This blog has been replaced…

by my new blog.

To be even more Clear…

The last blog post sparked discussions in many arenas. Instead of addressing the points on each channel, I think it’s better to address them right here. I’m not covering new territory, this is clarification.

• What I have experienced from the Tech in Scientology has been very workable. I have seen very little that didn’t work on me. I am very thankful for all my gains in Scientology.
• I have personally seen examples of Tech not working on others or having a negative effect on others – even when they got, as far as I can see, Standard Tech.
• I see inconsistencies in the Tech and I believe it to be overly complex. I believe there must be a simpler method of addressing the problems of the simplest of sources; You.
• I believe in the free will of man and that the free market will decide what works. Hence, I advocate Open Source Scientology (both connotations).
• I think the validity of any Tech can be shown scientifically – and it should. But absence of scientific evidence does not counter the workability of a Tech. Beyond that, your personal gain is for you to validate. Anything can work. Scientology very often does.
• I see much good in the Admin policies from LRH. But destructive policies should be rooted out. This obviously goes for anything destructive in Ethics or Tech as well. Keep the good, reject the bad.
• I see much good in Scientology Ethics – as long as it is kept as a personal tool for improvement and not as a tool of force applied to others.
• I see flaws in Hubbard. I see genius in Hubbard. I see that many have serious issues separating the man from his work. Newton’s work is not invalidated by the man being seriously flawed.
• To those claiming “Isene is slowly waking up from Scientology”, I can only say this: I am quite awake and has been for some time – having objected to stupidity and abuses while in the church. I will however not enter the daze of negativity where anything bad about Scientology is treated as gospel. Differentiation is the key.
• As for the discussions sparked by the last blog post, I didn’t think I would see the day when ESMB would out-rabid WWP.
• The “all good” or “all bad” are equal signs of insanity.

And this pretty much concludes an era of blogging for me. I will let this blog simmer down. I will let my IT blog wither. And I will erect a new blog merging all my fields of interest – Scientology and exploration of free will, IT and consumer rights, patent and copyright abolishment, philosophy and logic, art and music, mathematics and quantum mechanics, programming and HP calculators, nature and beauty.

Stay tuned. You will be invited over to my new home for a housewarming party.

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Report from OSLO

A quick overview of the OSLO meeting:

7 nations were present among the 12 attendants. 25 people were confirmed but several peeled off en the last couple of weeks. Ages ranging from 22 – 80, both independents since the early 80’s and a couple only recently (last week or so) out. New friendships were made. Party and caek.

Topics covered:

• How to help those on the inside wake up (got a good plan for this)
• Leaving the takedown of DM to those who can actually pull it off.
• Get the message out that there are better alternatives for getting tech on the outside (fear of not getting their Bridge is the main reason why people stay and tolerate human rights abuses)
• Creating a rating system for independent delivery units/individuals (something the church will never have)
• How to effectively release the tech on the Net (excellent plan on this)
• Manning up a couple of cool adventures (more on this later)

Thanks to my new friends 🙂

See also Silvia’s blog post.

Batman & the Mighty Claire

Robin is the sidekick of Batman. But who is Batman the sidekick of?

The Mighty Claire – and she is the new sheriff in town.

The Scientology Forum (scnforum.org) is gracefully turned over to the new partnership. While Claire Swazey will be the forum administrator, Jeff Batman will handle the technical and back-end matters. Together they will provide the future for the forum – the most prominent neutral ground for courteous discussion of Scientology on the Internet. It is the open forum for Scientologists, both inside the CoS and Independants and Freezoners and critics alike. It is a vehicle for free speech on the subject of Scientology.

Gotham should be safe in their hands.

Claire & Batman; you have the torch.

Shifting gears

After leaving the Church of Scientology on 2009-08-07, I started blogging a week later. Six months ago, in the beginning of November I started The Scientology Forum (scnforum.org) to create a neutral ground for courteous discussions on Scientology.

While it has been good to have something different than a nay-saying-board or a critic-quenching space, it is still less productive to talk than to act. Many discussions on TSF have brought light on important subjects within Scientology. Sure, there are those who post there to preach and to sell a thesis rather than participating in a debates to learn and to grow. But the wealth of valuable exchange of viewpoints have produced some interesting epiphanies amongst the participants.

The Internet atmosphere regarding Scientology leans heavily toward stopping the abuses perpetrated by the Church of Scientology. While this is important, I know I work best on the positive, constructive side rather than opposing and trying to stop something bad. I like creating artwork and music. I like to write. And I like to help people. These are what makes life thrilling for me. When I focus on helping others, life is the most enjoyable.

