Scientology glossary

[ethercat]

Here's a really good glossary for scientology terms. 
http://www.xenu-directory.net/glossary/glossary_a.htm

All the acronyms and specialized language can be really confusing to an outsider, and it's by design.  Specialized language can identify a member of a group to another, can isolate members from the rest of society, and can shape the way a person sees the world. 

Here's an essay, called Language, Jargon and Mind Control, that is well worth the read: http://alley.ethercat.com/xint/language.html

[Lorelei]

Excellent essay.

I am pretty good at picking up slang and jargon and such, and it can get disturbing when I realize I am fluent in Cultspeak. You are correct when you point out that it is done for a reason.

I speak Scilon, and the mangled vocabulary and words re-purposed for cult indoctrination is rather offensive to any lover of proper English. The point of using a specific jargon is so cultists can get past one's critical thinking defenses. If you can get a recruit to accept your definition of words and phrases, and using them, you get a foothold into their psyche.

It reminds me of Orwell's 1984 (and other dystopian novels) in several ways. When any group gives you their definitions for the words you use, it shuts down your critical reasoning faculties. Using cultic language smooths the way for cultic thought and cultic behavior.

[ethercat]

That is so true, and a critic out of Tampa, Maggie Council, and I once discussed the use of highly charged language, a little on the violent side, in the cult advertising.  The world is presented as a frightening place, full of suppression to "shatter" and barriers to "break through."  In scientology advertising, there is no such thing as subtlety.  Unfortunately, once the person is hooked, it acts subliminally, and is not so obvious to them as it is to us.

Critics need to be careful to not pick up the language for daily use; to do so can lessen the ability to convey your thoughts to the average person.  More than once, I've found myself describing the scientology to the uninformed, using scientology lingo, then having to explain what I was saying.  Fortunately, I broke myself of that, because there are usually perfectly good English words that will work better - for instance, I don't say they "practice fair game," I say they "harass people."  That conveniently also gets you out of the "we don't do that anymore, that was cancelled" loop.  Many of us know good and well that the policy was cancelled, but the practice was not, but that sidesteps the whole discussion.

I'm glad you liked the essay (not written by me).  When I first read it, it really helped me to understand the strength of the mental soap in scientology.  Another reading that brought me a better understanding of how cults operate was Margaret Singer's book, Cults in Our Midst.

[Lorelei]

I agree with NOT using cultspeak when trying to explain why protesters are speaking out peacefully against the abusive behaviors and policies of the cult. It is convenient shorthand when used among other protesters and critics (we know what "Fair Game" means), but when trying to talk to uninvolved parties, the cultspeak disenfranchises us as much as it does the cultists. In other words, using cultspeak means you sound just as loony and bizarre as an indoctrinated cultist who is using the cult language without irony.

I also agree that Singer's book is excellent; I included it on "Longcat's EPIC Book Club!" list. If you have five minutes to spare, a quick review of it in that thread may inspire others to seek it out and read it.

Note also that highly charged language is not the sole province of cults. We see the same effect on certain partisan news agency news programs, in speeches given by politicians, and in advertising. Compare cult panic-mongering with escalating "terror alerts" that encouraged the general public to stay in a heightened state of fear, and to allow privacy- and freedom-eroding policies and Acts to gain momentum and public support. Fearful people are far more likely to accept their freedoms being curtailed in exchange for the illusion of safety.

The cult positions itself to members as the "only" solution to life's problems, and proposes that the cult's goal of "clearing the planet" is a good and worthy goal. (I'm sure people who supported Nazis felt the same way, at least initially.)  Concepts that inspire knee-jerk acceptance include appeals to national pride / patriotism, promising ultimate solutions to persistent problems, promising protection from harm, and so on.

The cult paints the outside world as a dangerous, unenlightened place, and swears it has the answers. By increasing the anxiety levels, overtly and subtly (via language choice and Us Vs. Them messages), the cult keeps people desperate for those answers, and holds out false hope that by "following the tech" (an exercise in futility, as NO ONE has achieved ANY of the promised goals or advanced capabilities promised by the tech, ever), the anxiety they feel may one day be alleviated, because the cult promises that the cult has the solutions.

