Spying, interrogation, and imprisonment are the norm when dealing with the Church of Scientology staffers who abandon the congregation. The organization also tries every tactic to bring back the deserters. According to the church’s ex-security chief Gary Morehead, ‘he read every piece of mail that staffers received, recording any information within, including bank accounts and credit card numbers. The info was used to track down members who “blew,” or left without undergoing a rigorous interrogation.’ “There wasn’t a base staff member who I didn’t have a bank account number on, a credit card number, social security number and date of birth, phone numbers, you name it, I had it all,” he said. Such are the ways by which the Church of Scientology deals with its defectors.

‘Ex-staffers say they were pursued and detained, locked in rooms against their will, and subjected to humiliation and manual labor. The efforts were intensified depending on how close the staffer was to church head David Miscavige, and how much damaging information they might have.’

The Church of Scientology principle that it hands down through its teachings revolves around the idea that ‘people are spiritual beings that transcend human lifetimes and inhabit an endless succession of bodies. Only the church can make a Scientologist aware of this passage and help him navigate it successfully.’ When a church recovery team locates a target, the brunt of the dogma inflicted on the defector is the notion that when a Scientology member runs away and deserts the congregation, he risks losing everything he worked for — his eternity.

The church has always been security conscious from its earliest days till the present. It has been battling government investigations and lawsuits. Defectors are seen to potentially spill damaging information.

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Via St. Petersburg Times