This week, it’s answers about generational trauma in cults, Christian Science vs Scientology, “do it yourself” Objectives and a lot more. Enjoy!
(1) Multiple ex-Sea Org members have said they got a lot of sleep, ate good food and watched a great deal of television once they escaped. There is literature on sleep deprivation and dietary restrictions in cults so we know it’s a good thing when people can get adequate food and rest after escaping, but I was wondering if there has been clinical work on using television when exiting a cult. On an intuitive level the use of television as a therapeutic tool makes perfect sense, and seems far more effective than the intervention tactics from the Seventies. I’m simply curious what cultic studies experts have to say about TV.
(2) What about generational trauma when it comes to cult experience? Is that a thing? It is a serious issue in the aftermath of domestic violence.
(3) I did some Objectives after watching your podcast on them by using my phone. Shortly after, I went on a cleaning and ordering frenzy of maximum proficiency and thoroughness with a sudden surge of energy, so I would say I found some benefit in doing Objectives. I got my place really made sparkling and did a lot of things I was putting off. However, I found this to wane after I was done. I cannot help but think this is a bit like a form of self hypnosis wearing off, brought about by the repetitive nature of the processes. Would you think that the problem is that it wears off and one needs more of it, so one could then become an auditing junkie? And even if it does, could it not be argued that a person gained regardless?
(4) I’ve been interested in religions for a long time, and I’ve always been struck by the large number of similarities between Scientology and the culty group Christian Science. In broad strokes, both believe that the world is actually spiritual and that matter is an illusion made up by the human mind. They have practitioners that counsel sick people, with the goal being for the patient to realize that the illness is all in the mind and essentially psychosomatic. Since Christian Science was a fad religion decades before Scientology, is there any evidence Hubbard was influenced (*cough* stole *cough*) from this group?
(5) I recently heard Jeffrey Augustine on another channel talking about the “Over the Rainbow” documentary (which he didn’t like). The conversation turned toward EST and Landmark and he mentioned that LRH concocted the “EST Repair Rundown”. I get that this is about making sure. CoS people are purged from Werner Erhard but what do you know about this rundown, and are there other rundowns to purge people from different beliefs other than Scientology?
(6) Where is Pat Broeker? I’ve heard much talk of almost all the ‘old crowd’, what happened to them, where they went after they left or were ousted. We’ve heard about the rather sad last months of Annie, and of course in 2012 we heard about the private investigators who Miscavige had spend 25 years surveilling Pat, but aside from the information from the PIs there seems to have been almost nothing about him for 30 years which seems quite remarkable given the key part he played.I’m genuinely fascinated what this man has been doing for the last 30 years, how he feels, what he thinks, whether he still believes in Hubbard, the tech, and yet it seems like (perhaps because there’s so little information available) no one else is. The PIs said that he’d met with RVY in the late 90s but I wonder if he’s met with anyone else since he left, be it people like Jesse Prince or Sarge Pfauth, those who worked with and for Hubbard, or even the more recent leavers like Marty and Mike. He’d be a fascinating interview. What are your thoughts?
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