Is Scientology breaking the law? |
Excerpted from http://www.scientology-lies.com/re.cgi?http://www.entheta.net/entheta/1stpersn/warrior/1997-003.htm . Please see that page for the full text. Emphasis added in red . Editorial comments, when added, are in purple .
Scientology lied to me over and over for years
From: Warrior <[email protected]> It was during the late 60s that I had my first contact with Scientology. I believed _wrongly_ that a person could continue to be a Christian and to practice Scientology. After all, I had never been lied to before by any organization calling itself a church. So when the registrar at the Class IV Org told me I could continue to worship as a Christian _and_ be a Scientologist I took him at his word. I was told that there was no conflict between Scientology and Christianity -- that the two beliefs were compatible. In fact I was told that a person could be *both* a Scientologist _and_ a Christian at the same time, since Scientology was an "applied religious philosophy" and the study of "knowing how to know" things, whether it was our relation with the Creator, our origins, our destination after physical death, etc. In other words, Scientology held itself out (through the Executive Director, the Public Officer, the Course Supervisor, the Registrar and others whom I had contact with) to be 100% compatible with *any* religion. In 1973 I signed a staff contract at the local Class IV Org. I worked evenings and weekends as a Foundation (nighttime and weekends) staff member. I had a day job that I was not going to give up since I was worried about how much my pay would be as a staff member of Scientology. My worries turned out to be well-founded. I will never forget how astonished and disbelieving I was when payday came after my first week as a staff member. I had worked approximately 48 hours my first week. My pay was $7.00 ... Granted, I was a newbie with much to learn; but then I was earning about $120 - $150 per week managing a restaurant for my day job which I put in an average of 40 - 50 hrs/wk. At only $3.00 per hour, my day job wasn't making me rich either, but at least I was able to work my schedule around my classes at the University, and food was available to me at what it cost the restaurant owner. So I was happy. In 1975 I joined the Sea Organization of the "Church" of Scientology. That turned out to be the biggest mistake of my life. I didn't realize it at the time of signing my contract, but the Sea Org Recruiter (Steve Grant) from ASHO Day had lied to me about every aspect of the Sea Organization's living conditions. 1) He lied about the facilities for child care (at that time referred to as the Cadet Org). I was told that there was a day care facility to look after my child, and that upon my arrival in ASHO, my child would be placed in this day care center while I worked. Upon my arrival to the Sea Org in LA, I discovered that the Cadet Org (on Melrose Avenue at that time) was absolutely filthy. It was understaffed. Many babies (infants and toddlers) wandered around in the lobby, apparently under the care of the *receptionist*!! I was disgusted. This "day care" facility was obviously in violation of health codes. What I saw was utter neglect, filth and stench. Several babies were crawling on the tiled floor. They were filthy and in need of having their diapers changed. And at the time that I walked into the building and into the lobby, there was *no one* even there to keep their eyes on the children. 2) He lied about pay and bonuses that I would receive , saying that base pay was not all we received, but that we would get bonuses for good production. Bonuses were all but non-existent. Oh I do recall getting a $2.50 "bonus" once! What the recruiter (and everyone else) failed to tell me was that there would be *many* weeks that we would receive _NO_ pay. 3) He lied to me about the food we would be served , and he even stated that every "mess" had its own "Steward" to serve us. The food was actually very bland and boring most of the time. We had no posted "Steward" for our mess. In reality the "Stewards" were the members of the "mess" we were assigned to. We all held the job of "Steward" on a rotational basis, for one week at a time. 4) He lied about time off from post. I had been told I would be given time to pursue my interests in music, that I would be given weekends off, and that nighttimes were my own time when I wasn't on course. In reality, staff never got more than one day per week off. Usually it was half of a Saturday, every other week. When we were not on post we were ordered onto study or auditing ("enhancement time"). 5) He lied about how much time I would be allowed to spend with my child. During the first two years in the Sea Org, I wasn't even allowed to live with my kid. Since his mother wasn't allowed to join the Sea Org, my child was not allowed to be in the Cadet Org. (My wife wasn't on staff since *after* signing a Sea Org contract and driving 1400 miles to LA, she was told she had a "psych history". 6) He lied about berthing conditions. Since my wife was not allowed in the Sea Org, I had to live in a dorm at the 7th floor of the Hollywood Inn (at 6724 Hollywood Blvd) with 8 other guys crammed in one room with only _one_ bathroom facility that we all shared. We all slept in bunkbeds stacked 3-high. My wife and son lived miles away on N. Robinson Ave. in a house that they shared with Ray Peck (ASHO Fdn staff) and Ruthie Weissberg and her son David. (Ruthie was ASHO Day staff.) The room I lived in was small and smelly. It was basically a place to sleep. I kind of felt like I had a slot on a shelf to park my weary bones before reporting back to duty a few hours later. There is so much more that I could say, but the point I wanted to make is that the only church that ever lied to me was the "church" of Scientology. And that I was lied to over and over and over again through the almost 8 years I was a Sea Org member. This post only deals with a few of the initial lies I was told in order to dupe me into signing a Sea Org contract. More later...
Warrior
This page was last updated on May 8, 1999. |