F.A.Q.
(Frequently Asked Questions)
I've been asked all of the following questions at some time or other.
1. What's your allegiance to the C of S, and to
the staff and Scientologists?
My allegiance to the C of S? I'm an off-lines Scientologist. I go to
the major events when I can (I missed the last one). I buy a lot of taped
lectures. I hope to do my OT levels at some point.
It gladdens my heart when I
see the orgs flourishing and prospering.
My allegiance to the staff? I respect their dedication. I'm very aware that they
are largely what keeps the organizations moving. They are almost invariably great
guys, except sometimes, when I'm being regged or recruited. Even then I get on well with
them, and
find it easy to deal with any mild, passing upset.
My allegiance to Scientologists? I like most of them. Some are the wisest, most
capable, artistic, friendliest people I've ever met. A few I dislike. The church
isn't a private members club; it takes all sorts. C'est la vie.
2. How should one make a suggestion or a constructive criticism to
a church representative?
Constructive criticism is a good thing, but it has to be done skilfully.
Otherwise it can offend. Try to find things you
are both likely to agree with.
Bear in mind human nature.
My successful actions for making suggestions are as follows:
A. Be sure you are communicating to the right person.
B. Make your letter professional in both style and appearance.
C. Point out any related areas you actually do admire.
D. Explain the nature of your criticism carefully.
E. Back your argument with the exact specifics and with well-referenced LRH quotes.
F. Keep it light and friendly.
Bear in mind that you could be wrong. Over the years I've had a number of bright
ideas for improving church organizations or correcting outpoints. Some of them were accepted and
many of them weren't. With the latter group I often realized years afterwards that I
had been unaware of an applicable policy. And sometimes I'd lacked the experience to see the broader consequences of my suggestion.
3. When will the new edition of the Scientology Technical Dictionary be
released?
It's still being piloted. I've seen a two year old copy. A garrison
Sea Org member posted at my nearest org got permission to bring it with her. She
then had it photocopied and bound at a copy shop.
It was a pretty substantial piece of work.
4. Why doesn't the Church make more of its own
documentation available on-line in order to better deal with criticism?
The church is operating within an unfavorable legal/PR
environment to some degree. It is arguable that it isn't always wise for them to
dredge up muck from the depths in order to demonstrate what can and cannot be
documented as being definitively false.
When I first addressed this issue, back in November 2000, I was discussing the
blatantly false claims of a guy called Fishman. The Church ~could~ have
explained away his lies on its official site, but instead they chose not to
spread around his unpleasant nonsense. I imagine they preferred to deal with it
when it came up - either with individual parishioners or in legal cases.
Now, in 2002, I'm pleased to see a site with a good page on both Fishman and on
some other bigoted folk. Here's the first of the Fishman pages:
http://www.religiousfreedomwatch.org/extremists/fishman1.html
A page which hasn't been written yet (as far as I know), and which I would
like to see, would be an analysis of how Fishman's explosive false
revelations (and the paid for supporting evidence) helped energize the more
naive into believing that the CofS was ~really~ bad. His material
has formed the basis for chimerical legends that can still be found on
critical sites, and that are still used in attacks (by opportunistic bigots).
5. Do RTC want Scientologists to accept altered tech?
It isn't altered. They're trying their best to act in accordance with LRH's
wishes. You should read the latest version of my essay,
A Categorization of the
Changes.
6. How do you reconcile the idea of freedom of speech
with the notion that people can be expelled for publicly criticizing the church?
Here's the Church creed:
'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'
L. Ron Hubbard.
http://www.scientologytoday.org/corp/creed.htm
Here's how I reconcile this with the other, apparently contradictory, notion
that people can be expelled from the church.
People should certainly have the right to freedom of speech (and thought and the
written word).
It's a truly wonderful thing for a society to have.
However there are private and public spaces. I have the right to say what I want
on this website, but not necessarily in your home or on your private moderated
forum. You have the right to ~counter~ my freedom of speech by kicking me out of
your kitchen or off
your bulletin board.
Same in the church.
Errors can of course be made; people have been wrongly kicked out of the church who
shouldn't have been. The possibility is always there for those people (and indeed for
~anyone~ who so wishes) to be reinstated.
7. Why were LRH's copyrights transferred to the church
management bodies?
Here's an analogy which might help explain:
The original Mr. Walt Disney's copyrights and trademarks were transferred over to
the Disney Corporation.
Why would they bother? Well, because their founder is dead, and if
the organization owns the copyrights it helps them (and their lobbyists) make a
stronger legal case for extending their exclusive rights to Mickey Mouse, Donald
Duck, et al.
Something similar took place with regards to LRH's work. There are policies in
OEC Vol 7 in which LRH gives very strict instructions to HCO to get and to hold
on to the copyrights.
He considered it extremely important.
'Our possessions must not be permitted to lie in the rain.'
L. Ron Hubbard. HCOPL 15 Nov 58 I. The Substance and First Duty of HCO.
8. What do you think about disconnection?
It's very tricky when a Scientologist is closely connected to
someone who's actively attacking the church. The Scientologist will not be able
to make any progress if they are in
such a relationship. I've often seen it tried and it's always been a miserable failure. For that
reason the individual isn't allowed to do the vast majority of church services
until the situation is resolved.
Resolving the situation is ~always~ the main thing to try to do. Despite all the
attacks you may have read, Scientology is a very cool philosophy. It's in
everyone's interest if the situation can be made more amicable.
Sadly, this isn't always possible. At that point, one option is to shake the
Scientologist warmly by the hand, commiserate with their darned unfortunate
circumstances and tell 'em to come
back in a few years or decades when attacking relative X has quieted down. I've
known
this happen. It worked very well.
The other option, which certainly isn't undertaken lightly, is, in some
circumstances, to have the Scientologist stop seeing/talking to attacking person
X. It would depend on the circumstances and the legal situation, etc.
The disconnection doesn't have to be forever. If my hobby were attacking the church and my
Scientologist family were pissed at me because of that, I'd try to
arrange a reconciliation meeting. This would be best arranged by firmly agreeing that we only talked
about non-controversial, non-religious things (wicker-work perhaps, or
lawn tennis).
Here's a page on which I talk about disconnection in
more detail.
8. Scientology services can be expensive. What's the best way to deal with this?
Be sensible. Take responsibility for your own finances and buy the books and services that you need and can afford. The registrar might encourage you to buy a large package which is cheaper overall - but it might not be the best thing for you. Salespeople in any field are responsible for making sales. The Scientology churches are working to pay their bills and to expand as quickly as possible.
They'll encourage you to buy services. However you're the person that's responsible for saying either "Yes!" or "NO!".
'Be your own adviser, keep your own counsel and select your own decisions.'
L. Ron Hubbard. The Code of Honor. 1954.
Do the Scientology services that are within your means at the time. Try to build up your own financial reserves - and don't spend that cushion. Life will be far more comfortable.
If you have no or little money, then read books (they can even be ordered from your local library), do extension courses at home - and then apply the information you've learned to your situation.
When I send a friend to my local organization I tell them to do a course, see if they like it, and to buy the next one only after they have finished it.
There are some good LRH policies in OEC Volume 3 which recommend financial prudence and building reserves (policy which applies to both groups and individuals). I'll look these up at some point but if you happen to know those references please e-mail me.
I'll add more questions to this page pretty soon I hope.
If you have a question you'd like me to answer send it to trendail AT yahoo.com
