Originally this was a post at ESMB for members there.
Mark 'Marty' Rathbun: Scientology Beliefs
It is painful to have to write this as any ex here could have and somebody should have before now.
Okay, there is a point that Tony Ortega and very few other press get right that is crucial to accurately portray Scientology and what Scientologists actually believe.* * * * * BEGIN QUOTATION * * * * *
In plain English, here are the core religious beliefs of scientology:
Scientology Beliefs
1. Planet Earth is a prison. The vast majority of human beings – and billions of invisible other beings – are its inmates.
2. Xenu is the name of scientology’s Satan who established Earth as a prison and transported billions of beings to serve as its inmates.
3. Our continued imprisonment is assured by ‘psychs.’ ‘Psychs’ are defined as psychiatrists, psychologists, psycho-therapists, priests, ministers, and anyone else practicing in the field of the mind and spirit. Psychs were sent here from a planet called ‘Farsec.’ They are a special breed of being created and invested with the sole purpose of keeping humankind mentally imprisoned.
4. Ron Hubbard is the first to discover the truth of 1 through 3 above, and the only one to have devised a means of escaping the prison planet.
5. Navigation through the only hole in the wall consists of closely emulating Hubbard and behaving as he did when he lived.
6. Enemies, including psychs as well as anyone expressing any doubt or reservation about these beliefs, must be destroyed by any means necessary by scientologists. Such means include lying, suing, cheating, harassing, intimidating, blackmailing, smearing and by physical violence.
7. Scientology ‘technology’ consists of a sophisticated mix of pop psychology and hypnotism carefully designed and administered so as to lead people to wholeheartedly accept and live according to these beliefs.
8. When a scientologist has expended all of his best efforts in the vain pursuit of these beliefs he is expected to ‘discard’ his body so that he may continue to pursue them without such a physical ‘impediment’.
Whether the ultimate belief, number 8 above, constitutes suicide is a wholly subjective question of religious belief.
* * * * * END QUOTATION * * * * *
Marty should never have gotten some things wrong, he should have known better. The Xenu story (taken almost wholecloth from OAHSPE - itself an earlier cult text noted for the possible first use of the term starship. It has the idea of evil spirits influencing people and health. It also has the phrase wall of fire verbatim and the idea of cycles for civilizations, the idea of grades of progress for an individual to a better spiritual state, you can authenticate my ideas by reading this insane cult text: http://www.oahspe.ws/ or about it here :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oahspe:_A_New_Bible ) is a SECRET doctrine while you are actually IN.
I was in for 25 years, on staff, joined the SO, lived in the Excalibur building in NY, lived in LA and was on the KTL/LOC evolution and met hundreds of Scientologists and never once heard Xenu. I have met hundreds of exes or indies who all say that they never heard of BTs either while in. So others have bothered to ask and consistently report exes claim that about 90-95% of us never do or learn the content of the OT levels while in.
They are like a carrot to keep us going and when we proceed we use our imagination to inspire reaching for the carrot, always just out of reach. When you get it - like in other long cons - you discover it tastes awful and you imagined how great this shitty rotten fake ass carrot would be and persuaded yourself to work and sacrifice for the carrot. That is key to understanding the con and the pyramidal information structure within Scientology - like in other cults and totalist groups.
Similarly with Farsec - it is an obscure very rare idea that probably 99% of us never know while in; many and probably most Scientologists deny or do not have a clue how ruthless and evil Hubbard and elements of the group are in attacking others. They do not see it and look away when the small amount of proof gets to them that does.
Scientologists certainly do not believe the subject consists of pop psychology and hypnotism. They are repeatedly indoctrinated to hate and reject both those subjects and see Scientology as the opposite of them. And most do not think they should fail and discard the body. They think they should achieve immortality and live out the rest of their lives - a very small few 'end cycle ' with suicide. Hubbard wanted his marks alive to pay him and work as slaves. He puts a lot of work into making a free person a slave and sucker; he does not want that wasted !
Look, I do not love criticizing writers as it is not fun to be criticized myself but Marty and anyone accepting this as authentic have some critical thinking and examination to do - a lot. This combines the actual beliefs while in, the esoteric upper levels which he should know very few ever see while in, crimes hidden from most while in and committed by a very few, an analysis of the tech that somebody like me NOW would do NEVER while in, and a rare interpretation of how to end cycle that is almost never done.
