Category Archives: FLAG

Update from Debbie

There has truly been a river of warmth, kindness and support!

I just want to say thank you for your caring communications in answer to my post as well as through emails and Facebook messages. I have been quite amazed to receive literally thousands of such emails and messages. 

I would like to make a point about all of this – if it wasn’t for the unbelievable support we have gotten from so many this entire quest for truth and justice might already have been squashed.  What has given us strength and resource has been the fact that so many people have come with support – information, brilliant ideas and funds to help with the legal defense. We have even had some help in getting more clients for our marketing business after losing many of ours. All of this has served to give us the strength and organization to be able to present the truth. And it is the truth that can pierce through 16 inch thick armor.  And remember “truth is the only thing that can go through 16 inch armor plate steel.”

We have an attorney team that truly is incredible. They often work longer hours than Sea Org members and they are in it for the cause of justice. On top of that, they are absolutely brilliant. And they know they are up against deep pockets that can pay for the most expensive counsel.  Independents have been there every step of the way since the TRO and suit were filed with support in every way. 

It is a real shame that parishioners’ hard earned money is being used to cover up the crimes and gross human rights violations being committed by the “leader” of Scientology.

Anyway, it is I who owe you the thanks. Those who have come through with real help to win this battle. Whether it is being done to help salvage Scientology from ruin or to protect human rights or whatever drives you – your help is the only reason we are able to have the strength, resource and skill to fight this battle and have any hope of winning.

As has been covered on this blog, we were served with a 34 page motion for summary judgement. In a nutshell, on May 7th, the Church of Scientology will walk into a hearing with a judge, and demand that Wayne and I are found guilty without trial. If they can prove none of the facts that make their case are in dispute, a judge can simply bang down the hammer and our case will never go before a jury.  The work that is ongoing to prepare our answer to this is considerable.  

To deal with this we are asking for your continued help.  And please be assured, no information will be divulged by us as to the source of any donations or otherwise. Any and all information will remain completely confidential no matter what pressure is brought to bear. You can donate to the defense fund here: www.debbiecookbaumgarten.com ;

Maybe my new nickname should be THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNETS NEST! And it is a hornets nest of out ethics at the top. But it can’t be allowed to just go on. It has been going on to the extreme detriment of many good people and to the detriment of a movement that would otherwise be thriving, helping others and protecting and preserving human rights.

If only the last 30 years of real stats for Scn orgs internationally, like Auditors Made, Grade Chart steps completed, Releases, Clears, OTs made, bodies in the shop, etc. could be laid out on graphs. The decline would be shocking. If only the public saw those real stats instead of the BS that they see at the glitzy events, maybe it would break the spell and they could see that we aren’t in Kansas anymore. 

Deep down you always believe that truth and good wins in the end, but when you look around in life that often doesn’t really seem to be the case. Those who can afford top legal defense certainly have a way of getting away with murder. So we definitely have our work cut out for us.

Thank you again for your support. We have a ways to go to win. But it can be done!

– Debbie

Debbie and Wayne Got A Gun

 

Latest on Cook v. Scientology Inc from the Tampa Bay Times.

Update in Cook v Scientology Inc

 

Turn to Tony Ortega’s Runnin’ Scared for the latest update on the litigation.

 

Freedom of Speech, Religion and Conscience

by Mike Rinder and Marty Rathbun

The Radical Corporate church of Scientology has filed a Motion for Summary Judgment in the Debbie Cook case.

The church is asking the court to declare the church the winners of the lawsuit based on the facts that they have presented to the court. To grant a Summary Judgment, the court must decide that there is no triable issue of fact. That means that no evidence that Debbie can present conflicts with the facts that the church says are established and prove its case for breach of contract.

You can read the church Summary Judgment Motion here, but for those of you who do not care to get mired down in legal mumbo-jumbo, here it is in a nutshell:

Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment

The church claims Debbie and Wayne left the church and signed contracts not to speak about their experiences.   They were paid money in exchange for their silence.  The church asserts that any claims by Debbie and Wayne that they signed the agreements under duress are invalid as even if that were true, Debbie and Wayne did nothing to overtly invalidate the agreements for 4 years.  Their inaction indicated agreement with the contract and thus they “ratified” it by their inaction.  They are arguing that because Debbie did not battle George Spencer, and effectively cross examine herself on the stand on 9 February, and testify about the duress she has continued to experience since leaving Flag in October 2007, there was no such continuing duress.

Here is where some readers of this blog can help.

Evidence can be submitted to the court by Debbie’s attorneys in the form of sworn affidavits.

