What Are Your Crimes?
I got home tonight and got another e-mail asking why Scientology says critics are criminals. In doing a quick google to find the Scientology policy, I clicked on a site that mentioned me by name.
Q: Mark Bunker ran into [this] aggressive questioning when he was armed only with his camera and tried to do a documentary on a July 4th Scientology street fair. He was asked what his crimes were and was accused of beating his wife and being a child molester by 3 scientologists.Do Scientologists actually believe that anyone who criticizes the Church must be guilty of molesting children, spousal abuse or some equally horrible criminal act? Why is it that Scientologists accuse there critics of such horrible things?
A: First, Scientologists do not respond this way to critics as a rule. I never have. Mark Bunker is not just some guy with a camera. He is a leading and pro-active member of at least two groups dedicated to doing harm to Scientology and blackening our reputation to the maximum extent possible. He has been and may still be on the payroll of the most rabid recent attacker of our church around today. He explicitly, for money, plots and deliberately provokes trouble and then claims he was totally innocent. Judging by his actions, it would be his aim to eradicate the church by any means at his disposal. So, yeah, Scientologists may have challenged him verbally. As he is/was paid to cause trouble, I wouldn’t put too much stock in his version of events.
This is on a site moderated by a Scientologist. I sent a response but since they control what gets posted, I thought my response might never show up online so I am going to archive it here.
Well, I was out for an internet stroll and found my name invoked here. To set the record straight, I do not “plot” or “provoke” incidents involving Scientologists.
My videos are available for everyone to see at my website and on such popular spots as YouTube.
I am opposed to the fraud and abuse in Scientology and speak out about that. For this, I am labeled a criminal by your group.
Why? Because L. Ron Hubbard explicitly wrote that anyone who criticizes Scientology is a criminal. He ordered your group to investigate critics and promised they would find “blood, sex crimes” that could quickly be used to “shudder them into silence.”
Why didn’t you simply answer the initial question with Hubbard’s own policy on the subject? Go to Source for the correct data:
http://www.clambake.org/archive/books/bfm/makeitro.htm
I eagerly await your response. I trust you will post my message and not break this comm cycle. Scientology is about communication, after all.
Incidentally, I found it quite remarkable that a search for “What are Your Crimes?” brings up a ton of material on Scientology. I mean, really…you don’t even have to put the group’s name in the search. It should be their slogan instead of the ironic, “Think For Yourself.”
Explore posts in the same categories: Scientology Policies
November 22, 2007 at 11:44 am
Hi Mark.
Here is (one of) the policy:
HCOB 5 November 1967 Critics Of Scientology
“Never discuss Scientology with the critic. Just discuss his or her crimes, known and unknown. And act completely confident that those crimes exist. Because they do.”
As seen on SPDL:
http://suppressiveperson.org/spdl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=340&Itemid=30
November 22, 2007 at 12:04 pm
The CoS likes to make things up to discredit the critics. It’s a shame that they have to resort to this kind of infantile behavior as it only makes them look more stupid.
November 22, 2007 at 2:03 pm
Thanks, Raymond. I knew I could count on others to dig the proper policies up.
November 22, 2007 at 8:21 pm
Never buy into the lies the Church of Scientology is selling!
November 27, 2007 at 7:38 am
“A: First, Scientologists do not respond this way to critics as a rule. I never have. …..
…. So, yeah, Scientologists may have challenged him verbally. ”
HCOB 5 November 1967 Critics Of Scientology
“Never discuss Scientology with the critic. Just discuss his or her crimes, known and unknown. And act completely confident that those crimes exist. Because they do.”
Up is down, left is right, hot is cold
November 27, 2007 at 3:27 pm
Yo, Xenutv. I’m a 15 year old anti-scientologist activist. Hope my website will develop soon enough to provide resources for people who know nothing of scientology.
Plus, it’s probably interesting to them that a youth is interested in this kind of thing.
http://www.riverose.com
Hopefully, I’ll be working on the scientology section of my site soon.
November 27, 2007 at 6:10 pm
It’s good that you will help in exposing the criminal activities of the Church of Scientology!
November 28, 2007 at 5:06 pm
I temporarily took down my site because I’m a bit spooked by scientology freaks coming after me. XP How big of a threat are they to personal safety?
November 28, 2007 at 5:57 pm
Alright, alright. Sorry for double posting. OTZ I finally have my site working.
http://scientology.riverose.com
November 30, 2007 at 4:22 am
WHAT ARE YOUR CRIMES?
