Critical Q&A

This week, it’s answers about how Sea Org members are expected to handle their jobs even if they aren’t trained for them, some comments on cultism in The Mandalorian, Scientologists’ capacity for cognitive dissonance and a lot more. Enjoy!

(1) Scientology seems to quite happily move people around jobs or chuck them in the RPF. What happens when work needs to be done but their members who are builders, electricians, computer programmers or whatever other skilled people are all shifted to other positions or thrown in the RPF? Do they expect completely unskilled replacements from elsewhere in the Sea Org to take over to do complex technical or dangerous tasks with no training? Would they shove qualified electricians into PR or management roles where they would not be suitable either?

(2) Earlier on in the current season of The Mandalorian we learn that the whole masked creed thing is connected to a terrorist cult on the Mandalorian home world. In your opinion how closely related is Din Djarin’s experience to finding out that there are many more of his kind who freely show their faces to anyone, to one’s real world experience of coming out of a cult mindset? 

(3) Hubbard clearly states that if anything is not right in your life, Scientology can fix it. If it is not fixed, it is because you are “pulling it in.” Nothing can be Scientology’s fault, it can only be yours. If you are unable to discover the cause of whatever your problems might be, Scientology will tell you that it must be because you created this issue in a past life (how convenient!) So how was it that LRH was unable to handle his own demons? It is now common knowledge that he had multiple strokes, needed medications, suffered from dementia and, in the end, hid away living in a paranoid and lonely small world of his own making. In short, Scientology completely and utterly failed to save him. What do Scientologists make of this incredible fact? 

(4) One thing every ex-Scientologist I’ve seen seems to agree about is that one good and useful thing is the Communications Course.  What do they teach and what makes it so effective? 

(5) I’m wondering if you have any background on the truly strange and cartoony book covers the Church of Scientology used back in the 70s? Surely Hubbard was involved in the design in some way but if he was trying to present his ideas as a serious science, why go with such weird covers? Honestly, though, some of them are still preferable to the spooky and severe covers that the books have now.

(6) If you had made it to OT 3 as a Scientologist, would you have believed it?

(7) I have noticed that a lot of married people in Scientology have different last names. Is there a reason for that or just a random thing? 

(8) What is your estimate of the number of active Scientologists currently? Is the COS shrinking or is it remaining static? Does Scientology still have a strong presence in Hollywood or has that changed?