When I was 15, I was shopping around town probably looking for girls or someone to buy me those illusive 16+ video games. Briefly, after stopping to take a swig of my beverage.. a female approached me, she greeted me and asked me how I was and what I had planned today. Little did I know what this day would end like.
Her name was Fiona, she said she was from the Church of Scientology and said that they was looking for people to come and join. Normally, I'd give her the middle and walk off but a girl, not much older than me with a beautiful figure and long auburn hair.. I'd give her the time of day (as well as.. no I wont go down that path).
Basically, she said that the church wasn't about worshipping God but instead it was about.. anti-drugs, anti-war and a fight for a peaceful world. I didn't realize then that that wasn't all the L. Ron Hubbard Foundation had in store. She asked if I'd come back to have a stress/personality test (basically, what they call "Auditing" for free and if I'd watch a movie. Like I said previously, I didn't have nothing else to do so I said "Sure. Why not." Her face lit up like a car headlight.. she seemed genuinely happy.
Cue 30 minutes later, when I am sitting in a well kept building waiting to have my personality test when Thomas comes out and says "Would you like to come in now, James?" (I wasn't giving real names to them yet.) I'm not going to describe every little bit about the auditing process incase they sue me. No, wait.. I couldn't give a shit.. here goes:
(Basically, its a whole load of crap..but I was young, stupid and carefree and went with it.)
Ok, the room is a nice air conditioned place that lures you into a very relaxed mood, you sit in a nice comfy chair and then the auditor joins you. The machine they use - an "e-meter" is basically a lie detector. You squeeze a couple of cans while the auditor asks you a few questions about your life and it's picked up by the e-meter and logged by the auditor. That's all I know. You can find out more infomation about the e-meter here:
http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Secrets/E-Meter/faq-on-emeters.html
This took around an hour because my new best friend Thomas had some trouble with the e-meter. Afterwards, I was asked for my contact details.. I just gave my mobile number for now and my name and was told I'd be called within the next three days with the results. 3 days later, I get a call from Fiona, the girl who approached me saying they had the results and would I come in and discuss them. I was going to visit my father so I said I'd go in 2 weeks time, she quickly scurried the phone to Thomas who gave me my first warning signs of what was to be a horrible journey.. Basically he says: "Don't you care about finding out the secrets of your life, why we are here on this earth? Getting rid of war?" I answer "Yes.. but I have to visit my father." Thomas replies "OK. Don't sweat it. We'll call you."
2 weeks passes and I recieve a call from Fiona asking if I was free to go in.. "Sure. I'll come down in about an hour." I replied. She said "Okay, cool. See you soon!" and hung up the reciever. I stroll to the offices and I'm huddled into a sideroom to discuss my results. Basically, they told me I was a lost sheep. A person without direction, a person with low self-esteem. Which, at the time was right.. I'd been having a rough time. They said they could help me, and anything that'd get me out of this rut.. I'd do it.
Next came the costs.. "All you have to do is attend a few seminars, take a few books home with you and get audited twice a week to monitor your process." "All it will cost you is.. £5 for the auditing.. £15 for [each] seminar and the books are free to you because you are still a teen." I asked whether my parents should be involved.. and I never heard someone say "No!" quicker. Again, I wasn't exactly best friends with either of my parents.. so this was much chance to show them I could be a new person. I agree, paid £15 for a seminar, gave my address and full name [MISTAKE MISTAKE MISTAKE] and went home.
The first seminar was about thinking about yourself postively.. and I will say.. it was mindblowing, it was really in-depth and interesting. That was the only one that was interesting. Afterwards, I was approached by the person who gave the seminar and she had a brief chat with me and welcomed me as a Scientologist.
They didn't call me for a couple of weeks but during this time, I confided with a friend with what basically, I'd done in a whim. He told me I'd made a huge mistake but I wouldn't here any of it. When I went to return my books to the Library, I told Thomas about my friends doubts.. NOTE: NEVER QUESTION A HARDENED SCIENTOLOGISTS BELIEFS!!!!! He told me my friend was uneducated and that I should explain to him what was really going on. A week or so later, I lost my best friend. He refused to talk to me. But that story is for a different time and place.
