Understanding Scientology The Demon Cult.pdf.{Zoryn}

"Understanding Scientology" is a book by Margery Wakefield, who spent 12 years of her life as a member of the Church of Scientology, a new religious movement often (and apparently rightly) accused of being a cult. Wakefield's most well-known book, "The Road to Xenu" is a partly fictionalized account of her experiences as a Scientologist. "Understanding Scientology" is more general. Both books are available free on the web. The author also has her own Youtube channel.



Unsurprisingly, Scientology shares many traits with other cults: devious recruitment techniques, false promises of perfection and enlightenment, members working long hours for little pay, an authoritarian internal regime, harassment of defectors, etc. What set Scientology apart might be the sheer lengths to which founder-leader Hubbard and his cronies were willing to go. Life in the Church of Scientology reminds me of life in a bizarre, Orwellian-Stalinist police state. The group has its own secret service, which systematically gathers information on each member, to be used against him if he ever becomes critical or defects. The harassment of ex-members and vocal outside critics is also very thorough-going. The author claims that Scientologists have burglarized government offices, abducted people, broken into flats to leave threatening "messages", attempted to frame critics for bomb threats, and even discussed assassinations! The whole thing smells of the mafia or the secret police in some banana republic. Indeed, the Church of Scientology even has its own "prisons", known as RPF.



The various "courses" taken by members to become "clear" are really forms of brain-washing, which train the unsuspecting recruits to follow (or give) orders without thinking, and to numb their feelings. The higher courses, known as OT levels, are secret to anyone below the appropriate "level". All true Scientologists aspire to become qualified for the OT levels, which might take years (and a considerable amount of money). I think it took Wakefield twelve years to reach OT III, the most famous OT level, also known as the Wall of Fire. On this level, the members finally learn the "secrets of the universe", which turn out to be (among other things) the absurd story about Xenu and the Galactic Federation immortalized by "South Park".



Several chapters of "Understanding Scientology" expose Lafayette Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology and its precursor Dianetics. The author summarizes the conclusions of two critical biographies of Hubbard, Bent Corydon's "L Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman?" and Russell Miller's "Bare-Faced Messiah: The True Story of L Ron Hubbard". Scientologists portray Hubbard as a genius with a heroic background in both science and the military, and internally, Scientologists actually believe he was a reincarnation of the Buddha. Corydon's and Miller's research suggest that Hubbard, rather, was a habitual liar suffering from near-clinical paranoia and delusions of grandeur. He used a wide variety of drugs and was originally a Satanist. Apparently, he knew Aleister Crowley personally! Most of Hubbard's early supporters (some of them wealthy) were scared off by his antics, but he soon managed to form a disciplined and loyal organization almost single-handedly. That organization, of course, was the Church of Scientology.



"Understanding Scientology" seems to have been published on the web at some point during the 1990's. The web edition contains essays by Bob Penny and Robert Kaufman in addition to the main text by Wakefield. Penny's and Kaufman's articles are not included in this book edition, which is dated 2010. However, there doesn't seem to be any updates on the recent scandals surrounding Scientology, including the recruitment of Tom Cruise.



That being said, I still believe this is an important book, and therefore give it five stars. Hopefully, it can persuade at least some people not to try Scientology.