This thread went totally off the rails. I meant it to be about the brainwashing mechanisms of the cult not the policy or operations of the church.
While I used to be in the sea org and I am very familiar with the inner workings of the church, I am not interested in discussing those.
LRH was a brilliant man in the way Hitler was a brilliant man. He knew how to use words, peer pressure, fear of loss and cognitive dissonance to motivate people.
Here's a some info, in case you encounter any Scientologists insisting that Scientology is anti-Brainwashing, etc.:
Oddly enough, over the years, Scientology's (PR) responses to the accusation that Scientology is brainwashing have had some moderate successes.
One approach has been to select one piece of Scientology, or one piece of its "tech," and demonstrate that that piece (presented as being representative of the whole) is not brainwashing. Any number of benign common-sense ideas or actions, adopted by Scientology, can be presented as Scientology, thus "disproving" the accusation that Scientology is [fill in any negative accusation to be "disproved"].
Another approach is to make the subject of brainwashing about the
word "brainwashing," and enter into a seemingly unresolvable debate about the meaning of the word. Since there are multiple definitions for the word "brainwashing" (as there are with the word "hypnosis"), an examination of the
actions involved in what might be classified as brainwashing is avoided.
Origin of the word, "brainwashing":
http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/brainwashing/origin-and-use-of-the-term.html
One way to side step the Scientological ploy of having a tiny piece of Scientology, or its "tech," presented as reflective of the totality of the subject or its "tech," or the ploy of making an attempted examination of the action of brainwashing, not about actions, but about the word "brainwashing," is to go directly to a 64 page booklet that Hubbard himself called the 'Brainwashing Manual'. This manual was secretly authored by Hubbard in 1955, and used as a black propaganda vehicle to depict psychiatrists, Scientology dissidents, and critics, as Communist or Communist sympathizers.
Years later, when closely examined, it turned out to be one of Scientology's most revealing documents.
Only a tiny fraction of the text mentions (in no detail, but with great bombast) "PDH," and also shock treatment and lobotomy. And, typically, if a Scientologist has any response at all, it will be that the 'Brainwashing Manual' is about "PDH," etc., at which point it becomes necessary to remind the Scientologist that less than a page or two is concerned with such matters, leaving the bulk of the manual describing other things - Other things that, if one can keep the Scientologist from placing his fingers in his ears and shouting, "nanananana!" or simply running away, can be - point by point - shown to be part of the subject and practice of Scientology, with the seemingly benign parts of Scientology functioning as both a deceptive lead-in, and as a reassuring medium though which that "brainwashing" can occur.
"
Use enemy tactics"
Hubbard sometimes told Scientologists what he was going to do to them, and in some instances what he was doing to them at that very moment, but disguised it as something that someone else (usually the bad guys) might do. This is close to the ultimate in "nothing-up-my-sleeve-ism" and the ultimate recreational cruelty for a sadistic practical joker: Explain the joke first, then watch as the person - who has complete confidence that the teller (Hubbard in this case) would
never do such a thing - walk right into it and fall prey to (using some of Hubbard's favorite behind-the-scenes words) the gimmick, ploy, trick, caper, angle, etc.
While the date for Hubbard applying "enemy tactics" and "aberrative methods" to his own own loyal followers is sometimes 1965 - which was, undoubtedly, a major "shift" date in Scientology - it does appear, IMO, that Hubbard had this approach from the earliest days.
All Scientologist are Fair Game to Scientology.
Hubbard's 'Fair Game' instructions date from March 1965 through 1968, when a PR flap caused him to "cancel" the public use of the term "Fair Game," and most "Fair Game"-related and "Fair Game"-tech writings went underground, becoming "confidential." Yet this was only one expression of his own personal "war" - a "war" that had been ongoing much of his life, at least in his own mind.
IMO, the first target of Hubbard's personal "covert war" (other than his wives) were Scientologists themselves, and not "out ethics" Scientologists, but Scientologists "in good standing."
This was an extension of a state of mind revealed in his writings, going back to his 'Excalibur'-related 1938 statement; his 1946 'Affirmations'; his writings concerning ("erased") 2nd wife Sara Northup; his bizarre 1950s letters to the FBI; his "ruin utterly" May 1955 'Manual on Dissemination'; his Autumn 1955 fraudulent "Russian Communist Brainwashing Manual," which inveighs against ("patriotic") Dianetics (later changed, in the text to Scientology [!]), and contains ideas and methods many of which he would later use on Scientologists, and incorporate into the "tech" (some of it 'confidential') and have Scientologists use on each other and on outsiders ("wogs," "raw meat," and "SPs"); to his 1959 confidential 'HCO Manual on Justice' which seems tame in comparison to other writings; to his first use of Security Checking in the early 1960s for collection of potential "blackmail" and for thought-policing and to encourage (ideally happy) self-censoring in Scientologists; to his introduction of the secret and very "dangerous" yet vital to your survival "Implantology" levels, where the switch was made from primarily "asking the person" to primarily "telling the person" the contents of his own mind and/or space - with a little actual ("ask"/look) auditing around the fringes and used throughout as a kind of lubricant - just to confuse things nicely.
Did Hubbard know what he was doing when he
mixed "White Scientology" and "Black Scientology," creating Scientology? Evidence indicates that he knew exactly what he was doing.
In a confidential issue of 1969, Hubbard wrote that "enemy tactics" should be used on "enemies" - the "enemies" in his personal "war." What's so difficult for some to accept is that Hubbard was at "war" (usually covertly) against his own loyal followers, and used "enemy tactics" on
them.
One of many examples: Hubbard's description of psychiatry, from a lecture of 14 August 1963, describes what was soon to become a key element of the "upper levels": "...psychiatry is authoritarian and
tells the person what's wrong with him, often introducing a new lie. Scientology finds out what's wrong with the person from the person." Well, that was soon to change.
An examination of 'Brainwashing Manual' Parallels in Scientology:
http://www.forum.exscn.net/showthread.php?2697-Table-of-Contents-Psychopolitics-revisited
Hope this helps.