The real reason people leave Scientology: ARC Breaks

In February 2011 and incredible testimonial account from Bill Franks, the former international executive director (ED Int) of the Church of Scientology, attesting to one of the biggest secrets behind the brainwashing aspects of Scientology Technology.

Who is Bill Franks?

Bill Franks joined Scientology in 1968 studying the Saint Hill Special Briefing Course at Saint Hill UK, directly under L. Ron Hubbard. He joined staff and went up the Org Board. In December 1979, he was appointed by Hubbard to be "Senior Management Executive International." Franks eventually ended up as ED Int, likewise appointed personally by LRH in December 1980. He also served as the Commanding Officer of AOLA and was the Chairman of the Board of Directors for Church of Scientology International.

Training-wise, Franks was a Class IX auditor, OT VII and OEC FEBC graduate. He reached the highest level of administrative training, doing the FEBC directly under LRH on the Flag ship. In December 1981, Bill Franks was thrown out of his office in Clearwater and fired from his position executive director. In August 1982, he was declared a suppressive person by the Watchdog Committee.

Bill Franks' story about brainwashing

Firstly, I swear that this is the absolute and complete truth even though it occurred 37 years ago.

Secondly, a little about me which might put things into perspective as to why I saw what I am about to say as very significant and in a way horrific. I was in the SO for a little under 14 years. I attained the "rank' of Lt. Commander through promotions only by Hubbard. I was OEC and FEBC (trained by Hubbard), HSDC, Class IX when I left in December 27 1981, as well as DSEC, NOTs auditor, plus assorted other stuff. I was OT V plus NOTs, plus sec checked up the wazoo over the years. I also audited between 3-4000 hours conservatively speaking-probably much more, a lot of this was under Hub as the C/S. I spent about 3 1/2 years working with Hubbard pretty directly on the ship at various posts. I got to know him as well as anybody did.  

Thirdly and to the point of all this preamble, on one night in 1974 I found myself in David mayo's office in the tween decks of the Apollo. 

It was very late or early in the morning. We were, I believe in the port of Safi, Morocco. A student of mine, I was currently D of T and Mayo was Flag Senior C/S, had blown. Hubbard was extremely angry with us due to this blown student of mine on the FEBC program. In an attempt to show Hubbard what we had done to handle this guy we collected up all the sec checking that he had received over the last 2 months, it had been a lot poor guy, and presented it to him along with an outline of this student's progress on the courses he had taken. We had also wanted to show him how we had been careful that he hadn't gone by misunderstoods, etc.

We waited and waited and about 0300 hrs a messenger came down with a Despatch written by LRH. My memory does not recall any folders being returned. The despatch was entitled Very Confidential underlined. "He went onto say that if you or Franks ever reveal any of this information that I am about to reveal, the consequences will be severe for SCN."  

He then wrote "a person does not blow due Overts or Witholds. He blows only due to ARC BKs.  

"However, if any of this information ever became public, I would lose all control of the orgs and eventually Scientology as a whole." Signed, LRH.

Both Mayo and me looked at one another completely incredulously. I cannot speak for Dave but I was completely flabbergasted as I realized at that point of digestion that he is talking about something that 75-80% of the tech is premised upon. Furthermore, the OEC/FEBC was currently anchored by the latest" development" at the time -being the L's, L-10, 11 & 12. Which for those who don't know is about OW's. I don't believe Mayo or I talked about this again until we were out where I saw him at his auditing facility in Montecito, California in 1983. I believed we were a bit shell shocked about this. 

As for me, I began to see more and more that Scientology was merely a big prison camp. I stayed in for another 7 plus years but I was always mindful of this and always had in mind changing this "tech." I believe it is the key to what we have all seen and experienced as brainwashing.

That is all. I hope someone who wants to use this will do so as there is no doubt that there is good in the tech it is just a matter of where is it. 

How do you sort out the good and the bad and at the same time keep the good without throwing out the baby with the bath water. 

