Bare-Faced Messiah (PDF) - Apologetics Index

Opposite the desks is the impressive machinery of paper moving: batteries of baskets continually
emptied by these messenger boys and girls aged about 8 to 10. Even the children in the nursery
seem possessed by this grim fixity of purpose. Once a day a crocodile of then set off for a walk in
town, accompanied by two women, and with an orderliness never before seen in so many children
on a Greek island. There is no set graduation from nursery to student or student to officer, just the
ability, to perform the set tasks - just as a Boy Scout might win a star.
The crew normally work an eight hour day, spending the evenings studying Scientology. What might
have once been the holds are now rudimentary lecture theatres and study rooms with desks and
armchairs. There seems no time for frivolous diversions, although occasionally small parties are
held.
Those who had a relevant occupation before joining the ship (such as welding, engineering or
mathematics) continue to practise it. The rest apply themselves with almost fanatical perseverance
to learning skills necessary for running the ship. Few, if any; appear been professional seamen.
Some have a tendency to talk in the exaggerated nautical parlance of those who are not nautical.
Yet there is something unnerving about this floating city state. Something almost dreamlike.
Perhaps it is the inscrutability of its busy inhabitants; even their eyes seem devoid of any
expression. Many seem like rather bad actors using language they do not understand, talking only
on cue. Even this small community manages to resemble rush hour on the Underground as they
pass one another purpose bent, with minimum conversation, or light of recognition.
Yet, beneath this dedicated veneer, there is a shambolic element: quite a few would pass as
summer beatniks.
The exact nature of all this activity is difficult to discover. Some of it is certainly directed towards the
organisation of the general meeting which should have taken place in Britain. The most likely spot
for it now is the Scot Man herself - which could explain the sudden need for extra cabins: most of
the crew sleep in dormitories. It is possible that most of the Scientologists themselves do not know
exactly what they are doing. Despite all the rigid paperwork. the channels of power and decisionmaking
evaporate into a haze somewhere near the top.
Hubbard plays things very close to the chest. Only he, and possibly one or two officers, knew that
they were bound for Greece before they arrived here. The rest only heard that they were bound for
Greece, so that their leader could "study ancient Greek civilisation".