Back when queer militant Kate Bornstein was a male child named Al , she was a leading member of the Church of Scientology . She served aboard L. Ron Hubbard ’s flagship , and even knead direct with Hubbard on a campaign to control Scientology fellow member more completely . Bornstein’snew memoir A Queer and Pleasent Dangerexplains why she found Scientology so appealing , and what she brought to it . Here ’s an single excerpt about Bornstein ’s work with Hubbard .
This selection has been edited for length here and there — the full version is much long and contains some hilarious passages where Bornstein meets with Hubbard , including much more about their moral force .
Volcano picture viaShutterstock.com .
I spend two weeks as Temporary Director of Promotion , center over Hubbard ’s theories of controlling human emotion and reaction . emotion were n’t the only phenomenon that Hubbard had lever into a hierarchic shell . In Scientology , there are mathematically precise scale for every human perception . There are scales for justice and scales for your very condition of existence . There are scale by which you’re able to tax entire country and predict their behavior . This was gravid stuff ! But I was due to return to the Deck Force in a couplet of day , so I wrote down my ideas for the Commodore .
stave member at any level of employment in the Church of Scientology are encouraged to save everyday reports to the Commodore .
Aboard Flag , there was a well chance he ’d read yours . His courier disentangle reputation for anything he might find interesting , and if you were lucky , you ’d waken up to find an response from Ron in your in - basket — in his own handwriting . The night before I leave my scented soft line , I write a everyday report to Ron that operate something like this :
Dear Sir ,
I ’ve make out to the end of my fourth dimension as Temporary Director of Promotion , and I ’m beaming to report , Sir , that I ’ve learned a great deal about the note value of your research as it applies to the field of promotion and public sexual congress .
Your emotional tone scale is essential if you require hoi polloi to listen to what you ’re promoting , or if you desire them to buy what you ’re sell — do I have that right field , Sir ? It would n’t matter if you ’re sell goodness , services , or Scientology to an unsuspecting wog world — all it have is to fetch them uptone , make them happier with who we are and what we ’ve got .
Using your ordered series of emotions , Sir , I ’ve developed a system by which I can theoretically get anyone excited about anything , just by talking higher and high on the emotional scale of measurement . I tested this out , Sir . I stand off to the side of the line of descent at the ship ’s canteen and snack taproom , and I ’d strike up a conversation with the citizenry on telephone line . After a few moment , I could assess their emotional tone . I inquire them what they were going to buy , and then I ’d trade them on buying something else — a particular small-arm of candy , for example — using an aroused flavor a few notch in high spirits than their own . It worked every damned clock time , Sir . People walk away felicitous with what I differentiate them to buy .
So , Sir , theoretically all a Puerto Rico officer would have to do is send out surveyor to take worked up note scale assessment of a demographic to determine their emotional tone level as numeric value . Then you ’d tote up up those numbers racket and separate by the routine of masses who were surveyed . The resulting number is the tone level of the prey population . be after your Puerto Rico cause half a tone to a tone higher , and it ’s gon na be a succeeder every metre . Right ? Sir ?
Well , I head back to the Deck Force in the dawn . I ’m looking fore to it . I miss the Lord’s Day . I desire this line of thought is helpful to you in some way , Sir . It ’s been a privilege ingest the kind of job that afford me the prison term to figure this out .
Thanks again .
Al Bornstein , AB
A few hours after I ’d sent my daily report up to the Old Man , I was stow my administrative paperwork , smile to myself , when a snappily dress Commodore ’s Messenger appeared at my desk .
“ Sir , ” said the messenger , “ the Commodore sends you his best regard and says he ’s promoting you to Warrant Officer . ” She saluted me .
“ I . . . why ? ”
“ Your casual account , sir . He read it and could n’t stop laugh . ”
And then she laugh the Old Man ’s laugh — well , a soprano screen of his laugh , but it may as well have been the Commodore himself stand in front of me , express joy his ass off .
The next day , L. Ron Hubbard bring out a new policy letter — a canonical decree for the administration of the Church , print in green ink on white paper . He glorify that public relations had at last become a simple - to - do footstep - by - step engineering science which — if you did it just the manner he tell you to do it — would get invariable results . The problem worldwide was low production , as measure by the statistic Gross Income and Paid Completions . The reason for low production , he wrote , was that stave members were too low - toned . At best they were Bored ( 2.5 ) , but most likely they were Scared ( 1.0 ) or Apathetic ( 0.1 ) . The function of public relations in the establishment of the Church , he write , was to manage the emotions of staff members , so they ’d all be Enthusiastic ( 4.0 ) and produce lots more income and paid completions of services . In the policy alphabetic character , LRH muses on the effectiveness of a public relations officer assigned to the executive managing director of every church with the job of make us all Cheerful ( 3.5 ) and productive .
