Scientology Goes NASCAR

A Dianetic racing car team has been active in Switzerland over the last couple of years. You can check out their detailed web site (in French) here: Dianetics Racing - tout sur les courses de voiture.

It seems now that one Kenton Gray is seeking to replicate the experience at the NASCAR level. I don't know if that team has a web site yet.

ABC News: Scientology Goes NASCAR With Dianetics Race Car:

The venture is called "The Dianetics Racing Team," named after the best-selling self-help book written by the movement's founder, science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard.

Kenton Gray, a California race-car driver who has said Dianetics helped his life and driving performance, will head up the Dianetics team.

"It's markedly improved my focus and my consistency," said Gray in a statement. "Through Dianetics I've handled stress and increased my performance and ability to compete -- both on the track and in life."

Gray finished first in five regional races over the last year and ranked in the Top 5 in dozens of other races.

[...]

The team is hoping to spread messages of Scientology through weekly tours on the track, although it will compete on the local circuit, not NASCAR's premiere national events.

[...]

NASCAR did not address the idea that it now has a controversial new participant in its very successful money machine.

"We're not going to comment on the sponsors that the local weekly tracks secure," Kerry Tharp of NASCAR.

Imaginary Friends

It's true, I believe. Sometimes children have "imaginary" friends that in fact are real but they stop seeing them after adults put them down for it.

SoMa Scientology Mission: Scientology 8-8008:

"I started crying (in a good way) when he said that our imaginations as a child are real, it's our own universe. And how we sink into agreement with the physical universe due to people invalidating our views and imagination. I remember sitting on the swings when I was five and having a conversation with two people that my older babysitter couldn't see. She invalidated me and got mad because I was giving them more attention then her. I had a really magical life up until that point."

Sanctified Snake Oil and Anti-Cultism

AntiCultControversies : Message: Sanctified Snake Oil and Anti-Cultism:

"There is an article (and also a book by the same title) by Susan Sarnoff entitled Sanctified Snake Oil that is about what can happen when advocates of various causes get carried away and distort things to fit a cause. Sarnoff makes no mention of cults or anti-cultism, but what she wrote seems to fit some of what I see going on in some circles. I posted the article in the Files section of this list serv if anyone is interested in reading the full article. Here is how Sarnoff describes the “Snake Oil Paradigm”:

****begin quote (Sarnoff, Sanctified Snake Oil, p. 397, 1999, Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Human Services)

THE SNAKE OIL PARADIGM

1. Frame the subject so that it cannot be opposed.

2. Once the issue is defined, stretch the concept as broadly as possible in order to:
a.) Increase the size of the “target” group;
b.) Make the problem appear to be universal;
c.) Make the problem appear to be of crisis proportions.

3. Consider anyone who resists identification with the target group to be “in denial,” in order to:
a.) Define all “sufferers” as in need of “treatment;”
b.) Make treatment seem more effective because many of the treated will not suffer from the problem or will have a mild, easily treatable degree of the problem, and non-improvement can be blamed on denial.

4. Identify “poster children” who “suffer” from the problem but are appealing to the public (e.g., completely innocent and in no way responsible for their circumstances).

5. Use anecdotal evidence (preferably about “poster children”) and single, dramatic cases to publicize the problem.

6. Use biased or “cooked” data — if forced to present any statistical proof of the problem.

7. Confuse goals and processes.

8. Confuse satisfaction with effectiveness.

9. Ignore unintended consequences and never admit that they might emanate from the “solution.”

10. If criticized for any of the above, attack the opponents instead of their positions.

THE SANCTIFICATION PARADIGM

MEDIA

1. Write “human interest” stories on single, extreme cases, suggesting that they are “typical” of the problem.

2. Publish statistics without consulting source data or confirming accuracy.

3. Oversimplify complex issues and policies.

4. Publish the results of research studies without discussing the methodology of the research (e.g., samples, controls).

5. “Bury” corrections and retractions in back pages and small print.

End quote********

Sound familiar, anyone?

Monica

Give and Get

Giving is the real joy in life, and the best we could ever give to someone is giving of ourselves. If we can achieve this in our work, in our relationships, in whatever we do, then we'll be truly happy. It's also infinite. There's never an end to the joy of giving. It carries true meaning, and creation is its ultimate outcome.

