Endings

The recent announcement from “Emma” of Ex-Scientology Message Board that, after October, she is no longer going to run the message board, has gotten me thinking about those on the front lines.

First, I think this is a very good thing for Emma to do.  God! What an incredible job she has done over the years maintaining some control over that herd of cats while under continuous attack from the Church of Scientology.  In 2010, when the church uncovered her real name, the attacks got considerably worse with bogus legal actions.  Then, as if that wasn’t hard enough, recently, her mother passed away.

Emma’s message board has helped thousands, probably tens of thousands, of people recover from Scientology’s thought control and abuse.  Her board has been read by millions.  She is awesome.  And, while she will be greatly missed,  there comes a time when a fighter should retire — undefeated and victorious, for sure — but enough is enough.

At its core, the Church of Scientology is evil, degraded, abusive and destructive.  Those who help people escape from, and recover from, Scientology’s abuses and thought control methods and who work to expose the crimes and abuse, are directly connected to this evil.  How much can a person take of such evil?  How much should a person put up with before they back off and someone else takes their place?

It is amazing to me that one single person can do so much against everything the insane, wealthy Church of Scientology can throw at them.  Emma is not the only such person, and they all deserve our gratitude, our thanks and our admiration.  The ability of these single individuals to defeat the Church of Scientology shows how decency, goodness and truth can defeat evil.

And don’t doubt we all have defeated the Church of Scientology — especially folks like Emma who have borne the brunt of Scientology’s attacks.

Today, Scientology’s secrets are all well-known.  Today, Hubbard is known in the real world for exactly what he was.  Today, Scientology has very few adherents and virtually no new recruits.  Today, every Scientology “church” is empty and struggling — or closed.

Yes, Scientology’s few remaining, hard-core believers are still fighting, lying, abusing and attacking but their teeth have been pulled.  For the most part, police and the courts recognize their lies and quickly shut down their bogus, desperate attacks.

New allies are showing up to see that Scientology’s lies, abuse, crimes and fraud are exposed and the guilty are brought to justice.  The opposition to the Church of Scientology actually grows daily.

So, some of the fighters are taking a well-earned break.  Some of the blogs and message boards are quieter now, like this one, or even dormant, like Leaving Scientology.  These fighters have earned a respite from the front lines.  Don’t worry, there are lots and lots of fighters on the job, and more to come.

Those fighters who are withdrawing from the front lines do so as victors and those who take over the fight are grateful and thankful.
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Scientology in the Real World

Recently, I’ve just been watching.  Scientology watching has become one of my entertainments.  There’s David Miscavige and the Church of Scientology, there’s all the secrets, lies, crimes, abuses and fraud getting almost daily exposure and then there is the “Independent Scientology movement”.

I find the Independent Scientologists to be the most fascinating.  Here we have a perfect test of Scientology’s workability unfolding right before our eyes.  How can Scientology exist outside of the tightly controlled environment of the cult?

Enough time has passed for us to be able to see what Scientology is going to be like in a free and open environment.

Inside the Church of Scientology, the environment is very, very tightly controlled — exactly as L. Ron Hubbard designed it to be.  Anything negative about Hubbard or Scientology is condemned as “entheta” and is off limits.   As a “good Scientologist”, one cannot and will not talk to people who speak entheta.  One cannot read entheta articles or listen to any entheta.  That is thought control and is one of the cult’s mechanisms for keeping the True Believers from straying from the approved path.

But now we have the Independent Scientology movement.  They have much, much less control.  If you talk to the “wrong people” according to one Scientology practitioner — who then refuses to audit you (because you are a “bad person”) — why you can just go elsewhere.

The leaders of the Independent movement do not have enough control to stop a Scientologist from talking to anyone or reading anything.

And now we can see what happens to Scientology when the cultic thought control has been removed and when the standard threats have no weight.  Can Scientology survive in a free environment?

Well, what is happening?

If you’ve perused the various Independent Scientology blogs, you will see Scientologists desperately attempting to enforce the old thought control.  Any disagreement or entheta posted on one of their blogs gets shouted down or simply blocked.  Many posts and comments on ESMB and Censored by Marty attest to the censoring that goes on at that blog.

The people running the blogs try to keep the movement clean of such entheta but, as I said earlier, they simply don’t have the power to enforce it.

Scientologists outside of the church can read and can talk without fear of any meaningful punishment.  Any normal person will absolutely hate and rebel against the kind of totalitarian thought-control as practiced by Scientology.  You can’t stop people from wanting to know more, to know the truth.  And so people will look.

