Scientology The Cult of Poverty

 

 





I have heard Scientology be called the cult of greed by many including Jon Atack who I tremendously admire and respect. I feel he is one of the best authors and experts on Scientology, bar none.

I have also seen other experts claim all Scientologists are well off or even rich. And that Scientology has no use for or interest in anyone else.

That being said there is an important idea that needs to be added. There are exceptions to the above. Very important exceptions. The Scientology cult takes members on who lack funds in several ways. Quite frequently people without wealth do introductory courses and auditing. Some get very interested in Scientology and pay close to nothing.

They join staff or the Sea Org. I was seventeen years old when I first heard about Scientology. I was talked into joining staff as a way to find out what it was . I naively believed I could detect and overcome any attempts to influence me. I thought I was far too intelligent and skeptical to be fooled. I figured if Scientology was a cult or fraud I would quickly see through it and heroically tell the world.

So, I without spending anything on services joined staff and after a couple months on the sixty hour a week schedule one day while listening to the tape Org Board and Livingness decided I was a Scientologist.

And I have met many other poor Scientologists on staff and several Sea Org members as well. I have met some Sea Org members from other countries who (  other than the few dollars they rarely get for pay ) have no money at all. That means they have literally less than a hundred dollars total and may live that way, while working a hundred and forty hours a week, for decades.

I know some staff and Sea Org members who can get money from relatives, but unless they are very well off that has its limits. The Tommy Davises of this world can run back to their parents for millions in trust funds and live in relative comfort. Unfortunately for every extremely wealthy staff or Sea Org member there can be a hundred others in much different circumstances.

So while greed may have motivated Hubbard and Miscavige it is not accurate for examining most staff and Sea Org members. We were not in it for the money.

And we often made fifty dollars or less a week . Many weeks I was paid zero dollars and I know others including Sea Org members had to figure out how to live on nothing for months at a time.