A lot of people out there have communicated having experienced continuing duress similar to that experienced by Debbie.  In particular, those who can honestly testify, in the form of sworn affidavit, to the following fact pattern may be integral in defeating corporate Scientology’s summary judgment motion:

  1. Saw first-hand that David Miscavige operated as the supreme leader of Scientology and that there was no possibility of objecting to or defying his dictates no matter how unlawful without severe loss of rights.  That includes corporeal punishment including battery, loss of consortium (split up from 2D), lessened sleep, food deprivation, imprisonment, personal degradation, severe hazing, torture, surveillance, monitoring by covert and overt means after leaving, etc.
  2. Witnessed David Miscavige beating, punching, kicking, choking, slapping, throwing water at, physically threatening, severely hazing yourself or other staff members,  or witnessed agents of Miscavige doing the same or witnessed Miscavige ordering others to do the same.
  3. Left church employ because of “1” and/or “2” either by escape (unauthorized sudden departure) or route out procedure.
  4. Knew of corporate church policy and/or standard operating procedure to silence former members by way of any or all of the following:

a)       signing non-disclosure agreements under intimidating circumstances including presence of Security and/or OSA personnel, presence of an OSA attorney, and/or presence of video recording equipment.

b)       Witnessing or participation in the blow drill: where departed staff are tracked down by use of roving teams, credit card information, life history information, pc folder information, in order to make them participate in “a”.

c)       Having a provisional SP declare held over one’s head, whereby you were told that if you remained compliant and silent on the outside the SP declare would not come, but if you did otherwise you would be SP declared thus either lose your immortal future and/or lose the right to communicate with friends, associates, business contacts, and family.

5. Were so indoctrinated in an isolated cult for so long that you lost all sense of common mores of civilized society.  In other words, developed a mindset where you accepted the wholesale violations of civil and human rights visited upon self and others as justified or normal activity that did not warrant protest or reporting.   Many have reported having developed a state of mind where the ends (no matter how unlawful or shocking) justified the means; where for extended periods of time they felt so degraded by their experience that they believed there was something awry with themselves for even harboring thoughts that Miscavige’s reign of violence and human rights violations was in any way actionable or wrong.

6.  Because of 1-5 lived for a substantial period of time in fear or reticence of telling anyone about the facts underlying 1-5 or other facts concerning the loss of liberty or Human Rights of self and/or others by David Miscavige or agents of the church of Scientology.

A)     Include any of the common manifestations you may have experienced that are often reported by others – nightmares about being apprehended and returned to the Hole or the Int Base or the RPF, nightmares about being visited (and being declared) and having your friends, family, and associates disconnected from you.

B)      Include your own thought processes (backed by what you witnessed that prompted it) that kept yourself living in silent fear; such as taking a given period of time on the outside to begin to reckon that what you experienced inside was in fact unlawful or unacceptable in a civilized society; and such as awakening to the unlawful, unjustified nature of your experience only when you saw others were standing up and talking of their similar experiences over a period of time; and such as over time comparing what you experienced inside to the outside, and that experience beginning to wake your conscience with a need to do something about those left behind suffering.

C)      Include your considerations about protecting the religion of Scientology.  Part and parcel with that would be explaining any conditioning that had caused you to believe that the religion of Scientology was the same as the “church of Scientology” and how that played in keeping you silent and compliant – and of course how time played a part in the differentiation process that caused you to begin to communicate the evils you witnessed.

What is important to emphasize in “6” is time. How much time did it take you to decrompress from the physical and mental trauma of what you experienced in 1-5 to begin to speak with others about your experience; whether as a personal catharsis or as a conscientious need to help others still similarly situated.

I know there are literally hundreds who could and would attest to parts of 1 through 6 above. However,  we are looking for corroborative witnesses to the experiences of Debbie and Wayne.  Part and parcel of that of course is parallel experiences with an overlapping fact pattern.

Recognize, the inclusion of David Miscavige is important in distinguishing between the hundreds with similar experience and the few dozen with experiences sufficiently parallel with Debbie and Wayne’s experience to be admissible, relevant witnesses.  “The boss”, as you may have heard Church of Scientology International counsel Eliot Abelson refer to Miscavige in Debbie’s signing video, is front and center in this case.  Irrespective of Abelson’s now-world-famous admission the “church” is doing everything in its power to keep the chief perp out of this dispute, without Miscavige, of course, there is no dispute. Without Miscavige there is no 31 December 2011 e-mail by Debbie, there is no need to speak out, there is no cause to shudder into silence, there is no need for redress for aggravated assault and battery, torture, imprisonment, and the entire array of serial human rights abuses Miscavige perpetrates to this day.

If you feel you can honestly swear to facts that fit squarely within 1-6 above, or your experience roughly follows the pattern of 1-6 above, an affidavit from you might be critical in overcoming David Miscavige’s dishonest and aggressive attempt to bury Debbie Cook through court process.

If you are willing to consider drafting and signing such an affidavit, please tell your story – emphasizing the facts that fit within the 1-6 pattern – in writing to Mike Rinder at rindermike@yahoo.com and copy me at rathbunmark@yahoo.com.

Despite David Miscavige’s best efforts to prevent Debbie from establishing a defense of any kind we are continuing to assist her counsel in ways that ensure that she have as full, fair and affordable a defense as possible.

If you step up, you will be protected.

Another PR Crisis?

ABC news dubs Miscavige’s abuse and torture as Another Scientology PR Crisis.  (Good Morning America coverage).  Ya think?

More in depth coverage is scheduled for tonight’s ABC Nightline.

