Well, these stories have been some of the abuses that lead up to my decision to leave. What happened after I left? I'll tell you.
First, I wanted to just fade into the shadows; just "stop going"; just stop participating. But that wasn't an option. I tried that, and failed.
Example in point... Tampa Org's division 6 keeps a stat on "Number of Active Volunteer Ministers". They call you each week to see if you've done anything that would be considered "active" in the field of "volunteer ministering". They can be awfully annoying to collect their stats and add you as "one point" on their weekly statistic. So if you don't tell them YES, they'll keep you on the phone for half an hour helping you try to remember some little thing you might possibly have done where you can say YES to their question.
I got annoyed with them one week when they called me three times on a Thursday morning while I was working. I finally told them to take me off their phone list. The staff member, Louise Cournoyer, wrote a report on me. I, in turn, wrote them a polite letter telling them I was busy and would no longer be participating in their "Active VM program" and they should remove me from their list. I got two more reports written on me, one from Judy Fagerman and one from Louise Cournoyer.
In other words... you cannot leave.
After making my decision to leave, I spent a lot of time researching on the Internet. A lot! I read everything I could get my grubby little hands on. I soaked it all up. I joined a few newsgroups, email lists, message boards, etc. I lurked, I read. I read every critic's website I could. There are so many viewpoints out there, and it was actually refreshing to realize that people have such a variety of viewpoints and it's okay. (In the COS your viewpoints have to align with the COS's... or else it's off to Ethics with you!)
I was beginning to wonder if Scientology was workable at all, or was just part of a con. I read something by L. Ron Hubbard, Jr. and was fascinated. I obtained a copy of the book "L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman" by Bent Corydon and co-authored by L. Ron Hubbard, Jr. I read the entire book in 3-4 days. At the end of that, I was no longer a Scientologist — not even a Freezoner.
When in Scientology, you are encouraged and sometimes coerced into buying every book, every lecture, every collector's items, every thing that the Church of Scientology offers for sale. It doesn't matter that you haven't listened to the last ten lecture sets you bought... you MUST purchase the latest one out. As I was reading and researching the subject of Scientology on the Internet, I started to sell off my extensive collection of tape and CD lectures, books and things related to Scientology. I initially just collected up some things I didn't want to keep, and sold those. Each week, I would go back to my bookshelf and pull off more items that I was now willing to sell. In all, I sold the entire collection. The last few items I just gave away to some new Freezone friends.
I originally spent probably $20,000 for all the "stuff" I'd bought over the years. How much did I get for all this stuff? About 10 cents on the dollar.
If you also have a collection you want to sell, you might try www.sellingscnstuff.com. They were great at helping me sell my stuff. eBay was helpful for fast sales, but you have to be willing to sell for cheap, cheap, cheap. I also tried to sell in other ways, but there are a lot of Scientologists who don't want to buy from you if you sound "disaffected" with the Church of Scientology. They try to "feel you out" to see if it's okay for them to buy from you. Gee, guys, who else would care about buying the stuff? Who else would be selling it? Don't you want a "great deal" on your founder's writings? Some people take the "cut off your nose to spite your face" attitude. Oh well. Culties!
In July 2007 I decided I'd had enough "hiding in the corners and pretending I hadn't left" and I wrote a letter to the Church of Scientology asking for the money back that I had on account at various organizations — money I had paid for training or auditing and which I would never again be using.
It took six months, a lot of letters and them harassing me, but I finally obtained about $14,000 (a mere drop in the bucket to what I'd spent in Scientology over the prior 13 years!) and they promptly declared me a suppressive person.
I'll probably later scan and post some of these letters. The Church of Scientology staff are really idiots. They even wrote me that I couldn't sell my emeter to anyone but the Church of Scientology. Excuse me? I bought it outright and I can sell it whenever I want and to whom I want. I'll probably be publishing some of the letters that the COS wrote to me during the time I was trying to get back my money, and will provide some tips for getting back your money.
After the Church of Scientology gave me all the checks, they mailed a Suppressive Person Declare to me. It's dated Dec 12th and I received it Dec 29th.
Their SP Declare (with cover letter) was so ridiculously elaborated with lies that I wrote Cara Golashesky, the Flag Land Base Justice Chief (the author of the libel) and told her that it was libel, it was malicious and full of lies, and she needed to retract it. Personally, I didn't care THAT she had written it, just that she not distribute it. As far as I was concerned, the Scientologists could think all they wanted about me... but this libel had better not affect my livelihood! [P.S. Per Florida Statute, I am not required to point out to the author of libel specifically what is wrong with the writing. I am only required to notify them five days in advance of filing a lawsuit. The only time I will go through the efforts to PROVE libel... is in a courtroom. There's no other time I would spend on trying to change the mind of a brainwashed cult member.]
Cara Golaskesky wrote me back with some ridiculous "shore story" that no Scientologist should be changing their relationship with me just because of the declare. Oh, what poppycock! I had my lawyer elaborate for her in a brilliant letter. (That non-Scientologist attorney saw through all the COS bullshit.) This time, Sara Heller the Legal Director of FSO wrote back some similarly ridiculous suggestions and accusations.
Here's some irony for your amusement... In March 2007, I decided to leave the COS. In July 2007, I announced it to the COS with my request for a repayment of my unused advanced payments. Such a request, by COS policy, makes me entirely inelligible for any future services at COS... ever. In December 2007, I was expelled from a "church" I was no longer part of. In February 2008, my lawyer was told to "butt out" because this is an ecclesiastical matter; that I need to appeal to the "church" directly to resolve our conflict. Excuuuuuuuuse me... but I'm not part of the "Church" of Scientology and can never be so again in the future. Anyone else see the obvious paradox?
Then started a series of most bizarre incidents. A few people have refused to deal with me and refuse to talk with me. Again, I'll be documenting these as they happen, or as I recall them. The next page in my story is my "Hall of Shame" webpage for some of the more bizarre incidents.
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