Scientology Story

Once upon a time in a galaxy far far away....oh....wrong story....

Actually, it was a long time ago. Way back when I was a junior in high school, I made the decision that I wanted to be a massage therapist. In those days, people thought that if you wanted to do *that* kind of work, you were a hooker rubbing people in inappropriate places, if you get my drift. But I had been introduced to massage as a healing technique, and that there were actually places that knew massage was not just a red light district thing!

Finally, years later, I was able to go to school and accomplish this long-awaited dream. So, I finished school in 1990, the same year my oldest kid graduated from high school. Anyway, I had a position with one of the best massage therapists in the state. To work with him was quite an honor. But, I was offered a full time position elsewhere and I moved on eventually.

Found myself in a good position with a chiropractor who had been a massage therapist prior to going to chiro school, so he knew the benefits of massage and we were able to incorporate our practices nicely. I was building a decent patient base between him and the other doctor, who had only been out of chiro school for two years and was building up her practice, too. We became a very close bunch. The doctor and his fiance and I felt like family. We did a lot of things together. The other doctor kind of kept her distance and stayed close, but professional.

Then one day this beautifully engraved letter arrived in the mail. It was one of those letters directed at small business owners, inviting them to a free seminar to learn how to build their businesses more successfully, bring in more financially, etc. So, Doug (the doctor) decided to go check it out. It sounded plausible, not too expensive, maybe worth checking into. So, he went for it.

Now, what none of us knew then was that this was the "Church" of Scientology at work.

Have you ever seen the commercials on late night television for a book called Dyanetics by L. Ron Hubbard? Well, if so, you've seen the beginnings of Scientology. L. Ron wrote hard core science fiction. Sad thing is, L. Ron started believing the things he was writing...forgetting where he was writing them from. He was certified insane... and institutionalized, but he was one of those charming types that people would never have known he was insane when he was "outside" the institution. And, people called his writing brilliant, and he began to get a following of people who hung on his every word. And, Scientology was born and L. Ron's fanatics made the 'religion' a reality.

I'm pretty rusty on the fine details of it all now; I'm sure there's plenty on the 'Net about it if people are interested enough to look it up. But the basis is that we are all from another planet/galaxy and all the wrongs of the human race are because we really don't belong on this planet. So, believers must undergo testing and procedures to bring them back into sync with the home planet.

Of course, all this costs money. A great deal of money. And time. And travel to the main church in California. Not once a year. Or twice. Whenever they call you, you come.

How does this relate to me? Well, as I said earlier, Doug attended this meeting to increase business and got sucked in. And he came from the meeting glowing at all the possibilities for enriching himself and the rest of us, too. And, then his trips to California began. His fiance expressed worry that he didn't sound like himself...and he didn't...he sounded drugged, spacey, etc. They don't let them sleep more than a couple of hours at a time there...you keep people worn out and on a weird adrenaline high, you can control their thinking far better.

This went on for a few months. Doug's business began to suffer...he was never there to work on his patients. Thus, my business which depended partly on his suffered as a result, and the other doctor was working herself silly trying to keep up with the demands.

Then Doug came home with information. And, he sat the other doc and I down and tried to coerce us into joining the business partnership, too. We read the material. And it was really weird weird stuff. They had this "device" that you held on to that was supposed to give you readings to reprogram your thinking. (the old movies where they strapped a colander on your head with wires and said it would fix brain waves comes to mind)

The other doc and I were not happy with the high pressure tactics. We decided to do some research ourselves. About that time, Time Magazine came out with an tremendous article about Scientology...and it was scarier than anything I'd read. We gathered our information and took it to Doug and told him that we'd just like him to read this stuff over before any final decisions were made between the three of us and the practice.

Doug, of course, called his 'programmers' and told him that we were resisting. And they said that it was vital that he get rid of these parasites that were trying to destroy him. And, he fired the other doctor and I.

My life dream was gone. Vanished. And Doug was on the State Chiropractics board. He couldn't do much to hurt the other doctor, but he blackballed me and I couldn't get a job anywhere.

I sat in my chair at home for months. I was just this side of a nervous breakdown. We were almost ready to lose everything and be homeless. I sat at home and watched daytime television and stuffed my face with junk food that I couldn't afford to buy. And, one day Robert happened to be home (he traveled as a mystery shopper in those days to 33 different states) and he called me to the television to watch Sally Jesse Rafael's show. On it she had a woman who had been one of the high mucky-mucks in the Church of Scientology. And, this woman proceeded to tell the world exactly how people who buck the church are ruined. Step by step, she told the story that could have been exactly mine. And then I was able to cry. And then I was able to get off my butt and look for some kind of a job. And, I ended up back in retail for the next 13 years to help support the family. I hate retail. With a passion. But you do what is necessary.

Scientology is a money making business hidden under a tax-exempt status. It is one of the most major cults in the world. You can bet that if Kirsti Ally, John Travolta and Tom Cruise were not rich and famous and popular, they would not be courted by the church. Scientology *loves* their money.

And...just because I know I'll tell you what happened to Doug. He and the fiance got married, of course. He spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep going to California while his business floundered. Finally even he was able to see the stupidity of what he was doing. And, when he confronted them about not getting any wealthier from being with them, he was told that he wasn't following their programs correctly - that the failure was his, not theirs - and they kicked him out of the fold because he wouldn't give them any more money. And they destroyed his business, too. He lost everything.

Several years later, I got a phone call from the wife. "I just wanted to call and tell you how very sorry we are that all that happened...we feel so badly at how you were treated by us...yadda yadda." I listened to her sob and try to explain and beg for forgiveness for about 20 minutes or so. Then she asked me how I was and what I was doing. I said to her, "Linda, you and Doug took my life dream that I worked 20 years to attain and in a matter of weeks you destroyed that dream for me and made it impossible for me to have. As far as I'm concerned you and Doug can both go to hell." And I hung up with her still sobbing in the phone.

And, that's my story of Scientology from the personal standpoint.