Let's Sell These People a Piece of Blue Sky: Hubbard, Dianetics and Scientology
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Authors: Jon Atack
Tags: #Religion, #Scientology
Let’s
sell these people
A Piece
of Blue Sky
Hubbard,
Dianetics and Scientology
Jon Atack
Copyright © 2013 by
Trentvalley ltd
Published by Richard
Woods
This book is
dedicated to the memory of
my mother, Dora,
who left Scientology
on the day she was
asked if she
would disconnect
from me.
Contents
NB – chapter numbers have been revised from the first
edition to run in sequence from 1-43. These are divided into the same parts as
that edition.
Praise for A Piece of Blue Sky
ix
PART 1:
INSIDE SCIENTOLOGY
1974-1983
2.
Saint Hill
19
3.
On to OT
26
PART 2:
BEFORE DIANETICS
1911-1949
PART 3:
THE BRIDGE TO
TOTAL FREEDOM 1949-1966
12.
The Dianetic Foundations
125
13.
Wichita
134
17.
The World's First Real Clear
171
PART 4:
THE SEA
ORGANIZATION 1966-1976
19.
Heavy Ethics
194
20.
The Empire Strikes Back
205
21.
The Death of Susan Meister
223
PART 5:
THE GUARDIAN’S
OFFICE 1974-1980
24.
The Guardian Unguarded
251
25.
Infiltration
262
PART 6:
THE COMMODORE’S
MESSENGERS 1977-1982
28.
The Rise of the Messengers
292
30.
The Clearwater Hearings
313
PART 7:
THE INDEPENDENTS
31.
The Mission Holders’ Conference
327
33.
Splintering
343
34.
Stamp Out the Squirrels!
352
PART 8:
JUDGMENTS
36.
The Child Custody Case
371
PART 9:
SUMMING UP
40.
The Founder
405
42.
Fair Game, Ethics and the
Scriptures
430
Acknowledgments
from the First Edition
448
Acknowledgments
for the 2013 Edition
450
“If you only have time to read one book about L. Ron
Hubbard and Scientology, this landmark work is the one. It continues to stand
out as the authoritative history on both subjects, which is why so much of
Blue
Sky
is re-hashed in subsequent books.”
—Miles C.
Ferguson, 2013
“Before there was the net, and before there was
safety in numbers, there was Jon Atack.”
—Arnaldo Lerma,
Scientology critic,
lermanet.com
“This is the best book I have read about
Scientology. Jon Atack combines personal experience with meticulous research to
courageously expose the lies and abuses at the heart of the Church of
Scientology.”
—Steve Cannane,
ABC Lateline
, Australia
“Definitive”
—Robert Vaughn
Young, Scientology senior PR for 20 years
“Many people find it difficult to understand how
intelligent people can fall for the con games that cults play. Atack’s personal
account is both powerful and frightening as it shows how others could be drawn
in. Atack’s concise writing style and dry sense of humor make for enjoyable
reading”
—Miles
Ferguson,
The Cult Observer
, 1991
“One of the very first insider looks at the Church
of Scientology – and invaluable today for its history and insight into the
character of its founder, L. Ron Hubbard.”
—Lawrence
Wright,
Going Clear: Scientology,
Hollywood, &
the Prison of Belief
“When the original edition of Jon Atack’s A Piece of
Blue Sky was published, it proved to be a lucidly structured, penetrating and
meticulously documented exposition of the true nature of Scientology and its
founder, L. Ron Hubbard. It quickly became a standard reference among serious
students of authoritarian belief systems, particularly Scientology, and
remains so to the present day. In more recent years other, newer books about
Scientology have been released. A few of these have been especially good, but
none reproduce the detail and narrative clarity of Atack’s book. This revised
version of
A Piece of Blue Sky
promises to reveal even more fully the
intricate machinery of fantasy, hypocrisy, lies, manipulation and abuse that
are at the heart of Scientology.”
—Christian
Szurko, DialogCentre UK
“Since 1976, I have met, interviewed and counseled
countless former officials and ex-members of Scientology. Of everyone I have
ever met, and every book I have ever read, Jon Atack is the definitive resource
of all things “Hubbard.” I’m delighted to see this updated version of his
masterful work,
A Piece of Blue Sky
. Read this book for the factual, accurate
details about Scientology’s founder.”
—Steven Hassan,
cult expert and author of
Freedom of Mind
and
Combatting
Cult Mind Control
– freedomofmind.com
“When I first read Jon Atack's amazing book
A
Piece of Blue Sky
it was a series of revelations, one after another, in a
fascinating succession of truths from behind the scenes in Scientology. I had
experienced being on the receiving end of the false promises, heavy ethics
pressures and greed-motivated financial stresses of being a Scientologist for
decades without being able to reconcile how those things could possibly be happening
given Hubbard's writings. Jon's book gave me considerable relief as to what was
really going on behind the facade, I had no idea! Thanks Jon!”
—Michael
Pattinson, artist, (ex)-OT 8.
“As someone who has been at the top of organized
scientology, and seen much of what really went on there, I would like to
express my appreciation for what Jon Atack has done to get out the truth when
it was not safe to do it. Before Project Chanology Anonymous very few were
speaking out and scientology went after most of us. Jon suffered greatly at the
hands of organized scientology who tried to destroy him for getting out the
truth they have been trying to hide from the public. I highly recommend that
people read what Jon has to say. He has my great respect for what he has done
and when he did it.”
—Denise
Brennan, former Watchdog Committee Member
“Throughout my professional life, I have seen so
many victims of poisonous ideologies from communism and scientology to Saddam
Hussein’s “return to faith” and Al Qaeda’s “martyrdom”. In my attempts to help
those sufferers, I applied a lesson learned from Jon Atack’s writings that
freedom cannot be delivered, granted, or enforced. The true and complete
freedom comes only with the freedom of mind and Jon Atack’s book is the best
guide for all who want to achieve that freedom.”
