Chapter 5
- Tell someone about Scientology. Just by knowing that Scientology exists, a person is better.
- -- L. Ron Hubbard{1}
Scientologists are relentless in trying to get others to
share their religious beliefs, and much of their proselytizing is
certainly based on their sincere belief that Scientology has improved
their lives and can do the same for others. But there are also a few
mercenary motives they rarely admit to.
First of all, the more members a particular Church brings
in, the more money each Scientology employee receives, since their
salary, based on units, is determined by the previous week's income.{2} Actually this works out better in theory than in
practice, since Scientologists have complained that when revenue
increases, Hubbard simply enlarges the staff, so they get to see very
little of the additional monies.{3}
A second possible reason for their relentless
proselytizing is that for any individual member a Scientologist
brings in, say a friend, he receives a five to fifteen percent cash
rebate, usually ten percent, on whatever money that other person spends
in the group.{4}
Even if a Scientologist decides not to double as a
salesman, he may not have much of a choice, since some Scientologists
have been made to sign pledges promising to "help Ron (Hubbard) clear
this planet."{5}
Pressure has also
occasionally been applied to people who didn't help "Ron." One former
member reported that Scientologists were routinely questioned during
their auditing sessions about their progress in furthering Scientology.
If they had done nothing, they might occasionally be punished by being
made to write a five-hundred-word composition explaining why they hadn't
spread the word.{6} Hopefully, their techniques are a
bit more sophisticated today.
While Scientologists generally approach their friends and
former acquaintances in an effort to gain converts, they are not averse
to soliciting strangers. This is usually done by handing out leaflets or
tickets inviting people to "step into the exciting world of the totally
free." They have also used their books and brochures to lure strangers.
One girl was approached on a Fifth Avenue bus in
Manhattan by a man who handed her Dianetics: The Modern Science of
Mental Health, told her it would change her life, and then
disappeared -- or so she thought.{7} When she tried to
get off the bus, he blocked her and demanded $5 for the book.
In another case, two Scientologists put an ad in the
Village Voice asking $1 for a book "in a plain wrapper."{8} Those who were expecting pornography were sorely
disappointed. For $1 they received a twelve-page brochure called "All
About Scientology" -- a booklet which is given away for free at the Orgs
or Churches.
Scientologists have also advertised their services in
newspapers, under the heading of Church (in the New York Times)
and sometimes in the classified telephone directories, under such
headings as IQ Tests,{9} Personality Development,{10} and Personnel Consultants.{11}
In the classified Tunbridge Wells, England, area
telephone directory, though, they accidentally appeared under the
heading of "Zoo."{12} Lest anyone suspect it was an
intentional accident, the phone company explained to the paper that the
Scientologists asked them to put their ad on the last page of the
directory "and in this case it was possible."
Hubbard, in his PABS (Preclear Auditor Bulletin) #5
suggested three additional ways to disseminate Scientology.{13} In the first method he told the Scientologists to put
an ad in the newspaper saying "Personal counseling -- I will talk to
anyone for you about anything. Phone Reverend so and so between hour and
hour."
Hubbard, however, told them not to help the person who
was calling, because that "cancel(s) out his clientele." Instead he
suggested that they should first credit the fact that "this is a pretty
big problem" and then not talk to the person in such a way as to ease
the problem. "This may be the last problem this person has and it would
be a disservice to simply solve it as easily as that. One makes
something of the problem, not makes nothing of it...."
Hubbard may have anticipated that such methods might be
questioned or criticized, and he seemed anxious that the press not find
out who was behind them. He told the Scientologists:
But what if the press suspects anyway, and then asks what
Scientology is? Hubbard wrote:
The second method he suggested, which he and his current
wife personally utilized, was called "Illness Researchers."{14} Hubbard told the Scientologists to place an
ad in the local newspaper that said polio victims (or arthritics) should
call them. Hubbard suggested they sign the ad as a "research
organization" or a "charitable organization." When the people answering
the ad arrived at the headquarters, they were given about three hours of
free group auditing, and then later were sold individual auditing
sessions.
This technique was not calculated to endear Scientology
to the medical profession, but Hubbard emphasized that Scientologists
were not offering a treatment or cure for these illnesses, but were just
"investigating" them, and therefore the medical laws did not apply to
them. He added that this method was acceptable for an auditor or
minister, and that "even a ditch digger can look over polio or arthritis
or asthma or anything else."
In "Casualty Contact," the third method, Hubbard
recommended that Scientology ministers scan the newspapers for accident
cases and obituaries and get the disabled and the relatives of the
deceased to "join the Church for comfort." He said that the minister
should take "every daily paper he can get his hands on and cut from it
every story whereby he might have a preclear."
The Minister should get the address of the person, from
the story itself or by calling up the newspaper and saying he's a
minister. The minister should then call the person or his family and
represent himself "as a minister whose compassion was compelled by the
newspaper story concerning the person," wrote Hubbard.
What if the press finds out about this one? Hubbard
emphasized that the minister should "simply say that it is a mission of
the Church to assist those who are in need of assistance," and again
avoid discussing Scientology. Instead, Hubbard said he should "talk
about the work of ministers and how all too few ministers these days get
around to places where they are needed."
{1} initial quote
[44]
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{2} unit salary
[254, 255,
etc.]
{3} Hubbard enlarges staff
[261]
{4} money received for bringing members
[255]
{5} pledges to clear planet
[136]
{6} questioning people and compositions
[177]
{7} 5th Ave. bus story
[177]
{8} Ad for book in plain wrapper
[152]
{9} IQ
[145]
{10} pers{onalit}y development
[131]
{11} personnel consultants
[131a]
{12} Scientology under "Zoo" {heading in phone
book}
[178]
{13} all three methods of Scientology
dissemination
[21]
{14} Hubbard tried second
[255]