Ryan Hogarth, former Church of Scientology President, Declared Suppressive

[CommunicatorIC]

Mike: Ryan Hogarth Steps Forward
http://www.mikerindersblog.org/ryan-hogarth-steps-forward/

Original post on South African website Scientologists getting back in comm:

Ryan Hogarth, former Church President, Declared Suppressive!
http://backincomm.wordpress.com/201...urch-president-declared-suppressive/#more-411

Very powerful. Read it all.

Excerpts:

THE IDEAL ORG & BECOMING THE PRESIDENT

In the late 90s Joburg Org was situated in the city centre which by that time had deteriorated to the point where fewer public were willing to come to the org, particularly at night.

We decided to find a new building out of the city. This was a local decision borne from necessity. We involved our OT public and a search began. Pandy Katakuzinos in 1999 found the perfect building and the Corbett’s put up the money (which was later repaid by Sea Org reserves).

We needed around R1.2 million to renovate. Fund raising began by asking public to put money into the org for services. We really felt we could do it this way. By late 2000 we abandoned this approach and went for straight donations. Something like this had never been done before so there was general agreement and excitement. By mid 2002 renovations were complete and we were ready to move! The problem was we just couldn’t get the okay from “uplines” to move. Months went by with our new building standing there, empty but ready! In late 2002 we received a briefing and brand new plans. The building was going to be huge! We were going to build an extra two buildings, and add a level to the main building. The size of the org doubled. “Ideal Orgs” had been born! The budget shot up to over R17 million.

Exhausted and exhilarated we held our grand opening on 2 November 2003. It was the biggest event ever held here – before or since. David Miscavige came out to speak at the opening. I was the MC for the event and I was left in no doubt as to the enormity of the honour being bestowed on me. No one had had the privilege of introducing the great man before.

[ScnAfrica found this short clip of Ryan at this event]:

[video=youtube;nxazJHXburw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nxazJHXburw[/video]

The other occurred in the exec space of the org, which Miscavige was using. I walked into the area heading to my office. No one else was around. He was eating in the conference room. He saw me and said antagonistically “What are you doing here? You are not supposed to be here!” I was flummoxed and froze on the spot. He then bellowed with laughter and said “Just kidding”.

From the opening I assumed the title of “President of the Church of Scientology Johannesburg”

After 25 years of committed service, I now stand before you all, declared a suppressive person. As has become standard practice I have not received a copy of the issue, despite requesting it. There was some hope that I might be allowed to at least read it but this, in the end was also refused.

I am liberated and positive about the future and, most importantly, connected to my wife, my son & some amazing friends.

I love open comm lines and I look forward to many new ones! Come find me and say hi:

• www.ryanhogarth.com
• [email protected]
• facebook.com/ryanrhogarth
• @ryanhogarth

.

 

[CommunicatorIC]

Another quick excerpt on the effect of Marty and Mike leaving:

In July 2009 I was reading the daily “Google Alert” for media on Scientology. I saw the name Marty Rathbun. Marty was a god from my standpoint. He was at the very top of my command line. I trusted him implicitly. I assumed he was making a media statement and since I hadn’t heard from him in a while I was keen to hear what he had to say. The story was the “Truth Rundown” in the St. Pete Times. It took several minutes for me to realise that Marty was not talking FOR the church. He was out and what he was saying was being confirmed by Mike Rinder the second most senior person on my command line. Time stood still as I watched, in slow motion, my life shatter in front of me.

For the next two days I did ZERO post work. I locked my door and read EVERYTHING I could find on the Internet. I cannot adequately explain the feeling of your entire life’s purpose and goals unravelling before you. But that’s what was happening. I got to see that the madness and mayhem in South African Orgs was not a localised problem. It was a global pandemic.

Over the ensuing 8 weeks I continued to read, I made contact with Marty and others. My decision to leave was now more firm than ever.

 

[TG1]

Ryan Hogarth sounds like a very sharp cookie. The vid of him portrays him as a smart, even-tempered, likable guy.

I think he'll be just fine.

Quite tickled to hear those guys are out of the cult.

