Scientologia auttoi Ariakin

"Don´t borrow money, make it" sanoi jo eräs hörhö aikoinaan. Mutta kuka saa lainata ja kenelle se päätyy... sitä ei hörhö enää ole kertomassa.

Opetuksena muille Arin tarina.


SCIENTOLOGY DROVE ARI TO SUICIDE

The American-based Church of Scientology has caused a very difficult situation in 26-year old Ari Salosen's life. All the people close to him have already been destroyed. Ari, who has loans that reach 400,000 marks [$100,000 US] has con- sidered suicide.

YOUNG ARI'S BITTER TALE: SCIENTOLOGY HAS DESTROYED MY LIFE Ari Salonen's painful experience began in Sweden in 1982. "Scientologists destroyed my life totally. My brother died of drugs. My close friend committed suicide. My little sister is totally brainwashed, and my other sister's family has been broken from the church pressure. I myself have been completely changed and I am all the time very close to suicide." When Ari finally got out of the church's grip, he had loans which came up to almost 500,000 marks. And now Ari wants to tell his story. He wants to talk himself out of Scientology and get their teachings out of himself. He also wants to warn others. He thinks no one should be exposed to this church to get hooked. When Ari was less than 20 he was fertile ground for the church's teachings. His parents had been divorced and he was living in Stockholm, Sweden with his brother. They were both looking for themselves and for meaning in their lives. Everything began with a free personality test. "First we just took a few very inexpensive courses, but then they began to get more and more expensive and went up to 20-30,000 Swedish crowns [around $5000 US]." Soon Ari realized that he was de- pendent on their auditing sessions. One hour of this therapy cost about 1500 crowns [$300 US]. "Every time when I went to a session I had to use some vitamins, and every time they asked me specifically if I had been taking my pills. I don't know what was in them, but I had the feeling I was one god. But after the auditing the feeling left me and I felt like I was on drugs. I had to get more and go back for more session." The church says they are striving for mental completeness, but this is not how Ari experienced it. "In the end everything I did was wrong. For them, only being there was the right thing to do." The church is being accused of shameless greed for their courses. The church is organized for signing each other's loan papers so they can pay for their courses. "The church has a long list of banks where you can get loans without a co-signer. They also teach you how to talk with a bank manager so you can get a loan. When you go to the bank you have a support person with you, who is there not just out of his own good will. He gets 15% of the loan, so that's why they go. One time I got a 100,000 crown loan, and right away I gave 15,000 to the support person who was there with me." This incredible greediness was explained by saying that you have to pay for everything. "They say their help is so valueable that you must pay for it." Finally, Ari was in a situation where he had several loans, and loans to pay back those loans, totaling almost 500,000 marks [$125,000 US]. The final result is not any clearing of the spirit. "I have completely lost my will to live, and my life is just hell." Without the help of his understanding girlfriend, Ari couldn't have made it this far. But his older brother didn't fare as well. He was completely consumed by the church and couldn't get out. He got involved in drugs also, and now Ari blames the church for his brother's suicide. "First you have to take loans for the auditing sessions, then finally you are so in debt you get mentally depressed." The church is based on complete control. At one point Ari was spending all the time every day at the church. "And when my brother died, I just collapsed. I went to the church and told them I don't want anything to do with them anymore. But even after that the church didn't want to give up." Only after he returned to Finland was he able to get away from the church. Now he gets strength from his fight against the church and now he wants to expose how they work.