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Dr. Donna Shannon ~ My personal "wake up call"

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neil c

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Sep 3, 2006, 1:29:27 PM9/3/06
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Dr. Donna Shannon wrote:

My personal "wake up call"

Subject description: Why I left $cientology forever

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was a public Scientologist from 1995 until 2005, when I finally got
beaten down enough to join the Sea Organization at FLAG. I was auditing
on OT VII at the time. I realize now that it was the best thing I could
have done, because waht I saw there caused me to leave. I'll never
again have to spend my money on bogus cuses, like auditing or "helping
clear the planet". As horrifying as my experience was, it did wake me
up! And life goes on.

I'll start by just listing a few of the many outpoints I saw (I made my
decision to leave based on WHAT I ACTUALLY SAW THERE, not the internet
or anything else. As a "good Scientologist", I didn't pay any attention
to "entheta". My purpose here is to share with others my own
experiences, so that they don't need to spend over a million dollars,
and join the SO, just to learn what I now know.)

1. The "tech" isn't applied to the staff at all. Examples of this- if
PTSness causes all illnesses, and the tech exists to handle this, why
do the staff get sick? And, why do they immediately get put into
isolation if they get sick?

If auditing really works, and "OTs" are more powerful, why doesn't the
staff get auditing? I was on OT VII, but sleep deprivation, lack of
vitamins, low-protein diet, and lack of suitable available auditing
rooms cut WAY down on my sessions. Eventually, I just gave up (and I
was only there for 3 months!).

I was posted in the Solo NOTS HGC, as a Director of Processing. I
immediately became concerned at seeing how many people who were "on OT
VII" were not auditing (over 1/3). The other D's of P were not, except
for one, who was allowed special hours and could drive her car to work.
She occasionally got a session. The others didn't audit. The C/Ses
didn't audit. The staff was not allowed to do six month checks. I
thought, but if LRH says you have to be sessionable and get 8 hours
sleep and eat protein and take certain vitamins and get your six month
check, WHY isn't "standard tech" being followed?? The recruiters had
told me that I would get all of the above-8 hours sleep, good food,
vitamins provided, a room to audit in, etc. This was ALL LIES.

The Solo I/C finished OT VII, but hadn't gone to do OT VIII for months
after. Why? If "going OT" is so desirable and important? Again, I was
told that when I finished, I would be on the ship within 2 days to do
OT VIII. Another lie.

2. The main method used to control the staff in the FSO is
intimidation, threats, and invalidation.

I expected a very calm, sane environment there, where everyone was "OT"
and helped each other and things got done. Guess again!! Not only does
no one teach you how to do your post, they HINDER you- a good example
of this is the fact that I was there for 2 months and STILL had no
computer log in. I was supposed to be a D of P, and contact "my"
public, but I had no log-in. No matter how many reports I wrote, it
didn't happen. At first, I thought it was just incompetence. But, it
isn't. It's INTENTIONAL.

I was told that my husband and I would always have the same schedule,
that we could eat together, and have the same days off. Another lie. We
had ONE day off together in the 3 months we were there.

The screaming, foul language, and invalidation, caused a general unease
in the area that was so thick you could cut it with a knife. People in
the SO have very low morale. They can't trust each other. They won't
help each other. Once the Board I/C, Geary Titus, actually STOMPED on
my feet when I was new, and trying to look at the availability of
auditing rooms for my public to use. I was always being told "there
aren't any rooms". Anything that can be done to impede your progress IS
DONE.

This, then, caused me to question "What's really going on here?"
Obviously, doing my job as a D of P isn't what's really supposed to
happen. Otherwise, the "admin tech" would be applied, and the
organization would be efficient, right?

Who's doing this screaming? The CO, the DCO, RTC, the senior D of P,
the Solo I/C, and on ad infinitum. It appeared that the only way to get
"to the top" would be to act like that. I saw right away that this
wasn't for me.

3. I was told too many lies.

4. I saw that the public were ridiculed, to some extent. Thier sessions
were videotaped, their overts and withholds publicly discussed in the
HGC. This is contrary to the "priest/penitent confidentiality" that is
supposedly there.