They have had over 50 years to follow through on their grandiose promises. Is the world better or worse, overall, than it was 50 years ago? Did the cult have ANYTHING to do with any of the positive changes? Has anyone EVER achieved those advertised "OT Powers"? Is it even possible that someone who failed at nearly everything in his life, L. Ron Hubbard, would actually magically discover ANY magical keys to life's mysteries? Isn't that like expecting someone who isn't a doctor to be able to do open-heart surgery? How could any total failure in life like Hubbard instruct other people on how to succeed at anything? (This is why the cult does NOT want Hubbard's REAL "achievements" (or, more accurately, total lack of distinction and achievement in any area beyond forming a damn cult) to be known, and why they LIE about his past.)

If Scientology is so great, WHY HAS IT NOT WORKED? Why doesn't everyone want to be a cultist, too? Why have front groups? If you have front groups, why not admit they are Scientology-related? If L. Ron Hubbard was such a humanitarian, why not give these "wonderful" bits of knowledge away for free?

Anxious people do not use logic, they operate from a "feelings" place. By upping the ante and increasing the anxiety level, people are kept in that "feeling, but not thinking logically" place. Feelings, like faith in general, are simply not logical. You can't argue someone out of their faith, or out of using feelings and emotions to base decisions on rather than logic, facts, documented evidence and critical reasoning.

The best you can hope for is that cognitive dissonance sets in. It is harder for cognitive dissonance to get a foothold, however, if you are speaking an entirely different language, inventing acronyms and new words and nonsense terminology, and redefining legitimate vocabulary words to mean what you want them to mean instead of what they mean to everyone else outside of your cult circle.

And that is the proper use of cultspeak: to reach cultists by using their own language, but hoping to introduce some cognitive dissonance to trigger and re-awaken their logic and critical reasoning skills that have been allowed to lie dormant while within the closed bubble of anxiety and paranoia the cult constructs around its victims.

[wynot]

What a swell rant, Lor!

'til next time;
wynot

[Lorelei]

I suppose I am fulfilling my rant quota for the month. I'm still behind by about 2-3 rants. I've been fairly sanguine so far.

[mefree]

Quite interesting to compare Scientology's ethics definition against others:

# ethical motive: motivation based on ideas of right and wrong
# the philosophical study of moral values and rules

wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

# According to the Church of Scientology, "Ethics may be defined as the actions an individual takes on himself to ensure his continued survival across the dynamics. It is a personal thing. When one is ethical, it is something he does himself by his own choice."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics_(Scientology)

# Ethics is a branch of philosophy which seeks to address questions about morality, such as what the fundamental semantic, ontological, and epistemic nature of ethics or morality is (meta-ethics), how moral values should be determined (normative ethics), how a moral outcome can be achieved in ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics

# Ethics is a journal founded in 1890 and published by the University of Chicago Press. The journal publishes scholarly work in moral, political, and legal philosophy from a variety of intellectual perspectives, including social and political theory, law, and economics. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics_(journal)

# Ethics is a philosophical book written by Baruch Spinoza. It was written in Latin. Although it was published posthumously in 1677, it is his most ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics_(book)

# The study of principles relating to right and wrong conduct; Morality; The standards that govern the conduct of a person, especially a member of a profession
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ethics

# ethical - of or relating to the philosophical study of ethics; "ethical codes"; "ethical theories"
# ethical - conforming to accepted standards of social or professional behavior; "an ethical lawyer"; "ethical medical practice"; "an ethical problem"; "had no ethical objection to drinking"; "Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants"- Omar N. Bradley
# adhering to ethical and moral principles; "it seems ethical and right"; "followed the only honorable course of action"
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

# ethicism - a doctrine that ethics and ethical ideas are valid and important; "his ethicism often led him to moralize"
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

