A Specific Case History of the Cult's Ability to Sucker People in

Tym Jeffery, Fri 28 Jan 2000

From: frice@linkline.com (Fredric L. Rice)
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
Subject: A Specific Case History of the Cult's Ability to Sucker People in
Date: Sun, 06 Jun 1999 16:19:56 GMT
Message-ID: <36a14c00.72068410@nntp.lightlink.com>

This was posted to FidoNet's HOLYSMOKE echo:

-=-

I was very interested in reading your account of Clearwater.

Being new to this area I'll ask you to pardon my ignorance, but 
could you possibly post some more background information 
about Clearwater and the illegal and unethical acts of Scientologists.

I've basically resented the group ever since they managed to get 
a local skeptics show kicked off community radio on the grounds 
of defamation after the show presented an interview with a 
former member who called the group Nazi's. Working in community 
radio myself and being well aware of defamation laws I was 
quite shocked that the Scientologists protests were upheld. I 
heard the interview when it was originally broadcast and quite 
frankly I've heard more defamotary statements go on the air 
unpunished and the comments by the party involved did in no 
way prejudice my views against the cult, at the time.

I'm also slightly embarrassed to admit how close I allowed 
myself to come to being recruited by the group once.  But one day 
I was walking to University down the city streets about a block 
from the Scientologists building.  As I passed a video arcade 
center (interestingly an ideal place where disillusioned youth 
wagging school might hang out) I noticed a man holding a clipboard 
and pen looking at me, as we made eye contact he quickly 
stepped forward and politely asked if I would take part in a 
survey.  Having time to kill I agreed, but thought it was strange 
that the man asked me my name and maybe address too (my 
memory is vague). 

He then proceeded to ask me very general yet strange questions 
along the lines of "Do you care about people?  Do you think that
there should not be any hate in the world?"  Now what are you 
supposed to answer to those questions?  I'm standing there like 
an asshole saying "Ummm, yeah, I guess so."

Pretty soon he was asking me about my job situation, he seemed 
glad when I said I didn't work, but looked a little annoyed when 
I later told him I was studying.  Eventually he offered me a job and 
I was hesitant so he offered to take me to where he worked saying 
they counsel troubled people.  Judging from what he was saying 
I assumed that it was some kind of counselling center where 
they helped drug addicts and so forth, so like an idiot I went 
with him. As a sidenote too, seeing that I was young, had long 
hair and not exactly the most clean cut individual walking the 
streets I found it amusing that his way of endearing himself to me 
was by working four letter words as often as possible into 
the conversation.

So as I'm walking with this guy my slow moving brain 
eventually realises that I don't even know what this place is and 
this dude could be an axe murderer for all I know (my parents 
suceeded in projecting their anxieties on to me). So as he's 
crapping on about how good this place is to work I asked him 
what exactly it was to which is mumbles response was the church 
of scientology. When he uttered those words I literally stopped in 
my tracks and said I wasn't interested.  Once again he prompted 
me on saying the stuff in the media wasn't true etc, and people 
like Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise were members (yeah like
that will make me want to be a part of it).  In the end he got me 
to comply by saying to just check the place out and if I didn't like 
I could leave.

We arrived in the foyer of this Scientology building and he's 
talking to me about how great this group is, the whole time 
he's talking to me I'm just thinking of how to escape.  I came 
close to just running away right in the middle of 
conversation, however common sense prevailed.  He introduced 
me to an attractive woman who was his superior, I was his too 
busy thinking about having sex with her to notice what she was 
saying though.  Those moronic male desires were stopped though 
when she opened her mouth I got a clear look at her teeth or 
whatever those things were (he had bad teeth too, couldn't they 
at least supply members with toothpaste?).  I could tell she hated 
me -- she could read the reservation on my face.  If so I 
didn't endear myself to her anymore when after telling me to sit 
in the "video room" I said I had to go and politely refused to do 
so.  These two looked at each other in shock at my casual rejection 
to what they percieved was a better way of life for me.  

Once again the guy assured me that they would let me come to a 
descion after watching the movie and by this time I was getting 
angry, I mean you give people an inch they take a mile.  I was kind 
of looking forwards to going off at this guy, but remembered I was 
in the Scientologists building, I'm outnumbered.  So with an 
escape plan already formualted in my head, I agreed to watch 
this piece of crappy propaganda.

Sensing that he was losing me the guy tried to win me over with 
his spiel about how good their mini-theatre room was, going on 
about the state of the art speakers and big screen.  I knew he 
was getting desperate because he was giving the pitch of a 
hi-fi salesman when he was trying to make me join a cult.  So 
he takes me into this room where a teenager about 17 is sitting. 
They start the thing and all of a sudden this cheaply made 
impression of Star Wars starts up. There's a computer image of 
the Earth rotating in Space on the screen and this booming voice 
comes on talking about L. Ron Hubbard and how fantastic his 
ideas were.  By this time I'm feeling like a complete dork, I'm
reminded of every Nazi brain washing film I've seen (they really 
are Nazi's) and Chinese Water torture (I don't even know why 
I'm thinking of that).

The way I see it, my mind went out for 20 minutes and when it 
came back it said, "What the hell are you doing?  Let's go, we've 
got a class in 10 minutes."  So in sudden realisation that I'm 
being played, I grab my bag, open the door (which I'm suprised is 
not locked) and leave.  In an angry frenzy I storm out of the 
building and down the street where I push past the orginal 
guy that approached me.  He realises it's me, but lets me go 
because the pace I was walking at and the expression on my face, 
he knew he didn't want to stop me. After all that's what you do 
when you make a complete fool out of yourself, blame someone 
else.  So I escape feeling humiliated more than anything, 
because I allowed this to happen.  What started as an 
ordinary afternoon on my way to my place of study has turned into 
a Twighlight Zone episode.  This is why I loathe Scientology 
and anymore information you could give me to loath them 
more would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.


Regards,

Tym Jeffery


--- "de omnibus dubitandum"  All is to be doubted --- Descartes
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