Friday, 23rd August, 2013 07:40:37pm

Name or Alias: aegerprimo
Training and/or processing level: Staff Status II, HCO Full Hat, Pro TRs, Student Hat, Method-One, PTS/SP, HQS, Class II, Clear
Org or location: Staff - CMO EUS, CMO CW, Freewinds; Public - New York Org, Pasadena Org, Los Angeles Org, CC INT, AOLA, Flag
Time involved in the Church of Scientology: 1985-1998
Recommended Website - Operation Clambake

1. How did you first become acquainted with the Church of Scientology?

I read Dianetics and was blown away, and felt EVERYONE should know about it.

2. What initially appealed to you about scientology?

To obtain perfect memory, higher IQ, happiness. To gain OT powers - astral projection, mind over matter, knowing about past lives and recovering abilities/training/knowledge from past lives.

3. Were there problems in your life that you thought scientology would address?

Depression, anorexia, drug use, shyness, and low self-esteem.

4. Did you see, experience, or hear about things that didn't seem right while you were in the Church of Scientology? What were they, and what convinced you to set aside your feelings?

The biggest crime I saw was exposing staff and hired contractors (and eventually public) to blue asbestos aboard the Freewinds. Upper management was in denial of a problem and based it on if LRH did not write anything about it, there was nothing to be concerned about.

For more info about this, please see my post at the Ex-Scientologist Message Board - The Foul Air of the Freewinds an Ex-SO Member's Story - http://www.forum.exscn.net/showthread.php?32871-The-Foul-Air-of-the-Freewinds-an-Ex-SO-Member's-Story

Sea Org members are treated badly no matter where they are on the org board. I should say we treated ourselves badly because the SO runs the church. We did not ever get enough sleep, did not eat right, did not get much enhancement (training or auditing), had poor living conditions, and did not have any other life besides getting our stats up. I saw people put through extreme ethics actions or sent to the RPF because they supposedly failed on post. I know from what I've read all over the internet that none of this has changed, if anything it has gotten worse.

The "church" and members have a blatant disregard for anything WOG (non-Scientology). I had a problem with that eventually, especially as a public. Most Scientologists wanted only friends who were Scientologists, would only work for Scientologists, etc. I felt it was very bigoted the way Scientologists saw WOGs (non-Scientologists). I had friends and work associates who were WOG and were better people than most Scientologists I knew. Working for Scientologist was a bad deal too. As an employee for a couple different businesses run/owned by Scientologists, and I did not get paid as promised for work done. It did not seem right for people who considered anything NOT Scientology to be inferior, and then in turn be an example of incompetence, and to take advantage of employees.

5. Why did you choose to stay in the Church of Scientology?

I really believed the tech helped people, and so many people seemed to have such big wins. Success stories are highly promoted in the "church". The more auditing and training I did, the less the "tech" helped me. I thought something was wrong with me, but thought if I stuck it out maybe I could eventually be fixed, and achieve the gains others boasted about.

6. Were you staff or public? If staff, was it at a mission or an org? Were you ever in the Sea Org or OSA? Which unit? If not on staff, did you ever volunteer to 'help out'?

I was in the Sea Org - CMO EUS, CMO CW, and Freewinds. As a public I did quite a lot of volunteering; book selling, body routing, and Dianetic auditing at the Class IV orgs. I was in the Church of Scientology Choir.

7. Why did you leave the Church of Scientology? Was there a "final straw"?

Huge debt; 100k in credit card debt, IRS trouble, and then told I had to start over with the expanded Grades. I was told if I did not, I was considered an out-ethics, no case gain, potential trouble source. At that point I chose to fade away.

8. Do you think the Church of Scientology needs to change some of its practices? If so, what should be changed? How did those practices affect your life?

It should not be considered a church, and it should pay taxes. It should be made to follow the laws of the land and not hide its crimes under the cloak of religious freedom.

The disconnection policy separates family and friends. One of the purposes of ANY church is to try and keep family and friends together. A church is supposed to bring society together too, but the "church" of Scientology does not care about society, it only cares about itself.

Fair Game is criminal and intolerable.

None of these affect me personally at this point in my life. Fair Game scares me as much as living next door to a known and active terrorist.

9. If the items you listed in the previous question were changed, would you consider rejoining or staying in the Church of Scientology? If so, why?

NO! The Church of Scientology is a dangerous cult. It ruins people slowly so they don't notice it happening. I noticed and faded away before I was completely ruined. Even so, it has taken me years to recover from the conditioning and regain my critical thinking skills. From what I have read so far about L. Ron Hubbard (and I have read A LOT so far), I agree that he was a paranoid schizophrenic nut-job and everything he wrote, his tech and organizational policies, reflect that. I feel David Miscavige is a crazy tyrant who uses his power to abuse his staff. I am glad the crimes of the church are being exposed. It's not just a bunch of finger pointing going on. FACTS have been uncovered, more and more every day. I hope that the church will eventually be made to atone for its crimes.

10. Any additional comments you would like to make?

If you, the reader of this interview, are still on the fence about Scientology, surf the internet, research and read! You will find that there there is a lot more being said regarding the dangerousness, lies, deceit, money-grubbing, and abuses; decades running, about Scientology, the "church", the Sea Org, the tech, LRH and David Miscavige. Actually, the "church" does not presently say much good concerning itself except about the many fancy-schmancy pieces of real-estate it has procured and renovated. Statistics it quotes are manipulated and not scientifically or mathematically proven. The "church" does not even counter with any good it's doing in the world but instead tries to annihilate opposition. Resources on the internet and in print all point out that this has been a pattern for the church since its inception.

Start research at these websites, and these will lead you to more:
Operation Clambake - www.xenu.net
Ex-Scientologist Message Board - www.forum.exscn.net
The Underground Bunker - www.tonyortega.org
Ask the Scientologist - http://therealaskthescientologist.wordpress.com