Scientology: A Coercive Psychological System

This essay is an analysis of the Church of Scientology as an coercive psychological system.

Anybody can unfairly accuse or attack an organization or group they disagree with or dislike by calling it a "cult" or saying that they are using coercive mind control or coercive psychological systems as you call it. FACTNET uses specific criteria to determine if a coercive psychological system has been used. It does not imply organizations or individuals are using coercive pyschological systems or are destructive or dangerous cults without careful research and determination that the evidence fits definite criteria.

So does the Church of Scientology fit the criteria? To find out read this revealing article from the Cult Awareness and Information Center. -- Read More --

Disconnection

Any PTS who fails to either handle or disconnect from the SP who is making him or her a PTS is, by failing to do so, guilty of a Suppressive Act.

- L. Ron Hubbard, HCOPL of 23 December 1965, "SUPPRESSIVE ACTS"

By far one of the greatest tools Scientology has to keep members is the policy of Disconnection.

If you join the church and have friends or family that do not approve of Scientology you will be forced to sever all ties with them.

When someone leaves Scientology for any reason they are often "Declared" a SP, or Suppressive Person. As a SP anyone you knew inside the church is forced to disconnect from you.

Essentially by leaving the church many end up leaving everyone they've known or cared about during their time as a scientologist.

In addition to the Disconnection Policy members of the Sea Org may be forced to move far away from other family members or be denied the ability to speak directly to them. More information on the Sea Org and what it does to families can be found here.

Good Training for Criminal Con Men

L. Ron Hubbard is considered to be a god by adoring Scientologists and a very clever con man by his skeptics. Whatever he was, now that he is dead, remains to be determined by the future. But his legacy, the Church of Scientology, lives on as a kind of viral meme, infecting the minds of his followers with the amoral message -- the ends justifies the means. "Make it come out right!"

Reed Slatkin a former Scientology minister ruined the lives of hundreds of families. You could say that he found their ruin in their desire to find a good safe return on their investment capital. "My money's with Reed," Scientologists used to brag as the wunderkind investment broker returned high dividends for high-rolling Scientologists like Anne Archer and Greta Van Susteran. That was before it was discovered that Reed was actually perpetrating the biggest Ponzi scheme in history and donating much of his illegal earnings to Scientology. Altogether, investors lost 200 million dollars. The investors weren't just high-rollers either, many were your average middle income folks. Reed is now serving a 15 year term in prison. Being a white collar criminal he'll probably be out in 7 years. Of course Reed was declared an SP, no doubt, because some Scientologists were also caught up in the scheme. Watch YouTube video -- Here --

Herb Zerden another criminal Scientologist and owner of the Florida Foreclosure Assistance Solutions, LLC is operating a different scam. This time it's an unlawful Mortgage Foreclosure Rescue Scam run as a telemarketing operation.

Homeowners who responded to Foreclosure Assistance Solutions were pressured to immediately sign a $1,200 contract. Once Foreclosure Assistance Solutions received its fee, company representatives rarely interacted with clients. When homeowners repeatedly called the company seeking information or action, they were ignored. Because the terms of the company’s customer contract strictly prohibited homeowners from directly contacting their mortgage companies, Foreclosure Assistance Solutions inaction worsened the situation for many homeowners. -- Read More --

Unholy Assult: Scientology's attack on Psychiatry

The Church of Scientology has taken upon itself the goal of eradicating psychiatry from the face of the earth. This may seem like a strange project for a "church," until one reads the thoughts of Scientology's founder, L. Ron Hubbard.
In 1950 Hubbard published Dianetics, the Modern Science of Mental Health. This unscientific and unproven method of "clearing" the mind of problems was seen as an alternative to what psychiatry at that time was providing. At first Hubbard did not consider himself in competition with psychiatry, and in fact had sought psychiatric help himself earlier. But dianetics was rejected by the psychiatric community and Hubbard gradually became more and more irate at the profession.

In 1969 the Citizens Commission on Human Rights was formed as an arm of Scientology to fight against psychiatry. In 1993 CCHR was granted tax exempt status in a secret IRS agreement of the Church of Scientology's exemption. CCHR and Scientology continue to attack psychiatry. CCHR's website states that CCHR is a non-profit, public benefit organization dedicated to investigating and exposing psychiatric violations of human rights.

Scientology also operates stealth attacks using http://youtube.com/user/psychetruth and www.myspace.com/psychtruth . They are also behind the book Psychedout. Here is a list of materials available from CCHR.

