One of the about half a dozen former Int Base staff, who want to write
their experiences in the future, are currently in the same predicament
that I was in.
When you route out of the Int Base or via the PAC RPF, like I did, you
really have NO initial clue about the whole anti-Scn community, and no
idea who to trust, who is an OSA accomplice, and there's an adequate
amount of paranoia to prevent you from contacting people "on the other
side".
I waited a whole year, and moved to another city, I "safepointed" all
my relatives, briefed them that the movement might attack me back. I
did all this for months, and over a whole year, I took it slow,
building up the reality of my family, so they would not be shocked if
Scn came after me in the known ways they have harrassed their former
staff and critics in the past (again I must thank ALL who have put the
info on the internet, it historically is a powerful help, and the
dozens of good people who have put good info on it about LRH and Scn).
But still the problem, how to defect, how to leave one's Scn friends
one is in with, who to hook up with people in the anti-Scn side of
things, how not to incur the wrath of one's Scn boss, how not to offend
blatantly one's Scn friend's feelings, since to me I realized I'd be
creating a string of ARC breaks, because I know how I felt when the
great former people in the Scn movement were ousted or ejected, it is a
disappointment to see people drift out. Even if anyone remembers LRH's
voice when he discussed in the 1959 Individuation tape lecture, people
know that LRH was even, in those earlier years, emotionally sad to lose
good people. LRH even uses the word good, in describing those people,
who today, with the later rules, we know, these same people are
unfortunately labelled SPs. (To me this LRH tape, when I re-listened
to it, which I did about 20 times in my 7 years on the RPF, this tape
is proof that people are in fact good, and the SP labels are simply
labels, and the SP label is just evolved rules. People are still
blowing, and those people are still good people. And not only are the
people blowing good, I would argue that LRH to me, in that 1959
lecture, himself, was demonstrating a huge amount of compassion, which
over the years, due to his own hampering accumulating rules, his own
goodness showed itself in other ways, and he unfortunately left the Scn
movement with rules prohibiting them exhibiting compassion he himself
earlier did.
This to me is truly a sad longer range developement, which I think
probably is similarly true in all the weirdnesses that the movement
exhibits. My view is they will have to figure their way back out of
those rules that shut down their inate humanness.)
Anyways, back to the point. I have people contacting me, with
questions how to move out, how to get good jobs, how to find a safe
location to speak their stories which they have concluded that the
official Scn movement would harrass them were they to tell their lives!
1) Help getting jobs outside the Scn jobs they are already in.
2) Places to move to, they can afford, outside the Scn community they
are currently in.
Good useful advice on these 2 points, will later on result in some
people getting in positions to speak out.
(I chose working by high principled wog businesses or groups, I chose
the Sierra Club, and activist groups, and newspapers, as good people to
work for. Working with intelligent wogs, is to me, the best defense
from official and unofficial Scn movement harrassing tactics.)
I'd like to hear people's years of good experience and opinions in
dealing with these two initial problems that people coming out of the
Sea Org, after having been in and round the top parts of the Sea Org
for decades, what good suggestions people have.
Thanks, Chuck Beatty

How and when did you find out about ARS and xenu.net? You are one of
> the most recent leavers I know.
> Mick
I first found Lerma Net, because when I was in the RPF, in the late
90's the Freedom Mag articles stupidly mentioned Arnie, and I
remembered Arnie's flap with Suzette back when it happened at the FLB
years earlier.
So when I first got out, I spent a lot of time looking at LermaNet and
that branched off all over the place. First couple of times on
LermaNet, it hooks up to xenu, and there are SO MANY sites now, it is
just overwhelming almost, which is also reassuring, since the anti-Scn
info looks so permanently on the internet. It looked suddenly to me,
when I first was looking, that there was a huge anti-Scn community of
all various types of participants.
I started looking at anti-LRH and anti-Scn sites, while I was still on
the RPF's RPF in March 2003. I had started sneaking a peek at the
anti-Scn stuff then. I'd arranged to go to the library, and I had
arranged to start using the internet while still routing out. I saw
the huge number of anti-Scn links then, but when on the RPF's RPF route
out special category, I limited my looking then to just the anti-LRH
history stuff, since if I got caught, I could argue I was just doing
"source" briefings on LRH's life (ha!)!
About May or Jun 2003, I got my own computer, and started looking at
the confid OT 3 and NOTs stuff, that was a definite hump for me. But I
just couldn't stop looking, it was too damn compelling, reading the
info, there is SO MUCH good info, especially all the LRH material.
That's when I started looking all over the anti-Scn sites, and I looked
at them for a year before I moved to Pittsbrugh, and when here in
Pittsburgh, in late July, I started posting.
(Have you written up the early IAS history yet? Cyprus!)
I encourage all the former Int Base staff to write whatever they can,
and get it on the internet, since the head of the Scn movement resides
at the Int Base. People observing the Scn movement can be informed of
what directions things might be going, or what's behind the scenes in
recent years there. Plus the whole history of the top of the movement
needs to get written up for history's sake.
Best, Chuck

