A Scientology Suppressive Person Declare Is Not Like An Excommunication
Scientology's evil practice of declaring Scientologists suppressive persons and then ordering everyone in their life to disconnect from them is nothing like an excommunication.
Over the past few days, as news organizations cover the sentencing of celebrity Scientologist Danny Masterson, I’ve repeatedly noticed reporters refer to Scientology’s practice of declaring a Scientologist as a “suppressive person” as “ex-communication.”
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Ex-communication (exclusion from communion) in the Catholic Church means that someone is excluded from specific religious practices, in this case, from the Sacraments.
When a Scientologist is declared suppressive, their entire life is destroyed, exactly as L. Ron Hubbard and now David Miscavige intended it.
When a suppressive person declare (like the one I’ve embedded below) is issued, Scientologists are immediately ordered to disconnect from the person who has been declared. This includes their immediate family and closest friends.
Scientology ethics officers will call people in rapid succession to inform them that the person has been declared. Those people will then immediately disconnect from them.
If the Scientologist doesn't disconnect, they will be declared as well.
Disconnection means they will never contact or communicate with the suppressive person.
It is absolute.
This means that if a Scientologist sees the person who has been declared in the grocery store, for example, they will walk out and leave to avoid contact with them.
Another example that people always find shocking when I tell them is after Leah Remini left Scientology and began speaking out publicly about its abusive practices, she attended a party at the home of Chelsea Handler, the TV host and stand-up comic.
Actress Laura Prepon was also in attendance. Prepon, who was a Scientologist at the time but has since left but remained silent about her experience in Scientology, quite literally ran out of Handler's home to avoid running into Remini.
Can you imagine walking into a store or restaurant and seeing your child and you leave immediately without even saying hello to them?
So what can lead a person to get declared? Many things.
People have been declared for "liking" Leah Remini's social media posts.
They've been declared for posting on social media that they were leaving Scientology (publicly departing Scientology is considered a high crime).
They've been declared for admitting to family members that they've been watching documentaries that expose Scientology's abusive practices.
When a Scientologist is declared a suppressive person, the way in which their life is destroyed is immediate and ruthless.
Let's take the example of a Scientologist and small business owner who lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
For whatever reason, they've been declared a suppressive person.
Ethics officers will immediately inform everyone in that person's life that they must disconnect from them.
How do they know who is in their life? Scientology operates like a borderless totalitarian state; it commands total control over the lives of its members. They know everything about their member's lives.
As soon as people are informed that the person has been declared as suppressive, they will cut off all contact (sometimes Scientologists will write what's known as a disconnection letter to notify the person that they're disconnecting from them, but it's not required).
Let's say our small business owner has ten employees. In order to control its members, Scientology works its way into their lives to surround them with Scientologists, so by this point, this business owner's employees will all be Scientologists.
Once those employees are informed that their boss has been declared, all ten will quit immediately. And by immediately, I mean they will get up from their desks or workstations the second they get the call and walk out.
What about their paycheck? Doesn't matter. What about paying their rent? Doesn't matter. What if they need their job so their kid can get a lifesaving medical treatment? Doesn't matter.
Scientologists are indoctrinated into making decisions based on the "greatest good for the greatest number of dynamics."...the ends justify the means.
I have said that no one is more dedicated to a cause, save for a jihadist terrorist, than a Scientologist. Scientologists will do anything if it helps Scientology.
Friends of the person who has been declared will immediately cut off contact. They will block the person from texting and emailing them. They will unfollow them on social media and block them.
Former Scientologists I've talked to have described how jarring it is to see their social media followers rapidly decline in real time. One former Scientologist told me that after she was declared, she went from 800 Facebook friends to 200 friends in hours.
And what about family? Family doesn't matter in Scientology. If they want to remain Scientologists in good standing, their entire family will immediately disconnect from the small business owner.
The small business owner's children, parents, spouse, and other family members will immediately disappear from their life. Their spouse will be required to divorce them. Scientology will provide an attorney if their spouse doesn't have the resources to hire an attorney to file for divorce.
The people in this small business owner's life are now in a state that puts them at risk for disaffection and possible escape from Scientology, so they will be closely monitored by Scientology auditors (counselors), ethics officers, and others to ensure they remain loyal to Scientology.
What I've described above is not excommunication; it's a coordinated campaign, paid for with tax-exempt funds, by Scientology to destroy innocent people who dared to question Scientology in any way.
And the scenario I've described above is mild compared to what some Scientologists go through when declared.
Some, like my friends Leah Remini and Mike Rinder, not only lose their family and friends, which is devastating on its own, but they are also subjected to years of harassment, surveillance, and psychological devastation that is unimaginable for most people.
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Thank you for saying this out loud. I lost my daughter to this “religion” that tears families apart.
Thankyou Yashar for all that you do to expose this organisation. I will subscribe to your Substack to support your work that you did concerning Shelly Miscavige and other Scientology articles. We are many who support you.