RECEIVED BY E-MAIL :  Friday July 6, 2007

I am always happy to hear from people whose lives have been affected by Scientology and who have found XENU TV to be helpful to themselves or loved ones.   I was asked to share this story and am happy to do so.

Mark Bunker, webmaster of xenutv

I spent most of my early life in Scientology. My parents both joined when I was 3-years-old.  I am now 28-years-old and although I have had little contact with Scientology over the last 10 years I have only now realized how much the “tech” and how being brought up within the culture of Scientology has affected my thoughts, my identity, my treatment of others and my view of the world.  Being in Scientology during my most impressionable stage of my life, I did not know there was anything different. I did not know there were other ways of viewing the world around us. The Scientology view was the only view I had ever known and what is worse is that I believed this view was the only view that was valid.

I wanted to post my story in the hope that this will stop people from entering Scientology, particularly those with small children who are not given the choice. To any parents, please think how a “Scientology life” will affect your children later in life.

My father was very respected in Scientology before being thrown out for reasons unknown to me. As a member of the SO, and having reached the state of Clear, he was sent around the world to start up missions. He was sent to countries where previous attempts had failed. He was very successful in this regard. At least one mission that I know of is now Saint Hill size. He was also a top-performing registrar, owing his course selling skills to his previous job as a salesman.

My mother was on staff at the local org.  My mother was not really taken in by Scientology.  My father wanted her to join the SO but she refused. She joined the local org as she had little work experience and had two small children to look after. She was able to bring my sister and I to work everyday.  She initially signed a 2.5 year contract and extended for another 2.5 years again due to our age.  After 5 years of working for the local org, she decided to leave and find another job. According to her, it was a struggle to leave.  At one point she was cornered at a fellow Scientologist’s home and hounded to sign another contract. Thankfully, she did not back down. After she left, we had no contact with any of the other Scientology kids and the people who my mother thought were friends.  She basically had to start from scratch.

I also had a step-sister who, at the age of 15, joined Sea Org.  During my early teens, I saw her occasionally on her Rec day. Little did I know that on these visits, she not only came to see us, she was also trying to persuade my mother to come back into the Org.

In my mid teens, and preying on my troubled years, my step-sister got me into Scientology where I did some minor courses on PTS types etc, and some auditing as a student pre-clear.  During this time, I also signed a billion year contract with the SO.  At the time I was desperate to join, but fortunately my mother talked me out of it. After that I did not hear from my step-sister for 3 years.

I again had troubles during my late teens and the only people I could turn to for help was my step-sister and my father. The only help they could offer me was Scientology Tech. As a result, I did a bit more auditing and also Therapeutic TR’s course. It was not something I wanted to do but I did anyway.

The next ten years, I had nothing to do with Scientology and only occasionally heard from my step-sister and father. Having a very separated family has had a huge effect on me.  I wish that I had a normal close-knit family. Unfortunately, that will never be the case.

A couple of weeks ago, I again had some troubles and turned to my step-sister for help.  She told me that I could get some auditing to fix my troubles and to go into the local org.  As I had always believed in the “tech,” I decided to give it a go. After all, I could only benefit, right?  I went in did a personality test, an IQ test and asked for some auditing. A staff member took me up to an auditing room for the standard interview after which they would call me to arrange a time to come in for the auditing I had asked. After this visit, I had renewed interest in Scien- tology and decided to start my way up the bridge to Clear.  I emailed my plans to my father and he offered to help me with the costs to go Clear.

I was not sure of the costs so I started to browse the internet to get a rough idea of how much it would cost. It wasn’t long before I stumbled upon Xenutv.com.  I initially closed the page and continued my search, but kept finding more and more sites on the negative side of Scientology.  It wasn’t long until I started reading and even- tually led me back to Xenutv.com. It wasn’t until I actually saw the video footage that I started to believe the negative side of Scientology. Thank you Xenutv.com!

For the next 24 hours straight, I watched video after video and read story after story. It was then I started to realize how Scientology had affect my view of the world.  I was very scared at this point. That night I was literally scared. My heart was beating faster and I got a little paranoid.  I was scared that Scientologists would “perceive” my new found objections and turn up on my doorstep.  I was scared that Scientology thetans were watching over me or would “perceive” my damning views and somehow harm me with their minds. That night I turned on all the lights, locked the doors, turned the TV on and called my partner. Needless to say, there was nothing to fear.

Within 24 hours, my view had moved 180 degrees and was now heading in the right direction. I had finally discovered what had been holding me back for so many years. The source of my troubles was Scientology itself. Growing up in Scientology, I had all these Scientology views and opinions implanted within me and I did not even know it and even after 10 years of not stepping foot inside an Org I was still being affected.

My mind had been so warped and stuck in a Scientology world view that I rejected anything that was to the contrary. I looked at people and thought how deluded everyone was walking around in this world without knowing the real truth. Little did I know I was the deluded one. I was introverted and worrying about my case instead of enjoying and experiencing life like everyone else around me was.

Now after watching video on Xenutv.com and reading stories, all of a sudden my mind was open to new ideas around me. While I am still slowing working through my problems, I am now experiencing life with new vigor. “Clear” has taken on a different meaning for me now. “Clear” is now clearing my mind of all the harmful effects of Scientology doctrine.