Getting is nice too, for a while, and we should not prevent us from getting. But it has its limits. After a while, the taste we found in those things we valued is not quite the same, and even the best things on earth are never enough, never satisfying, we'll always want something different. Getting should be a consequence, not a goal.

We often think that if we get rich and can do what we want, we would be happy. That's true, but only for a while. Eventually, it would still depend of what we do with it. Those who have learned to give of themselves in whatever situation they are in, rich or poor, are ultimately more happy than those who always seek to get, rich or poor. Sometimes, the small things in life are what really matters.

There's never an end to the opportunity to give, because we always "have" with us what we need in order to do so: ourselves.

Email 3

I received so many positive, encouraging, and interesting e-mails over the years because of my website that I wanted some day to make a page about, but never got around doing it. Plus there is the problem that I would not post them without permission first.

OK, here is a sequence of mail exchange with one person. I received the permission to post them but anyway will remove the name and address, really... I just don't feel comfortable posting such information.


Thu, Mar 13, 2008 at 4:01 AM

I have been reading your web page on Scientology for a while now along with other sites on the internet. For right now I just want to acknowledge your work and to tell you I find your viewpoint a very sane one and thank you for the information you have put together. I will communicate more at a later point in time. I would appreciate a reply to this email just to make sure it got through. One quick question - are you familiar with Brian Ambry and the critiques he has written on Scientology?

Reply:

Thanks for your mail and kind words. I saw mention of Ambry but never actually got to have a look at his work. It's very extensive. I quickly scanned through the manual and my first impression is that it's too far fetched. Sleep deprivation in the SO cannot be likened to Russian style torture, and the RPF seems to be interpreted according to Stephen Kent, whose work as been already challenged by better studies. Of course you can always find parallels because two totalitarian system will have parallels, especially when interpreted through an extreme critic, that would make the totalitarian org even more totalitarian. This being said I have not read the whole thing so this is a quick impression.

Thanks also for your comment on gays and scinenos. Interesting... [Refers to another mail]

Fri, Mar 14, 2008 at 11:57 PM

Brian Ambry was a close friend in high school back in the late 60s who introduced me to Scientology. As a science fiction fan I had read about Hubbard and my initial reaction was negative. I spent much of the time that I was at college reading Scientology books and going back and reviewing the press coverage on it from 1950 onwards. Most of my college papers dealt in someway with Scientology and I tried to contrast it with other religions and psychological systems. In 1973 I dropped out of college and in 1974 I joined staff and I was made ED Comm NYF first working for Colin Thorne and later Wes Beacher. I routed off staff after Wes was taken off by the SO in 1977 (I got a good look at SO craziness while on post). I became interested in the theories of Lyndon LaRouche and after reading the Liepzeg Connection I developed a communication line with Paolo Lionni who was part of the leadership strata of The Delphi School in Oregon. I met with him while he was visiting NYC with the headmaster Alan Larson and eventually I wound up joining staff at Delphi in 1981. Lionni became interested in LaRouche and some LaRouche material got into the The Leipzig Connection (there is a footnote somewhere in the book referencing LaRouche). While I was there I worked for Paolo Lionni part time as administrative assistant and part of the time on the boiler room crew that would harvest the forest for fuel for the boiler. Sundays I got scullery duty in exchange for not having to go on outings with the kiddies. Before Lance Klass (co author of the Leipzig Connection) left Delphi he trained me as the school librarian.

There for all I know I might still be except that the missions were in a state of muted rebellion against the CoS due to the suppression that they had be subjected to. Somewhere a novel concept of management got adopted centered on the theory of de-dinging by mission heads - dinging was considered a form of other intention suffered by said leaders from

their ungrateful staff who then got rebuked in a manner that would make the most gung-ho SO officer proud. Rather than go into agreement with this pschosis I routed off staff. Ironically the SoC a few months later came down hard on Delphi/Martin Samuels and Lionni and the others wound up doing conditions until they got rehabbed into being loyal CoS adherents once again. Lionni who had picked up smoking again when the de-dinging campaign began died a year later of lung cancer (he chose not to go through the standard medical treatment). I sort of think he died as a result of compromising his reality as much as he did of cancer.

