The 2007 edition of this book seems to start out with an untruth. Its address “To the Reader” begins with: “This book is presented in its original form and is ….”
When I read this I was sure the author of these lines had lost the last coin of his observational power. The original book was 75 pages and even those were only about half of the size of the new edition. The 2007 edition is 520 pages thick. Many of the texts found in the 2007 edition were written AFTER 1968. They cannot possibly have been part of the 1968 original form. That called for further looking.
I noticed, the key chapter for the entire subject and book is even missing in this edition. Further looking into the prior editions revealed that this chapter has been missing in every edition from 1989 on. Three years after the death of L. Ron Hubbard the very first chapter had been removed from his book!
Remembering the promotional speech from Mr. David Miscavige and the countless telephone calls and promotional materials I had received I wondered, if this chapter could possibly not have been by L. Ron Hubbard and therefore had been “cleaned” out? No, it is from L. Ron Hubbard. It was taken from the lecture “Organization and Ethics” of 18 May 1965. I pulled out the cassette and could listen to Ron saying these things. So that couldn’t have been the reason.
My final conclusion: the reason for taking out this chapter is the chapter itself:
“THE PURPOSE OF ETHICS”
“All that Ethics is for – the totality of the reason for its existence and operation – is simply that additional tool necessary to make it possible to apply the technology of Scientology.
Man does not have that purpose for his law or his justice. He wants to squash people who are giving him trouble.
That is not the case with Scientology Ethics which having the above purpose is a fabulously successful activity.
Man of course has a tremendous reaction to something called justice or what he laughingly calls justice. But Man has no understanding to back up any of his hangings that he commits himself to and in fact has no real justice because it has no end product. Its total end product, if you call it one, is punishment.
That it doesn’t straighten out the community is manifest. Here and there it does some good but the crime statistic of the world is going up much more steeply than the rise of population. I have recently spoken to those in charge of law enforcement in the world’s best police force and they were in a very apathetic frame of mind. They just wanted to lie down and quit. Because there is no end product to what they are doing.
Worse than that, the systems of disciplinary actions which are employed on earth today are incapable of doing more than worsening an individual.
Now when you bring in an actual Ethics system across this line you jar a lot of people’s aberrations. They REACT. And it is a very interesting fact that a far greater proportion of people in Scientology today favor a decent ethical law and favor ethics actions than have reacted against it, because they see that it will make things go right. They see that it results in better training, better technical application, a better organization, and a better overall grip on the subjects that Scientology addresses, and keeps the abuses of the subject minimal.
We are factually only here helping people to help themselves to better their conditions and the conditions of life. That is our total action.
As that additional tool for making it all possible, the Ethics system of Scientology is tremendously successful.”
~~~
The above is the complete text. If you’d print that out and stick it in front of the 2007 book it would make it a greatly improved book. Because the purpose of the subject is senior to all policies and governs all of the policies contained in this book!
Therefore, a “Policy” that does not align or contribute to “make it possible to apply the technology of Scientology “ and so “helping people to help themselves to better their conditions and the conditions of life” is a MISAPPLICATION. If it didn’t lead to a bettered condition, it wasn’t applied in the direction of its purpose.
Looking at the bad effects from “applying” some “Policy”, the omission of the purpose of Scientology Ethics becomes prominent in its due importance. It is not a small point to omit it from this book.
Each single action of an Ethics Officer has to be judged against this purpose. Only if it holds this test it can be said to be Scientology Ethics. If it doesn’t, it is but a misapplication.
~~~
But back to the beginning statement of the 2007 book “This book is presented in its original form…”. I have finally found my misunderstood: It was “This book”. The title was slightly changed. The original 1968 book title “Introduction into Scientology Ethics” by L. Ron Hubbard and the title of this book are very similar. This one is called “L. Ron Hubbard/ Introduction into Scientology Ethics”. And because it is a new book it can be rightly stated “This book is presented in its original form…”. The 1968 edition could have had that statement as well, and rightly so. This could be stated for any new book. But why would someone use such a legal nicety?
And with what purpose?
The 2007 edition of this book seems to start out with an untruth. Its address “To the Reader” begins with: “This book is presented in its original form and is ….”
When I read this I was sure the author of these lines had lost the last coin of his observational power. The original book was 75 pages and even those were only about half of the size of the new edition. The 2007 edition is 520 pages thick. Many of the texts found in the 2007 edition were written AFTER 1968. They cannot possibly have been part of the 1968 original form. That called for further looking.
I noticed, the key chapter for the entire subject and book is even missing in this edition. Further looking into the prior editions revealed that this chapter has been missing in every edition from 1989 on. Three years after the death of L. Ron Hubbard the very first chapter had been removed from his book!
