From: jigsaw6...@aol.com (Jigsaw6452)
Subject: Re: Free Personality Test
Date: 1997/06/09
Message-ID: <19970609033900.XAA09658@ladder02.news.aol.com>#1/1
X-Deja-AN: 247165961
References: <339c4052.8792111@snews.zippo.com>
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Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology


In article <339c4052.8792...@snews.zippo.com>, te...@skylink.net (Ted
Mayett (KoX)) writes:

>
>They listen.
>They do one thing really well, and that is to listen to you.
>
>If you go in and find yourself doing a lot of talking,
>remember these words.
>
>
>
Apparently so they can get a handle on what you're looking to Scientology
to help you with, and adjust their strategy accordingly (Charles Manson
seemed to learn this technique from them very well when he recruited
members into his "Family").

I know, because I took the personality test myself a few years ago.  When
I first started reading "Dianetics" a couple of years ago (I never did get
around to actually finishing the book), the part about how "engrams" cause
all kinds of problems and that "clearing" them from one's "reactive mind"
could solve all these problems really hooked me!  I was always an
introvert and had a hard time talking to people, and I thought maybe
Dianetics would be able to help me with that.  I was also having all kinds
of mood swings back then and was angry a lot of the time, PLUS I had a
hard time being able to sleep and had a hard time gaining weight;
Dianetics claimed to be able to cure all kinds of physical and
psychological ailments.  Dianetics seemed to be the answer to all of my
problems!  So even though I'd heard bad things about Scientology, mainly
about what a financial rip-off it was, and even though I DID have a
problem with LRH's anti-abortion and homophobic stance, I'd also read good
things that its members said about it, and I felt if it could help me with
my problems, it was worth checking out, so I went to take the personality
test.

The person who gave me the test DID talk even less than me, which is quite
an accomplishment! :-)  Even when I told him the negative things I'd heard
about the CoS, I thought he would go into some spiel about how I was
misinformed, but he didn't say a word, he just stared (or glared) at me. 
He did say that I should watch this video they had about CoS.  I said that
I couldn't stay that long, that I had to catch my bus, plus I wanted to
finish reading "Dianetics", but that perhaps another time I would stop in
again.

I wanted to find out as much as I could about CoS before making a
commitment to them.  I'd heard about the Time magazine article "The
Thriving Cult of Greed and Power", so I went to the library a few days
later, looked it up on microfilm, and printed off a copy which I took home
to read.  After reading that article, I decided I wanted nothing more to
do with the CoS, so I never did go back there!  Also, a lot of my problems
seemed to improve dramatically once my hyperthyroidism was diagnosed a
month or so later and I got treated for it--oh, that's right, Dianetics
claimed to cure a young girl of HER goiter in a few weeks!  Damn!  Oh,
well. :-)

(Ironically, the only reason I heard about the Time article was because I
read in another magazine about the CoS suing Time about the article, and
that actually made me want to read the Time article!  If the CoS hadn't
sued Time, I might never have heard about that article and I might have
gone on to join the CoS!  Talk about Operation Footbullet!)

Anyway, the whole point I'm trying to make is that CoS DOES do a good job
of listening and being able to find out if someone is suffering
physically, mentally or spiritually, and telling them, "We can help you
with that".  It makes me sick how the CoS takes advantage of well-meaning
people by lying to them and getting them to spend thousands of dollars and
waste months or years of their lives on what pretty much amounts to snake
oil!

No, I don't know who put a quarter in me, and I'm sorry for going on so
long, but just had to get this off my chest.  Thanks for listening!

Sue