Their lives are going to be getting better every day for a long time to come.

TG1

 

[Panda Termint]

Yes. I'd also note that Ryan was one of the most dedicated scientologists I ever met. When they're losing guys like that, the end is nigh.
The Back In Comm guys and gals are doing an amazing job of it, IMO.

 

[Lohan2008]

Re: Ryan Hogarth

It is well worth taking the time to read his blog, it made me cry.

Ryan Hogarth:
for the next 6 years I was an active and frequent spokesperson for the church. Over time this morphed into being the national spokesperson although this was never official but no one else would or could speak to the media. In those 6 years I appeared on local, regional and national television, radio and print media. I actually developed working relationships with some journalists, relationships which I have maintained to this day.



[video=youtube;WAAeDl7VZ2M]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WAAeDl7VZ2M[/video]

 

[Lohan2008]

Re: South Africa

Can someone link info about Hubbard fleeing Rhodesia (1970's) because he tried to over throw the government ?

 

[Infinite]

Re: South Africa

Can someone link info about Hubbard fleeing Rhodesia (1970's) because he tried to over throw the government ?

I'm not sure L Ron Hubbard made much of an effort to over throw the government. From accounts I have read, his aim was to ingratiate himself to authorities and wheedle his way into a position where the Smith Regime would see him as a friend and ally worthy of its protection. Surprise, surprise, L Ron Hubbard's ARC didn't quite work out and, before long . . .

U.S. Financier is refused Residence Permit
—told to leave by next Monday

The Chronicle, 14 July 1966

Salisbury, Wednesday. Mr. L. Ron Hubbard, the American financier recently involved in the purchase of the Bumi Hills Hotel and in a number of other big business deals in Rhodesia, has been refused permission to stay in the country and has until next Monday to leave.

Mr. Hubbard, founder of the controversial Scientology movement, has been told by the Ministry of Immigration that his temporary alien's residence permit will not be renewed, according to a spokesman for Mr. Hubbard. The spokesman said the permit would expire next Monday and Mr. Hubbard was expected to leave Rhodesia, probably for Britain, on Friday. His wife, Mary Sue, is not in Rhodesia at the moment.

Mr. Hubbard refused to talk to the press tonight and would make no comment on the situation. A Ministry of Immigration spokesman also refused to comment.

Mr. Hubbard arrived in Rhodesia earlier this year after being told by his doctor to leave Britain following his third attack of pneumonia. In May, together with two local business men, he bought the Bumi Hills Hotel on Lake Dariba. He also bought an interest in the holdings of Mr. John Plagis, a local property owner, and a holding company was being formed for them.

In addition, he said he had arranged the purchase of interests in a car sales and was considering financing several factories. Addressing a Que Que Rotary Club dinner this month, Mr. Hubbard said he was to start a business in Que Que.

Controversy

Explaining the Scientology movement recently, Mr. Hubbard said he had started a foundation in 1950, "to discover the true nature of man, and make the world a better place."

He call Scientology the philosophy of knowledge and said it would be used in Rhodesia to improve the ability of executives in his new companies and to better their administrative know-how. Scientology has aroused considerable controversy in Britain, the United States and other countries.

^^^ I love that while in Southern Rhodesia, L Ron Hubbard was officially an "alien" ; )

Paulette Cooper's research indicates L Ron Hubbard had spied Southern Rhodesia as a likely environment for the expansion of his fraud. Quoting press at the time in "The Scandal of Scientology", Paulette wrote:

. . . Hubbard has also been accused of getting entangled with politics while he was in Rhodesia, and, in fact, may have been barred from that country a few years ago. The Daily Mail in England reported that this occurred because the Rhodesian authorities believed he was using the political situation in that country to expand Scientology. At first no one complained: Hubbard had invested nearly $80,000 in Rhodesia; he bought a house for a reputed $40,000 and a hotel to "show his confidence in the country and its government" — although they were worthwhile investments for him, too, because Scientology was said to have taken in $25,000 in a city of only 45,000 whites.

