Due to the extreme urgency of our mission I have worked to remove some of the fundamental barriers from our progress.
The chief stumbling block, huge above all others, is the upset we have with POTENTIAL TROUBLE SOURCES and their relationship to Suppressive Persons or Groups.
A POTENTIAL TROUBLE SOURCE is defined as a person who while active in Scientology or a pc yet remains connected to a person or group that is a Suppressive Person or Group.
A SUPPRESSIVE PERSON or GROUP is one that actively seeks to suppress or damage Scientology or a Scientologist by Suppressive Acts.
SUPPRESSIVE ACTS are acts calculated to impede or destroy Scientology or a Scientologist and which are listed at length in this policy letter.
A Scientologist caught in the situation of being in Scientology while still connected with a Suppressive Person or Group is given a Present Time Problem of sufficient magnitude to prevent case gain, as only a PTP can halt progress of a case. Only ARC Breaks worsen it. To the PTP is added ARC Breaks with the Suppressive Person or Group. The result is no-gain or deterioration of a case by reason of the suppressive connection in the environment. Any Scientologist, in his own experience, can probably recall some such cases and their subsequent upset.
Until the environment is handled, nothing beneficial can happen. Quite the contrary. In the most flagrant of such cases the Scientologist’s case worsened and the Suppressive Person or Group sent endless reports to press, police, authorities and the public in general.
Unless the Potential Trouble Source, the preclear caught up in this, can be made to take action of an environmental nature to end the situation one has a pc or Scientologist who may cave in or squirrel because of no case gain and also a hostile environment for Scientology.
This policy letter gives the means and provides the policy for getting the above situation handled.
A Potential Trouble Source may receive no processing until the situation is handled.
A Suppressive Person or Group becomes „fair game“.
By FAIR GAME is meant, may not be further protected by the codes and disciplines of Scientology or the rights of a Scientologist.
The families and adherents of Suppressive Persons or Groups may not receive processing. It does not matter whether they are or are not Scientologists. If the families or adherents of Suppressive Persons or Groups are processed, any auditor doing so is guilty of a misdemeanor. (See HCO Policy Letter of 7 March 1965, Issue II.)
A Potential Trouble Source knowingly permitting himself or herself or the Suppressive Person to be processed without advising the auditor or Scientology authorities is guilty of a crime. (See HCO Policy Letter of 7 March 1965, Issue II.)
Suppressive Acts are defined as actions or omissions undertaken to knowingly suppress, reduce or impede Scientology or Scientologists.
Such Suppressive Acts include:
Suppressive Acts are clearly those covert or overt acts knowingly calculated to reduce or destroy the influence or activities of Scientology or prevent case gains or continued Scientology success and activity on the part of a Scientologist. As persons or groups that would do such a thing act out of self interest only to the detriment of all others, they cannot be granted the rights and beingness ordinarily accorded rational beings and so place themselves beyond any consideration for their feelings or well being.
If a person or a group that has committed a Suppressive Act comes to his, her or their senses and recants, the HCO Secretary:
A. Tells the person or group to stop committing present time overts and to cease all attacks and suppressions so he, she or they can get a case gain;
B. Requires a public announcement to the effect that they realize their actions were ignorant and unfounded and stating where possible the influences or motivations which caused them to attempt to suppress or attack Scientology; gets it signed before witnesses and published broadly, particularly to persons directly influenced or formerly associated with the former offender or offenders. The letter should be calculated to expose any conspiracy to suppress Scientology or the preclear or Scientologist if such existed;
B(1). Requires that all debts owed to Scientology organizations are paid off;
C. Requires training beginning at HAS at their expense if Division 4 (Training and Processing) will have the person or the group members;
D. Makes a note of the matter with copies of the statement and files in the Ethics files;
E. Informs the Chairman at Saint Hill and forwards a duplicate of the original copy which shows signatures.
Any Potential Trouble Source owing money to any Scientology organization is handled the same as any other Scientologist. Failure to discharge a financial obligation becomes a civil Ethics matter after normal, within-org avenues of collection have been exhausted.
Any PTS who fails to either handle or disconnect from the SP who is making him or her a PTS is, by failing to do so, guilty of a Suppressive Act.
Civil Court action against SPs to effect collection of monies owed may be resorted to, as they are Fair Game.
Until a Suppressive Person or Group is absolved, but not during the period when the person requests and has a Committee of Evidence, or an amnesty occurs, no Scientology Ethics other than this HCO Policy Letter applies to such persons, no Committee of Evidence may be called to punish any Scientologist or person for any offenses of any kind against the Suppressive Person except to establish in cases of real dispute whether or not the person was suppressing either Scientology or the Scientologist.
