Karen#1
Well-known member
TONY ORTEGA
Excerpt:
Bruce Hines has another great narrative for us about his time in the Sea Org, and this one is especially timely…
Lately, the ongoing saga of Scientology and the city of Clearwater in Florida has been in the news again. It is a fascinating story that has been going on for about 50 years.
As a member of Scientology’s Sea Organization, I was in that town for eight years, 1979 - 1987. I also went there for various reasons many times after that. As a result, I was witness to some of that history.
In my time there in the ‘80s, I was a Scientology auditor. Much to my shame, in that role I audited hundreds of people for many thousands of hours. These poor souls paid hundreds of dollars per hour for that experience. At a rough guess, the Flag Service Organization, in which I was posted, took in upwards of seven million dollars for my work there. Not that I saw any of that money.
Because Scientology wants to appear to be a religion, the term “pastoral counseling” was sometimes used to describe the practice of auditing. So, I was considered to be a pastor. I even got ordained.
For some months in 1981, as I recall, almost daily many people gathered across the street from the Fort Harrison Hotel to protest Scientology. Scientology had purchased the Fort Harrison a few years earlier, and it was their main building in Clearwater.
When I first arrived in Clearwater there was even still a barber shop, the proprietor of which was not a Scientologist, still operating near the southern end of the hotel facing Fort Harrison Avenue.
READ MORE
tonyortega.substack.com
Excerpt:
 |
Lately, the ongoing saga of Scientology and the city of Clearwater in Florida has been in the news again. It is a fascinating story that has been going on for about 50 years.
As a member of Scientology’s Sea Organization, I was in that town for eight years, 1979 - 1987. I also went there for various reasons many times after that. As a result, I was witness to some of that history.
In my time there in the ‘80s, I was a Scientology auditor. Much to my shame, in that role I audited hundreds of people for many thousands of hours. These poor souls paid hundreds of dollars per hour for that experience. At a rough guess, the Flag Service Organization, in which I was posted, took in upwards of seven million dollars for my work there. Not that I saw any of that money.
Because Scientology wants to appear to be a religion, the term “pastoral counseling” was sometimes used to describe the practice of auditing. So, I was considered to be a pastor. I even got ordained.
For some months in 1981, as I recall, almost daily many people gathered across the street from the Fort Harrison Hotel to protest Scientology. Scientology had purchased the Fort Harrison a few years earlier, and it was their main building in Clearwater.
When I first arrived in Clearwater there was even still a barber shop, the proprietor of which was not a Scientologist, still operating near the southern end of the hotel facing Fort Harrison Avenue.
READ MORE
The fight for Clearwater has a long history — and so do Scientology's ploys
Bruce Hines has another great narrative for us about his time in the Sea Org, and this one is especially timely…
tonyortega.substack.com
