A Scientologist's View of Life

I personally know lots of Sea Org members very closely, and I can say that they are treated quite well. They are very dedicated people and very hard workers. They are for the most part quite happy to be doing what they’re doing, and those who find they don’t like it are free to leave. I have known several people who have left the Sea Org because they wanted to have children or they simply found it wasn’t for them. They are all doing just fine, and they are all still participating in Scientology. Here is an interesting article on the Sea Org.

The Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF) you refer to is actually there solely to help those who are assigned to it. Those assigned to it are generally those who are having a great deal of trouble pulling their weight, and they are given work they can do and feel proud about, while simultaneously spending large portions of the day (five hours a day, I believe) working on personal enhancement and education. Those I have known who have been on the RPF were quite glad to be there and were doing great. I have known a few who have graduated from the RPF and they are all doing great now, leading successful and happy lives in or out of the Sea Org. And as with any other assignment in the Sea Org, RPF members are free to leave any time they wish. The bottom line is that the RPF is there to help its members, not to punish. Discipline is high, but the same is true in any tightly knit group. And as for the RPF’s RPF, it is a rarity that anyone gets assigned there. It is intended only as a wake-up call to those who continue to screw up and don’t take the RPF seriously, and is not a long-term assignment. But as with the RPF, anyone assigned to the RPF’s RPF can go through the process of leaving the Sea Org at any time. Here is a good article on the RPF. Here is what L. Ron Hubbard has to say about the RPF:

Like industry or any organization or ship before that date, when a crew member stole or embezzled or refused to work he was simply fired and offloaded. Scientology crew members objected to this. They demanded that provisions be made to rehabilitate the person. They had the idea that a person should be given a choice of being off-loaded or rehabilitated…. In the RPF the person receives counseling and does work on a team basis. The largest percent of persons assigned to an RPF graduate successfully and rejoin the crew. The majority of these give rave success stories. No other management organization undertakes such a function. They just fire people.

As for your other question, about David Miscavige’s “alleged violence,” I suggest you check your facts. The claims have not be “corroborated by many people,” but only by a small clique of those who have been expelled from the Church for their criminal misdeeds and who are now in collusion to produce a PR campaign to enrich themselves and smear their former employer. Here is some information on one of the sources of those allegations.