5. "Valuable" staff members, such as auditors, were treated like dirt.

There actually is a part of staff meeting where staff members can be
held up to ridicule for any reason- the "It's got nothing to do with
me" club. When I first saw this, I was astounded. A staff member that I
knew well was put into this "downstat club". He was forced to stay an
extra 2 hours after his usual day (so he could only get about 4 hours
sleep, at best), to do "MEST work". I thought, why didn't they just
apply the conditions?

6. The C/Ses only got about 4 hours of sleep, and sometimes were forced
to stay up all night. These are the people who are "programming your
case"!! They don't audit. They don't get refreshers. They aren't
allowed to drive their cars, because one had a wreck when he was too
tired to be driving.

7. The buses are overloaded and the drivers are sleep-deprived. The law
is violated multiple times daily, as the capacity of the buses is
written on a placque in the front of the bus. The buses run late, and
there are not enough, but if you are late for your "post", boy, are you
in trouble!

8. There are at least 3 people watching each staff member work-
security guards, ethics officers, "inspections" officers, CMO, etc. If
each staff member actually did something besides spy on other staff
members, there might actually be production going on!

This is just the beginning- these are only a few of the outpoints I
saw. And I have many many examples of each, that I saw with my own
eyes.

There is an evil pall over the Hacienda. No one smiles. No one uses the
pool or fitness center. They have no time. They have no energy. They
are being kept in and spied on and prevented from leaving. Sure, you
can have a car. But, did anyone tell you that you have to do CAR SCHOOL
in order to drive it? And ahve a signed "CSW"? More about that later!

http://ocmb.xenu.net/ocmb/viewtopic.php?t=20459

formerlyfooled

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Sep 3, 2006, 3:42:28 PM9/3/06
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This is a very revealing and disturbing statement by a courageous ex-
SO and public member, Dr. Donna Shannon. Thank you for posting this,
neil c.

What surprised me the most was how overwhelmed and enturbulated staff
must be to not see the 'danger' of having long time public member be in
a position to even observe this chaos!! You would think that staff
would have realized that Dr. Shannon was not the kind of newbie that
has nothing with which to compare the situation with.

Usually staff at least try to give the impression and apparency of
order when public members are around, especially OT's, who later become
S.O. members, because they come in with higher standards which have not
yet all been chipped away by the cult environment.

I was a 'public' member for most of my years in Scientology, but my
history includes working for the church as a staff member, hired
worker, Field Staff Member or volunteer at different levels and
locations. I had many opportunities to observe problems like she
describes and just how thick the environment can get.

I remember, atpne Cl IV org in particular, running into what seemed
like perpetual issues concerning staff which were effecting public.
Upon my asking the staff involved few simple questions, it was revealed
to me that corrections were not getting done when staff members screwed
up. When I asked how long it had been going one, one staff member
showed me a closet stacked with years of cramming orders that had never
been done on staff. Years later, nothing had been done about it,
despite reports my myself and staff.

What Dr. Shannon wrote is probably not as uncommon as one might think.

I hope scientologists reading this thread will see that staff are held
to different standards than the ones the public come in with and are
educated to believe. When you see something not standard according to
tech and policy and you are looked at as a nuisance, that organization
is long past the point of self correction.

Heads must have rolled after management got wind of Dr. Shannon's post.
With this repost and hopefully more Dr. Shannon reports, I pray staff
will seize the opportunity to create a 'safety plan' to get out as soon
as they can.

Out_Of_The_Dark

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Sep 3, 2006, 4:56:25 PM9/3/06
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I read this and then read some of her other excellent posts at ocmb.

I looked up the 'Donna Shannon - Scientology Service Completions'
stats at truthaboutscientology.com., copy below.

Dr. Donna Shannon has taken steps that will inspire others to follow.
Way to go, Doc!

