The first one involves one of Hubbard's proselyting strategies, implemented shortly after Scientology became a religion (having transitioned from the purely secular "mental science" Dianetics movement). From the book,
Another technique Hubbard advocated was scanning the daily papers to find anyone who'd been recently "victimized one way or the other by life" and then, "as speedily as possible [to make] a personal call on the bereaved or injured person."
This immediately brought to mind a quote I read a while back on this board. I can't recall exactly who it was or the context in which he said it, but a Mormon Church leader similarly pointed out the benefit in having missionaries approach people in vulnerable emotional states such as mourning to potentially add to their teaching pool. If anyone knows what I'm thinking of, I'd love to have a look at that quote again.
The second thing that struck me during my reading tonight was how Hubbard reacted when his son, called "Nibs," defected from the faith.
Hubbard stopped short of writing to the FBI about Nibs and his transgressions (something he might have done just a few years earlier). Instead, he made an example of Nibs, showing his flock the precise consequences of stepping out of line. Hubbard declared to his followers that Nibs had "unconfessed overts," or hidden crimes, which had caused him to leave. Hubbard would soon see all such departures from his movement as stemming from unspoken transgressions, an idea that became deeply entrenched in Scientology theory and philosophy. To this day, anyone who leaves Scientology is instantly viewed as guilty of a crime.
Hmmmm.