The following article was written in 1990, and published in the first issue of International Viewpoints in 1991. It has been edited a little in 1995 to reflect some changes, and is included in this home page to give some idea of the background to International Viewpoints (IVy).
Welcome to the first issue of a new international magazine. This issue goes out free, to as many people as we can find, whom we suppose would be interested. Perhaps the first thing to say is that if we have made a mistake, and you are not interested, please let the editor, or (preferably) the distributor that sent you the copy, know. We would like people to retain the freedom to accept or not accept a communication, including this one.
What it is about
The magazine is very much concerned with the use of the philosophy and technology written and talked about by L. Ron Hubbard, and perhaps the first thing to note is that all concerned have a long time ago parted company with the C of $ (the joke gets weak with repeating, but that $ sign is for scientology, sometimes also called the Church of $(s)igh -- sci.).
Since the departure of many from obedience (or should I say subservience) to the church, one of the things that has somewhat slowed the positive use of the subject is lack of communication. Admittedly there have been congresses at different times and places (the most recent, 1990, in Berlin), and much good communication takes place at those. But we can not all go to them (especially those that occur at the other side of the world), and then there is the question of the time in between conferences.
Increase communication
About 1987, after the second conference in Switzerland, an International Communications Network was set up, but it has not survived.
This is another attempt to increase the communication amongst 'free scientologists' (free from the suppression of the C of $), and it is based on five years experience with a somewhat similar magazine in Scandinavia.
No more free samples!
No more free issues will be coming out, and the aim of this one is to invite you to subscribe . This is a free sample. We hope you like it, will order more, and we hope that many who read this will be inspired to write in to us with their views and their news.
Changes since the split
However we hope that the magazine will not continue as it is now. This is because we want to reflect and relay the views existing within the movement, and as in any living body, these will change as time goes on. In the years since I was thrown out of the C of $ enourmous changes have happened, three of which are worth mentioning.
The first is that auditing technology is being used a lot more outside of the churches eagle and avaricious eye, the second is that the rampant fear of what the church might do to us is largely gone, and the third is that in daily life there is very little attention or interest in the church. However that reflects my limited observation -- things might be different in your area, and we would like to hear about it.
Would you like to know how International Viewpoints (IV, which I call Ivy, so as not to confuse with the roman numerals for four) will develop in the future, before you pay out money for it? Yes? Well I would also like to know. It is unpredictable because it is dependent on what our readers send in. However I can predict that it will be a little different than our elder sister, The Free Spirit, and my prediction is based on my knowledge of the editor, for I suspect that it is on him the general tenor of the magazine will depend.
Your editor exposed
So I will let you into some secrets of the background of the editor.
From 2 hours before 1930 started up until 1969 he was British, of the English variety. Since then he has turned into a sort of a mongrel, with an atrocious accent when he speaks Danish.
He came into scientology in 1954 in a very miserable state -- how miserable you can tell from the fact that he first smiled in about 1960, and this long delay was not due to the poorness of auditing technology but the toughness of his case. At that time his communication registered -100% on the OCA (equivelent to APA test -- both ably created by the illustrious Ray Kemp). He claims that his communication improved markedly under processing, but that the OCA did not register deep enough -- it should have registered him as -800%
Since coming into Scientology he has worked in scientology organisations in Dublin (Eire), London, East Grinstead, Edinburgh and Copenhagen, both in technical and admin posts. At East Grinstead in 1965 he got involved in mimeo (photocopying of Bulletins and Policy Letters) and printing, and since that time has been quite obsessive in relaying communications, and this magazine is just the latest example of that dramatization.
He was thrown out of the C of $ in 1983, mainly because he was not imaginative enough to invent overt acts (bad things he had done) when on something called the Deck Project Force, which apart from demanding that he ran instead of walked around Copenhagen, required him to fill a large number of pages with descriptions of his sins. That is the 'supervisor' set him a target of number of pages to write he could not reach.
Scientology and its organisations was quite mild when he started, and he had been subject to a very mild gradient as the organizations became suppressive (destructive). In fact he was gullible, and accepted hook, line and sinker all the church told him, like the fact that Mary Sue Hubbard was being unjustly tried and imprisoned for stealing copy machine paper. Probably he would have continued with them to this day if they had not thrown him out, but now he is a sadder and a wiser man.
A scientology fanatic
But perhaps the most important point about him, as regards this mags future, is that apart from a short period in 1962, he has been a very loyal scientologist, feeling that he has got an enourmous amount of negative gain out of processing over those years (and is still getting it), and he also feels that scientology has given him very great and usable stable data on life, which he totaly lacked before. So, funnily enough, he would like others to have the gains he has had, and this might show itself in the magazine. He also believes scientology should be cheap and thus is not likely to encourage advertisements of costly systems.
Uafhæængige Synspunkter
Your editor was one of the first 'free scientologists' in Denmark, and for a couple of years a small group met weekly at his flat, the rest of the group still being formally in the church. This group was involved in the passing on of the many badly duplicated papers that went around at that time. Papers which revealed things (and freedoms) which the church had kept hidden. The group formed Det Europæeiske Informationscenter -- The European Information Centre -- with the object of sending information packets to all who might be interested in the truth about Cof$.
All these papers (and tapes) were in English, and there was a demand for something in Danish. So a number of people got together and in 1985 started a magazine called Uafhæengige Synspunkter (Independent Viewpoints -- the mother of this mag). First it was run by committees, but from about 1987 your editor became the effective editor of that mag.
One failing
Your editor has one failing. Once he starts writing he can't stop. To stop this failing spoiling the magazine please send in contributions. We need subscriptions (sent to local distributors), local distributors (autonomous and full of 'go') in many areas, and, most, your news and views.
Note: If you check in the index of contents of the magazine (Available on this home page) under Author, Phillips, Antony A, you will find he has not really flooded the mag with his writings. The magazine contains a pretty wide range of mostly positive viewpoints on this technology/philosopy.
Back to list of articles from Issue 1