"Scientology, well understood, is a very powerful thing. Poorly relayed, poorly communicated, monopolized or used exclusively for gain, it could be a very destructive thing." - LRH June 1955
+ He told me he was obsessed by "an insatiable lust for power and money". - circa 1980 Mayo on LRH =
That brings up an idea ... a total hoot ... a Cof$ run rescue mission. I can just picture the staffers chasing around a bunch of crazy old drunks to get their stats. And should DM ever be brought down, if I was the judge, I might just sentence him to community service at some rescue mission serving the homeless.
Pete
Begging pardon-I am a tad confused. If I live in say Sunnyvale, and I am hungry and without shoes. To what [which/how many] missions or churches might I make pilgrimage for soup and perhaps sock. I am willing to bring some friends. We would be listen to lectures and even solicit strangers to do same.
Purple Rain liked this post
Looking at the glitzy special events tells you nothing about the state of Scientology nowadays. They have a long history of PR bullshitting, schmoozing the mayor and the chief of police and so on. So: they bring in a truckload of chairs, set up a prefabricated stage and give the generic "we're expanding!" party. That's modern Scientology: formulaic, cookie-cutter presentations that are big on promises and small on substance.
If you want to know whether an Org is actually a threat to your area, stand on the corner for half an hour and count the number of people who go inside on an ordinary day. I do this from time to time, and the results are very encouraging. Falling numbers generally have forced the Sea Org to recruit the staff from the orgs, to maintain appearances. Resulting staff shortages lead to publics being recruited to staff posts. Ain't nobody actually getting services anymore. The word is out, and the "raw meat" is staying away from Scientology in droves.
This notion that renovations will turn Scientology's future around is a comfortable fiction because it gives the remaining Scientology victims something to do, so they don't have to think about why Scientology is no longer wanted. It works at every level, right up to Miscavige: don't examine your own failure... simply apply more gold paint!
This whole shemozzle expanded fastest back when ordinary people could buy one book, and audit their friends and relatives in the comfort of their own living room. Now, it seems, everybody thinks that what's needed is more window-dressing, instead of more results. That's why Scientology is on the ash heap of history - and given the abuses that have been perpetrated in the name of Hubbardism, I think that's the right place for it.
You don't have to worry about squirrels
unless you are a nut.