I think it's a very well-done documentary, Michael. More, I think it's a film
that will strike a strong resonance for anyone in ANY spiritual trip who got
into that trip to the level that Scientologists have to get into to "Go Clear."
The parts of the film I found most touching were at the end, when some of the
former Scientologists talk about why they "came out" and revealed their true
stories, and what they felt as they went through this "coming out."
I can only *hope* that many former TM teachers can watch those sections -- with
people admitting that they'd looked into the faces of people they cared about
or into a TV camera lens and LIED to them, believing that by mouthing this lie
they were "protecting the Church" -- and empathize. I certainly can. I said
things that I *had* to have known were lies and presented them as truth. In my
opinion any TM teacher who knows what the words to the puja means but then has
said to a reporter or to an intro lecture audience 'No, TM is not religious'
has done this. We managed to push the truth of things so far out of our
conscious attention that we managed to convince ourselves that the lies we
mouthed *were* truth. I empathize with the sense of SHAME that many of the
people who contributed to this film feel at having abandoned our own critical
faculties for so long. What could we have been *thinking* to have locked
ourselves away like that in a prison of belief -- and for years?
From: "Michael Jackson mjackso...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]"
<FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com>
To: "FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com" <FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2015 4:32 PM
Subject: Re: [FairfieldLife] Notes from a viewing of "Going Clear"
I very much want to watch it with my 15 year old daughter and her mother.
From: "TurquoiseBee turquoi...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]"
<FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com>
To: FairfieldLife <fairfieldlife@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2015 9:25 AM
Subject: [FairfieldLife] Notes from a viewing of "Going Clear"
I'll just say it -- any long-term current or former member of the TM
movement or any other large spiritual organization who does not track down and
watch all two hours of the HBO documentary "Going Clear: Scientology and the
Prison of Belief" is a COWARD. This film should be required viewing for anyone
on a spiritual path, to teach them about the perils of following a spiritual
path.
Here are a few random notes I scribbled down while watching it myself:
*****************************************************************************
Off-camera voice (probably Alex Gibney, director):
Scientology is such a subject of fascination for people...how did you get
engaged in the story?
Lawrence Wright (author of the book the HBO film is based on):
Well, I've always been interested in religions, and why people believe one idea
rather than another. I've studied Jonestown and radical Islam, and they're
oftentimes good-hearted people, idealistic, but full of a kind of crushing
certainty that eliminates doubt. You know, my goal wasn't to write an expose --
it was simply to understand Scientology, trying to understand what people get
out of it. You know, why did they go into it in the first place? I was
interested in intelligent and skeptical people who were drawn into a belief
system and wind up acting on those beliefs in ways they never thought they
would.
*****************************************************************************
Onscreen photo of the actual legal contract:
SEA ORGANIZATION
Contract of Employment
I, ...................................... DO HEREBY AGREE to enter into
employment with the SEA ORGANIZATION and, being of sound mind, do fully realize
and agree to abide by its purpose which is to get ETHICS IN on this PLANET AND
THE UNIVERSE and, fully and without reservation, subscribe to the discipline,
mores and conditions of this group and pledge to abide by them.
THEREFORE, I CONTRACT MYSELF TO THE SEA ORGANIZATION FOR THE NEXT BILLION
YEARS. (As per Flag Order 232)
Date ................... Signed ...........................
Date ................... Witness ..........................
Date ................... Witness ..........................
*****************************************************************************
Narrator:
Hubbard was a prolific writer of pulp fiction, churning out stories for a penny
a word. ... He found his true metier in science fiction. A lot of what
Scientology is, he had previous written about in the form of his science
fiction. He had the ability to fabricate these amazing tales and he transported
these imaginary stories into his theology.
*****************************************************************************
Narrator:
After Pearl Harbor, Hubbard took command of a sub chaser. But he was still a
man prone to invention. He would write that he sunk two Japanese subs. But in
fact, just off the coast of Oregon, he opened fire on what turned out to be a
log, and dropped most of his depth charges on underwater magnetic rocks. When
he accidentally shelled a Mexican island, he was relieved of his command.
*****************************************************************************
Spoken by Hubbard's ex-wife Sarah, whom the Church of Scientology denies the
very existence of:
We were surrounded by sycophants. He began to believe that he was a savior and
a hero, that he really was this God figure. He was absolutely convinced that he
had the cure for the psychological ills of mankind, and that the only reason it
wasn't being promulgated far and wide was that the medical profession had a
vested interest in keeping people sick. I think he was afraid that some
psychiatrist would pop him into an institution. He degenerated into a really
paranoid, terrifying person.
