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Ex-Scientologist Stories

For this analysis, I read stories from six different ex-Scientologists. These people included Bea Kiddo, Tamasin, Kendra Wiseman, Annie Roseblum, Astra Woodcraft, and “Janet”, who decided to keep her name private. I found these stories on multiple sites, including exscn.net, spaink.net, and lermanet.com. Throughout my paper, I will include many quotes from each of these people. I also read Jenna Miscavige Hill’s story about her experience in the church and her uncle, the current leader of Scientology David Miscavige, from Tony Ortega’s blog. Ortega’s blog post includes information that came from the book that Jenna wrote called Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape. I found many similarities, but will focus on the few with the most occurrences through the stories. These include the young recruitment into the Sea Org, family separation within the religion, demanding physical labor, mental abuse, and minimal pay paired with extensive debt if a member leaves. Most of my observations are of the treatment and requirements of being in the Sea Org, a dedicated organization within Scientology created by Scientologist founder L. Ron Hubbard. Many controversial things that supposedly happen in Scientology happen in the upper levels and the Sea Org. The lower levels, which the majority of Scientologists are in, are relatively tame. It is much like a normal religion, besides the process of requiring frequent payments. The really controversial points, which I will cover, come mostly from the stories of members who were in the Sea Org for a period of time.
The first topic I will discuss is the recruitment into the Sea Org at such a young age. When recruited to the Sea Org, one must sign a billion year contract, promising to be dedicated to and serve Scientology throughout all of their lifetimes, as they believe in reincarnation. Tamasin signed the contract at ten years old. She was convinced to join the Sea Org because she wanted to stay with her father, who decided to join. She explains the situation she was in when she went onto the Sea Org ship with her father, “I was the one presented with a contract. It said ‘I had to sign for a billion years’. My Father was quite concerned and queried this as I was only 10yrs old. We were told ‘sign, or get off the ship’. We discussed this; I told my Dad ‘nothing mattered as long as I could be with him’. So I signed. I never really thought about it at the time, I did want to be with my Dad and I couldn’t of imagined a billion years if I tried.” Jenna Miscavige Hill signed her life away at age 8. Bea Kiddo joined the Sea Org at age 15. She explains that she joined after being sent to the RPF, the Rehabilitation Project Force, which I will get into later, for stealing about $13. She explains how a “recruiter for the SO came by trying to get his stats up for [Thursday] morning. He tried to get this one guy to join, but he didn’t want to go. So I said I would go!! Anything to be able to listen to music again! And that was why I joined the Sea Org. So I could listen to music again. You gotta understand, I was a kid when I joined. Likely too young. I didn’t understand what the heck I was doing.” She signed her life away because she was so deprived in the RPF and didn’t know what she was truly doing. Kendra Wiseman joined the Sea Org at 7 years old. According to the Church of Scientology, “The minimum age of Sea Organization members is generally the minimum age in any state or country that a person is legally permitted to work”. However, this age in generally 14 or 15, which is much older than many accounts of when people have joined the Sea Org. Scanning many other ex-members stories from those who joined the Sea Org at a young age, Sabrina joined at age 13, RQPD, an alias, joined at age 7 then rejoined at 15, alias EXCMO joined at around 8 years old and became a recruiter at 12, Astra Woodcraft joined at age 14. These are just a few examples that confirm that the Sea Org recruits members at a young age. This is incredibly problematic as a young child cannot possibly understand what they are signing for. Children should not be responsible for signing their lives away at such a young age, let alone be required to do the work that one must do in the Sea Org. For example, Jenna Miscavige Hill explains “The list of duties and procedures went on endlessly, and the result of all this process, paperwork, and regulation was that there were no children at the Ranch — only little adults” and how they were being robbed of their childhood due to this type of work and responsibility. Tamasin regrets how the church treats children as well, saying “How can a child be an ‘adult’ in a little body? They can’t and shouldn’t be expected to be. A child looks up to adults to guide them through to adulthood … a child shouldn’t have to raise themselves, with little or no guidance the child isn’t equipped to face all the challenges life throws at them. It can be a long road to recovery”. However, according to The Scientology Handbook, written by the founder of Scientology L. Ron Hubbard, “A child is a man or a woman who has not attained full growth … Any law which applies to the behavior of men and women applies to children.” This quote from Hubbard’s own writings and the accounts from a variety of different people prove that the Church of Scientology improperly recruits young members to their elite and rigorous organization, where they cannot possibly know what they are getting in to or handle the responsibility they are going to be given. While not all recruits are below the age of 15, enough are so that it is an issue even though the church denies it. The Sea Org is a very controversial aspect of the religion, and while it may not be terrible to recruit young members for a normal organization, the Sea Org is definitely not a place for young kids to be recruited. Without going into detail of the terrible accounts of being in the Sea Org, which I will get to later, simply the aspect of requiring a child to sign a billion year contract is bad enough. Young members of the Sea Org often have parents who are in the Sea Org, so in a way they grow up in the organization and joining the org is a natural, expected transition for them.
