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Liederbach. [b:2f03aa5c79]They are suspected of having connections with the Scientology Church[/b:2f03aa5c79]. It has been said that they, themselves, have characteristics of a sect. For at least ten years, they have been having meetings in the Liederbach hall. They are the internationally active "Landmark Education GmbH."

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7 years I didn't see go by. But it's important to point out that the follower doesn't realize he's in a cult. If he did, he'd run the other way...To answer you, I was glued to the video clips. [b:901ed9dca2]I was a little uncomfortable because I heard all the terminology from Scientology. There was a whiteboard at the beginning with exactly the same words that Hubbard would use, the founder of Scientology. I worked in Denmark at the parent organization of Europe. So I was at the heart of Scientology. So I know the terminology very well, and all of it's the same.[/b:901ed9dca2] On the other hand, I think they may have diversified. If I may, I think that cults are very quick. As soon as they sense they are being labeled by the press, or in government reports, they rush to diversify, to take another angle.

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The global objectives of the paper were: 1) the development of methods and instrumentation to describe and evaluate the provider-organizations by religious and worldview category, as well as by psychogroups and and life management organizations outside recognized health care systems. 2) A clear description of the methods and techniques of the Scientology and Landmark provider-organizations. 3) A legal assessment as to whether and to what degree the subject provider-organizations might be violating rights in criminal, constitutional or civil spheres, and what claims those adversely affected might be entitled to.

The objective of the developing a method was to assess not only risks, but also advantages of the psycho- and social-techniques used by the provider-organizations. The development of method and instrumentation was to also serve as an incentive for further studies. The objective of the description and assessment of the Scientology and Landmark organizations was the investigation of the psychic, physical and social effects of the psycho- and social-techniques applied by those organizations respectively upon members and participants. The third objective also included the presentation of legal problems, conflicts or violations by the two organizations, along with pointers as to possible paths of resolution.

The principle risks associated with techniques, such as the large group and marathon sessions conducted by Landmark, biofeedback procedures used by Scientology with the e-meter, or the trance states induced in either organization, have been described in detail in the various literature on the topic in general and on these two organizations in particular, and it is assumed that these are already known. A position will be taken as to the principle risks of using psychotherapeutic techniques by lay people who do not have professional training in the supplemental opinion ("Unfavorable effects of hypnosis and suggestion procedures, as well as behavioral therapy procedures, see attached).

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Show me the money: What a great read this article was. The spirit of George Orwell must have had a hand in this. Landmark reminds me of my short time with Scientology.

With good reason, because Landmark is the modern-day version of Werner Erhard's EST. Erhard studied Scientology and the similarities are very evident, even with some of the jargon. Scientology is adamantly opposed to Erhard because he is considered a "squirrel" and even has an EST Rundown that is supposed to deal with the damage they believe people sustain. The similarities seem to have escaped the Scientologists.

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Here's how it works: They start by making you believe that you are a pathetic excuse for a human being, then they make you believe that only with their help and after purchasing various publications and
"technology" will you improve. Just when you think you've improved, they tell you you're still not good enough so you have to buy more stuff. Finally, you are once and for all the human being you've always dreamed of being (actually the human being they want you to be). But
still you're wrong. You're not the human being you want to be until you recruit your friends (if you still have them) into this wonderful new religion of yours. The point being that with organizations such as
these, you'll never reach the ideal that they preach. They'll beat you mentally into spending money. The description of Landmark and Scientology can easily describe the book 1984!

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Some definitions before reading the text below.
CO$: Church of Scientology (COS).
Squirrel: Someone who left Scientology.
Suppressive: People Scientologists don't like.

Landmark Education by Andy Testa
by Andy Testa

Doug Shelton (dshelton@nps.navy.mil) posted: Please give any info on landmark "forum" program. Is this similar to scientology. Was this previously called EST? Why did they have to restructure their entire program? Thanks in advance

STAY AWAY. An intense course that deconstructs personality and rebuilds it around continued participation in the group. Anal-retentive non-stop participation in seminars and advanced courses is sold HARD. Read on for details.

Landmark Forum is the current incarnation of est, begun by Werner Erhard in the 60s after he was declared Suppressive by Scientology. I'm not sure of the dates. Werner was a staffer in Co$ who squirreled: he changed the tech and thought he had a better way to "clear" people. After his SP declare (mentioned in Captain Bill's letter) he started est. Est was pretty abusive, relying on incredibly strict discipline, insults and shouting to break down the resistance of the "student". The effect is to break down the personality and rebuild it around the group. Through the years, Werner refined the techniques so that the abuse was no longer needed. The result was the Forum. NOTE: Since est was and is a squirrel group, you are an SP for participating in it or belonging to it. Since I participated in it, I have used squirrel processes and am officially an SP, not just a self-declared!

I did the Forum around 1986. At that time, it cost $500 and took 4 1/2 days (two weekends, then a friday night). I got involved through a roommate. He was very enthusiastic about how it could transform my life, so I went with him to one of his weekly meetings. I was treated to a room full of very white people in nice clothes, all very positive and testifying as to how their lives had been changed by the Forum and their current involvement. I was then taken to a separate room and subjected to HEAVY sales pitches by about 5 staffers and volunteers. My roommate was there, and offered to loan me the money, and I agreed as I was a pretty wishy-washy sot back then. So off to the Forum I went.