# ethicism - The application of ethics; The use of ethics to create competitive advantage in business
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ethicism

# a set of moral principles. The study of morality.
www.abc.net.au/science/slab/consconf/glossary.htm

# The moral code which guides the members of the profession in proper conduct of their duties and obligations.
www.inthelighturns.com/faq.html

# With regard to professions, a code of professional standards, containing aspects of fairness and duty to the profession and the general public.
www.titleguarantynm.com/glossary/glossary_e.asp

[ethercat]

Quite interesting to compare Scientology's ethics definition against others:

# According to the Church of Scientology, "Ethics may be defined as the actions an individual takes on himself to ensure his continued survival across the dynamics. It is a personal thing. When one is ethical, it is something he does himself by his own choice."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics_(Scientology)

[/list]

Almost all of those definitions have to do with right as opposed to wrong.  Scientology's has to do with "survival."  Across the "dynamics."  Let's find out exactly what "dynamics" are, according to scientology:

http://www.scientology.org/gloss.htm
dynamics: the eight urges, drives or impulses of life.

Hmmm, well, that's not much help.  Since the "church" is not very forthcoming with their definition, despite placing great importance on looking up words, let's see what wikipedia says:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_beliefs_and_practices#Survival_and_the_Dynamics

Survival and the Dynamics

Scientology states that the basic principle of existence is "survive".  Survival is considered as the single and sole purpose and it is subdivided into eight dynamics:

    * Dynamic one is the urge towards survival as an individual.
    * Dynamic two is the urge towards survival through procreation; it includes both the act of sex and the raising and care of children.
    * Dynamic three is the urge towards survival for the group.
    * Dynamic four is the urge of the individual toward survival for Mankind.
    * Dynamic five is the urge to survive as a life organism and embraces all life forms.
    * Dynamic six is the urge to survive as part of the physical universe and includes the survival of the physical universe.
    * Dynamic seven is the urge toward survival as a spirit.
    * Dynamic eight is the urge toward survival as a part of the Supreme Being.

The optimum solution to any problem is that solution which brings the greatest benefit to the greatest number of dynamics. Actions are considered "good" if they promote survival across all eight dynamics or realms of action. Goodness is conceived in terms of "constructive survival action", as construction may also require a degree of destruction for new construction to take place, construction must outweigh destruction in order for something to be considered good.

Wait, what?  "Dynamic eight is the urge toward survival as a part of the Supreme Being."

It sounds like scientologists believe themselves to be God.  Ok, stay focused, ec, ... back to ethics...

Morals and ethics
Scientology teaches that progress on The Bridge requires and enables the attainment of high moral and ethical standards. The main Scientology text on ethics is the book Introduction to Scientology Ethics.

Scientology uses the term "morals" to refer to a collectively agreed code of good conduct and defines ethics as "the actions an individual takes on himself in order to accomplish optimum survival for himself and others on all [eight] dynamics". Scientology stresses the rationality of ethics over morals: "Ethics actually consists of rationality toward the highest level of survival."; "If a moral code were thoroughly reasonable, it could, at the same time, be considered thoroughly ethical. But only at this highest level could the two be called the same".

So what that is saying is that it's ok to do immoral things, if they accomplish "survival"?  I wonder what the scientology definition of survival is?

[wynot]

ec asks:"So what that is saying is that it's ok to do immoral things, if they accomplish "survival"?  I wonder what the scientology definition of survival is?"

The purpose of the thetan is to survive. The thetan is an immortal being.

Love is hate. War is peace. Slavery is freedom. How could 'survival' have any meaning to a being which cannot be killed?

You tell me, and then we will both know!

'til later;
wynot

[ethercat]

Looking further into the scientology definition of ethics, this page: What is the Scientology system of ethics? says:

    The Scientology ethics system includes a body of technology called conditions formulas. L. Ron Hubbard discovered that there are various states of existence and that there are exact formulas connected with these states.

    A person can determine what condition any area of his life is in and apply a formula to immediately improve this condition.

