On Lack of Privacy
|
|
|
|
(make this part of OSA US DR on RVY)
Parallels between "1984" and Scientology. Substitute "Sea Org/Dept 20" for
"Party".
On Lack of Privacy
From George Orwell's "1984" published in 1949: "In principle a Party
member had no spare time and was never alone except in bed. It was assumed
that when he was not working, eating or sleeping he would be taking part
in some communal recreations; to do anything that suggested a taste for
solitude, even to go for a walk by yourself, was always slightly
dangerous. There was a word for it in Newspeak: _ownlife_, it was called,
meaning individualism and eccentricity.
Commentary: Lack of spare time and never alone is characteristic of life
in the Sea Org/Dept 20. Solitude is highly suspected. One is expected to
be a "team member." If one wants to be alone, the Scientology Newspeak
that is thrown at a person is that they are being "first dynamically
oriented." To understand this, one must understand there are "eight
dynamics" in Scientology:
1 - self
2 - sex and family
3 - group
4 - mankind
5 - life
6 - universe
7 - theta or life force
8 - infinity
While the public posture is that one is to "balance" these, the truth is
that one lives in the group and if one wants to take a day off, that is
being "first dynamically oriented" and means one is being unethical,
selfish and probably a sign of criminality.
More from "1984": "A Party member lives from birth to death under the eye
of the Thought Police. Even when he is alone he can never be sure that he
is alone. Wherever he may be, asleep or awake, working or resting, in his
bath or in bed, he can be inspected without warning and without knowing
that he is being inspected His friendship, his relaxations, his behavior
toward his wife and children, the expression of his face when he is alone,
the words he mutters in sleep, even the characteristic movements of his
body, are all jealously scrutinized. Not only any actual misdemeanor, but
any eccentricity, however small, any change of habits, any nervous
mannerism that could possibly be the symptom of an inner struggle is
certain to be detected."
Commentary: In the Sea Org, private "berthing" (meaning where one lives)
is subject to inspection at any time, and these are done, often under the
guise of a "white glove." Rooms are allowed to be locked, providing their
authorities have a set of keys. Inspectors watch for anything unusual that
might be suspicious, e.g., a suspicious magazine, a letter from a strange
person, notes that indicate anything suspicious. Everything else Orwell
describes are inspected and watched and reports made. If suspicious, the
person is called into "Ethics" which is Scientology's "Thought Police."
One might undergo a "Security Check" which is an interrogation on
Scientology's lie detector, to get at any thoughts that the person might
be hiding from the organization. Under this type of scrutiny, one learns
to simply not think certain thoughts and to adhere to the "straight and
narrow."
Robert Vaughn Young
writer@eskimo.com