The more the leading voices of the Independent Scientology movement try to suppress other voices and dissenting opinions, the more people will resist.  And rebel.  And look.

That is happening more and more.

What has happened as a result of all this?  How is the Independent Scientology movement doing without the ability to control believer’s thoughts, communication and actions?

As near as I can tell, back in very early 2010, Marty Rathbun and Steve Hall had this “bright idea”.  They called it the “Indie 500“.  The idea was to get 500 Independent Scientologists to “come out” and declare their independence from the Church of Scientology.  The website’s definition of exactly who was an “Independent Scientologist” was extremely broad: “Anyone who uses any part of Scientology Tech, even if other parts are not true for you.”

Now, over two years later, the list stands at a little over 300.  It is obvious to me that someone created the original few hundred entries without getting approval from the people they were listing: In reading through the list, I see a number who do not now consider themselves “Scientologists” in any way.  In addition, I know of more who’s names appeared on the list and asked them to be removed.

After two years, even with those false entries, the Independent Scientology movement can’t find 500 people who use “any part of Scientology Tech” who want to be associated with the movement.  Why?  Certainly many, many more than 500 people have left the Church of Scientology.

The reason that Scientology outside of the totalitarian control of the Church of Scientology cannot and will never thrive is because Scientology cannot coexist with open communication.  Scientology cannot coexist with full access to all the information.  Scientology cannot exist without its cultic thought-control.

My only question is: Can any part of Scientology exist in an open and free environment?  I certainly don’t know, only time will tell.

What do you think?  If you are out of the church, what is your experience with the Independent Movement?
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Laughing at Scientology

We really have entered into a new stage in the fight against the Church of Scientology’s crimes, abuse and fraud.

For the most part, previous exposure of the church’s evil has been brought about by outsiders — ex-Scientologists, reporters, critics and various victims.  Marty and the Independents have been exposing carefully selected abuses (making sure that nothing is exposed that might reflect badly on L. Ron Hubbard himself) but they are, by their own statements, outsiders to the church.

With Debbie Cook’s email and subsequent reactions, we have exposure of abuses coming from inside the church.  The battle is now also between the Church of Scientology leadership and people who still consider themselves members of the church.

In addition, there are, today, a number of other very serious actions going on.  There are serious books about Scientology, serious newspaper, TV and magazine exposés about Scientology and other serious court cases involving the church.

All this is good and necessary to the exposure of the Church of Scientology’s crimes and eventual bringing to justice of David Miscavige and other Scientology criminals.  Pop the popcorn and pull up a chair, this show is getting very interesting.

But I don’t think we should take any particular event too seriously.  No one court case is that important.  Inevitably, the church will still win some while it loses others.  It will be the mass of exposure and court losses for the church that count.  Bit by bit the crimes and abuses are being exposed and documented.  Things proven in court cannot be “unproven”.

However, speaking of all this serious business reminds me: Let us not forget what was key in helping destroy the myth of the “great and powerful” Church of Scientology — laughter!

It was, more than anything else, Anonymous and their monthly protest-parties that destroyed the Church of Scientology’s mythical shield that protected them for so long.  It was Anonymous that showed us that the church had no answer to laughter, happiness and fun.

Certainly, the seriousness is important in the court and in well-researched book, newspaper or TV exposés — but if we become too serious, we will have abandoned our best weapon against the Church of Scientology and David Miscavige.

Happily, the irrepressible Tony Ortega at the Village Voice and a few others continue the tradition of laughing at Miscavige, Hubbard and the Church of Scientology.  And, yes, some Anonymous are still protesting.  With all this seriousness going on, we shouldn’t forget to also keep laughing — it’s good for the soul and bad for the church.
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Scientology’s Peril Sensitive Sunglasses

He… put on the sunglasses, annoyed to discover that the metal object had scratched one of the lenses. Nevertheless, he felt much more comfortable with them on. They were a double pair of Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses, which had been specially designed to help people develop a relaxed attitude toward danger. At the first hint of trouble they turn totally black and thus prevent you from seeing anything that might alarm you.

From The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. 

I must admit that I am a fan of Douglas Adams.  I find his very quirky British humor refreshing and delightful.  The above is a sample of his type of humor: Sunglasses that “help” you when danger looms by becoming completely opaque.

Ridiculous! Absurd! Hilarious!

Such an object makes no sense and would never exist.

Unless you are a Scientologist.

