The Cult of Fear

On a bright, sunny morning a man we’ll call Joe strolls along the sidewalk. Overall he is a happy man, his life trundling along as it should. He married his high school sweetheart after graduating with honors. College, career and two children followed leading to this moment in time where he is heading to the local café and pondering his world thus far. Joe smiles at the realization that overall he is content although at the same time a small, nagging voice within wonders if there might be something more.

As he walks a woman approaches him and cheerfully asks him if he’d like to take a free personality test.

Seeing no harm, Joe agrees and from that moment on his life will never be the same.

Joe has collided with Scientology.

The Cult of Fear.

They start with a bogus personality test with absolutely no basis in science or psychology.

Looking for what is called one’s ruin the examiner picks up on the first negative thing their victim divulges and runs with it.

Did you have an ugly break up? THIS is your RUIN! THIS is bringing you down, holding you back and if you don’t address it your life will never be right!

Thus the first thread of fear is stitched into the fabric of one’s life by Scientology.

Their mark is told that for a price Scientology can handle that stress.

Life will be free and new! Surely no amount of money is too much to free one from whatever it is holding one back! The alternative is a life of missing out, of holding back, of failure.

So the first steps are taken, the money is spent. The new recruit sees some small gains, some changes in their perception of themselves because they are led to see them. The fact that once they leave the building doubts creep in is firmly ignored. The fear of failure has taken root, fertilized by constant negative reinforcement.

“If you doubt or fail to grasp this, you have done something wrong.”

Wrong equals failure.

Failure is unacceptable and punishable.

So the member persists, the fear becomes so much a part of his life that it no longer registers.

It just IS.

Moving along, the fear is multiplied by Scientology and it’s insidious manipulation of the person’s mind.

There is now a struggle and harsh choices to be made.

One cannot continue to make progress and attain true freedom if one is connected to people who are not also in Scientology.

This means that your spouse (or friend, or sibling, or parent) is either with you or against you.

All in or all out.

For our Joe, he is now faced with a terrible loss no matter which way he turns. If he quits Scientology, he will never achieve the ideals forced into his head. He will never be free from the stresses and negativity that hold him back. He forgets that he already had a successful and happy life prior to Scientology. All he knows now is if he quits, he fails. He will be accused of crimes and at worse, labeled a Suppressive Person if he dares discuss his dissatisfaction openly. That brings a fear all it’s own, the fear of Fair Game.

On the other hand if his beloved wife refuses to join him in Scientology then she will be the cause of his being held back. She will be responsible for his failure.

She refuses when he explains it all to her. She refuses when Scientology comes calling.

She begs him to stop this madness and return to her and the children.

His Auditors whisper to him that she is being Suppressive and he is in Trouble.

Joe is hammered with questions about his wife and demands that she join Scientology.

Trapped and pulled in two directions Joe’s life has fallen apart.

Scientology, the Cult of Destruction and Fear, has claimed another victim.

The further along in Scientology one goes, the greater the fear becomes.

If one fails to donate enough, the pressure for more money is intense. The fear of a Knowledge Report and a trip to ethics looms large, overwhelming the fear of debt and financial ruin.

Questioning the material is unacceptable, admitting one doesn’t agree with or believe in any part is met with anger, hostility and consequences.

No one wants to be called into Ethics. No one wants to be labeled a criminal or PTS or worse.

No one wants to face the RPF.

Fear.

The single driving force of Scientology is making it’s members obedient and compliant through constant threat of punishment in one form or the other.

As long as one tows the line and conforms all is well. Though there is always the silent threat of the Knowledge Report.

Someone is always watching.

The greatest fear of all is the loss of friends and family. Knowing that one may be deprived of their loved ones and left alone in the world is, for many, as good as a locked cell.

People who have never been involved with Scientology sometimes ask, “how can anyone fall for this craziness in the first place?”

It is much easier than one thinks, as seen in Joe’s story. It is a subtle, steady progression of programming and manipulation over time. A person is approached reasonably, without realizing they are being manipulated. By the time they begin to second guess it is too late. They are filled with confusion and self doubt and are controlled by fear.

For someone to finally break off and leave shows just how desperate and hopeless they’ve become.

So the next time someone shakes their head and asks “how on earth?” Think of all the Joes out there. The ones who are just now being drawn into the web of fear and those who have been living under the huge weight of that fear and control for years.