I guess this would account for some of the almost robotic behavior and statements by scientologists I've seen.  The idea that any "condition" that someone might be in could be addressed by one of several canned "formulas" is repugnant to me.  Individuals are individual, and their problems are individual too.  How is it that scientologists don't recognize this?

[mefree]

Yes, my perception after reading their definition of ethics is that anything is "ok" to maintain survival across the dynamics.

Very scary, IMO.

Certainly we all have the desire to survive. However, would we condone disconnecting families or preventing those who are ill from obtaining needed medical care just for the purpose of survival?

Uwe Stuckenbrock comes to mind. He badly needed medical attention for his MS but allegedly had knowledge of Scientology that others did not want to get out. His family was trying to find out how he was doing and yet, no communication with them was allowed up to the very end of his life. His family was repeatedly lied to about his situation while Uwe was living in deplorable conditions at the RPF and suffering from medical neglect.

Was keeping him at RPF and preventing him from being with family or seeking medical care ethical for the survival of Scientology? Maybe, that is how they rationalized their actions.

Moar information about Uwe found here:
http://anonforgreatjustice.blogspot.com/2008/12/markus-stuckenbrock-just-exactly-how.html

[ethercat]

Note also that highly charged language is not the sole province of cults. We see the same effect on certain partisan news agency news programs, in speeches given by politicians, and in advertising. Compare cult panic-mongering with escalating "terror alerts" that encouraged the general public to stay in a heightened state of fear, and to allow privacy- and freedom-eroding policies and Acts to gain momentum and public support. Fearful people are far more likely to accept their freedoms being curtailed in exchange for the illusion of safety.

In this article  by Dick Sutphen, which was originally given as a talk, and then recorded in an expanded version, The Battle For Your Mind - Persuasion & Brainwashing Techniques Being Used On The Public Today, he discusses three "brain phases" and how they are used.  (He says that "conversion" is a nice word for "brainwashing.")

With the progression through each phase, the degree of conversion becomes more effective and complete. The way to achieve conversion are many and varied, but the usual first step in religious or political brainwashing is to work on the emotions of an individual or group until they reach an abnormal level of anger, fear, excitement, or nervous tension.

The progressive result of this mental condition is to impair judgment and increase suggestibility. The more this condition can be maintained or intensified, the more it compounds. Once catharsis, or the first brain phase, is reached, the complete mental takeover becomes easier. Existing mental programming can be replaced with new patterns of thinking and behavior.

Scientology incites "abnormal level of anger, fear, excitement, or nervous tension" in their advertising, training, and in their day-to-day language. 

He also says:

The use of hypnotic techniques by religions is sophisticated, and professionals are assuring that they become even more effective. A man in Los Angeles is designing, building, and reworking a lot of churches around the country. He tells ministers what they need and how to use it. This man's track record indicates that the congregation and the monetary income will double if the minister follows his instructions. He admits that about 80 percent of his efforts are in the sound system and lighting.

Powerful sound and the proper use of lighting are of primary importance in inducing an altered state of consciousness...

He was obviously not talking about scientology when he mentions the man in Los Angeles, but I wonder if this may be part of the reason behind the push for scientology's Ideal Orgs - to create an environment even more conducive to thought control.

He continues on to discuss 6 conversion techniques and the clues that they are being used.  The fifth is this:

The fifth clue that conversion tactics are being used is the introduction of jargon--new terms that have meaning only to the "insiders" who participate. Vicious language is also frequently used, purposely, to make participants uncomfortable. 

which we discussed above.

He also warns against going to meetings in which these tactics are used, even as a spectator, because we (as humans) are more vulnerable to them than we realize.  When we attempt to resist it, we enter a state in which the process works on us, the states of "anger, fear, excitement, or nervous tension" mentioned above.

