Some background on the "non-religious moral code."
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A 'feeling of guilt' is nowhere near as sharp as a knife in the back, or ground glass in the soup."
I bet that the schoolchildren handed 'TWTH' by 'The Way to Happiness Foundation', or some other Scientology front group, have never had the image of "ground glass in the soup" in their minds before.
It was December 1979, and although appeals would delay it for a few years, Mary Sue Hubbard was on her way to federal prison for the commission of felonies.
Her husband, L. Ron Hubbard, an un-indicted co-conspirator for whom his wife, Mary Sue, had taken the rap, was in hiding, writing science fiction novels as therapy, which would later be fraudulently made - each one - into "bestsellers," by having members of his cult, systematically, buy bunches of the books, in a specific week, to get on that week's "bestseller list."
Every week, a million dollars in cash would arrive at Hubbard's secret location, be inspected by Hubbard, and then couriered out of the country to secret bank accounts.
A federal judge had just ordered the release of thousands of pages of Guardians Office documents, including page after page of Hubbard's secret "Scientology Intelligence tech," with its instructions on spying, and on covertly attacking Scientology's (perceived) enemies. Documents revealing the many Hubbard-directed covert attacks on private individuals, including author Paulette Cooper and Mayor Gabe Cazares of Clearwater, were being released. The press was referring to Hubbard as a sociopath and mastermind of a criminal organization. It was a PR disaster.
What could L. Ron Hubbard do? First he would deny, deny, deny, and plead ignorance. He "didn't know," and "could only shake his head in dismay"; then appeared the "Common Sense Moral Code," called "The Way to Happiness," which was to be distributed to the "wogs," just in case they might develop the notion that L. Ron Hubbard was anything other than a very moral fellow.
In reality, Hubbard hadn't changed, and Scientology, in its actual practices, hadn't changed, but, as Hubbard would say, it was a pretty good gimmick.
Right now, my impression of 'The Way to Happiness' is that the outline for it was lifted from somewhere, and then modified and embellished by Hubbard - as the "ground glass" wording and other distinct Hubbard touches would indicate
- and then used as PR cover.
This was around 1980, and anything new from Ron was much desired by Scientologists, especially new rundowns or levels, so David Mayo, then senior C/S International, made the precepts of TWTH booklet in to a rundown. I don't know if he did this on his own initiative without Hubbard's knowledge, as he had written and published his 'Harmonics of Clear' HCOB on his own initiative without Hubbard's knowledge, but the RD appeared and was sold, and became "the latest exciting tech release from Ron," even though it had been developed by David Mayo. (It has since been changed.)
After Hubbard read Mayo's 'Harmonics of Clear' HCOB - which Mayo had written in an attempt to reduce the confusion around the topic of "Dianetic Clear" - Hubbard was not pleased, and the HCOB was withdrawn.
It would seem that, at the time, Mayo didn't fully understand, or was not yet able to confront, Hubbard's behind-the-scenes list of priorities. Despite having been told two years earlier, by Hubbard, of Hubbard's "insatiable lust for power and money," and despite having been intimately involved in implementing Hubbard's changes to the middle and upper Grade Chart, Dianetics Clear, NOTs, etc., it would be four more years before Mayo could admit what he must have already known: that Hubbard's sudden Dianetic Clear announcement and the changes that followed were PR and money motivated.
Around this same time, Scientology's Mission holders were slowly, through exposure to occasional newspaper stories, becoming aware of some of the content of the recently released - by court order - previously secret Scientology documents. There was additional confusion due to Hubbard having assigned a select group of his Messengers to be his secret relay point for his orders. The Messengers were to enforce Hubbard's orders but without mentioning Hubbard, thus protecting Hubbard from legal liability.
David Mayo continued to be Senior C/S International until Hubbard, concerned with what he perceived as disloyal - and mutinous - Mission holders, and believing (and correctly) that Mayo was sympathizing with the Mission holders, finally fired Mayo.
Hubbard had Mayo kidnapped and taken to a secret location in the Southern California desert, and ordered that he be "rehabilitated" by being made to run around a pole.
These days, besides being a PR and front group "particle," TWTH is a money-making racket, with trusting Scientologists making donations to buy overpriced copies for distribution in troubled areas.
If past results are any indicator, TWTH will do no good whatsoever, but Scientology can still use it in its PR, and still use it to make some more money from its compliant followers.
#selfserving
