... Yes, the policies are there - it was inevitable.
It is not clear that such was 'inevitable'. Even with the bad policies in place a different culture would have emphasized different aspects of policy, conceivably resulting in a far less abusive general culture. Of course, any such speculation flies in the face of what has actually occurred.
The culture that was promoted by hubbard personally and which did ultimately come to dominate the entire church is the destructive abusive cult which we all know and love.
It's not there just because hubbard wrote bad policies. Nor is it simply the result of because "hubbard said" or that his personal opinions were often expressed in a reactionary fashion. Human cultures are complex. They draw from their environments and from the individual backgrounds of their members.
Members not only have their own cultural backgrounds which are contributed to the group, they also have individual motivations for themselves, a desire to conform to what they believe is expected of them by others in the group, and the wish to be accepted and even admired for the roles they play within the group. The culture which has grown up around the church is no different to other cultural groups in this. Clearly individuals vary in the degree to which they may affect others in the group and the effects they produce accordingly.
Hubbard was the 'Founder & Source' certainly of the written guides by which the church is justified as well as the original arbiter of all which the Sea Org sought to impose throughout the church. However he has been dead for twenty five years. Others have also contributed to the development of church culture since its beginnings. Obviously Rathbun & Miscavige have both had significant influence on the development of the culture of the church, especially the latter individual.
However, John McMaster, Alan Walter, & David Mayo have also had significant impacts on others in the times in which they were involved with the church. Many have remarked how these latter figures were very significant figures in inspiring & motivating others in their pursuit of scientology at the times when these figures were active in the church. Nor are they alone. Many other individuals have also helped to shape the culture of the church since its inception.
Throughout its history and up to today it has not been
all about hubbard, not even all of the bad. It's easier for some to focus on the abuses of hubbard, and certainly he was the principal origin of much of the worst. Others, however, have made original contributions to that too. But it is clear that hubbard was the original
'source' of much, though not all, of the most egregious abuse which has been characteristic of the church. And even more clear that it is the culture which has been created within the church ultimately which matters most in terms of continuing the propagation of the church's abuses.
Mark A. Baker