Sun Mar 02, 2008 5:08 pm
In Soviet Russia, Scientology infiltrates YOU! No, wait...
Right, so I was there with my parents as a small girl when they were sent as Scientology attaches to the recently dismantled USSR.
I may get some of the dates and timeframes wrong, as I was around 9 at the time. But I remember my trip to Moscow quite well. It was, after all, my first real travelling experience.
At the time, I didn't really understand what was happening. I didn't understand that my parents had been sent there on a mission to help Scientology gain a foothold in the new, modern Russia.
I have a jumble of memories in my head:
- Sitting in the back carpet of a Communist theatre while my mom gave Dianetics / Tone Scale lectures to a crowd of Russians. Many lectures of this nature took place, and I wish I'd been old enough to grasp the significance of what was going on. I was more interested in taking pictures of myself taking pictures of myself in the huge, gilt-edged mirrors in the grand hall.
- Being escorted around with some ex-KGB agent who had survived the USSR's fall and become part of the new police force. That ex-KGB agent went on to become the head of Narconon Russia. He then went on to turn against Narconon Russia, calling Scientology a cult. I found out about that online.
- Being asked to write (and writing) an article in a local kids magazine about the Way to Happiness. (Mom, can I have a copy of that, please?)
- My dad telling me not to use the phones in the hotel to make personal calls, because they were certainly bugged.
- Staying at a local family's house - the whole family slept in the tiny living room so that I could have the bed.
- Asking to see the menu in a restaurant, and being told, "there is no menu - you eat what we have today". They had: chicken with no meat on it, plain white steamed rice, sardines with cucumbers and raisin ice-cream.
- Going on Russian radio and speaking in the Kremlin at an Art's Festival in promotion of the Way to Happiness and Scientology because I was asked to. I can't remember what I said, but it was something to the effect of "way to happiness is good and helps people. I like Russia, and I hope our countries can be friends." What else can you expect of a 9 year old?
According to Clambake, here's what was actually going on in Russia at the time:
Later, that ex-KGB guy visited us at our house in the U.S., and I got him addicted to Sonic the Hedgehog to the point where I couldn't even play my own Sega (miss you, Vladimir!). "The KGB stole my SEGA!" was my own private joke for years that no one seemed to ever get.
He also made us the best borscht I have ever, ever, ever had.
I may get some of the dates and timeframes wrong, as I was around 9 at the time. But I remember my trip to Moscow quite well. It was, after all, my first real travelling experience.
At the time, I didn't really understand what was happening. I didn't understand that my parents had been sent there on a mission to help Scientology gain a foothold in the new, modern Russia.
I have a jumble of memories in my head:
- Sitting in the back carpet of a Communist theatre while my mom gave Dianetics / Tone Scale lectures to a crowd of Russians. Many lectures of this nature took place, and I wish I'd been old enough to grasp the significance of what was going on. I was more interested in taking pictures of myself taking pictures of myself in the huge, gilt-edged mirrors in the grand hall.
- Being escorted around with some ex-KGB agent who had survived the USSR's fall and become part of the new police force. That ex-KGB agent went on to become the head of Narconon Russia. He then went on to turn against Narconon Russia, calling Scientology a cult. I found out about that online.
- Being asked to write (and writing) an article in a local kids magazine about the Way to Happiness. (Mom, can I have a copy of that, please?)
- My dad telling me not to use the phones in the hotel to make personal calls, because they were certainly bugged.
- Staying at a local family's house - the whole family slept in the tiny living room so that I could have the bed.
- Asking to see the menu in a restaurant, and being told, "there is no menu - you eat what we have today". They had: chicken with no meat on it, plain white steamed rice, sardines with cucumbers and raisin ice-cream.
- Going on Russian radio and speaking in the Kremlin at an Art's Festival in promotion of the Way to Happiness and Scientology because I was asked to. I can't remember what I said, but it was something to the effect of "way to happiness is good and helps people. I like Russia, and I hope our countries can be friends." What else can you expect of a 9 year old?
According to Clambake, here's what was actually going on in Russia at the time:
Later, that ex-KGB guy visited us at our house in the U.S., and I got him addicted to Sonic the Hedgehog to the point where I couldn't even play my own Sega (miss you, Vladimir!). "The KGB stole my SEGA!" was my own private joke for years that no one seemed to ever get.
He also made us the best borscht I have ever, ever, ever had.
