Interview: Four Corners interviews Tommy Davis (Parts 1 and 2) (2010)

Q (Quentin McDermott). What is ‘routing out’?

A (Tommy Davis). Um it’s a sort of a short formed way um that’s a short form way to describe ah the process by which somebody goes through ah to leave the Sea Organisation and [inaudible]…

Q. . . .It can take a very long time though can’t it?

A. I’m sorry?

Q. It can take a very long time?

A. Ah no it shouldn’t, it shouldn’t, ah per policy it shouldn’t. It can take anywhere from ah weeks to months.

Q. It involves ah grilling the person wanting to leave, interrogation [inaudible]…

A. . . .Absolutely not…

Q. …the ‘security check’…

A. …no, no

Q. …involves them to sign a waiver isn’t that true?

A. Ah in some cases um there is a separation agreement, ah a legal agreement that has that that’s signed that some ah people when they leave the Sea Organisation do sign. It depends on the function that they served in or what it was they were doing when they worked for the church, um but that would vary. It would be on an individual by individual basis. As a relevant example, I believe I provided you with a declaration that was um completed by a ah Frank Flinn¹who is a highly respected religious scholar and ah he was a ah Franciscan monk and in his case, when he chose to leave the Franciscan the Franciscan order, ah I believe he stated that it took him about a year and that his final application to depart had to be signed off on by the Pope and ah if he had departed ah prior to that, he would’ve been ah excommunicated or subjected to very, very severe discipline within the Roman Catholic church. We don’t have anything like that in Scientology.

Q. . . .But why don’t you let them just, why don’t you let them just walk out the door and leave?

A. Because that’s not our tradition. Our tradition is if somebody is a dedicated member of the Sea Organisation, then the process of leaving would have to be done according to the codes ah and um and the ethics and the mores of the Sea Organisation which is something that Sea Org members are very, very aware of when they become. But by the same token, it is according to L Ron Hubbard and the policy laid out for the Sea Organisation. It’s not something that should take a long time, and if people want to leave, and they should definitely not be held onto, they should be allowed to leave and they are.

Notes