Karen#1
Well-known member
TONY ORTEGA
Excerpt:
[Jason Dohring and wife Lauren, on the left]
One of our favorite descriptions of Scientology, from a top former member who had spent decades in it, was “disappointed hippies who explored the occult.”
Talk to former adherents who remember Scientology’s heyday in the 70s and 80s, and they will tell you that all of the usual controversies were there — the fundamentalism, the control, the pressure to cut off the outside world — but part of the draw was the social atmosphere, the crowded missions, the sense of joining a thriving, upbeat group.
Sure, those disappointed hippies were dedicating their lives to the idea that a 1930s pulp fiction hack had somehow discovered the real nature of the universe, and that he was fighting SMERSH with a highly sophisticated intelligence operation that rivaled the spying capabilities of some small foreign countries. That all may have been true, but the Scientologists of the bicentennial era were having fun, making friends, and chasing godhood without drugs.
Decades later, there’s no question that Scientology today is struggling. Endless bad press, Internet exposes, and competition from other conspiracy-soaked and occult-tinged interests have made it difficult for Scientology to bring in new, young members.
But they do try. And, we’ll give them credit for attempting to bring back some of that old-time social spirit. We received a copy of this report from a group in Clearwater, relating the fun barbecue they held to watch the World Cup final…
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tonyortega.substack.com
Excerpt:
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[/td]One of our favorite descriptions of Scientology, from a top former member who had spent decades in it, was “disappointed hippies who explored the occult.”
Talk to former adherents who remember Scientology’s heyday in the 70s and 80s, and they will tell you that all of the usual controversies were there — the fundamentalism, the control, the pressure to cut off the outside world — but part of the draw was the social atmosphere, the crowded missions, the sense of joining a thriving, upbeat group.
Sure, those disappointed hippies were dedicating their lives to the idea that a 1930s pulp fiction hack had somehow discovered the real nature of the universe, and that he was fighting SMERSH with a highly sophisticated intelligence operation that rivaled the spying capabilities of some small foreign countries. That all may have been true, but the Scientologists of the bicentennial era were having fun, making friends, and chasing godhood without drugs.
Decades later, there’s no question that Scientology today is struggling. Endless bad press, Internet exposes, and competition from other conspiracy-soaked and occult-tinged interests have made it difficult for Scientology to bring in new, young members.
But they do try. And, we’ll give them credit for attempting to bring back some of that old-time social spirit. We received a copy of this report from a group in Clearwater, relating the fun barbecue they held to watch the World Cup final…
READ MORE
Scientology: Hanging with celebs, exploring the occult, sharing mangoes
One of our favorite descriptions of Scientology, from a top former member who had spent decades in it, was “disappointed hippies who explored the occult.”
tonyortega.substack.com