This week, it’s answers about Scientology’s confidential “pc folders,” a breakdown of what lie detectors and E-meters are detecting, some deeper-than-usual discussion of religion and a lot more. Enjoy!

(1) As a follow up to my question last week about worksheets in auditing, sometimes an auditor is required to create a new pc folder, usually because additional space is needed or a folder was damaged in some way. Many auditors take the opportunity to express artistic or verbal talent in creating a folder. There are many impressive and interesting-looking folders, often having humorous phrases, name variations, or even caricatures. It is always in good taste. Did you notice that in your time?

(2) I’m really into aviation and one thing I’m very familiar with is spatial disorientation which is when you can’t see the horizon and you could be upside down and not even know it. As an analogy, could that same kind of spatial disorientation be caused if you are hooked up to a lie detector or E-meter and the operator is telling you that what you’re saying isn’t true when you know for a fact it is? If I hook myself up to a lie detector and just asked it questions, I think I would lose my bearings really fast and could convince myself of anything. Especially if you believe that I tell the lie detector that the sky is purple enough that eventually I will believe it and won’t even know what blue means anymore. What do you think?

(3) Do you think that Scientology or indeed any other “cult” would have risen and become a real religion if there wasn’t Christianity or other larger religions in their way? I’m wondering if they had all started at once, whether Scientology would win as it claims to take a more scientific approach rather than the good old Bible. Maybe it would crash when people got to the top level and realised it was a crock.

If you think about how Christians came to power, it was surely by using coercive control, shunning, finances, information and death – the same tactics have been used in all the big faiths/religions. They own the lion’s share of real estate (especially in the UK). They have their own schools where their doctrine is spread. Priests were sent to houses to make church attendance mandatory. You couldn’t get married or buried if you didn’t belong. They are also hierarchical organisations. Many of these things are in the dim and distant past and to survive they have had to adapt, they have had the luxury of time to be much more palatable to the ordinary people. If you apply the statement “what happens when you try to leave” well back in the day you would have been murdered. Churches are still monetised but you can get away with not paying but is that because they already have the power and finance? I know people that pay 10% of their salary to a Christian church. If you don’t think it would be Scientology which of the newer religions do you think would have won? Would we have seen Scientology, Mormonism and the JWs at war over hearts and minds. Maybe it would be the ones that give back to society regardless of a person’s beliefs in some way. It seems that many many people need faith and or religion in their lives and there’s nothing wrong with that either.

(4) Can you please say a little more about what actually happens at Scientology services, like weddings, funerals, and Sunday services? If I had no knowledge of the cult and randomly walked into one of their buildings, would the experience immediately hit me as weird, off, or unusual? Would I mistake it for a traditional religion, or would the differences be immediately apparent?

(5) When you were in the Sea Org, did you believe what the church said about SPs? Did you really believe that it was the SPs, along with the psychiatrists and the government, who were preventing Scientology from clearing the planet? Did your view of SPs change over time when you were in the Sea Org or was it only changed once you got out?

(6) I’ve been watching your show for several years and have never been able to feel confident writing in with a question but this story I heard is a doozy and I was wondering if you had heard about it. A woman I was recently acquainted with lives in and runs a business in New Ipswich, NH. Apparently one of the local churches has become friendly with Scientology and have been subjecting their congregation to the practices of L. Ron Hubbard. They had a tent revival this weekend. My friend looked into it because she wanted to see what they were up to, and tickets were astronomically high to attend. Since Scientology has also made recent bed fellows with Islam, is this a new way for them to draw revenue into the coffers without having to do a lot of the heavy lifting? In other words, is Scientology finding a different way to actively recruit by having other churches bring worshipers to the table on a silver platter? I guess this has been going on for quite some time (as early as the 80’s) and the congregation is somewhat affluent. If it’s happening in this little town, is it happening elsewhere? The closest Scientology to me is Boston org, 1.5 hours away but they could be doing some public outreach.