Anonymous answered me the following: GOOD TIPS
When I 1st left, I got jobs doing things I knew about, Call-In
translated to selling professional magazines on the phone, things like
"Agricultural Parts Trader", ""Airplane Exchange", Construction
Industry Magazine, etc. Telemarketers are always hiring, and it is not
a great job, but beats the hell out of selling a scam and there is no
Thursday at 2 to worry about! I also got my real estate license, takes
about 6 weeks and often the training is free through one of the large
brokers, and anything in sales kind of relates to regging. I also sold
Encyclopedias and learning materials to schools and churches, and
magazines door to door. Then I decided to go back to college, and found
there are many programs to help adults go back to college, whether for
a degree or certificate.
I STRONGLY recommend staying away from "Trade Schools", on-line
certificate programs, etc. Most are scams, and there was a recent "60
Minutes" show on CBS about this. I also read recently that some of the
largest, ( CEC, Smartcertify, etc.) are associated with WISE, and Jerry
DYAS (OT 8 from Clearwater) is one of the owners. Their certs are
essentially worthless in getting a job, all you end up with is a huge
student loan debt.
That said, the way to go is to enroll in your local community
college and apply for financial aide. After working for $scn for years,
you definitely qualify! I got Pell grants, State grants, and took out
student loans. While attending school full time, I got a part-time job
as a bartender/waiter in a nice supper club. I usually made 200 to 300
dollars a night working only Friday and Saturday. I doubled up on
classes and did summer school and winter breaks for extra credit, and
graduated in just less than 2 years. I saved money by living in a
really cheap mobile home, hell I was never there anyway, and it was
MUCH nicer than staff berthing!!! I started applying for jobs 6 months
before graduation, and landed a really good one that I started right
away while still a student. I continued part time in University even
after graduating Community College to get promoted at work.
Also, I used my knowledge of real estate to buy a crappy house in
a decent neighborhood using a government backed FHA loan. I lived there
for 2 years, fixed it up, and made enough to buy a better house, and
did the same thing. So in just a few years after leaving $cn, I was
making 70K a year salary, sold 2 houses and bought a third, paid off my
student loans and had enough money to pay off my "freeloader debt".
THANK GOD for the Internet!!!!! And A big Thanks to all the
critics who put the truth about $cn out there! I did not give one thin
dime to $cn, and never will, even though now I could buy the whole
"bridge" if I wanted to. (What bridge? There is no bridge!) The only
thing I have to thank the Sea Org for is teaching me to work like a dog
and live on almost nothing. Oh, and thank you very much for declaring
me an SP!
Anonymous
------------------------
Another suggestion to ex-Sea Org from another ex-Sea Org member:
Coming out of the SO after years can be really scary. I remember
one of my juniors who had been in for decades, he was in tears because
his wife got pregnant and they were being sent to a Class V org. He was
a tough guy, had been a CO and held many exec positions since the days
when LRH was still around. But he was absolutely terrified of having to
go out in the wog world and pay rent and buy his own food, etc., as he
had been in the SO since he was a teen and had never had a "real" job.
I felt the same way after years of indoctrination. They came back to
the Sea Org years later, not looking happy or healthy at all.
When I finally left, I read about health care being one of the
fastest growing job markets due to the baby boom generation getting to
retirement age. There are a lot of great opportunities in geriatrics.
If I were coming out of the SO now, with my 500 dollars severance pay
and no work history, I would go to work at a Nursing Home. They are
ALWAYS hiring. They have on the job training so you can get a CNA.
(Certified Nurse Assistant Certificate.) Once you have that, you can go
to work at a hospital, they hire CNAs all the time. Check if a hospital
in your area has a tuition reimbursement program. You can start as a
CNA or a monitor technician or a unit clerk. Often training is
provided. Check with the Human Resources Dept., they usually have a job
board with the requirements listed. Once you are hired and have a few
months of good production, apply for training as an RN. Several
hospitals in my area have programs where you work 20 hours but get full
time pay and benefits to attend Nursing School. (There is a nationwide
shortage of Nurses.) You just have sign a contract promising to work
for them for a few years after you graduate. (usually 2 years). RNs
average over 25/hr, much more if you specialize. (ER, ICU, Surgery,
Life Flight, etc.)
Not every employee is chosen, you have to be special, but if you
were able to survive and move up the ranks in the insane world of the
SO, you ARE special. The real world is so much more sane than the SO,
especially if you were an exec. There are rules and laws and justice
that are actually applied. You get paid for your work, and you have
security and benefits. Plus, you can really help people, and isn't
that why we joined the Sea Org in the 1st Place?
An Ex-SO