(Star Trek was nice enough to provide the security guard)
December 1, 2007 at 9:35 am
My goodness, what a loser Mary De Moss is. If anyone’s interested take a look at her personal website: http://www.our-home.org/marydemoss/index.htm. I wonder what happened to the name Panton. Is it possible that Hubbard’s tech failed when it came to her marriage?
December 1, 2007 at 9:35 am
Or, is she now married?
December 1, 2007 at 6:36 pm
She probably married the StarTrek guy. Imagine being married to Scary Mary…when he cant perform she starts screaming WHAT ARE YOUR CRIMES???
December 2, 2007 at 1:35 pm
I think she is also a little bitter about her failed acting school.
December 6, 2007 at 10:33 am
“My goodness, what a loser Mary De Moss is. If anyone’s interested take a look at her personal website: http://www.our-home.org/marydemoss/index.htm. I wonder what happened to the name Panton. Is it possible that Hubbard’s tech failed when it came to her marriage?”
Hubbard’s Tech just doesn’t take in the internet, does it? From Mary’s page not displaying correctly in my browser, to her bizarre antics on YouTube convincing me that she is quite mad.
Screwing with people that way is undoubtedly unpleasant for the critic, but when it gets posted on the ‘net it generates more critics: it’s rude, unpleasant, lacks any sort of common courtesy to a fellow human being, insane, spiteful, despicable and entirely counter-productive in that it only generates contempt for scientology.
December 6, 2007 at 5:19 pm
The video is unbelievable…and scary. And pathetic. Attack Scientology’s message, and they attack YOU personally. Scientologists don’t like to debate the merits, do they? They just like to attack the person. It’s weak, and watching the videos shows just what a pathetic lot these cretin “handlers” are.
December 7, 2007 at 1:38 am
Watching that video (and a few others) – It isn’t about Merits, Biff.
“Why are you here?”
“What is your crime?”
They’re both the same question. And as a firefighter, I recognize them. It took me a few minutes to do so, however. It clicked the instant the 2nd guy’s passions were evoked. He honestly meant it, “What is your crime?”
In the videos, their primary tactic seems to be distraction – and the easiest distraction is to make you the target. But now I don’t think that’s it. “What’s your crime” actually means “What’s your calling”. “Crime” doesn’t make sense in normal parlance – and these aren’t stupid people, so that cannot be it. But as a firefighter, I understand what a “calling” is. Their tactic seems to assume you are following one (subconsciously induced by guilt or trauma or whatever). I later wondered if they were hammering on a wall… if, from their POV, they were trying to save Mark’s “life”, not chase him away. After all, “crimes” are what all the audits and sec-checks are about, yes? Fessing up to them is the first step towards progress!
So, use it. Own up with the truth. “What’s your crime?” “I failed to stop an atrocity.” And, make sure you mean it – because quite frankly, that IS the crime you’ve committed, and it IS the reason you are there. Something the church did was a complete outrage. All of their hammering, thereafter – creates a paradox. “What does xxx have to do with YOUR crimes?” “xxx offends me, and I have tolerated such abuse of people for far too long. That’s my crime, and it is traumatic. ” And that’s the paradox. For them to continue the game, they must either deny that its a crime (breaking the game), or accept what you’ve said (invalidating the church). I’m curious how the game would handle such a case.
They certainly have a well-conditioned game that they follow, and it seems that any 3rd person narrative just tells them that a “church slam” is coming. Anyone know how the game plays out if you play it 1st person, actually have a “crime”, and honestly expose yourself to them as above?
December 10, 2007 at 1:55 am
The Church of Scientology has a long list of crimes. It behaves like the mafia. One of their crimes is their war against free speech. They pressured YouTube to remove a video that really expose their founder. However the video is now available again on this site http://www.scamofscientology.nl/pagina1.html
Here is another interesting link http://www.whyaretheydead.net/
December 28, 2007 at 4:15 pm
I was disgusted watching this video. The three Scientology goons were trying to intimidate and bully the photographer. What a great religion….for thugs.
January 25, 2010 at 12:51 am
I am an ex-Scientologist. Not for technical reasons but for philosophical reasons. I was a member of an East Bay (San Francisco)mission that was raided in the early eighties by the SF Org because we were not sending enough of our locals to the Org.
So, my upset is with the the Org. Technically, Hubbard’s findings and tech is right on. I am self-assured about this, or that is, certain.
In large part, like any group, Scientology is controlled by the Orthodoxy… the literals. There is no difference with respect to the literals in Scientology, Cathalism, Greek Orthodoxy and Islam. They lack the ability to think for themselves.