Toward a sociopsychological and historical understanding of the Church of Scientology
I got to thinking about David Miscavage and L. Ron Hubbard and the way they are regarded by members and former members of the Church of Scientology, and some books and other resources occurred to me that might help in gaining more understanding of the Church of Scientology and its leaders by members, former members, and people who have never been members. Readers might find these bibliographical resources of interest -- they have to do with Karl Marx, Stalin, Hitler, the USSR, Nazi Germany, the psychodynamics and aetiology of dysfunctional families, and related matters.
1) The first is Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar, by Simon Sebag Montefiore. The way that David Miscavage, the current head of the Church of Scientology, treats others and manages the organizations is very like the way Stalin treated those around him and ran the USSR. The psychology is very much the same, the behavior is very much the same, and while the damage done by Miscavage doesn't extend to murdering 20 million people, you have to wonder whether, if he had the opportunity, Miscavage wouldn't do the same. And the totalitarian rule over the Church of Scientology by David Miscavage is very like that of Josef Stalin over the USSR.
2) The second, which might shed some light on L. Ron Hubbard's personality and his treatment of others, is Lenin: A New Biography , by Dmitri Volkogonov. L. Ron Hubbard compares with Mscavage much the way Lenin did with Stalin (but also see the following resource, as well). So many former members of the Church of Scientology still regard Hubbard very favorably as compared to Miscavage, but at least part of that may be due to the fuzziness that afflicts memory as time goes on, and the fact that admittedly, Hubbard wasn't quite as bad as Miscavage, though his treatment of others and general behavior certainly wasn't normal, and their impact on others was highly pernicious. Apparently there were many older people in the USSR who, having experienced the terror visited on the USSR and its peoples by Stalin and his administration, looked back to the era dominated by Lenin with a certain fondness, failing to remember the very real atrocities he and his administration carried out. It's possible that that historical example of denial might resemble the way that many ex-members and about-to-be-ex-members of Scientology now compare Miscavage and Hubbard.
3) The third are various articles and books on Karl Marx, who developed the ideas on which Lenin and Stalin ultimately based their lives and the creation of the USSR. Here's the Wikipedia article on Marx: Karl Marx - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (I recommend going to the library or checking online for books on Marx and his work, because this article, while helpful, certainly isn't comprehensive, and may be biased in one direction or another in ways that don't lend themselves to a complete and objective understanding of Marx). In addition to his behavior and rule over the Church of Scientology, Hubbard also stands in relationship to the Church of the Scientology the way that Marx does to Communism in general and the USSR in particular. Marx was not a pleasant or good man; he abandoned his wife and children, leaving them in abject poverty, and was prone to use people and use them up as he went through life. As far as is known, he never murdered anyone, never did anything that heinous, but as evidenced by his behavior, his views on such things as personal contracts with others, the sacredness of vows and promises, and related matters, things most of us value highly and honor with our behavior, was at best cavalier, often sliding into open contempt.
4) Finally, there are resources about dysfunctional families. The Church of Scientology closely resembles some huge, incredibly warped, dysfunctional family, and resources such as the following might help to understand it better:
There are plenty of Web articles such as this one on dysfunctional families: Dysfunctional family - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. And here are two books on dysfunctional families and their impact on their own members: Thou Shalt Not Be Aware: Society's Betrayal of the Child by Alice Miller, one of the foremost experts in the world on this phenomenon, and one of the most respected; and The Assault on Truth: Freud's Suppression of the Seduction Theory, by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson. There are a great many other very valuable and useful reference works on the phenomenon out there, and some of the best are listed in the bibliographies of the Wikipedia article and these two monographs.
These articles and books may shed a great deal of light on the internal social and psychological dynamics of the Church of Scientology, its leaders, the coping strategies of members and former members who are groping to find ways to deal with what that organization has done to them and come to terms with it, and outsiders who are trying to understand the organization, why members join it, why they remain in it so long, and why they have so much difficulty entering or re-entering the normal world outside the organization. There are many other valuable bibliographic resources out there that can help in that, as well -- this list is not comprehensive, by any means, but it might prove to be of some value. I would also recommend anything on the founding and history of Nazi Germany and any biographies of Adolph Hitler and other high-ranking Nazis, as well, because there are strong similarities between the USSR and Nazi Germany and the leaders of the two empires, and information about them can also lend itself to a better understanding of the Church of Scientology.
I would also add that none of these are intended to describe, explain, or critique Scientology and Dianetics as disciplines and philosophies one way or the other. My personal opinion of them -- and it is only my personal opinion -- is that the beliefs espoused in them are utterly stupid, as stupid as, e.g., Hans Horbiger's World-Ice Theory or the hoohah and most of the wilder ideas having to do with the predictions of planetary doom that are supposed to take place on December 21, 2012. But that's just me. I have heard that apparently Scientology as a practice seems to help a lot of people, and if it does, that's good, and I wouldn't discourage them from using it that way for the world, as long as nobody gets hurt by their doing so.