When a child is in the Sea Org, or if their parents are in the org, they often do not see their parents very frequently. Jenna Miscavige Hill recounts how “Very early on, then, Jenna became accustomed to rarely seeing her parents, who were both working ungodly hours for the Sea Org … she saw her father only for a few hours a week, and her mother even less”. Kendra Wiseman explains how when she had doubts about the religion, she wanted to confide in her parents, but they had been gone for six months at a required security check that is required every six months. Astra Woodcraft recalls a time when she was young, seven years old, and new to Scientology, but her Mom was a Sea Org member. She says, “my own mother became a stranger to me, when I needed her most—when I was a scared kid in a strange compound in Florida. But in the Sea Org, as it is known, parents aren’t supposed to pay much attention to their children; kids are a distraction from a higher mission”. Bea Kiddo remembers when her mom joined the Sea Org, “I hardly ever saw my mom. She was constantly being sent on mission. She would show up every few months or so and visit for a few days, on family time, then leave again”. Tamasin has one of the most devastating accounts of family separation within the church. She joined the Sea Org solely to be with her Dad, yet once she joined, she rarely saw him. One time she remembered Hubbard questioning her about how she liked her job as a messenger. She replied saying she liked her job but missed her family. “He replied with ‘your family will be fine, you need to concentrate on the group’. He looked irritated with me. At the time it caused me great conflict, I kept thinking ‘How can family not be important’ after all this was a ‘father’ talking wasn’t it?”. On a side note, Hubbard was indeed a father. His son, Quentin, killed himself at age 22. He was a disappointment to his father, multiple witnesses attest that Hubbard had told them this, as he was too gentle to take over Scientology and had interests in men, which was not acceptable to Hubbard. Tamasin did not give up on her Dad. She asked for news on him, as he had been gone for a while. When she was not given any news, she asked if she could go wherever he was. They agreed and shipped her to a new location. When she arrived, she was told her Dad was not there and that he had been labeled a Suppressive Person, which is basically an enemy to the church. She explains, “All of the journey I had been getting excited at the prospect of being reunited with my father. Now nothingness”. Tamasin also has a few words about the church’s decisions that they made in regards to separating families: “No one has the right to part a child from their family unless there is a damn good reason. It is a child’s ‘RIGHT’ to be with their parents. I was never given a good reason, I was was only told he’s in a condition of Treason, he’s Suppressive … What HUMAN RIGHT is it that deprives a child of their family members. A group who promote ‘Happy Families’. It was certainly not the case for my family and I know it was not the case for many families”. A common issue with the church is their secretive policy of disconnection. The church denies forcing families to disconnect when part of the family leaves the church, saying the policy is simply suggested as a last method. However, there are too many clear stories of parents being forced to stop communication with their child if their child leaves the church or the other way around. I knew disconnection was a major problem with the church, but I had no idea separation of families also existed within the church.
