Pete Griffiths on the unbearable rightness of being Scientologists
On a recent post of Scientology’s success stories from Advance! magazine, Pete Griffiths spotted a name he recognized…
I see that Siobhan Ryan has reached the OTV rung on the ladder to total oblivion.
Poor girl.
I never really knew her other than that her name was on the official government paperwork making her responsible for the Scientology accounts, always at least a year late and also highly inaccurate. I knew of an amount that had been paid into the mission in a certain year and it never showed up in the accounts. Way to go you ethical beings of great integrity.
I was more acquainted with her husband Alan who I met at Saint Hill in 1987 while I was training to be an executive. He was pretty new to the subject as was I. We used to hang out at break times and drink coffee or smoke or whatever, and a few of us would stand around in a group discussing whatever we felt like but usually how wonder the tech was.
One particular day I was extolling the virtues of study tech and marveling at its simplicity. I mean really, if you don’t know the meaning of a word, look it up. During one such conversation Alan asked quite enthusiastically if I had ever tried speed reading. I had no idea what that was so asked him and it turns out it was exactly what it sounds like. You just skim over your material., he said. I asked, what about looking up words? He said you don’t do that.
I stated somewhat hesitantly that I wasn’t sure that was ethical or on-policy and he just shrugged it off. Fast forward to a few years ago on the streets of Dublin. I bumped into Alan and was trying to reach him and get him to wognite. I said, we always got along pretty well, why won’t you listen to what I have to say? I can save you time and money.
He replied with a sneer, “You tried to get me speed reading!”
I said, …but that was you!
He insisted that I had tried to get him speed reading and therefore I was always an SP. To this day the memory of this leaves me shaking my head in disbelief. He had somehow in true Scientologist fashion assumed control over matter, energy, space and time, by making it all up, twisting facts and believing in his version of events.
Poor guy.
— Pete Griffiths
IAS back home this year?
We thought we’d put this out there for our correspondents to see what they can turn up about it.
What we’re talking about is that we’ve received an unconfirmed report that the annual October celebration of the International Association of Scientologists, the IAS, will return to its traditional home at Saint Hill, Scientology’s UK headquarters in East Grinstead, England.
Since the pandemic hit, all annual events which have been held have been located at the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater, Florida. But now, we’ve heard, Scientologists are being told that the IAS event will return to its home in England.
Does that mean church leader is ready to risk leaving whatever hideout he’s been hanging out in the last couple of years in Florida? Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First let’s see if we can confirm the news that the IAS is returning to Saint Hill.
If you hear something about it, please let us know.
Bonus items from our tipsters
Elena Cardone on June 11th? We’re sorry we missed it.
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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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“ He had somehow in true Scientologist fashion assumed control over matter, energy, space and time, by making it all up, twisting facts and believing in his version of events.”
Scientology in one sentence! And bonus points for “wognite.”
As for DM leaving Clearwater, he’s not (yet) under any travel restriction, and he’s already been served, so… can I help him pack?
I have this very same experience with the Scientologist in my life on a regular basis. Many, many times she has restated a discussion that we had in the past, an agreement that we made, or an experience that we shared... and her recall of it is completely opposite mine.
It's really disorienting for someone like me who tends first to question myself when I'm met with unexpected information like this. Especially when it comes with so much certainty and conviction. But when I look back through emails or other records and find it to be exactly as I recall it happening, all I can do is shake my head...
And I've also found that no amount of evidence can convince a person like this that things happened differently than they recall.
I always felt this was a Scientological phenomenon, so your story is helpful confirmation for me. It truly is a superpower to be able to change events of the past. There may also be a psych explanation.