Thursday, December 29, 2022

(9) Scientology and NXIVM - Parallels and Plagiarism

 Scientology and NXIVM - Parallels and Plagiarism




Influences on NXIVM beliefs and practices, sourced from Natalie et al (2019), rendered in the mode of W.S. Bainbridge, e.g. Bainbridge 1978. |NXIVM teachings drew upon diverse influences, including Ayn Rand ("parasites"), L. Ron Hubbard ("suppressives"), Milton Erickson's hypnosis, Isaac Asimov's science fiction, Rudolf Steiner, Tony Robbins, and neuro-linguistic programming. NXIVM incorporated elements of multi-level marketing and practices from judo, with colored cloth for rank and bowing


This is the ninth post in a series that examines the book Scarred: The True Story Of How I Escaped The Cult That Bound My Life by Sarah Edmondson.

I recommend reading these posts in sequential order and have listed them in order to make reading them in order easy.

Unless noted otherwise, all quotes used in this series are from that book. 


"You're twenty-eight years old and you don't have any money? How will that ever change if you don't address your beliefs around finances?" (Scarred page 35) 

It is noteworthy that both NXIVM and Scientology address your BELIEFS regarding finances to deal with them and not just your actions.

A more practical person might say the combination of your circumstances and actions together regarding finances add up to the results that occur, but this is just another example of magical thinking which both practices share.


"I also had to wonder: why were the leaders instructing us to refer to NXIVM's founder, Keith Raniere, by the name Vanguard? Why were we paying what they called " tribute " to him, like prayers recited as a group, when he wasn't even in the room? And why did I just pay over $2,000 to watch a video? "  (Scarred page 35) 


Ronald Hubbard had numerous titles and names in Scientology. He had a fake diploma and degree and was willing to pretend to be an expert in dozens of fields.

He was called "source" and in the Sea Org "Commodore" among several other names like "The Old Man" and treated like a wise father figure by many people in Scientology.


Ronald Hubbard, Scientology founder

Both Hubbard and Raniere notably are known as "founder" of their respective groups, even today. 

Scientology has members give attention to Hubbard routinely. Many have his picture hanging in any course room they have and the students usually at the end of each day stand and all clap and cheer for Hubbard, often quite enthusiastically with whistling and shouting. This is quite common in Scientology organizations and Hubbard's picture is often placed in several other places in a Scientology organization and he usually has an office and a large bust of Hubbard is displayed prominently in the organization. 

In Scientology graduation is a ritual that is often done once a week and students who complete courses are brought before the other students to thank everyone who has helped them in Scientology and proclaim that Scientology has produced miraculous results.

This is quite similar to the practice of "tribute" being paid to Keith Raniere.


Keith Raniere, NXIVM leader

Scientology also has a leadership survey in the Sea Org and I have heard the evaluation of the results is simple - the degree to which a person considers Ronald Hubbard solely responsible for the alleged benefits of Scientology determines how much of a leader the person is considered to be! And how high in the Sea Org they are considered suitable to ascend to!

It's intended to ensure that the upper echelon of Scientology is entirely a cult of personality for Ronald Hubbard!


Scientology also has "success stories" that are written after services are completed in which people express their gratitude to Hubbard for the "gains" they have experienced in Scientology. If a person is unwilling or reluctant to write a success story after completing a service it is treated as a problem and you quickly learn to ALWAYS write a success story after completing a service if you want to remain in good standing. 

Success stories are often read aloud at graduation or posted in writing in the organization and shared in internal magazines. 


Regarding the costs of NXIVM services and Scientology?

It has been reported that many die hard NXIVM members pay tens of thousands for the opportunity to listen to Keith Raniere and play volleyball with him for several days. Additionally it's been reported that the Bronfman sisters (heirs to the Seagrams' fortune) gave Raniere a hundred million dollars, much of which he used to harass people, have private detectives spy on people, and use the legal system to sue enemies into oblivion.

Scientology obviously has a long history of the same, but to a far greater degree and with far more people. In fact Scientology has long had an entire organization within Scientology devoted to these actions. It was formerly known as The Guardian's Office and after the organization had several members convicted of the largest infiltration of the US government ever in Operation Snow White, including Mary Sue Hubbard, wife of Ronald Hubbard, and after that debacle was renamed The Office of Special Affairs. 

These actions have been going on since the early fifties and continue to some degree even today. To fully describe them would take thousands and thousands of pages and describe a vast array of crimes and human rights violations.

Getting back to the financial cost of advancing in Scientology as a public member, it is quite expensive to advance to the upper levels and often most people don't even make it. 

In fact it's my personal opinion that less than five percent, perhaps even less than one percent, of the people who consider themselves Scientologists EVER get to the upper confidential levels of OT III (Operating Thetan level 3) and above and see the Xenu story described in an episode of South Park.

To make it to the level of clear as a public Scientologist might cost a hundred thousand dollars or more and members are strongly encouraged to donate additional funds to several other projects in Scientology such as The International Association of Scientologists.

To get to the OT III level and up through OT VIII it likely can cost between a half million and a million dollars.
















Scientology and NXIVM - Parallels and Plagiarism

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