This is truely the end-times for Scientology.
______________________

Donna Shannon in Scientology's Published Service Completion Lists from
The Truth about Scientology web site maintained by Kristi Wachter

The following 33 individual completions for Donna Shannon appear in
official Scientology publications:

Donna Shannon L11 NEW LIFE RUNDOWN Source 101 1996-07-01
Donna Shannon METHOD ONE WORD CLEARING Source 102 1996-09-01
Donna Shannon STUDENT HAT COURSE Freewinds 20 1996-10-01
Donna Shannon ROUTE TO INFINITY COURSE Freewinds 20 1996-10-01
Donna Shannon L 12 FLAG OT EXECUTIVE RUNDOWN Source 104 1997-01-01
Donna Shannon PTS/SP COURSE Source 115 1998-03-01
Donna Shannon SPECIAL COURSE IN HUMAN EVALUATION Source 120 1998-12-01
Donna Shannon OT DEBUG SERVICE Freewinds 32 1999-04-01
Donna Shannon TIME TRACK OF THETA COURSE Freewinds 32 1999-04-01
Donna Shannon SCIENTOLOGY ETHICS SPECIALIST COURSE Source 127
1999-11-01
Donna Shannon RESTORATION OF KNOWING CAUSE COURSE Freewinds 36
2000-01-01
Donna Shannon ABILITY CONGRESS COURSE Freewinds 42 2001-03-01
Donna F. Shannon FALSE PURPOSE RUNDOWN BASIC FORM Source 136 2001-12-01

Donna Shannon COMMAND OF THETA COURSE Freewinds 45 2002-03-01
Donna Shannon NED CASE COMPLETION Source 138 2002-06-01
Donna Shannon NEW HUBBARD SOLO AUDITOR COURSE, PART I Source 139
2002-09-01
Donna Shannon NEW HUBBARD SOLO AUDITOR COURSE PART II Source 139
2002-09-01
Donna Shannon GRADE VA POWER PLUS PROCESSING Source 139 2002-09-01
Donna Shannon OT PREPARATIONS Source 139 2002-09-01
Donna Shannon GRADE V POWER PROCESSING Source 139 2002-09-01
Donna Shannon GRADE VI Source 140 2002-11-01
Donna Shannon STATE OF CLEAR Source 141 2002-12-01
Donna Shannon SUNSHINE RUNDOWN Source 141 2002-12-01
Donna Shannon NEW OT I Source 143 2003-02-01
Donna Shannon OT II Source 143 2003-02-01
Donna Shannon OT III Source 147 2003-06-01
Donna Shannon NEW OT IV Source 147 2003-06-01
Donna Shannon NEW OT V AUDITED NOTS Source 149 2003-10-01
Donna Shannon DOCTORATE COURSE FOR OTS Source 155 2004-05-01
Donna Shannon PURIFICATION RUNDOWN DELIVERY COURSE Source 156
2004-06-01
Donna Shannon SCIENTOLOGY MILESTONE ONE COURSE Freewinds 54 2004-10-01
Donna Shannon PURIFICATION RUNDOWN C/S COURSE Source 160 2004-11-01
Donna Shannon LONDON CONGRESS ON DISSEMINATION AND HELP COURSE
Freewinds 56 2005-02-01

Note: The dates listed above are the approximate publication dates of
the magazines, which may be weeks or months later than the actual date
the service was completed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Donna Shannon and the Clear List
No entries were found in my Scientology Statistics Project Clear List
database for this person.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Donna Shannon and Scientologist Online Sites
My database does not list a Scientologist Online cookie-cutter web site
for this person.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Donna Shannon and WISE Directories
WISE, the World Institute of Scientology Enterprises, publishes
directories listing their members.