The realization I am trying to convey here has been accented by people like Terril Park who is constantly sending out success stories from Scientology delivery outside of the church. And the growing number of delivery units servicing people with positive Scientology.

I will be giving the Scientology Forum to someone else. I will focus on helping people I like. And life will be more fun.

For those attending the OSLO round-table conference on May 16, I have something up my sleeve. I need a few more trained Scientologists for a potentially big task. If you are one, please consider yourself urged to attend.

Life is amazing when you follow your heart. May you have an amazing future.

Declaring Free Speech Suppressive

I finally got hold of the Suppressive Person (SP) Declare issued by the Church of Scientology on myself and my wife.

Keeping with the concise style of this blog, thankfully the issue is one of the slimmest I’ve ever seen. I am guilty of mainly one crime; Exercising my right to free speech. My wife is declared suppressive for supporting this basic human right.

A suppressive person is according to the Scientology Technical Dictionary:

1. Those who are destructively anti-social.
2. A person who rewards only down statistics and never rewards an up statistic. He goofs up or vilifies any effort to help anybody and particularly knifes with violence anything calculated to make human beings more powerful or intelligent.

Hubbard describes twelve characteristics of a suppressive person. These are used to determine if a person actually is an SP.

Our SP Declare however does not attempt any evaluation against these characteristics. There seems to be more than one standard regarding what an SP really is.

An SP Declare is often issued as a way to silence critics of the church and as internal damage control to ensure that other Scientologists are forbidden to communicate with the person. In this way the church believes that any valid criticism is contained and not allowed to spread to other active Scientologists.

According to the policy HCO PL 29 APRIL 1965 III “ETHICS REVIEW”, a person goes through several ethics steps before finally being declared suppressive. There are a total of 35 steps before the bottom – Expulsion – is reached. A relevant quote from the policy:

“Only a Comm Ev [Committee of Evidence] can recommend suspension or remove certificates or awards or memberships or recommend dismissals”

A Committee of Evidence is convened to gather facts and ensure a person is not assumed guilty until proven innocent. A person should have the opportunity to defend himself as is usual for any civilized justice system. This is also covered in the Universal Declarations of Human Rights, Article #11, part one which states “Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence“. Also, according to policy, I am to be given a copy of the Declare.

I was never summoned before a Committee of Evidence nor given a copy of my Declare. Neither was my wife. In fact, the church has made no attempts to contact me or my wife since our departure, except for the infamous OSA ambush meeting.

I have promised that I would give a public critique of my declare once I got hold of a copy. I will go through the issue paragraph by paragraph and give my comments along the way:

Geir Isene, of Oslo, Norway, are hereby DECLARED Suppressive Persons and are EXPELLED from the Church of Scientology, pursuant to HCO PL 7 Mar. 1965RB I SUPPRESSIVE ACTS, SUPPRESSION OF SCIENTOLOGY AND SCIENTOLOGISTS.

We were EXPELLED from the church three months after we publicly announced our departure and left the organization.

Geir Isene publicly and broadly announced his departure from the Church of Scientology, making false, denigrating and derogatory statements about Scientologists in good standing and about the Church.

Following HCO PL 6 Oct 1967R, “CONDITIONS OF LIABILITY AND DOUBT”, Doubt Condition point 6, a person is required to announce his decision publicly to both sides. This is exactly what I did by publicising my Doubt write-up

According to HCO PL 7 Mar. 1965RB I “SUPPRESSIVE ACTS, SUPPRESSION OF SCIENTOLOGY AND SCIENTOLOGISTS” it becomes a suppressive act to do so if the person then decides to leave the Church of Scientology.

The Declare makes generalized accusations without any backing, claiming I have been making false, denigrating and derogatory statements about Scientologists in good standing and about the Church. What exactly is false?

The church at least on the face support the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 19 says “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.“.

Also according to the Creed of the Church of Scientology: “We of the Church believe… That all men have inalienable rights to think freely, to talk freely, to write freely their own opinions and to counter or utter or write upon the opinions of others… And that no agency less than God has the power to suspend or set aside these rights, overtly or covertly.“.

Declaring someone a Suppressive Person for exercising his Human Rights and acting according to the Church’s own Creed is hypocritical at best.

He connected to a known squirrel, who is engaged in a spiteful rumormongering and black propaganda campaign, in an attempt to discredit and vilify Scientology and Scientologists in good standing.

Who is this known squirrel (“Those who engage in actions altering Scientology, and offbeat practices”)?

Geir is guilty of the following suppressive acts, per the above referenced policy;

“Public disavowal of Scientology or Scientologists in good standing with Scientology organizations.”

I have never disavowed Scientology. I am a Scientologist.

