My take on Scientology's OT3

To just about any Scientologist, one of the most guarded writings ever issued by Hubbard is that known as Operating Thetan Level III (OT3 for short). This document describes an incident that Scientologists believe occurred a very long time ago and, to some extent, still affects life on this planet even today. They also believe that exposure to the real material could be harmful to someone who is not completely prepared to deal with the incident. For that reason, the Church does not openly publish details of the incident other than through approved means.

From my perspective, having been through OT3 myself and subsequently having moved on to an even more controversial religion, I can state my opinion thus:

• I do not think it matters much whether the incident is taken as historical fact or as symbolic analogy (I happen to belive the story is largely symbolic but there are many who believe that the incident actually happened as written).
• I know that the Church has a history of taking action against anyone who publishes this material without their permission.
• I am not at all comfortable with some of the actions the Church has taken in the past to prevent widespread dissemination of this material... However...
• I do believe that the Church of Scientology, as the holders of the copyright, have every right to decide exactly when and how the material gets distributed.
• I do know that many, if not most, Scientologists consider the OT3 materials to be "sacred" to their religion (and that at least some are offended by the violation of their right to worship as they see fit... in private).
• I do not believe that a person could be physically harmed by simply reading the material (of course, depending on how much significance they assign to the story, I suppose some temporary psychological damage could result)... However...
• I do believe that advance knowledge of the content of an initiatory process (and OT3 is, by every definition that I know of, an initiatory process) can have an adverse effect on the efficacy of the process itself.

For those reasons I have, at the [polite] request of a representative of the Church, pulled the offending paragraph from Tom Joyce's article. As I have stated elsewhere, it is not my intention to offend or harm those who choose to practice Scientology. So removal of the offending passage is just another step in my effort to re-target my web pages to present my personal opinion on this controversial religion.

For those who want to read the article as published, there are still at least two avenues available:

1. You can search the magazine archives at your local library for Gnosis Magazine, Hubbard's Ladder by Tom Joyce. This is safer since minor errors could well have crept into my online copy when it was originally transcribed. Or...
2. You can write to me and request a copy. If you follow this route, you must convince me that you are genuinely interested and not just a member of the Church of Scientology looking to get an advance peek at your next level or a journalist looking for some interesting fodder to use in your next Scientology expose. In other words, while I have no objection to any honest information-seeking individual having free access to the offending paragraph as published, at the same time, I do not wish to be the vehicle through which the sacred writings of any religious group are held up to ridicule.

If anyone has any comment on my decision, either positive or negative, please feel free to write me directly and discuss your opinion.

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