Tony Ortega at the Village Voice has published a bunch of Cook litigation related documents, at Inside the Alamo.   The last letter that Tony posts is a not so subtle threat toward Debbie’s counsel Ray Jeffrey.  Standard operating procedure for corporate Scientology: when the law doesn’t support you – argue the facts, when the facts don’t suport you – argue the law, when the facts and law go against you – destroy opposition counsel by any means necessary.  Dave apparently missed the memo, the Cold War ended for everybody else a couple of decades ago.

Stay tuned for updates throughout the day.

I have a feeling that exposure of Miscavige’s sickness is going viral today.

UPDATE 8:08 a.m.: Battered Woman Syndrome. Marc Yager is the unidentified individual who wrote to ABC denying that Miscavige beat him. Over the past 2 1/2 years Yager has been doing little other than writing statements denying Miscavige beats him. He may yet turn into the most curious and widely studied case of battered woman syndrome.

UPDATE 2:02 pm: On Yahoo News top stories.

UPDATE 2:49 pm: UPI.com coverage

UPDATE: 4:52 pm: Jonathan Hurley weighs in.

UPDATE: 8:48 pm: UK Daily Mail.

UPDATE: 9:40 pm: Gather.com.

Miscavige’s Cult of Abuse and Torture

See the stories from down under:

Scientology Head Under Fire, A Current Affair Australia

Cult of Abuse and Torture, Today and Tonight Australia

From Official Corporate Scientology response: Both Ms. Cook and her husband are expelled from the Church, are prohibited from calling themselves Scientologists …

Good luck with that one Dave.

 

 

Kristina Royce: Perspective

Kristina has been a Scientologist during six decades.  Thus, she provides a broad view that few can share.  Read and learn.

These are my reasons for no longer wanting to participate with the Church of Scientology and why I have disconnected from it.  To begin with, here is a quote by LRH on the aims of Scientology, which I fully support.

The Aims of Scientology, by L. Ron Hubbard

A civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war, where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights, and where man is free to rise to greater heights, are the aims of Scientology.

 It has been my understanding and belief that the purpose of Scientology was to Clear the population of this planet in order to achieve the Aims of Scientology as quoted above.  Therefore, I believe that whatever else the Church is doing, its primary goal is getting people through to Clear and above.  Scientology is the only subject that I am aware of that expresses the above goal and has a technology that the group applies for the purpose of obtaining that result.  It is my belief that the CofS should be concentrating on this goal above all else and that any other activities that the church sponsors and/or carries out should be done only if they do not interfere in any way with the senior goal of clearing the planet and, indeed, contribute to it.  As long as the church stayed true to the above, I would continue to support it in this endeavor.  However, over the years, I have seen more and more evidence to the contrary.  I believe the current Church of Scientology is no longer on the straight path to fulfill these goals and has become out-ethics and has gone into Treason to LRH.  This is why I no longer support or want to be associated with that organization.  Following are specifics that have led me to this conclusion:

Through the years since I first go involved in Scientology in 1964, I have experienced various disappointments with organizations I was personally involved with.  Such things as mishandlings of a public person by a reg or out-ARC between senior execs and their juniors or misapplication of ethics.  I won’t try to give specifics here as this is merely to give some background to what follows.  Whenever I saw these things, back in the early days, I would consider it an isolated incident.  However, over the years, I heard similar complaints from other people involved in Scientology and witnessed enough myself to come to see there were definite outpoints in organizations, at least the ones I witnessed myself.  Additionally, I also witnessed the struggle those organizations had in trying to arrive at viability within the organization.  I believe every organization I was personally involved with during those years was always struggling to some degree to stay afloat.  There would be ups and downs, but I never personally witnessed a Scientology organization arriving at a viable Normal level of operation.  During those years, this puzzled me as LRH had written specific policies, which, if followed, should have resulted in viable orgs.

Years later, while on staff at FSSO, I believed that I got the answer regarding the problems orgs were having.  That was when we were handed a briefing sheet about Key To Life, LOC and Superpower with a number of quotes by LRH explaining why these things were needed.  In that briefing sheet there were quotes by LRH stating that Orgs were not going to make it and were doomed to failure if staff did not get through Key To Life, LOC and finally Superpower.  The “Why” that he had found on why orgs were failing was that staff were not able to duplicate policy and that the handling for this was getting staff through those actions.  If this were not done, he said, orgs would eventually fail altogether.

When I read this, I was very happy to see that LRH had found THE reason for the outpoints I had noticed over the years and was excited to see that Management was now taking the steps necessary to get these actions in on all staff.  Staff at FSSO, including me, were immediately put onto the Key To Life course.  This was such good news to me as I felt things were finally moving in the right direction and, once staff were gotten through all the actions, clearing the planet would take off like never before.

In 1990 I left staff at FSSO and no longer had my finger on the pulse of what was going on within the church.  I was active at the Boston Org, both on course and as part of the OT Committee and through this was able to witness at least the struggle that particular org was having, even with newly trained Execs of that org freshly back from California. (I don’t know where exactly they received their training, but the ED did tell me that part of her training involved training at Int Mgmt level.)  Being public again, I wasn’t paying attention to the progress of the local staff in regards to Superpower, but I finished up my KTL and LOC while I was there along with a number of other public.