The article continues on, and within it, I recognize many of the things I already know about scientology.  It is a fact that other groups, and individuals, use these methods, whether consciously or not, to control others.  When we deal with scientologists, I think it's important to recognize that they're operating in a state of mind that they don't realize they're in.  And it's important to recognize these tactics in other things, so we don't fall victim to them ourselves, the way the scientologists have to scientology.

Although I don't agree with or subscribe to all of the author's opinions (must read even essays about mind control with critical thinking engaged), it is well worth reading and I found it to be an educational and stimulating read.

[Stutroup]

I orignally had a lot to quote from the previous quote, hoping to line up the bombardment of scientology videos and lectures within, especialy for staff, with the noven Nineteen Eighty-Four.  But this link sums things up much better, as well as expounding much more than i would have:

http://www.xenu.net/archive/1984/

Also, thanks to the other Orwellian comparisons and quotes, and as many things happened with Scientology in 1984, I was unable to find the quote of Hubbard stating that the book is his ideal world.

[ethercat]

Here's a list of terms that came from a pro-scientology forum; there aren't many of those around.  I thought it would be interesting to have a list their own definitions.

Dianetics - Means through the mind ("dia" - through and "netica" - mind)

Scientology - Means study of truth or knowledge (basically knowing how to know)

DMSMH - Dianetics: Modern Science of Mental Health

ARC - Affinity, Reality and Communication

KRC - Knowledge, Responsibility and Control

Rundown - Usually an auditing (counselling) action covering a particular subject that the person has their attention on.

PC - Pre-Clear, someone who has not attained the state of Clear.

Clear - A person who has attained the state of Clear and no longer has his own Reactive Mind (this is fully explained in the book DMSMH).

Release - Someone who has not yet achieved the state of Clear but is in such good a condition that is not being too much affected by his Reactive Mind.

Comm. - This term is used a lot around Scientologists, it is short for "communication".

ARC Break - Basically means an upset or disagreement.  Hence you have a break in Affinity, Reality and Communication.

1.1 - This term is used to refer to the tone (emotional) level of a being.  1.1 indicates a person in the emotional range of "covert hostility".

Tone Scale - This is a scale whereby it ranges from -40.0 (Total Failure) to 40.0 (Serenity of Beingness).  The book "Science of Survival" covers more on this subject of human emotion and the tone scale.

Valence - A particular being that someone adopts when handling situations, an example would be that a person may use the mannerisms/characteristics of father/mother in certain situations.  He/She may do or say what mum/dad would do or say in that particular circumstance.

TWTH - The Way To Happiness, a non-religious moral code.  This is usually in the form of a booklet which some companies have changed the cover to reflect their own businesses to hand out to the general public.

Narconon - A drug rehabilitation facility where people who have been drug users are treated for their addiction by getting them off drugs without the use of drugs.

Criminon - This is a programme which uses TWTH as a course for inmates to complete in prison.

ABLE - Association For Better Living and Education, this organisation encompasses many programmes such as Criminon, Narconon, TWTH as the main body for these programmes.

Applied Scholastics - This is a study programme to enable students and teachers improve their abilities to gain learning skills.  When a person has been through the programme, they can study anything.

Dynamics - These are the drives for survival, you have the first dynamic which is you, the second dynamic which is your family, the third dynamic which is the group, the fourth dynamic which is mankind, the fifth dynamic which is life forms, the sixth dynamic which is the MEST (Matter Energy Space and Time - physical) universe, the seventh dynamic which is the spiritual universe and the eighth dynamic which is infinity or what others may term as god.

Cognition - To have a realization about something, this is normally related to someone who has had an auditing session.

Auditing - Otherwise known as counselling.

Auditor - Meaning one who listens, this person is trained to deliver auditing.

FSO - Flag Ship Org

CSFSSO - Church of Scientology Flag Ship Service Org

Whole Track - This is to do with the time track of a being.

COB - Chairman of the Board, the Chairman of the Board is the most senior office in RTC, and one for which David Miscavige is uniquely qualified.  An active Scientologist for most of his life, he first became a Church staff member in 1976 and has since been involved with nearly every aspect of the Church's activities.

