Bare-Faced Messiah (PDF) - Apologetics Index

fancy. It would not affect their relationship, he loftily explained to anyone who cared to listen, since
jealousy was a base emotion unworthy of the enlightened and fit only for peasants.
'Betty was a very attractive blonde, full of joie de vivre,' said Rogers. 'The rapport between Jack and
Betty, the strong affection, if not love, they had for each other, despite their frequent separate
sextracurricular activities, seemed pretty permanent and shatterproof.'[8]
It was soon to prove an illusion. One afternoon in August 1945, Lou Goldstone, a well-known
science-fiction illustrator and a frequent visitor to South Orange Grove Avenue, turned up with L.
Ron Hubbard, who was then on leave from the Navy. Jack Parsons liked Ron immediately, perhaps
recognized in him a kindred spirit, and invited him to move in for the duration of his leave.
Ron, ebullient as always, was not in any way intimidated by the egregious company and
surroundings; on the contrary, he felt instantly at home. Most evenings he could be found
dominating the conversation at the big table in the kitchen, where the roomers tended to gather,
telling outrageous stories about his adventures. One night he unbuttoned his shirt to display the
scars left by arrows hurled at him when he encountered a band of hostile aborigines in the South
American jungle.
Like almost everyone in the house, Alva Rogers thought Hubbard was an enormously engaging
and entertaining personality. Rogers also had red hair and Ron confided to him his belief,
confirmed by extensive research he had undertaken at the 'Royal Museum' in London, that all
redheads were related, being descended from the same line of Neanderthal man. 'Needless to
say,' Rogers recalled, 'I was fascinated.'
For a while, Ron shared a room with Nieson Himmel, a young reporter who had also met Parsons
through a shared interest in science fiction. Perhaps because of the inbred scepticism of
newspapermen, Himmel was less impressed than most by his new room-mate: 'I can't stand
phoneys and to me he was so obviously a phoney, a real con man. But he was certainly not a
dummy. He was very sharp and quick, a fascinating story-teller, and he could charm the shit out of
anybody. He talked interminably about his war experiences and seemed to have been everywhere.
Once he said he was on Admiral Halsey's staff. I called a friend who worked with Halsey and my
friend said "Shit, I've never heard of him."
'I was not one of his favourite people because I liked to try and trip him up. One time he told a story
about how he was walking down a corridor in the British Museum when he was suddenly grabbed
by three scientists who dragged him into an office and began measuring his skull because it was
such a perfect shape. I said, "Gee, Ron, that's a great story - didn't I read it in George Bernard
Shaw?" Another time he said he was in the Aleutians in command of a destroyer and a polar bear
jumped from an ice floe onto his ship and chased everyone around. I recognized it as an old, old
folklore story that goes way back.
'He was always broke and trying to borrow money. That was another reason he didn't like me - I
would never lend him a cent. Whenever he was talking about being hard up he often used to say
that he thought the easiest way to make money would be to start a religion.'[9]
Parsons shared none of Himmel's mistrust. He considered that Ron had great magical potential
and took the risk of breaking his solemn oath of secrecy to acquaint Ron with some of the OTO
rituals.[10] Betty, too, was much enamoured with the voluble naval officer, so much so that she soon
began sleeping with him. True to his creed, Parsons tried to pretend he was not concerned by this
development, but others in the house thought they detected tension between the two men. Himmel,
who was himself in love with Betty, was furious that she had been seduced by Hubbard. 'Betty was