That was the end of my involvement in the CoS. I attended some event in NY announcing the formation of the RTC and the fine folks who run it. By this time Brian Ambry was doing a large amount of research which he shared with me. He went out to California from New Jersey and got involved with the Riverside Mission and with the book that Bent Corydon was writing. I am not really in comm with him anymore but he did send me the Brainwashing Manuel manuscript as he was in the process of editing it. His outlook is more harsh than mine which is harsh enough but I balk at defining the CoS as a criminal cult that brainwashes its adherents. I do not support the Anonymous declaration to destroy the CoS (the you tube video was as nuts as anything the SO could come up with) and I dislike the entheta that gets spewed out by many of the anti-Scientology posters on the internet.

I will send you more comments at a later point. I wanted to introduce myself and sort of set forth my credentials. I really don't pay much attention to much of the commentary on Scientology - unless you have done time as either a staff member or auditor (the academics are a different matter) you really can't comment on Scientology with any credibility.

Reply:

Wow K..., thanks a lot for this detailed introduction. You have quite some background. I must say I pretty much agree with all you wrote down there. Hear you soon again. Bernie

Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 5:03 AM

I think it was Kent that used material from Bent Corydon's Messiah or Madman as a basis of his evaluation of RPF. I read both his and the Italian's studies. Yes, every group winds up with some kind of system of handling out ethics. However the idea of RPF is based on the idea that it is a final chance for people too messed up (rock slamming degraded beings) to be handled any other way. The Church is thus being benevolent in allowing these wretches to co-audit their way out their condition. In actual practice it seems that if one stays long enough in the SO one gets RPFed in the same way that lots of staff get to work their way through the conditions over and over again. After a while it just becomes something to be expected.

I think two things are going on with this. One is that groups dramatize stuff just like individuals do and heavy ethics is a dramatization and a control mechanism. This is where Brian Ambry's analysis is important. The Church uses the RPF as an in-house construction crew and since they are constantly expanding their facilities using the RPF rather than outside contractors saves them a ton of money. Now, one has to buy into this reality for it to work, one has to accept the condition one is assigned. Lots of people will accept a condition as a result of psychological intimidation and as the price of remaining a member of the group. The more closed a group the more unhinged behavior becomes possible. While I don't think Class IV orgs fit the definition of a "cult" I think that the SO may well make the grade. Now, "cult" is a loaded word - I use it more to describe a way in which certain groups are structured in which the members relate to one another in certain ways - looked at it this ways lots of groups can be considered cults which are not normally considered as such ( the US Marine Corp for example). Anyway, time is up and just wanted to resume this discussion - been reading your blog and many of the links you have provided.

Reply:

Nice to hear from you again and thanks for reading my blog. Initially it really was something I started more for myself so I could track off the news but it turned out to be somewhat more interesting to do than my web page, partly because of the up-to-date synchronization with current events and because of the interaction aspect. I now try to reserve my web page for more detailed and synthetic articles like I am gradually doing for the Magoo page.

I think it may be interesting to publish on my blog this e-mail exchange, or part of it, but I would not do it without authorization of course, especially since it contains personal information.

Let me know what you think of the idea.

Thanks,
Bernie

Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 9:22 PM

Hi Bernie

You can post anything I send to you. I find myself often thinking about Scientology and Hubbard and so I think it would be helpful to write them out - sending any such ramblings to you would be therapeutic - for me anyway.

Thanks,

Freedom of my Mind from Your Mind

Anti-Cult Controversies: More Information Control from Steve Hassan

Monica reports that she has been banned from the new forum of Steve Hassan, "Freedom of Mind" - Oh the Irony... Freedom of Mind...

Human Trafficking

I wanted to blog about that but Monica as now made a post that basically say what I wanted to say so I'll just copy/paste :-)

AntiCultControversies : Message: Allegations of "Human Trafficking" in Scientology:

Here is a website that is a good example of the problem I am having with some of the claims being made by ex/anti-Scientologists.

http://www.exposescientology.com/humantrafficking.html

Here, they are accusing Scientology of practicing "human trafficking", a very serious offense that involves slavery of people, usually people who were in extremely vulnerable positions to begin with, such as people from third world countries living in extreme conditions of poverty. People are either kidnapped and forced to work as slaves or prostitutes or they are lured into a situation under false pretenses and then forced to stay and work. This is a very serious international problem.