I do n’t begrudge the Old Man claiming credit for that — not then , not now . It was my idea to utilise emotional manipulation for the gross revenue and marketing of Scientology — to get more people yield tolls as they frustrate Ron ’s Bridge to Total Freedom . It never would have occurred to me to use the timber scale to manipulate staff . No , my grudge with L. Ron Hubbard only revealed itself with the benefit of hindsight . He twisted the utilization of my idea into something that ended up being beggarly to people . Sea Org officers , and Church executives in the field , had been verbally abuse stave for old age — they ’d never ask a policy letter to do that . But the new policy missive , establish on my idea , give officers and executive of the Church the explicit right and obligation to scream at , berate , and otherwise insult faculty , all in the name of economise the planet now , now , now .
The next day , I was rally to the Commodore ’s role on the topmost rider deck of the ship . It had to begin with been the ship ’s gentlemen ’s parlor for first - class passenger . The office , ironically enough , was ellipse , with burl - wood paneling on the wall . LRH expend all his administrative time behind a monumental oak tree executive director desk that occupied fully a poop of the room . His in - basket was empty . Always . His out - hoop was full . Always .
We talked view for about half an hour . As Flag PRO , it was going to be my job to measure , found , and conserve the pulse of all Scientology staff worldwide . Flag was in the byplay of sending lodge out to the discipline , so it became my job to take any aroused barriers staff might have to comply with those order . I had one week to nail and tabulate the first international survey .
everyday visits to the Commodore ’s office extend for a couple of weeks . I completed the outside survey on metre . On the topic of taking over the satellite , Scientology staff worldwide were at an emotional tone of 3.75 , between Strong Interest and Enthusiasm . On the subject of doing their own job , however , the international tonicity level drop to 0.95 , smack - tap in the middle of Numbness and Terror . “ Gotcha ! ” exclaimed the Old Man , pounding his desk for emphasis . He outline his design to bring worldwide Scientology staff upscale to where their feelings about their caper equate their touch about bring over planet Earth . Because stave were so low - toned emotionally , we had to slope the first campaign at a story of Anger ( 1.5 ) . We check the statistic as they came in at the next hebdomad - terminate . Damned stats went up , pretty near one for one . There was much celebration aboard the Flagship that night . LRH ’s find in public relations had worked like a appealingness , which , in a means , it was .
Ron was so unrestrained by the fantastic external outcome of his new PR breakthrough that he began to expend it aboard ship . My days became casual strolls between deck of cards , above deck , down in the locomotive engine elbow room , aft in the galley and laundry , deep down in the lower hold of the residence hall , missions management , and course of study elbow room . I stroll every foot of that endearing old ship , secretly conducting surveys of crew members to find their emotional tint . I was under order from the Old Man to conceal the view questions beneath casual conversation , and by golly it worked . One by one , every surface area of the Flagship became more productive the undermentioned week . Hot damn !
For over six months , my life aboard ship operate well . And then LRH blew it — he swash to the work party how successful he ’d been in assessing their tone levels and manipulating them into more and more production . And from that compass point on , staff excited - tone - level surveys stopped working . Everyone knew what was coming when they saw me . No one wanted to be seen as low tone , so everyone bring forth effective at faking it . discussion of what he ’d done spread out into the field .
The Commodore and I launched the 2nd international sketch two month after he ’d bragged of its success . The event come in well higher on the emotional exfoliation . Ron took that to mean that his breakthrough was successful beyond his wildest dreams . He pound me on the back . I was n’t so glad , and neither was Sylvia . We roll in the hay it was padded but neither of us felt we could tell the Commodore that staff were wise and the identification number were imitation .
sure enough enough , the next cause failed miserably . Stats go down . The Old Man was ferocious that I ’d fucked up as badly as I had . I was summarily removed from post and transferred back to the Deck Force .
Excerpt from “ A Queer and Pleasant Danger ” by Kate Bornstein . Copyright ( c ) 2012 by Kate Bornstein . reissue by permission of Beacon Press , Boston .
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