From: Kim Baker Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology Subject: MY STORY : PART 11 Date: Thu, 15 Dec 1994 07:26:19 GMT The personal part of my story is now told. The telling of my story has been like a confession, and exorcism - and I didn't have to pay for it!! It has helped me finish with the Church of Scientology, and the massive feedback I have had tells me it has helped many other people as well - which is wonderful. The support I have had has been nothing short of ASTOUNDING - I thank you all for your encredible caring, support and love. I love you too! WHERE TO NOW? I have to finish healing, personally, on my own now. In a few days, I am going to take a holiday - mountains, sea (it is summer here!), forests, old friends, art, music, good times! I am going to reclaim my life for ME before I consider what I will do next. I am not the type of person that can just forget an evil, and go on with my life - so I will be back next year. The CoS will no longer dominate my life, but I WILL give a portion of it to opposing this evil - and focus the rest of my energies on being creative - on working towards constructive goals, so badly needed here in South Africa. In closing, I'd like to offer some of my thoughts, and my position as regards the Church of Scientology. REFELECTIONS The profile of the participants on a.r.s is very interesting: out and out sceptics, scientists who see the "religion" aspect as a complete fraud; ex- Church members who have either rejected Scientology and any form of spirituality completely, or who have continued using the religion while rejecting the Church, or who have taken up a new religion; people who have never been in Scientology, but are concerned about the cult aspect, and occasionally, even some Scientologists! WHY SINGLE OUT THE CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY FOR ATTACK? Everyone's attention has been captured by the ACTIONS of the Church of Scientology (as distinct from the religion/philosophy of Scientology). The Church is UNIQUE in its aggressive litigation and harassment of critics - unique from any religion, any cult. This draws attention to it, and distinguishes it as an organisation needing closer scrutiny. It is UNIQUE in its copyrighting of its materials - "religious scriptures" - while calling them "trade secrets". It is UNIQUE in the exhorbitant charges it levies at its adherents - called "donations" - where in fact these donations are fixed, and services cannot be taken WITHOUT them, and without membership of the International Association of Scientologists (a registered business). The Church is UNIQUE in its exploitation of legal loop-holes, using an armery of highly paid lawyers, paid for from its billion dollar "War Chest". It is UNIQUE in its use of front groups, such as WISE, NARCANON, Education Alive, etc. It is THESE aspects that provoke such anger and outrage from society - these aspects that explain the continued attacks on the Church, the singling out of it from other cults. IT FITS THE PROFILE OF A CULT AS WELL Then, there are other practices that the Church uses, which parallel those used by other cults - the "shunning" of critics, punishing of dissenters, subtle mind control, emotional manipulation, the COMPLETE absorbtion of people's lives, demands for loyalty, etc. The mind control aspect is a whole subject on its own - I could write VOLUMES in it - I may still do, as in this world as it stands now, mind control needs to be researched and understood in order to effectively combat it - too little is known about it. MIND CONTROL - THE ANTITHESIS OF FREE WILL For now, I will limit myself to just saying this: ANYTHING that demands the relinquishing of your own thoughts, your own FREE WILL, and the total acceptance of another's thoughts, without question, is mind control. How do I justify my conclusion that the Church uses mind control? The founder of the Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, had this to say: "We have learned the hard way that an individual from the public must NEVER be asked to DECIDE or CHOOSE...you can teach them anything, particularly the truth. But never ask them to decide...by processing up through the grades, this person will soon begin to see and be there and understand and decide. And she'll surely decide she's a Scientologist, as its true all the way." From HCO Policy Letter 16th April 1965, "Handling the Public Individual", by L. Ron Hubbard. There you have it. No free will, free thought or choice is allowed UNTIL you become a Scientologist. Once you have accepted their way of thinking, free will is no longer a threat - because of course, you now think like them. And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, in a nutshull, is mind control. WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT? To dismiss the philosophy of Scientology as a complete fraud is dangerous. To ban the Church outright, is wrong. Because this will only kill off the evil of mind control, without UNDERSTANDING WHY this phenonmenon persists - and all that will happen is that it will re-group, and emerge in another form. To deal with it effectively, we have to UNDERSTAND it. And there is only ONE way to do that. GET THE COPYRIGHTS LIFTED! Let the public SEE these materials, and judge for themselves. There are several people working on this - give them any support you can. Contact the experts via FACTNET. Get the whole subject of Scientology BACK INTO THE AREA OF FREE WILL, OF CHOICE. In this way, those who see the philosophy as a load of rubbish, can continue to reject it out of choice. Those who are interested in the philosophy of Scientology can explore and use it WITHOUT being bankrupted, hurt, forced, manipulated, brainwashed, co-erced, controlled, brutalized and used. In this way, the litigation, the harassment, the use of front groups, the infiltration of governements, the goal of world domination, the danger of an Orwellian 1984 nightmare, can be avoided. It is the only way. AND IT IS WHAT THE CHURCH FEARS THE MOST. HOW CAN WE DO THIS? Simple. Tell everyone about it, get literature on the crimes of the organisation and show it to people. Educate, educate, educate! When there is enough awareness, and enough support, lobby your governments. I can tell you from personal experience, there is NOTHING any government, any court of law can do to oppose THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE. South Africa is the proof of this. Contact FACTNET (sorry guys, I know you're overloaded), and get guidance from them. DON'T take on the Church on an individual basis - that is why they have continued to persist , as it is very easy for an organisation to crush an individual. TAKE THEM ON WITH THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE!!!! AND FINALLY... Personally, I have not decided on my own spiritual future. When I do, when I am ready, it will be by CHOICE - I can be a sceptic, a buddhist, a freezoner, a Christian - who knows? I have reclaimed the right to DECIDE for myself! And that is my story. Thank you all for listening. I love you! Kim Baker