About me, my reasons for posting and some thoughts on Scientology

Louise Cook, Wed 24 Mar 1999

From: look@pcug.org.au
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
Subject: About me, my reasons for posting and some thoughts on Scientology
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1999 12:19:49 GMT
Message-ID: <36feb9c0.21672416@newshost.pcug.org.au>

Hello all,

After being accused of being a troll and a clam by Oxford Systems, I
thought it was about time to tell you who I am and why I have decided
to delurk on a.r.s.

My name is Louise Cook, and I live in Canberra, the capital of
Australia.  I have posted 6 times using look@pcug.org.au and once
using lou_cook@dejanews.com.  My first post was a low key response to
a question asked by DonNOTs in the thread CO$ Staffers: Burdens on
Society.  I have received three phone calls and one email from the
lawyer representing the COS in Canberra, Ron Clapham, in response to
this post.  I was threatened with a defamation lawsuit.

I was provoked by my disgust at the hypocrisy and abuse I witnessed at the
Canberra org and in particular the actions of the
Course Supervisor, Matt Dent, father of my 15 month old baby.  He has two
children and has justified the neglect of his responsibilities for them by the
old "greater good" argument.  He has also justified criminal
behavior including frauding the government for the same reason.  He did try to
leave staff 12 months ago however so that he could get off the dole (or at
least be on it legitimately) and assist his children.  He was denied the
requisite sec check however, and was expected to stay on post 8.30am to 10pm
each day ( oh, and the sleep over once a week, to safeguard the org).  He was
under enormous pressure from the org to stay on staff despite his inability to
support himself and his children and pay off his debts while doing so.  He was
threatened by Glen Stewart (the senior supervisor) and Dean Detheridge (the
ethics officer) with "never being able to go up the bridge this
lifetime" and to "be declared" unless he remained on post.  He
couldn't leave staff without leaving Scientology, which he didn't want to do.
He couldn't stay and survive either.  What a catch 22.  He has evidently had
his contract suspended now,  12 months late.

I agreed not to post to a.r.s. any more and to cancel my messages I
had already sent (three at that stage) and he agreed to do a number of
things to appease me.  I don't call abusing me in front of my son and
forcing his way into my house to yell in my face appeasement however
and so I will continue to post.  He broke his agreement and so I am
under no obligation to keep my side of the bargain.  I will still be
forwarding all the crimes and child neglect I know about at the
Canberra org.  It makes me happy to do so because it is good for the
public to know what happens behind the facade the org presents.  Human
rights are being abused and good hearted people like Matt are being
used and abused; and pushed right over the edge.  Children are growing
up without parents.  People are defrauding the government.  This is
all occurring behind the facade of a "Church", a religion, and a tax
free organization to boot.  I state emphatically that the Canberra org
is out exchange with the community in which it resides.  The staff to
public ratio would be no greater than 1: 3.  How can three publics
support one staff member?  They can't, it has been left up to the
Australian taxpayer to provide housing, child support and survival for
many at the org.  Only a few are truly self sufficient, even the
Executive Director lives in government subsidised housing and does not
contribute to his child's upbringing.  They may justify this out
exchange by claiming that what they are doing is for the *greater
good*.  I doubt the Australian public would agree however.  They want
their taxes to support schools, hospitals and roads etc., not the
employees of a minority religion (1488 Scientologists in Australia at
the June 1996 census).

He made me realise that Scientology has alot to offer people unwilling
to accept reality and responsibility. First you can blame engrams, and
the reactive mind for all your problems; all those pre-natals. You can
blame all those past lives; with their engrams and overts.  You can
blame all those misunderstood words,  and unconfessed overts.  You can
blame your unclean body and do the purif.  You can claim PTSness and
blame some "suppressive person".  You can blame the evil conspiracy of
the psych's.  You can blame between lives implant stations.  You can
blame an out ethics situation. If you still haven't realised how to
cope with your own emotions, confront reality and find solutions to
your problems instead of searching for someone or something to blame
you've still got all those body thetans and that cursed Xenu left.  

Here is a quote from Shakyamuni, the Buddha that illustrates the folly
of the above approach to solving problems:

" If one comes across a person who has been shot by an arrow, one does
not spend time wondering about  where the arrow came from, or the
caste of the individual who shot it, or analyzing what type of wood
the shaft is made of, or the manner in which the arrowhead was
fashioned.  Rather one should focus on immediately pulling out the
arrow."    

As a final note I would like to say thanks to Oxford Systems for
prompting me to write this sooner rather than later and for pointing
out the importance of being clear and precise when posting to a.r.s.
I admit to being a usenet clueless nubile, but I'm learning! 
I answered the SPC in haste thinking that I had made my point about
their blatant hypocrisy  and insinuating that those who live in glass
houses should not throw stones.  I wanted to tell them that they
should look at the way individuals are being vilified by the church
and followers before pointing the finger at anyone else.

Maybe I should have just quoted some words from LRH that would expose
the blatant hypocrisy of their allegations like:

"If attacked on some vulnerable point by anyone or anything or any
organization, always find or manufacture enough threat against them to
cause them to sue for peace."

I would also like to thank Andreas for www.xenu.net

Louise