I regret that I could not fix this during my tenure.

Best, wogman Bill Franks

Verification

The discussion board post excerpted above originally occurred on Facebook (see image to the right) in response to a message Robin Scott posted to Bill Franks timeline. It was passed on to the ESMB community by "gwells," a friend of Bill's who was helping him navigate the internet.

Despite initial disbelief, Karen de la Carriere initially confirmed it was indeed posted by Bill Franks. Once Bill navigated his way through the registration ESMB process, he personally confirmed it himself.

Additionally, Glenn Samuels independently confirmed this account with through a source close to David Mayo who is unable to speak out directly due to a gag order he was forced to sign during a legal settlement with the Church of Scientology.

Similar to Bill, Glenn lived and worked aboard the Flagship Apollo where he was also personally trained as a counselor by Hubbard. Glenn left Scientology in 1982 after seeing Scientology’s corruption and greed firsthand. His response to Bill's remarks was that "it makes sense; did you leave because you committed some huge crime? Probably not. You left because of abuse, human rights violations, or some other form of harassment."

Additional insights

The Edge with Tom Smith, June 2010 - a previously recorded interview with Bill Franks was re-published on YouTube in January 2014. The topics discussed include Fair Game, Paulette Cooper, the framing of Mary Sue, orders issued against elected officials of a major Western government, Miscavige's psychopathy, Hubbard's psychopathy, etc. Bill also explains the story of the Hubbard despatch that admitted people blow due to ARC Breaks (upsets) rather than transgressions.

This interview was most likely Franks' original telling of his first hand account regarding Hubbard's emphasis on O/W being the source of people leaving the Church Scientology being a blatant deception instituted to control people.

Furthermore, this deception should raise questions regarding the real purpose of Scientology Ethics, PTS/SP tech and Sec Checks. If Hubbard was right when he stated that human beings are basically good, then what is it about Scientology that causes a need for all these coercive tactics, corrections and punishments?


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What to do if you decide to leave Scientology

by gomorrhan, in Leaving the Church subforum on ESMB

Leaving Darkness by Lucho Mosqueira, on Flickr

Hello. This subject is one near and dear to me, because I left abruptly, without any preparation, and made a mess of all my family connections, work connections. Luckily I had some place to go.

1) DISCUSS IT WITH YOUR SPOUSE, if you have one. You may be surprised that they would understand. You have nothing to fear except the inevitable non-enturbulation order, and eventual declare, and perhaps a slew of knowledge reports. Don't worry about these, they are inevitably going to occur anyway, or it's best to operate as though you understood this was likely. They will be used against you. If you fail to communicate with your spouse, your family, and your friends, you may regret it later, when you cannot communicate with them any more because they close their doors to you.

The only time I wouldn't do this is if you are concerned for your safety or autonomy, in which case get out at your earliest convenience and alert your family outside, or if you don't have any, I think many people (including me) would be willing to put you up in an emergency while you sorted things out. DO NOT FEAR LOSING YOUR FAMILY: it has already happened, if they won't come with you. Instead, realize that you may be able to live freely and happily with some or all of your family if you communicate with them. If you don't, realize they will be encouraged to close ranks against you.

2) If you work with scientologists, realize that your job will be likely threatened or lost if you leave. Prepare for this. Spiff up your resume. Start shopping it around about a month before you go. Don't worry about what sort of job you'll get, too much. Take something solid that allows you to pay your bills and live independently of any supports in the Church. Consider writing to someone on this forum and asking for their help finding a good job. This is a huge network, and someone here probably knows someone near you that is hiring. It's worth a shot, and people who post here will understand the extremity or difficulties you face.

3) Realize that you are not the only person ever to have trod the path out of the Church. If you have questions, realize that probably 90% of the people who have ever been involved with Scientology are no longer involved with the Church. You are not alone. I, for one, understand what you are going through. Some here understand even better. I was only on staff two years, very young. Some here have left after 35 years or more involved, with their whole lives revolving around the Church. Don't be shy about asking people what their successful actions were, and what troubles they faced.

