"Scott and Jackie Carmichael died in a car accident on the weekend."
There was silence. Then all hell broke loose. What?! NO!!! Impossible! They were here in the Org on Friday!
Then whisperings, murmurings, pondering the enormity of it - the grief, the loss, the confusion - and the doubt.
Jackie and Scott were OT VII - at least Scott was.
And OTs are CAUSE OVER LIFE.
OTs do NOT die in car crashes.
Did anyone ever say that? I'm not sure. It would have been futile anyway. They would have been glared at disapprovingly and told they had hidden standards on what "cause over life" really meant.
Hidden standard - An unrealistic standard by which one measures the effectiveness of Scientology auditing. (I'm paraphrasing here.) According to xenu.net:
The notion of a "Hidden Standard" is Scientology's escape clause, sleight of hand, the place where the excuses are made for Scientology not working.Someone - I don't remember who - spoke calmly, soothingly, reassuringly. It was all fine. Other OTs had been in touch with them telepathically after the accident, and all was well.
Bullshit. I didn't buy it. Not for a second. I knew it wasn't fine. How did I know that? Because they had a young son, travelling in another car, who survived. That's how I knew.
Maybe they were PTS or out ethics - because OTs do not die in car crashes.
So being $250,000 in debt (or so rumour had it) in 1989 to pay for training and auditing - would that qualify?
In any event, Scott and Jackie were dead. And my faith was irreparably shaken.