In 1998 we moved to Clearwater to be near FSO as we intended to get onto New OT VII and also to be near Conan and Devin, who were in the SO there at the time.  I was already through New OT V.  Richard was a previous New OT VII completion and planned to get back on the level as he had been advised to do.  Both Richard and I had done the original OT V, VI and VII.  I wondered why these new levels were called “New” OT V, VI, and VII as this seemed to me to be a “Technical Degrade” of the previous levels.  I hoped this would be explained somewhere in the material, but I never saw an explanation.  What I had come to believe (and I’m not sure where I got this data or perhaps just came to this as my own conclusion) was that these “New” levels were needed for people to truly make it on the original levels, but have really no idea if this is the case.  Anyway, prior to getting onto OT VII, the promotion of this level was that if enough people (I think the number was 10,000) got on this level, that this would be one way we could affect the clearing of the planet.  Knowing what the level consisted of, I thought there could be validity to that statement.  I saw contrary data to this statement later on, once I was in the SO again, this time at FSO.  (I’ll write more on that point below.)

Shortly after we moved to Clearwater, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Superpower building was held.  This was very exciting for me as, once again, I saw hope for the orgs as outlined by LRH in the briefing sheet I had read.  In May of 2003, a few months after I started on New OT VII, I joined the SO at FSO to be part of the New World Corps, which meant I would be trained up through to deliver Superpower.  Once on the TTC (Tech Training Corps), I of course met other NWC TTCers.  Through several conversations, I learned that at least these people I talked to had not done KTL or LOC and I asked them why they had not taken those courses first, as it was my understanding that they must be done first before training to be a Superpower auditor.  Those two or three people told me I asked that KTL and LOC were no longer on the line up as requirements for Superpower training.  I never checked into this with anyone else, but if this is true, then someone is not following LRH’s advice, as I understood it.  Perhaps these courses were going to be done by those people later, but that is an outpoint (wrong sequence) as these people were now training without having done KTL, which would inhibit their ability to understand what the Technical Bulletins they were being trained on.  I had done not only KTL and LOC, but also had done the Primary Rundown on the Apollo, indirectly under LRH supervision.  This put my ability to duplicate way ahead of other TTCers who had not done any of these courses.  This did not make sense to me.

While I was on the TTC, I was also still auditing on New OT VII.  During my time at FSO, I learned directly from some and indirectly from others that there were quite a few staff members who had started New OT VII who were no longer able to continue on the level.  One or two told me they didn’t get enough sleep to be able to audit.  Another told me she needed a review to continue on OT VII, but had not been able to get the review for over two years.  This is an additional outpoint, as she should not be left sitting in situation where she needed a review.  Another staff member told me that she understood there were about 150 staff members who had started New OT VII, but were off the level for one reason or another.  In any case, it became a major outpoint to me that staff that had gotten onto New OT VII were not now auditing.  The way I see it, if New OT VII really does help in clearing the planet and if the church really were being true to the original goal of Clearing the Planet, then anything and everything would be done to get people (staff included, of course!) on and through this level.  In fact, it would make perfect sense to have a whole unit set up for those staff who were auditing on New OT VII whereby the first priority would be for them to be in session, per LRH specific data on this level, everyday and when not in session (which due to the nature of the level, would be quite a bit of time) could be training up for the post that they would hold once off the level.  It would make perfect sense that this would be set up and staff would be systematically gotten up the bridge and onto New OT VII and then, once completed, put on the post that they had been training for.  What a powerhouse FSO would be if they were to do this.  But, NO!  Not only was nothing like this even remotely being done, there was nothing particularly set up for those of us who were on the level.  I had to share a room, the only space left, as I understood it, where I could audit on this level.  This was in the Class VIII course room where one room was not being used at that time, so the supervisor made it available to us.  I shared it with three other people who were auditing on the level.  I was told by the Director of Personnel Enhancement (senior over the TTC) that there was nothing set up or being set up for staff who audited on New OT VII.  There were neither rooms nor a Solo NOTS D of P assigned to staff auditing on New OT VII.  We were on our own to “make things go right”!  How is that for intention to Clear the Planet!!  The whole scene for staff on New OT VII was, in my opinion, major out-ethics and major off-purpose to the original goal of Scientology.  I wrote up reports about this every week, but saw no changes occur while I was there.

Additionally, regarding New OT VII, there is another major outpoint going on.  That is the six-month checks.  As a public, I was under the impression that the six-month checks were to insure the pre-OT’s auditing was going along standardly and to correct any outnesses that might have come up.  When I joined the SO at FSO in 2003, I had been auditing on New OT VII for less than six months.  When I was due for a six-month check, I was already in the SO.  So one day, I went over to the Sandcastle and up to the Solo NOTs area and asked to see my (as a public) D of P.  While waiting for her to come out, the TTC I/C showed up.  He asked me what I was doing there and I told him I was getting ready to get started on my six-month check.  He laughed and said that there is no six-month check if you’re in the SO.  I asked why that would be, thinking whether you’re in the SO or not, you would want to be sure to handle any area that needed correction.  He said that was not what the six-month check was all about and that it was merely done for the purpose of making sure the person on Solo NOTs had not gone out-ethics in any way.  I couldn’t believe this and thought he was mistaken and told him I wanted to check this out with my D of P.  Just then, the D of P saw me and came over to find out what I needed.  I told her what the TTC I/C had just said and she confirmed that this was the case, so there was no six-month check for me.  Well, this is an outpoint on a number of levels.  First off, you have a person who has gotten all the way up the Bridge and is now on Solo NOTs, and he has to be checked every six months for out-ethics?!  A person can’t get on the level without going through all kinds of checks to make sure his/her ethics are in.  So, why this “inspection before the fact” (off-policy) check to see if he/she has gone out ethics within the last six months?  Further, this is an interruption of a major action (out-tech) enforced on the Solo NOTs auditor every six months.  This cannot be good per LRH technical data on interrupting a major action.  So, WHY is this being done?  This seems very squirrelly to me.  Something is very wrong with this picture.