Along with alienating children from their parents after forcing them to sign their lives away, any member of the Sea Org and quite a few Scientology members seem to have many examples in their stories of difficult physical labor. This is possibly the most common topic covered in these stories. This physical labor does happen more often within the Sea Org and the RPF rather than regular levels of Scientology. The exception to this is the Ranch. Jenna Miscavige Hill recalls being sent to the Ranch, referring to Mace Kingsley Ranch school, at five years old. She is astonished “all these years later, that between hard labor to renovate the facility, school studies, and Scientology coursework, small kids were going to bed after 14-hour days”. The Ranch, according to Jenna, was “like a military boot camp, with grueling drills, endless musters, exhaustive inspections, and arduous physical labor that no child should have to do”. Kendra Wiseman also remembers her friend being sent to the MK Ranch, knowing that her friend was being forced to endure hard labor and social isolation. This school, originally based in California before relocating to New Mexico, took in young Scientology members who were labeled as troubled to be rehabilitated. These members could be from any level of Scientology. Some accounts are from children who weren’t even in Scientology, but their parents were. Their parents believed that their misbehavior could be cured by sending them to the Ranch. According to Ex-Scientology Kids, at this “school”, “Students underwent bootcamp-style manual labor programs, Scientology sessions, and social isolation. Several students who went to this school have reported abuse and maltreatment”. The school was eventually shut down in 2002 after 15 years of operation. While MK Ranch was notorious for mistreatment and extreme physical labor, hard labor was also commonly present in the Sea Org, especially if one was sent to the RPF. Annie Roseblum and Bea Kiddo both have vivid memories of the labor that was required of them in the RPF. Annie details on how she “had to work there the entire day scrubbing pipes and walls in the boiler room”. Bea had a much scarier and detailed account of what she was required to do in the RPF. She had to clean “rats alley” every day, which she remembers as a place under the PAC building, only 5 feet tall, covered in roaches, as well as pound concrete for hours. The PAC building is the blue building in California which houses the Celebrity Centre and is the Church’s Hollywood headquarters. A specific time when she was 16 and tasked with digging out dirt for a parking lot she remembers “almost permanently damaged my back doing that. I was shoveling dirt all day long and the next day I could barely breathe. My in charge checked out my back and told me it was all purple and swollen on one side. So I went to a [Scientology] doctor and they told me that I ripped all the muscles in my back and dislocated two ribs”. She comments on how she wonders what a regular doctor would have thought of her situation had she gone to one instead of a Scientology doctor. Janet and her sister Lisa, who convinced Janet to join Scientology and ended up leaving about 25 years after Janet, both have stories of physical labor while in the Sea Org. Janet worked closely with Hubbard, and when she messed up for some reason that she does not remember, she had to clean the floor of Hubbard’s house “using only the oils of [her] hands”. Lisa ended up in the RPF for two and a half years at one point. According to Janet, “While being discharged to do physical labor, Lisa says that a wooden door fell on her, causing her to fall to the ground and hit her head fairly hard. She claims that little was done to follow up on her injury and assure her if she was fine”. This shows the disregard Scientology officials have with the physical health of their members. Many people have claimed similar incidents of tough physical labor and horrible conditions, even as a child, like Bea and Annie were when they endured such treatment. According to Daily News, “The Church’s spokeswoman, Karin Pouw, denied the claims and said, ‘The Church does not engage in any activities that mistreat, neglect or force children to engage in manual labor.’”
Another issue within Scientology is their manipulation of people’s minds. One of the main reasons why people stay in the church is because they can’t imagine a life outside of the church. The church unites its members with beliefs that convince them that anyone who isn’t in Scientology is evil and that they are cleansing the rest of the world of this evil. There are many mind games that the church plays on its members. They have a strict policy of reporting anyone who does anything suspicious. You never feel safe around anyone, not even your own friends. This policy is heavily enforced and requires one to report on any suspicious activity of anyone they are close to. They convince young members that other children their age are being force fed psychiatric drugs in their schools. They require members to complete difficult coursework that can take months and if they don’t pass, they are blamed for being corrupted, committing sins, or not working hard enough. Kendra Wiseman has thoughts on the pressure and mental effects not passing one’s coursework causes, as well as the reasons Scientology gives for what one is doing wrong. She says, “there is nothing more soul-destroying than repeatedly giving something your all, and being told it’s not good enough … the effect they have on a human being is actually quite heinous. Let’s say you’re trying to throw a frisbee that’s made of lead. You fling that frisbee as hard as you can, but it falls to the ground a few feet away. You coach urges you to practice more, and you do, but the frisbee won’t fly. The coach then tells you that you clearly don’t understand how the frisbee works, otherwise you wouldn’t have a problem. You study more about frisbees, give it another go to no avail. The coach now assumes that it’s obvious you must have damaged the frisbee on purpose. You’re a frisbee criminal, and by George, he’s going to see you brought to justice, both for your own good and the good of the frisbee. All the while, you’re being told that the frisbee itself is flawless. All hail the frisbee”. This example really shows the frustration and powerlessness one feels when not succeeding in Scientology. Instead of support, officials turn on children and blame them for the difficulties they force onto them. Annie remembers how she was treated in the RPF. The hard labor and lack of sleep emotionally drained her and everyone else in the RPF. They kept up this treatment until the person “realized how evil and suppressive they are and how much they need the RPF”. They had many methods of breaking down members in the RPF. Annie continues, saying how “They went through all our pc folders [files containing everything you confessed in auditing] and made a list of anything that could ever be used against us, such as crimes of this lifetime, including stealing, selling drugs, prostitution, etc. – anything considered illegal in the eyes of the law or immoral in our society.  