But the Daily Mail reported that Hubbard allegedly alienated people by constantly praising Ian Smith, expressing his sympathy for the cause of the white Rhodesians, and exploiting racial prejudices (allegedly by saying that the Africans wouldn't qualify for membership in Scientology because their I.Q. was too low). Such statements, had they ever been widely circulated, would not have made Hubbard popular among Scientologists in America, since Hubbard's constant emphasis of "freedom" and "equality" has recruited a number of American Negroes to the organization . . .

John McMaster, briefly L Ron Hubbard's right-hand-man and the second person publicly celebrated for having "gone Clear", presents a more prosaic reason for why things didn't work out in Southern Rhodesia. Basically, L Ron Hubbard was perceived as a crass, showboating and dishonest gangster oaf splashing about with dodgy money. From Stewart Lamont's "Religion Inc":

. . . McMaster remembers a heavy-handed attempt by Hubbard to influence Prime Minister Ian Smith while he was living in Alexander Park in Salisbury. Ron had his chauffeur drive him out in his yellow Pontiac with two bottles of pink champagne, which he had to leave with the butler because Mrs Smith would not receive him. "There are things like protocol, you know, just general decency," says McMaster. "You don't just barge in on somebody like a tramp steamer misdocking. All these nuances of understanding, I began to realize, he didn't have." With some distaste John McMaster adds, "He told me Ian Smith was going to be shot because he was a 'Suppressive'. I now have no comment. But the real reason that Hubbard was kicked out of Rhodesia was that his cheques bounced." . . .

Sauce: http://www.solitarytrees.net/racism/decamp.htm

 

[Lohan2008]

Re: Rhodesia

> required to leave Rhodesia on or before July 18, 1966.
Thanks for all the information Infinite; I could not remember if it was before "Operation Snow White"

 

[tetloj]

This very long comment is heart-breaking

http://backincomm.wordpress.com/201...ared-suppressive/comment-page-2/#comment-1520

I have only dealt with Ryan on a few occasions, only spoken on the phone and written to Melissa on a few occasions – and although the accolades bestowed on you are obviously very well deserved and I don’t want to detract from that – let’s be real and bring some balance – very mindful of the fact that in the SO / on staff – you held power in your hands – and that your actions/ inactions were not all ‘sweetness and light and praises for your many years of service in a dangerous cult’.

 

[Udarnik]

This very long comment is heart-breaking

http://backincomm.wordpress.com/201...ared-suppressive/comment-page-2/#comment-1520

This is why, despite all the good M&M are doing, a little voice in the back of my head keeps saying "they won't have redeemed themselves until they spill all they know about the McPherson case (and others)". I realize they may have a plan for revealing this in due time, but I can't help but also entertain the hypothesis that they will hide behind the Fifth if asked, and never reveal the truth.

Time will tell.

Yes the Hogarths were victims. So was Ernst Rohm. That didn't make him less of a bullying Nazi sack of shit.

I don't think anyone gets as high as Ryan in the Co$ with clean hands. He didn't turn on the system until it turned on him.

 

[Panda Termint]

Jane should now have a chance to find out what really happened behind the DSA facade. I hope she asks Ryan about what happened and gets some straight answers. In the meantime, I wouldn't venture to judge him based on what I know about this sad story.

 

[TG1]

What is it that anyone thinks isn't known at this point about Lisa's death?

After being driven to a mental breakdown following Scientology processing, she was imprisoned against her will, starved, dehydrated, denied medical care of any kind whatsoever, and died an awful death.

During this sordid affair, the Church of Scientology Flag machinery came down on her like a ton of bricks. Miscavige oversaw the whole fucking thing.

All her friends deserted her.

Everyone concerned who might have helped her colluded to cause her death.

After she died, the Scientology machinery worked in concert to cover up her death and to prevent the Scientology Flag organization's and Scientology's leaders and everyone else who caused her death to escape any responsibility (legal, ethical or otherwise).

It was a travesty of a crime and a travesty of justice in so many ways.

 

[Enthetan]

Re: South Africa

I'm not sure L Ron Hubbard made much of an effort to over throw the government. From accounts I have read, his aim was to ingratiate himself to authorities and wheedle his way into a position where the Smith Regime would see him as a friend and ally worthy of its protection. Surprise, surprise, L Ron Hubbard's ARC didn't quite work out and, before long . . .