To make another point regarding outnesses I witnessed, I need to go back to my time on staff at AOLA.  Most of the time I was there, I was the Tech Sec.  I had been DTS and then D of P for a short time prior to being put on the post of Tech Sec.  Later, I was put on the post of HAS.  During my time there, I got very familiar with the Org Board and how a Scientology organization works.  As an Exec, I was also part of Exec Counsel, Ad Counsel and Financial Planning, which helped me to understand the needs and wants of the various departments and divisions of the organization.  For the most part, my time there was good.  I did witness some outpoints, most of which I chalked up to be isolated situations.  The biggest outpoint to me was the lack of ARC in use amongst the staff.  In fact, I even mentioned this to the then CO (Fred Hare) who told me that ARC is not used in the SO, because you would never get anything done.  Well, I didn’t agree with that then and I never did go into agreement with that, but I saw other staff who did.  I chalked this up to their being low on the Grade Chart and out of valence.  I had already done all the way through the original OT levels prior to joining staff and thought it was just a matter of case regarding those low or nowhere on the Bridge.  But that didn’t account for others who were farther along on the bridge.  Anyway, I decided one day I would try being forceful with my juniors instead of using ARC, just as an experiment.  What happened is they became less efficient and, of course, lower toned.  I quickly got together with them and apologized for my behavior and, to my recollection, that is the last time I went (albeit causatively) out of valence while on staff.  But this little experiment proved to me that out-ARC was not the way to go.

Now, jump ahead to 1989 when I was on staff at the Freewinds Relay Office prior to going to the FSSO.  While there, I was almost immediately posted as Super Cargo (with no hatting, by the way) as I had been HAS on my last post.  In fact, I was on the post of Super Cargo at the same time as being an “expeditor” under the HAS, which meant I was her senior and her junior at the same time!  An interesting juxtaposition.  In any case, I soon learned that there now were new seniors over areas that did not exist in this new capacity when I was on staff at AOLA.  That was, CMO Messengers.  I just couldn’t wrap my wits around that one.  When I was on the Apollo, LRH had a number of messengers and that was precisely what they were, his personal messengers.  LRH used his messengers to give and receive information (not orders) from staff.  I never heard of or witnessed any LRH Messenger by-passing the entire Org Board structure to give an order to a staff member on the ship.  Now, I was told, whenever a CMO Messenger comes to you with an order, you must obey it as if LRH personally was giving you this order.  So there I was, being the Super Cargo at FRO when this little 12 year old CMO Messenger came with an order that I needed to obtain a certain number of filing cabinets in a certain color for the FSSO and that this needed to be done immediately.  This order did not go through my senior.  He came directly to me.  Yet, when I asked my senior about it, she said, yes, we all must obey any order we get from a CMO Messenger as if it were straight from LRH.  When I asked to see Policy on this, she had none, but pointed to a letter from Int Management that was tacked on her wall.  I read it, but didn’t get how this altered policy.  She told me to think of it this way:  that Int Management has to shoulder the responsibility of the whole Church, so anything that they ask us to do we need to do so willingly and at once.  In fact, the person that had been Super Cargo before me had been whisked away to Int with no replacement.  Sometime prior to my being posted as Super Cargo, I had seen him protesting this order and trying to find a replacement.  I heard him trying to defend his post and saying this was being handled off-policy, but he was sent off without a replacement anyway.  Later, I became the replacement, but he had already been shipped off.

Now, move ahead to 2003 when I’m on the TTC at FSO.  There I witnessed not only CMO Messengers running around (at least in the course room where I personally saw this happen) making demands and giving orders, but now RTC Reps have been added to the mix.  Wow, talk about too many chiefs and not enough Indians.  This was, in my opinion, completely off-policy, out-Org Board, and inefficient.  Put those people on the posts they are demanding things get done and maybe more things would be getting done.  What I witnessed was a complete by-pass of the organization structure of FSO.  This means FSO was (is?) in Danger.  However, per LRH, if a condition goes on too long, it will fall to the next lower condition.  So by the time I was there, I would imagine that FSO was way down the conditions, perhaps in Confusion.  But at the same time, correct Danger formulas were not being applied.  I didn’t see any CMO or RTC staff come in to handle the area while at the same time getting it up the conditions, nor any senior over the area.  No, just daily visits to the courseroom telling the supervisors or sometimes directly to the students what they were doing wrong.  How does anything get corrected this way?

