Addition to Chapter 6

Chateau Scientology

Continued from print pg. 60:
           
BIG PAYOFFS CAME by recirculating the advanced Scientologists, who were made to redo basic or advanced level services whenever church leader Miscavige told the Scientologists they hadn’t really achieved the outcome of the level, and had to redo their services, such as what happened whenever he would release a new “Golden Age.” Or, whenever Hubbard’s books were repackaged and “all errors removed,” everyone would have to buy the latest versions of books and CDs. The price tag on those services and materials could be in the tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Except was abridged from here:

PETER RECRUITS HIS BROTHER ELI

Peter brought his brother Ely to the Valley Org, and then to the Celebrity Centre. Ely had won sponsorships as a motorcycle racer in Daytona before he moved on to custom motorcycle design. Following in his father’s footsteps as an inventor, Ely moved on to more advanced designs and inventions such as electric motorcycles and cars. He signed up for some basic Scientology courses, including the Communication Course and the HQS, Hubbard Qualified Scientologist Course, so Peter earned commissions on his brother’s purchases. Ely was a really bright guy, cynical even, and questioned Hubbard’s writings. I envied how freely and honestly he shared his misgivings about Scientology, compared to myself. I felt threatened about expressing my honest opinions within the organization for fear of repercussion. That was because Peter and I saw a future in Scientology, and Ely had not committed himself.

One of the first red flags about Ely’s refusal to accept Hubbard as infallible was his skepticism of Hubbard’s claim in his keynote policy, “Keeping Scientology Working.” Hubbard says he was the only one that could have come up with the workable technology of Scientology, the only one to overcome the bank; and that groups of people could never achieve such an accomplishment. Ely pointed out that Hubbard drew from a lot of other sources, but didn’t credit any of them with citations that named them as the author of specific works. Ely was pointing out that Hubbard plagiarized others’ ideas. I knew he was right because I had observed the same thing. The latter had also been one of my disagreements about Hubbard being called “Source.” While some of the original versions of his books include a list of great thinkers who inspired him, I never once saw Hubbard credit anyone as the source of a concept that he used in his works. So, I had no rebuttal to offer Ely.

Ely slipped in and out of the Scientology course room. Meanwhile, he designed a special effects prop for the Church of Scientology’s gala release of Hubbard’s Mission Earth. Ely designed a flying saucer with flashing lights that he maneuvered via helicopter to pass over Hollywood’s Author Services building rooftop the night of the gala event. The church paid him $10,000 for that stunt.

Ely did bring his girlfriend to CC, but she was denied Scientology auditing. She had been subjected to electroshock therapy by her parents when she was young, a disqualification for receiving Scientology. This caused a minor uproar in our family. After that, Ely had no connections with Scientology. But he kept the peace with Peter and I, knowing that our involvement was deep.

Any FSM like Peter and I had to deal with the possibility that our selectee might “fall off the lines” as Ely did. In such a case, Celebrity Centre staff would always try to recover the person with the FSM’s help, like a shepherd going after lost sheep. This whole flow was part of our spirituality that knitted us to our organization. Being an active FSM and bringing in new people was an expression of spirituality and dedication to Scientology.

Continuing at The Power of celebrity…