Remembering the promotional speech from Mr. David Miscavige and the countless telephone calls and promotional materials I had received I wondered, if this chapter could possibly not have been by L. Ron Hubbard and therefore had been “cleaned” out? No, it is from L. Ron Hubbard. It was taken from the lecture “Organization and Ethics” of 18 May 1965. I pulled out the cassette and could listen to Ron saying these things. So that couldn’t have been the reason.
My final conclusion: the reason for taking out this chapter is the chapter itself:
“THE PURPOSE OF ETHICS”
“All that Ethics is for – the totality of the reason for its existence and operation – is simply that additional tool necessary to make it possible to apply the technology of Scientology.
Man does not have that purpose for his law or his justice. He wants to squash people who are giving him trouble.
That is not the case with Scientology Ethics which having the above purpose is a fabulously successful activity.
Man of course has a tremendous reaction to something called justice or what he laughingly calls justice. But Man has no understanding to back up any of his hangings that he commits himself to and in fact has no real justice because it has no end product. Its total end product, if you call it one, is punishment.
That it doesn’t straighten out the community is manifest. Here and there it does some good but the crime statistic of the world is going up much more steeply than the rise of population. I have recently spoken to those in charge of law enforcement in the world’s best police force and they were in a very apathetic frame of mind. They just wanted to lie down and quit. Because there is no end product to what they are doing.
Worse than that, the systems of disciplinary actions which are employed on earth today are incapable of doing more than worsening an individual.
Now when you bring in an actual Ethics system across this line you jar a lot of people’s aberrations. They REACT. And it is a very interesting fact that a far greater proportion of people in Scientology today favor a decent ethical law and favor ethics actions than have reacted against it, because they see that it will make things go right. They see that it results in better training, better technical application, a better organization, and a better overall grip on the subjects that Scientology addresses, and keeps the abuses of the subject minimal.
We are factually only here helping people to help themselves to better their conditions and the conditions of life. That is our total action.
As that additional tool for making it all possible, the Ethics system of Scientology is tremendously successful.”
~~~
The above is the complete text. If you’d print that out and stick it in front of the 2007 book it would make it a greatly improved book. Because the purpose of the subject is senior to all policies and governs all of the policies contained in this book!
Therefore, a “Policy” that does not align or contribute to “make it possible to apply the technology of Scientology “ and so “helping people to help themselves to better their conditions and the conditions of life” is a MISAPPLICATION. If it didn’t lead to a bettered condition, it wasn’t applied in the direction of its purpose.
Looking at the bad effects from “applying” some “Policy”, the omission of the purpose of Scientology Ethics becomes prominent in its due importance. It is not a small point to omit it from this book.
Each single action of an Ethics Officer has to be judged against this purpose. Only if it holds this test it can be said to be Scientology Ethics. If it doesn’t, it is but a misapplication.
~~~
But back to the beginning statement of the 2007 book “This book is presented in its original form…”. I have finally found my misunderstood: It was “This book”. The title was slightly changed. The original 1968 book title “Introduction into Scientology Ethics” by L. Ron Hubbard and the title of this book are very similar. This one is called “L. Ron Hubbard/ Introduction into Scientology Ethics”. And because it is a new book it can be rightly stated “This book is presented in its original form…”. The 1968 edition could have had that statement as well, and rightly so. This could be stated for any new book. But why would someone use such a legal nicety?
And with what purpose?
Where I stand
I am a...
Independent Scientologist
Pros and Cons (optional)
Cons
The spirit of the first sentence of the address and the omitted first chapter discourage me to do anything further with this book without taking the pains of comparing it word for word with its original essays and policies.
After realizing the things described above I lost the trust to have a proper rendition of the subject from that source and refer rather to the Policy Letters from where the Chapters were taken.
If done properly the understanding and application of the subject does enormous good. If “applied” with the purpose lost out of sight the result can be catastrophic, as the stories of many independents evidence.
Self Analysis (August 1951): Possibly the best introduction to the subjects of Dianetics and Scientology. Self Analysis contains both a series of essays on the basic discoveries Ron had made up to this point in his research as well as an extensive auditing section that a person can do by themselves right at home. The book contains a special version of the Hubbard Chart of Human Evaluation and a series of tests one can do to discover where you're really at. Then, by applying the processes from the second half of the book, one is guided through a path of self-discovery. At the end, you will re-do the tests to confirm your improvement. How good can you get? These techniques have been in use for more than six decades and Ron referred to them again and again throughout his research, stating that the processes here were capable of curing any neurosis.
This is the starting point for anyone wanting auditing. You will be audited by L. Ron Hubbard himself through the pages of this book.
Find a copy in used bookstores or at Alibris.com, Amazon.com, eBay. Or you can buy a new copy from these Church of Scientology organizations (but once you give them your address they may continue to send you junk mail) Bridge Publications or New Era Publications.
