David Miscavige’s Day of Reckoning
Posted on August 3, 2011 by Admin
Reckoning, definition: The avenging or punishing of past mistakes or misdeeds.[1]
“Make no mistake, it’s not revenge he’s after. It’s a reckoning.”
– Doc Holliday line in the movie, Tombstone.
In 1968, LRH cancelled the policies of Disconnection, Security Checking, and Fair Game. To hear LRH himself announce the cancellation in Ron’s Journal ‘68, beginning at 26:35 through 28:05, click here. To read the text of LRH’s statement, click here. See also, “Reform Code” in the Admin Dictionary, which references RJ 68.[2]
LRH took these measures in response to the results of massive public surveys he ordered be conducted for the purpose of determining why some of the general public didn’t like Scientology, as evidenced by legal actions taken against Scientology by England, Australia and a threatened investigation into Scientology by New Zealand.
The public, LRH discovered, didn’t like our use of these policies.
So he cancelled them and wrote a letter to New Zealand explaining his actions. The plans for an investigation were dropped.
It is probably no coincidence that, after the cancellation of these policies, Scientology experienced a boom in membership. Many people who got into Scientology in the late 1960s and early 1970s have many fond, fun memories of that era.
History Repeats Itself
David Miscavige revived the LRH-cancelled policies, on steroids one might fairly say.
Stories of abuses at our international headquarters in Hemet, California (the “Int Base”) began leaking out in recent years. The abuses have been alleged by former high-ranking Sea Org Officers, such as Mark “Marty” Rathbun (Inspector General for Ethics, RTC), Mike Rinder (Commanding Officer, Office of Special Affairs) Amy Scobee (longtime Watch Dog Committee member) and many others. The allegations include:
●Beatings; degradations of Int staff;
●Imprisonment (in the so-called “hole” at Int Base & locking up those who wished to leave);
●Fences topped by razor-wire (pointed inward – meaning, keeping people in the Int Base);
●“Overboardings” (throwing disfavored staff into a lake at the Int Base, admitted and defended by Miscavige spokesperson Tommy Davis);
●Breaking of Sea Org marriages, either by ordered divorces or separations through postings in different parts of the world or country for long periods of time;
●Coerced abortions;
●Enforced disconnections (even among family and between spouses);
●“Blow Drills” (where those who managed to have escaped the Int Base are reportedly tracked down and brought back to the Base);
●And on and on.
Thousands of people with no previous affiliation with Scientology have taken up what they believe to be a righteous cause, routinely picketing our organizations, clamoring for media and governmental action to curb the alleged abuses. Media and governments from various parts of the world have obliged them, with calls for revocation of tax-exempt status, investigations, criminal charges and outright bans of Scientology.
Why We Fight Our Critics
As Scientologists, it is easy to reject the reports of our critics, instinctively unite, and attack back. It may be especially inviting to lock horns when their reports are laced with inflammatory labels pinned on our Church (a “cult,” etc.), on its members (that they are “DM bots” – meaning mindless robots of David Miscavige, etc.), and on Miscavige himself, its leader (that he is an “SP,” “squirrel,” etc.).
But dismissing reports of abuse out of hand because of who is reporting and their manner of reporting collapses the messenger with the message, burying it.
Failure to confront the reports of abuse, investigate them (independently of those staff members who are implicated in the wrongdoing), and address any confirmed abuses is reckless and irresponsible, resulting in ever-increasing damage to the repute of Scientology, LRH, and the technology.
When one looks at what is being reported and protested, we believe one will see a common, underlying message to David Miscavige, which is:Make no mistake, it’s not revenge [we’re] after. It’s a reckoning.
Judging by the actions and words of the whistleblowers and our critics, many of the public have decided that the Miscavige Administration’s policies of disconnection, fair game (annihilation of anyone who dares to criticize, even fairly), and sec checking (more accurately, the misuse of sec checking) must go. And along with them, beatings, abuses, degradations, and dictatorial control.
LRH cancelled the first three policies because he discovered the public intolerance for our use of them, which had resulted in not one but three government actions in 1968 against the Church.
It should come as no surprise to anyone, therefore, that after the reinstitution of the LRH-abolished polices (now applied more rigorously than ever before based on a multiplicity of reports), we find ourselves immersed in an almost daily onslaught of public attacks, which can be verified by a quick Internet search.
