From: Joe's Garage <swatron@xenu.net>
Date: Mon, 8 May 2000 18:39:09 -0400

Outsiders are told that "Scientology" means the "study of knowledge," but once a person sets foot into Scientology's controlled spaces, that turns into the "study of truth." The theories of Dianetics are taught as though they were not only true, but indisputable laws of nature. The well-intentioned recruit walks into the Scientology spaces fully believing that he is going to get rid of something called the "reactive mind," a source of aberration.

The cold hard fact of the situation, however, is that Scientology will end up creating a reactive mind for each Scientologist. A person leaving Scientology will have abnormal fears about going to doctors or taking medication, and going to school. He or she will irrationally distrust the environment. In effect, people leave Scientology in a condition less capable of taking care of themselves than they did going in.

(An approximation of people who stay in cults was once given approximately as follows: 10 percent complete their first course. Of those who stay, 50 percent leave within the first 6 months. 90 percent of those remaining leave the cult within the first 2 years. This approximation was given by a cult apologist in the course of trying to prove that there was no such thing as brainwashing. The idea was that since only a tiny percentage are actually brainwashed, that can be chalked up to something else entirely.)

Joe Cisar http://cisar.org
Both fictional and real-life material written by the above author
have been banned by Scientology. He supports accurate reporting
on the practices of Scientology in the USA and around the world.