My concern about X-Sea Org has always been "how the hell do you get a WOG job".

What I had observed of X-Sea org (at the mission) was that they went into sales of some type or another. I don't think that most of them had any other choice - unless they learned a skill while on RPF. (The job prospects for X-Sea Org has been a heart-breaker for me.)

Other than this, sorry I can't help much on this. But I thought I would throw in my 2 cents.

Dear Programmer Guy,

Yes, I too, in LA, when I first got out, the "Task Sales" positions, looked most promising, and indeed, I knew two other PAC RPFers who got out a few months after me, they tried the Task Sales jobs, one still at it, doing well, the other not a saleman type, went on to other things.

I myself, never was a salesman, but again, in my final year in the RPF's RPF, I read all the Les Dane books, in my RPF's RPFer study time, and then the last 3 of my wog jobs are door to door, and I am right this moment improving my sales abilities, making only 500/wk take home, which is fine for me at this stage in my life. But I agree with your observation about sales jobs.

Additionally, I know of at least 3 who went back to school after getting out, either community college or University, getting grants, and several people in contact with me over the past 7 months were doing college courses.

So I think going back to college, getting some professional career counseling, that I would highly recommend also!

[Tips from a been/there--done/that ex-Sea Org member and the imaginary but effective harrassment and how to avoid it. This is from a Sea Org defector to me, Chuck Beatty:]



Hi again,

I just thought of something that might help new "defectors" after reading your writeup on the CB [Clambake] website. When I got out, I went to live with my Mom for the time being, to have some safety and sanity.

I immediately went out to find a job and responded to an ad in the local paper for a receptionist job at a nearby pet hospital. It was only a block away, which was perfect, because after years of having no money to speak of, I certainly wasn't going to have a car or insurance.

I applied for and got the job. I felt very relieved that I was already getting "back in the swing of things." Then I was called by the Dir I&R, who had been trying everything to get
me to return to LA and route out "properly" and I was told that I no longer had a job at that nearby pet hospital. I either had mentioned
it in conversation, or she looked around for nearby Scn's to tell them that I was no longer "in good standing" and that got me fired. I went in to confirm this, and by golly, I had no job. They were shutting me
down in my new life, even from long-distance!


You can imagine the state of mind this put me in, where I felt that somehow they still had control of me, which is, I'm sure, exactly what
they try to portray. When I eventually did go back down to Pac to go through their little steps, I was told by the Dir I&R that in
actuality, the people who had employed me weren't really in good standing themselves, but they were made to believe that they were in
danger of losing their "good standing" (which they evidently no longer possessed) by having me as an employee. They dropped me like a hot
potato. Which worked to the Dir I&R's advantage.


Only later when I wasn't so suppressed (yes, I used that word!) by them did I realize that they didn't truly have that kind of power in the
"wog world", but that only because the weak-minded people I worked for still believed that the Scn hoax still worked for them and held sway
over them, were they manipulated into believing they had something to lose by keeping me as an employee. They had no idea how ugly it could
get at the Int Base. Maybe they would have chosen differently if they had a clue.

Only by use of fear does Scn still hold sway over you. The rest of the world simply doesn't operate by their rules, as they'd like to believe.

It just takes time and bravery to work it out of your system. It doesn't happen overnight.