RTC - Religious Technology Centre, this is an organisation of Scientology which is to ensure the preservation and protection of the Scientology religion.  This would include that all materials written and recorded by LRH are up to standard.

OT - Operating Thetan, this is where a being is able to operate as a spiritual being, being cause over Matter, Energy, Space and Time.  There are currently 15 levels of OT, at present only 8 levels are available.  OT 9 and 10 will be released when all Scientology organisations around the world have a certain target known to Scientologists as the size of "Old Saint Hill".

PTP - Present Time Problem, meaning a problem that is affecting the person here and now in the present time.

Missed Withhold - This is something that happens after a person commits a misdemeanor.  The misdemeanor can be small or big, but after the misdemeanor, the person then lives in fear of being found out and hence you have the term "missed withhold" meaning something that a person thinks somebody may have found out about his misdemeanor but is being withheld by the person who has done the misdemeanor.

Overt - This means something somebody does which goes against their dynamics, whether small or large.  For example, you have somebody taking drugs which is not only destructive to their own dynamic, but also destructive to the other dynamics (1 to 8 ).  For information regarding the dynamics, see the definition titled "Dynamics" above.

Reactive Mind - That part of the mind which one is not aware of and acts on involuntary emotional and physical responses with the outside world as a mechanism of protection.  This mind records on a cellular level and is always conscious.

WOG - Worthy Oriental Gentleman; one who isn't trying.

Bank - Please see definition "Reactive Mind".

http://www.24hourforums.com/forum129/19814.html

[Ultrapoet]

WOG - Worthy Oriental Gentleman; one who isn't trying.

I . . . uh . . . yeah . . .

And this was a PRO-Scion site.

If you want evidence that Hubbard was a racist butthead, there ya go.

[ethercat]

Hubbard was aware of the power of redefining words, one of the techniques used to get and keep people in scientology.  I knew and understood this, but I just ran across an actual quote from him:

"A long term propaganda technique used by socialists (Communists and Nazis alike} is of interest to PR practitioners. I know of no place it is mentioned in PR literature. But the data had verbal circulation in intelligence circles and is in constant current use. The trick is -- WORDS ARE REDEFINED TO MEAN SOMETHING ELSE TO THE ADVANTAGE OF THE PROPAGANDIST. Many instances of planned and campaigned in order to obtain a public opinion advantage for the group doing the propaganda. Given enough repetition of the redefinition public opinion can be altered by altering the meaning of a word. The technique is good or bad depending on the ultimate objective of the propagandist.

"'Psychiatry' and 'psychiatrist' are easily redefined to mean 'an anti-social enemy of the people'. This takes the kill crazy psychiatrist off the preferred list of Professions... The redefinition of words is done by associating different emotions and symbols with the word than were intended...Scientologists are redefining 'doctor', 'Psychiatry' and 'psychology' to mean 'undesirable antisocial elements'...The way to redefine a word is to get the new definition repeated as often as possible. Thus it is necessary to redefine medicine, psychiatry and psychology downward and define Dianetics and Scientology upwards. This, so far as words are concerned, is the public opinion battle for belief in your definitions, and not those of the opposition. A consistent, repeated effort is the key to any success with this technique of propaganda." - L. Ron Hubbard, Hubbard Communications Office Policy Letter, 5 October 1971, PR Series 12, "Propaganda by Redefinition of Words"

Off topic for this thread, but another thing that is interesting in this quote is that doctors and the field of medicine are equated to psychologists, psychiatists, and the field of mental health, and Hubbard recommends to redefine all of those to 'undesirable antisocial elements.'

For all the discussion, debate, and denial about how scientology views medical doctors (there is A LOT of denial by scientology that they don't try to keep people from going to ordinary medical doctors for physical problems), here are the founder L. Ron Hubbard's words on the subject.  Hubbard views medical doctors in the same way as he views anyone in the field of mental health - something to be avoided at any cost, and destroyed if possible.

