Oral History Interview - Communication Impact on a Former Scientologist

Scientology.  Is it a science? Is it a religion? Or is it a business? Many have never met anyone who has ever been involved in it.  The culture is not that of a nationality or ethnicity, but rather of a religion begun within the United States.  As the subject of this oral history interview is concerned about keeping her identity confidential, she will simply be referred to as V.R.  She was chosen as an interview subject due to the unique culture into which she was recruited, and from which, in her own words, she “escaped.” That dominant culture was Scientology, and its elite sub-group of Sea Org (Wright, 2013). Within these two cultures, V.R. experienced a manner of communicating far removed from any she had experienced prior to her recruitment, but which has impacted her even 30 years after having abandoned the church and its teachings.

The cultural background of V. R. is that of a former Mormon, recruited to Scientology as a young adult. Scientology touts itself as a religion, is recognized by the IRS as a tax-exempt religious organization, and calls itself a “science of the mind.” The subgroup(s) to which V.R. was elevated within Scientology was first the Sea Organization, and then the Guardian’s Office. The word “Sea” represents the ruling class of the larger Scientology culture, which “rules on the sea,” literally. This was the elite group and paramilitary arm of the organization, which was purported to live on ships out on the ocean. The group was fitted out as a type of navy, complete with military dress, insignia, classifications, and titles, such Captain, Commodore, Seaman, etc.

Before becoming a recruit for Scientology, V.R’s cultural background was as a member of a strict Mormon household in a small town of less than 300 people in New Mexico. V.R.’s parents were married in the Mormon temple and raised three daughters and two sons. Until she was 14, V.R. attended every single Mormon Church function known to mankind, including primary, seminary, mutual, Sunday school, and sacrament meetings. She became very literate on the Book of Mormon, The Articles of Faith, and the Bible, and was able to articulate these beliefs eloquently within her Mormon community, and to those outside of it.

Academics and the Arts were stressed in V.R.’s family, and she was both well-educated and talented, obtaining her Masters in Elementary Education and a PhD in Marine Biology, as well as a Fellowship at the Julliard School of Arts in New York.

At the age of 14, V.R. “had a really horrendous experience in the Mormon religion” where false communications by the Bishop during a public Fast Testimony Meeting led her to abandon the Mormon religion and reject many of its teachings. These teachings included such doctrines as: God was once a man who lived on another planet; Mormons are co-eternal with God; truth is determined by feelings; saving dead ancestors shows Mormons are the only Christian church; ex-Mormons or apostates had sin in their life or never had a testimony; and Mormons need to convert the whole world to Mormonism, to name a few (n.d.).

In many ways, the culture of her Mormon background was similar to the culture of Scientology. When she was first recruited into Scientology, she was told that Scientology and Mormonism could peacefully coexist side by side, that there was no conflict of interest. She learned pretty rapidly that this was not the truth.  From the outside it appears there are many similarities, as Scientology claims to be all about peace, love, kindness to one’s fellow man. The hierarchical structure is rather similar with leaders at different levels to guide and mentor recruits in ways similar to new Mormon converts. Scientology also pays homage to family, or at least gives lip service to it. V.R. claims one other significant similarity in that there is a certain amount of mind control (Childs & Tobin, 2012), in that one has to look at everything through the religion’s viewpoint. This, she believes, radically affects communications within the group’s culture, as well as with those outside of it.

According to V.R., when one gets inside Scientology, it is far removed from the culture of her Mormon upbringing, and the similarities end.  Once one becomes a Mormon, one’s salvation is guaranteed, that is, until one leaves the church.  With Scientologists, if one leaves the church, one’s “eternity” is lost (Wright, 2013). There are different levels of salvation in Mormonism, just as there are different levels of spiritual “being-ness” or “eternity” in Scientology. One’s manner of communicating changes according to whatever level one is in within the organization. V.R. stressed, however, that control is one of the dominant issue affecting intercultural communication within and without Scientology (Childs & Tobin, 2012).

