How to get fired from a Scientology job the easy way — a real-world example

 
We heard recently from a young man who talked himself out of a job at a Scientology drug rehab in May, and we thought you’d want to hear about it.

Our tipster — we’ll call him Peter — enrolled in a Narconon center (we’re not going to say where) to help him get rid of a drug problem. Peter was not an uneducated young man, and he says the Scientology drills that he was put through during his drying out at the rehab were “the dumbest thing I’ve ever done, honestly.”

But Scientology is very clever about how it staffs its rehabs — it knows that when its “students” come out of the program they may be faced with a challenge getting back into society and finding a job. So Narconon offers its graduates work, and it can be pretty hard to turn down, even though it’s low-paying and involves drilling other people in those same Scientology rituals.

Peter decided he would take a job at the rehab, but first he was asked to attend a Dianetics seminar.

“I was pushed to do it since I was training to take over the executive director position at [the rehab location],” he says. But as soon as he began to take part in the seminar, he became angry.

His college degree is in psychology, and he was offended by what Dianetics was peddling — a discredited version of psychoanalysis. “They told me that through dianetic auditing they could cure me of my allergies to bees and strawberries,” he says. “I of course laughed in their faces and told them they were bat shit crazy to believe that, and to believe that by closing your eyes and getting asked simple questions, you could go into a past life thousands of years ago and remember everything from a traumatic event.”

We picked up right away on those words — “of course” — because based on the many people we’ve talked to over the years, the opposite reaction usually happens. Even rational, intelligent, and well educated people tend not to scoff so outwardly, but will keep their concerns to themselves even if they do harbor doubts.

Peter says by being so verbal and up front with his criticisms, he was told by the local church that he was being “suppressive.”

“It got back to my corporate office that I was labeled a Suppressive Person,” he says. “Corporate…had the executive director gather reports from other staff members and interns about me bad-mouthing Dianetics and Scientology.”

A day later, Peter was let go from his Narconon, given a letter from corporate saying it was for reasons of — get this — “downsizing.”

“I know of seven employees hired after me who were not let go. I’m sure you have gathered that the real reason for my termination was because of my views on Scientology,” he says.

We asked him about the wisdom of talking himself out of a job. “I’m a logical person. If something doesn’t make sense to me I’m going to voice it,” he says. “Of course they didn’t like that. I wasn’t in a desperate situation. They prey on drug addicts at Narconon who have no other options. This shit with Narconon and Scientology has to stop. They are stealing people’s money and lying to families. At our Narconon there was not a single qualified addiction specialist.”

Here’s the letter he received…

Your employment with Narconon Fresh Start has been terminated, effective May 29, 2018.

Your employment has ended for the following reasons:

Downsizing.

Please review the attached agreement and those that you signed upon hiring, according to this agreement, you are not permitted to disclose any company trade secrets, practices, patient information or method of operation. Narconon Fresh Start is entitled to take legal action if it is revealed that you disclosed private company information during or after employment.

If you have any questions please contact me at 323-871-8644 or HR@NNFS.CO. I wish you luck in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,

Lanie Trahant
Senior Director of Expansion
Narconon Fresh Start

 
Well, that’s rich. Scientology itself has been downsizing for decades as so many of its longtime members flee. And Narconons have come and gone. But to jettison an executive director candidate for “downsizing”? Not a chance.

Peter says he’s going to be all right and isn’t worried about losing the ED job. But you have to wonder just how far Scientology would get if more people called bullshit on L. Ron Hubbard’s ideas so openly and immediately as Peter did.

 
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Let’s hope ‘Strange Angel’ writers hit the books

We told you earlier that CBS All Access had confirmed to us that ‘Strange Angel,’ the adaptation of George Pendle’s excellent book on Jack Parsons which premieres Thursday night, would spend its first season in 1938, well before Parsons met L. Ron Hubbard.

Now, series creator Mark Heyman has addressed that question about Hubbard entering the series in a future season.

“Heyman…said he won’t shy away from Hubbard and his relationship with Parsons when the time comes,” wrote IndieWire about what Heyman told a television festival audience.

Well, that’s good. But we were given some pause when we saw this quote from Heyman…

“L. Ron Hubbard’s first wife was Jack Parsons’ second wife, who he stole away from Jack, along with a lot of his life savings. But the Church of Scientology denies the existence of this woman, basically. They’ve disavowed her as the actual wife of L. Ron Hubbard. So it’s dicey stuff. But we’re not going to shy away from it.”

We trust Heyman will do a little studying up before writing whatever later season Hubbard shows up in. Because the storytelling potential of Sara Northrup is a heck of a lot better than “Hubbard’s first wife who was Parsons’ second wife.”

Try, sister of Parsons’ first wife, who he was sleeping with when Hubbard stole her away to become his second wife — while still married to his first wife — and who was disavowed not on her own, but along with all three of Hubbard’s wives by the Church of Scientology.

Hope they have some fact-checkers over at CBS All Access.

 
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HOWDYCON IS UPON US!

Hey, we’re only 9 days away from this year’s HowdyCon in Chicago, June 21-23. As in past years, we’re looking forward to meeting readers of the Bunker, culminating in Saturday night’s main event.

The biggest difference this year is that our Saturday night event is separate from that evening’s dinner. Chee Chalker is setting up an inexpensive pizza dinner that you don’t need to pay for ahead of time, after which we’ll walk over to the theater where our event, hosted by Chicago Fire star Christian Stolte, will take place. Because it’s a separate event, we’re asking that you pay $10 each to get into the Saturday night event, which will help us recoup what the Bunker paid for the venue. (We have never made a penny on our HowdyCon meetups, we only try to break even.)

Please email your proprietor (tonyo94 AT gmail) in order to reserve your spot for Saturday night’s main event. Seating is limited, and we’re going to have some really interesting people on stage and they may make a few announcements that you don’t want to miss.

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on June 12, 2018 at 07:00

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The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2017 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Undergound Bunker (2012-2017), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…

BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of L.A. attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists
GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice
SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts

Other links: Shelly Miscavige, ten years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

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