Blog: External Influences - 2011-02-28
External Influences February 28, 2011,
I'm always fascinated by the Church of Scientology's obsession with "external influences." At the Int Base, any "bad attitude," doubt or criticism was always blamed on some "eternal influence," whether a family member, friend, news story or whatever. One had to be constantly on guard against these insidious, evil external influences.
In a broad, non-Scientology sense, an "external influence" would be anything outside of yourself that could influence your opinions or attitudes. Family, friends, TV programs, newspapers, internet sites, political or social groups and, yes, religious groups, could all be considered to act as "external influences" on a person.
So what the Church is really saying is "we want to be your only external influence." "We want to be the only ones who influence your opinions or viewpoints."