Xenu mentioned in article about Co$ in London paper "The Express", 7/22/99 (http://www.xenu.net)
Bat Child (Sue M.)
http://www.lineone.net/express/99/07/22/features/f0200sciencebollocks-d.html
====================
How I was reduced to black despair by 'caring' church's personality
test
by Julia Llewellyn Smith
For hours afterwards I was shaking. It was an idyllic sunny afternoon
when I walked into the Church of Scientology on London's Tottenham
Court Road but when I walked out an hour later I was cold inside. In
the intervening time, I had been told that at times I could be a
"total bitch"; that I was over-critical that others felt uncomfortable
around me; that I was so withdrawn it was almost impossible for anyone
to form a close relationship with me.
My interviewer also told me that I was so timid I was failing in every
area of my life. On several occasions, I felt close to tears. Having
arrived feeling fine about myself, I left wanting to curl up in a ball
and never go out again.
I had just undergone the Oxford Capacity Analysis test, the "free
personality test" offered at 30 centres across the country. Anyone who
has walked past one of these centres will have been accosted by a
smiling young person offering something that sounds as fun and
harmless as a quiz in a women's magazine.
Yet Ian Howarth, of the Cult Information Centre, which has received
"numerous" complaints about the Scientologists, urges people to avoid
these centres at all costs. "Too many people walk in for a laugh and
end up on the inside, parting with thousands of pounds," he says.
Bonnie Woods, a former Scientologist who has counselled more than 300
families affected by the "religion" says: "I have been in mental
asylums and seen the effects that recruitment into Scientology might
have on someone who is vulnerable. People think that if you are not a
basket case, you will be protected from the Scientologists. But in
fact, anyone of any age going down the street can be just as
susceptible as anyone else."
Scientology has been described by Judge Latey in the High Court as
"immoral and socially obnoxious... corrupt, sinister and dangerous".
The cult now claims to have about 100,000 members in Britain and eight
million worldwide. Yet right now Scientology is attempting to revamp
its image. This month, it embarked on a pan-European "crusade" to gain
new members. Great play has been made of its celebrity followers - Tom
Cruise, Nicole Kidman, John Travolta and Kirstie Alley are all members
of the "Church".
Recently, adverts have started to appear on the London Underground.
"Scientology helped me to achieve my goals," reads the caption and the
cult (despite many attempts Scientology has failed in its quest to be
defined as a religion in this country) now plans to advertise on
national television.
A "What is Scientology?" exhibition at the Selfridge Hotel in central
London, presents the organisation as a bit eccentric but basically
harmless. It gives glossy information on Scientology's founder L Ron
Hubbard, a former Hollywood scriptwriter and science fiction writer,
who reportedly told a colleague that the easiest way to become rich
was to start a religion. He died in 1996 with £410million in his bank
account.
Hubbard (who claimed to have visited Venus) believed that 75 million
years ago an evil prince called Xenu ruled a galactic confederation.
When he visited Earth he brought alien beings called Thetans who
inhabit humans' bodies. The Thetans' enemies are Engrams, disruptive
forces planted in our universe from outside the galaxy. Through
"dianetics" -a type of therapy devised by Hubbard - the Engrams can be
driven out and we can achieve spiritual peace.
A dianetics video at the show depicted a woman being "audited" - asked
by another Scientologist to go over and over a traumatic event or
Engram, in this case a row with her husband about going to a party.
After many repetitions, the Engram was purged. Then it was on to the
next trauma.
As a process, this would surely take a lifetime to complete. Bonnie
Woods agrees. "As soon as you have finished one course there is
another and then another after that," she says. "If you ended up doing
them all you could spend in the region of £200,000."
This year, Bonnie, 50, was awarded £55,000 in damages from the
Scientologists, after they distributed leaflets around her home in
Sussex denouncing her as a hate campaigner. Scientologists picketed
her house, terrifying her two daughters.
"I was studying psychology at college and never thought I could get
involved in something like this, yet I ended up giving all my savings
to Scientology and working for them, in terrible conditions," she
says. "If I hadn't had to go to hospital for a while, I might never
have got free. The myth is that only slow, suggestible people join
cults. Statistically, it has been shown that recruits are usually
highly intelligent, highly motivated individuals. 'Body routers' - the
people who stand in the street and invite you in - are trained to look
for people like that."
I was convinced that someone like me - level-headed, well-educated and
cynical - could never be affected by something as ludicrous as
Scientology. I felt relaxed as I entered their "church" - in reality a
dilapidated building with a shabby shop front. Inside, I was handed
the "personality test". It consisted of 200 questions, requiring you
to tick a box saying Yes, No or Maybe. They included: "Would you buy
'on credit' in the hope you can keep up the payments?" (No); "Do you
rarely suspect the actions of others?" (No); "Do you have little
regret on past misfortunes or failures?" (No). Around me, five young
people - mainly women and foreign - were filling it out
enthusiastically.
I waited for 10 minutes while the computer analysed the test. Then a
man introduced himself to me as Paul and took me into a booth, with a
copy of my "graph", a computer analysis of my answers. It showed that
while in some areas I had "good" marks; in others they were appalling.
Paul was concerned about this. Was I aware how much these problems
were holding me back? Shouldn't I tackle them? Wasn't it a real worry
that I was so busy looking after my friends that I forgot to attend to
my own needs? Weakly, I agreed.
In retrospect, I may appear pathetic. At the time I was genuinely
shocked. The problem with the Oxford test (it was, according to
Bonnie, devised by a merchant seaman with no psychological training
and no connection with the city or University of Oxford) is that it
pinpoints your weaknesses quite accurately. Some of the things Paul
said were true. Only later it occurred to me that there had been no
mention at all of my good points. I felt embarrassed to be so shaken,
but according to Bonnie, my reaction was normal. "The Scientologists
put you in a vulnerable position," she says. "They hammer home your
inadequacies. The technique is designed to make you suggestible and
vulnerable."
Next, it was time for the hard sell. I was ushered into another room,
and greeted by Raj, a young man with wide, staring eyes. He was much
kinder than Paul, explaining how dianetics could help me.
Raj showed me details of the dianetics course he recommended. How much
would the course cost? "£20," Raj said. For 20 hours of instruction,
it seemed like a bargain. "Listen," said Raj. "I'm telling you this as
a friend, not as a Scientologist. Why not just go for it? It's only
£20? What have you got to lose?" Later, I learned that this is
standard Scientology sales patter. Scientology's income is estimated
at £200 million a year, with additional assets of £270 million.
My name may now be put on a Scientology blacklist. Journalists, along
with homosexuals, are not allowed to become Scientologists and those
who have criticised the cult in the past say they have been
persistently harassed."What is extraordinary is that the
Scientologists are now saying 'Find out for yourself'," says Bonnie.
"Well I did find out and by my speaking out about what I didn't like,
I can expect to be harassed for the rest of my life."
© Express Newspapers Ltd
[includes picture of Julia Llewellyn Smith standing outside the
Tottenham Court Road org]
====================
Sue, SP4(:), listed on the Scieno Sitter list 5 times!
--
http://www.primenet.com/~xenubat
"It will take a *long* time to find another enemy
with the combination of evil and incompetence
you see in Scientology."--Keith Henson