However, is Scientology practicing this by recruiting people into the Sea Organization? That seems to me to be a stretch, yet in this discussion, one person even went so far as to allege the practice is widespread in every Scientology org. People can go to this link and witness what happened when I and a few others tried to challenge this:

http://ocmb.xenu.net/ocmb/viewtopic.php?t=29678

It is interesting to see how they take certain parts of official definitions of Human Trafficking out of context and try to apply it to Scientology. If criteria were that loose, however, I wonder how many mainstream organizations would also be in trouble.

Monica

Jodhi's No Speak Scientology Policy

AdelaideNow... Jodhi's new pet project

Jodhi Meares, ex-wifes of ex-Scientologist James Parker, will not say whether she has been doing Scientology or not:

The notoriously private bikini babe refused to speak about claims she has spent the past year being audited by the controversial Church Of Scientology.

"I'm sorry, I don't like talking to the papers," she said politely.

Poor thing had her dog die recently. As a friendly dog myself, I can only have empathy for her, especially after see a couple of pictures from this albums: Jodhi Meares struts her stuff | AdelaideNow:




Relate blog entries: R-packer-

The Help Factor

I had to do some hard thinking yesterday, because that day was the first deadline of a series of jobs I want to apply. As of late I have been in a sort of very long dream holiday... But everything has an end.

Without going into details, I am in a position where I have a wide variety of job opportunities, and sometimes making the right choice is not easy. I was in a closed quandary as to what to do until I found what for me was the key, and that is - the help factor. "In which position am I best placed to really help people?" This is the angle that really appeals to me. Not "which job will bring me the most money?"

And so, I passed on this first deadline. I didn't apply, because, although the job came with lots of gusto and relish, the help factor was limited. Mind you, it does not automatically mean that a job where the help factor is important is necessarily one that pays less. But the consequences simply should not take precedence on the purpose - and that was my "cognition" into this question, which resolved the quandary. The feeling is completely different. I guess I still have not lost my "cultic" need of "meaning" in what I do.

And this brings me to the reason why I am blogging about this at all, and that is that such a key should also be the one to guide my web site. (As for my blog I mostly write for my own benefit so I am not as "constrained" there, haha :-)

Anyway, it brought me to re-write my opening page , with this in mind, as follows:

"Hell is paved with good intentions" - Dante.

This sentence may summarize the whole Scientology controversy.

I have no doubt that Scientologists feel they have a "technology" of the mind and spirit that can really help people and society. To a certain extend, they do. The problem with Scientology is the extreme position its founder took on various issues. Their good intentions, thus, can also turn into hell in certain circumstances.

These extremes is what anti-cult groups try to address. Unfortunately, they often fall themselves in the same traps cults do and, ironically, sometimes illustrate cultic zeal better than what they are trying to address. Here too, they end up doing more wrong than right - all wrapped in genuine good intentions as well.

Scientology has its limits. These are what I try to point out in my critical section. However, it also is not the monster critics try to paint. Such a depiction leads to discrimination, ostracism, and sometimes to outright drama and tragedies. This is the reason why I try to debunk the most common anti-Scientology myths. We need to take a critical stand towards Scientology, but we also have to avoid falling in the opposite trap of oppressing a religious minority. This is what I refer to as the Third Way.

Ultimately, it all boils down to our common search for true meaning and values. Obviously, good intentions are not enough. There is something else that ought to go with it. Understanding the issue at hand may help us find what this missing ingredient is.

Ministry Won't Delist Scientology Website

Ministry won't delist scientology website - Report Card

On Jan. 13, I posted about Anonymous finding out that the UN shop was selling the book, "Youth for Human Right", Flooded the shop with calls and email, and got it to put it down, at least online.

This time around, they were not as successful:

The B.C. Education Ministry says it has no plan to delist a reference to a scientology website from two of its teaching guides. [...]