There are Missionaries in both Mormonism and Scientology. However, whereas Mormons are instructed to evangelize and make converts, Scientologists are required to do so. Where both groups have a hierarchy and leadership structure to whom one is accountable, Mormonism is more like mentoring, while Scientologists are spied upon by other members.  In Mormonism there is positive communication and encouragement to grow spiritually, in Scientology compliance and communication is based on fear, so much that one would not even tell a spouse if there were doubts, as this would have severe negative repercussions if reported to leadership.

Where the Mormon Church expects a member to be truthful, ethical, and honest, Scientology would say it expects one to be this, yet it holds to a kind of utilitarian ethics system, where the greatest good for the greatest number overrides such standards as long as it benefits Scientology (Wright, 2013). In other words, according to V.R., lying is encouraged and even required as a way of communicating as long as that is what is best for Scientology. This type of communication is called an “acceptable truth,” where one can say “I know D.M. doesn’t hit people, even though I have watched him hit people, because it would harm Scientology if people knew D.M. hit people.” One could even sign an affidavit saying so and have such communication be approved by the church.

Another difference in the communication styles between Mormonism and Scientology, according to V.R. is that family members in the Mormon Church might feel sad if one was not a part of the church, but they would not shun another on such grounds. They may try to convince another to see the light but they still talk to and welcome such communication as they would be trying to return a sheep to the fold. In Scientology, on the other hand, if one leaves the church, they are forced to disconnect completely and cut off all communication with their remaining Scientology family (Wright, 2013). When V.R. was recruited into Scientology, she recounts she was allowed to communicate with her family, but actual church policy determined the communication may only be “good roads, fair weather” topics. V.R. states that the Church of Scientology became her family and she was then unable to communicate the truth of her life with her biological family.

The mission of any communication of the Mormon Church is to proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to every people, to perfect the saints to receive the ordinances of the gospel, and to redeem the dead (Kimball, 1982).  In contrast, the mission of any communication of the Church of Scientology is to “clear” the planet’s inhabitants of a “reactive mind,” which is a concept to get rid of all the bad memories that stick in one’s mind from past experience. 

Today, the most vivid of V.R.’s impressions or experiences from the time of her recruitment into Scientology, include the fact that “the guy that recruited (her) was the most gorgeous guy” she’d ever seen in her life. She says she was very intelligent, but gullible. She was going to lunch with a friend, when “Steve” grabbed her and began talking with her. The friend told her to ignore “Steve” and stay away from him, but V.R. was intrigued by his looks and charm to continue the conversation. V.R. says “I was young and he was good looking, so I was convinced to go take the Oxford Capacity Analysis Test” (Wright, 2013), which supposedly analyzed one’s personality for flaws which Scientology can assist you in perfecting. “Steve” was apparently so successful in his approach, he convinced V.R. her life was horrendous and he could actually help V.R. improve it through Scientology. She ended up paying for her Communications Course after the test that same day.

What appealed to V.R. about the culture of Scientology was what it promised - a world without criminality, without insanity, or war. This was the 1970’s and V.R. was a young idealist who wanted to save the world. She was very impressed with the whole mission statement; it was “pretty damned awesome!” at least at first glance. The fact that it was not true once one got in and became enslaved, as opposed to becoming freer, was a whole different story. V.R. likens it to the carrot and the stick approach. One keeps thinking that right around the corner is the freedom one longs for, but it never appears. V.R. thought the people involved were young, smart, attractive, and vivacious, and it appealed to her youth and sense of idealism. It was a group of young passionate people trying to save the planet.

Within Scientology there is a different language or method of speaking unique to the group and subgroup. There are a lot of acronyms and slang, and specific terminology to describe feelings, certain methods, training levels, certain actions, course levels, events attended, adjectives, and ways people acted. An example would be the word “entheta.”  Theta means “good.” When one is theta, one is good, happy, or pleased. Entheta would be the opposite, would be against Scientology, bad, negative or black PR (public relations) (Wright, 2013). Regarding virtual and digital communication, Scientologists are not allowed to be on the internet, as it is entheta, and “There is too much entheta on the internet.” Another example is the use of the phrase “doing one’s A to J.” When one “gets into ethics trouble,” by a statement, action, or thought, a Scientologist must then work out assigned ethics conditions to get back to “normal” and this is usually means when one is doing steps “A to J” to get accepted back into the group.  Another term specific to Scientology is referring to a non-Scientologist as a WOG, which is a derogatory old English term meaning Worthy Old (Oriental) Gentlemen, but referring originally to Chinamen. Scientology Founder Ron L. Hubbard took the phrase and used it sarcastically to mean a spiritually unenlightened person who could not understand the Church’s convoluted terminology.

