The Rehabilitation Project Force: Scientology's Prison Camps

In the Sea Org, members must be absolutely focused on and dedicated to the advancement of Scientology. They must be prepared to do anything for the CoS and never feel the slightest bit of doubt. To maintain this state of absolute discipline, L. Ron Hubbard saw fit to institute the Rehabilitation Project Force, a secretive, totalitarian organization designed to destroy any sense of self or dignity in those who show resistence to Scientology teachings.

One Scientology website describes the RPF as "a rehabilitation program offered only to members of the Sea Organization -- a religious order consisting of full-time staff members who have signed a pledge of eternal service to Scientology and its goals." The site also states that those within the RPF "work eight hours per day" and "both study and receive religious counseling on a daily basis to address areas of difficulty in their personal lives." The website is dedicated to providing an alternate perspective for those who have spoken with critics, yet most of its explanation are no longer than a few paragraphs and do nothing to address the testimonies of ex-Scientologists and other holes in their arguments. The reader may notice that the above quote says nothing about the wages of those within the RPF or just how these "counselors" are expected to treat any information they obtain during discussions of the Scientologist's "personal lives."

Critics are much lengthy in their descriptions of the RPF. Among those issues that one is likely to hear about either from an ex-Scientologist or a critic is the total isolation of members. Those within the RPF program are not allowed to speak to anyone outside the RPF, go anywhere by themselves, send any letters directly outside the RPF, or go anywhere that is not an RPF designated area. RPF designated areas may be extremely isolated from the rest of the world, however they are more often in Scientology buildings or areas owned by Scientology so that the labor of RPF members do not go to waste.

In a Scientology document reffered to as "FLAG ORDER 3434RB" the personal rights of RPF members were listed. Among these are "full Scientology Justice at the hands of his Seniors and peers in the RPF", "pay as allowed unless withheld or fined by a justice action", and "the opportunity to voice genuine grievances and to be heards and to make constructive efforts to make things right." The document lists a total of ten personal rights, most of which resemble the first quoted right in that they are more rules for the Scientologist to follow rather than actual rights. Others take after the second in that they are easily dismissable. Still others are either extremely limited such as the third quoted right, which guarantees the right to speak but not the guarantee that there will be no consequences.

The main focus of the RPF, physical labor and auditing, are typically long and tiresome. When preforming physical labor, the Scientologist will usually be assigned to janitorial work and other menial tasks. Hours are long and wages are low, enforcing the idea that the Scientologist is nothing while long hours of frustrating auditing in which no questions are too private or absurd enforce the idea that the "church" has absolute authority.

Furthermore, because Scientology views children as adults who have not fully developed yet, children are also sent to the RPF and similar organizations meant to prepare them for a life in servitude. Zoey Woodcraft, who joined the Sea Org at the age of two years old, said that she "stayed on the ranch and it was my life" when discussing her childhood.

While many television shows may have poked fun at Scientology, it is difficult to find any critical investigations--in other words, anything that might be taken seriously--of the CoS in today's media. Scientology has spent a great deal of time and money bringing about this state and the RPF ranks as one of the most forbidden subjects. If you have any interest in the finer details of this closely guarded secret then please, keep looking. It is time for the public to learn what Scientology doesn't want it to know.

http://www.lermanet2.com/scientology/gulags/Part1BrainwashinginScientologyProjectForce.htm

http://www.whyaretheydead.net/childabuse/rpf-children.html

http://faq.scientology.org/contents.htm

http://www.planetkc.com/sloth/sci/rpf.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rehabilitation_Project_Force