winston thought. 'By making him suffer,' he said.
    'Exactly. By making him suffer. Obedience is not enough.
Unless he is suffering, how can you be sure that he is
obeying your will and not his own? Power is inflicting pain
and humiliation. Power is tearing human minds to pieces and
putting them together again in new shapes of your own
choosing. Do you begin to see, then, what kind of world we
are creating? It is the exact opposite of the stupid
hedonistic Utopias that the old reformers imagined. A world
of fear and treachery and torment, a world of trampling and
being trampled upon, a world which will grow not less but
~more~ merciless as it refines itself. Progress in our world
will be progress towards more pain. The old civilizations
claimed that they were founded on love or justice. Ours is
founded upon hatred. In our world there will be no emotions
except fear, rage, triumph and self-abasement. Everything
else we shall destroy - everything. Already we are breaking
down the habits of thought which have survived from before
the Revolution. We have cut the links between man and woman.
No one dares trust a wife or a child or a friend any longer.
But in the future there will be no wives and no friends.
Children will be taken from their mothers at birth, as one
takes eggs from a hen. The sex instinct will be eradicated.
Procreation will be an annual formality like the renewal of
a ration card. We shall abolish the orgasm. Our neurologists
are at work upon it now. There will be no loyalty, except
loyalty towards the Party. There will be no love, except the
love of Big Brother. There will be no laughter, except for
the laugh of triumph over a defeated enemy. There will be no
art, no literature, no science. When we are omnipotent we
shall have no more need of science. There will be no
distinction between beauty and ugliness. There will be no
curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All
competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always - do not
forget this, Winston - always there will be the intoxication
of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing
subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill
of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is
helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a
boot stamping on a human face - for ever.'