Danger is certainly looming for all Scientologists.  Every year, every month, heck, every day it seems like, there is more bad news for the Church of Scientology.  Secret documents are leaked; crimes are exposed in detail with lots of confirmation; lies are debunked; abuses documented.  It just doesn’t stop.

It used to be somewhat obscure websites only visited by the few.  Today it is major media — newspapers, magazines, television, radio and books by major publishers.  Scientologists are leaving the church and telling their stories.

It just doesn’t stop.  Danger looms from every side.

And this is where Scientology’s Peril Sensitive Sunglasses kick in.  You can’t see them but every Scientologist has a trusty pair firmly clamped on their faces.  These sunglasses have been installed over many months and years of Scientology indoctrination.

When danger looms and Scientology is in peril, Scientologists’ minds go opaque.  They cannot and do not read.  They cannot and do not look.  They cannot and do not think.

Then they are safe.  Totally safe.  They look, childlike, at David Miscavige, who tells them “Everything is OK!  Scientology is expanding!  Scientology is winning!”

And the Scientologists, with their Scientology Peril Sensitive Sunglasses, set to totally black, can relax.

All is OK.
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Happy New Year 2012

It has been a considerable time since I posted any significant article.  It isn’t that nothing was going on, obviously, but it was, instead, a combination of too much going on for me personally (good things) and things going incredibly well in exposing the crimes, lies, abuse and fraud of the Church of Scientology.

All I could say was “Well done!”

But, here it is, a new year and I had in mind doing a pretty ordinary look back and then make predictions.  It’s fun to do.

But there is a new and significant event that just happened which changed my plans for what would probably have been a predictable and boring article.

I am, of course, referring to the Debbie Cook email.

This is significant.  While it is true that Scientologists “in good standing” have been talking with each other about some of the problems and it is true that prominent Scientologists have spoken out after leaving the church, there has never been a prominent Scientologist speaking out while still, technically, “in good standing”.

This email went to a lot of well connected Scientologists who have no reason to doubt that Debbie Cook is still in good standing.

Let’s take a look at what Debbie says.  She is not attacking Scientology or Hubbard in any way.  She uses the line “The truth is that as a Scientologist you are more able, more perceptive and have a higher integrity” to appeal to the Scientology ego.  While she names David Miscavige, she doesn’t personally attack him (i.e. call him “suppressive”).  She quotes Hubbard appropriately to make her points.  While lengthy, her email does not get bogged down in too much detail as so many other “doubt formulas” have.  She has done a good job talking to Scientologists in their terms.

I believe this will be effective.  I’m guessing that speaking freely about everything Debbie has brought up will become common within Scientology.  That is all to the good.

I read a concerned comment by someone to the effect that we don’t want Scientologists to rebel and reform Scientology as Debbie urges.  We want, the commenter insists, the church to continue to abuse and defraud Scientologists in order to speed up its collapse.

I’d say that this email will greatly speed up the church’s collapse.  First, Debbie urges all Scientologists to stop sending any money to the church except for donations for services — which monies remain (mostly) local.  This cuts off Miscavige’s lucrative income from all his bogus fundraising tricks.

But wait!  By pointing out all the “out-tech” now being enforced by the church, she is discouraging Scientologists from actually taking services.

And, finally, by detailing the total destruction of the upper management of the church, Debbie is making it perfectly “legal” to ignore the dictates coming from “management”.

UPDATE: I see some speculation as to why Debbie emphasized that she hasn’t spoken to the media and then says “Please keep this email among us, the Scientologists. The media have no place in this” when she must know it would be quickly spread everywhere.

I assume this has to do with her gag agreement with the Church of Scientology when she left the Sea Org.  She is, undoubtedly, forbidden from talking to the media.  By saying what she says, she is abiding by the agreement.  If others ignore her request and spread it about, it’s not her fault.

If this doesn’t cause a majority of the remaining churchies to disassociate from the Church of Scientology, I’ll be very surprised.

They may remain True Believers, and they may then be captured by the Independent Movement, but that group is not organized and is not effective.

And remember this:  True Believers must use Scientology and only Scientology for all their endeavors.  They must use the Admin and Ethics “tech”.  The built-in flaws in all of that ensure that any future Scientology organization will not succeed.

This certainly is a good way to start a New Year.
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Ask a Question

I find it inconvenient when the questions go past 200 and I have to click to go to the next page to see the most recent questions and answers.  I’m sure you do too.  So, I’m starting yet another Ask a Question thread.

