testing picture size for a different thread.

Without a single reservation, the most enjoyable auditor I ever had. Sweet, funny, engaging and *very* effective. I’ve always thought it too bad that the GO completely covered up his death and the factors behind it.

He does seem a bit whiney at times.

Hassan thinks he should be in every dialogue concerning Scientology or any other cult for that matter. He’s an expert only in his own mind. He’s never been qualified as an expert and would be destroyed on any examination by a lawyer. His video is so desperate, so indidious, so contemptible, that he must be very far gone into his own ego that he cannot even see that he really is irrelevant to any real discussion of cults. Nobody cares what he thinks, despite his relentless self aggrandizement.

It’s interesting that you connect the term “free” with any of Steve Hassan’s books, which are a marketing tool to get unsuspecting cult involved families to pay Hassan’s exorbitant fees. His books are really just a commerical…for his ego. Perhaps you’re not familiar with Hassan’s claims of exclusivity, when, in fact, he has not changed his approach in over 30 years. Hassan is no activist, except for himself; he uses the ideas of others in his books and claims that he has a special intervention, the SIA approach, which is not supported by any principles found in research or any real theory except those of his own creation. I would never refer any one to Hassan as he is at the top of a pyramid charging huge fees for his “intervention” work. I think Hassan needs a “danger: beware of exploitation” warning sign.

I have to wonder if Steve Hassan actually read the book or whether he is only upset because his own name was not mentioned. Since Steve’s life’s work has been mainly as an activist, ex-cult member, exit counselor and masters level clinician, there would be no reason to cite him, as he has not authored any scholarly work. According to Steve’s video he sees his model as cut and dried as auto mechanics. As Wright’s more balanced discussion illustrates, this topic is nuanced and not as black and white, cut and dried as Hassan would like others to believe. There are a number of different perspectives and since it would be impossible or unethical to conduct the scientific experiments necessary to provide definite evidence for any of them, a thoughtful discussion of the different perspectives as Wright has done, is the most intelligent choice to make. People can read about different ways of thinking on the topic and make up their own minds, rather than the ideology-laden manner we hear about it from some folks who believe their model is reality.

Steve Hassan has bemoaned the fact in several of his recent talks that his views on cults, which he seems to consider to be the Truth about cults, has not been given enough attention. Perhaps if things were not presented so dogmatically, people would be more likely to listen. An exception to this seems to be ex-cultists who often find his easy an definite answers attractive and I count myself as one of those, since I spent more than a decade falling into that trap. It was only after I got a graduate level education that I begin to seek out and learn about other perspectives and rather than dismiss anything that conflicts with the anti-cult ideology, consider that there might be some value to the other side of the discussion. The conclusion I have come to is both extremes have problems. We were not total victims of “mind control” or even undue influence, but there were factors of undue influence that came into play that at least some of us were unable to resist, even though the majority were. Why some of us got in and stayed in is a topic we all have a great deal more to learn about. Be wary of people who are offering definitive, auto-mechanic type answers to this question.

“All these years and I’m still waiting for an explanation that convinces me.”

I feel you on this. For every person who buys into Scientology, 10 more ran for the door. And everyone who leaves talks about seeing red flags after the fact (and ignoring them, justifying them, etc.). Having gotten a bit into Wright’s book now, I actually do see how Haggis was attracted to this. And when I combine that with something someone else said (Vance Woodward, maybe?): people LITERALLY buy into Scientology, I can sort of picture how it goes down. I can see how someone might get involved at first, and then be invested, and then be trapped because their job and social circle are built around their Scientology circle such that they can’t leave. But then . . . I kind of lose the trial, and that’s where I think the mind control/undue influence probably is applied pretty heavily. But still . . . at some point you’ve got to wake up, one would think. Such a strange puzzle . . .

Similar to how some who are not addicted to drugs will respond to being told of the dangers of drug use and avoid using, but those who are addicted need a more targeted approach to deal with the factors which hold them in their addictions.