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Winemaker
Sport climber
Yakima, WA
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Mar 16, 2018 - 05:50pm PT
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True story........ this happened years ago, but still a good memory. I'd read a book, 'Inside Scientolgy' by a guy who had gone through the whole thing, lost all his money and his mind, so I was pretty up on what the gig was about. I was walking down 4th Avenue (I think) in downtown Seattle and there it was, the Scientology Recruitment Center for Northwest Idiots.
On sudden impulse I went in and up to the desk. Gave a fake name, told them I worked for IBM so they could be sure i had money, and agreed to take their personality test to see exactly where I stood in the world. The test was a series of question to determine my personality and problems; it was bullshit of course. Each question had three choices, agree, neutral, disagree. I answered the questions by using my long memorized 22 digit Pi (3.1415926535897932384626) that has been so useful to me over my life.
I chose my answers by just going through the number and marking 'agree' for even, 'disagree' for odd and occasional neutrals for fun. I repeated Pi until I finished the 'test'. They graded it and came back with the sad news: I was really f*#ked up, for a bunch of reasons the test had revealed, but, good news!!! they could fix me! After they had gone on with the spiel for a bit I interrupted and explained what I had done. Silence and confusion and the next level was called and I repeated the story.
I explained that a real personality test could detect falsity like that. Told them I had read 'Inside Scientology' and knew a lot about their scam. I was told in no uncertain term to leave and never, ever, come back. Which I did and haven't.
They are a crock. A couple of good books on the scam are:
'Inside Scientology; How I Joined Scientology and Became Superhuman' by Robert Kaufman
'Inside Scientology; The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion' by Janet Reitman
L. Ron had a good run, wrote some readable sci-fi, and thanks to the E-meter founded one of the most repressive religions in the world. They'll suck you dry of money and brains so beware.
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Don Paul
Gym climber
Denver CO
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Mar 16, 2018 - 06:26pm PT
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Last year, I used an expert psychologist to administer two personality tests to a prisoner in solitary confinement for ten years, but he had his own strategy to convince the psychologist he was "crazy," and reported symptoms that don't go together. The test results showed that very clearly. The thing is, he actually is seriously ill. I had to argue to a judge that lying on the test was a symptom of his illness (anti social personality disorder).
Someone worried they may have a psychological problem should see a real shrink. They would just be an easy mark for religious/cult leaders.
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zBrown
Ice climber
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Mar 16, 2018 - 06:51pm PT
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http://thebreakingtime.typepad.com/.a/6a01053634908c970c017d401eb68d970c-600wi
Fascinating piece from Alex Klein on the looming schism in Scientology, specifically over a real-estate scam involving the construction of its "Ideal Org" local headquarters:
But inside the church, the Ideal Orgs are sparking insurrection. Across the country, donors and high-ranking executives say that the aggressive fundraising and construction scheme is used to enrich the central church at the expense of the rank and file, helping to grow the Scientology war chest to over a billion dollars. Two former members, Mike Rinder and Mark Elliott, went so far as to call the project a "real estate scam." To some of these defectors, the structures are metaphors for the religion itself: garish on the outside, empty on the inside. The irony is that the very expansion that Scientology lauds as its renaissance is actually a symbol of internal dissent and decline.
One of the most interesting parts of the article is the dissidents' repeated references to L. Ron Hubbard's intent or original teachings. While some who've split from Scientology have ditched the whole thing, others have set up their own splinter groups.
That's a natural reaction. If people are attracted to a set of ideals and then the institution that supposedly represents them becomes corrupt or goes in a different direction, it's psychologically easier to find that the original goals were betrayed by the current leadership rather than abandon the whole structure.
The process of schism has happened in every creed from Christianity to Marxism, but this is a fascinating up-close glimpse at how it plays out. Hubbard's still within living memory, and people are already sharply disagreeing over what his intent really was. It's easy to see "Scientologists" in a century encompassing all swaths of ideologies.