So here's my tip: When you are looking for your first job out in the real world, try logging onto the Internet and looking up the Clambake
website, then go to the category called "Making Enemies," then go to the link called "Enemy Names," then to the bottom of that page where
there is a link called Go To "List of Enemies of Scientology." Here you will find people who are avowed enemies of Scn, either in theory or
practice. Chances are, you won't find an Scn working there. Try one of those places.

Or...you can type in the name of the business that you are applying to, or the name of the persons you will be working for, and behind their
name in the search window write "Scientology" and see what comes up.

You may find their name on a list of Scientology completions, or in some other context having to do with Scn. I was amazed to find out that an old atty that I had used had been linked to them rather tightly. Yuck!


If you feel you will have trouble getting the name of the people you will be working for, you could try this: When you go in to pick up
your application, look over the job description briefly and ask the receptionist who the people are who own the company, and who the people
are you will be working for, if selected for this position. Making the receptionist feel like they are truly "in the know" by your manner will help you get the information, since they are usually the "bottom of the food chain" in most businesses. They will likely give up the
names freely. If they seem suspicious as to why you would want to know, tell them that you are a serious applicant and that you like to
do research on future employers before applying for jobs so that you feel sure that the workplace and employers will be a "right fit." or something like that. If I had done that, I would likely have not applied to that job and the Dir I&R wouldn't have been able to use it
as leverage against me.

Anyway, that's all for now.
Take care Chuck, hope this helps someone.

Regards,
....

If I were leaving the last place I would want to work is for Scientologists for exactly the reason given above. There are plenty of entry level jobs around that would provide some level of benefits. Not as likely with a Scn company, IMHO because providing health insurance when you have PTS tech is a waste of money and rewarding a downstat.

Wow not sure how I missed this thread.

The LAST place anyone leaving the SO should work is somewhere that is under the influence of Scientology. Even if one is planning to "get on lines" one day IMHO they would be better off starting out anew.

One thing I know about all SO members is that we (and I very much include myself in this)have an overinflated idea of how skilled we are in the real world working skills.

Of course a lot depends on personal and familial circumstances - when my wife and I left we had to find jobs immediately. We had to find a place to live, we had to get some way to pay some rent and so on. It was not easy we worked at cleaning jobs - which were easy to get and paid low but at least got us started.

My advice is if you have some support like a family - find out what your skill levels really are in whatever you consider your strengths to be and start looking for entry level positions in that area.

If you need to get a job immediately, any job, then get whatever you can get and use your off time to get a real picture of your skillset. And then do the same - start looking for entry level positions in your area of expertise.

Then, go back to school and get some paper. (at least having put up with insane schedules in the SO we have an advantage in being able to tolerate them). I got an associates in Networking - and it was paid for by the company I worked for.

Start making friends IRL - your best bet for finding out and landing good jobs is from someone you know. You may find that this skill has atrophied if you have been in the SO a long time. But do try. get to know people and stay in touch.

AS for you chuck - you should go back to school and get a teaching degree - you would be good at it!

"A population weakened and exhausted by battling against so many obstacles -- whose needs are never satisfied and desires never fulfilled -- is vulnerable to manipulation and regimentation. The struggle for survival is, above all, an exercise that is hugely time-consuming, absorbing and debilitating. If you create these ''anti-conditions,'' your rule is guaranteed for a hundred years." - Ryszard Kapuscinski

Chuck, Mick is right. You need to go right now to your local community college and enroll in whatever interests you. You can get Pell grants, state grants, and take out student loans at a very low interest rate. The grants alone will pay you more than you are making right now, and you will get straigt "A"s, because you are light years ahead of the average in terms of life experience.

Do it Chuck!

Mick,

That's so true.

When I left SCN I went back to college. I did fast-food jobs, for a few months, until I got a job building in-door bleachers for schools and rec-centers. Then I got a job on campus through the California Basic Educational Opportunity Grant (BEOG - now defunct and superceded by other things).

As one who has hired ex Scn's in the past, I thought of a few things to point out to anyone now re-entering the real world.

Get over the ideas of ethics on the dynamics you live and breathe. When you work for a company you are expected to do whatever it takes to make your job successful - except anything illegal or unethical, i.e. that would hurt another. Work your butt off, but don't think that you can get angry at anyone else and stay in your job.

Keep your TR's in at all times: find out what people want of you and do better than that.

Stay at the job at least two years. People won't want to hire someone who job hops.