LRH desperately wanted a "safe haven" from which he would not be extradited to UK or US. He tried to do that in Rhodesia, possibly thinking that its pariah status with respect to the US and UK would make them unwilling to cooperate with them.

Unfortunately for Hubbard, all his years in Scn, mostly secluded from non-Scns, reduced his ability to successfully con people who didn't already hold him in awe.

 

[Udarnik]

What is it that anyone thinks isn't known at this point about Lisa's death?

After being driven to a mental breakdown following Scientology processing, she was imprisoned against her will, starved, dehydrated, denied medical care of any kind whatsoever, and died an awful death.

During this sordid affair, the Church of Scientology Flag machinery came down on her like a ton of bricks. Miscavige oversaw the whole fucking thing.

All her friends deserted her.

Everyone concerned who might have helped her colluded to cause her death.

After she died, the Scientology machinery worked in concert to cover up her death and to prevent the Scientology Flag organization's and Scientology's leaders and everyone else who caused her death to escape any responsibility (legal, ethical or otherwise).

It was a travesty of a crime and a travesty of justice in so many ways.

It's not about the death, though clearing up (hah!) some of the nagging mysteries might be nice. No, what I'm referring to is shedding light on the cover-up and DM's activity in same. That's going to self-incriminate some of the players, I have a feeling.

 

[Bea Kiddo]

Re: South Africa

LRH desperately wanted a "safe haven" from which he would not be extradited to UK or US. He tried to do that in Rhodesia, possibly thinking that its pariah status with respect to the US and UK would make them unwilling to cooperate with them.

Unfortunately for Hubbard, all his years in Scn, mostly secluded from non-Scns, reduced his ability to successfully con people who didn't already hold him in awe.

There is a BC tape where LRH talks about having a safe space where all governnments would live and work in the same area. He suggest Tunisia as a neutral ground that would be separated, pie-like, with every country of the world represented. The theory was that you would not attack them because your own government would also be in the same geographical area.

Course if you wanted to start over, it would be an easy pick-off, eh?

 

[Enthetan]

Re: South Africa

There is a BC tape where LRH talks about having a safe space where all governnments would live and work in the same area. He suggest Tunisia as a neutral ground that would be separated, pie-like, with every country of the world represented. The theory was that you would not attack them because your own government would also be in the same geographical area.

Course if you wanted to start over, it would be an easy pick-off, eh?

It would also be the base of a "World Government", where existing nations would just be provinces, and would isolate the governments from any protests by their own people about their actions.

 

[tetloj]

Jane should now have a chance to find out what really happened behind the DSA facade. I hope she asks Ryan about what happened and gets some straight answers. In the meantime, I wouldn't venture to judge him based on what I know about this sad story.

I agree, and did not post the link to say - look what a bad guy he was.

Rather - look what a mess this leaves for all concerned.

All parties have my sympathy.

 

[Deeana]

Holy Cherub (my new favorite saying) I posted on the S. African website and said they best look into the LRH background because the abuses didn't start with DM. Harrumph! Despite their Mission Statement claiming they want honesty and openness, my post was "moderated" - meaning deleted - and I was told that "haters" who "distain Scientology and LRH" cannot post there.

Oh, and I had also posted a link to www.tonyortega.org within my post. In reference to that, whoever wrote back to me said that people are "permitted" to read at Tony's website if they want to.

I wrote back and told them I was sorry to offend, wished no ill to anyone and that the truth about LRH and documentation to back it up are out there and not going away.

These poor people have a lot of unpleasant waking up coming in their future, don't they?

 

[Infinite]

Holy Cherub (my new favorite saying) I posted on the S. African website and said they best look into the LRH background because the abuses didn't start with DM. Harrumph! Despite their Mission Statement claiming they want honesty and openness, my post was "moderated" - meaning deleted - and I was told that "haters" who "distain Scientology and LRH" cannot post there.