At this writing, for example, four recently released books exposing Scientology abuses top Amazon’s “Bestseller Scientology” list, outselling Dianetics. Three are written by former Sea Org members. One, the top seller, is written by a nationally known reporter for Rolling Stone magazine.[3]
Previous articles on this blog have documented other major media stories and calls for government intervention into Scientology, including an FBI investigation into the allegations of abuses at Int Base.
The Miscavige Administration claims that all of the reports are false, that Miscavige is a victim of liars, squirrels, and SPs, and it has engaged in campaigns to discredit the accusers, allegedly using the same techniques decried by them: disconnection and fair game (including the dissemination of personal information confessed by them in session).
The situation persists. The response of the Miscavige Administration isn’t working.
The attacks aren’t dissipating, they are increasing. Eventually, governments will weigh in. That is what LRH saw in 1968, which is why he cancelled the policies to begin with.
We need to get rid of these objectionable policies and practices, once and for all, stop attacking back, and conduct an independent, internal investigation. We are creating war rather than peace. We want a world of peace, not war.
Words and Deeds Define Who We Are
The allegations bullet-pointed above, whether true or not, tend to define us in the eyes of the public. If you want to know what Scientology is in the minds of many in the general public, review the list again. What kind of an organization uses confidential information obtained in a religious confessional against a person who later leaves and speaks out? Beats and degrades staff? Orders its members to disconnect from their spouses and families? Uses razor-wire fences and guards to ensure staff do not leave?
Whatever kind of organization does these things is what Scientology is in the minds of many, because the Internet is filled with allegations of this nature, many of which are in the form of first person testimony made in videos by credible appearing accusers.
The fact that the Miscavige Administration has denied the allegations does not dispel of them in the eyes of the general public because the claims are leveled at David Miscavige and his Administration, the person making the denials. This is like investigating oneself and finding oneself innocent. Thus, the denials aren’t credible; they don’t count.
The allegations need to be investigated by a body wholly independent of David Miscavige. Only then can they be confirmed or disproven. The more independent and credible the investigative body and its members, the more the findings are likely to be accepted by the general public. When the findings and any remedial actions taken are publicly announced – and especially if the allegations don’t recur, only then can the matter be put to rest.
In our articles on this blog, we have repeatedly asked for an independent, internal investigation as part of what we referred to as the Corporate America protocol, which is an accepted, proven way of handling charges of corporate corruption.
Our requests have gone unanswered and unheeded.
Our Duty as Scientologists
As individuals in Scientology, we tend to not look at external criticism. To the extent we do look, we often reject it out of hand. We don’t talk to friends about what we see and hear, even when we are troubled by those things. If a friend ventures onto a questionable subject, he or she does so delicately, with one eye on our “indicators” (reaction), aware that the inquiry might prompt us to write a report that reveals his or her “disaffection,” or aware that the next security check might lead to the same result. And we may be fearful of writing reports or protesting Church policies and practices too strongly or in a manner that might be interpreted as criticism of (“reverse”) management.
True, there is an element of survival to explain our allowance and tolerance of this condition. We had to battle for our religious status and fight external criticism in the course of that battle. We want to keep our religious status. We want a strong group.
We can never be a group, never mind a strong one, however, if we don’t take responsibility for our group as individuals.
Organizations do not bleed, they do not breathe; they do behave oddly enough like a single organism… But when the individuals in it cease to behave as individuals, cease to have their own thoughts, cease to be capable of their own initiative, cease to be able to take their own action, then the whole organization boils down to just one man, and he’s the only one who could make a decision … the only one who could act… [but an organization] is composed of individuals who observe and who look… The only thing I am trying to teach you is to look. (Emphasis added.)[4]
In order to resolve the current situation, and to ensure it never repeats itself, we must start by behaving as individuals, choosing to consider that information we as individuals acting on our own determinism decide what is relevant for us to consider in order to effectively wear our hats as Scientologists. Each of us must decide for ourselves to whom we should connect and with whom we should communicate, and when we should take action.
A Call For Action
We need to make peace with former members and the general public. We need transparency. We need to honestly assess our actions and policies through the use of both an internal, independent investigation and broad surveys of the general and Scientology public.
