Origins and Definitions
As with most Scientology terminology, "suppressive person" was coined by L. Ron Hubbard. In her book Another Gospel: Cults, Alternative Religions, and the New Age Movement, Ruth A. Tucker wrote that the concept appeared to have first been introduced into Scientology in the 1960s "as membership grew and as authoritarian control increased." Tucker notes that many of those who joined Scientology during this period were "well-educated people who prided themselves in independent thinking struggled with the idea of allowing any other individual to completely dominate their opinions." Many of Hubbard's early writings on suppressive persons focus on their alleged responsibility for poor management within the Church of Scientology.
The Church's official glossary defines a suppressive person as being:
- a person who possesses a distinct set of characteristics and mental attitudes that cause him to suppress other people in his vicinity. This is the person whose behavior is calculated to be disastrous. Also called antisocial personality.
The Church regards these "antisocial personalities" as being those "who possess characteristics and mental attitudes that cause them to violently oppose any betterment activity or group," This concern with "groups" continues in the official Scientology Handbook, which states the corollary: "The antisocial personality supports only destructive groups."
Read more about this topic: Suppressive Person
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