I could go on about this for hours, but lets zoom forward 6 months. I eventually told my parents [who were "uneducated"] and they were really supportive [mainly,because they didn't have a clue what it was].
I was now 16, a 6 month scientologist and I'd lost a lot of friends, spend a lot of money and I'd say completely brainwashed. Luckily, this didn't last much longer. My old friend who I hadn't spoken to for at least 5 months came knocking at my door clenching a folder. It was full of anti-Scientology infomation. Of course, I wasn't having any of this. But he left the folder behind and simply said.. "You'll thank me for this later."
Months passed.. I was still paying out.. by this time at least half of my pay packet was going towards the "church". I was still a low rank, having now 3 audits a week, paying £25 per seminar. Then, the summer of my 16th birthday hit.. you know the one.. you try your first booze, drugs and whatnot. (well, not drugs for me -sigh-) I had a girlfriend, who was drifting away as I attended more Sci crap.
Out of the blue, on a hot august afternoon. I sat down and read what my friend had left me. I started reading with the intent of throwing in down in disgust. But I was drawn in, quotes from ex-Sci's, figures, facts.
----. What had I been doing. What have I been wasting £5,000 on. I feel like such a fool. Bare in mind, that this wasn't a sudden "omg scientology is a scam".. it took a while to sink in. I stopped attending seminars, I stopped buying books, I stopped auditing, I stopped donating. Boy, this took a while, they don't like to see people go. My mother and father, after reading this folder really blamed themselves for letting me do all this. It took THEM a while for everything to sink in. It really took it's toll on them [and eventually led to their divorce].
That's it in a nutshell. There's probably holes [ask.. I'll fill them].
Feel free to ask any questions. Anything at all.
What happened to Fiona? She killed herself citing that she would never have enough willpower and strength to progress through to the higher levels of Sci.
Thomas? He's still there. Cept now, he's a team leader and gets paid about £1 more than anyone else.
Her name was Fiona, she said she was from the Church of Scientology and said that they was looking for people to come and join. Normally, I'd give her the middle and walk off but a girl, not much older than me with a beautiful figure and long auburn hair.. I'd give her the time of day (as well as.. no I wont go down that path).
Basically, she said that the church wasn't about worshipping God but instead it was about.. anti-drugs, anti-war and a fight for a peaceful world. I didn't realize then that that wasn't all the L. Ron Hubbard Foundation had in store. She asked if I'd come back to have a stress/personality test (basically, what they call "Auditing" for free and if I'd watch a movie. Like I said previously, I didn't have nothing else to do so I said "Sure. Why not." Her face lit up like a car headlight.. she seemed genuinely happy.
Cue 30 minutes later, when I am sitting in a well kept building waiting to have my personality test when Thomas comes out and says "Would you like to come in now, James?" (I wasn't giving real names to them yet.) I'm not going to describe every little bit about the auditing process incase they sue me. No, wait.. I couldn't give a shit.. here goes:
(Basically, its a whole load of crap..but I was young, stupid and carefree and went with it.)
Ok, the room is a nice air conditioned place that lures you into a very relaxed mood, you sit in a nice comfy chair and then the auditor joins you. The machine they use - an "e-meter" is basically a lie detector. You squeeze a couple of cans while the auditor asks you a few questions about your life and it's picked up by the e-meter and logged by the auditor. That's all I know. You can find out more infomation about the e-meter here:
http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Secrets/E-Meter/faq-on-emeters.html
This took around an hour because my new best friend Thomas had some trouble with the e-meter. Afterwards, I was asked for my contact details.. I just gave my mobile number for now and my name and was told I'd be called within the next three days with the results. 3 days later, I get a call from Fiona, the girl who approached me saying they had the results and would I come in and discuss them. I was going to visit my father so I said I'd go in 2 weeks time, she quickly scurried the phone to Thomas who gave me my first warning signs of what was to be a horrible journey.. Basically he says: "Don't you care about finding out the secrets of your life, why we are here on this earth? Getting rid of war?" I answer "Yes.. but I have to visit my father." Thomas replies "OK. Don't sweat it. We'll call you."