Don't lie. Don't talk "acceptable truths". Don't shade your meaning so as to deceive. Just tell the absolute truth as best as you can all the time. Don't bullshit people, and don't use "shore stories".

The real world expects an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. Don't clock watch or insist on your rights, or your post. Just do what it takes, and if it doesn't seem right, ask about it in a not-make-wrong way.

Of course there are unethical people and companies out there, but most are entirely ethical as best as they can be, and as honest as they can be too. Assume that they are until proved otherwise. The real world just isn't the snake pit that LRH wrote about.

All the best to you all

Dear Ami, May I call you Ami, as your screen name is a bit wieldy? Or would you prefer "Class"? Of course we could wait for you to post under your real name as you said you would do next week. Let me know.

I will start with the main point point where I agree with you, indeed; "The real world just isn't the snake pit LRH wrote about." Righty-O, mate. The real world is a walk in the park compared to the Sea Org.

I do however have a few bones to pick with you on the rest of your assertions, though I appreciate that you have the best of intentions.

My initial impression of your post was that you were probably a scientology public, and still believe in the tech. You have confirmed this by identifying yourself as a freezoner in another post. Perhaps your advice was aimed at public scientology defectors like yourself rather than at ex Sea Org. I, as an ex SO, found the tone of your post rather condescending and naieve.

No one needs to tell an ex SO how to work his butt off. The concept of an honest days pay for an honest days work is novel to us, not because we don't want to work, but because we have worked like dogs for years for next to nothing, and even minumum wage is amazing to us. We have TRs like you can't believe, read the stories on the net and tell me you would have been able to put up with that crap for a week, let alone years and years. Insist on our "rights"? What are our rights? We haven't had the right to even think about rights, let alone be educated on them. "Make wrong"? Ummm...you can sent to the RPF for that. We do not go there.

I do not think "most" companies are entirely ethical, there are scams galore out here, and people who have been totally cut off from the world for years are not very likely to recognize them. Don't get fooled again.

Also, the real world looks very sceptically at scientology, so while I do not advocate lying or shore stories, I think you don't have to spill your guts to everyone you meet. It looks much better to put "I worked for Bridge Publications in shipping and handling" rather than "I was in a cult for the last 10 years." Or "sales" instead of regging, or "personnel" instead of HCO, etc. You might call that a spin, but I think it is more like translating scientologese into english.

As far as staying in a job for 2 years, I disagree again. A Sea Org defectee has immediate needs for money, shelter, food, etc. We are willing to do the most menial jobs, and will be happy to do 2 or 3 of them and consider ourselves incredibly lucky to make 3 or more times our usual weekly wages in one day. Our ability and willingness to work hard serves us well. Plus we can stretch a dollar until it squeeks, and are used to living on next to nothing in extemely poor quarters.

My advice to ex Sea Org remains the same as my post above, GO BACK TO SCHOOL!!! I worked 2 jobs and took 17 units per semester plus summer school to finish a 4 year degree in 2 1/2 years. It is amazing what a little motivation can do for you, plus you will be amazed how hungry you are for the knowledge and how much easier it is to understand than L. Ron Hubbards gobbledygook. Go to the financial aide office at your local community college, they will help you get grants, loans, etc. Stay away from the "for profit" training institutes, many are run by scientologists and many are scams that will give you nothing but a useless certificate and a huge government loan to pay back.

The more I studied, the more I figured out what scientology really is and what happened to me. The truth is out here, you can find it too if you just look.

VI, OTVII, My best wishes to you, too. I hope we can discuss some of our other disagreements in the future as well. I look forward to your next post.

ML, Ladybird

Hi Ladybird,

Well, i'll change my id later this week so I'm not anonymous.

Sorry to be condescending, and I don't really disagree with you: I was writing from my experiences having employed various ex SO people in the past (albeit about 10 years ago). Yes I'm a freezoner, and do believe in at least a fair amount of the tech, but I'm not religious about it.

Going to school and working for a fast food company or something in the mean time is fine - what I was concerned about is after that.

I am in business in industry, owning a company which is doing pretty well. I'm not an employee except nominally of my corporation. WHat I do want to argue about is the ethics/shore story stuff. Indeed, you don't have to spill your guts about your history - I was meaning in your work, talking about things you are doing or observing, there's no shore story. Just be b honest.

