Scientology's $5,000 E-meters are surprisingly well-engineered

[Tharmas]

Years ago, back when I was unemployed, unemployable, drinking alcoholically, doing other drugs as I could get my hands on them, and going through a marriage breakup, in other words, back when I was really fucked up, I took a Church of Scientology personality test (free). Not surprisingly, they recommended I undergo auditing.

Needless to say, I had no money to spare, but eventually coughed up a few bucks to take their introductory course. How much? I don’t remember, maybe $25. This course consisted of listening to a series of tapes made by old L. Ron. As I recall they were recordings of lectures he gave somewhere in England, after they had been kicked out of the U.S. for fraud (I forget the details).

While I was a member, I discovered that they were pretty open about the fact that they had become a “church” as a tax dodge and means of getting to operate back in the U.S. As I recall, in the tapes L. Ron mentioned that the ship they owned, and the foundation of the Scientology “Sea Org,” were reactions to being thrown out of various countries. Sunday mornings they had a church “service,” which was more like a coffee social, which they were pretty open about being a pro forma exercise to keep their tax-free status.

Now I began to notice that these tapes I was listening to contained a lot of BS. I was an English major, and not a scientist by any means, but I could easily see the holes in his remarks about physics or biology, etc. These lectures were like listening to some drunk in a bar go on about his pet conspiracy theories, and that is actually something I’d had a lot of experience with.

I began to express my doubts to a couple of members who seemed more open to rationality. One of them told me that I was one of the more intelligent people to have walked through their doors and by god they needed a few more intelligent people in their ranks to make up for some of the deadwood. Overall I began to get the feeling that it was like some pyramid scheme or other kind of con game, and that the smart people on the inside knew it was a con, had worked themselves into positions of relative power, and hoped to benefit materially, BUT kept up appearances at all times even with each other with maybe just the rare wink or nod.

When I insisted I was quitting they offered me a free auditing session, perhaps as a sort of debriefing or something. All I remember about the auditing was that I was so drunk you could have shot fifty thousand volts through me and I wouldn’t have responded. I remember telling the auditor that I had quit drinking. IIRC they said I had “passed” the auditing. Anyway, I don’t remember much about it, and that was my last activity with Scientology.

I have other anecdotes, but this is already way too long.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

What they wanted is for you to stay around until indoctrinated enough to be horn swaggled into joining the sea org. Many of the more important and necessary positions in the cult are reserved for Sea Org members. They are always drooling over people who are F'd up enough to join the Sea Org but smart enough to be useful as a member of the Sea Org in some important position that needs some sort of competence. They can get very aggressive for some people who they see as very desirable with skills that Scientology needs.

For a bizarre and amusing example check this out.

http://www.spaink.net/cos/mpoulter/sods/jost.html

 

[steve_bank]

They got into trouble with the FDA over emeter claims and had to adjust their pitch making health claims.

Ya gotta love the 1st amendment.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter#United_States

The medical establishment had been watching Hubbard's enterprises since 1951 when the New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners prosecuted the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation (Elizabeth, New Jersey) for practicing medicine without a license.[74] In 1958, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seized and destroyed 21,000 Dianazene tablets from Hubbard's Distribution Center, Inc., charging that they were falsely labeled as a treatment for radiation sickness.[75][76][77]

On January 4, 1963, in service of an FDA complaint, more than 100 US marshals and deputized longshoremen with drawn guns[78] raided the Founding Church of Scientology in Washington, D.C. and confiscated more than three tons of property[18]p. 135 including 5,000 books, 2,900 booklets, and several hundred E-meters.[4]:1151[79] The FDA accused the Church of making false medical claims that the E-meters could treat physical and mental illnesses. The FDA also charged that the meters did not bear adequate directions for treating the conditions for which they were recommended.[80][81]

The Church claimed that they had not written any publication that the E-meter could or would heal anything,[18]p. 136 and sued to get the property back. Years of litigation ensued. In the first trial beginning on April 3, 1967, the jury found that the Church misrepresented the E-meter and the judge ordered the confiscated materials destroyed.[18][82] But in 1969, the US Court of Appeals reversed the verdict; the Church, it said, had made substantial showing that Scientology is a religion and the government had done nothing to rebut the claim.[82] The US Court of Appeals wrote:

[The Founding Church has] made no attempt to contradict the expert testimony introduced by the Government. They have conceded that the E-meter is of no use in the diagnosis or treatment of disease as such, and have argued that it was never put forward as having such use. Auditing or processing, in their view, treats the spirit of man, not his body, though through the healing of the spirit the body can be affected. They have culled from their literature numerous statements disclaiming any intent to treat disease and recommending that Scientology practitioners send those under their care to doctors when organic defects may be found. They have introduced through testimony a document which they assert all those who undergo auditing or processing must sign which states that Scientology is "a spiritual and religious guide intended to make persons more aware of themselves as spiritual beings, and not treating or diagnosing human ailments of body or mind, and not engaged in the teaching of medical arts or sciences * * *."
Finally, with respect to their claim to be a religion and hence within the protection of the First Amendment, they have shown that the Founding Church of Scientology is incorporated as a church in the District of Columbia, and that its ministers are qualified to perform marriages and burials. They have introduced their Creed into evidence. The Government has made no claim that the Founding Church is not a bona fide religion, that auditing is not part of the exercise of that religion, or that the theory of auditing is not a doctrine of that religion.[4]

Having found that Scientology was a religion, the Court wrote that the government was forbidden by the First Amendment of the Constitution to rule on the truth or falsity of the Church's doctrines and interfere with its practices, provided the claims are not manifestly insincere and the practices are reasonably harmless.[4] The Court ordered a new trial with the mandate that the trial court could not forbid auditing, use of the E-meter, or purveyance of the literature within a religious context.[83][84] The FDA appealed the decision, but in 1969, the US Supreme Court declined to review the case, commenting only that "Scientology meets the prima facie test of religion".[85] In his 1973 judgment, District Court Judge Gerhard Gesell ruled that:

Hubbard and his fellow Scientologists developed the notion of using an E-Meter to aid auditing. Substantial fees were charged for the meter and for auditing sessions using the meter. They repeatedly and explicitly represented that such auditing effectuated cures of many physical and mental illnesses. An individual processed with the aid of the E-Meter was said to reach the intended goal of 'clear' and was led to believe that there was reliable scientific proof that once cleared many, indeed most, illnesses would successfully be cured. Auditing was guaranteed to be successful. All this was and is false.[86]

Unable to do more under the mandate from the Court of Appeals, Judge Gesell ordered all the property to be returned to the Church, and thereafter, the E-meter may be used only in "bona fide religious counseling". All meters and referring literature must include a label disclaiming any medical benefits:

The E-Meter is not medically or scientifically useful for the diagnosis, treatment or prevention of any disease. It is not medically or scientifically capable of improving the health or bodily functions of anyone.[5]

The church adopted a modified version of that statement, which it still invokes in connection with the E-meter. The current statement reads:

The Hubbard Electrometer is a religious artifact. By itself, this meter does nothing. It is for religious use by students and Ministers of the church in Confessionals and pastoral counseling only.[87]

Judge Gesell also ordered the Church to pay all the government's legal fees and warehousing costs for the confiscated property for the nine years of litigation. He also required the church to pay the salaries and travel expenses of FDA agents who might, from time to time, inspect for compliance with the court's order.[18]p. 143 The raid was ruled illegal, but the government retained copies of the documents.[78]