Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Before we begin today's episode, we would like to start by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we're recording, the Gadigal people, and pay our respects to Elders past and present.
Hi, I'm Hannah. And I'm Sarah.
Welcome to Big Talk.
Big talk, deep dives into the big news stories you've heard of, but you don't know all the serious and salacious details about.
We revisit the most shocking headlines of the past that have shaped the world we know today. And in this episode, we're looking at Scientology. Should we first do a bit of a recap?
I think that's important. There's a lot to it. So L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, was a man with history more bizarre than the science fiction stories he wrote. Born in 1911, Hubbard's stories told about growing up and riding broncos on large cattle ranches, becoming blood brothers with local indigenous peoples and making friends with ruling warlords in northern Asia.
Though history would later prove these to be exaggerations of his life, one thing was true. From a young age, Hubbard had a penchant for creating far-flung tales. This ability would later help him in many areas of his life, but especially so in his career as a writer.
Dropping out of a nuclear physics degree in university, within only a few short years, Hubbard had published hundreds of short stories and novels, becoming a generally well-received writer.
You know it's bad. I mean, we didn't even cover this in the last episode, but you know it's bad when Joe Rogan thinks your tails are too tall. I'm going to play this little snippet.
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Chapter 2: What historical context surrounds L. Ron Hubbard's life and writing?
It was a small metal box with a few knobs, a dial with a needle and wires connected to two tin cans. The crowd went wild. Hubbard claimed that this was proof of how engrams or painful memories stayed stored in the body. You were this guy that reminds me of. Sorry. I remember when my family took a family vacation. We were very lucky we went to Hawaii.
We went to Honolulu when I was about, I don't know, primary school age. And we went into the markets and they were selling power bands.
Yeah.
And my fucking idiot family and I were like, this is the best thing to exist. And they were like, put your arm out, put your arm out. All right. And then he whacked it out of nowhere. And obviously my hand went down. Right. And then he was like, now put a power band on. And then he went to whack it. My arm didn't move. Did I think it was because maybe I knew he was going to hit me this time?
Stronger. No, yeah. So you're obviously tense and that's why my arm didn't go down. I was like, oh my God, Dad, I need a power band. My whole family wore a power band for like a year anyway.
Your mum, remember how's it, your mum still wears it to this day, you know?
Anyway, whilst Hubbard was claiming this invention as his own, the reality is much simpler. The gadget he had invented was called a skin galvanometer, a device which measured electrical currents in the skin. It was sort of like a primitive lie detector, so it was able to detect how electrical currents in the skin moved when the mind was experiencing stress.
Mm-hmm. Yes, we have a meter, one of the most misunderstood objects that anybody had anything to do with. And a meter simply shows where an individual is aberrated. And the lie detector, of course, is not a lie detector. It doesn't detect lies. It only detects disagreements. You ask a fellow, did you murder the girl? And he disagrees with murdering the girl.
And, of course, he gets a reaction on the lie detector, and they take him out to the electric chair and electrocute him. lie detectors are no good. But it does show that he is upset about the idea of murdering a girl. Do you follow? Now, if you ask him why he was upset about this particular idea, you might find some relative who had been murdered that he had completely forgotten about.
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Chapter 3: How did Scientology evolve from Dianetics to a full-fledged religion?
Step one. If we're looking at this guide, right, step one, expand your religion by targeting vulnerable populations. After setting up his first International Institute of Scientology in England, Hubbard wanted to try something new to get more members. He put an ad in the London Evening Papers with a telephone number and the offer to talk to anyone about anything.
This open line tapped into a deep well of loneliness that was facing the public. The Institute was overwhelmed with phone calls. One of the employees noted that they had everyone calling up from potential suicides to a girl who couldn't decide which of three men to marry.
And also then noting what a great response the ad received, Hubbard tried yet another method, one that would eventually become known as casualty contact. Hubbard would ask that ambitious auditors search the newspapers for people who have been victimised one way or the other by life. That's a quote from a Scientology report that he said that.
There's...
None of this is particularly surprising.
No. I do think every religion does this to an extent. It's hard to see it.
But so is like going to knock on your doors to talk about Jesus or to like spread the word of... But I think the overt claim of like go and find someone that's like a true victim of this world is like a particular kind of awareness. I do think this, and I think, you know, I don't want to even get into organised religion and the people that use it for their own exploits, right?
Like there's so much we could say. But I do think there's a difference between like someone who goes and door knocks because they just believe, you know, they're a believer who wants to convince another believer and someone who like runs marketing campaigns on targeting vulnerable individuals.
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Chapter 4: How did Hubbard's invention of the E-meter influence Scientology?
Yeah, but the people that are door knocking because they believe would be the same as these auditors. Yeah.
Oh, totally. It helped them and now they're ready to... Yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely agree.
There's always some... Yeah, fascinating.
And when the auditor had found a victim in the papers, they were recommended to call the person and offer themselves as a minister whose compassion was compelled by the newspaper story, thus turning the victim into a Scientology convert.
Step two, instill control over your followers through fear. This is kind of like, what's that book? How to Win Friends and Involve People.
Is that what you're thinking of?
I knew it instantly. Is that what it's called? I've obviously never read it. I think it is. Yeah, it is. I remember learning about it at school. Okay. Step two, how to instill control of your followers through fear. In the 1960s, Hubbard developed security checking, a type of interrogation of Scientology members.
Followers would be hooked up to the e-meter and asked a series of questions that aimed to elicit confessions. The conversation would cover their sexual activity, drug use, negative thoughts around Hubbard, potential homosexuality, and any negative deeds done in their past lives.
The goal was to preemptively work out who may betray or leave Scientology and also to help encourage complete control over all of his followers because anything discovered in these security checks could be used as blackmail if you were to try and then leave. It's like, hey, come to a therapy session.
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Chapter 5: What are Thetans and how do they relate to Scientology beliefs?
kidnap a suppressive person and encourage a disconnection. John Travolta as well. A lot of people wondering, what do they have on him? Why is he staying? Like, there's so much speculation. But today, Scientology presents a polished global image with high-end facilities, ongoing recruitment efforts, and celebrity endorsement.
But behind the exterior is a long history of stories, some tall and some true, that paint a darker picture. That is the episode. I am changed.