The Trouble with OTIII

30 Second Skinny The scriptures for Operating Thetan 3 serve as a kind of shibboleth for the Church of Scientology. The Church flatly denies (often without lying outright) that the scriptures in the public domain are the genuine ones, so should someone reach and pay for the OT3 they are in a position where they are already deeply embedded in church life and must make the difficult choice of swallowing the story so often denied, or walking away from a sizeable part of their life. Should they stay in the church, it is likely that the church realise more and more courses and auditing can be pushed onto them.

Please note that this article will not discuss the specific contents of OT3, only its context within the Church's Bridge to Total Freedom.

It is enough to say that we can be certain of the contents of OT3, given the lengths that the Church of Scientology has gone through in order to quash it becoming common knowledge. This, of course, has had the reverse effect.

Yet they continue to deny it. Here are some Scientologists denying it on BBC's Panorama. I've censored it so that Scientologists can read it without getting into trouble.

SWEENEY: Scientology now flatly denies the XXXX story but it's been so widely reported it seemed wrong not to ask them about it, particularly as many of the most senior scientologists all operating Thetans.


(Kirstie Allie interview) Xxxx, an xxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxx, xxxxxxxx xxxxx from.. xxxxx xxxxx, xxxxxxxx them xx xxxxx and then xxxx xxxx xx.

Kirstie Allie, operating Thetan level 7, said it wasn't true.

(Juliette Lewis interview) An xxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxx who xxxx xx xxxx xx xxxxxx...?

Juliette Lewis giggled and denied it.

(Leah Remini interview) The xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxx who xx xxxxxxx xxxxx xxx xxxx xx xxx xxxxxx'x... xxxxxx.

TOMMY: John I already answered this.. let us know what you're talking about, it's like loony. It's weird.. makes you look weird.

This is the head spokesperson of the church flatly denying the story. To John Roberts on CNN he said of the contents of OT3 "Well, John, does that sound silly to you? I mean it’s unrecognizable to me."

They deny it is true, and point out that it is ridiculous.

But it's still there in the scriptures. Which raises the question, what happens when someone has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars on self help, having taken on board that the enemies of Scientology tell all sorts of lies, having witnessed Tommy Davis, along with the great and the good in Scientology, deny those crazy lies; what happens when that person finally get their hands on the OT3 briefcase, opens it up and peeks inside? OT3 is a hard lesson to learn in the first place. Andrew Morton discusses how badly affected Tom Cruise was once he reached the "wall of fire" and this was before the contents had become widely known; this was before all the denial and ridicule had set in.

OT3 has been described as a shibboleth. Once you have spent the money on reaching OT3, you will either balk at the realisation that the crazy stories you have heard are true and walk; or you will make the "bad money after good" mistake, and carry on. And once you have passed OT3, the Church will know they have someone profoundly committed to being duped.

In the interests of transparency, this post was prompted by revelations that Scientologist William Rex Fowler has been arrested for murder, and a brief case containing Scientology scripture was taken from the crime scene.

When detectives asked Janet Fowler [William Fowler's Wife] to speak with them, she had an urgent concern as her husband lay fighting for his life in the intensive care unit.

"Janet Fowler quickly demanded the briefcase" containing information about Scientology that detectives had removed from his office, the arrest affidavit stated.

"One thing I need is his briefcase," Janet Fowler told detectives, according to the court record. "It was taken out of his office. It is important to me, my church, and it is religious material and I want it now!"

Rex Fowler had left a note dated the day of the shooting instructing whoever found it to "please give the briefcase to Jan." Another note, found on Fowler's work desk along with several keys, explained to "Jan" what each key unlocked.

Detective Gene Claps explained to Janet Fowler that investigators needed to review the briefcase contents.

"Even if you looked at it and read it, you would not understand anything in it," the wife replied, the arrest affidavit stated. "Because it is way above a normal person and you would not know what it meant."

"Janet Fowler then demanded the briefcase be returned again, by saying, 'I want it back now, right now!' " Claps wrote in his statement.

It seems unlikely that William Fowler had been in Scientology for 36 years without reaching the level of OT3, though comparably lengthy service within Church staff without much bridge progress is not unheard of. I don't think Fowler did reach OT3, realise he had been lied to for 36 years, and then commit suicide, but the trouble with OT3 is that by the time you reach it, you are so deep into the Church that the realisation you have been trapped could feasibly have repercussions on this kind of scale.