September 12, 1989
I, Greg Marlowe, was a member of the Pasadena organization of the Church of Scientology from 9/75 - 2/78, and will attest that said group is a destructive group which caused me great mental anguish, disrupted my family life, interrupted my education, and caused me great monetary loss. I am pleased that Ms. Wakefield is speaking publicly concerning this dangerous, mind-bending, unethical group.
I paid approximately $8000 in fees to this group under the pretense that scientology would increase my IQ, memory, and creativity, rid me of all anxieties, cure me of headaches, increase my communication level, etc. These goals were never achieved.
I initially joined the group with the idea that I would be learning communication skills. The drills I underwent are, I believe, really designed to subvert a person's decision making process by instilling a light hypnotic trance, and reducing a person's ability to make critical judgments concerning scientology. I was not taught any communication skills in this course, but instead was indoctrinated with the tenets of this group while doing hundreds of hours of repetitive, mind-bending drills.
The group operates within a coercive environment, to say the very least. Being young (21) and spiritually seeking, I was attracted by this seemingly innocent group and their heady promises. It was demanded that a great deal of my spare time be spent studying the group's tenets, or receiving counseling, and I was eventually spending about 35 hours a week with them once I became fully indoctrinated. I was harangued and admonished if I appeared even a few moments late, and was often given menial chores to do as punishment. A supervisor literally screamed at me over the phone when I informed her I would not be coming in once because of illness. We were told repeatedly that we would die a terrible death if we ever left the group.
I was told repeatedly that I must handle or disconnect from my father because he was critical of the group. My association with scientology caused untold strain in my relationship with my family.
I eventually decided to leave because my life was so unhappy within this group. I had given up college to pursue scientology, but discovered nothing but broken promises and false dreams.
I was told that I had committed crimes against the group, and in order to leave, was required to undergo a security check, or interrogation. I was asked, while attached to a lie-detector type device (E-meter) a barrage of very bizarre questions, such as "Had I ever had an unkind thought about the founder?", "Was I working for the FBI?", "Was I involved in incest?", and many other questions, just as strange. Material from this interrogation was then used as leverage to attempt to make me stay with the group. I have documentation that this is done on a regular basis.
I was next given a court of ethics, and berated before this group by people who I thought were my friends. I was told by one Bruce Dodds that I would be beaten up if I left without their permission. I was required to do 25 hours of menial labor before I would be free to leave.
I stayed with this group so long because of the great investment of time and money. I found it hard to believe that I was being conned. There is also a tremendous amount of peer pressure. Everyone is expected to give testimonials telling how the technics of the group are helpful, and actually, some of them are. But they are not worth the price extracted.
Almost every aspect of the environment is controlled by this group. For example, questioning of their technics is not allowed. We were constantly told that something was wrong with us if we questioned or doubted.
The group and founder definitely seem to believe that they are above the law. I have documentation that proves their involvement in numerous criminal activities including fraud, extortion, money-laundering, and racketeering.
I hope and pray that Ms. Wakefield will be allowed to continue speaking out about this destructive and criminal group.