4) If you consider that the Tech is worth keeping, realize that you don't have to stay in the Church to have access to it. I'm not promoting the FreeZone, here, but I do think it's important for people concerned about "loss of Bridge" issues that these issues have been addressed outside the Church. If you don't give a hoot about the Tech, and you just want to be free, don't sweat that last. The FreeZone was incredibly helpful to me when I left the Church. I learned more about scientology through these people than I ever knew in the Church, because the secrets are bared, and the prices people charge are subject to market pressures, unlike in the fiat monopoly in the Church. I then decided I wasn't a scientologist, but not everyone makes that decision, and I respect people who decide that they remain scientologists, although they have left the Church.

5) DO NOT PAY ANY FREELOADER DEBT. This flows power to an organization undeserving of it. You will need your money in your new life. F/L debts don't hold up in court. The debt is not real. You don't owe the Church anything if you've been working for them. Very likely, they actually didn't deliver the services or training you wanted or needed, anyway, and perhaps inflated the costs of offering you the service. I paid my freeloader debt. I was a damned fool to do so.

6) KEEP ANY CORRESPONDENCE FROM THE CHURCH. Sometimes they slip up and say stupid things. Sometimes you are facing a divorce, as I was, and the documents that IJC sent me would have been very helpful in establishing a mental cruelty charge and increasing my access to my children, perhaps obtaining full custody instead of losing it. Declares are hard to come by, these days, and the actual physical order that you are declared is quite a collectors item. If you never need that correspondence, great, no harm done. If you do, but have thrown away something because it upset you or you didn't think you'd ever take action on it, you'll kick yourself.

7) If you feel the Church defrauded you or abused you, consider suing them. While you may feel that Scientology always wins every case, take it from me, and others here, that this is not only not true, its completely false. They lose cases quite frequently, although many times settlements are obtained instead of court victories. If they told you you'd be able to levitate an ashtray, and you did the drills and paid your fees, and you can't levitate an ashtray, I'd say they both lied to you and took your money from you. Generalize that to any claims of Dianetics or Scientology services that were used to sell you on exorbitantly priced services that almost never deliver what was promised. You have a right to hold them accountable for this.

This last I reserve for the feisty. It requires a willingness to fight, a little bit of resourcefulness getting lawyered up, but it is a tremendous moral victory if you do win, and lays stronger and stronger precedents with each person to do so. However, realize that the Church is structured to be a bit of a tar baby. They exist to fight with enemies real or imagined. The reason I encourage people to fight them, now (if they want to), although I've advocated against it in the past, is that critical mass has been achieved. The Church is overwhelmed fighting on more fronts than they can manage, and losing on all of them. Now is a time when you can pile on without much concern about their nasty tactics, as the people willing to employ them are getting caught on camera and put on youtube now, and what was once cloak and dagger is now just another chance to put the abuse on record.

I hope some of the above will be helpful to someone considering leaving. I stand by my words,
 gomorrhan


Additional Resources:

• Facing Your Doubts About The Church of Scientology
• Confronting Thought Reform & Coercive Persuasion
  
• “I don’t know why I couldn’t see it” by Jeff Hawkins
• Recovering from Scientology by Just Bill
• Captive hearts, captive minds : freedom and recovery from cults and abusive relationships by Tobias, Lalich & Langone
• Church of Scientology Repayments – Get your unused account balances returned by David St Lawrence

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Glossary of Wog Words #2

Chapter 2: Cultic Mind Control, Thought Reform & Coercive Persuasion Definitions

The following glossary of terms is the second installment of a series of posts humbly offered as an aid to Scientologists who may be struggling to leap over the language barriers between the various different camps who find fault with the Church of Scientology.

This post will also be used as supplemental material for supporting upcoming entries on this micro blog that explore the subject matter further, and as such the blogger felt the topic deserved a introductory preamble beforehand.