2 weeks passes and I recieve a call from Fiona asking if I was free to go in.. "Sure. I'll come down in about an hour." I replied. She said "Okay, cool. See you soon!" and hung up the reciever. I stroll to the offices and I'm huddled into a sideroom to discuss my results. Basically, they told me I was a lost sheep. A person without direction, a person with low self-esteem. Which, at the time was right.. I'd been having a rough time. They said they could help me, and anything that'd get me out of this rut.. I'd do it.
Next came the costs.. "All you have to do is attend a few seminars, take a few books home with you and get audited twice a week to monitor your process." "All it will cost you is.. £5 for the auditing.. £15 for [each] seminar and the books are free to you because you are still a teen." I asked whether my parents should be involved.. and I never heard someone say "No!" quicker. Again, I wasn't exactly best friends with either of my parents.. so this was much chance to show them I could be a new person. I agree, paid £15 for a seminar, gave my address and full name [MISTAKE MISTAKE MISTAKE] and went home.
The first seminar was about thinking about yourself postively.. and I will say.. it was mindblowing, it was really in-depth and interesting. That was the only one that was interesting. Afterwards, I was approached by the person who gave the seminar and she had a brief chat with me and welcomed me as a Scientologist.
They didn't call me for a couple of weeks but during this time, I confided with a friend with what basically, I'd done in a whim. He told me I'd made a huge mistake but I wouldn't here any of it. When I went to return my books to the Library, I told Thomas about my friends doubts.. NOTE: NEVER QUESTION A HARDENED SCIENTOLOGISTS BELIEFS!!!!! He told me my friend was uneducated and that I should explain to him what was really going on. A week or so later, I lost my best friend. He refused to talk to me. But that story is for a different time and place.
I could go on about this for hours, but lets zoom forward 6 months. I eventually told my parents [who were "uneducated"] and they were really supportive [mainly,because they didn't have a clue what it was].
I was now 16, a 6 month scientologist and I'd lost a lot of friends, spend a lot of money and I'd say completely brainwashed. Luckily, this didn't last much longer. My old friend who I hadn't spoken to for at least 5 months came knocking at my door clenching a folder. It was full of anti-Scientology infomation. Of course, I wasn't having any of this. But he left the folder behind and simply said.. "You'll thank me for this later."
Months passed.. I was still paying out.. by this time at least half of my pay packet was going towards the "church". I was still a low rank, having now 3 audits a week, paying £25 per seminar. Then, the summer of my 16th birthday hit.. you know the one.. you try your first booze, drugs and whatnot. (well, not drugs for me -sigh-) I had a girlfriend, who was drifting away as I attended more Sci crap.
Out of the blue, on a hot august afternoon. I sat down and read what my friend had left me. I started reading with the intent of throwing in down in disgust. But I was drawn in, quotes from ex-Sci's, figures, facts.
----. What had I been doing. What have I been wasting £5,000 on. I feel like such a fool. Bare in mind, that this wasn't a sudden "omg scientology is a scam".. it took a while to sink in. I stopped attending seminars, I stopped buying books, I stopped auditing, I stopped donating. Boy, this took a while, they don't like to see people go. My mother and father, after reading this folder really blamed themselves for letting me do all this. It took THEM a while for everything to sink in. It really took it's toll on them [and eventually led to their divorce].
That's it in a nutshell. There's probably holes [ask.. I'll fill them].
Feel free to ask any questions. Anything at all.
What happened to Fiona? She killed herself citing that she would never have enough willpower and strength to progress through to the higher levels of Sci.
Thomas? He's still there. Cept now, he's a team leader and gets paid about £1 more than anyone else.