The Forum attempts to deconstruct personal attachments in a non-abusive manner by focussing your attention inward: The basis is being kept in a hotel ballroom for 10 hour days with little sleep, listening to the same thing over and over and over. Most of it consists of having people look at their childhood, and find the events that caused them to make decisions about other people, especially their parents. Unlike Co$, this usually results in a CLOSER relationship with the parents. Once everyone has been reduced to tears through the constant confessions of the participants, the Forum leader builds everyone back up by directing their attention on using the Forum philosophy (still called a technology!) to better their relationships and self esteem.

Sounds good, eh? Well, the strict discipline is still there. You can't go to the bathroom when you want, you take meals in groups, there are strict rules about talking and conduct, and the leader won't hesitate to shame you into compliance. Much of it is psychology parlor tricks, like making a headache go away by imagining it as a physical void in your head, and imagining it being filled. This goes on for four full days. The last 1/2 day is sales night. This night, all the participants are told to bring friends and relatives. The focus of the evening is on sales: signing up your relatives for the Forum, and signing YOU up for advanced classes.

Oops! What advanced classes? Nobody said anything about advanced classes! Yes, you are again leaned on heavily by the staff to sign up for seminars. Their goal is to have you ALWAYS enrolled in a class. ALWAYS. They claim to transform you in the Forum, but the transformation only lasts as long as you stay involved in the group. Now, when you've just finished the Forum, you're feeling on top of the world, so you sign up and testify for your family real hard. As well as participating in the seminars and Forum, they also rely on volunteers. Part of your involvement is to volunteer to help put on the seminars and Forum. In fact, most of the work is done by volunteers. There are very few paid staff.

I participated in several seminars and volunteered at seminars and a Forum. I took part in a sales barrage on friends and family during a Forum sales night. The approach is to not let people equivocate, not let them leave without signing up. "How much is the rest of your life worth?" is a common throw-away line. This group is really into the hard sell, and they are EXTREMELY anal-retentive and leader-oriented. Everything is ordered in excruciating detail, down to the separation between rows of chairs at seminars ( no shit, I had to use a ruler to measure). Any question about WHY something was done was met with a terse "because Werner said to do it that way".

I decided to stop participating after they began pressuring me to take the Six Day course. Six Days at a camp for intense further scrubbing of your cranium. At this time, I was a student working two jobs. This course cost over $1000 and I had none, so I had no intention of taking it, but they insisted. They told me to get a job that would pay for it. I refused to change my life plans to take this course, so I became a target for constant recruitment. The same happened when I refused to sign up for a further seminar. You see, to these people, when you stop participating it means you are allowing all those negative thoughts you purged to influence you again. You need them to keep you on the path to transformation. By wanting out, you PROVE you need their help. Well, they called me every single day for weeks. They would not even get off the phone, but would just tell me about the breakthroughs waiting, and how they would help me if they could, but they wouldn't accept no. They wouldn't get off the phone. I had to hang up on them. They don't see social politeness as anything but equivocation, which is seen as a desire for help. So if you don't like being rude, they'll never leave you alone.

Now this was in 1986, recall. Is it still the same? Yes. A friend of mine did the Landmark Forum this year, before I could talk to her about it. She confirmed that the personality deconstruction is still used, although it only takes 3 1/2 days now (friday-sunday, plus tuesday night). My step- son attended one of the meetings at the request of a friend this year, and he was disgusted by the shameless hard-sell. One of his friends was actually told to take up a collection from the strangers in the room so he could afford to sign up for the Forum.

A bit rambling, but hopefully it answers you question. As this question seems to keep cropping up, I'll save this post for future reposts.

\ atesta@concom.com Contributing to the downfall of Scientology since 1995.

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I have completed the Landmark curriculum for living (Forum, Forum In Action FIA, Advanced Course, Self Expression & Leadership Program SELP), Communication courses (Communication Access to Power CAP, and Communication Performance and Power CPP), and Introduction to Forum Leadership Program (IFLP).

I hold Landmark in high regard, since completing the forum.

[b:ceb3c56d31]Even as late as the middle of the thrid day of my forum I was trying to make up my mind whether these guys were Scientology or Amway[/b:ceb3c56d31], then I experienced a paradigm shift, and understood what they had been saying for three days, and a lot more besides.

They take from both scientology and amway, and a lot more besides; and at the same time they are neither of the above.

They have borrowed aspects from each, yet the matrix in which it is embedded owes more to Zen, than either of the others. [b:ceb3c56d31]Yet Zen masters have much to learn from their teachings. [/b:ceb3c56d31]
They stand for individual responsibility, communication, and understanding.

Above all they stand for individual freedom and fulfillment in your own life.

Your choice my reader - and, like the Nike ad says - Just Do It!

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The second half of the story deals with a ray of possible hope in Eugene's life, a pretty girl named Sue Ann Potts, who turns out to be a member of a quasi-religious psycho cult a la the Church of Scientology or the Landmark Education Forum. Having been forced by a cultist friend to sit through one of these crapfests, I could completely relate to Eugene's hunger pangs as the brainwashers droned on.