Narrator:
Sarah threatened to leave Hubbard unless he got psychiatric help. He responded
by kidnapping their baby, and taking her to Cuba. He was incapable of her, so
he put her in the charge of a mother and daughter who were both mentally
retarded, and they apparently kept her in some kind of cage.
Sarah:
He called me and told me that he had killed her. He said that he had cut her
into little pieces and dropped the pieces in a river, and it was my fault. Then
he'd call me back and tell me she was still alive. And this went on, and on,
and on.
*****************************************************************************
[ Here's a section that should sound familiar to TMers ]
Narrator:
When Dianetics turned out to be a passing fad like the hula hoop, Hubbard
repackaged Dianetics into a religion he called Scientology. Aware that people
would seemingly pay for "auditing," he added more science and more structure,
and a payment plan. Every step to "Clear" had a price tag.
Off-camera voice:
How would you describe Scientology's business model?
Tony Ortega (journalist critical of the Co$):
Rapacious. It's all about making money. Hubbard knew from the beginning that
people would pay for this counselling at a pretty good clip, and so he
continued to come out with more and more "levels." The real money was in paying
for these higher and higher courses...you were getting into thousands and
thousands of dollars. And those prices kept going up and up. That's really
where Scientology begins to create this indoctrination: "It's Hubbard who came
up with that, only HUbbard, and you have to be a part of our group to get that
spiritual satisfaction you are looking for."
*****************************************************************************
Hana Eltringham Whitfield (original Sea Org member, 19-year Scientologist):
It was very exciting, it was that heady mix of emotion and belief, and you get
stuck to it. It's so strong that it sticks you like glue, and there is no way
you can get away from it. I was deeply convinced that we were going to save the
world; I considered myself tremendously fortunate to be in that position.
*****************************************************************************
David Miscavige, January 27, 1986 (compare this announcement to some made by
Bevan and other in a similar situation):In 1980, LRH moved off the line so that
he could continue his writings and researches without any distractions.
[audience applause] He has now moved on to his next level of OT research. This
level is beyond anything any one of us has ever imagined. This level is in fact
done in an exterior state, meaning that it is done completely exterior from the
body. At this level of OT, the body is nothing more than an impediment, and an
encumbrance to any further gain as an OT. Thus, at 2000 hours Friday, the 24th
of January, AD 36, L. Ron Hubbard discarded the body he had used in this
lifetime for 74 years, 10 monhths, and 11 days. Although you may feel grief,
understand that he did not, and does not now.
*****************************************************************************
Mike Rinder (former official spokesperson for Scientology):
My position as spokesperson was to evade the question or sleaze around some way
or give what was an acceptable answer or something that I believed at the time.
Because Scientology is perceived and conceived by Scientologists as being the
salvation for mankind, you can have people who lie with a very straight face if
they believe that what they are doing is protecting the Church of Scientology.
*****************************************************************************
Interviewer:
You know, most religions are tax-exempt, and many of them have beliefs and
practices that in a modern context would be considered strange. Is Scientology
any different?
Tony Ortega:
If you go to a Christian or a Jew or a Muslim and ask them 'What do you
believe?' they can basically describe the most imortant part of their religion
in a minute or two. Well, what does a Scientologist believe? You need to be in
Scientology for seven or eight years and into it for a couple of hundred
thousand dollars before you finally learn this back story of Xenu the Galactic
Overlord. If you were told that on Day One, how many people would join? If they
were more up front about it, I'd have more respect for them. But it's that sort
of bait and switch, where people are told, 'Oh, it's an applied philosophy to
help you with your communication.' Oh yeah? Then why is Tom Cruise paying a
thousand bucks to have invisible aliens pulled out of his body?
*****************************************************************************
There is lots more in this documentary that TMers who watch it with an open
mind will identify with and feel a resonance with, but I'll end with this bit
from Academy Award-winning screenwriter Paul Haggis about his experience of
finally coming out and leaving the Church of Scientology publicly:
I sent a copy of my [resignation] letter to Marty Rathbun and he put it on his
blog, one page per day, and didn't reveal my name until the Friday. Monday
morning I woke up, and 600 of the top newspapers in the world had it. It was in
Bulgaria. It was reprinted in seven languages, and I went 'Oh my god, what have
I done?'
People will judge you one way or another. I figured people would judge me as
really stupid. But then I WAS really stupid. I was part of this for thirty
years before I spoke out. I felt deeply ashamed. Why didn't I do this earlier?
Why didn't I look earlier?
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