Skeptics at opening of Scientology HQ

The NZ Scientology Headquarters opened to much fanfare in Auckland. Three local skeptics go along for the experience.

Saturday 21st January was the opening of the new NZ Headquarters of the Church of Scientology, and with NZ Skeptics Chairperson Mark Honeychurch in town on business I decided to join him and Auckland-based skeptic Robin Capper for the event.

Given the Church of Scientology's reputation, we were a little worried about being identified and prevented from attending. Mark had attempted to join the closed Facebook group “Spiritual Awareness New Zealand” (recently renamed from “Weather Modification Watch”) but had been blocked. Group leader Nigel Anthony Gray (made infamous by claiming to have predicted the Kaikoura earthquake) had set up a Facebook event which he claimed you had to RSVP for in order to attend the ceremony. As it turned out this claim was as delusional as his claims of being able to predict earthquakes, and fortunately we didn't actually experience any problem in getting in - despite not being able to RSVP. I decided to dress up in a suit and tie, thinking maybe I could “blend in” with the believers and gain some inside knowledge!

The new headquarters is an historic building in Grafton, near the University of Auckland – what used to be the Whitecliffe College of Arts & Design. The church purchased the building in 2007 for $10M, and has reportedly spent $6M refurbishing it. It truly is a magnificent building!

Mark, Robin and I arrived by car at the site and were told that the parking area was full, but we could park a little farther up the road at the Wilson Car park which had been made free for the rest of the day – paid for by the church for the event. This was the first inkling of the no-expense-spared approach they'd taken for the day.

Walking towards the building we encountered a TV crew from the Jono and Ben show on TV3. It seemed that they were preparing to pretend to have Tom Cruise with them in an attempt to infiltrate the event – all for laughs, I'm sure.

Arriving at the venue we had to register and provide our name, address, email and other details. It was with some trepidation that I provided this information – it will be interesting to see what it's used for in the future. Anyway, once we'd registered we were issued with a commemorative silicone wristband and ushered in to join a pretty large crowd. The whole event was well set up with multiple broadcast TV cameras, some mounted on boom arms allowing them to swing over the audience, and a large PA system and lighting – certainly high production values. We positioned ourselves on the steps to the side of the main body of the audience. It was literally standing-room-only by the time we arrived.

The audience was pretty well dressed. The Scientology staff seemed to be wearing black suits with white beading and various pins and badges attached. My naïve assumption about being able to blend in just by wearing a suit was thus disproved!

The ceremony got started at 2pm on the dot. The MC was a young American woman, effusively enthusiastic. She reminded me of some over-the-top Disneyland host, but she seemed to be well-received by the crowd.

First up was a Pōwhiri complete with singing and Maori costume, followed by a rousing song titled “Team New Zealand”.

With the song done, three prominent locals were introduced and gave speeches. The first was an architect (a lecturer in architecture from the University of Auckland, I believe) who praised the restoration of the building. The second was a retired member of the NZ Police who praised the church's work with their related Citizen's Coalition for Human Rights organisation. The third was a woman who was a Maori Warden who praised the church's work in drug addiction. Overall I felt that the three speakers were enthusiastic supporters of the church, and had a positive message to present - although they were worryingly uncritical of the church's approach (e.g. shunning psychiatry).

With local speakers out of the way, things really changed with the arrival of David Miscavige – announced as chairman of the “Religious Technology Centre”. Miscavige's speech was full of jargon and scientology buzzwords – seemingly normal English language words used in slightly odd ways. Then there were plenty of acronyms which would have been difficult to decipher for members of the general public. Luckily I'd listened to the excellent series of Oh No Ross and Carrie podcasts which documented their experience of scientology, so I was able to understand some of what was being referred to.

Scientology offers a multitude of courses designed to improve one's life, with a goal of becoming “clear” – reaching “The Bridge to Total Freedom”. This is reputed to take a long time, and cost a lot of money. Miscavige claimed that there was now a fast track approach and you could become “clear” in under a year!

Miscavige then went on to call out various members of the local and Australian organisations for their work. All of this was enthusiastically received by the crowd, with many standing ovations. It was certainly testament to how much of the audience were “true believers”.

The ceremony ended around 3pm with everybody invited to walk through and explore the building – an opportunity we were keen to take up.

There was also lots of food available – the event was extravagantly catered!