By the end of 2003, I had come to the conclusion that there was no way to correct the outnesses I had witnessed as the outnesses I saw were either being done directly by or with the complicity of the very people who were supposed to see these outnesses get corrected.  So who can one report to in this case?  I did send one report up to RTC at Int, but got a letter back stating that my report had been turned over to the local RTC to handle.  I never heard any more on that report.  By this time, my body had become the effect of the stress I was under, which I believe was mainly due to my recognition that things weren’t quite right, but seeing no solution within the church structure to handle it.  I decided I needed to get out of this organization, get some space away from it and get my body back into good health.  So I left the FSO.

During the time of routing out of the SO, I often sat in the confidential Qual study area in the Sandcastle while waiting for the routing-out Sec Check.  One evening while there, I was asked by a NOTs auditor to check him out on a bulletin for a cram cycle he was on.  The reference was, I believe, Auditor’s Rights.  While checking him out, he originated to me that in the future he would always remember this particular bulletin regarding his rights as an auditor and went on to say that he had been auditing a person on Solo NOTs on her six month Sec Check and she completed it rather quickly.  He ended the session and sent her happily to the examiner.  Shortly after this, he was told by an Exec (I believe it was the Chief Officer) that he had to take this person back in and give her more Sec Checking.  He refused at first, saying she was done.  Then the exec demanded that she be taken back in and that he needed to do this to get the hours (stats) up before Thursday at 2:PM, stat time.  I don’t know what occurred to make him go along with this, but he did and now regretted it, saying the next time this happens, he will use this bulletin as his reference and refuse the order.   I don’t know how often this happened or happens or if this was one of those isolated incidents, but I believe the pressure to get the stats up or get more money in could result in out-tech such as this.  My own brother has told me of out-tech actions being applied to him during his six-month check visits.  In fact, this has happened to the point where he now refuses to return to FSO for any action whatsoever and feels that FSO is in Treason to him.

After I left the SO for the last time, I slowly began to reflect on all the things I had seen and experienced while there and earlier while in the FSSO.  I began to wonder if the good outweighs the bad and thought perhaps there are New OT VIII’s out in the world now doing all kinds of wonderful things.  I decided to start searching on the internet to see if anyone was promoting the gains they had achieved having finished OT VIII.  Unfortunately, the only place I could find any good reports were from the Church of Scientology itself.  This didn’t feel right.  I don’t know why the church would not allow someone to speak up about their gains outside of church-controlled communication.  In any case, while looking, I did find a website announcing the passing of Mary Sue Hubbard.  It annoyed me that the church had made no mention of this in any of their publications.  After all, LRH many times had acknowledged Mary Sue’s contributions to Scientology.  Anyway, that was just one more outpoint.

The more I looked at outpoints I had witnessed, the more outpoints showed up.  One major one is Superpower.  Way back when I was on staff at FSSO and had read the briefing sheet where LRH was quoted regarding Superpower and the need to get it in on staff.  (As I recall, LRH wrote that Superpower was to be done on all staff first, then government officials and then delivered to public.)  KTL and LOC were released to staff then, in 1990.  I was hopeful that Superpower would soon be delivered to all staff.  Now, here we are in 2011 and still no Superpower.  However, there was a public person who received at least some of the Superpower rundowns.  His name is Matt Feshback.  Matt gave a talk, which I attended, about the wins he had received from this auditing.  This was back around 1999, I believe.  In any case, it was many years ago, now.  So, my question is, so what if the “Superpower Building” isn’t quite ready yet with all the bells and whistles.  So what that there aren’t enough staff to fill the required posts in the new building.  The fact is that at least some of the rundowns are in deliverable form and were delivered to at least one public that I am aware of.  Therefore, at least some Superpower could be being delivered to staff, as it was to Matt Feshback.  The fact that nothing has been set up or provided for staff to be rotated through these rundowns, speaks volumes to me.  The sane thing to do, obviously, would be to send at least one staff member at a time to wherever Matt was sent to be audited by whoever Matt was audited by so that one staff member is that much more able to duplicate LRH.  Once that one staff member is done, send another and another and so on.  If there is more than one auditor who can deliver Superpower, than send that many staff to receive it and keep on rotating staff through.  If this had been started back when Matt Feshback received his Superpower rundowns, how many staff could have been gotten through by now?  How much more sanity would there be within the organizations if this had been done?  Of course, this is assuming that what Matt Feshback said was true, that he really did receive a number of Superpower rundowns and that he really did have major wins as a result.  But, if he did speak the truth and if what that briefing sheet quoted LRH having said is real, then there is clearly insanity at the top of the Church for not having gotten these actions going on as many staff as possible.

Here is my problem with “Ideal Orgs”.  The following quote is what LRH has to say in HCO POLICY LETTER OF 12 MARCH 1975 Issue II Data Series 40 THE IDEAL ORG:

“Such an ideal org would be built by taking what one has and step by step

building and smoothing; grooving in and handling each of its functions, with

each of its divisions doing more and more of its full job better and better.

The business is always there-the skill with which it is handled and the results

on pcs and students is the single important line which makes it possible to

build the rest.

