So, how would Autism be handled in the Cult? I’d think being on the spectrum is probably untreatable with auditing for many because they’d be unable to comply. So would that get someone listed as SP or psychotic and kicked out? And would a parent be expected to disconnect from a child for this? And would the cult prevent the use of medication or any of the other therapeutic methods? And if not, what might a parent do?

In fact, when Lisa McPherson died, they said “She died. People die.” This implies they had nothing to do with it, it would have happened anyway. But if someone gets better, Scientology IS the cause.

Well, depends if you’re speaking of Sea Org, Staff, or public. Sea Org…you’re right. Staff—depends on where they are, really- but they have a much greater chance of getting enough sleep as they don’t work round the clock like the Sea org peeps do. Public always get as much sleep as they need. Just to keep things clear (no pun intended) 🙂

I know you’re joking, MidwestMom re being a degraded being…but just in case someone IS lurking w/ a chronic physical condition—please realize Hubbard was FOS re this and HE was popping pills all the while I was being run on: “Are you STILL taking that medication?” Man that pissed me off when I learned that.
One of the top registrars at Flag had “Narcolepsy”. It was THE most amazing thing I’d ever seen. He’d just conk out, mid sentence…and then a few minutes later, pick right up where he left off. Are you the same? Pretty cool, really 🙂

Me too, on both counts….thanks, sugarplumfairy32!

I’m an atheist. All religions have the potential to be the basis for the formation of a damaging cult like the church of scientology.

All religious organisations, aka churches, need members to donate and prothletise to survive and prosper.

Religious beliefs in their own right don’t usually cause problems, most problems stem from the organisations formed around them, aka churches.

The world would be a better place if people stopped going to churches to be told how to act and what to think and instead made their spiritual or philosophical journey a personal one.

The church of scientology defines a dangerous, corrupt and corrupting organisation of the type most people imagine when they use the word cult. The beliefs are neither here nor there it’s the nature of the organisation.

So endeth the rant.

You’re at cause over sag.

I’m with you, but I will note that Dianetics was reviewed harshly in December, 1950 in a psychiatric journal (I posted a little about this above). Hubbard was accused of not providing the evidence that appears to reside solely in his imagination.

Steve Wiseman of UBC discusses Hubbard’s growing dislike for Psychiatry in the 1950s.

Hubbard initially attempted to publish the Dianetics article which he published in Astounding Science Fiction in the American Journal of Psychiatry. The article was rejected and the journal published a scathing rebuke of Dianetics including Hubbard’s imaginary evidence in December of 1950.

According to Wiseman in the mid 1950’s Psychiatry began to introduce the predecessors of the modern popular SSRI’s and essentially, if I may summarize, Hubbard saw these as **competition** much the same way he viewed breakaway groups, like Marty’s.

Ron DeWolf, and Hana in her 1994 affidavit give hints as to how Hubbard dealt with competition, and these methods, while more directly violent, are not very different from how we see Miscavige dealing with Martys group.

I would add that while I agree that Preston is being trotted out for publicity, I do not oppose the press questioning the death of her son. While it is unfortunate and traumatic, the death was **avoidable** using fairly normal medical care, and this was **refused** because of bizarre cult beliefs based on inappropriate medical advice of a science fiction writer.