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Demographics and Membership

Dear Sir/Madam:

This is a social-scientific survey of former members of the Church of Scientology (CoS). I do not have an axe to grind against CoS, nor do I have any interest in defending CoS. (In the interest of full disclosure, however, it should be noted that CoS regards my recently-published anthology on Scientology as "blasphemy," and CoS has restricted communications with me since I expressed interest in researching the Freezone and independent Scientologists.)

Many of the questionnaire items may strike you as requesting unimportant information, but it is possible to derive interesting results from basic demographic data. I realize that the categories found in a questionnaire like this one do not do justice to the complexities of real life. For this reason, a number of open-ended items have been included that allow for more nuanced responses.

Unless you otherwise identify yourself, this questionnaire is completely anonymous. Do not hesitate to provide approximate figures if necessary.

PLEASE NOTE: If you know that you are inclined to be really thorough (a trait I deeply appreciate), this questionnaire will likely to take hours to complete. Unfortunately, it is not possible to 'park' the questionnaire and return to it later. What you might want to do instead is to look through the questionnaire, note the questions you think will require lengthy responses, and then compose your responses in a word-processing program. After you have finished, reopen the questionnaire, and cut-and-paste responses to relevant questions.

Thank You!


Sincerely,

James R. Lewis

[I currently teach at the University of Tromsø in Norway.
Because my university email box is frequently cluttered, I can best be reached at my other email address: religionresearch@gmail.com]

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1. Country of Birth (and State if born in the United States).

  Country State
Birthplace

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2. Country of current residence (and State if living in the United States).

  Country State
Residence

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3. Current Age

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4. Biological Sex

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5. Sexual Orientation

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6. Current Marital Status

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7. Number of Children

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8. Highest Degree (Highest Level of Education Completed So Far)

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9. If you went to college, what was your primary field of study?

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10. Military Service

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11. Political Orientation

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12. Political Activities

  Never Occasionally Sometimes Frequently Very Frequently
Vote
Sign Petitions
Participate in Marches and/or Rallies
Active Organizer and/or Campaigner
Run for Public Office
Call, Write, and/or Email Public Officials

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13. Occupation of Primary Income-Earning Parent or Guardian

 
Occupation

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14. Your Current Primary Occupation

 
Occupation

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15. Your Local Currency (this information is for the next question, Annual Income)

 
Currency:

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16. Your Annual Income Before Taxes (In Local Currency):

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17. Racial/Ethnic Heritage

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18. Religion in Which Raised or Religion of Parents/Guardian

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19. If raised Protestant, what was your Denomination or the Denomination of your Parents/Guardian?

 
Denomination

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20. How would you describe your current spiritual interests and/or religious affiliation (if any)?

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21. Have you ever been, or are you currently, a participant in some form of 'Freezone' Scientology?

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22. If you are or were active in the Freezone, how many years have you been (or were you) active?

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23. What is your attitude toward other religions, and how would you compare them with Scientology?

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24. Were you a first, second, third, or fourth generation Scientologist?

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25. Number of years you were involved in the Church of Scientology.

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26. Number of years since leaving the Church of Scientology.

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27. If you were a Church Staff Member, approximately how many years were you on Staff? Please provide your answer in even years; if you were never a Staff Member, please write "0"

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28. If you were a member of the International Association of Scientologists, how many years were you a member? If you were never a member, please enter "0"

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29. If you were a member of the Sea Org, for how many years were you a member? Please enter an even number of years; if were never a Sea Org member, please enter "0."

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30. If you were a Field Staff Member, approximately how many years were you Field Staff? Reply in even numbers; if never Field Staff, please write "0"

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31. How much do you estimate you donated, in total, including IAS membership donations, including donating for "Special Properties," special "causes" (for instance the Superpower Building cause), in total, in your years as a member of Scientology?

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32. If you received "Freezone" Scientology services, how much in total have you donated for all services and causes related to the Freezone?

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33. Were you a Church of Scientology Auditor?

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34. How would you describe/explain/evaluate auditing?

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35. If you were on Staff, and if you don't mind providing this information, please provide a full staff history - what orgs, or what missions, and what years.

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36. How did you initially become involved? Specifically, what was your initial point of contact?

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37. Which best describes your view of the Afterlife?

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38. What types of violence can be justified?

  Never Rarely Sometimes Frequently Always
Physically Punish a Child
Strike Someone Who Attacks You
Strike Someone Who Attacks a Loved One
Kill Other Soldiers During War
Kill Someone Who Breaks Into Your Home
Execute Murderers

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39. If you were in a marriage or other committed relationship during your membership period, did your partner share your interest and involvement in the Church of Scientology?

