Greetings from the real world from another ex-scn kid!

Hi everyone!

I just ran across this site and have been getting a kick out of the shared experiences of growing up with scientologist parents (not the painful ones, of course, I'm not actually a SP!)

I was born in '81, part of a baby boom at the Santa Barbara mission among auditors, so I knew a lot of kid scientologists my age, despite the fact that I (luckily) never went to a scientology school. I suffered the pains of scientology's "parenting" tech, so I lived in fear of having to do my conditions, or yawing while reading, or being accused of being PTS or having Withholds just because I didn't always behave.

Many of you seem to have grown up without any non-scientologist friends, but did anyone else out there grow up in fear of telling their friends that they were a part of CoS? Only my closest friends ever knew and even then it was like coming out of the closet - for fear they or more likely their parents - wouldn't let them be friends with me after that. I still kinda carry that to this day mainly for the stigma.

Anyway, I'll write up my story some time - I just wanted to introduce myself - and compliment Tru2Form on the avatar. I always loved those little tone scale sun guys - not really sure why, they were just cute!

Oh, and just to be clear (ha, ha) I haven't self-identified as a scientologist since I was maybe 17? Tho I did experience the... defensiveness maybe you'd call it? of when you see egative things about LRH or the church up until a couple years ago.

So, basically 10 years. Luckily, both my parents depsite being auditors and ministers at one time, were okay with my brother and I choosing our faith on our own.

My mom just in the past year or so finally extracated herself from CoS and (nearly causing a divorce) insisted that my dad promise to never give them money or take another course "this lifetime". It's still a process for her but she's mainly focused on getting my dad to focus on his new agey beliefs which are at least cheap and harmless.

[Grundy]

Welcome to ESK!

Sounds like your parents (at least your mother) has more perspicacity than most ....

[Grundy]

PS if this was OCMB you would DEFINATELY be flamed lol

Flamed? I'm kinda curious as to why. I suppose I'm fairly naive to the whole online scene (as I haven't really interacted with it, I generally have had no interest) so I I'm curious as to why? Is it just that clambake is fairly militant or something else?

Anyway, I'm just a kid who was lucky enough to have parents (especially a mother) who only let me be as involved as I chose. *shrug* I certainly am anti-scinetology at this point but not militant, I suppose.

[Grundy]

very militant about scn lol

Oh! Ha! Yeah, like I said, not active. Guess that shows, huh? Anyway, just to clarify for anyone reading, I just meant that I'm not active in any sort of organized movement against it (tho I have begun to consider joining the Anon mov't). I think my mother would have a coniption fit if I got involved with anything with my identity out there. She's already intensely paranoid about CoS coming after her just cause she's posted on a few boards.

[Grundy]

Trust me .. we understand!

You can be completely anonymous here. It's okay with us!

[James McGuigan]

deleeted

[astra]

Hi Mynor! Well I can totally reltate to everything you said. I remember growing up I never mentioned I was a scientologist to anybody. I would even lie & say I was a catholic because all of my friends were. I remember one time I took my friend with me to a Scio. kids night. I was around 9 years old. When her parents found out it was scientology, they didn't allow her to come to my house anymore. So after that, I just kept my mouth shut. When I hit my teens I tried telling a couple of friends, but they didn't know what the heck scientology was. So it was weird growing up having to basically keep it a secret..