After eleven years out of the church, my son brought me back into the Seattle org in 2003. I had several amazing years to follow. But by the Summer of 2007, I began to see things going wrong. Fewer people in the courseroom, more pressure to donate to more things, all events ending in fundraising, students trying to avoid regging on their way to course, apparently “awesome” cycles such as completeing The Basics (adding months or years to Auditor training), repeated false promises about the opening date of the new Ideal Org, high-pressure recruiting sessions to join staff with “ethics” overtones, and more.
Well, it all finally came to a head this Spring. I had said to myself I would give
the new Ideal Org roughly half a year or so to begin displaying what had been so heavily promised. After about eight long months, I could see things weren’t getting any better. In fact, it was just the opposite. Early on, I had asked about a few outpoints I’d observed:
Is there a place to store my course materials? Is there a refrigerator to keep my lunch in? Is there a place to sit and eat? Is there a place for food-service during events? The answers were all “no”. Each person I asked had some temporary solution, but no one ever said “No, but that is something we will be correcting.”
Eight months after the grand opening, I was ready to deliver M-1 to my twin. Upon requesting a space in which to store my student materials (including my meter), I was told “No, you’re supposed to bring them in with you each day”. I communicated that I often had to park literally blocks away from the org due to the extremely insufficiant parking allotted for the new facilities (mostly being used by staff), and often in the rain (it being Seattle). I’m also 74 years old, with a bum knee. The org, being located amongst a few rather steep hills didn’t help things either. I was informed there might be a place in one of the storerooms on the fifth floor, near the Purif area, where I might store all my materials. I was invited to head up there and check it out.
Oftentimes the two or three, or maybe even four of us in the Public Theory Courseroom on the second floor, wouldn’t have a Supervisor, and a note would be posted at the entrance, telling us to head up to the Academy on the fourth floor for the afternoon. This was actually okay with me, as it meant I would actually be allowed to interact with other students once again, giving star rate checkouts, running drills, word-clearing, etc. But the Sups in the Academy seemed to have different ideas from one another about how the HDA course I was on should be run, and a lot of time was wasted figuring things out there. I’m sorry to report that they never did figure out whether I needed to be supervised while giving Book One sessions as part of the course, or if I could independently audit “walk-ins” down at the Testing Center, a mile and a half away.
Adding insult to injury, an SO member sat me down and personally guaranteed
that he could get me completed on the course by the time of the next event that coming weekend. Seeing as how I still had a lot of auditing steps to accomplish, and very little available course time between that time and said event, I’m saddened to say that this individual was apparently more than ready and willing to quickie me through to get the stat. NOT what I signed up for!
All the while, I watched with my own eyes, as the org literally became emptier and emptier, most courserooms not even being used, other than for off-purpose reasons like acting as temporary daycare. I distinctly observed the individuals I’d known for years becoming less friendly or amiable. Not at all what had been promised for the new org. Staff and SO alike, people I knew and had spoken with in spirited conversation on a regular basis, were visibly going down tone. Losing their native enthusiasm. Now mocking-up “ARC” rather than living it. The 800lb gorilla was in the org. The place was dead.
Just then, my own son, Bryan, was “declared”, mainly for expressing too much counter-intention to all the above and perhaps daring to question upper management and “command intention”, not to mention associating with others who had done the same. Bryan had not received a comm ev. He had never been sent his own goldenrod. He had not been given a chance to defend himself after twenty years of dedication and standing up for LRH and Scientology.
When I was finally pulled into “ethics”, the team there attempted to brief me on the disconnection policy. I simply said there was absolutely no way that that could possibly work for my family. I would not be disconnecting from my own son!
Ron and Bryan Ubaghs in the 70's
Thus, I was informed I would be declared PTS and would no longer be eligible for services. I told them “Good! I really need a long break from this place”. And out the door I went.
I really love and miss many of the wonderful people I have worked with over
the past eight years at the Seattle org. But, lately I had found it increasingly difficult to simply have an open, friendly conversation without touching on something that is so obvious and yet seems only to cause unintended “enturbulation”. When I think of the following LRH writing, I can only hope that many more people will eventually look and see what is really happening.
WE OF THE CHURCH BELIEVE…
That all men have inalienable rights to think freely, to talk freely, to write
freely their own opinions and to counter or utter or write upon the
opinions of others…
And that no agency less than God has the power to suspend or set aside these
rights, overtly or covertly.
-The Creed of the Church of Scientology, 1954
It seems that somebody has been playing God, and that thinking and talking freely now only gets you a trip to the Ethics officer. How sad!
Hopefully,
Ron Ubaghs
Moving On Up a Little Higher 