Psychiatry's Corruption of Law
CHAOS & TERROR Manufactured by Psychiatry
CHILD DRUGGING Psychiatry Destroying Lives
COMMUNITY RUIN Psychiatry's Coercive "Care"
CREATING RACISM Psychiatry's Betrayal
DEADLY RESTRAINTS Psychiatric "Therapeutic" Assault
ELDERLY ABUSE Cruel Mental Health Programs
HARMING ARTISTS Psychiatry Ruins Creativity
HARMING YOUTH Psychiatry Destroys Young Minds
MASSIVE FRAUD Psychiatry's Corrupt Industry
PSEUDOSCIENCE Psychiatry's False Diagnoses
PSYCHIATRIC HOAX The Subversion of Medicine
PSYCHIATRIC RAPE Assaulting Women and Children
PSYCHIATRY Hooking Your World on Drugs
REHAB FRAUD Psychiatry's Drug Scam
SCHIZOPHRENIA Psychiatry's For Profit "Disease"
THE BRUTAL REALITY Harmful Psychiatric "Treatments"
UNHOLY ASSAULT Psychiatry versus Religion

CCHR seeks to destroy the psychiatric profession and replace it with an irrational, unproven process invented by a science fiction writer. They seek to persuade people to ignore their psychiatrist or counselor's advice, enticing some to forego proper medical advice and treatment. They attack an entire profession with bigoted unsubstantiated claims. By these actions and teachings CCHR harms society. The Church of Scientology proclaims themselves to be the foremost experts on the mind. And their goal is to "Clear" the planet. The actor Tom Cruise claims he can get someone off heroin in three days through Scientology's detox programs. The question is who would you trust licenced professionals or self proclaimed experts who don't even know the meaning of the word science.

Scientology's attack on psychiatry is yet another "religious" attack on science. - Read More -

Personality Test Results in Suicide

Kaja Bordevich Ballo, aged 20, the daughter of Norwegian MP Olav Gunnar Ballo, committed suicide two months ago after been persuaded to take a free Scientology personality test. The family blames the Church of Scientology for her death and has decided to go public with the story. Ballo's Test results and suicide note were discovered after her death.
On March 28, 2008, Ballo, a student at the University of Nice took the Scientology personality test. A few hours later she killed herself by jumping from the window of her dormitory. Her friends and roommates claim she was in good spirits and showed no signs of a mental break down or depression prior to taking the test. The test was stamped and dated by the Church just hours prior to her suicide.

"I believe Kaja would have been alive today if she had not gone to the Scientologists," says friend and fellow student Henrik Møinichen, 19, to Dagbladet.

The Church, which is located only meters from Ballo's dormitory, states that the results had shown Ballo was "DEPRESSED, IRRESPONSIBLE, HYPER-CRITICAL and LACKING IN HARMONY" (results contrary what her friends and family report). The Church also states that it is "unfair to blame Scientology" for Ballo's death and that the test is not dangerous and had nothing to do with it. However, the Church has since REMOVED THE TEST from its Norwegian website (an action strongly suggesting the test was responsible for Kaja's death). Kaja left behind a note telling her family she was sorry for not "being good for anything."

The incident has generated criticism against the Church from friends, family members and politicians. Inga Marte Thorkildsen, one of the members of Norway's Parliament, told the Oslo newspaper Dagbladet that "All indications are that the Scientologist sect has played a direct role in Kaja's choice to take her own life."

Psychologists state that the "Oxford Personality Test" used by Scientology has no Scientific validity and that it is deliberately rigged to produce poor results. The candidate, in the face of a disappointing result, is then encouraged to buy expensive books and courses to "improve themselves". The test has no connection to Oxford University and the cult uses the title to give the test a false validity.

Counterfeit Dreams

Jeff Hawkins spent 35 years working for the Church of Scientology, all over the world, and at all echelons, including the top level at the Scientology International Base in Hemet, California. This link contains his story.

We all dream.
We dream of a better life. A better us.
Even a prisoner in the darkest cell dreams, if only of escape.

Every guru, every spiritual guide, every cult leader knows this. They know how to appeal to this inner dream. "You can be great," they say. "You have greatness within you. Your body, your life, your limitations, are just illusions. You have within you a core that is powerful, aware, transcending time and space."

It's a very, very seductive message. Because we feel that there is a truth there. What is the human mind really capable of? No one knows. Where do we go when we die? No one can answer. Will we ever reach wisdom, freedom, fulfillment, enlightenment? No one can say.

Except the guru. "Follow my path," he says, "and you will have it all."

And not just for yourself. "Follow me," the guru says, "and together we can bring enlightenment and freedom to the world."