Proceed with caution

Just like the word "cult" can be a tough nut to crack for members of a destructive group that are heading down the path of becoming informed, the words "mind control" and "brainwashing" and the forms of abuse in which they manifest can be a frighten hurdle to own up to.

The reason being is horror stories of POW ordeals and MKULTRA fiascos has attached a certain stigma to the words "mind control" and "brainwashing" that infers something being done under physical restraint and with much force.

However, in terms of established academic standards of cultic studies and research into abusive groups "mind control" and "brainwashing" is seen a synonymous with "coercive persuasion" and "thought reform," which infers a more subliminal form of abuse being done subconsciously and over time. Therefore, when approaching this type of subject matter from an educational perspective former victims of destructive cults are encourage to see "mind control" and think "coercion" as an intermediate step of digesting the material without the shock and awe impact the more flamboyant buzzwords can induce.

This approach allows for a better dissection of the definitions for this area of formal study where a distinction can be made between the general definition of "mind control" and the more targeted definition of "cultic mind control". Therefore, as shown in the glossary document at the bottom of this post, cultic mind control is the more contextually accurate term for understanding the forms of psychological abuse the Church of Scientology is inflicting on its members.

For further insights into the specifics of this distinction, check out the information from Spiritwatch Ministries featured on the backlink of this post that eloquently answers the question: What Is Cultic Mind Control?

Come prepared

Another important aspect to keep in mind when trying conquer the acceptance factor of what was done to you while under the influence of coercive persuasion is that it basically boils down to one thing: devious and subversive forms of abuse.

It is not necessarily torture, nor is it in your face force to do something you adamantly refuse to be apart of. Rather, coercive persuasion (and its many synonyms) is simply mental conditioning secretly done over time to inflict abuse on members without them even realizing its happening.

Thus, a basic understanding of abusive relationships and the ways in which abuse surfaces in escalating fashion to violent behavior when a deeply personal relationship feeds it, can almost be considered a prerequisite area of the learning curve in regards to building a better understanding of the abuses inflicted on members by destructive cults.

The Power & Control Wheel is a particularly helpful tool in understanding the overall pattern of abusive and violent behaviors, which are used by an abuser to establish and maintain power and control over his/her victim. One of the most blatant or obvious ways is through physical or sexual violence. However, there are many other ways one can exert power (such as emotional, financial, verbal abuse). These are the tactics that can be harder to see can be used independently or in combination with the physical violence.

The power and control wheel diagram shown below is a condensed version of this widely respected model, excerpted from the Friends of Abused Families website and originally developed by the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project. Although the emphasis is towards identifying domestic abuse, there are many other variations of this wheels for other applications and it still holds a great deal of relevance for a general understanding of abusive relationships. For more information, see the full document mirrored in Exit Zone Dox collection of resources.

Power and Control Wheel

Once a former cult member can begin to see the correlations between the characteristics of abusive relationships in the above diagram, and the characteristics of a cult covered in a previous post, the unsavory realization of how abuse was subliminally inflicted on them by the Church of Scientology should be a bit easier to swallow.

Brace for impact

Once the prerequisite need for a basic understanding of abusive relationships and forms of abuse is surpassed, the next step on the road to cult recovery via educational means is to become knowledgeable on the subject of cultic mind control, coercive persuasion, brainwashing, thought reform...

Lions and tigers and bears OH MY!

Yeah we know - scary stuff to confront at the onset, but there is decades of research and scholarship on these subjects that have been proven to aid the healing process with minimal study. Hopefully, the following addition to the Exit Zone's Wog Word Glossary will help make the journey down this road of discovery an easy series of steps to a greater awareness of the coerced influences a destructive group exerts on its members.

Stay tuned for upcoming posts that will attempt to map out a guideline of recommended reading and additional resources for aiding folks on the self-education road to cult recovery.

"The truth will set you free. But first, it will piss you off."