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40. Do you have family members and/or a spouse (or former spouse) who is/are still active in the Church of Scientology?

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41. During the period of your membership in the Church of Scientology, how often did you meet with other Scientologists?

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42. Approximately how often do you communicate with other FORMER Scientologists?

  Daily Weekly Monthly Yearly Never
In Person:
By Telephone:
Public Internet - Blogs, Message Boards, Etc.:
Private Internet - E-mails, Private Messages, Etc.:

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43. The Church of Scientology has a number of disconnection policies that discourage/forbide communication with former members. Have you been affected by these policies?

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44. How far along the Bridge were you at the time you left the Church of Scientology?

 
Level

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45. Other religions/spiritual paths that you were involved in prior to joining the Church of Scientology.

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46. Have you ever regularly practiced - or do you currently practice - a 'mind-body' technique/discipline such as yoga, meditation, tai chi, qi gong, or the like? If so, approximately when and for how long? Please distinguish between current and past practices.

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47. Were you or a personal acquaintance ever persecuted as a result of your membership in the Church of Scientology? Additionally, have you ever felt discriminated against as a consequence of being an ex-Scientologist? If so, please describe your experiences.

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48. Please describe how and why you became involved in the Church of Scientology.

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49. With what you know now, if you could be transported back to when you began your involvement with Scientology, you would probably:

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50. How has your involvement in the Church of Scientology influenced your life, for better or for worse?

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51. Which of the following best describes David Miscavige?

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52. Which of the following best describes L. Ron Hubbard?

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53. In your estimation, which of the following best describes the teachings of the Church of Scientology.

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54. The people/events/literature that led you to become involved with the Church of Scientology was/were:

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55. Have you ever used the term "cult" or "sect" to describe the Church of Scientology?

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56. Have you ever used the term "brainwashed" to describe your involvement in the Church of Scientology?

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57. How would you describe the extent of your contact with "anti-cult" groups such as the "old" Cult Awareness Network?

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58. There are a variety of different types of anti-cult 'counseling,' from deprogramming (involuntarily locked up with a deprogrammer), exit counseling that persuades someone to leave a controversial religious group, and post-involvement counseling (specifically with anti-cult counselors; not with ordinary therapists). Did you experience any of these forms of counseling?

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59. How would you describe your attitude toward what has been called the "anti-cult" Movement?

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60. You are most likely aware of 'Anonymous,' the mostly young people who protest outside of Scientology centers. What is your evaluation of Anonymous?

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61. In your view, what is wrong with the Church of Scientology?

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62. Though some ex-members feel that the Church of Scientology is completely rotten and that the technology is completely worthless, many others feel that the Church has some postive aspects and that it offers some valuable services. If you could reform the Church, what would you change?

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63. What are your thoughts on the OT 3 story and the Scientology notion of the space opera?

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64. If you had not reached OT 3 and had not heard the OT 3 story before leaving the Church of Scientology, did you subsequently read the story on the internet or listen to the L. Ron Hubbard lecture (Class 8 "Assists" lecture by LRH) where LRH describes the story? If so, did you experience any illness or bad effects from hearing this story? (This may strike you as an odd question, but I have a very specific reason for asking it.)

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65. Please describe how and why you left the Church of Scientology.

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66. Before becoming involved in Scientology,

  Yes Somewhat No
Did you accept the notion of "past lives"?
Did you believe in UFOs?
Were you involved in alternative health practices?

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67. Miscellaneous Questions (some of these may strike you as odd, "insider" questions, but I do have a reason for asking them).

  Yes No
Have you ever seen a Scientologist do something "supernatural"?
Can you "exteriorize" with clear vision at will?
Did you ever run space opera incidents in your auditing?
Do you think L. Ron Hubbard will return and make himself known on earth?
When you were in the Church of Scientology, did you think L. Ron Hubbard would return and make himself known on earth?
Do you know of any Scientologists who passed away and who "returned," have good recall of their past lives, and have credible stories about their past lives showing convincingly they were Scientologists in their last lives?

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68. If you have had (a) spiritual experience(s), please describe in as much detail as you feel comfortable providing.

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69. If there is anything else you would like to add, please do so below, or email me directly at: religionresearch@gmail.com. Also, and this is COMPLETELY OPTIONAL, provide your email if you do not mind being contacting for possible follow up questions. I would especially be interested in further communications with individuals who are or who were active in the Freezone, and with individuals who were involved in anti-Freezone activity while members of the Church of Scientology. In any case, Thank You!

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