Donna Shannon appears in a recent WISE directory:

2001 WISE Directory:

Category: Veterinarian Services
Donna Shannon
Cat Hospital of Fort Myers
8841 College Pkwy. Ste. 106

Fort Myers, FL 33919-4858
United States
Tel. (1) 941-489-4611
Fax (1) 941-432-0075
E-Mail: cathxspital@[provider].net

The information on this page comes from my Scientology Statistics
database. While I attempt to be as accurate as possible, errors or
inaccuracies may be introduced by the source material, the
transcription process, or database bugs. If you discover an error or
problem, please let me know by writing to
kri...@truthaboutscientology.com."

http://www.truthaboutscientology.com/stats/by-name/d/donna-shannon.html
************************************************************************************************

Tilman Hausherr

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Sep 4, 2006, 1:12:37 PM9/4/06
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On 3 Sep 2006 10:29:27 -0700, "neil c" <neilcl...@hotmail.com> wrote:

>Dr. Donna Shannon

Quite a long list:
http://www.truthaboutscientology.com/stats/by-name/d/donna-shannon.html

--
Tilman Hausherr [KoX, SP5.55] Entheta * Enturbulation * Entertainment
http://www.xenu.de

Resistance is futile. You will be enturbulated. Xenu always prevails.

Find broken links on your web site: http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html
The Xenu bookstore: http://home.snafu.de/tilman/bookstore.html

Eldon

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Sep 4, 2006, 1:23:12 PM9/4/06
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I did a quick Google search, and found two Dr. Donna Shannons. One was
a medical doctor, and the other had a Ph.D in library science. Not sure
which one this is, or if there's a third "doctor" with a doctoral
degree.

In any case, we're talking about someone who spent a lot of time in
educational institutions learning to THINK. So you're right, they
couldn't succeed in undoing her education.

This reminds me of that guy who was supposed to plan the renovation of
the Freewinds and had the prior training needed to identify the
presence of blue asbestos.

Reality is becoming increasingly out tech.

cultxpt

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Sep 4, 2006, 1:35:06 PM9/4/06
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Point # 8 really interests me. All the man-hours wasted on paranoia and
internal bickering and politics must be incalcuable. I think this is a
huge weakness of any totalitarian group. Everybody looks really busy,
but are they doing anything productive?


neil c wrote:
> Dr. Donna Shannon wrote:
>
> My personal "wake up call"
>
> Subject description: Why I left $cientology forever
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>

>

banchukita

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Sep 4, 2006, 2:14:50 PM9/4/06
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Her posts show that getting into Scientology is not something you can
do with informed consent.

-maggie, human being

Dave Touretzky

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Sep 4, 2006, 3:28:38 PM9/4/06
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In article <1157390592.8...@74g2000cwt.googlegroups.com>,

Eldon <Eldo...@aol.com> wrote:
> I did a quick Google search, and found two Dr. Donna Shannons. One was
> a medical doctor, and the other had a Ph.D in library science. Not sure
> which one this is, or if there's a third "doctor" with a doctoral
> degree.

When in doubt, consult Kristi Wachter:

http://www.truthaboutscientology.com/stats/by-name/d/donna-shannon.html

Donna Shannon is a veterinarian and (now former) WISE member who ran a
"cat hospital" in Ft. Meyers, Florida. I wonder what happened to that
business when she joined the Sea Org? It still appears in business
and phone directories.

THIS is why Scientology hates the Internet.

-- Dave Touretzky: "Can flea BTs be cured with NOTs 34?"
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/secrets

Scamology

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Sep 4, 2006, 4:47:01 PM9/4/06
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This is a very true post. I went to Flag several times. It was a bait
and switch. Flag tour comes to town promising fast and perfect service
at Flag. When you get to Flag you find a shortage of everything except
registrars. They suck you dry of donations for everything from Super
Power building to Able, to SMI, to ASI, to Narconon, to Criminon, to
IAS, to IHELP. Meanwhile each week I got an un-interned flubby auditor
that wasted time. Or I got an interned auditor that could only deliver
a couple hours a week. It's a real crappy place compared to what they
advertise.

Oh and I forgot the recruitment. You will be recruited incessantly for
Sea Org if you are elligible. They definitely want slave labor company
if you are up for throwing your whole life away for $50 bucks a week.

Quaoar

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Sep 4, 2006, 5:52:51 PM9/4/06
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Out_Of_The_Dark wrote:
> neil c wrote:
>> Dr. Donna Shannon wrote:
>>
>> My personal "wake up call"


Ms. Shannon reported on OCMB that these completions cost her, and her
husband, a total of $1.2MM. She and her husband were, obviously,
totally invested public $cientologists before they walked.

