

The main base of Scientologists in the world, located in Hemet, CA on a 550 acre space of land which holds multiple castle-like structures as well as L. Ron Hubbard’s mansion from decades ago. Here’s how it goes:







The Deal



Sometime last week, I receive a call from a long time friend who always hooks me up with great short-term jobs and connections. He’s a headhunter (recruiter) for a living so he ‘really’ knows where to look and he’s always down to find me something interesting to do. This time I pick up the phone and I can already tell something strange is going on. He won’t tell me what the job is but promises that the pay will be high, and it will be flash-work with a little bit of 3D work thrown in. And they will also pay me huge amounts of travel expense because of the fact the place I’ll be going is a little armpit city named Hemet, deep in the hilly fields of eastern California. After he throws out some numbers, I immediately free my schedule up in a split-second and accept for the week-long project.



Fast-forward a day, I’m driving up the interstate 15, wondering what company I’ll be working for and why my friend wouldn’t tell me. It didn’t make any sense. I’m following my google maps, driving deeper and deeper into the hills, the wind kicking up sand into my cars paint, and I kept thinking this shit better be worth it.



I finally reach the final street, and as I turn the corner of the farm-ridden land, I almost slam my brakes as a huge silver castle-like structure comes flying into view behind the trees. I slow to a roll and can’t believe the kind of structures that begin appearing behind it. I started wondering who lived there and what it was, until a few seconds later when I saw my destination address numbers on the gate the property itself. Confusion sets in…



The gate guard looks pretty sketchy as I slowly pull up, and asks what my name is and if I’ve been there before. I tell him, and he asks the exact words, “who sent for you?”, like we’re living in some sort of fucking medieval age and I’m a peasant that’s been sent for some food for my starving village. At least that’s what it felt like. I told him “I don’t even know where I am”. For some reason he nodded and let me in, as if that kind of situation happens all the time in these parts.



I meet the lady I spoke on the phone with at the reception desk. She’s wearing a green shirt with an interesting logo on it – one that rings a bell in my memory, but I can’t quite place a finger on it. Have I seen that before? It seems like something I may have made fun of in the past? What the hell symbol is that!?



She says, “Before we start, you can fill out this paperwork and I’ll put on an introduction movie just to show you what kind of work we do.”



I sit back and relax after a simple half sheet of information filled out (Wtf? Half a sheet? Am I working for the garbage company?), and the movie sprawls into view on the huge TV in front of me.



My jaw drops as the first title screen is read aloud, booming and shaking the room.









WELCOME TO THE CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY AND DIANETICS.









I keep a smile on my face, because I know the lady is looking at me. I can always keep my cool if I want to, but this situation was pushing me into a delusional state. Scientology? Are you fucking kidding me? I’m about to work for these goons and stay near/in their stronghold fortress type of shit? I laugh under my breath as I think about my friend and what he knew he was doing to me.





Anyway, this is getting too long, let me get down to the rest of the week:



Scientologists are the best people possible to work for. There is no comparison. Google is dwarfed. Yes, I fucking said that just now – GOOGLE CAN NOT COMPETE. You’re probably thinking the freaks used their electrical rods on me and I’m just tripping out right now because I’ve been messed up in the brain. But let me tell you what it’s like.



I worked in an extremely high-tech room, with other regular people (2/3 of us there were ‘not’ scientologists, simply graphical artists, mostly 3D modelers/animators), with all the best perks you can think of. I was paid $55 an hour, PLUS $175 a day in travel expenses – and I didn’t even drive back to S.D. every day. I slept in a cheap hotel or on the premises itself. But get this, this is the real kicker: Anyone working there can set their own hours, and you can work unlimited hours. I’m not kidding… not only that, but since they are a religious organization, you don’t get taxed very much at all on your check.



Every day we were served breakfast, lunch, and dinner – the most premium, home-cooked food ever. The bipolar chef lady (er, the “non-existent” bipolar lady, since mental diseases don’t exist in a scientology world, haha) was very nice… and also very mean. But she served some damn good food.



Everyone in the lab area was always messing around and having a good time, and as long as you got your work done you could take whatever breaks you wanted and even sleep in the lounge if you got tired. The work itself was grueling, no doubt about that. I pumped out the most intense, high-tech Flash work I’ve ever done, by far, which I will post when they upload it. I performed better than usual because of the vibe around me.



Scientologists only hire the best of the best. All of the 3D Artists in there were near-Pixar level. They were paid $75 an hour on average and could work as many hours as they pleased. I know those reading this probably think that’s bullshit, but I’m not kidding about this, and if anyone is a 3d animator in Southern Cali, hit me up because I CAN get you a job there. But,



It’s an 84-hour work week. Scientologists work more than anyone ever. In history. The 30-year olds of the Church are already going bald – at least 50% of them in that age range. You work 7 days a week, 12 hours a day minimum. As of this writing, I ‘just’ got home from a 21-hour shift. Nonstop from 7 PM to 4 PM the following day – it’s no softie shit here. They break the laws and they don’t care because they’re a religious organization.



They told me if I wanted a full-time job, they would offer me a salary well above twice what I’ve ever made in my life. But I know in my head that this means one thing – I would ‘lose’ every other aspect of my life. No more games, no more hanging out, no more beer, probably no more girls either, especially since Scientology women are not… the… most… greatest looking women you can find.



I have as much time as I want to decide, they said. “Come back whenever”... I’ll be sure to alert all my friends and acquaintances if I ever do it, because they will no longer be seeing me very much. I’m dubious right now despite the cash calling.



Scientology? What the fuck? I asked the same thing, Let me go into some shorter sections about the religion itself.