Your comment about companies being unethical is I think standard Scientology bullshit, although it is also standard media bullshit. Every movie has as its bad guy the corporate asshole, for example. Sure, they do exist (nothing is worse than a hotshot business school graduate), but in general, in industry, that's not the way it is. Most companies are ethical, honest, and do their best. Particularly smaller ones.

I think that people have the feeling that companies are not ethical, and so they are justified in stretching things, or what have you. That attitude is pretty obvious to the employer, and he'll not appreciate it. A SO graduate has spent his life working for the most unethical organization on the planet, and will naturally have a certain lack of trust in any organization after that. He will naturally regard any protestation (by the company) of ethical behaviour as obvious bullshit, both from experience and propoganda. But it just isn't so, mostly.

Best wishes to you too!

"SO Graduate"??? No such thing, the contract is for a billion years, and less than 40 years have passed since it's inception in 1967. The only way out of the Sea Org is to blow, route out or get offloaded by a Fitness Board. The best way is to get declared SP, at least then no one is regging you for this and that and you are off the call-in and mailing lists. I am sure IJC and the CJCs are quite too busy what with the thousands of names on the published SP lists of 86 and Flag ED 2830RB 25July1992, not to mention the thousands more who have been declared since then. They are the only ones allowed to talk to SPs.

I do agree that being honest is always a good idea. I think that as an ex-SO I am less likely to whine and complain and expect my boss to handle my problems. If I do see an out point, I will offer a solution to what I see as a problem when I report it, and I am more likely than most to follow the proper command channels and avoid creating a flap. I find this has been much appreciated and rewarded in the real world, where in the Sea Org you never even get a pat on the back, let alone a raise when you are promoted.

Most companies, especially smaller ones are in fact so much more ethical than scientology, and offer pay, benefits and job security unheard of to a Sea Org member. I was talking more about the scams that are out there in the newspaper and on line that might look very attractive to some one not in the know such as "make 500 dollars a day stuffing envelopes at home" or "do medical billing at home" or "open your own on line web site selling our product", etc, etc.

I appreciate your willingness to talk about things like this, and admire your intention to drop the anonymous status. I am anonymous for what I consider to be very good reasons, and will remain so until I feel otherwise. I hope this is not a problem for you. I think it is only a problem for OSA types. Even if I know who you are, (and I do know many posters here), it is your words and facts and ideas that count. I can be reached if necessary, but only through others I really trust. I think most ideas we all can exchange with each other are best shared in a public exchange where all can lurk or join in as they wish. I think it is enlightening to get other veiwpoints...and everyone's input is valuable.

Thanks, Ladybird

Most companies are ethical, honest, and do their best. Particularly smaller ones.

I agree.

The bad ones hit the news, making it appear that most business is only greedy and exploitative and rife with unethical practices.

But in actuality, most people in business are trying to do the "right" thing and still stay employed or keep their business operating.

In research on secular ethics, two different studies found universally (across all cultures, religions, etc.) these five qualities to be at the core of what is considered "ethical":

1) compassion
2) fairness
3) responsibility
4) honesty
5) respect.

Even so, the details of "ethics" are different for different people: Labor sympathizers have one view of it; management has another; government yet another. Some individuals' sense of ethics is quite self-serving, others' more altruistic.

Some professions have codes of ethics (law, medicine, etc.). Some companies have a written behavior code which tells you what offenses will get you fired (drinking or doing drugs on their premises, assault, etc.).

So of course, in the world outside scientology where there is no "master ethics code," there are going to be differences in perception and interpretation of what is ethical.

This might present a difficult adjustment for someone who has grown accustomed to being sent (or sending their juniors) to ethics for a "handling" if they were 30 seconds late for staff muster.

One definition of ethics in scientology is "the greatest good for the greatest number of dynamics." Some people think this concept is unique to scientology (i.e., invented by Hubbard) but I've not found it to be so.

I've observed that most people in the world at least consider how their decisions and actions are going to affect others -- their partner, their children, their parents, their community, coworkers, teammates.

Even when they made unwise decisions and followed destructive paths, this was often out of a desperate need for their (sometimes misguided) sense of self-preservation after failing at attempts to find a solution that served the needs of everyone touched by the problem.

Re "SO graduate" I was being ironic!

Ken Ogger I think it was pointed out that the one statistic in which SCn is clearly in affluence or power is "Ex-Scientologists".

An SO graduate is one who has been in and was ejected on one or another ballistic trajectory.