The homes, property, places and abodes of persons who have been active in attempting to suppress Scientology or Scientologists are all beyond any protection of Scientology Ethics, unless absolved by later Ethics or an amnesty.
Such persons are in the same category as those whose certificates have been cancelled, and persons whose certificates, classifications and awards have been cancelled are also in this category.
The imagination must not be stretched to place this label on a person. Errors, misdemeanors and crimes do not label a person as a Suppressive Person or Group. Only High Crimes do so.
A Committee of Evidence may be called by any Convening Authority who wishes more concrete evidence of efforts to suppress Scientology or Scientologists but if such a Committee’s findings, passed on, establish beyond reasonable doubt Suppressive Acts, this Policy Letter applies and the person is fair game.
Outright or covert acts knowingly designed to impede or destroy Scientology or Scientologists is what is meant by Acts Suppressive of Scientology or Scientologists.
The greatest good for the greatest number of dynamics requires that actions destructive of the advance of the many, by Scientology means, overtly or covertly undertaken with the direct target of destroying Scientology as a whole, or a Scientologist in particular, be summarily handled due to the character of the reactive mind and the consequent impulses of the insane or near insane to ruin every chance of Mankind via Scientology.
A Scientologist connected by familial or other ties to a person who is guilty of Suppressive Acts is known as a Potential Trouble Source or Trouble Source. The history of Dianetics and Scientology is strewn with these. Confused by emotional ties, dogged in refusing to give up Scientology, yet invalidated by a Suppressive Person at every turn they cannot, having a PTP, make case gains. If they would act with determination one way or the other — reform the Suppressive Person or disconnect, they could then make gains and recover their potential. If they make no determined move, they eventually succumb.
Therefore this Policy Letter extends to suppressive non-Scientology wives and husbands and parents, or other family members or hostile groups or even close friends. So long as a wife or husband, father or mother or other family connection, who is attempting to suppress the Scientology spouse or child, or hostile group remains continuingly acknowledged or in communication with the Scientology spouse or child or member, then that Scientologist or preclear comes under the family or adherent clause and may not be processed or further trained until he or she has taken appropriate action to cease to be a Potential Trouble Source.
The validity of this policy is borne out by the fact that the US government raids and other troubles were instigated by wives, husbands or parents who were actively suppressing a Scientologist, or Scientology. The suppressed Scientologist did not act in good time to avert the trouble by handling the antagonistic family member as a suppressive source or disconnect fully.
Disconnection from a family member or cessation of adherence to a Suppressive Person or Group is done by the Potential Trouble Source publicly publishing the fact, as in the legal notices of „The Auditor“ and public announcements and taking any required civil action such as disavowal, separation or divorce and thereafter cutting all further communication and disassociating from the person or group.
Unwarranted or threatened disconnection has the recourse of the person or group being disconnected from requesting a Committee of Evidence from the nearest Convening Authority (or HCO) and producing to the Committee any evidence of actual material assistance to Scientology without reservation or bad intent. The Committee must be convened if requested.
Before publicly disconnecting, the Scientologist would be we’ll advised to fully inform the person he or she accuses of Suppressive Acts of the substance of this policy letter and seek a reform of the person, disconnecting only when honest efforts to reform the person have not been co-operated with or have failed. And only then disconnecting publicly. Such efforts should not be unduly long as any processing of the Potential Trouble Source is denied or illegal while the connection exists and a person not actively seeking to settle the matter may be subjected to a Committee of Evidence if processed meanwhile.
The real motives of Suppressive Persons have been traced to quite sordid hidden desires — in one case the wife wanted her husband’s death so she could get his money, and fought Scientology because it was making the husband well. Without handling the wife or the connection with the woman the Scientologist, as family, drifted on with the situation and the wife was able to cause a near destruction of Scientology in that area by false testimony to the police and government and press. Therefore this is a serious thing — to tolerate or remain connected to a source of active suppression of a Scientologist or Scientology without legally disconnecting the relationship or acting to expose the true motives behind the hostility and reform the person. No money particularly may be accepted as fee or loan from a person who is „family“ to a Suppressive Person and therefore a Potential Trouble Source. There is no source of trouble in Scientology’s history greater than this one for frequency and lack of attention.
Anyone absolved of Suppressive Acts by an amnesty or a Committee of Evidence ceases to be fair game. Anyone found guilty of Suppressive Acts by a Committee of Evidence and its Convening Authorities remains fair game unless saved by an amnesty.
This Policy Letter is calculated to prevent future distractions of this nature as time goes on.