This week, it’s more than you ever expected to know about Scientology worksheets, memory and engrams, video games in Scientology and a lot more. Enjoy!

Baby Shark cover I like the most

(1) An interesting subject just occurred to me: auditor worksheets. This was one of the most challenging areas for me as a student auditor: making an accurate record of what occurred during an auditing session. Hubbard said NOT to practice “Stenographic Auditing.” (Stenographic Auditing: to take down every word the PC says.) He wanted his auditors to limit the contents of worksheets to essential information. But, to be accurate, I found it difficult to avoid writing down virtually everything my PC said in response to the auditing questions.

With modern education apparently abandoning instruction in the cursive form of handwriting, what do you see as the future of auditor training? Will Scientology become obligated to teach cursive to all auditors? Will a form of rapid printing become a new skill and requirement for auditors? Might electronic worksheet creation finally become a tool invented to support auditing, a tool arguably more useful than the E-Meter itself?

(2) Let’s say two people have the same “engram” – the same incident involving pain and unconsciousness. This means both guys have the same reactive recordings in that period of time of unconsciousness, including the spoken words from a third person. So according to Dianetics, if they were both to “run” that same incident in auditing, they should have the same recall of the surroundings including the spoken words that have been said during their time of unconsciousness. Is there any such evidence you know of? Any such case where they actually say the same spoken words from the engram? Or is there any evidence that proves that this is NOT the case and engrams don’t exist?

(3) I am kind of nerdy about video games, I was curious about whether or not playing video games or playing specific types of video games is something that Scientologists look down upon? Do they consider it largely to be a waste of time? From what I gather, it seems like watching movies or television in your free time (if you ever have any) is not a big deal. I am curious about video games considering they became popularized much later in time.

(4) I don’t know if you’ve heard this but it’s been in the news that the former head of the Israeli Space Program has come forward and said that aliens are real and we have been in contact for a few years. He says they are peaceful, just curious about us, and the United States is aware of this and is also involved. What I’m wondering is if Scientologists have heard this due to their isolation? But if they were to hear this, would it cause them to doubledown on their belief system? Perhaps make it even more difficult for people to escape or simply to stop asking questions. What effect would this have on the Scientology community?

(5) Given that analogies play a huge role in thinking about a complex situation, what analogies did LRH and DM use to describe things? I know that LRH borrowed a lot of stories from military lore such as wanting to visit the stockade to see men who could fight, not look pretty on the parade ground. The moral implications of military service when speed and decisiveness are sometimes life-savers are different than those of a non-lethal environment but do Sea Org members think about the difference in moral issues?

(6) How is your mom doing, particularly during this time of isolation due to COVID-19?

(7) In your Q&A #301, you talked about situations that would ban a person from Scientology.  What about someone with Downs syndrome or Autism?  How would they even begin to deny them services?

(8) Do you like or dislike the Baby Shark song?

This week, it’s answers about the Freemasons, a Scientology procedure called Opening Procedure by Duplication, Scientology in Utah and a lot more. Enjoy!

(1) Has the BITE Model ever been applied to the Freemasons? In your opinion where do they fall on the scale as far as being a cult or a very highly controlled group?

(2) I recently heard Mike Rinder with Jon Atack talk about an auditing process called “Op Pro by Dup.” When I looked it up, it had to do with the RPF and the description was pretty bleak (dragging an unconscious person around to do TRs). Did you have to do this routine and can you tell us more about it and your experience?

(3) Having lived in Utah all of my life, it’s hard not to notice how much the Mormon church interferes with lawmaking processes and other aspects of everyday life, especially when a significant population of Utahns are Mormons. I was wondering if there were any interesting or memorable conflicts between the Mormon church and Scientology while you were working on churches in the western US? Was there any policy written by LRH or higher ups on how to approach recruiting in Utah? Was there much focus on members outside of Salt Lake City?

(4) How does the “church” deal with acts of violence/crime among its members? Are the police/paramedics ever notified? I find it hard to believe that a person could be in that environment without totally losing it and attacking someone who tried to send them to RPF, or whatever.