The ideal org is the image one builds toward. It is the product of the causative

actions of many. Anything which is short of an ideal org is an outpoint that

can be put right. The end product is not just an ideal org but a new civilization

already on its way.”  L. RON HUBBARD  Founder

What LRH says here makes total sense.  This is not what I see Int Mgmt doing under the direction of COB.  It is all cart before the horse.

And finally, The Basics Event, which was when I came to the conclusion that the current C of S is in Treason to LRH under the leadership of David Miscavige.  Here are the main things said by DM during the event that I took issue with:

  • “Let me be blunt:  No, you are not stupid.”  Here DM was pointing out WHY everyone had trouble understanding the basic books.  This was not true for me and I’ve spoken to several others who attended the event who did not feel stupid about the basics.  (Me, Richard, Martha, Cyndi, Steve, to name those I remember.)
  • “How is it that by survey and experience Scientologists find reading an LRH bulletin or policy letter far easier than a book?”  Then DM said that LRH hand wrote or typed all the policies and bulletins (and says this is the reason one can read the policy or bulletin easier than a book, which I find to be a ridiculous statement.)  This I know to not be true as, while on the Apollo, I personally witnessed one of LRH’s transcribers taking the data from a tape LRH had dictated into and typing it out on a typewriter.
  • Then Miscavige goes on to explain how the original books were incorrectly transcribed and/or edited prior to going to the press and that, because of this, no one in all these years ever got the full meaning of the data.  I find it hard to believe that all those years while LRH was alive and delivering training himself, that no one really got it.  Perhaps those mistakes did exist in the books, but I do not believe for a minute that this means no one got the data.  I did several of the Basic Books extension courses and did not find anything new that I had not already understood from earlier versions of the basic books.  To me, this was a major invalidation of LRH and technical degrade of the original basic books.  This event took place in 2007, decades after the books had been written.  If these outpoints really are so destructive to the point DM says in the event, that no one reading the books would be able to truly understand them, and therefore would miss the underlying foundation upon which all else was written, what a huge FLUNK on COB and RTC for not catching this years ago.  That would be nothing less than Treason to LRH and to all Scientologists, in my opinion.  We know that the books had been gone over earlier as there had been earlier new versions of the books published and pushed as the new, corrected versions which everyone should now own.
  • The event has a video where there is this statement: “the book plus the lecture equals full conceptual understanding”… Who says?  That is positioned as if it is an LRH datum, but it’s just a made up statement with no basis in reality.
  • Then, to top it off, DM said:  “I could walk off this stage in the next 30 seconds after simply telling you to read and listen in sequence and I would know that you would fly.  In fact, I’d know if you did just that, read and listened in sequence, by the end of your study, you’d know the basics of Dianetics and Scientology better than any Dianeticist or Scientologist from 1950 right up to the present time.”  This is an outright invalidation of LRH and all auditors since 1950.  That right there did it for me.

Taking Liberties with Religion

When Mike Rinder and I first read accounts of the absurd statement David Miscavige’s local San Antonio counsel George Spencer read to the court on Friday 10 February during Miscavige’s Santa Annaian surrender, we both independently noted tell-tale signs that it was authored by David Miscavige himself.

Now that the transcript from that day of proceedings is in, those suspicions are pretty much confirmed.

One of the indications that the words came right from the pen of Miscavige is the back handed slander and libel of L Ron Hubbard and Scientology it invokes.

More than two years ago I noted on this blog – perhaps in the comments section – that Miscavige’s defense to the statements of me, Amy, Tom, and Mike about the Hole at Miscavige’s Scientology Inc heaquarters was out and out blaming his crimes on L Ron Hubbard policy.  The following are the Miscavige orchastrated responses to the original Tampa Times Truth Rundown series testimony to Miscavige’s wholesale aggravated assault & battery, false imprisonment and the psychological torture on par with Abu Ghraib prison:

Church spokesmen confirm that managers are ordered into pools and assembled for group confessions. It’s part of the “ecclesiastical justice” system the church imposes on poor performers.

The Sea Org is a “crew of tough sons of bitches,” said church spokesman Tommy Davis, an 18-year veteran of the group.

“The Sea Org is not a democracy. The members of it agree with a man named L. Ron Hubbard. They abide by his policies . . . and we follow it to the T, to the letter, to the punctuation marks. And if you disagree with that and you don’t like it, you don’t belong. Then you leave.”

And please hear Tommy’s channeling of Miscavige here, Tommy Davis Audio, pull up “a disciplined religious order” segment.

Well, February 10 2012 demonstrated that Miscavige has not changed his spots, and has made no ethics change – nay, he’s getting worse.  Same old same, only more submerged and covert.  Please read the following segment from the 10 Feb David Miscavige Surrender Hearing:

We’re very concerned that the defendants have used the Court proceedings to entangle this Court in fundamental ecclesiastical matters that need to be avoided under the First Amendment. Over a century ago our United States Supreme Court made it clear that courts must abstain from examining matters which concern church discipline. In fact, just last month, in a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court reaffirmed the prohibition of judicial interference with religious liberties and the power to determine matters of discipline, faith, and internal organization in the Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School versus EEOC. That was January 12th of this year. And the proceedings of yesterday were in violation of that. 