I have disavowed the current management of the Church of Scientology, which I consider suppressive. One should ask oneself this annoying question: If Scientology was indeed taken over by a suppressive person, is there any way to remove that person from power using Scientology policies without oneself being declared suppressive?

“Engaging in malicious rumormongering to destroy the authority or repute of higher officers or the leading names of Scientology or to ‘safeguard’ a position.”

Rumormongering? What I have written on my blog is either fact or my opinion. No rumors have been started from what I have written here.

As (his wife) condones these suppressive acts of Geir, she too is guilty of the same as per HCO PL 7 Mar. 1965RA III, OFFENCES AND PENALTIES;

“Being a knowing accessory to a suppressive act.”

By this standard, several thousand of the 50000 or so active Scientologists world-wide would have to be declared as they will have seen at least some of the suppressive acts perpetrated by the current management of the church.

Geir was given assistance and opportunity to get true data and resolve his situation with Standard Tech. However, he continued to associate with squirrels and continued to commit suppressive acts.

I was given a set of template unsubstantiated affidavits from current staff at the church’s international headquarters amounting to little more than attempts at character assassinations of Mike Rinder and Marty Rathbun and glorifying of David Miscavige. Also, who are the squirrels I am continuing to associate with?

Any certificates or awards that may have been issued to Geir or (his wife) are hereby cancelled. Any licenses they may have signed to use the marks of Dianetics and Scientology are cancelled as well and they may not use the marks in any manner whatsoever.

Should Geir and (his wife) come to their senses and recant, they are to do steps A-E of HCO PL 7 Mar. 1965RB I, SUPPRESSIVE ACTS, SUPPRESSION OF SCIENTOLOGY AND SCIENTOLOGISTS.

Should the Church of Scientology come to its senses and reform, I may consider joining to actually apply Scientology to help individuals exercise their free will and personal integrity.

Their only Scientology terminal is the International Justice Chief via the Continental Justice Chief.

Given that Tommy Davis is the International Justice Chief and seeing how he so blatantly lies on camera… no, I don’t think I will give him a call.

Book release: Six months in the open

I have just compiled my first six months of blogging into a book titled “Six months in the open”. I have added new background information giving the reader an insight into why some articles were written and bits and pieces not covered before.

It’s a short walk over to my home page, http://www.isene.com to grab yourself a PDF copy of the book. The book is free. No strings attached.

Six months and learning

It’s been 6 months since I left the Church of Scientology and published my Doubt write-up. For six months I have been blogging and engaging in discussions and exchange of viewpoints on the Net. First there were lots of discussions on this blog with participants from all over the world. Then I erected The Scientology Forum (www.scnforum.org) and moved the discussions over there.

There has been media – all major Norwegian newspapers, Norwegian national TV, the St Petersburg Times and coverage on the net. I have been in communication with hundreds of people – many still in the church looking for a smooth exit, others recently out or out since the 80’s and various critics and people anonymous. Many have left as they have read my bloggings. And there is more media to come. In this update, I would like to focus on my experience on the Net.

The Scientology Forum may very well be the only loosely moderated area for discussion on the net where scientologists can feel safe from exposure to upper level confidential material and where free speech is still the high goal. It is one of the few places where scientologists meet critics and exchange viewpoints.

Although it has been reported as a pro-tech forum, that wasn’t the original intent. I simply wanted more time with my family after having spent way too much time approving comments on my blog. With several good moderators at the forum, I actually got more family time. I am grateful to the moderators for that.

I wanted to see if scientologist could debate the subject on neutral ground, and if they could stand the arguments put forth by the critics. I think they have done well. And the critics have given them a good run for their money. And in this I appreciate the critics for questioning everything.

The Scientology Forum has managed quite well so far with original research and valuable facts presented – clarifications, extensions and debate on the Axioms, Logics and Factors by Vinaire, the discussion on disconnection and the ensuing research on PTS/SP tech by Jim Logan, discussions on the E-Meter, KSW #1, the CST underground vaults, double-blind studies by Valkov and much, much more. The facts that surface need a home, and that home could be the Scientology Facts wiki.

It seems that the hot topic on the Intertubez these days is whether the current bad CoS scene is caused by David Miscavige by his alteration of LRH policies, by LRH through his policy and conduct or as a complex co-creation by everyone involved to a greater or lesser degree. I tend to believe it’s a mixture of all these three but that DM has made the scene significantly worse on his own.

Now I would like to share some experiences with you after my first six months “in the open”. The following points do not relate to scnforum.org specifically, but more the overall scene of Scientology on the Internet.

