Jon Atack puts it to Scientologists - did L. Ron Hubbard have the qualities of a leader? - 2014-02-22

Jon Atack puts it to Scientologists - did L. Ron Hubbard have the qualities of a leader? February 22, 2014, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker

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Jon Atack is the author of A Piece of Blue Sky, one of the very best books on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. He has a new edition of the book for sale, and on Saturdays he's helping us sift through the legends, myths, and contested facts about Scientology that tend to get hashed and rehashed in books, articles, and especially on the Internet.

This week, Jon weighs the qualities of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, and finds him wanting.

JON: Christians teach the imitation of Christ and Buddhists look to Siddhartha Gautama as their role model. Before I left Scientology, I knew that Hubbard did not embody every virtue. I also knew that we project virtue into our heroes and awfulness into our villains. But, for the first few years of my involvement, I did imagine that Hubbard would be utterly virtuous, as he claimed to be Maitreya or Metteya, the future Buddha, who in one lifetime would lead all of humanity to nirvana. Yet another prophecy that failed.

Wikipedia cite:

{{cite news | author = Tony Ortega | title = Jon Atack puts it to Scientologists - did L. Ron Hubbard have the qualities of a leader? | url = https://tonyortega.org/2014/02/22/jon-atack-puts-it-to-scientologists-did-l-ron-hubbard-have-the-qualities-of-a-leader/ | work = Underground Bunker | date = February 22, 2014 | accessdate = August 21, 2017 }}