These lists were then drawn up as affidavits, and we had to sign them”. This ensured that the member in the RPF felt as if they could not leave. This is especially an issue when auditing sessions are so mentally abusive that they force members to admit to things that they never actually did. Annie also experienced this, when she was required to confess everything bad that she had done during an auditing session called Expanded Dianetics. Expanded Dianetics audits out the reasons a person restrains themselves, or, according to Annie, all of one’s evil intentions. She started running out of reasons that she was evil, her “brain wasn’t just falling apart, but it started to get fried” and she “started spouting out and running out the weirdest things like, ‘to be somebody else’, ‘to blow up a planet’, ‘commit suicide’, ‘to never grow up’, ‘to kill myself’, ‘to destroy bodies’”. Annie sums up the RPF by saying, “It is a process by which they make you believe that you are psychotic, and then you actually do become psychotic”. She eventually researched mind control and its effects after leaving the church and began to understand what happened to her. While Annie and Kendra’s stories significantly focused in on the debilitating effects of the church’s mental abuse, every other story touched on it at some point. Tamasin remembers when she was off of the Apollo, one of the four ships Hubbard created for Sea Org members, for a period of time and met some girls who were very excited to soon be on the boat. At that time, she had thought of telling them the truth about her experience on the ship, how “it will depress you, crush your spirit, take away the love of life”, but if she had done that she would have been in major trouble, possibly kicked out of the church for being a Suppressive Person, an enemy of the church. These mental traumas carried on long after these members left the church. When Lisa left the church, Janet took her in. Janet remembers a time when she set up an art easel so her sister could paint during the day. Lisa would sit there for hours and not paint a single thing. Janet realized this was because “She’s terrified that she might do the wrong thing, pick the wrong color or stroke, and if you do anything like that in Scientology, you’re screwed: Back to the RPF”.
After years intense physical labor and mental manipulation, if one finally wants to leave, they will likely encounter a freeloaders debt. This is billed to them as thousands of dollars after they leave. Freeloaders debt is incurred when a member exchanges their work for free required auditing and classes. When members leave, they are almost always unable to pay their freeloaders debt. This is because of the small pay they received while working for the church, if they received pay at all. While Jenna was in the church, she was “paid pennies an hour”. Annie “received $4.00 a week”. Kendra tells her experience working for the CCHR, the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, which according to an official Scientology website, scientology.org, is “a watchdog group that investigates and exposes psychiatric violations of human rights”. Kendra says that “Minors who worked at CCHR, myself included, were routinely required to work overtime, sometimes up to 20-hour days, and were not compensated for it”. Once they left, after years of working for nearly nothing, they were billed extreme amounts of money. Astra received “a bill for $89,000 for the Scientology classes I’d taken over the years”. Other accounts have told of bills ranging from $25,000 to almost $130,000. Tamasin, who left the church at 15 years old “received a reply saying I owed a ridiculous amount of money if I didn’t go back, as a freeloaders debt” and complains “how on earth can a so called ‘church’ demand money from children?”. When Annie tried to escape Scientology, church officials forced her friend to call her and convince her to not run away because of the immense freeloaders bill she would have that she would never be able to pay back. She was able to finally leave after Hubbard was required to grant amnesty to those in the RPF, meaning that they could leave the RPF without having a freeloaders debt. She explains how this newly granted amnesty “very much concerned me because I knew I could never pay the debt off and Scientology was rabid about making money and having you pay your debts to them. But I also had no money of my own to complete the RPF auditing program because I had worked for them for virtually nothing for six years, 7 days a week. I was caught in a terrible situation. I was brainwashed into believing that I needed RPF auditing but had no money to pay for it; and if I didn’t get it, I could not continue in Scientology”. Another example of Scientology using the freeloaders debt as a threat is when Janet got a call from her sister after leaving the church. Lisa called Janet and told her “that Janet needed to handle her freeloader debt and/or return to Scientology, or Lisa would have to disconnect (disassociate) from Janet”.
What I have discussed in this paper barely scratches the surface of what goes on deep in the religion of Scientology. One can never be certain of what they read online, but the recurrence of these facts in detail throughout multiple stories solidify my belief that these points happen to some degree within some levels of the church. The fact that these happen at all confirm the corruption within Scientology. Learning about this church is fascinating as the information goes to such depths, it is impossible to fully understand it unless you have experienced it yourself.