The Religion



I have three major points to make. I feel my opinions on the subject are pretty unbiased, being an atheist, yet relatively educated in most religions.



1) Scientology ‘is’ a true religion. There are positive (and negative) morals and beliefs behind it, and under the surface there is more than it may seem at first glance.

2) While it’s not the most scientifically-correct belief system, I promise you that the media has screwed up the image of this world way, way more than it really is in reality. There are large numbers of questionable points, but no one fucking believes in Xenu.

3) I am not, and never will be a scientologist. The only interest I have in it is curiosity, and the only reason I’m writing this is because this experience was totally new for me and I felt like sharing my opinion on the subject. I’m not vouching for it or putting it down – I just want to try and speak the reality of the situation.



I’ll start with the bad first. And the first thing that comes to mind is L. Ron Hubbard himself. I read multiple books of his, under the subject of dianetics, throughout my week-long stay. A lot of my flash work for them also incorporated his words and ideas into the interface, so you can say I received a good dose of old Hubbard. This man’s writings reek of obviousness and vague made-up terms about life that he created to try and better those around him. Some of the stuff he wrote was just totally outrageous and unable to be backed by any decent experiment or thesis. I will say though, he was a good science-fiction writer, and most wouldn’t deny that. That’s where the Xenu character comes in – Scientologists ‘do not’ believe in Xenu, I was assured over and over again… besides for maybe a few crazies, but every religion has those. I found it slightly comforting that Scientologists do not believe in a made-up invisible friend.



Back to Hubbard, yes, he was probably a genius, but only in the aspects of persuasion and social cohesion. He printed his books in a way so that more simple-minded folk could pick them up and quickly extract many ‘points’ about life from them. Most of the points in the books are questionable to any intelligent mind, but the fact remains that the majority sound positive and motivating. It gives you a good feeling to read about how life “could” be.



Other bad things: Scientologists are against all forms of psychiatry and pharmaceutical drugs, and they don’t really believe in mental illness. This is baffling to me. They don’t like lazy people, and they don’t like poor people. Everyone else is pretty much accepted. Also, it still feels like they have a “religious” mind state, as in, most things they do should somehow benefit their church and community, or else something is not worth doing.



Now onto the good. These people are somehow, in some way, smart as hell. They are technology geniuses, as Hubbard was, and they have a keen understanding of modern movements in the digital world. They are very nice people for the most part as well, even though they can be sort of cliquish. It sort of felt like they were intimidated by me in many instances, even though I’m very friendly and easy to get along with for most people. It put me in a position I wasn’t used to, but it wasn’t too big of a deal. In reality, I know this was just because they don’t “get out” too much outside of their huge, huge semi-city that they have built for themselves in this remote region of the hills.



The followers of this religion also are fairly peaceful and worldly. They have set up tents all around the world in many cities that need help, offering their services. They definitely have the money to do it. Now whether or not this is for exposure and fame can be debated. I think it’s probably half and half myself. Either way though – it’s still helping many regions of the world, especially the programs set up in Africa.



One more section I have to address...











The People





One scientologist lady, also the one doing my payroll, was so god damn cool that she almost single-handedly changed my opinion on this religion upon our first conversation. This lady is truly one of the coolest people I’ve ever met, and I only spent a week around her and her crew. She always knew how to act in the most sincere and positive way in any situation and her head was on straighter than mine ever will be. Her, and the other “ones” like her got me to thinking: If some of these people are truly genuine, and they follow this practice, that means the religion ‘has’ to have some sort of reasonable and intelligent values.



And it does – I know for a fact it does. It’s not ALL mumbo-jumbo FOX-News reported fucking crap. There’s no aliens. There’s definitely no brainwash of any kind. And better than that.. all the “real” scientologists love nothing more than to talk shit about Tom Cruise all day. They don’t like him or Travolta one bit… they got their status through money and money alone.



But really, I’m not praising them more than what I saw. Just a percentage of them. Overall, in truth… this is still a weird group of people. They are secretive, they are quiet, and the word that comes most to mind, is “sentinel”. I would be outside on a break, at 5 AM in the desert, and a few hundred yards away I might see a group of four people, all in green shirts, marching along together into the structures of the darkness. Then I might turn around and hear a motor-scooter buzzing around in a circle around me, invisible to the eye, the roads non-existent.



They also wouldn’t let us “normies” walk anywhere on the property besides our designated areas. We knew where those were without ever having to question it. Getting caught outside the socially-marked spots would spell disaster, or so I heard. I snapped some pictures and got a couple movies actually, although I don’t know how well they will actually represent the vibe on the lands there. I’ll show them later.







This came out way longer than I meant it to be, but that should be expected when I try some new shit. The main points I’d like to reassure you about:



I’m not a scientologist and I never will be. I am an atheist who believes in no supernatural or magical forces, and that will probably never change.



Scientologists pay the most. I was a 2D artist getting more cash than most 3D artists. And when/if I become a full-blown 3D artist, you better believe I’m working for these sons of bitches. That is $300,000 a year when you factor in the 84 hour work week, if you work every day (Rare. That’s too much.)



It’s not a bullshit, fake religion, but it’s still weird and obscure. I’m still having a hard time grasping “exactly” what it is, and trust me, you might think you know but you have no idea. After a week with these people, I actually feel sort of grateful to have seen how much the media and word-of-mouthers really skew things like this.



It’s not a good religion, and it’s not a bad religion. It’s definitely filled with propaganda bullshit, but it has decency.



I guess that goes for most religions.



Fucking weird, what a weird week. Scientology… lol… that’s still funny to me.



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