I think that I was able to identify some of the deciding factors that determine whether a new Scientologist will stay in the cult or leave it. I will try to describe how these factors affect people including myself.
In my opinion, four most important factors are the following:

1. The thetan idea.

About 99% of Scientologists who live in western countries have Christian background. Their background makes possible an easy transition from the notion of “soul” to the notion of “thetan”. They simply replace the immortal “Christian soul” with immortal “thetan”. The differences between the soul and the thetan are insignificant for those who have not reached the OT levels. The Scientology trap is set for them, and they walk right into it without realizing the consequences.

It was very different for me because I was an atheist who wanted to do my own Dianetics research at the time of my encounter with Scientology. Scientology is not designed to convert atheists into Hubbard followers, probably, because he also had Christian upbringing and did not know much about atheism. You cannot convince an atheist that the thetans exist just because Hubbard says so. For an atheist Hubbard is a lone figure faced with a long line of atheist scientists of all persuasions who believe in the evolutionary theory.
For me Hubbard was a Werner Heisenberg of psychology. Heisenberg was one of the most famous physicists who developed the matrix version of quantum theory. I have a great respect for him. But, as a philosopher, he was an Idealist, which is not acceptable to me (I am a Positivist). Similarly, Hubbard’s thetan idea was meaningless to me.

2. Part of Scientology ethics that mirrors Christian ethics.

This part of CoS ethics is presented in the small booklet (sorry, forgot its title). I saw the former young Christians reading the booklet and being deeply impressed by it. Later they will encounter the SP doctrine. But by that time they will be deep into the cult and accept it. The first impression is the strongest; it transforms Hubbard into a saintly figure for them.

I did not read the whole booklet, I just browsed it. I had no knowledge of the Bible at that time, but I read couple of articles on Christian ethics. I thought that the booklet material has a vague resemblance to the Christian ethics, but was not impressed by it. My reaction to it could be described in two words -- so what?

3. Dianetics can be used to cure brain tumors, heart disease, blah, blah, blah.

I fell into this trap like a hungry mouse into a mousetrap with cheese, and so did the others.
But 80% of the Sea Org recruits avoided this trap; they are the ones who left Sea Org in a matter of weeks after graduating EPF. Some of them saw the Clears wearing glasses, which was a good reason for leaving the cult behind. The others could not understand Hubbard’s horrific English and, because of that, could not comprehend the engram material (Hubbard was the worst Scientology enemy).

4. E-meter.
The damn thing looks like a scientific device; the implication is that Scientology is an exact science. Nowadays people have tremendous respect for the science, as they should. Hubbard used this respect as a means of enticement into his cult.

I was incredibly lucky to avoid this very dangerous trap. It happened not because I was smarter than the other Scientology novices, but because the circumstances were in my favor.

I took my first basis Scientology course when I was on a winter break in New York City. CoS of NY have a library of Hubbard books. I used to come to the Church 3 hours before beginning of the course to read Dianetics Volumes I and II. At the time these books were written the e-meter did not exist. My first encounter with the e-meter took place when I begun taking Bridge courses in Los Angeles. I saw the device as unnecessary evil because it was expensive. I asked the course supervisor why we should use the device if we can do the auditing without it. He said that e-meter makes the auditing much faster. But that was not very convincing to me because Hubbard wrote that the most valuable asset that the auditor has is his intuition. I thought that my intuition works much better than e-meter, so the device was of no use to me.

There are additional factors that may make people susceptible to Scientology:

5. Hubbard is the incarnation of Buddha, which makes him a religious figure.

Several Scientologists told me this crap. But when I asked them to provide a reference they could not one. Oddly enough, very few Scientologists know the exact reference, which is Hymn to Asia.
Foe an atheist like me the whole idea of Hubbard being Buddha was nonsensical.

6. Hubbard was an adventurer.

This idea had certain appeal to me and to almost all my Sea Org colleagues.

7. Narconon.
For the Scientologists this organization is the leader in the noble fight against psychiatric abuses.

Incredibly, I learned about Narconon after I became anti-Scientologist.

Most likely, there are other factors that I am not aware of.

The I-phone and other sleek new devices make the e-meter look like a clunk-o-matic.

If a person is searching for their place in this world and if they're not sure what to do with themselves, Scientology will handle that. Many people are waiting for somebody to inspire them and give them a clear direction. It is that simple.


I'm interested in the top 5 points of entry into the cult. After watching Ms Huber's interviews (her entry sounded a tad like T. Magoo's) I started pondering the very wide net cast by $cientology. DLRH, do you think a particular point of entry might correlate with the effectiveness of a given "small trap?"

It's a difficult question. Frankly, I do not have enough data to answer it.

Apple, isn't that another cult?

Dials? Needles? Old and boring. Remember the film Back to the Future where McFly, in the future, is mocked for thinking you have to use your HANDS to play video games? That e-meter is trapped in the 1950's and can't be digitized and made touch-screen. Eventually we'll move beyond touch-screen, and auditors will still be twiddling dials.

Demented LRH, I think they recruited you into the sea org too soon. That's good for you because they did it, to put it metaphorically, before your hook was set.

There is, I think, a point where someone taking courses and getting audited comes to the conclusion that, "this stuff really works," or, "this stuff is really powerful." After that the wild promises on the grade chart become believable. Soon after that the person concludes, "this stuff is real and I can really attain those states."

With some people those things happen early on when they are on the basic courses. For others it doesn't happen until they are taking academy auditor courses or being audited on the grades. (I know of one person who completed his auditor training and internships and still did not reach those conclusions. He left and got involved in a multilevel marketing deal.)

After that a person in the cult will put up with all kinds of pressure, mistreatment and abuse from the organization, because they believe that what is promised on the grade chart will eventually be delivered to them. They also believe that their work in scientology will help society on the planet become better.

The recruiters in scientology really need to wait for that to happen with a person before they ask them to join staff or become a sea org staff member. However, if the recruiters knew that they would be on their way out of the trap because they would then be able to see that the operation is a scam and that they have also been scammed.

“With some people those things happen early on when they are on the basic courses.”
Wieber.

I met such person in Sea Org, his name was Wade Srarr. Wade was working as a Director of Communications for ASHO Foundation. Prior to his CoS involvement he was working as a horse trainer at a Frisco aqueduct. I heard that after many years of outstanding service Wade was RPFed. I liked Wade very much but could not save him. But I was successful of saving my other friends form Sea Org by giving them my copy of the book Messiah or Madman.

An example of bad recruiting:
Yesterday I was watching American Idol when a Scientology commercial popped up on the screen. “Scientology is the study of knowledge”, sad the voice behind the screen. Then it went on showing the CoS expansions in various countries.
It was impossible to understand what Scientology is.