Oh, and I had also posted a link to www.tonyortega.org within my post. In reference to that, whoever wrote back to me said that people are "permitted" to read at Tony's website if they want to.

I wrote back and told them I was sorry to offend, wished no ill to anyone and that the truth about LRH and documentation to back it up are out there and not going away.

These poor people have a lot of unpleasant waking coming in their future, don't they?

Yeah, as someone said, the South African site is one of those "Don't Say Xenu" pop up sites the Indie Dependents specialise in. I wonder, though, how much waking-up the principals have yet to do. There is one school of thought amongst the Indie Dependents that the "greater good" is being served by presenting a Non-OT Material / pro-L Ron Hubbard / pro-Tech stance is more likely to attract wavering cult members to look. That could be true but, unfortunately, it also attracts those who wish to profit by keeping Scientologists hooked-up to the hypno-cans. They have yet to realise within themselves that the last thing a person escaping Scientology needs is more Scientology. And then there's the whole "information gathering" aspect. By coralling escapees and pouring out the ARC, what information they bring tends to be shared first within their group and filtered for "entheta" before distribution to the wider anti-cult community. Frustrating. So, yeah, there is still some unpleasant waking-up for them, but I suspect many are already aware of more than they are saying but wish to KSW the "workable" bits and keep their personal secrets secret. The situation seems to me to be something of an accident waiting to happen.

 

[Gib]

Yeah, as someone said, the South African site is one of those "Don't Say Xenu" pop up sites the Indie Dependents specialise in. I wonder, though, how much waking-up the principals have yet to do. There is one school of thought amongst the Indie Dependents that the "greater good" is being served by presenting a Non-OT Material / pro-L Ron Hubbard / pro-Tech stance is more likely to attract wavering cult members to look. That could be true but, unfortunately, it also attracts those who wish to profit by keeping Scientologists hooked-up to the hypno-cans. They have yet to realise within themselves that the last thing a person escaping Scientology needs is more Scientology. And then there's the whole "information gathering" aspect. By coralling escapees and pouring out the ARC, what information they bring tends to be shared first within their group and filtered for "entheta" before distribution to the wider anti-cult community. Frustrating. So, yeah, there is still some unpleasant waking-up for them, but I suspect many are already aware of more than they are saying but wish to KSW the "workable" bits and keep their personal secrets secret. The situation seems to me to be something of an accident waiting to happen.

I'm a relatively newly out, beginning for me to look was the debbie cook email,

which is referenced on the South African, Scientology-Cult, Mike Rinder blog's.

My first step out was trying to verify everything said on Marty's place last year. I had to differentiate if people's stories were true or not, or were they just SP's or wogs trying to take down the COS.

And then when I verified that the people speaking out were indeed ex members, and I could compare their stories to my experiences,

why my next step was to verify DM's alterations of the tech. This was a hard one to do because I was not highly trained in the auditing technology.

and then I had to verify if the Independent movement composed of ex scientologists were not squirrels. Or altering the tech.

and then, since I looked that far,

why I then looked further into the ultimate natter site. ESMB.

Although, during my research for 6 months, I did bump into this ESMB site, read a few posts, and turned off the thought that this place was a site to verify scientology since it was so natterful. LOL

What got me to ultimately land here was finding the actual old timers from before my time of getting involved which was 1987. And my willingness at that point in time to examine actual criticalness but yet I found this site to show actual caring of others. Plus the more in depth stories told here vs the stories told on Marty's place.

That was my path more or less. Not that I want anybody to care, but I thought to just state it. And it's interesting watching others now communicate with new blogs popping up in other Countries.

Kind of ironic in that we ex-members were all involved in one degree or another in getting others involved in scientology, and now the numbers seem to be greater that ex members are involved in getting existing smaller amount of members out.

It's a PR world per Hubbard. And hubbard was a master at PR before the internet.

But, the major management members of recent times who are now ex members and by using the Press are creating out-PR for the DM COS.

The inflow of new members has practically stopped, it's only a matter of getting the existing staff & members to utilize some critical thinking skills.

Those underground have a definite purpose now to not create antagonism to existing members, but to get them somehow to look, to guestion things as being implemented by DM.