All of them, those in power, and those who want the power, would pamper us, if we agreed to overlook their crookedness by wilfully restricting our activities.
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[Work in progress]
Nancy Many (2009): “My Billion Year Contract / Memoir of a former Scientologist,” Chapter 20 – The Internet
[...] If a person gets ill in Scientology, it has been my experience that what the person has done to pull it in becomes the object of discussion.
New Times Los Angeles (Dec. 2000): "Brained: Mentally impaired Raul Lopez was $1.7 million richer as the result of an accident settlement – until he joined the Church of Scientology" by Ron Russell
These, as opposed to group prayer, are done to maybe help the person overcome what is going on. The drive for money is amazing, unbelievable, and never ending. If someone was deathly ill, registrars would say, “Oh good, this is an easy reg cycle. Money, money money and more money.” I cannot fault Time Magazine for its title “Cult of Greed.” That is a pretty succinct description of the subject. [...]
[...] A few days later, he was contacted by Jim Hamre, a
local Scientology registrar, whom he says told him the test
results indicated that Scientology principles could, indeed,
help him with his mental and emotional distress, as well as
get rid of his tremor. Hamre signed him up for a bundle of
Scientology services, including auditing.
Los Angeles Times (June 1990): "Church Markets Its Gospel with High-Pressure Sales"
"They told me they had what I needed; that if I followed the program I could be cured of the tremor, and I could be my old self again, which is all I ever wanted," says Lopez, echoing a main contention of his lawsuit. During Hamre's visit, the registrar made repeated inquiries as to how much money Lopez had in the bank, how much interest it earned, and how Lopez could gain access to it, Lopez says. [...]
[...]
Scientology staffers who sell Hubbard's
courses are called "registrars." They earn commissions
on their sales and are skilled at eliciting every facet
of an individual's finances, including bank accounts, stocks,
cars, houses, whatever can be converted to cash.
Like all Scientology staffers, a registrar's productivity is evaluated each week. Performance is judged by how much money he or she brings in by Thursday afternoon. And, in Scientology, declining or stagnant productivity is not viewed benevolently, as former registrar Roger Barnes says he learned. "I remember being dragged across a desk by my tie because I hadn't made my (sales quota)," said Barnes, who once toured the world selling Scientology until he had a bitter break with the group. Barnes and other ex-Scientologists say that this uncompromising push to generate more money each week places intense pressure on registrars. Another former Scientology salesman in Los Angeles said he and other registrars would use a tactic called "crush regging." The technique, he said, employed no elaborate sales talk. They repeated three words again and again: "Sign the check. Sign the check." "This made the person feel so harassed," he said, "that he would sign the check because it was the only way he was going to get out of there." A 1984 investigative report by Canadian authorities quoted a Toronto registrar as saying that members of the public want to be "bled of their money.... If they didn't, they would be staff members eligible for free training." The Canadian report also recounted a meeting during which Scientology staffers chanted: "Go for the throat. Go for blood. Go for the bloody throat." Former Scientologist Donna Day of Ventura said that church registrars accused her of throwing away money on rent and on food for her cats and dogs -- "degraded beings," they called her pets. They said the money should be going to the church. [...] Forbes (1987): "The prophet and profits of Scientology" by Richard Behar
Others go into the business side for a piece of the action. Since it is
not uncommon for people to spend more than $100,000 over a decade for
their salvation, "The registrars were making good
bucks, buying Porsches and Mercedes-Benzes," says one defector,
Bent Corydon, "and the best
counselors were paid on a performance scale." [...]
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Church of Scientology International (29
September 1987): "International Management Bulletin No. 108:
What is life worth? The importance of Hard Sell" (excerpt)
How To Boom Your GI [Gross Income]
The most successful orgs have very hard selling registrars. They apply the LRH data in the new Hard Sell pack and they are experts in Big League Sales Techniques. The top registrars on the planet sell more services and get more people up The Bridge in one week, than others (who do not know and apply the LRH Hard Sell data and Big Leagues Sales) do in a whole year. Fact! And this is not just a question of making money, it is a question of getting public contacted and onto and up The Bridge. The registrar can make all the difference applying LRH Tech on Hard Sell. The thing to do is:
["Regging"] is the word used to describe extorting
money.
Examples proved in evidence and not challenged are: Two people were persuaded to sell their respective houses. Proceeds were used to pay for Scientology services. Both were left with virtually no assets. A man was persuaded to pay the entirety of his worker's Compensation payment, approximately $18,000 towards "Services". A man was persuaded to pay $52,000 out of a Settlement awarded to him for permanent injuries from a motorcycle accident. A married couple were persuaded to pay $105,000 by selling off a large part of the wife's inherited stocks and shares. A man undergoing chemotherapy for terminal lymphatic cancer was persuaded to pay $24,000. [...] The Oregonian (Jul. 1979): "Witness describes Scientology drills" by John Painter Jr.
[...] After starting the communications course, she said,
she was contacted by Ed Petty, a
Scientology registrar, and was talked into signing up
for additional courses after a conversation that lasted
"many, many hours."
She said Petty sent her to Bend to borrow $10,000 from her parents to pay for the courses. After she was refused, she said, she and her husband borrowed $1,500 from friends and used that as collateral to borrow another $1,500 from a Scientology credit union. The money was used to pay for courses. [...] |