We can either originate corrective actions and by doing so control our destiny and ensure an accurate evaluation and a just result, or just allow events to play out and risk greater and greater harm to the repute of Scientology, LRH, and the Tech, putting in jeopardy our valued tax-exempt status and exposing the organization to criminal sanctions, even seizure of assets.
Miscavige should follow the long and noble tradition of great leaders who have placed the interests of their organizations above their own personal interests, even when not guilty, and stepped down for the good of the group. He should sanction these corrective measures and voluntarily step aside pending their outcomes.
If not, we have to bypass and remove him. Before it is too late.
This is not a choice. This is our duty.
What should we do? Anything but nothing. Even if you only send a link or a copy of this article to friends, anonymously if you must. Mail a copy to Miscavige. Copy and print off LRH policies against fund raising and send them to your friends, show them to reges. Talk to your friends. Write Miscavige or your local orgs and ask what their delivery stats are. How many auditors in training do they have? How many well-done auditing hours are they producing? Get a history. It’s your Church, you have a right to know. How else can you take responsibility?
Mail a letter to Miscavige asking him to step aside pending a thorough internal investigation of the claims of former top Sea Org executives and the claims made on this website that LRH’s intended cross-checks and balances were never implemented, the seven boards of directors and trustees of the three governing corporations of Scientology mere “rubber stamps” for him. You don’t have to sign your name.
Mail him a copy of The Virtues.
Ask him where Heber is? Where are all the other top Sea Org executives who used to appear in public? Who’s currently on the Watchdog Committee (or ask if it currently exists)?
Demand from Miscavige the true membership statistics? How many auditors are being made? How many cases are being cracked, Clears and OTs made? How many Ideal Orgs do we have, using the standards of LRH: orgs, including number of staff, students on course, PR Area Control, not the size and splendor of the buildings.[5]
Certainly, the number of large, elegant buildings is not an LRH standard.
When buildings get important to us, for God’s sake, some of you born revolutionists, will you please blow up central headquarters.[6]
(Print off the above policy (see citation in endnote) and stuff it in your friends’ mailboxes – electronic and snail. Or, if your neck is not too precious, and your spine is intact, hand a copy to the next person who tries to reg you for building donations.)
End the culture of repression here and now. Support this website. Do Something.
ACTION PROGRAM
In the coming days, we will roll out a major action program designed to bring an end to one-man rule and usher in a new era of transparency, and to end the splintering of Scientology.
You can help. We will have constructive actions for each of you to do. The suggested actions can be done anonymously if your circumstances dictate.
(The mere fact that we offer this caveat, and that you understand why, proves our earlier point that we live in a culture of repression in Scientology.)
Check back to this website often for specific things you can do to make a difference.
A New Era Of Management
We postulate a new era of management with Scientology organizations overseen administratively by a reconstituted Watchdog Committee and corporately by LRH’s intended cross-checks and balances through seven (truly) independent boards of trustees and directors.
We further postulate:
●A general amnesty.
●Cancellation – FOREVER – of disconnection, sec checking, and fair game (by any name) policies and practices.
●Acceptance of those people who want to return and take part in reforming the Church; let everyone contribute who wants to.
●A special project to clean up the field.
●Families brought back together.
●Care for aging and ailing Sea Org members who have been neglected.
●Management based on LRH-recommended values set forth in The Virtues, which are listed at the end of The Way to Happiness booklet.
Note: These golden standards are the polar opposite of the publicly-despised policies of disconnection, sec checking, and fair game.
Implementation of LRH’s intended management and corporate structure, along with a new era of management style postulated above, we believe, will help restore to Scientology a group of incredible camaraderie, working together to achieve the aims of Scientology:
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
Post Script: How can we create a civilization without war if we cannot create an organization without war?
________________________
[2] Modern Management Technology Defined, First Ed., p. 440.
[4] L. Ron Hubbard, 15 July 1957, Scientology and Effective Knowledge – PRO TRs Course Lecture
[5] See, LRH ED 339R and HCOPL 12 March 1975, Data Series 40, THE IDEAL ORG
[6] L. Ron Hubbard, 31 December 1960 lecture, The Genus of Dianetics and Scientology; see also, L. Ron Hubbard, HCO PL 24 February 1964, Issue II, Urgent, Org Programming (OEC Vol. 7, p. 930) (Don’t engage in fund raising, “Solve it with Scientology.”)