Content deleted Content added
No edit summary |
note the "freeloader debt" policy |
||
Line 5:
The RPF was originally intended to last no more than a couple of months, where the assignee would learn [[Auditing (Scientology)|Scientology auditing]], if he or she was not already an auditor by the "read it, drill it, do it" method. RPF members would then co-audit each other to better themselves and make each other more ethical and productive.<ref name="Rolling Stone"/> If married, the assignee could visit with their spouse and children once a week, although it has been reported that rules have been tightened and currently forbid any connection with family members.<ref>{{cite journal | author=Pierre Collignon | title=Inside RPF Denmark (IV): An Offer from Scientology (convenience link, unofficial translation) | journal=Jyllands-Posten | year=2001 | volume= | issue= | pages= | url=http://www.xenu-directory.net/news/collignon-rpf4.htm }}</ref>
Critics of Scientology, including former Scientologists, frequently compare the RPF with the [[gulag]] system of the [[Soviet Union]] or the [[reeducation through labor|re-education camp]]s of the [[People's Republic of China]].[http://bernie.cncfamily.com/sc/rpf.htm] One former Scientologist titled her narrative of the RPF "'The Church of Scientology' or The Guru's Gulags: Story of an Escape"<ref>[http://www.xs4all.nl/~kspaink/cos/rpf/escape_1.htm]</ref> Supporters of Scientology claim that no physical force is used to keep RPF members in the camps, and that RPF members always have the option of leaving their religion entirely, and that this makes the comparison inaccurate.[http://bernie.cncfamily.com/sc/rpf.htm] However, Scientology has been alleged to use other means of coercion to keep members in the religion. For example, Scientology keeps records of confessions of their members,<ref>[http://www.holysmoke.org/sdhok/confess.htm]</ref> some of which have allegedly been used against those who had left the religion.<ref>[http://www.scientology-lies.com/privacy.html]</ref> This would be, essentially, [[blackmail]]. In addition, leaving the Sea Org, even from the RPF, results in what Scientology calls "freeloader debt" or a "freeloader's bill": retroactive billing for any auditing received or any Scientology training received while in the Sea Org, which can run into tens of thousands of dollars. <ref>{{cite journal | first = Stephen A. | last = Kent | authorlink = Stephen A. Kent | year = 2003 | month = September | title = Scientology and the European Human Rights Debate: A Reply to Leisa Goodman, J. Gordon Melton, and the European Rehabilitation Project Force Study | journal = Marburg Journal of Religion | volume = 8 | issue = 1 | url = http://web.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/mjr/kent3.html | accessdate = 2006-08-15}}</ref> Many former Scientologists have reported that they felt trapped by the "freeloader debt" policy.<ref>{{cite news | first=Joel | last=Sappell | coauthors= Welkos, Robert W. | url= http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-scientology062690,0,425562,full.story?coll=la-home-headlines | title=Defectors Recount Lives of Hard Work, Punishment | work=[[Los Angeles Times]] | page=A1:1 | date=[[1990-06-26]] | accessdate=2006-08-15}} Additional convenience link at [http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/la90/la90-3.html].</ref>
==Motto==
| |||