Terminology Part 2

Xenu/Xemu:

Xenu is an extremely controversial topic for Scientology. Xenu is a galactic god that Hubbard supposedly reveals at a certain level of Scientology. Xenu is also the cause of body thetans being trapped in every human born on Earth. The story is, 75 million years ago Xenu was about to be kicked out of office so his last effort to reduce overpopulation of his planets was to freeze the majority of their population and fly them to Earth, where they burned in volcanoes. Some versions say that they were killed by bombing the volcanoes. As their souls/thetans left their body, Xenu trapped them and forced them to watch videos which represented a society of Earth very similar to the 1950’s. Then, he released them onto Earth and when civilization arose, these thetans inhabited their bodies and from then on were the cause of all grievances, misfortunes, unhappiness, etc. Xenu was eventually captured and imprisoned on a planet where he currently still lives.

In Scientology, any level before OT-III (Operating Thetan Level III) strictly avoids the topic, and any level on or above OT-III adamantly rejects that even the myth of Xenu exists. This could be for the reason that they believe such knowledge is dangerous to those who are not properly prepared, or it could be because it is truly just a myth.

One interesting aspect to this myth is that the church has, in a way, admitted that it exists. ThoughtCo explains in this article that “The Church actively pursues legal action against those who attempt to publish Xenu-related materials via copyright law. In order to claim copyright on a piece of material, however, one has to admit that the material does, in fact, exist and that they are the author of it”.

Below I have included an interesting section of a story written by an ex-Scientologist explaining the first straw that led her to leave Scientology. This section of her story really piqued my interest, but as always it is important to consider that none of this is fact and is not yet proved.

“My parents were Scientologists, OT7 and OT8. I knew plenty of other OTs. And I had never, *ever*, even heard the word “Xenu” or “body thetan”. Besides, I read the materials and I didn’t come down with pneumonia and die, so clearly these weren’t the real material. Clearly the people on Clambake were nuts, just as I’d been told.

So where to go for real information? I just had to know. On the one hand, if those materials contained the secrets to the universe, I would be willing to put up with any number of abuses, admit I was wrong, and get my ass in session. If there was any chance that I’d be able to make ponies appear out of mid-air by getting back in the good graces of the church, then that’s what I would do.

On the other hand, what if I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the next 10 years of my life working up to OTIII only to discover that it was all bullshit? What if, as I have remarked in previous posts, it was just a dangling carrot? By then I would have wasted my youth and my happiness for nothing.

So I waited, and kept my eyes open. One day, and I won’t state how and I won’t state who and I won’t state when, I had an opportunity to sneak a peak at someone’s secret OT material’s briefcase. That person had left their materials unattended, and I wasted no time cracking that baby open. What I found wasn’t much – but there were references to B/Ts, clusters, and whole-track incidents.

I have to tell you – confirmation of the Xenu story was the last thing I expected to see in there. But there it was. I was shocked. I put everything back just as I’d found it, and I knew to keep very quiet about what I had read.”

 

Suppressive Person:

A suppressive person, often abbreviated as SP, is a broad definition of someone who suppresses the well being of others. This type of person, according to the church, usually has Anti-Social Personality disorder, which is when one does not know right from wrong and can persistently lie or be deceitful to exploit or manipulate others. The church states that this disorder is found in people such as “Napoleon, Hitler, the unrepentant killer and the drug lord”. Hubbard has claimed that 2.5% of the population have this disorder.

Someone currently in Scientology can be declared an SP and will immediately be expelled from the church. A few things that will get one labeled as an SP are talking badly about the church, supporting psychiatry or psychology, leaving the church, communicating with an SP,  not making progress in your courses, etc.

Leah Remini, who was once a prominent member in the church, has since been labeled an SP and has said that “you have that idea that Suppressive People are these other things that come out of the ground … you never think you’re going to be considered one of those people as a Scientologist ever.”

Below is an 8-minute video from the church that explains suppression and suppressive people.

 

Disconnection:

Disconnection may be the most frowned upon policy of Scientology. According to Hubbard “disconnection is defined as a self-determined decision made by an individual that he is not going to be connected to another. It is a severing of a communication line”. The way Scientologists commonly think of it is as a right. For example, Hubbard has also said that “If one has the right to communicate, then one must also have the right to not receive communication from another”. A Scientologist typically disconnects with someone who they deem a suppressive person.

Ex-Scientologists and families of Scientologists claim that disconnection often tears families apart. A common example of when disconnection would occur is when one member of a family leaves the church and the rest of the family cuts ties with that member. The church says that this is completely up to the family members whether or not they choose to cut ties with the member who left. However, many sources have claimed that the church pressures current members to disconnect with those who choose to leave, even when it splits families apart.

A website specifically devoted to stopping this policy is stopscientologydisconnection.com

 

Further Reading/Videos:

Xenu-

There is a very concise and funny video form South Park explaining the story of Xenu and body thetans that you can watch here.

A video of Hubbard supposedly explaining the history of Xenu can be watched here.

A video of (former) senior executive of Scientology Mike Rinder rejecting the myth of Xenu can be watched here.

Disconnection-

An article that explains the policy of disconnection from a Scientologist’s viewpoint can be found here.

An interesting article contemplating the negative effects of disconnection can be found here.