This also highlights that arguing over whether a given creed, especially a large and old one, is good or evil somewhat misses the point. On a long enough timeline, multiplying sects will use the same founding mythology to justify every position.
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Winemaker
Sport climber
Yakima, WA
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Mar 16, 2018 - 07:13pm PT
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I quote from Scientology instructions for the crucial OT III, the Wall of Fire:
"Here one encounters body thetans, souls which have affixed themselves to the body. While not outwardly malicious they tend to hold a person back and one is better off without them. You rid yourself of body thetans by auditing them through two engrams which occurred billions and trillions of years ago. First locate a body thetan and run it on incident I (inc I). The body thetan may leave during the running of the inc. If the inc is audited flat and the body thetan hasn't been freed yet, run inc II.
You are released on OT III when all body thetans have left. Simply locate body thetans and run inc I and inc II on them until they have all gone ...there may be hundred of them.
Always make sure you are auditing only the same body thetan until it has been freed. You may make the mistake of starting with one and unknowingly switch to another during the running of the inc. Another mistake would be not to notice that the body thetan had left during inc I and go on to inc II. In so doing you would kick in another body thetan which would then be run on inc II without ever having been run on inc I. If a body thetan turns suppressive on you, audit it through Power then apply at Qual. If you find yourself in the middle of inc II you must run it on yourself.
It is dangerous to run OT III wrong. The results of these mistakes are severe. You may suffer from lack of sleep, catch pneumonia, or die"
You are well warned!!!!! Proceed at your own risk!!!!!
Edited to add: I'm not making this sh#t up, this is the real deal.
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BrassNuts
Trad climber
Save your a_s, reach for the brass...
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Mar 16, 2018 - 07:16pm PT
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All I want to know is did you do Time Wave Zero in MX? Or were you just watching this new TV channel? ;-)
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Mar 16, 2018 - 07:59pm PT
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You may suffer from lack of sleep, catch pneumonia, or die"
Holy cow! What about taxes?
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BASE104
Social climber
An Oil Field
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Mar 16, 2018 - 08:05pm PT
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Is there really a Scientology channel?
What would they talk about? Unless it is PPV, it would seem to run against their M.O. that being everything costs money...
My wife just switched us to Direct TV. Viceland has some awesome shows. Outside channel doesn’t seem to be there at all. Free or not.
I am away from everything but radio for the next 6 weeks. I am flying thermals in Florida.
Russ, you should give Paragliding a go. Freaking awesome. Even old farts can get good at it. Nothing like riding a rocking thermal. Yesterday I got unexpectedly high. After an hour, I couldn’t stand the cold. I was trying everything to come down but the lift was huge. I finally made it down to a warm layer. It sucks to be climbing when you want to get down.
Some climbers are into it like Cedar Wright. Bill Bellicourt helped start it. Jeff Shapiro is super good..
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Winemaker
Sport climber
Yakima, WA
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Mar 16, 2018 - 08:06pm PT
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It's a religion. There aren't any taxes. It's all good. You feel relaxed. Breathe deeply, close your eyes and think of good things. Think calm thoughts, you feel safe and relaxed.... Take a deep breath, then exhale slowly. You feel warm and cozy..... Just do as I say and you will be happy and have friends who love you. You feel calm and serene. Sleep, sleep, sleep. When you awaken you will do as I say and that will make you feel good and be happy. You will want to do as I say because that will relax you and you will have no responsibilities and life will be easy. Remember, when Winemaker speaks you will be calm and feel serene and do what he says........ You will awaken refreshed and happy when I snap my fingers and will do as I say. Snap!
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Mar 16, 2018 - 08:24pm PT
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Hey, Base, having been in some scary lift (like in a building cumulonimbus) in a real sailplane
I can’t imagine hanging from some clothes lines and granny’s old sheets. At least in a
sailplane we can deploy the spoilers and basically point the nose straight down, or bail.
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