I'm a Scientologist and have been for almost 36 years. I've been staff three times and currently live in the shadow of Flag. I own a small business and have a few customers who are Scientologists. In the current economic environment, I cannot afford to lose any customers due to the Church's current policy on disconnection. As a consequence, although I'm distressed at what's happening in the Church of Scientology, I cannot publicly resign from it.

The Church of Scientology, as currently constituted, would call me an "apostate" and declare me. Well, I've been there before and I lived through it. For what it's worth, I would call the Church at this point "heretical". So there.

Many of those in the Independent movement would call me a coward for not loudly and publicly resigning. I get that. On the other hand, I think a lot of them are being far less than pan-determined in their attitude toward the Church.

And in case you're wondering, no, you probably don't know me. Although I'm highly trained in the admin tech, I am not an auditor. I am Clear, but haven't done services at the Church in years. I'm not famous, and you most likely would not recognize my name.

What I'd like to do with this blog is provide what I hope is a slightly less biased and more pan-determined look at what's going on with the Church and the Independent movement. I hope you agree, whether you're a current member of the Church or a raging Independent. If you're part of the news media, you can buzz off; this blog's not for you.