- Gloria Steinem

For more definitions commonly used on this blog, check out the related Glossary label readily available on the sidebar. Also, see the Exit Zone Glossary Classifications post for further explanation on how these definitions are categorized.

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Cult Awareness: What Is A Destructive Group?

In Wendy Ford Wolfberg's 1993 classic handbook Recovery from Abusive Groups, a vast amount of ground is covered regarding how to recover from the damage done to a person involved in a destructive cult in a very straightforward yet eloquently buffered manner.

This book is a must-read for anyone recently out from under the omnipresent influences of the Church of Scientology, who is at the stage of coming to terms with the ruin brought about by pursuing their religious beliefs and the harm done to their psyche by coercive tactics. The author is a former cult member herself, and the material is presented in the form of a courseware style guide that maps out a path to fully healing oneself from the trauma of abuse. She does this by providing a set of constructive exercises combined with a recipe for recovery with three main ingredients: Time, Discipline, and Courage.

Mrs. Wolfberg's text is readily available online in a professional PDF format from the FREE ICSA Archives (via shared googledocs), and is partially featured on her website at Woflberg.net. You can also purchase a hard copy from ICSA (aka American Family Foundation) Bookstore, although that area of ICSA's snazzy new website appears to be somewhat under construction as of this post.

Under the Introduction section of Wendy's book, she features the following information to answer the important question: What is a Destructive Group?   This material was reprinted from a Cult Awareness Network (CAN) brochure that was widely distributed prior to Scientology's hostile take over of the organization that helped so many people escape and recover from destructive cults.

Marks of a Destructive Group

The marks of a destructive group are as follows:

1.  Mind Control (undue influence): manipulation by use of coercive persuasion or behavior modification techniques without informed consent.

2.  Charismatic Leadership: claiming divinity or special knowledge and demanding unquestioning obedience with power and privilege. Leadership may consist of one individual or a small core of leaders.

3.  Deception: recruiting and fundraising with hidden objectives and without full disclosure of the use of mind controlling techniques [group psychology]; use of "front groups."

4.  Exclusivity: secretiveness or vagueness by followers regarding activities and beliefs.

5.  Alienation: separation from family, friends, and society, a change in values and substitution of the cult as the new "family," evidence of subtle or abrupt personality changes.

6.  Exploitation: can be financial, physical, or psychological; pressure to give money, to spend a great deal on courses or give excessively to special projects and to engage in inappropriate sexual activities, even child abuse.

7.  Totalitarian Worldview (we/they syndrome): effecting dependence, promoting goals of the group over the individual and approving unethical behavior while claiming goodness.

Techniques of a Destructive Group

The techniques of a destructive group are as follows:

1.  Group Pressure and "Love-Bombing" discourages doubts and reinforces the need to belong through use of child-like games, singing, hugging, touching, or flattery.

2.  Isolation/Separation causes an inability or lack of desire to verify the reality of information provided by the group.

3.  Thought-Stopping Techniques introduce recruits to meditating, chanting, and repetitious activities which, when used excessively, induce a state of high suggestibility.

4.  Fear and Guilt induced by eliciting confessions to produce intimacy and to reveal fears an secrets, by creating emotional vulnerability through overt and, covert threats, and by alternating punishment and reward.

5.  Sleep Deprivation encouraged under the guise of spiritual exercises, necessary training, or urgent projects.

6.  Inadequate Nutrition sometimes disguised as a special diet to improve health or advance spirituality, or as rituals requiring fasting.

7.  Sensory Overload forces acceptance of complex new doctrines, goals, and definitions to replace old values by expecting recruit to assimilate masses of information quickly with little opportunity for critical examination.

Not all of these techniques need to be present simultaneously for a mind control environment to be operative.