(5) Hey Chris, I’ve thought of a specific follow up question to my Stanford prison experiment question. What do you think was the thing or things that made it go so wrong?

(6) Hope you and Melissa are doing well. I just wanted to ask what a “Natural Clear” and a “Past Life Clear” are? I heard Jon Atack say he was a Natural Clear while telling his story and Nora Crest said she was a Past Life Clear. Or is it a Pre-life Clear? Anyway….thank you for all that you do and helping all of us make sense of all the world’s nonsense.

(7) Isn’t it illegal to transport minors across state lines without their parents or even out of the country? Doesn’t this happen in the Sea Org?

(8) If you had the opportunity, would you go skydiving?

This week, it’s answers about an LRH party game; confidential, shadowy Scientology organizations, some straight talk on belief and the appeal of Scientology and a lot more. Enjoy!

(1) Some time ago, you had Ross and Carrie on your show. I just heard Carrie on Serious Inquiries Only. In the course of a conversation with the host, she proposed a party game: one by one, players would be given quotes, which they would need to attribute to either Sigmund Freud or L. Ron Hubbard. Do you think it would be a difficult game to play? Perhaps more importantly, would it be a fun game to play?

(2) I have recently found out about the Writers of the Future, a contest for science fiction and fantasy writers. There is no entry fee and writers get to keep the rights to their work. I thought this was too good to be true so I poked around and realised winning works are published through Galaxy Press and to contact them you email them at Author Services which is a part of the Church of Spiritual Technology, right?. Is this just a shell competition with the aim of getting details of people in order to harass them into doing courses in the usual Scientology way?

(3) Due to current COVID restrictions here in Ireland, I’m left wandering around outside the maternity hospital while my wife is inside getting her scans. While walking around, I see a building known as the “Scientology National Affairs Office”. It’s on Merrion Square. I’ve never heard of this before. Is it the same as the Office of Special Affairs or something different? Only a few years ago, Scientology moved to an Ideal Org outside of the city in a huge (always empty) site. Surely this small office could be housed there too?

(4) I’ve seen Scientology documentaries in the UK that point to individuals suffering from complete financial neglect to maintain courses in an attempt to reach Clear. One man, an astrophysicist, gave his car and flat to the organization because he couldn’t afford either. He then had to contend with Org members living in his house and driving his car. How is this possible? How do potential millionaires give millions to attain Clear when that money could have set them up for life as potential Forbes 100 contestants? What is in this set of programs that creates such irresponsibility?

(5) I have a moral/ethical dilemma. I hope you can help me think it through. As a long time Scientology watcher and critic, I feel it’s my duty to speak out against the church and draw attention to its misdeeds. But I’m wavering in the extent to which I abstain from supporting public Scientologists’ work. It’s easy to boycott the megastar who’s personally profited from Sea Org slave labor, or the hasbeen sitcom actress who shrilly accuses critics of raping babies. But I find myself making excuses for the second generation musician who keeps his membership fairly quiet, the character actor in the fun Marvel film, or the older star from a 70s sitcom and cult classic films. Am I complicit in making Scientology “look good” by buying an album or watching a movie with a famous Scientologist in it? Is it enough to make up for that consumption by supporting ex-Scientologists and sharing what I know with others? Am I overthinking this?

(6) Is there a reason that an “intensive” is 12-1/2 hours? Why not 10 or 20 hours? Why the 1/2 hour and not a round number?

(7) Are there any Scientologists in the US armed forces and if not why ? I am very much looking forward to your answer on this question.

(8) What type of clothing does Xenu wear according to Scientologists?

This week we went live to answer questions and had a great time doing it. I really had fun with some of the very thoughtful ones and I think you will too. Enjoy!

This week, it’s a detailed breakdown of how past-life memories are recalled in Scientology, some comments about OSA staff members, facts vs beliefs and a lot more. Enjoy!