A truly Suppressive Person or Group has no rights of any kind as Scientologists and actions taken against them are not punishable under Scientology Ethics Codes.
However a person or group may be falsely labelled a Suppressive Person or Group. Should the person or group claim the label to be false, he, she or they may request a Committee of Evidence via their nearest HCO. The executive with the power to convene a Committee of Evidence must do so if one is requested for recourse or redress of wrongs.
The person or representative of the group labelled Suppressive is named as an Interested Party to the Committee. They attend it where it convenes.
The Committee must pay attention to any actual evidences that the person or group that is accused of being suppressive may produce particularly to the effect of having helped Scientology or Scientologists or a Scientologist and if this is seen to outweigh the accusations, proof or lack of it, the person is absolved.
Any knowingly false testimony, forgeries or false witnesses introduced by the person or group accused of being suppressive can result in an immediate finding against the person or group.
Any effort to use copies of the testimony or findings of a Committee of Evidence called for this purpose or holding it to scorn in a civil court immediately reverses any favourable finding and automatically labels the person or group suppressive.
Failing to prove guilt of Suppressive Acts, the Committee must absolve the person or group publicly.
If the findings, as passed upon by the Convening Authority, demonstrate guilt, the person or group is so labelled as a Suppressive Person or Group.
A person labelled a Potential Trouble Source and so barred from receiving auditing, may request a Committee of Evidence of the nearest HCO as recourse if he or she contests the allegation.
The Committee of Evidence requested must be convened by the nearest Convening Authority.
If evidences of disconnection are given or if the alleged Suppressive Person or Group is clearly and beyond reasonable doubt shown not to be guilty of Suppressive Acts or is shown clearly to have reformed, the Committee of Evidence findings and the Convening Authority must remove the label of Potential Trouble Source from the Scientologist and the label Suppressive Person or Group from the suspected person or group.
But should the former Potential Trouble Source’s state of case show no gain after reasonable time in processing, any executive of Division 4 (Training and Processing) may order a new Committee of Evidence in the matter and if it and its Convening Authority reverses the former findings, the labels are applied. But no auditor may be disciplined for auditing either during the period between the two findings.
An auditor disciplined for processing a Potential Trouble Source or a Suppressive Person or a member of a Suppressive Group, may request a Committee of Evidence if he can persuade the Potential Trouble Source and the Suppressive Person or a representative of the Suppressive Group to appear before it.
The auditor so requesting may also have named as an Interested Party or Parties with himself the person or persons who supplied the information or misinformation concerning his actions.
No damages or costs may be borne by or ordered by a Committee of Evidence in cases involving Potential Trouble Sources or Suppressive Persons or Groups.
When the Potential Trouble Source or Suppressive Person or Group representative fail to appear before a Committee of Evidence on a Bill of Particulars labelling persons as Potential Trouble Sources or Suppressive Persons or Groups at the published time of its convening, the Bill of Particulars stands as proven and the Convening Authority is bound so to declare.
Any HCO Secretary may receive evidences of disconnection or disavowal or separation or divorce and, on finding them to be bona fide, may publicly announce them on a public board and legal notices in „The Auditor“.
The HCO Secretary must place copies of such evidences in the Ethics file and in the CF folders of all persons named in them.
The disconnecting person then ceases to be a Potential Trouble Source.
The procedure for a recanting Suppressive Person or Group is outlined above.
It is wise for any Scientologist, HCO Secretary or Committee of Evidence in matters concerning Suppressive Acts to obtain valid documents, letters, testimonies duly signed and witnessed, affidavits duly sworn to and other matters and evidences which would have weight in a court of law. Momentary spite, slander suits, charges of Scientology separating families, etc. are then guarded against.
If matters concerning Suppressive Acts are given good and alert attention, properly enforced, they will greatly accelerate the growth of Scientology and bring a new calmness to its people and organizations and far better case gains where they have not heretofore been easy to achieve.
Preclears with present time problems, ARC broken with associated but Suppressive Persons will not obtain case gains but on the contrary, may experience great difficulty.
Observance of these facts and disciplines can help us all.
[This 23 December reissue changed Justice to Ethics, and Division 2 (earlier Org Board numbering system) to Division 4, and added B( 1) and the three paragraphs following E.]
[Note: See HCO P/L 21 October 1968, Cancellation of Fair Game, and HCO P/L 15 November 1968 which removes disconnection as a condition, on page 489.]
[See also HCO P/L 9 August 1971, Issue III, Operation Staff Stability and Personal Security-High Crime Additions, and its second revision of 8 January 1972, same title, in the Year Books.]