Mark ‘Warrior’ Plummer, Scientology critic and archivist, 1951-2024

One of the highlights of our 2015 book tour was a stop in Austin, Texas, when we finally got a chance to meet a legend, a former Scientologist who had made a name for himself amassing one of the most comprehensive collections of Scientology archival material anywhere.

His name was Mark Plummer, and he was known as Warrior. As in, the relentless pursuit of exposing the Church of Scientology, an organization he joined as a member in 1973, served in the Sea Organization from 1975 to 1983, and then left in 1988.

During those years, like any Scientologist, he had been issued numerous certificates and commendations and receipts. But unlike others he had not only kept those documents, he posted them to the Internet along with vast amounts of other information in order to help outsiders understand what it was like to be in thrall to L. Ron Hubbard.

“I got involved with Scientology because I wanted to help make this world a better place for all. After continually being lied to and betrayed over and over for years, I realized that Scientology is not what the organization claims to be,” he wrote on one of his many posts to alt.religion.scientology, a crucial Usenet locus of Scientology news where he became a fixture in the late 1990s.

Mark had also become a valuable asset to this website, where he contributed Scientology documents that helped, for example, explain how children had been exploited in shocking policies that treated them like little soldiers. He was particularly focused on this, he said, because of his own struggles as a parent in the Sea Org.

He was so concerned about it, he wrote to L. Ron Hubbard about it in 1977 and actually received a reply.

Last year, we interviewed him and learned more about his path into and out of Scientology, and it was an emotional journey. In private conversations, he told us that he had struggled with some health issues, but that he was improving.

Yesterday, his daughter Alisha announced on Facebook that he had died. A family friend told us that Mark passed away early in the morning of January 10 after a difficult case of the flu. He was 72.

News of his death has us looking through his excellent repository of Scientology documents again, and reading his fiery words about Scientology from his ars days.

We thought that this message, from 1997, helps to capture how Mark had only gradually decided to speak out, and how, in the mid-1990s, that was so much more risky.

I am a relative newcomer to ars. Back when I was just a lurker, I kept on reading things on ars and would start to reply. Every time, I would let my fears get the better of me. Finally I decided that if I get attacked or sued for what I post to ars, then I will have to stand up for my freedom of speech. After all, I am not posting, and have not posted anything of an infringing nature upon Scientology’s purported copyrights…

I am definitely a critic of Scientology. I am not a Freezoner. And I am not part of the ‘independent field.’ I am simply an ex-Sea Org member who was severely betrayed by L. Ron Hubbard and his organization, Scientology. In my posts I am sure you have seen my use of Scientology terminology when I am writing about Scientology. I am mentioning this here because I want everyone to understand to the best of my ability, the mindset of Scientology and Scientologists.

Also, in many of my posts I am using Scientology’s own language, their ‘tech’ and their ‘reasoning’ to show Scientologists how absurd or insane or dangerous or hypocritical or disgusting their founder’s philosophy and practices are.

One spokesperson for Scientology (Leisa Goodman?) said that Scientology supports freedom of speech. I doubt this statement very much. What I have seen to be true is that Scientology supports freedom of speech so long as what is being said or written is not critical of, or an attack upon Scientology, and in fact Hubbard did say something like ‘So long as one does not attack Scientology, one is safe.’ A good case in point (there are many) is Jon Atack’s story. I owe a debt of gratitude to Jon, as well as to Bent Corydon, Arnie Lerma, Dennis Erlich, Tom Klemesrud, Karin Spaink, Gerry Armstrong, Paulette Cooper, Nibs Hubbard, Bob Penny, Larry Wollersheim, Grady Ward, Keith Henson, Gabe Cazares, Joseph Yanny, Margery Wakefield, Steve Fishman, Andre Tabayoyon, Vaughn Young and Lisa McPherson, just to name a few. Had they all not had the courage to come forward and tell their story, I very likely would not be here on ars today.

More than anything it is due to my reading Jon Atack’s excellent book A Piece of Blue Sky, and the publicity caused by the raids on Arnie Lerma (which I first heard about late one night on CNN Headline News), and the raid on Dennis Erlich that I have decided to ‘come out.’ Had Scientology not done their actions on these individuals, I most likely would be spending my time on something else.

At any rate, I will be on ars for as long as it takes to tell my story, to say everything I want to say and to answer any questions that come my way.

One of my primary purposes for being here on ars is to let others know my experience in the hopes that they may avoid having to learn the hard way (as I did) what Scientology really is all about without the PR, lies, half-truths and ‘acceptable truths’ that Scientology pushes upon the world through the various media.

Everyone who works to expose Scientology’s controversies has benefited from that decision by Mark Plummer to come forward, to speak out, and to document so comprehensively what it was like to be betrayed by L. Ron Hubbard’s organization.

We are privileged to have known him.

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Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history

Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea

Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time

Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology

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