There are some really great questions and discussions in Ask a Question 1, 2, 3 and the just-retired one, 4.  I always enjoy going back and reading them.

You want to know something about Scientology or the Church of Scientology, ask here!  You have a suggestion?  Put it here.  You want to start an argument or discussion?  Here is the place.  All non-troll, non-spam comments, suggestions, arguments, corrections are greatly appreciated.

Scientologist’s contributions are still welcome.  Trust me, I don’t bite.

As always, I love to hear from you.
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Scientology and the Amazing Psychiatric Conspiracy

My attention was drawn to Scientology’s Amazing Psychiatric Conspiracy recently.   As a Scientologist, I had just accepted it.  As an ex-Scientologist, I had simply rejected it — but I really hadn’t thought about it.

Scientologists have been indoctrinated into a complete, fanatic hatred of all psychiatrists.  They have concocted a whole raft of “reasons why” they hate psychiatrists but those reasons don’t really explain Scientologists’ extreme, compulsive and absolute hatred.

They originally pointed to a number of reported abuses by psychiatrists and even created “Psych Busters” who would go out and dig up proof and have such psychiatrists put in prison.  I’ve noticed that they’ve quit that and it appears that, ironically, they quit it because they were cleaning up the profession and giving psychiatry a good name.

Then CCHR started rewriting history so that psychiatry was behind every evil that has ever existed on Earth.  Psychiatrists, in some mysterious way, have been behind every war, every mass murderer and every other horrible event.  Evidence was lacking — you had to just believe.

That hasn’t been persuasive except for the gullible who don’t check facts.

The latest “reason” is that psychiatrists are “over-prescribing dangerous drugs for children!”

That’s actually a good reason to hate those who over-prescribe dangerous drugs, but doesn’t hold up as a reason for extreme hatred of all psychiatrists.  After all, some medical doctors are just as guilty, the psychiatric profession itself has condemned the practice and many doctors in both professions are not guilty of that at all.

And yet, Scientologists condemn ALL psychiatrists, the guilty and the innocent, and demand that the practice of psychiatry be banned.

I’ve asked Scientologists, “Given that some Scientologists are guilty of crimes and abuses, should we condemn ALL Scientologists and demand the practice of Scientology be banned?”  But they don’t get the point.

Why don’t they get the point?  Why are they unable to think logically and rationally on this subject?

Well, as you undoubtedly know, Scientologists believe that psychiatrists are the leaders of the Great Evil Galactic Conspiracy against L. Ron Hubbard and the Loyal Officers.

We all know that and we laugh and laugh.  But think about what that actually means for Scientologists.  For such a conspiracy to be true, for all psychiatrists to be part of such a conspiracy, the following must be true:

• All psychiatrists are in on this Great Evil Galactic Conspiracy.  Every single one.  That’s what Hubbard said and that’s what Scientologists are required to believe.  There are no good psychiatrists.
• This means that all psychiatrists can remember their “past lives” when they were battling the Forces of Good all over the galaxy for quadrillions of years.  You can’t remember your past life.  Scientologists may pretend but they can’t remember their past lives either.  But all psychiatrists must be able to so they know they must grow up and become psychiatrists, right?
• In addition, obviously, no “normal” person can be allowed to become a psychiatrist.  Apparently there is a review board in every psychiatric school that checks every applicant to ensure they are a card-carrying member of the Great Evil Galactic Conspiracy.  Anyone who isn’t a member is rejected and cannot become a psychiatrist.
• And finally, psychiatrists, apparently, have extremely advanced communication technology so they can discuss their Evil Plans without ever being detected.  Otherwise they would be some evidence somewhere.

Scientologists seem to believe that we already have Evil Alien Beings living among us today.  They have phenomenal memory and technology.  And only Scientologists stand between all these Evil Alien Beings and their conquest of Earth.

This is what Scientologists have to believe or their Evil Galactic Conspiracy led by psychiatrists doesn’t stand up to the briefest of thought.

It’s another fine example of Scientology Logic™ in action.
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"Inside Scientology" by Janet Reitman

I do apologize for coming late to this.  I wanted to read this book when it first came out but I was in the middle of a couple of very large projects.  Now that they are successfully completed, I’ve finally had time to read this wonderful book.

If anyone has not yet read this book and, if they have any interest at all in Scientology and the Church of Scientology, I highly recommend it.

In her Introduction, Ms. Reitman says:

It has been my goal to write the first objective modern history of the Church of Scientology.

