OSLO May 16 – Confirmations

OSLO: Operation Scientology Lineup, Oslo

I have a list of some 25 attendees for the upcoming
round-table conference in Oslo on May 16.

The conference does not have a set agenda with prepared speeches. The aim is for all to sit down and work out some strategies as to how the current scene in Scientology can be handled.

It is time to get the final list of attendees ready – with e-mail addresses so that I can send out details about the venue etc. For now it will suffice to say that it will be held in down-town Oslo.

The conference will start at noon (12:00) and go until 17:00 whereupon we all go for a dinner.

Those who want, can stay for the next day’s spectacle;
The Norwegian Constitution Day.

All attendees cover their own expenses. Attendance to the conference is free. I cover the venue expenses. The price for staying at a hotel from the 16th to the 17th would be around USD 100.

Please confirm your attendance by sending an e-mail to g@isene.com

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.

Can a Church forbid Religious Practice?

An excellent post on The Scientology Forum from an anonymous participant. It deserves to be posted also here:

Let’s see how this rolls out:

LRH compiles, organizes and discovers a great many principles of existence, which ultimately result in the principle that you are an immortal spirit. It therefore lands up in the land of spiritual principles, for those who seek spiritual knowledge.

Then auditing processes are developed to reveal the potentialities of an immortal spirit. These are spiritual practices, and in our society they are classified as religious practices.

Circa 1965 the auditing processes are “standardized” so they can be easily taught, propagated and quality assured.

Sometime in the late 60s and throughout the 70s, the effort becomes ensuring that the organizations set up to teach these religious practices will be able to survive and continue to offer these religious practices.

Part of ensuring that survival is attempting to control it all so it can be made to survive and propagate.

Establishing the Church as a Church becomes paramount.

Trademarks, copyrights and service marks are registered in an effort to prevent “improper” use.

The process of re-inventing LRH begins. He is now a saint. All efforts to disclose unsaintly behavior are met with extreme sanctions of disconnection, attacks, and vilification.

The process of re-inventing the materials of Scientology begin. They become “scripture” and “holy writ” of the Church of Scientology, to be zealously guarded and ferociously taken from the hands of those who don’t get with the sanctification program.

Howls of protest from old timers who were rebels, through and through and through. Banned and forbidden from using the religious practices of Scientology, the auditing processes.

STOP RIGHT THERE.

The current Church of Scientology uses trademarks, service marks and copyrights laws to stop people from practicing their own religion?

FREEZE FRAME.

The current Church of Scientology uses the legal remedies of commerce to stop people from practicing their own religion.

How?

Simple. The individuals who seek to practice their own religion outside of orthodoxy do not have enough wherewithal to fight a prolonged court battle to protect their own constitutional right to practice their own religion. That is the sole barrier. Having enough money to take the fight far enough to establish that the Church of Scientology cannot use commercial law to prevent people from practicing their own religion and that religion IS Scientology.

When it comes right down to it, I think the real question is going to be: can the Church of Scientology really use the law to prevent people from practicing their own religion? Can they really use the laws of commerce to prevent people from auditing each other for free or for exchange?

Can they really stop people from saying they are Scientologists because they are not members of the Church?

Can they really stop people from auditing each other for free or for exchange because they are not members of the Church?

Can they really enforce that people do not communicate when it violates the spiritual teachings of the power and importance of communication?

Can they really claim to be acting in the public interests when they seek to do any of the above?

Can they really walk this line of being a hybrid organization – not quite a religion and not quite a commercial activity?

Those are my half formed thoughts. What do you think?

Follow this link to share your thoughts.

An additional note on fanaticism

One of the real dangers to society is when ideas about limiting freedom of thought and freedom of speech starts getting a foothold.

It doesn’t matter whether it is the Church of Scientology trying to tell people what to do, say or think or some Critic of Scientology trying to limit freedom of thought or speech. The danger remains the same.

Harmony, compassion, freedom and prosperity hinges on tolerance and freedom of thought and of speech.

To the random fanatic: Get a grip.

Media: Major coverage in Norway’s biggest newspaper (“VG”)

Front page of the weekend magazine + 9 page article. This could very well be the biggest coverage of Scientology ever in Norway.

Find the 5 main pages of the article translated over at The Scientology Forum (scnforum.org).

