More on my time in the Sea Org.
Joe says...
>
>Warrior wrote:
>>
>> I have been involved with many churches in my lifetime.
>>
>> When I was young I was blessed in the Central Christian Church. My father
>> and mother were active members there. They were married in that church. My
>> paternal grandparents were also members there and were quite active, having
>> established a ministerial scholarship. My father sang in the choir there until
>> his untimely death at the young age of 22.
>>
>> After my father's death, my mother eventually remarried a man in the
>> US Air Force, and we moved to New England. There I was raised in the
>> Congregational Church in a small town with a population of about 2000 people.
>> I was active in the church, singing in the choir. I also belonged to the
>> youth group called the Christian Youth Fellowship. I also attended Sunday
>> school regularly.
>>
>> In the 60s I went to live with my grandfather for a couple of years. During
>> that time I attended the Methodist Church, again actively participating in
>> the choir.
>>
>> In 1967 I was to move again, this time back to the town where I had been
>> born. As a teenager I began to explore other religious beliefs, starting
>> with Unitarianism. Then the Tao. Then Buddhism.
>>
>> While there was much truth and wisdom to be gained from my association
>> with, and study of all religious beliefs, I remained a Christian in practice.
>>
>> It was during the late 60s that I had my first contact with Scientology. I
>> believed wrongly that a person could continue to be a Christian and to
>> practice Scientology. After all, I had never been lied to before by any
>> organization calling itself a church. So when the registrar at the Class IV
>> Org told me I could continue to worship as a Christian and be a Scientologist
>> I took him at his word. I was told that there was no conflict between
>> Scientology and Christianity -- that the two beliefs were compatible. In fact
>> I was told that a person could be *both* a Scientologist and a Christian
>> at the same time, since Scientology was an "applied religious philosophy"
>> and the study of "knowing how to know" things, whether it was our relation
>> with the Creator, our origins, our destination after physical death, etc.
>>
>> In other words, Scientology held itself out (through the Executive
>> Director, the Public Officer, the Course Supervisor, the Registrar and
>> others whom I had contact with) to be 100% compatible with *any* religion.
>>
>> Well, it has been 30 years now since I first began my study of Scientology.
>> I will admit that I was very skeptical at first, and that during the first
>> 6 years after the time I first heard about Scientology, I was not very
>> actively or seriously studying the subject.
>
>If you considered yourself a committed Christian, what were you dabbling
>in other religions for? When was the first time you learned that "past
>lifes" were addressed in Scientology?
I was open to the possibility that there were answers to be found outside
of, and in addition to what I had learned from Christianity.
I was told that Scientology was a "science of knowing how to know". And
due to my curiosity and open-mindedness (and being naive) I did not want
to miss any truths that might be learned elsewhere, including Scientology.
Some might consider that I was not that dedicated to my Christian beliefs.
Perhaps my faith did waiver at times. But I was always open to the possibility
that I could be wrong in my beliefs. I am willing to be wrong. I am not
perfect after all.
What I did come to find is that most religions have many common beliefs.
Some things are just plain common sense. The Golden Rule is a good example.
"As you reap, so shall ye sew" is another.
I had experienced many deja vu experiences throughout my lifetime. Even prior
to any involvement with Scientology, I had come to accept that I had lived
before. Probably the first time I learned that past lives were addressed in
Scientology was 1973, at a Ron's Birthday event as I recall. I had been
taught by my elders that early Christians believed in reincarnation. Right
or wrong, I accepted this belief based on my own personal experiences.
>> In 1973 I signed a staff contract at the local Class IV Org. I worked
>> evenings and weekends as a Foundation (nighttime and weekends) staff
>> member. I had a day job that I was not going to give up since I was worried
>> about how much my pay would be as a staff member of Scientology. My worries
>> turned out to be well-founded.
>>
>> I will never forget how astonished and disbelieving I was when payday
>> came after my first week as a staff member. I had worked approximately 48
>> hours my first week. My pay was $7.00... Granted, I was a newbie with much
>> to learn; but then I was earning about $120 - $150 per week managing a
>> restaurant for my day job which I put in an average of 40 - 50 hrs/wk.
>> At only $3.00 per hour, my day job wasn't making me rich either, but at
>> least I was able to work my schedule around my classes at the University,
>> and food was available to me at what it cost the restaurant owner. So I
>> was happy.
>>
>> In 1975 I joined the Sea Organization of the "Church" of Scientology.
>>
>> That turned out to be the biggest mistake of my life.
>
>Why in the world did you stay on, knowing what staff pay was, and THEN
>join the Sea Org?
Because it was represented to me that conditions were different in the
Sea Org. Sea Org orgs are on a base pay system with food, housing, medical,
etc. (ref: Flag Order 732 Crew Welfare) *supposedly* provided. Class IV
Orgs (now called Class V) are on a "proportional pay, or unit system. What
this means to the uninformed, is that Class IV/V org staff provide their own
food, housing, medical, and so forth out of the pay they receive.
Another equally important reason I stayed on is that I *believed* that
Scientology was a group that was working to make a difference in the world
in terms of improved conditions, making people saner, etc. I wanted to be
part of a group that I perceived to be helping mankind by making the world
a better place to live.