If I've missed anything important here, or if there are other criticisms, please leave them in the comments.
1) The first is Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar, by Simon Sebag Montefiore. The way that David Miscavage, the current head of the Church of Scientology, treats others and manages the organizations is very like the way Stalin treated those around him and ran the USSR. The psychology is very much the same, the behavior is very much the same, and while the damage done by Miscavage doesn't extend to murdering 20 million people, you have to wonder whether, if he had the opportunity, Miscavage wouldn't do the same. And the totalitarian rule over the Church of Scientology by David Miscavage is very like that of Josef Stalin over the USSR.
2) The second, which might shed some light on L. Ron Hubbard's personality and his treatment of others, is Lenin: A New Biography , by Dmitri Volkogonov. L. Ron Hubbard compares with Mscavage much the way Lenin did with Stalin (but also see the following resource, as well). So many former members of the Church of Scientology still regard Hubbard very favorably as compared to Miscavage, but at least part of that may be due to the fuzziness that afflicts memory as time goes on, and the fact that admittedly, Hubbard wasn't quite as bad as Miscavage, though his treatment of others and general behavior certainly wasn't normal, and their impact on others was highly pernicious. Apparently there were many older people in the USSR who, having experienced the terror visited on the USSR and its peoples by Stalin and his administration, looked back to the era dominated by Lenin with a certain fondness, failing to remember the very real atrocities he and his administration carried out. It's possible that that historical example of denial might resemble the way that many ex-members and about-to-be-ex-members of Scientology now compare Miscavage and Hubbard.
3) The third are various articles and books on Karl Marx, who developed the ideas on which Lenin and Stalin ultimately based their lives and the creation of the USSR. Here's the Wikipedia article on Marx: Karl Marx - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (I recommend going to the library or checking online for books on Marx and his work, because this article, while helpful, certainly isn't comprehensive, and may be biased in one direction or another in ways that don't lend themselves to a complete and objective understanding of Marx). In addition to his behavior and rule over the Church of Scientology, Hubbard also stands in relationship to the Church of the Scientology the way that Marx does to Communism in general and the USSR in particular. Marx was not a pleasant or good man; he abandoned his wife and children, leaving them in abject poverty, and was prone to use people and use them up as he went through life. As far as is known, he never murdered anyone, never did anything that heinous, but as evidenced by his behavior, his views on such things as personal contracts with others, the sacredness of vows and promises, and related matters, things most of us value highly and honor with our behavior, was at best cavalier, often sliding into open contempt.
4) Finally, there are resources about dysfunctional families. The Church of Scientology closely resembles some huge, incredibly warped, dysfunctional family, and resources such as the following might help to understand it better:
There are plenty of Web articles such as this one on dysfunctional families: Dysfunctional family - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. And here are two books on dysfunctional families and their impact on their own members: Thou Shalt Not Be Aware: Society's Betrayal of the Child by Alice Miller, one of the foremost experts in the world on this phenomenon, and one of the most respected; and The Assault on Truth: Freud's Suppression of the Seduction Theory, by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson. There are a great many other very valuable and useful reference works on the phenomenon out there, and some of the best are listed in the bibliographies of the Wikipedia article and these two monographs.
These articles and books may shed a great deal of light on the internal social and psychological dynamics of the Church of Scientology, its leaders, the coping strategies of members and former members who are groping to find ways to deal with what that organization has done to them and come to terms with it, and outsiders who are trying to understand the organization, why members join it, why they remain in it so long, and why they have so much difficulty entering or re-entering the normal world outside the organization. There are many other valuable bibliographic resources out there that can help in that, as well -- this list is not comprehensive, by any means, but it might prove to be of some value. I would also recommend anything on the founding and history of Nazi Germany and any biographies of Adolph Hitler and other high-ranking Nazis, as well, because there are strong similarities between the USSR and Nazi Germany and the leaders of the two empires, and information about them can also lend itself to a better understanding of the Church of Scientology.
I would also add that none of these are intended to describe, explain, or critique Scientology and Dianetics as disciplines and philosophies one way or the other. My personal opinion of them -- and it is only my personal opinion -- is that the beliefs espoused in them are utterly stupid, as stupid as, e.g., Hans Horbiger's World-Ice Theory or the hoohah and most of the wilder ideas having to do with the predictions of planetary doom that are supposed to take place on December 21, 2012. But that's just me. I have heard that apparently Scientology as a practice seems to help a lot of people, and if it does, that's good, and I wouldn't discourage them from using it that way for the world, as long as nobody gets hurt by their doing so.
If I've missed anything important here, or if there are other criticisms, please leave them in the comments.