Q

Quaoar

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Sep 4, 2006, 5:55:33 PM9/4/06
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I do not recall the source, but economic/business research showed that
an organization of about sixty individuals could generate enough
internal 'work' to completely consume their time, leaving the business
out in the cold. We can hope that these reports of wasted 18-hour days
for the SO are true.

Q

Susan

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Sep 4, 2006, 9:38:05 PM9/4/06
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"Scamology" <scam...@hush.com> wrote in message
news:1157402821.4...@i42g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

> This is a very true post. I went to Flag several times. It was a bait
> and switch. Flag tour comes to town promising fast and perfect service
> at Flag. When you get to Flag you find a shortage of everything except
> registrars. They suck you dry of donations for everything from Super
> Power building to Able, to SMI, to ASI, to Narconon, to Criminon, to
> IAS, to IHELP. Meanwhile each week I got an un-interned flubby auditor
> that wasted time. Or I got an interned auditor that could only deliver
> a couple hours a week. It's a real crappy place compared to what they
> advertise.

During the late 90s, I worked with a guy who went to flag for a 10 day
process, he returned 6 weeks later, because he had to wait and wait to get
the process finished. He still moved to Florida a few years later to finish
going OT. As with Dr. Shannon, they just don't get it until they get hit
over the head with the perverbial falling piano.

Susan

Scamology

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Sep 4, 2006, 10:06:55 PM9/4/06
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Yes. I was blind when I was in the cult. Their brainwashing is
thorough.

But when I looked back on things objectively, I saw many glaring
injustices, crimes, and cover ups.

Tilman Hausherr

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Sep 5, 2006, 1:29:21 PM9/5/06
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On Mon, 04 Sep 2006 15:52:51 -0600, Quaoar <qua...@marcabfleet.com>
wrote:

>Ms. Shannon reported on OCMB that these completions cost her, and her
>husband, a total of $1.2MM. She and her husband were, obviously,
>totally invested public $cientologists before they walked.

Being a vet seems to be pretty lucrative :)

Eldon

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Sep 5, 2006, 1:48:26 PM9/5/06
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Dave Touretzky wrote:
> In article <1157390592.8...@74g2000cwt.googlegroups.com>,
> Eldon <Eldo...@aol.com> wrote:
> > I did a quick Google search, and found two Dr. Donna Shannons. One was
> > a medical doctor, and the other had a Ph.D in library science. Not sure
> > which one this is, or if there's a third "doctor" with a doctoral
> > degree.
>
> When in doubt, consult Kristi Wachter:
>
> http://www.truthaboutscientology.com/stats/by-name/d/donna-shannon.html
>
> Donna Shannon is a veterinarian and (now former) WISE member who ran a
> "cat hospital" in Ft. Meyers, Florida. I wonder what happened to that
> business when she joined the Sea Org? It still appears in business
> and phone directories.
>
> THIS is why Scientology hates the Internet.

Thank you, Dave. I should be a little more thorough on my searches.
However, what this points out is that Dr. Shannon is a medical doctor,
and grounded in science. Treating cats is just about as complex as
treating humans, although the end-of-life measures for the elderly are
not as extreme for cats.

But in any event, the scientific contradiction is sorta telling, isn't
it? People trained in any sort of hard science reject the Scieno
mythology at a certain point. Oops, maybe I gave them a clue. Maybe
they should limit their recruitment and reject anyone with hard science
training... for example, civil engineering. Maybe that's why the
SuperPower bulding hasn't been finished. Maybe economics? Maybe...
well, maybe anyone with any kind of education at this point.

They've avoided engaging the evil psychs all these years, so let them
avoid wog education entirely. Let them recruit the untainted ignorant.
That should fix things. Start with a clean slate, so to speak. Fill the
Sea Org with pure and innocent illiterates.

Sound like a plan? Or maybe it's the only alternative. Those educated
people always turn out to be SPs eventually, don't they?

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