To say that Ms. Reitman succeeded would be an understatement.  I, personally, could not have done that — as an ex-Scientologist, I am definitely not objective about Scientology.   Most people who have been touched in any way by Scientology cannot be objective about it.  Scientology is a completely black and white belief system — there is no grey.  You are either completely pro-Scientology or you are an Enemy.  Those who become opposed to the Church of Scientology often, in reaction to Scientology’s absolutism, take an opposite, and just as absolute, negative position.  It’s hard not to.

Yet, without a doubt, Ms. Reitman has produced an objective book.  Since I know she too was attacked by the Church of Scientology for her earlier piece in The Rolling Stone, my admiration for her journalistic integrity is boundless.

But don’t let the term “objective” mislead you.  This is not a dry dissertation, it is not boring and it doesn’t indulge in that false “journalistically neutral” rhetoric.  You will get the facts surrounding the real events — untouched by the Church of Scientology’s spin, cover-up and lies.

Scientology is, ultimately, about people and Ms. Reitman brings the story of Scientology alive by bringing alive the people who have been involved in Scientology — from L. Ron Hubbard, struggling to find his path to fame, to those who have struggled in and out of the church, to the latest wide-eyed, ever-hopeful new Scientologist.  This is a book about how people were changed by Scientology — and how Scientology has been changed by people.

I found it a bit disturbing to read this long history of Scientology from L. Ron Hubbard’s troubled life, through the heady early days of hope and excitement and finally to the logical conclusion of Hubbard’s paranoia and greed.  It was disturbing because it was true.  It stirred up memories of my own hopes — and my own disappointments.

In case you might want to question how very thoroughly and diligently Ms. Reitman has researched and fact-checked the stories in this book, her extensive Notes section detailing the exact sources for each chapter is beyond impressive.  This section alone makes the Church of Scientology’s cries of “sloppy journalism” completely laughable.

All-in-all, this book was a great read, enlightening, fascinating, informative and with the ring of truth in every page.  This book is now at the top of my list for anyone interested in Scientology and I would highly recommend this book for anyone currently in or recently out of Scientology.
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Scientology "Betrayal"

I was having a conversation with a Scientology troll the other day.  Well, I was trying to have a conversation, but the troll wasn’t able to handle that and ended up just ranting insane gibberish.

However, something the troll said struck me.  This Scientologist was insisting that the ex-Scientologist whistle-blowers had “betrayed Scientology”.  And, because of this “betrayal” the Church of Scientology was “justified” in its very vicious, unethical and illegal attacks against them.

“Betrayed?” Really? That’s pretty harsh.  What, exactly, did the whistle-blowers actually do?

They told the truth.

The fact that stories of abuse and lies are totally true was confirmed by the Church of Scientology itself in the Headley trials.  The significance of the trials was summarized quite nicely in the article on Examiner.com: Scientology wins legal victory, loses public image war.

So, in spite of the fact that the whistle-blowers told the truth, they had, according to the Church of Scientology, betrayed the church!

This sounded familiar.  Where had I heard something like that before?

A little research and I found this:

The Blue Code of Silence (also known as the “Blue Shield“) is an unwritten rule among police officers in the United States not to report on another colleague’s errors, misconducts or crimes.  If questioned about an incident of misconduct involving another officer (e.g. during the course of an official inquiry), while following the Blue Code of Silence, the officer being questioned would claim ignorance of another officer’s wrongdoing. [Wikipedia]

That’s close, but not exactly it.

Then I found an even closer match:

Omertà is the mafia code of silence and secrecy that forbids mafiosi from betraying their comrades to the authorities. The penalty for transgression is death, and relatives of the turncoat may also be murdered.  For instance, a mafioso will not call the police when he is a victim of a crime. He is expected to take care of the problem himself. [Wikipedia]

There it is!  That’s what the Scientology troll was talking about.  That is Scientology’s definition of “betrayal”.

Compare the above definition of omertà with the following excepts from Introduction to Scientology Ethics under the “High Crimes” section.  (“High Crimes” are the very, very worst crimes in Scientology):

It is a high crime if a Scientologist does:

• “Public disavowal of Scientology”
• “Public statements against Scientology or Scientologists”
• “Testifying hostilely before state or public inquiries into Scientology”
• “Bringing civil suit against any Scientology organization or Scientologist”
• “Writing anti-Scientology letters to the press or giving anti-Scientology or anti-Scientologist data to the press.”
• “Delivering up the person of a Scientologist … to the demands of civil or criminal law.”