(1) I have a question about past lives. I really want to understand how people start to think about past lives. For example, if you asked me to go back earlier and earlier in my memory, no matter how much I tried, I would not remember anything before this life. I could make something up, but I would never ever fool myself that this is real. I understand that maybe Scientology says that anything you think of is actually something you lived before and/or those may be the memories of your BTs (please let me know if this is wrong). Perhaps these explanations are how they get around the problem of “making it up,” but I still don’t understand how you can go about looking into your past lives. For example, Grant Cardone says that he knows he is an immortal spiritual being because he went back and looked in his past lives, he knows who he was, what he did. Can you help me understand this process? Nothing is impossible in life, but I feel like I would never be able to convince myself that what I am making up as I go are my past lives. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

(2) From what I have deduced by watching you and Aaron Smith-Levin and others, I can only assume there are Scientologists that are monitoring all this material and watched “Going Clear” and have to spy on Leah Remini’s podcast and anyone talking out about Scientology, maybe even go as far as to have to transcribe them in a report. What I’m wondering is who gets to be exposed to this and what would they make of it? I would think that obviously they would think of you guys as liars and SPs and would not believe one word you said, but what happens when they get to OT 3 or 7 or 8 and have watched the Jason Beghe video and see that they were being completely accurate? How can they be so hardcore to not question it? Someone has to be sitting in the room writing reports on everything you say? I could be wrong but it makes me wonder… Anyways thanks!

(3) This is totally a non-religious type question but I suppose it applies to literally everything we believe is a fact. I’m truly just interested in the technical aspect of the word “fact” and how it is applied in the world. I use Merriam-Webster as my source for word definitions though Oxford dictionary is about the same. 

I have a premise that you don’t know for a fact what date you were born on. It’s my opinion, our parents can know our true birthdate, however we as individuals can only believe we know our own birthdate based on information from others. We cannot prove when we were born without belief nor have firsthand knowledge of the date we were born on, so it does not fit the dictionary definition of a fact. 

If you believe you know for a fact, when you were born, please explain your reasoning.

(4) What do Scientologists think about getting the COVID shot? Are they for it or against it? I asked a Scientologist I know & he said he was probably not going to get it even if he had the opportunity which I thought might be his way of saying it might go against Scientology policy. What are your thoughts?

(5) I know this is a hypothetical exercise, but do you ever stop to wonder how the whole ‘movement’ of Scientology might have panned out had it not come under the iron grip of David Miscavige?  You have mentioned in the past, for example, that it was at least possible for a lower-level Scientologist to make a bit of profit from the old-style missions. Also, I’ve been looking through ‘Captain Bill’s “messages from outer space” lately and they at least have the merit of being highly imaginative, idealistic and entertaining! Ultimately, of course, they are still yet another set of mad ramblings, but I can’t help thinking that, following the death of LRH, this kind of material might have flourished if the membership had gone in a more loosely-organised direction.  Can you imagine such an ‘alternative’ history, such that we would almost be able to see the ‘religion’ as endearingly ‘kooky’ today, rather than plain old nasty & manipulative?  Or have I myself indulged in pure fantasy, here?!  I write all this as a deeply-fascinated ‘Never-In.’

(6) What character would you be in the Dungeons and Dragons universe?

(7) Chris, are you familiar with the 5 elements of post-crisis adjustment, namely Denial, Anger, Blame, Acceptance, Resolution (DABAR)?  Have you gone through these yourself?  Also, where is Marty Rathbun on this chart? Is his “resolution” to take a payout from Scientology and pretend to support something he does not?

(8) I recently watched Star Trek Discovery, first 2 seasons only. I noticed today in my Netflix DVD queue (yes, that is till a thing and yes I still subscribe) that season 1 of Picard is on the way for me to watch on DVD. My question for you is, have you watched either or both of these newest ST series and what are your thoughts on them? How would you rate all the TV only ST shows from best to worst and maybe why?

This week, it’s answers about L. Ron Hubbard’s claims of being a cop, how to go exterior in Scientology, a deep dive into my experience on the RPF and a lot more. Enjoy!