He combines trying to reveal what Scientology really is, what it pretends to be and what Hubbard intended into one idea that is over 80% inaccurate to describe what Scientologists believe - while in Scientology the main cult. He may be confused and working out the ideas himself and working out how to write for never ins as well . Point 6 is one you learn usually when out or targeted for attack yourself ! For point 1 the invisible beings is often barely touched as relevant until the OT levels . Point 2 not revealed etc. . Point 3, how many of you heard of Farsec ? Be honest, not many. Point 7 - that is never in the doctrine and usually found while exit counseling AFTER leaving the cult. It is the heart of the con and disagreed with brutally by Hubbard. And point 8 as I said a rare act. When you write for a never in if you have an adult pre cult identity you have to regress to that and not integrate all your cult experiences as normal and understood or you will skip and misrepresent things that are needed. Marty may or may not be a good person, but he has written a very poor representation of Scientologists beliefs. It is a complex subject and mashing together obscure doctrine may make it look like he has the inside track but it is a track almost no one is on so it cannot be their belief!
I am sorry to say the accuracy of six of his eight points is poor to outright wrong. We believed Earth was a prison planet and Hubbard was the only one to discover the means to escape but all the other points have some or a lot of problems in showing what Scientologists actually believe. There is a responsibility in undoing Scientology of reversing Hubbard's methodology. He confuses with mountains of lies (and contradictions to make a double bind), sublime writing, fallacies, embedded commands, triggering and controlling psychological defense mechanisms, repetition to instill deep subconscious patterns of emotion thought and behavior, and other hypnotic and rhetorical methods that rely on creating and keeping vulnerability through that confusion. When one writes for Scientologists and exes the responsiblity of undoing that confusion by being clear and keeping ideas and facts clearly separate is vital.
There are Scientology beliefs while in. There are actions done while in. There are things hidden via denial and dissociation and traumas and stress that Scientologists experience while in and after leaving. There are methods of mind control and creating slaves as pseudo clones submissive blindly to Hubbard while in and the aftereffects of leaving. There are the hidden upper doctrine in the pyramidal cult structure that very few learn and fewer follow regarding crimes against enemies and critics. There are other upper level cult doctrine for different purposes different victims are indoctrinated in. There are very rare doctrine and actions that you, as a writer can impress people by knowing, but really are a red herring as they do not represent Scientology for almost all Scientologists.
Marty is learning how to write and has elements of several good stories here but they are combined in a way that makes something else.
And you guys know better. The confusion in Scientology to come off needs you to divide the subject into many parts for analysis: what Hubbard said openly like DMSMH and TWTH then what he says a little deeper like KSW the student hat and the staff statuses and academy levels. Then follow the path as it progresses seeing the increase in the undue influence and demands. Also see what the Scientologist believes and how they are changed by the "technology" on the path. It is vital to see how they unknowingly influence their own mind internally. See how the group functions via social psychology while this occurs. See how they interact with outsiders whether press, friends, or family or critics.
You also need to see the dual beliefs cultists have - one set for insiders that shifts as you progress within the pyramid and another for outsiders that you have a double think develop on. The internal beliefs shift (like in all cults) from false promises of betterment and kindness to ruthless hate and using fear and internalized dissonance to motivate projection onto acceptable targets for disgust and any crime as they are seen as responsible for all imperfection, negative emotions and unhappiness and so less than human and deserving eradication. That is the kind of thing you need to separate out to see what Scientology simply is.
Most of you guys know this and could have written a better and more accurate article.
Look we did not go around saying "that is the work of Xenu" like Christians do for Satan as most of us did not hear of Xenu.
We did not hear of Farsec. We almost all did not think that a fraction of the crimes of the cult existed and they are lied about and hidden from us. We definitely did not for one second think our "technology" consisted of hypnotism and pop psychology. And the end cycle as suicide is a very rare interpretation of and application of Scientology.
I am saying in critical thinking when someone makes a series of claims you examine each one on its own merits and Marty makes the claims as the core beliefs of Scientology. They are NOT. They are a combination of things from all over and some are rare esoteric beliefs and others are things you might believe when and if you get out. His claims are inaccurate. Look at each one to a high standard of truthfulness and proof separately from each other and disregarding who the author is. The claims are not representative of the beliefs for almost all Scientologists and that is his claim.
Look at he claims not in awe or looking for a clue as to the hidden nature of Scientology or something like that. The core beliefs are not something hidden - they are what members really believe.
I do not understand what influence or reason is making people lower their standards of proof so much for Marty but if you keep them low you will not get or find anything better. His claims are ones that in my opinion do not stand up to critical analysis and should merit Socratic debate.
Originally Posted by Gerry Armstrong
The rest of Gerry's letter/article at http://gerryarmstrong.ca/archives/1303
I included Gerry Armstrong's answer to help get another perspective . I admire and respect Gerry tremendously as he has helped so many and me in particular as the affirmations are vital to both my own exit counseling and the work I do in taking apart the con .
I do not in fact know Marty - he may or may not be sincere and a good guy . I will have to wait and see and maybe never know like everyone else . I just want to discourage people accepting less than accurate info .
Very Good Points.
ReplyDelete