The language altered from the general Scientology population to the Sea Organization level in that there were Divisions within the Organizational chart. Each group had more layers of terminology. The leader even had his own form of shorthand which most could not understand.  For example: regular Scientologist wouldn’t know about “INT” (International Scientology Headquarters) or “Gold” (which is gold-based at INT, a special section of International Scientology Headquarters), or RPF (which is Rehabilitation Project Force where, if one got in ethics trouble, one went to “jail,” one had to run everywhere one went, and couldn’t speak to anyone else, until one finished one’s conditions and graduated from RPF).  General Scientologists would speak with deep respect to a member of Sea Org, calling both men and women “Sir.”

As a Sea Org member, V.R. recalled communications with members of the dominant group (Scientologists in general, referred to as “public”) as being very segregated.  She states Sea Org members seldom communicated with the “public,” and that “we were on the podium, they were in the audience.” As a teacher of sorts, V.R. could interact with the “public” through briefing courses as a supervisor and get to talk with them personally.  Other Sea Org personnel had to get permission and go through V.R. to summon one of her students and meet in an office. V.R. recalls that she did not typically meet with the “public,” that back then she was allowed to go to coffee with a student, but that it would not be permitted now.

V.R. was a “public” member for four months, and was recruited for Sea Org because she was “special” or brainwashed enough to sell the religion to others and was fully on board with the program. She had gone from “nobody” to a “class four auditor” in four months.

When asked how a Scientologist, and more specifically a member of the Sea Org, communicates with those outside of the religion, V.R. stated that Sea Org members didn’t speak with people outside the religion, at all.  She lived in a berthing, in the Hollywood Inn, owned by Sea Org and seldom saw or met anyone outside of the religion.  On Liberty Days, she says she actually walked the streets of Hollywood Boulevard, but always in groups of Sea Org members. If she remembers talking with a non-Scientologist it may have been in ordering food at a food stand, and that was about it.  Sea Org members did not book their own hotels, or make their own plane reservations. They were the elite. If they went anywhere, it was together with other Sea Org members.  There was not much opportunity at all to talk with non-Scientologists.  V.R. did not really consider such brief interactions with WOGs as conversations. It was unwelcome and unappreciated civility, only. Sea Org was a very insular group, and rarely approached by non-members. There was no access to telephone amenities and all mail was screened. This was before the internet and the age of cell phone and e-mail capabilities. Communications were extremely limited and extensively monitored.

V.R. states she was a Sea Org member for a year, then was recruited to the elite Guardians office. Such a move was very secretive and, to the best of Sea Org knowledge, V.R. had been kicked out of Sea Org, as no one was allowed to know to where she had been recruited. After her time in the Guardians office, she returned to public Scientology.

There were some significant barriers to effective communication which V.R. encountered. As a Scientologist, she was not allowed to have close relationships with WOGs. She was also not allowed to speak with non-Scientologists when in the Sea Org or Guardians Office. While in the Guardians Office, V.R. was not allowed to talk to a lot of her Scientologist friends and let them know where she was and what she was doing.  The rules themselves were the barrier.  Within the Guardian’s Office of Scientology, V.R. was given tasks of a secret and illegal nature which could not be related to others, and thus could never be communicated. This meant V.R. had to lie or withhold the truth in her communications about her activities and whereabouts. Also, if one had bad thoughts, one could not communicate them because they could get a person into ethics trouble, however, one was expected to reveal everything about oneself during auditing sessions and to inform on their colleagues’ deviations (Allemang, 2013).  The machine used to detect lies and flaws, the E-meter, could theoretically tell the auditor if one had bad thoughts, but V.R. found out early how to fool the E-meter.