That is how David Miscavige characterizes a day of Debbie Cook’s testimony in which she described false imprisonment, aggravated assault and battery, torture, and kidnapping all carried out at the direction of David Miscavige.

 “Fundamental ecclesiastical matters”, “Church discipline”, “discipline, faith, and internal organization”, and – sit down if you are not already sitting – “religious liberties.”   In order to invoke the law Miscavige’s counsel has cited, the church must claim the conduct Debbie has testified to is mandated by scriptures of Scientology (legally defined as the written and recorded-spoken words of L Ron Hubbard concerning Scientology).

Never mind that Miscavige, not Debbie Cook, dragged the dispute (and thus the conduct he says doesn’t belong in court) into court.  Never mind that his factual nexus between L Ron Hubbard scripture and his unconscionable conduct can’t be made. Never mind that even if he could, the supreme court case cited couldn’t possibly shield the activity Debbie has testified to.  Do mind, however, what this sociopath is doing.

David Miscavige is having to spend a bundle of parishioner donations to get a guy with the reputation of Spencer to tell a court with a straight face that TORTURE, KIDNAPPING, FALSE IMPRISONMENT, STALKING, AND AGGRAVATED ASSAULT AND BATTERY are STANDARD L RON HUBBARD SCIENTOLOGY RELIGIOUS PRACTICES and thus off limits for the court to even hear, let alone consider.

Miscavige wants to spend the religious recognition capital we struggled decades for to protect his heinous, serial felonies from scrutiny.  More fundamentally, Miscavige – once again – wants to heave L Ron Hubbard under the bus.

Line in the sand, indeed.

An Open Letter To My Friends by Debbie Cook

Dear Friends,

On 31 Dec 2011 I sent an email that I hoped would help Scientologists around the world to involve themselves in the direction of the Scientology Religion and also to remind them that LRH empowered all Scientologists to do all they can to keep things strictly to LRH tech and policy.

I never spoke to the press and asked that it be kept from them. I also made it clearly known to the Office of Special Affairs that I had no plans for any further action and asking that our family, friends and business associates not be pressured to “disconnect” from us.

In response I received no communication from the Church at all, but rather every one of my Scientology clients was instructed to disconnect from me and my company was tanked. Further, my Scientology friends and family were contacted and ordered to disconnect.

Further still the Church of Scientology filed suit against me, demanding a legal injunction requiring complete silence on the subject of Scientology and $300,000 in damages.

The first part of that legal action occurred on 9 Feb, where the Church’s legal counsel asked of the Texas courts to legally silence me. They withdrew that filing the very next day after the court heard a very small sample of the physical abuse committed behind the closed doors of the International Scientology Base. But that was thanks to the 100% support of Marty and Mike and a few others very dear friends who were there to help guide us through this. It was especially due to an attorney and his team who came from the very heavens.

I have since done some press interviews, only with the intention of making it clear that these issues of duress and confinement are not based on the scriptures of the Scientology religion or the works of L. Ron Hubbard. They are the doings of an individual or a few individuals. And that Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard are kind and caring and good.

Before me now is the damages case, where DM will demand millions of dollars in damages from me.

But for now, the first battle was won.

And for this, I want to thank from the bottom of my heart each and every one of you who supported me through this time, my true friends. From the well over one thousand people who sent emails and letters of support to the hundreds of people who donated to my legal defense, thank you!

In my moment of need, many stepped forward. People I knew and people I didn’t. Scientologists in “good standing” and those who aren’t. And Scientologists with some real heart-wrenching stories to tell. And not just Scientologists, but people from all faiths and all walks of life who saw that a great injustice was afoot and stepped forward to help prevent it. And together in this first round, we prevailed.

However, this fight is far from over and if truth is to prevail, your positive support and help will make all the difference.

Please know who I am. I support L Ron Hubbard. I have seen L Ron Hubbard’s technology create many miracles. There is no question in my mind that Scientology books and lectures as written by L Ron Hubbard hold tremendous benefit for anyone who just takes the writings as they are and applies them. I have seen the lame walk. I have seen emotionally broken people renewed. I have seen relationships healed. And I have seen these things over and over and over again. Nothing could ever shake my belief in the value of L Ron Hubbard’s philosophical writings.

I will do whatever is needed to ensure that the Scientology religion moves forward into the 21st Century in the spirit of love, compassion and kindness.

So that is who I am.

At this time, I have more friends than I had before I made this stand, far more. And we have our integrity. And it feels damn good.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Debbie Cook

Miscavige Surrenders at the Alamo

Latest from Tampa Bay Times: Video of Miscavige Surrender, attorney Ray Jeffrey and Debbie Cook. 

More coverage:

Tampa Bay Times Article and Video of Debbie’s testimony yesterday

Village Voice updates from inside the courtroom

MikeBoard1200 Twitter feed from inside the courtroom

Scientology Inc.’s explains decision to withdraw injunction

Tampa Bay Times wrap up of events today

San Antonio Express wrap up of events today

Village Voice: Debbie and Wayne speak to the press

Telephone interview of Ray Jeffrey on WOAI

International Business Times article

I will be adding links to the post as they become available. -Mosey