The link remains and the teaching guides -- one for Social Justice 12 and one for K-12 called Making Space - will continue to list YHRI as a supplementary resource, the ministry says. [...]

The fact that YHRI is included in official teaching guides "doesn't constitute ministry endorsement of the website, nor of the organization," the ministry stated.

Note, however, that even the news outlet does not give in automatically in the cry-wolf comments that automatically follow any mention of Scientology in a news article, as it writes:

(The debate over scientology - religion or cult? - is obviously a hot one. I'm not able to get a lawyer's ruling on the accusations that are flooding in as comment so in some cases, I'm just not posting. Also, several people have tried to post a lengthy Penthouse interview with Ron Hubbard Jr. It's too long, post a link instead.)

Related blog entry: R-Youth4HumanRight-
Related blog entry: R-CryWolfComments-

Simpsons Followup « THE WOG BLOG from XENU TV

Simpsons Followup « THE WOG BLOG from XENU TV


Related Blog Entries: R-NancyCartwright-

L. Ron Hubbard in Apple's 'Think Differently' Ad

Update: The video below is a fake. You can see the original on Youtube at http://youtube.com/watch?v=USn5t5nQWU8 and Hubbard is NOT in it. Nevertheless, I leave the post up just for the amusement factor.

-----------------------


The following initially appeared on johnalexwood blog but has been removed for some unknown reason:

"Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes, the ones who see things differently. They are not fond of rules and they have no respect for the status quo.

You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them - about the only thing you can't do is ignore them - because they change things; they push the human race forward.

And while some may see them as the 'crazy ones', we see genius, because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."

L. Ron Hubbard appears at 37-42 seconds.

Here's the complete list of the "troublemakers" in order of appearance:

• Albert Einstein
• Bob Dylan
• Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Richard Branson
• John Lennon (with Yoko Ono)
• R. Buckminster Fuller
• Thomas Edison
• Muhammad Ali
• Ted Turner
• Maria Callas
• L. Ron Hubbard
  
• Mahatma Gandhi
• Amelia Earhart
• Alfred Hitchcock
• Martha Graham
• Jim Henson (with Kermit the Frog)
• Frank Lloyd Wright
• Pablo Picasso
• Shaan Sahota

Original video source

Small House Big Controversy

Phoenix News - Will the L. Ron Hubbard House Turn a Camelback Neighborhood Into a Scientology Recruitment Mecca? - page 1 - Phoenix New Times:

"On a recent December Sunday, on a still street nestled against Camelback Mountain, a party is in full swing at the L. Ron Hubbard House. It's meant to be a holiday open house, to show off the stunning renovation of the simple brick dwelling where Hubbard founded Scientology a half-century ago, and to smooth relations with neighbors, some of whom have lately been up in arms about plans to turn the house into a Scientology museum."

Long article about a big controversy for such a small house. Neighbors don't want Scientology in their midst. Jacobsen quoted extensively - just the usual bigoted routine.

Yahoo Search Puts New Research Assistant to Work

Technology News: Search Tech: Yahoo Search Puts New Research Assistant to Work: "One-third of that time is wasted looking for information and not being able to find it."

I am a Google fan and I hope (and suspect) they are also working on a research tool such as the above Yahoo one. I don't want to switch to Yahoo but if they develop such a tool I probably just will have to switch for all the time saving it would mean!

Moderation Glitch

I received a whole bunch of spam this morning and this prompted me to go to the moderation page, and there I saw that there were about a dozen comments awaiting moderation for quite some time and about which I had not received a copy in my email.

Normally I moderate from my Google mail only, because I receive the request there and can accept or reject it from there. I don't know why I did not receive a copy for those that where awaiting there on the moderation page, whether this was a glitch in Google or whether the comments were eaten by the spam filter.

My apologies for this. From now on I will check that page every day in addition to what I receive on my mail box.

I am also considering lifting the moderation all together as the spam and off-topic problem has not been too bad since I started. I just need to set aside some time to think about how to proceed and whether or not I really want to switch to that mode (probably yes).

Sorry again. I will email those I can identify but can do nothing for those who are anonymous other than just posting this.