1. Scientology itself is a highly charged subject. People feel very passionate about it – both pro and con. There are fanatics on both sides. There are the rabid critics, and there are the hard core Scientology party-liners. They have more in common than they like to admit – selling an agenda or “thesis”, insistence on being right and the ensuing habitual breaches in logic. Both camps are arrogant and “knows” what’s best for you. Tolerance in this arena is hard to come by. Insults on the other hand…
2. Most people engaging in discussions about Scientology have difficulties in differentiating. Scientology becomes the Church of Scientology becomes Hubbard becomes individual scientologists becomes the FreeZone becomes Independents becomes the argument becomes the tech becomes whatever. Most discussions about some piece of Scientology ends up in a discussion about Hubbard. Insistence on differentiation and logic will earn you some snide remarks and insults, but it is the only way forward in trying to get to some facts on the table and to get something effective done.
3. The noise/fact ratio is immense. There is a lot of blabbering by people who simply love to see their name and printed word appear on the net. Most have little or nothing to contribute except snide remarks, loose opinions, speculations or garbage.
4. There is more speculation than fact. In absence of fact people go rampant in speculations. This is why it is important to get facts on the table. This is why I now set up Scientology Facts – to collect whatever is possible of facts about Scientology and the Church of Scientology. Fact is what will make most people see what needs to be done. In the short run, an appeal to emotions may get things going but in the long run Fact is King™.
5. Trying to change another’s viewpoint by engaging in a discussion on the net is futile. It usually ends up in more cemented viewpoints. The insistence on being right is magnified by public discussions. As a variation of an old Internet saying goes: “Winning an argument on the Internet is like competing in the Paralympics. You may have won, but…“
6. Keeping a discussion on topic? Yeah, right.
7. If you want to engage in discussions on the net, ensure you contribute something of value to others in terms of facts, real experiences, valid questions and valid responses. Logic is your friend. And so is conciseness. Read up on “Logical Fallacies and the Art of Debate“. Stick to the topics at hand and don’t get offended.

The above points are not intended as invalidation of The Scientology Forum, but it may serve as a heads up that it could become a rambling mess unless we strive to keep the noise/fact ratio as low as possible and also capture research and fact onto Scientology Facts.

My purpose is threefold: 1) To help people differentiate between Scientology and the Church of Scientology, 2) To stop the human rights abuses in the church and 3) To ensure the tech is free for everyone to use. The forward progress along these lines are not happening on the Internet alone in front of a keyboard. – it takes actual real world action to pull these off.

It’s been an exciting first six months. Many have left the church, high profile people like Paul Haggis and Larry Anderson as well as scores of OTs. I believe we are seeing the snowball rolling down the mountain summit. This year we may just witness an avalanche. And in the debacle, I hope we can rescue the tech from the misapplications perpetrated by the church.

More at The Scientology Forum

Media & The Geir FAQ

New media coverage in the St. Petersburg Times: “Three of Scientology’s elite parishioners keep faith, but leave the church”

And for new readers of this blog, here are some frequent questions I get and my answers:

Q: Why did you leave the church?
A: Read my About page.

Q: Are you still a Scientologist?
A: Yes indeed.

Q: What are your purposes regarding Scientology?
A: 1) To stop the abuses in the church, 2) To help the general public differentiate between Scientology and the church and 3) To help make the Scientology philosophy free for everyone.

Q: What do you mean with “To help make the Scientology philosophy free for everyone”?
A: Read “LRH4ALL“, “Monopoly on freedom” and “Open Sourcing Scientology”

Q: What are your views on the Scientology and on the church now?
A: Read “My positions”

Q: What will it take for you to go back to the church?
A: A reform handling every reason why I left (see my About page). Also read “The ideal scene”

Q: What are you doing now?
A: Lots. Living life to the fullest 🙂 I am running The Scientology Forum (scnforum.org. See also my homepage.

Q: How can I contact you?
A: By e-mail: g@isene.com

More questions will be answered by browsing the Navigation page.

You may also ask me questions directly by leaving a comment on this blog.

Further discussion at the forum.

BTW: Happy New Year

Issues on scnforum.org

I put up the following announcement on The Scientology Forum in response to issues of instability security:

There has been annoying issues lately with the stability of this forum. Some posts have mysteriously disappeared. During this time the web server hosting company, Maiahost.com, has upgraded their servers. This may be part of the problem, but we are not entirely ruling out the possibility of foul play by others. Also, the forum is hosted in the same network as certain domains that has been reported by Google as having security issues. The security issues is not affecting our forum, only other sites hosted by Maiahost. Users of Firefox should turn off the option “Tell me if the site I’m visiting is a suspected attack site” under “Edit->Preferences->Security” to avoid problems accessing and refreshing the forum. We will sort all this out, even if there is foul play involved.

Posting it here just to inform those coming through here as well.

To all my friends fighting for the truth, keep up the fight.