Tony Ortega’s blog article

(1) I was listening to a lecture by Hubbard called The Deterioration of Liberty from 1956. He talks about how he spent time as a beat cop going into all sorts of places and fighting a “Mexican man who was drunk and was high on Marijuana!” I’m sure there is little to no evidence for LRH actually being a beat cop but if you know something on the subject I would be very interested to know!

(2) At what level up The Bridge does one realize that they are an immortal spiritual being? It is OT 8? Or 9 and 10 which have not been delivered? Or can this realization be made PRIOR to attaining any particular level or just happen at any time as you go up The Bridge?  

(3) Do any wealthy Scientologists, instead of just being a public Scientologist, decide to work on staff? If they do join staff, would they still be able to pay for services instead of just depending on free services that all staff members get?

(4) You said that “for whatever good reason I was not fully re-indoctrinated as a cult member after the RPF, it did not have the intended effect”. Why didn’t it? 

(5) Just wanted to know if you heard about the 3-hour-long conspiracy documentary the My Pillow guy put out about the OMG FRAUDULENT ELECTION. Of course no sane person is going to watch the whole thing, just wondering your thoughts?  I believe he went off the deep end a while ago but now…. Obviously he’s being supported by Trump, which I’m sure makes him feel pretty validated, but still this is a little much.

This week, it’s more about that hypothetical COVID Patient Zero, what role financial stress might play in vulnerability to cults, an explanation for one of Scientology more bizarre training routines and a lot more. Enjoy!

(1) Someone recently asked if you would hypothetically kill Coronavirus “Patient Zero” if you could go back in time, in order to prevent the spread and thus mass deaths caused. You replied “no” for various reasons which you explained. This got me thinking. In order to kill such a person, it means you can identify them.

So if you could go back in time and you have identified this person, but would not kill them – and assuming they refuse to visit a hospital of their own free will – knowing the full facts – would you either forcibly abduct them and present them to a medical facility, or inform the authorities – who in this case would aggressively detain  them against their will and effectively “sectioning” them for want of a better term (only for a physical rather than a mental illness) to both keep them safe, and protect the public?

Both cases would make this innocent party utterly terrified. I guess broadly the question is at what point do we subject innocent people to force and “temporary incarceration”, in order for the “greater good” – which sounds a bit Scientologist!

(2) I know you are up to your nose in school work at this time and I would be interested to know a little more on how the program is laid out, what you have left and about how long you will be working on it until graduation.

(3) In your opinion how big of a role does past or present financial trouble play in being more susceptible to either joining a cult or forming radical religious or political beliefs?

(4) I saw a YT video of Stacy Brooks and Jesse Prince demonstrating the Training Routines.  I don’t understand something I was hoping you could explain.  I get the no blink, no twitch or fidget but when it came time for the TR routine where the questions were asked, over and over, the question is asked ‘do birds fly?’ Five out of 6 times, the person answering says ‘yes’ but one time they said ‘no’ and the next time ‘yes’ but each time the person asking said ‘thank you’ and kept asking the question…no right or wrong answer.  What is the GOAL of that exercise?

(5) I was wondering how come the actress and Scientologist, Erika Christensen, played in the Christian propaganda movie “The Case for Christ (2017)”? Won’t the upper echelons of Scientology punish her for that? Or is it that money is the most important thing to them all? She had one of the top billings in that movie. I mean, don’t Scientologists see Christianity as something that evil Xenu implanted in people as an illusion to drive them away from the “awakening” that Scientology offers? So wouldn’t Erika Christensen’s starring in a Christian propaganda movie be equal to a catholic actress starring in a movie that praises Satan?

(6) You commented in passing during Q&A #297 that if you don’t have hands, you can’t hold the E-meter cans so can never be saved by Scientology. That alone is an extremely off putting position to take for any religion. Is it also true that if you’ve had ECT, you are automatically barred from Scientology salvation? Are there any other complete bans?