Letting the hard core party-liners waste their own time

I have covered this ground before; Lack of differentiation, black-and-white thinking, intolerance and fanaticism. This is another short round for clarification in light of some recent communications I received.

The fanatical view that everything Scientology is bad, a scam and a con game is as stupid as saying that everything Scientology is all true and pure gospel. The truth is not contained in any fixed idea.

I have received some fanatical e-mails from hard core Church of Scientology party-liners, reeking of intolerance and group think, portraying any criticism of the church as pure evil.

Then there are the fanatical forum posts from hard core Critics party-liners, with the same dose of intolerance and group think, portraying any positive statement about Scientology as pure evil.

The similarities are striking.

And both camps will claim they are individual free thinkers and not toeing any party line. Ironic.

Luckily both camps of fanatics are a minority of the larger group in which they frequent. Most Scientologists I have talked to (even while I was still in) are in doubt because of the current scene in Scientology. Most critics of Scientology are tolerant of scientologists’ beliefs. Most people debating this subject are open to changing their own views about it – and that’s why many are debating Scientology. It is well worth spending some time discussing Scientology with these people to widen one’s own horizons.

But some have already made up their mind and are on a mission to convert everyone else to their own True™ beliefs. Why do I prefer to not spend my time debating with such people? Because it’s a waste of time. Instead I prefer to spend that time with my kids.

Chill. Life is a game. Enjoy.

Not forgetting the positive efforts made…

…by thousands of scientologists world-wide.

There is a great amount of excellent work done by staff and public scientologists all over the world. Apart from seeking their own spiritual progress, there are many in the Church of Scientology lending their efforts to helping their fellow man – to free the abuser from drug addiction, to aid those in need, to help children learn to read and write and scores of other causes well worth dedicating oneself to.

This is highly commendable. It is excellent effort deserving applause.

That the church management is exploiting these efforts for money, PR, positioning and power does not take away the value of those individual efforts. But it is cynical to the extreme to take advantage of these good intentions to further a monopoly and to tighten the grip on the public parishioners.

The valiant efforts of many scientologists would be even more valuable without the self-serving management breaking human rights and going against Scientology itself.

(This is the 100th post of this blog)

The Scientology Forum passes the 10000 mark

With more than 10000 posts after its inception 4 months ago, scnforum.org has established itself as a unique place on the Internet.

It is one of the very few places where people can freely discuss Scientology in a balanced environment free from trolling, mud-throwing and exposure to upper level confidential material.

The posts are of high quality – thought provoking and sometimes mind boggling – from detailed discussions on the e-meter, auditing tech, Scientology basics and wins from outside the church to discussions of the CST vaults, current church management and the current scene within the church and to discussions on logic, theta, reincarnation and subjective versus objective truth.

I take my hat off to the contributors. They have shown that it is possible to co-create a high quality forum for discussion on Scientology – something the current church will never approve of as they are firmly opposed to such free speech.

Thank you all, and a personal thanks to the moderators who have made my life easier.

Tommy Davis: “One can’t be a Scientologist and not be part of the church”

Well, that would define a Scientologist according to the church’s official spokesman. The Church of Scientology claims at least 8 million Scientologists across the world. One can then conclude that there are 8 million people being part of the church. That would work out to almost 50 000 Scientologist for every church (counting any Scientology Mission related to each church). The Tampa Bay area hosting the spiritual headquarters of Scientology should have 100 000. They report less than 10 000. The church of Scientology Oslo should have 50 000. They have 50. Sweden should total 150 000, they have no more than a few hundred. Etc.

“Never use lies in PR. L. Ron Hubbard

Announcing: OSLO May 16

OSLO: Operation Scientology Lineup, Oslo

I hereby announce a Scientology round table conference in Oslo on the 16th of May 2010.

The purpose of the conference is to see if we could make a plan for Scientology’s future. Independents and freezoners alike would be invited to a day of talks and to forge strategies to handle the current scene.

There will be no speeches and no set agenda except for the above. Each participant covers his or her cost (travel, room & board). No entrance fees (I will cover the conference space at a suitable hotel).

The following day, on the 17th of May you can witness the Norwegian national holiday – a spectacle worth seeing.

If you are interested in a day of fun, meeting highly trained independent practitioners, OTs, former executives of the church and others interested in putting Scientology straight, simply drop me an e-mail: g@isene.com

You may ask for your attendance to be anonymous up until the conference day.