A History of Scientology Criticism: Paulette Cooper

Tony Ortega of the Village Voice is celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Paulette Cooper's book "The Scandal of Scientology" on his "Runnin' Scared" blog. I don't know what he's Runnin Sceered about, cause it sure ain't Scientology.

Tony's article gives a very good overview of the story of Paulette Cooper and the nightmare she endured at the hands of L. Ron Hubbard's Church of Scientology, as well as providing links to her book, and a video where Paulette is interviewed by Mark Bunker for his upcoming documentary on Scientology called "Knowledge Report".

As usual, I have very little else to add, accept an observation inspired by being reminded of Paulette's story.

It is this:

It is a catastrophe to become a Scientologist.

You give your mind and life over to the fixed and finite solutions that Hubbard tells you to apply to everything from washing windows to who should be your friend and even who you can have in your family. Instead of consulting yourself for how to handle the situations in your own life, you consult L Ron Hubbard.

The most catastrophic thing you can do to yourself, and to others around you, is to constantly "think with" Scientology. When you are confronted with the infinities of life, and you begin to ask yourself "How does L Ron Hubbard say I should handle this problem?" you will, over time, begin to limit your own creativity, you will begin to stifle your own ability to respond and improvise, and you will, sooner or later, destroy your own moral judgement.

You will apply out-dated solutions that have nothing to do with the present time situations you face. What Hubbard is talking about, and what you are facing, are two completely separate and totally different things. But as a Scientologist, you apply what Hubbard says to apply. And right there, you become an idiot. When you look at the "Squirrel Busters", look at Tommy Davis and Karin Pouw telling idiotic, and easily disproven lies in the national media, you are watching someone apply an out-dated, disrelated solution to a situation they face in present time.

You are watching a Scientologist.

This is the fate of all ideologues, not just Scientologists. But when you have adopted an ideology as pernicious as Scientology, and made it the central thinking machine for your life, you are truly screwed. And so is everyone else around you.

After her experience at the hands of the Nazis, Paulette Cooper recognized the danger of totalitarian ideologies like Scientology, and decided to do something about it. She paid a heavy price for it, but her strength and her courage won out in the end. Fortunately, in the 1970's, the FBI was not as cowardly and corrupt as it seems to be today, and during the largest raid in US history, they were able to prove that L Ron Hubbard conspired to murder Paulette Cooper, drive her insane, or drive her to suicide.

Paulette survived everything L Ron Hubbard could throw at her. And she proved that we can fight totalitarian ideologies, and we can keep their pinheaded fanaticism boxed up and contained in their little tin-foil cells where they belong.

I want to thank Paulette Cooper for what she did for all of us. She is yet another person to whom we all owe a debt as members of a free society.

You can catch up with Paulette today on her website, still writing, still beautiful, and still as strong as ever, despite all those OT's who couldn't strike her down.