[Lorelei]

Note also that Scientology is big on "shore stories" (i.e., cover stories that have little, if anything, to do with the truth or facts, but sound plausible on the surface) and "acceptable lies." Lies are considered acceptable if a Scientologist lies blatantly to a non-Scientologist. Lies are also OK if the lying Scientologist is trying to, say, rege some more cash out of another cultist for a project that will never come to fruition. See: Super Power Building in Clearwater. The cult has been digging money out of cultist pockets for almost TWENTY FIVE YEARS, and claiming it is for "completing the Super Powers Building." Same with the "Ideal (Idle) Orgs."

The underlying scam here, underneath the never-ending rege cycles for more "mandatory donations" (for which they will hound and harass and stalk and phone / visit incessantly), is that all donations draw interest. The cult is fined a couple of thou a month for the incomplete SP Building in Clearwater, but the estimated principle and resulting interest on that principle makes a couple of thou a drop in the bucket. They can afford to pay the fine indefinitely, as long as the gullible continue to be squeezed for every penny.

Re: the bellicose / violent language and imagery in their adverts, they have sent out images of WWI and WWII in cultist email spams for events (where you must donate) and sales pitches and comparatively refreshing bald appeals for more cash, especially in the U.K.

They frequently claim to be "at war" against critics / protesters, the entire psychiatric community, news anchors, reporters, newspapers (SP Times, Time magazine), Big Pharma, various governments (Germany, France, Australia, Canada, The US, you name it), universities who deny them a chance to recruit on campus, librarians who don't put their trash on the shelves of a library, and various highly placed individuals who dare to criticize them (Xenophon, Stone & Parker (South Park creators), writers like Paulette Cooper). In short, Scientology is at war with everyone who is not a Scientologist--everyone is an Enemy to defeat by any means possible, fair or foul--and Scientology ALSO is at war with any Scientologist who expresses concerns, does not cough up enough money, resists being Disconnected from loved ones, expresses "doubt," or happens to get in trouble with the volatile COB / DM or his flunkies.

Everyone who is not in the cult is viewed one of three ways: as potential converts, as potential "trouble sources," or the 2% who are not worth bothering to convert and who should be destroyed without mercy or sorrow (including homosexuals, psychiatrists, you name it).

The "if you're not with us, you're against us" mentality, combined with the constant fear-mongering and enemy-finding, means that it has to be stressful, miserable, and unpleasant to be in the cult. So why do it? If you buy into their line that they are the "only route to salvation / only way to 'save the planet'", then I suppose you are required to support that erroneous belief with increasingly illogical, aggressive, and unpleasant behaviors and speech.

Remember: if ANYONE or ANY GROUP claims to have a "one size fits all" answer to a complex set of problems, RUN AWAY. Especially if they ask for money.

[AnonLover]

Here's an essay, called Language, Jargon and Mind Control, that is well worth the read: http://alley.ethercat.com/xint/language.html

Wow. Somehow I missed this thread and that most excellent essay. May I have permission to mirror that (with a link to the original) in my comparitive analysis of Scientology language? It would make for an awesome addition the next time I publish an update to this document:

Scientology Tech Dictionary Definition Comparisons
http://www.scribd.com/doc/136449275/Scientology-Tech-Dictionary-Definition-Comparisons

[ethercat]

Here's an essay, called Language, Jargon and Mind Control, that is well worth the read: http://alley.ethercat.com/xint/language.html

Wow. Somehow I missed this thread and that most excellent essay. May I have permission to mirror that (with a link to the original) in my comparitive analysis of Scientology language? It would make for an awesome addition the next time I publish an update to this document:

Scientology Tech Dictionary Definition Comparisons
http://www.scribd.com/doc/136449275/Scientology-Tech-Dictionary-Definition-Comparisons

Sure, AL.  It was posted on ARS years ago.  You don't need to worry about a link back, either. 

(The ex-int site was suggested by Chuck Beatty when he first left, and he was about the only ex-inter talking.  The site never really took off, and will probably come down at some point.)