>> I didn't realize it at the time of signing my contract, but the Sea Org
>> Recruiter (Steve Grant) from ASHO Day had lied to me about every aspect
>> of the Sea Organization's living conditions.
>>
>> 1) He lied about the facilities for child care (at that time referred to as
>> the Cadet Org). I was told that there was a day care facility to look after
>> my child, and that upon my arrival in ASHO, my child would be placed in this
>> day care center while I worked. Upon my arrival to the Sea Org in LA, I
>> discovered that the Cadet Org (on Melrose Avenue at that time) was absolutely
>> filthy. It was understaffed. Many babies (infants and toddlers) wandered
>> around in the lobby, apparently under the care of the *receptionist*!! I
>> was disgusted. This "day care" facility was obviously in violation of health
>> codes. What I saw was utter neglect, filth and stench. Several babies were
>> crawling on the tiled floor. They were filthy and in need of having their
>> diapers changed. And at the time that I walked into the building and into the
>> lobby, there was *no one* even there to keep their eyes on the children.
>>
>> 2) He lied about pay and bonuses that I would receive, saying that base
>> pay was not all we received, but that we would get bonuses for good production.
>> Bonuses were all but non-existent. Oh I do recall getting a $2.50 "bonus" once!
>> What the recruiter (and everyone else) failed to tell me was that there would
>> be *many* weeks that we would receive NO pay.
>>
>> 3) He lied to me about the food we would be served, and he even stated that
>> every "mess" had its own "Steward" to serve us. The food was actually very
>> bland and boring most of the time. We had no posted "Steward" for our mess.
>> In reality the "Stewards" were the members of the "mess" we were assigned to.
>> We all held the job of "Steward" on a rotational basis, for one week at a time.
>>
>> 4) He lied about time off from post. I had been told I would be given time
>> to pursue my interests in music, that I would be given weekends off, and that
>> nighttimes were my own time when I wasn't on course. In reality, staff
>> never got more than one day per week off. Usually it was half of a Saturday,
>> every other week. When we were not on post we were ordered onto study or
>> auditing ("enhancement time").
>>
>> 5) He lied about how much time I would be allowed to spend with my child.
>> During the first two years in the Sea Org, I wasn't even allowed to live
>> with my kid. Since his mother wasn't allowed to join the Sea Org, my child
>> was not allowed to be in the Cadet Org. (My wife wasn't on staff since
>> *after* signing a Sea Org contract and driving 1400 miles to LA, she was told
>> she had a "psych history".
>>
>> 6) He lied about berthing conditions. Since my wife was not allowed in the
>> Sea Org, I had to live in a dorm at the 7th floor of the Hollywood Inn (at
>> 6724 Hollywood Blvd) with 8 other guys crammed in one room with only one
>> bathroom facility that we all shared. We all slept in bunkbeds stacked 3-high.
>> My wife and son lived miles away on N. Robinson Ave. in a house that they
>> shared with Ray Peck (ASHO Fdn staff) and Ruthie Weissberg and her son David.
>> (Ruthie was ASHO Day staff.)
>> The room I lived in was small and smelly. It was basically a place to
>> sleep. I kind of felt like I had a slot on a shelf to park my weary bones
>> before reporting back to duty a few hours later.
>>
>> There is so much more that I could say, but the point I wanted to make
>> is that the only church that ever lied to me was the "church" of Scientology.
>> And that I was lied to over and over and over again through the almost 8
>> years I was a Sea Org member. This post only deals with a few of the initial
>> lies I was told in order to dupe me into signing a Sea Org contract.
>
>I find it rather incredible that you would stay in the Sea Org for 8
>years, after learning of the real conditions. What prevented you from
>leaving?
I know it does sound incredible. I joined the SO in November 1975 and left
for good in September 1983. I had tried to leave in 1977, but was told by the
SuperCargo (Alan Prager) at the time that I was an SP for wanting to leave.
The Personnel Enhancement Officer, Peggy Peden, told me I was psychotic.
Many other staff told me that if I left the Sea Org I would "pull in a
horrible death", that "You *KNOW* that the SO is *THE* only valid game in
the universe", that I would be condemned to an eternity of suffering, pain
and unconsciousness if I "stepped off the road to truth", etc.
I was also sec-checked for about 40 hours on the HCO WW Form 1.
I also had a wife who wanted to be in the SO, and she didn't want me to
leave either, saying that it would be the end of our 2D if I routed out.
Later on when I finally decided to leave the SO *and did*, my wife
was by then a Sea Org member. She told me she wanted a divorce if I wasn't
going to be part of the most "in-ethics group on the planet". This was in
the early 80s. By then I had been betrayed so much by Scientology and the
SO that I basically said. "FINE. If you want to be a part of this degraded
and supprerssed/suppressive group, then GO AHEAD. But I am leaving."
There is so much more to tell. I will eventually tell it all. I just
don't have the time right now. It is a long story to tell all that happened
to me over 8 years. More later.
Warrior - Sunshine disinfects
>
>> More later...
>>
>> Warrior - Sunshine disinfects
>
>Joe