We have a lot of fun looking through Scientology’s wacky fundraising mailers each Sunday. They give us a snapshot of just how hard the church works to convince its members to fork over more and more money in leader David Miscavige’s unquenchable thirst for more cash.
But on occasion, these internal church fliers also let slip some pretty important admissions that aren’t intended for the larger public. And this week, we have a beauty.
Along with so many other initiatives, we’ve seen in these fliers that Scientology’s imprint Galaxy Press constantly pushes newly printed editions of pulp fiction that Hubbard wrote in the decades before he shifted his focus to fleecing, er, helping his fellow man with Dianetics and Scientology.
If you’ve seen Miscavige gush about the work of Galaxy Press at big church events, you probably have little doubt that the effort to push Hubbard’s fiction is just one more way Scientology tries to promote itself. But it’s another thing to see it spelled out so plainly.
In this flier, note the second “testimonial” by a Scientologist who attended the “Maiden Voyage” celebration on board the church’s private cruise ship, Freewinds, and attended a presentation dedicated to the work of Author Services Inc (ASI), Hubbard’s literary agency, which runs Galaxy Press as well as the annual Writers of the Future contest that we’ve written about numerous times. The unnamed church member marvels at how the church uses Hubbard’s fiction in order to recruit people to Scientology itself…
“I am so embarrassed to admit it, but I really got how the LRH stories from the Golden Age lead the public to the subjects of Dianetics and Scientology themselves. I have heard this many times but I did not get it until now.”
We’re especially struck by the wording of this — it implies that at the church event, this was explained to members in a presentation by ASI. We’d love to get a leak of video from that night to see it for ourselves!
Now back to the unrelenting drumbeat of fundraising, which is just about all Scientology has left. In this flier, we get a nice shot of the “OT Ambassadors” who were on the Freewinds for those Maiden Voyage presentations.
Right in the center, we recognize Her Royal Governess Nancy Cartwright, and behind her, isn’t that “Yo, Baby, Yo” from the Twin Cities org?
Yet another progress report on the Valley Ideal Org, which never seems to have enough money…
Here’s another group of folks who are “humanitarians” because they wrote big checks! And who could the mystery donors be?
Fearless Leader is back! And aren’t you glad that Wee Katie Calder is working hard to increase her status?
Hey, we had a party in LA and got a lot of people to impoverish themselves! Yay! Also, that “Axiom” party looks like it’s going to rock!
Hey, Silicon Valley folks, you have only $3.8 million to go! And you have to raise it in only three weeks!
Finally, we wanted to include this remarkable item that Mike Rinder also posted at his blog. We’ve watched, over the last few years, how Scientologists have been pressured to raise their “status” as donors as Scientology’s previous focus — moving up “The Bridge” of courses and becoming “OT” — has taken a back seat to Miscavige’s cash needs.
Fundraising has become so much the central focus of the church, now these members are claiming that giving money has turned them into “Big Beings.” Yes, previously the goal of Scientology auditing itself — creating a kind of superhuman race — is now occurring simply from the act of writing big checks. As Rinder says, “Can it get any stranger?”
Thanks again to our great tipsters!
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Posted by Tony Ortega on July 13, 2014 at 07:00
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Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…
BLOGGING DIANETICS (We read Scientology’s founding text) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25
UP THE BRIDGE (Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47
GETTING OUR ETHICS IN (Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING (Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43
PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | Scientology’s Private Dancer
