Mirriam Francis: Scientology's system of abuse was exposed by the Danny Masterson trials

[Today’s very special guest post is by Mirriam Francis, who appeared in the second season of Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath as a young Scientologist whose abuse by her father was covered up by the church.]

I.

One of the guiding principles in Scientology is “If it isn’t written, it isn’t true.” It is equally understood that if L. Ron Hubbard wrote something, it is therefore regarded as fact and must be adhered to exactly. 

There is no such thing as child abuse or child sexual abuse in Scientology. It is not recognized because L. Ron Hubbard did not write about it as such. Instead, he wrote that any law which applies to adults also applies to children. He wrote that children are big beings in small bodies. In Scientology’s most important, foundational text, Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, he wrote, “The seven-year-old girl who shudders because a man kisses her is not computing; she is reacting to an engram since at seven she should see nothing wrong in a kiss, not even a passionate one. There must have been an earlier experience, possibly prenatal, which made men or kissing very bad.” 

L. Ron Hubbard ridiculed the government, authorities, and the court system. He removed any mechanisms which would safeguard children and dismissed the laws which would shelter them. Under his command and by his words, children were — and continue to be — systematically groomed for his purpose.

Grooming is when someone builds a connection with a child or young person so that they can manipulate, exploit, and abuse them. While children are young and therefore vulnerable, it is the responsibility of the parent, guardian, or caregiver to provide a shield around them until they have grown and have developed this for themselves. This protective barrier is referred to by Australian psychologist Ursula Bensted as a “shark cage.” It is a system of bars, which could also be called rights, which create a barrier between oneself and a harm-intended person.

To create a strong shark cage, a person must understand their rights and recognize their own built-in alarm system, which if nurtured, will strengthen over time. A person’s alarm system relies on their brain-body communication to detect dangers in their environment. We recognize this alarm signal through physical sensation. What we perceive in our environment is felt in our body and translated to our brain so that it may release any necessary chemicals to help us to respond to a situation. A shark will bump against a bar in the cage, to test its resilience, and this will sound the alarm, allowing a person to recognize a predator and act accordingly.

The more in tune you are with what your body is telling you, the more present that you are in your own body — the better you will be at protecting yourself. Most children, if not affected by trauma, will naturally develop this defense system over time.  

However, through L. Ron Hubbard’s teaching and practices you will learn many ways to override your own physical sensations and reactions (example: TRs) and disconnect from your body. “Going exterior” in Scientology is an exalted phenomena that is recommended and pursued. L. Ron Hubbard wants you to be “three feet back of your head.”

Bessel Van Der Kolk, psychiatrist, researcher and author of The Body Keeps The Score, talks about the damaging effect of trauma in the disconnection of a person from their body. He states that a prolonged disconnection from the body brings about the inability to detect what is safe or unsafe, which diminishes the capacity to self-regulate and that you will then have to rely on external regulation. This creates a dependency on other things, such as with addiction or compulsive compliance with the wishes of others. He said that the remedy for the disconnection brought by trauma, is to gently come back to your own body through increasing connection to your physical sensations.  

In Scientology there are terms such as counter intention, other intention, stops, ridges. L. Ron Hubbard defines “ridge” as the point where two opposing energy flows have collided. In fact, it’s the person’s boundaries that have been impinged upon and to “ridge against something” is to object to it. This is something negative that must be processed out — removed from — a person, to disarm one's intruder alert system and remove any objections to opposing forces. Remember, the seven-year-old girl who shudders because a man kisses her is not computing. It is an onslaught of proverbial Trojan Horses.

L. Ron Hubbard figured out how to induce trauma states in a person to disconnect them from their body, so that they would become reliant upon his words for their own regulation. He created a "technology" to break down the safety barriers that a person has, which are necessary for self-preservation. Both the training and processing sides of the Bridge are a regimen for this type of destruction. And he designed it so that Scientologists would continue to perpetrate this upon each other, long after his death. 

To address past trauma and harm that we have experienced, in most cases we need to get to a place of safety first, after our most basic survival needs have been met. This is especially so for a child, where you may need to become an adult before you are capable of addressing what happened to you. A safe place is where you do not live in fear of consequences for telling the truth. There is no safe place for children in Scientology.

II.

Since April 2023, the beginning of the second Danny Masterson trial, I have been involved with The Lighthouse Project, a podcast which was created by second generation survivors to bring insight to what it’s like for a child growing up in Scientology. It was important to us to be informative on the topics which would be raised through the Jane Does’ testimonies, to advocate on their behalf from our lived experiences, and to provide our own testimonies, which corroborated facts presented by the prosecution. Christi Gordon, Victoria Locke and I were joined along the way by other children of Scientology, including Amanda Rae, Danielle Ballou, Liz Gale, Serge Del Mar as well as Claire Headley, after the verdict was announced, to discuss the expert witness testimony that she had provided.     

