Inside Scientology:
First-Person Accounts

Marina Chong's Ex-Scientologists Speak has many usenet posts which are not included here.

Perhaps the most touching human interest story produced by Scientology's actions is Steve Keller's attempt to save his daughter Amanda, which he describes on his own web page.

Annie Rosenblum's story: "I don't know how to describe what happened other than that my brain was frying right up. I felt like I was in a daze half of the time. I'd do things, sort of like watching myself doing them but not realizing I was doing it, as if it was somebody else, except that I know it was me."

Patrick Jost's Story: "He then told me that he'd "take care of me" if I kept asking questions. I asked him what that meant. He said that he would certainly hurt me, maybe kill me "with his OT powers" if I did not comply with his demands."

Yolanda Howell's story: "The promises of a wonderful environment ... were lies. The slum in my home city did not even approximate the vile conditions to which we were subjected in scientology. My children were kept filthy."

Moira Hutchinson's Story: "I can't say that I did not get anything out of the processing I received after leaving the church. However, none of the levels delivered what all of the church hype wanted you to believe. It took a huge effort and a lot of work for me to rebuild my life after coming out of the church."

Hilary's experience of Hard Sell: "For only a few dollars [the registrar] would give me a book that would explain it all. Dianetics. I declined, telling her that I needed every last dollar in my pocket to get home (which was more or less true). She still tried to convince me to give her my money in exchange for that book! What nerve!"

Isabel Hsin-Yu Chang's Story: "Scientology can make one feel good, but this is just an deception or illusion. In fact, I think scientology is a very fairy-tale like world, where people just lived in illusions of an ideal world where there are no wars, drugs..etc."

Joyce Stephenson's letter: a brief description of the danger of Hubbard's theories. "I can honestly say that being a staff member was the worst experience of my life - long hours, low pay, severe punishment for minor infractions..."

Hana Whitfield's Affidavit: describes conditions aboard Hubbard's ship, the Avon River, and in the RPF. "I was locked up for about 24 hours in a room with no windows. I was under continual guard during that time and slept on a mattress on the floor without sheets or blanket. I was shocked and awake the entire night sometimes weeping and other times completely numb, devoid of all feeling or thought."

Shiona Fox-ness' resignation: A senior scientologist describes in frank terms how the Co$ differs from the image it projects. "Staff are routinely handled with ruthless force, psychotic screaming, obscene shouting and absurd programs. Lies, trickery and treachery abound."

Margery Wakefield's affidavit: "He had been caught, and they said they had him in a motel room, and the next day they were going to take him out to sea and "deep six" him - tie weights to him and dump him overboard."

Stacy Young's Affidavit: "Such methods include brutal interrogations in which two or more people gang up on someone (who has usually been deprived of sleep for days) in a locked room and scream abuses until the person confesses to anything they want him or her to confess to."

Peter Forde's Story: "For those who wonder about the RPF being tantamount to brainwashing, how about sleep deprivation with 6 hours maximum allowed, allowed to speak with only 1 person at all (the MAA), 15 minute meal break maximums eating left-over food, usually just rice or potatoes. ... The attitude was that you are WRONG, and you must obey all orders instantly and without question."

Ted Mayett's request for a declare: one of a.r.s's most interesting characters tells about his experiences. "Today they have gotten me angry... It was very wrong of them to use my money to raid a man's home. ... They raided peoples homes in my name and that is not OK."

I was a teenage scientologist: "Meanwhile, unknown to me, the Church kept hitting up my mother for more money. Eventually she forked over close to $4,000.00 to these shysters."

Inside a Scientology School: "As for the sane environment, that was a joke. Everything always depended on the mood of the ED, who, while a "clear" was extremely reactive and moody."

Vicki Aznaran's affidavit of January 1992: "Miscavige maintains absolute control over all officers and board members of this corporation, controlling these other members of the board of directors by fact of his possessing undated, signed resignations of each member."

An anonymous couple tell Dennis Erlich about their son: "Twenty-two years ago we watched our young son change from a bright, caring, questioning young man with a wonderful sense of humor and a bright future, into a staring zombie within the first few months of his involvement in scientology."

StarFury's Story: "If you have any doubts, if you considered leaving the CofS, DO IT! they only want your money and servitude. You will get nothing out of it. There is no improvement, and there are no wonderous OT powers. It's a big lie."

Zane Thomas's story: a short post to a.r.s gives a peek inside the Sea Organisation.

Shane Vincent's story: "I finally felt like writing about my experiences in Scientology, not because they were incredibly terrible but because I think it shows that a lot of disorganization and dissent exists in the Sea Org."

Experiences by Molly Hutchinson, age 11: "My sister and I would have to go to Scientology school. We wouldn't learn things like Spelling and English. We would only learn about Scientology."

Rex Basterfield's story: "The peak experience generated by my experimentation was high and powerful. The world was full of wonder at every turn and the best thing in it was Scientology and the best person LRH, good old Ron."

NEW! Cognitions of an (anonymous) Liberated Scientologist: I did want the euphoria, the "gains," so much that I tolerated your arrogant disrespect, paid a fortune, and put up with bad service and abusive, unscrupulous treatment. Guess you don't have to be polite once your junkies are hooked and you are the only Source around.

NEW! A Warning to those interested in Scientology or Dianetics from an anonymous New Zealander: Something prompted me to find out exactly just how much it would cost me to get to the condition known as 'Clear'. When I asked the man, he hesitated, but finally, under sufferance, took a piece of paper and began to add up numbers, and I saw this string of zeros getting longer and longer as he added on price after price.

Chris Lyman's story: Chris explains how he didn't get recruited by the church. "[T]he message was: "The world is full of suppressive people. Sign up for a communications course if you want to find out how to deal with these people." I knew right then that I would be wasting my time pursuing this dreck."

NEW! Warrior's Story: "I was assigned a lower condition (TREASON) with FULL PENALTIES, meaning I had to wear a grey armband, had to take my meals separately from the rest of the crew, had to do 15 hours of "amends", and I received NO pay for the week, and NO pay until I worked "up the conditions from 'TREASON', to 'ENEMY', to 'DOUBT', to 'LIABILITY' and back to 'NORMAL' condition!!"

Diary of a Dying OT7: A heart-wrenching story of the callous disregard for a dying man, Albert Jacquier, shown by the International Association of Scientologists and by his fellow scientologists.