Note that absolutely none of these “High Crimes” say anything about whether the accusations against Scientology or a Scientologist are true or not.  Scientologists may not report any crimes by other Scientologists to the police.

Scientologists are required to handle it all internally, within the church.

“But,” you are asking, “what if the church doesn’t handle it?  What if it is the leaders of the Church of Scientology who are committing the crimes and abuse?  What if the Church of Scientology blames you for being a ‘victim’ and punishes you and lets the perpetrator go unpunished?”

Makes no difference.  Scientologists may not report any crimes by other Scientologists to the police.

Take a look at these ex-Scientologists committing “High Crimes” by reporting Jan Eastgate (Senior Scientologist and President of CCHR) for covering up child abuse.  Yes, according to the Church of Scientology, Jan Eastgate is a “good Scientologist” and those who reported her crimes have “betrayed Scientology”.

Does this sound like omertà?  Does this sound like a criminal organization “protecting its own”?

Time and time again, the Church of Scientology protects the criminals within its organization and attacks the whistle-blowers.

No matter how evil and corrupt a Scientologist is, you may not report him or her to the police.  Ever.  You may not sue them.  You may not speak of their crimes to the press.  You must remain silent or you will “betray” the Church of Scientology and they will viciously attack you and they will try to destroy you.  Just like the Mafia.

This is Scientology.  This is exactly how L. Ron Hubbard designed it.  This is exactly how David Miscavige runs it.  This is “Standard Scientology”, straight out of Introduction to Scientology Ethics.
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Who Will Lead the "Independents"?

Grown men do not need leaders.

                                                        Edward Abbey

Anyone who has read much in this blog will already know that I’m no longer a True Believer of Scientology.  If they have been paying attention, they would also realize that I am not, in actual fact, anti-Scientology (specifically, the belief system) either.

I think that some of Scientology can provide benefit to some people.  If a person wants to practice Scientology (and if they can avoid the abuses and fraud that Scientology seems to engender), then they should be allowed to do so.

Also, readers of this blog will know that I consider the Church of Scientology, and its leaders, to be criminal and fraudulent.

But now we have the self-named “Independents” who appear to want to reconstitute the Church of Scientology in a “reformed” version.  They want an organization.  They want a leader.

OK, so looking at this from the viewpoint of a Scientologist, how could one go about picking a good leader for Scientology?

Scientologists have a limited but lousy record in their choice of leaders — specifically David Miscavige.  So far, they’ve “chosen” their leader by accepting whoever declared themselves leader.  To put it bluntly: They have been sheep.

If we pretend they have a choice and they have the will and power to choose their own leader, what qualifications should they look for in their new leader?

Let’s try to be serious here and list what a sane group of Scientologists would see as important qualifications for their leader, shall we?  If I were a True Believer and if I were selecting a leader, I would want:

1. Someone who was personally trained by L. Ron Hubbard or, if no one was available, then someone who was directly trained by such a person.
2. Someone who has successfully completed all training and processing with excellent results and who has not been indoctrinated in any of Miscavige’s “altered tech”.
3. Someone who has successfully run a mission, an org and a Scientology “Continent” (group of churches/missions in one geographic area).
4. Someone who has a track record of successfully running a business in the real world.
5. Someone who has always fought David Miscavige and upheld “Standard Scientology” against Miscavige’s rewrites, edits and corruption.
6. Someone who has never allowed or participated in any of the Church of Scientology’s crimes, abuses or corruption.

Even with these qualifications, I see Scientology as doomed unless their new leader also is:

7. Someone who explicitly repudiates and rejects any and all Scientology policy that promotes the Scientology abuses, crimes, lies and fraud — including disconnection, “Enemy” lists, “fair game” and all such anti-social policies.
8. Someone who acknowledges the crimes, abuses, lies and fraud committed previously by Scientology — even those ordered or condoned by L. Ron Hubbard himself.

Not surprisingly, there do not appear to be any aspirants to leadership in the “Independents” movement who meet the criteria 1-6 and certainly none who meet the last two points.

Of course, these would be my criteria if I were a Scientologist and, before the “Independents” get their knickers in a twist, I would never tell them what to do.  Besides, there is no indication that any of these are actually desirable to the “Independents”.

No, this is just an exercise in logical thinking.  I actually expect the “Independents” to use their previous method of choosing their leader: Don’t look at a person’s track record, don’t look at what they’ve actually done, just accept whoever wants it the most and who says the correct-sounding things.  After all, that worked so well in the past.
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