Harmful Effects of a Destructive Group

The harmful effects of a destructive group may include:

1.  Loss of free will and control over one's life.

2.  Development of dependency and return to child-like behavior.

3.  Loss of spontaneity or sense of humor.

4.  Inability to form intimate friendships outside the cult or enjoy flexible relationships.

5.  Physical deterioration and abuse.

6.  Psychological deterioration (including hallucinations, anxiety, paranoia, disorientation, and dissociation).

7.  Involuntary, de facto servitude or exploitation.

Not all of these harmful effects will be experienced by everyone who has a destructive group experience.

For additional insights on Recovery from Abusive Groups by Wendy Ford Wolfberg, checkout the ICSA book review from Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 10, No. 2, 1993.

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Philip Zimbardo Explains the Lucifer Effect

Jeff Hawkins recently featured a fantastic pair of articles on the Leaving Scientology blog that are a must-read for anyone considering leaving the Church of Scientology, or attempting to recover from the duress inflicted on them during their involvement with this pervasive cult.

These enlightening essays explore one of several key concepts included in Dr. Philip Zimbardo's well-established theory based on extensive scholarly research regarding how good people are easily conditioned to do evil deeds. Zimbardo's studies contend that situational factors in certain institutional settings can become a diseased breeding ground for evil acts, and the ultimate cure for this type of evil is acts of heroism.

Bad Apples or Bad Barrels?

The Dirty Dozen

Dr.Z and Robin Williams, TED Conference (2008)

The underlying theory behind The Lucifer Effect book initially evolved from Zimbardo's infamous Stanford Prison Experiment that former cult members, from many different destructive groups, often find reassuring for proving that anybody can be rapidly indoctrinated into a dangerous cult mentality no matter how smart or naive they might be.

As always, Jeff's articles listed at the top of this post not only hit a nail on the head, they also raised a great deal of positive discussion on the systematic factors inherent in the Church of Scientology that makes it such destructive cult. Thus, we thought we would add the following video to help amplify that recently raised awareness of Zimbardo's seminal works on The Lucifer Effect for further reflection.

This clip is a quick but thorough introduction that Professor Zimbardo gave to a distinguished  TED|Talks audience in 2008 that applies The Lucifer Effect theory to the travesties that happened at the Abu Ghraib prison encapment in war-torn Iraq. The above photo with comedian Robin Williams was taken at the same TED event, with the appropriate credit (and thanks!) going out to http://www.LuciferEffect.org.

"The shift [needed] is towards a public health model that recognizes situational and systemic vectors of disease. Bullying is a disease. Predjudice is a disease. Violence is a disease."

- Phil Zimbardo [18:18]

As Dr. Zimbardo explains in the lecture above, the main principle of the Lucifer Effect theory is to explain how institutional situations can affect human behavior. He touches upon the bad apples concept that Jeff highlighted, as well as briefly defining the other key concepts developed during his decades of research.

Another concept from this theory that is also worthy of highlighting is mentioned in the run-up to Zimbardo's concluding remarks around the 20 minute mark in the above clip, where he briefly recaps his supporting points that certain situations can have the power to do three things:

• The very same situation that can inspire Hostile Imagination in those who become perpetrators of evil, can also inspire the
• Heroic Imagination in others of us, or
• Render most people passive and guilty of the evil of inaction.

These factors are extremely relevant for former cult members who beat themselves up over not doing anything to stop the abuses they witnessed. Admitting that abusive practices run rampant within the Scientology organization is the first big step of fighting off the cult's influence over one's mind. While recognizing that previous inaction towards stopping institutional abuses has been proven a common response in an abusive group environment, is a giant realization for recovering cult members to make towards seeing that they are not alone in their experiences.

Dr. Z's points regarding the normal situational responses to the influence of an abusive institution are also expanded upon further in the Resisting Influence guide that is featured on The Lucifer Effect website.

For a much more comprehensive lecture from Philip Zimbardo on the Lucifer Effect (where he has the time to thoroughly explore all of the aspects of his theory and hypothesis) along with other related interviews and discussions, check out the following playlist available on YouTube compliments of the PLMSTube channel.

Philip Zimbardo on the Lucifer Effect

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