When asked about the difference in her life today in terms of language, communication, and lifestyle as compared to when she was a member of Scientology, V.R. states the following: 

I am now able to talk to my family freely. I can celebrate any holiday I want, whenever I want and not have to beg permission, which would most likely be turned down. Even now, when speaking about Scientology, I struggle to speak it in English rather than Scientology terms. Sometimes, I feel hyper vigilant and worry about what I post on Facebook, if I am being monitored still.  Sometimes I don’t care.  When I left in 1983, I kind of went underground, moved out of state and dropped off the face of the planet.  I was afraid and didn’t want anything to do with the Church.  I was afraid.  Their policy was “fair game,” always attack, never defend.  As I left the church, I was a threat to them and believe me, I felt the fear and intimidation. They don’t ever let you go. I struggled with fear and paranoia because of this for years.

When asked if she felt safe now, especially to communicate her perspective, V.R. paused and struggled with the answer, eventually saying “Maybe… because I am in Wyoming… and I feel safer as well because Scientology and its influence is shrinking now. And perhaps I am not viewed as a threat to them any longer.”

The news media played no active role in either supporting or contesting V.R.’s views of her own Scientologist culture.  V.R. stated that the news media was hated by Scientology. As a matter of fact, one of the questions asked for potential recruits to the Church was if they were a member of the news media.  L. Ron Hubbard did not want any members of the media in Scientology at all (Childs & Tobin, 2012). V.R. related that they were not allowed to watch television, read magazines or newspapers, or listen to the radio. To her knowledge at the time, the news media was anti- Scientologist. 

According to V.R., Scientology’s PR and Marketing tactics differed  from mainstream media in significant ways.  V.R. stated bluntly, “They are obnoxious!” Scientology sends out thousands of mailers per week to people they consider members of the church, and it is nearly impossible to get off their mailing list once a person is on it.  Scientologists will not use the internet except to send out e-mail blasts. Scientologists have been marketed to the general public through “body routers” (another term for missionaries or one-on-one evangelists) who use face-to-face encounters for recruiting purposes (Wright, 2013), much like Christian or Hare Krishna street evangelism. V.R. related that body routers will go after people who look like they have money and are attractive and intelligent, but gullible.   According to her, money is the number one criteria for recruitment these days.  Scientology does not use billboards, radio ads, internet ads, or television ads, except during the Super Bowl and large events of that nature. However, they are adept at using the church’s big name members, like Tom Cruise (Allemang, 2013) for PR purposes, while cultivating their influence and “flattering them with deluxe celebrity centres and special honors.” In V.R.’s opinion, Scientologists are becoming so paranoid about recruiting now, because of all the negative information on the internet (Childs & Tobin, 2012), they mostly go after “whales” (i.e. wealthy members) in the church for soliciting contributions. This is one reason V.R. believes the Church is shrinking. 

When asked what about the culture of Scientology would she say is positive, if anything, V.R. replied “Nothing, really. What it promises is/sounds good, but it is a façade.”

V.R. provided some closing thoughts on how Scientology and its form of intercultural communication affects her today. She says, “I’ve been away from it more than 30 years, and sometimes it amazes me how something from the past comes up and slams me in the back of my mind. The kind of brain washing they put you through is so insidious you don’t even realize you’ve been brainwashed until years after you’ve escaped, and even then you can’t find all the pieces.”

In conclusion, while there were similarities between V.R.’s Mormon cultural upbringing and Scientology, within the dominant culture of Scientology and subculture of Sea Organization, V.R. experienced a manner of communicating far removed from any she had experienced prior to her recruitment, but which has continued to impact her communication with others over 30 years after having left the religion and its teachings.

References

Allemang, J. (2013). Scientology’s falling star. Globe & Mail (Toronto, Canada).

Childs, J., & Tobin, T. C. (2012). Inside Scientology. IRE Journal, 35(4), 25-27.

Jandt, F.E. (2013). An introduction to intercultural communication: Identities in a global community (7^th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Kimball, S. (1982, April). Remember the mission of the Church. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Retrieved from: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1982/04/remember-the-mission-of-the-church?lang=eng

(n.d.) The fourteen fundamental articles of Mormonism. The Website of John Cripps. North Carolina M@in – Mountain Area Information Network. Retrieved from: http://main.nc.us/spchurchofchrist/fourteenfund.htm

Wright, L. (2013). Going clear. Kirkus Reviews