With the use of the Proprietor’s transcripts from the courtroom here at the Underground Bunker, we were able to follow what took place each day. Fortunately, in this second trial, with the allowance of more testimony about Scientology, the prosecution was able to present a clear representation of the victims’ experiences. We were able to learn in much greater detail the involvement of Scientology officials, the actions that were taken, and we gained further insight into the ordeal of seeking justice by Danny Masterson’s victims.

The Jane Does’ testimonies and our resulting recorded conversations quickly revealed just how systemic the abuse of victims in Scientology is. That these are not isolated incidents but are part and parcel to the Scientology experience and that they are based on its system of beliefs, which were created by L. Ron Hubbard. That’s especially important because though there was leeway granted to include information on the policies and practices that related to the Jane Does’ experiences, they were not allowed to speak on the beliefs of Scientology, which would have provided a deeper understanding.

In Scientology there is no concept of consent. In all the vast writings and lectures of L. Ron Hubbard there does not exist anything to address rape or sexual assault in correct terms. In the place of this vacuum, Scientologists defer to his teachings such as that a person is responsible for everything that happens to them and his theory of the overt-motivator sequence. This results in the requirement of victims to write up their overts (transgressions) and withholds (hidden transgressions) as well as tailored security checks (metered confessionals) of victims demanding that they find what they did to “pull it in,” even if they have to locate this in a previous lifetime. They reframe the victim's experience and change their language, re-labelling them with innocuous terms, such as “out 2-D.”

The Jane Does’ testimonies in this trial highlighted the role of the Chaplain with regards to the systematic cover up of crimes. We referred to our own experiences of this, as well as other cases which have appeared in the media. Where there was conviction of the predator, the victim or parent of the victims had to first fight through the gaslighting and prevention tactics brought to bear within the cloister of the Chaplain's office. 

It is not only against firmly held beliefs and violation of policy, but also a high crime for any Scientologist to report another Scientologist to law enforcement. However, this does not mean that sexual assaults go unreported. Quite the opposite. Scientologists will dutifully report internally within the Church all manner of crimes, adhering to their stringent reporting policies and these are all managed internally, preventing any real consequences for the perpetrators.

Deputy DA Ariel Anson said in her closing statement, “Now, like all predators he sought out his prey. Most were members of the Church of Scientology, and that makes sense. In Scientology, rape isn't rape. You caused this. And you are never allowed to go to law enforcement. What a better hunting ground.”

The cases that the public have heard are from individuals who persevered through the obstruction of Scientology first, where they attempted to minimise and control the narrative. And still the victims did not escape the harassment and involvement of this so-called church, which cannot help but inject themselves at every turn. Including issuing a statement after Danny Masterson was convicted of rape, crying religious injustice and continuing to claim him as one of their own. All of this, for the protection of Scientology and is damaging beyond measure to the victim. 

Scientologists are taught to protect Scientology at all costs. But the Jane Does defied that, not because they desired to attack Scientology, but because it was essential to their own preservation and survival. It is harmful to be forced to deny what happened to you, no matter that you are told that it is “the greatest good for the greatest number of dynamics” to do so. 

Jane Doe 1 was told to “let it go.” She was told that she was confused. She was made to find what she did wrong to pull this in. She was told that there would be consequences for her and not her rapist. But she continued to ask the question, what would it really mean for me if I accepted that? What would this mean for my daughter to live in a world where this had been made OK? To fight back meant that she would lose everything, including eventually her own mother. For each of these Jane Does it cost too much and yet they persevered. Because what happened is intolerable. Because justice is necessary.

As Deputy DA Reinhold Mueller said in his closing rebuttal argument: “They were raped, they were punished for it, and they were retaliated against. Scientology told them there's no justice for them. You have the opportunity to show them that there is justice for them. It does exist. There were no consequences for Mr. Masterson from this internal church justice. You have the opportunity to show that there are consequences for his actions, they do exist.” He said of the victims that, “They came here for the opportunity for their voices to be heard.”

Mr. Mueller asked the jury to give these victims the justice that they are looking for, “That you find this defendant guilty of the charges of raping each of these victims. Find him guilty and give them their justice. There is only one verdict in this case, and it is guilty.”

And we have all been celebrating the guilty verdict ever since. The resulting justice for the Jane Does has provided a sense of recognition and a hope of justice, for all Scientology victims of sexual assault.

— Mirriam Francis

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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

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