List of Scientology Security Checks

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In the Church of Scientology, the Security Check (or "Sec Check") is a concept instituted by founder L. Ron Hubbard in 1959. Sec Checks are also known in the Scientology Justice system as "Integrity Processing" or "Confessional Auditing".

According to the Technical Dictionary of Dianetics and Scientology, security checking has the purpose of "remedying the compulsion or obsession to commit actions which" the person then feels must be kept secret.[1] They are given to all Scientologists on the Bridge, every six months to all OTs, according to officials, "to make sure they're using the tech correctly",[2] and to members who are leaving staff.[3]

As with traditional auditing, the subject holds the cans of the E-Meter as a drill of questions are posed.

Contents

[edit] Security Checks

[edit] Johannesburg Security Check

The Johannesburg Security Check (also known as "Joburg") was described by Hubbard as "the roughest security check in Scientology". An amended form continued to be used for some time thereafter.[4]

Amongst Hubbard's list of primarily crime-related questions is the question "Have you ever slept with a member of a race of another color?"[5] Other questions include:

Have you ever embezzled money?
Have you ever been a drug addict?
Have you ever bombed anything?
Have you ever murdered anyone?
Have you ever raped anyone?
Have you ever had anything to do with a baby farm?[5][6]

[edit] Only Valid Security Check

The contents of the Joburg were later revised into what became "The Only Valid Security Check". Added to the Sec Check are new questions such as:

Have you ever practiced cannibalism?
Have you ever practiced sex with children?
Have you ever practiced masturbation?
Have you ever killed or crippled animals for pleasure?
Have you ever had unkind thoughts about L. Ron Hubbard?[6]

[edit] Security Check Children

Main article: Security Check Children

Designed to be applied to children aged 6 to 12. Issued by Hubbard as HCO Bulletin of 21 September 1961, also known as HCO WW Security Form 8. The procedure runs through 99 questions, such as:

What has somebody told you not to tell?
Have you ever decided you didn't like some member of your family?
Have you ever taken something belonging to somebody else and never given it back?
Have you ever pretended to be sick (ill)?
Have you ever made yourself sick (ill) or hurt yourself to make somebody sorry?

[edit] Whole Track Security Check

Main article: Whole Track

This long Sec Check, consisting of hundreds of questions, takes stock of the subject's entire time track, including all their past lives. It includes questions such as:

Did you come to Earth for evil purposes?
Have you ever smothered a baby?
Have you ever enslaved a population?
Have you ever destroyed a culture?
Have you ever torn out someone's tongue?
Have you ever zapped anyone?
Have you ever eaten a human body?
Have you ever made a planet, or nation, radioactive?[4][6]

[edit] Controversy

[edit] Potential blackmail

Scientology researcher Jon Atack, who is a former Scientologist and a known critic of Scientology, posits in his book A Piece of Blue Sky[1]:

"In theory, Security Checking could be applied either as a Confessional, in which case the replies obtained were said to be confidential, or during the course of an investigation, in which case they were not. In practice, the Confessional has proved to be a double-edged procedure, sometimes giving genuine relief, but always harboring the potential future use of the material as blackmail. An enthusiastic convert is willing to expose even his most tortured secret. Should he become disillusioned by Church practices, he will keep quiet for fear that his confession will be disclosed. "[2]

[edit] Involuntary interrogation

Hubbard sent the bulletin HCOB 30 March 1960 to all South African Auditors. It was titled Interrogation (How to read an E-Meter on a silent subject). In it, Hubbard describes how the Sec Checks can be used as an interrogation tool on involuntary subjects:[4]

"When the subject placed on a meter will not talk but can be made to hold the cans (or can be held while the cans are strapped to the soles or placed under the armpit), it is still possible to obtain full information from the subject."[7]

Hubbard concluded, "The end product is the discovery of a terrorist, usually paid, usually a criminal, often trained abroad."

[edit] References

  1. ^ Technical Dictionary of Dianetics and Scientology; L. Ron Hubbard; Bridge Publications; ISBN 0-88404-037-2
  2. ^ Reitman, Janet (2006-02-23). Inside Scientology. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
  3. ^ Farley, Robert (2006-06-25). The unperson. St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved on 2008-03-05.
  4. ^ a b c Jon Atack, A Piece of Blue Sky, Chapter 6
  5. ^ a b L. Ron Hubbard, HCOPL 7 April 1961, "Johannesburg Security Check"
  6. ^ a b c Margery Wakefield, Understanding Scientology, Chapter 11
  7. ^ L. Ron Hubbard, HCOB 30 March 1960 "Interrogation (How to read an E-Meter on a silent subject)"

[edit] External links