(7) If you make a substantial donation to a Christian church you can write it off on your taxes. Can you write off Scientology services on your taxes?

(8) Can a psychiatrist join Scientology?

This week, it’s answers about ways to help yourself without Scientology, one of the most influential of Hubbard’s directives, a little bit of a soapbox on ethics and a lot more. Enjoy!

(1) You’ve said what you think is good about Scientology, which is nothing that you cannot get somewhere else. The one thing that did get me interested in it was listening to Grant Cardone explaining how he was able to remove self-imposed barriers through Scientology (this is the end phenomena to become Clear, I believe). Grant also says it helped him remove ideas and agreements that didn’t make sense anymore for him. Can you explain how Scientology would help remove self-imposed barriers, and what you think would be an alternative way to do it without Scientology? Your answer would mean a lot to me. Thank you!

(2) In a recent video, Aaron Smith-Levin stated that public Scientologists and staff members are told that Hubbard had no plans to return to Earth after he “dropped the body”. Rather, he is said to have gone straight to Target Two, where he awaits other Scientologists to join him. According to Aaron, Hubbard even wrote a directive to this extent. Aaron said he wasn’t sure how this ties to numerous offices and homes the church maintains for Hubbard in anticipation of his return. Do you know anything of this apparent contradiction? I wouldn’t put it past Hubbard to write two contradictory directives, but I am curious what you think.

(3) If you could go back in time to about a year ago and murder Covid 19 “Patient zero” and prevent the pandemic…would you do it?

(4) I was listening to this week’s Fair Game podcast with Leah and Mike Rinder and their guest mentioned Sea Org officers are based on some people that took the overlord Xenu out of power after dropping the thetan on Earth. I thought the Xenu myth ended there. I didn’t know there is a lot more to the story. I am having trouble looking it up. Do you know what supposedly happened after the great incident? Also Leah mentioned about how they take your legal documents. Are there illegal immigrants on bases? Can the FBI investigate Scientology from a human trafficking angle? 

(5) Why is it that in Scientology, you are not allowed to grieve when a loved one dies? That is cruel and heartless of the CoS organization to tell someone who’s mom or dad died to stop dramatizing over a loved one’s death. It’s disgusting.

(6) Were Scientologists married in civil services or religious ones or didn’t it matter?

(7) Before David Miscavige took over, were there as many high ranking members defecting?

(8) Given your intimate experience regarding the indoctrination tactics of Scientology I was wondering if you might be able to offer a best guess as to how many SPs or ex members may be physically out but mentally in. 

This week, it’s answers about punishment in Scientology, tracking David Miscavige, the Biderman framework of coercive control and much more. Enjoy!

(1) I hear many ex-members use the expression “I was in trouble.” What does this being “in trouble” mean exactly? Do you already know the consequence or could the punishment differ depending on the situation? 

(2) What would David Miscavige do if people hired private investigators to sit outside of Flag and follow him around 24/7 legally?

(3) When looking through the court filing by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation in Valerie Haney’s case, my attention was drawn to page 4 where they have a coercive control framework which is used to back up Haney’s story. I went down the rabbit hole to find out where and when this chart originated. It turns out to be by Alfred Biderman way back in 1957 (predating Robert Lifton’s book), yet Biderman doesn’t even have a wikipedia entry.

Had you heard of Biderman’s work before this filing? Should we see it more in academic works about Scientology? How do you feel about Valerie’s chances of avoiding Scientology’s “arbitration” with the support she’s getting from REAL human rights activists?

(4) Do Scientologists not believe the space station is possible? I heard there are many Scientologists who are conspiracy theorists that believe the moon landing was faked and that the Earth is flat. Is it true that this is because it contradicts their origin story of Xenu having done something to keep people on Earth and the only way to leave is to do the steps of Scientology’s Bridge to Total Freedom?

(5) What’s the difference between a new religious movement and a cult?

(6) This week you said that in order to get auditing, you need a MEST body. But what about on OT 7 when you are auditing thetans that are in the general vicinity, not just inside your body?