But, before entering the building we talked to a couple who were standing near us. They were invited in a mass mail-out by their local GP, a Scientologist, to attend – a seeming breach of privacy in using their information for an unrelated purpose. Initially suspicious of us, they were relieved to discover that we were from the NZ Skeptics and weren't true believers.

Mark also scanned the audience trying to locate Nigel Anthony Gray so we could have a chat with him, but to no avail.

We then entered the building, along with many other of the attendees.

The building is structured in an L-shape with two separate wings, and three floors. The Church of Scientology refer to their organisations with their own jargon – this being an “Ideal Org” – or Ideal Scientology Organisation, as described by L. Ron Hubbard. To be an Ideal Org, the building must meet certain standards – mainly the size of the building and the space available for offices and seminar rooms.

The whole place feels to have been lavishly appointed. I had the sense of being in a parallel universe. The walls are covered with promotional posters, all elaborately framed. There are special embossed wooden plaques on all the doors, exquisitely painted. There's even an organisation chart showing the structure of the Australasian organisation – with lots of roles to fill!

It is interesting to note the size of the organisation in New Zealand. The 2006 census recorded just 357 people being affiliated with Scientology. By the 2013 census that number dropped to 315 people. Given their small numbers it is difficult to see how they justify such lavish premises.

We explored the building and moved upstairs. There are numerous rooms filled with desks and Scientology's famous electronic devices: the E-Meters (or electro-psychometer). The E-Meter consists of a console with various knobs and buttons and a large analogue meter. The person being audited holds a pair of “cans” – one in each hand – while being asked questions.

These units are dressed up to look high tech, but the E-Meter is a fairly simple device which basically measures changes in skin resistance and displays this with a needle. The original circuit was just a Whetstone Bridge, and has since been “upgraded” by adding a digital display driven by a microprocessor, capable of counting the number of movements of the needle.

Mark and I sat down and played with the meter – interestingly the movement of the needle is very much affected by the amount of pressure applied to the cans. This leads me to believe that there is a lot of subjective interpretation of the reaction to questions.

The actual process of auditing with the E-Meter involves the person being “audited”, known as the “preclear” (PC), and the auditor. The auditor asks about emotional experiences from the preclear's past and notes the reaction of the needle on the E-Meter. Such sessions could obviously result in some traumatic “reliving” of experiences. I would be worried about the potential negative effects of having essentially amateur counsellors probing into my past.

While in the room we encountered an older gentleman who was over from Australia. We had quite a discussion with him about the use of the E-Meter, and Scientology in general. He said that he'd been in Scientology for about five years but was still working on the lower levels of the process of becoming “clear”.

Our new friend clearly had a reverence for the E-Meter, claiming he could detect whether the preclear had been taking drugs (legal or illegal). These meters reportedly cost around $7,500, but estimates found online for the likely cost of the units for manufacture, even in small volumes, is under $300.

There was a chart on the wall of the room which showed all of the various levels that one could attain in Scientology, known as the Bridge. He said that his partner was up beyond the level of being “clear” – at the OT V (Operating Thetan Five) level, but had recently moved back to OT I and had to retrain. We enquired where the leader, David Miscavige, would be on the Bridge, and he stated he'd be at OT VIII - this would have given Miscavige the ability to perform “astral projection”, allowing his spirit to leave his body. We joked with him that this would allow Miscavige to “pop home” to America while he was still here, and he agreed that he would be able to do that - while noting that this wouldn't be believed by non-scientology people.

After leaving the room we found other fascinating areas, including a room that was set up as a gym with treadmills and a sauna - which was to be used for the “purification rundown”.

We also saw L. Ron Hubbard's office, especially set up awaiting his return. According to Scientology, LRH isn't dead - his spirit is still alive, and they're awaiting his return. All “Orgs” have an empty office for LRH, so they're prepared for his return.

We also caught a glimpse of a room full of files – though weren't allowed access to this area. It is known that Scientology keeps dossiers on their members, recording events and experiences of a personal nature that are revealed during the auditing process. It is rumoured that this could then be used against the member should they decide to leave.

In conclusion, attending the opening gave us a rare glimpse into the operation of the Church of Scientology, probably more in-depth than would be possible by simply turning up as a random member of the public.

The location of the building is far enough out of the Auckland CBD that it would require a special trip to be made to visit, although it is worryingly close to the University of Auckland.

It would be an interesting experience for a skeptic to visit, though perhaps one would be best be warned by the experience of others before revealing personal information!