Bare-Faced Messiah (PDF) - Apologetics Index

The Bare-Faced Messiah Interviews
Interview with Kima Douglas,
Oakland, California, 27 August 1986
Kima Douglas was very much a typical Scientologist during her years in the Church, from 1968 to
1980: she was young, English-speaking, well-educated and totally committed. She was wellqualified
to join L. Ron Hubbard's naval élite, the Sea Org, which had been founded in 1967. Her
past nursing experience in her home country of Rhodesia was discovered at a time when
Hubbard's health was rapidly deteriorating and for seven years, from 1973 to 1980, she became a
unique combination of nurse, aide de camp and confidante. When she was interviewed in 1986 by
the British journalist and writer for his biography of Hubbard, Bare-Faced Messiah, she had an
extraordinary story to tell. The following is a transcript of that interview.
Interview - 27 August 1986
In early 1968, I was painting water colours. I was on a beach in Santa Monica, painting. Some
friends came down and said, "We've just been to a lecture on Scientology. It's a phenomenal thing -
if they run the wrong process on you it can kill you." It just interested me that there could be such a
process so powerful. I am South African. I wanted to find out about it. I had been through two
marriages by '68. I am a child of an alcoholic parent, and I was looking for something but didn't
know what I was looking for. I went to a lecture at the Beverly Hills franchise and it was really
interesting. I started working at the franchise and met Yvonne Gillham. Everyone was dressed in
white boiler suits and hard hats to promote the outer space image. The whole thing was like a wild
dress up party.
I joined the Sea Org 25 Sept '68. Hana [Eltringham] took over AOLA [Advanced Organisation Los
Angeles] in '69, then Tony Dunleavy came out. I met him, fell in love and in August 1970 went to the
ship [Apollo] in Madeira.
My expectation was of a psychic person who could look at me and see every evil thing I had ever
done in my whole life. I'd been indoctrinated to all the things he could do. There were wild stories
that if an atomic bomb in Nevada was about to go off, L. Ron, with the power of his mind, could
defuse it. The expectation was that he would be able to see into my head, which both terrified and
excited me. And he'd come to save the planet, at the time we were talking about atomic warfare.
Who could stop this? I was a complete believer. Doubts were out-ethics, so you sat on them
quickly. I had him set up as close to God as anyone could be set up.
Tony met me at the gangway and went up to his office on the sun deck. I was coming up the stairs
and Hubbard came out of his office in a white uniform and commodore's hat with two messengers
behind him. He said, "Who's this?" He was a jovial, happy, golden man. Tony said this is my wife to
be. He shook my hand and was very charming. For me, I had arrived.
There were only 108 people aboard. The ship had gone through the whole Ethics thing, they
cleaned, painted and scrubbed the ship. It looked wonderful. It was August 13 1970. I went to work
in the kitchen because I could cook. Someone found out I had nursing experience and went into the
medical office. I had been there about a month and went over to take over publics in Denmark. I
came back and the ship was in Casablanca, Morocco and there was an org there at the time where