From: penny@rmii.com (Bob Penny)
Subject: Scientology and other science fiction
Date: 1997/06/07
Message-ID: <5ncia7$6q8$1@news1.rmi.net>#1/1
Organization: Rocky Mountain Internet - 1(800)-900-RMII
Reply-To: penny@rmii.com
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology



HEAVEN'S GATE, JONESTOWN, SOLAR TEMPLE
                       and SCIENTOLOGY

Which flavor of insanity do you prefer? Which arguments for suicide do
you find most attractive?

On April 1 of this year, the Wall Street Journal carried an article by
Cynthia Kisser (executive director of the Cult Awareness Network,
until Scientology bought control of that group) which finally made
some sense of the Heaven's Gate cult suicides.  Other media coverage
has added pieces to the puzzle.  I am here to tell a story of my own,
for whatever anyone can make of it.

In June of 1986. I was in Florida at Scientology's "land base" (the
Fort Harrison Hotel).  I was there to do "clear" through "OT V."  I
had already done the clear certainty rundown (CCRD), the sunshine
rundown (SRD), OT1 and OT2.  I was now on the "wall of fire," OT3.
Just about then a very sexy lady, who I will call Bridget, interrupted
the course room to do a "hard sell" pitch for International
Association of Scientologists (IAS) memberships. These cost $2000 each
and she was not taking no for an answer.

Memberships were needed to fund a war chest for legal defense against
"the evil Larry Wollersheim," (the slogan was "not one thin dime for
Wollersheim").

Back to the course room, I was taken under guard to a cabana room
where I was promised a "briefing" by a couple of Sea Org members.
These guys came in and started their spiel, which was about how vital
it was for Scientology to quickly obtain control of this planet's
resources so they can develop and build a starship in time to repel an
invasion by the Markabians who will be here soon (from outer space, of
course). Remember Xenu?

What have you got to do to help? Well, you've got to be OT and you've
got to give money --- lots of it! This is why things like the
securities frauds on the Vancouver stock exchange are so important.

Heaven's Gate didn't think big enough!

Bob Penny
Niwot, Colorado
former Scientologist
founding member and former director of FACTNet 


After ten years experience with computers and a successful company
which  he founded, Mr. Penny and Larry Wollersheim co-founded in 1993
the Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network, Inc. In 1991, while
FACTNet was being designed and preparing to go online, Mr. Penny wrote
an essay called Social Control in Scientology, which was published and
released at the CAN conference in Oklahoma City together with Margery
Wakefield's autobiographical story, "The Road to Xenu." Both are
available on the Internet at URL FACTnet.ORG and there are a lot of
other references and stories at that location. These documents are
widely available without charge at many Internet servers in North
America, Europe, and Africa.

After a failed attempt to get to the 1990 CAN conference, Mr. Penny
was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), a condition which has
worsened considerably since its diagnosis. Mr. Penny suspects, but
cannot prove,that the condition began with Scientology's "Purification
Rundown," a procedure which involves a lot of time in saunas. Before
there was Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), the procedure for
diagnosing MS was "get the guy hot and see if he collapses."