From International Viewpoints (IVy) Issue 1 - May 1991
The following article was written in 1990, and published in the first
issue of International Viewpoints in 1991. It has been edited a little
in 1995 to reflect some changes. (IVy).
Welcome
By Antony A Phillips, Denmark
Welcome to the first issue of a new international magazine. This issue
goes out free, to as many people as we can find, who we suppose would
be interested. Perhaps the first thing to say is that if we have made
a mistake, and you are not interested, please let the editor, or
(preferably) the distributor that sent you the copy, know. We would
like people to retain the freedom to accept or not accept a
communication, including this one.
What it is about
The magazine is very much concerned with the use of the philosophy and
technology written and talked about by L. Ron Hubbard, and perhaps the
first thing to note is that all concerned have a long time ago parted
company with the C of $ (the joke gets weak with repeating, but that $
sign is for scientology, sometimes also called the Church of $(s)igh -
sci.).
Since the departure of many from obedience (or should I say
subservience) to the church, one of the things that has somewhat
slowed the positive use of the subject is lack of communication.
Admittedly there have been congresses at different times and places
(the most recent, 1990, in Berlin), and much good communication takes
place at those. But we can not all go to them (especially those that
occur at the other side of the world), and then there is the question
of the time in between conferences.
Increase communication
About 1987, after the second conference in Switzerland, an
International Communications Network was set up, but it has not
survived.
This is another attempt to increase the communication amongst 'free
scientologists' (free from the suppression of the C of $), and it is
based on five years experience with a somewhat similar magazine in
scandinavia.
No more free samples!
No more free issues will be coming out, and the aim of this one is to
get you to subscribe . This is a free sample. We hope you like it,
will order more, and we hope that many who read this will be inspired
to write in to us with their views and their news.
Changes since the split
However we hope that the magazine will not continue as it is now. This
is because we want to reflect and relay the views existing within the
movement, and as in any living body, these will change as time goes
on. In years since I was thrown out of the C of $ enourmous changes
have happened, three of which are worth mentioning. The first is that
auditing technology is being used a lot more outside of the churches
eagle and avaricious eye, the second is that the rampant fear of what
the church might do to us is largely gone, and the third is that in
daily life there is very little attention or interest in the church.
However that reflects my limited observation -- things might be
different in your area, and we would like to hear about it.
Would you like to know how "International Viewpoints" (IV, which I
call Ivy, so as not to confuse with the roman numerals for four) will
develop in the future, before you pay out money for it? Yes? Well I
would also like to know. It is unpredictable because it is dependent
on what our readers send in. However I can predict that it will be a
little different than our elder sister, "The Free Spirit", and my
prediction is based on my knowledge of the editor, for I suspect that
it is on him the general tenor of the magazine will depend.
Your editor exposed
So I will let you into some secrets of the background of the editor.
From 2 hours before 1930 started up until 1969 he was British, of the
English variety. Since then he has turned into a sort of a mongrel,
with an atrocious accent when he speaks Danish.
He came into scientology in 1954 in a very miserable state -- how
miserable you can tell from the fact that he first smiled in about
1960, and this long delay was not due to the poorness of auditing
technology but the toughness of his case. At that time his
communication registered -100% on the OCA (equivelent to APA test --
both ably created by the illustrious Ray Kemp). He claims that his
communication improved markedly under processing, but that the OCA did
not register deep enough -- it should have registered him as -800%
Since coming into Scientology he has worked in scientology
organisations in Dublin (Eire), London, East Grinstead, Edinburgh and
Copenhagen, both in technical and admin posts. At East Grinstead in
1965 he got involved in mimeo (photocopying of Bulletins and Policy
Letters) and printing, and since that time has been quite obsessive in
relaying communications, and this magazine is just the latest example
of that dramatization.
He was thrown out of the C of $ in 1983, mainly because he was not
imaginative enough to invent overt acts (bad things he had done) when
on something called the Deck Project Force, which apart from demanding
that he ran instead of walked around Copenhagen, required him to fill
a large number of pages with descriptions of his sins. That is the
'supervisor' set him a target of number of pages to write he could not
reach.
Scientology and its organisations was quite mild when he started, and
he had been subject to a very mild gradient as the organizations
became suppressive (destructive). In fact he was gullible, and
accepted hook, line and sinker all the church told him, like the fact
that Mary Sue Hubbard was being unjustly tried and imprisoned for
stealing copy machine paper. Probably he would have continued with
them to this day if they had not thrown him out, but now he is a
sadder and a wiser man.
A scientology fanatic
But perhaps the most important point about him, as regards this mags
future, is that apart from a short period in 1962, he has been a very
loyal scientologist, feeling that he has got an enourmous amount of
negative gain out of processing over those years (and is still getting
it), and he also feels that scientology has given him very great and
usable stable data on life, which he totaly lacked before. So, funnily
enough, he would like others to have the gains he has had, and this
might show itself in the magazine. He also believes scientology should
be cheap and thus is not likely to encourage advertisements of costly
systems.
Uafh‘ngige Synspunkter
Your editor was one of the first 'free scientologists' in Denmark, and
for a couple of years a small group met weekly at his flat, the rest
of the group still being formally in the church. This group was
involved in the passing on of the many badly duplicated papers that
went around at that time. Papers which revealed things (and freedoms)
which the church had kept hidden. The group formed Det Europ‘iske
Informationscenter -- The European Information Centre -- with the
object of sending information packets to all who might be interested
in the truth about Cof$.
All these papers (and tapes) were in English, and there was a demand
for something in Danish. So a number of people got together and in
1985 started a magazine called "Uafh‘ngige Synspunkter" (Independent
Viewpoints -- the mother of this mag). First it was run by committees,
but from about 1987 your editor became the effective editor of that
mag.
One failing
Your editor has one failing. Once he starts writing he can't stop. To
stop this failing spoiling the magazine please send in contributions.
We need subscriptions (sent to local distributors), local distributors
in many areas (an autonomous thing), and, most, your news and views.
Help make it a good mag.