What is List One?

A Deep Dive Into Scientology Jargon

This post is the follow-up yo the October 17, 2024 Opinion Poll. Be sure to get your vote in on the October 24, 2024 poll.

List One was initially created in 1961. It is a huge security check given people when it is suspected they may have evil purposes. Most of the questions are quite invasive. No matter which version you read, it is several hundred questions long.

Here is a version of it updated in 1987. You can find several copies of this on the internet if you search for Joburg Confessional. I chose to link to this reputable version. The comments thread below the document explain what has been added to this list over the years.

This list, known as L1R, also known as List One, or Joburg has an interesting backstory.

Hubbard held an ACC (Advanced Clinical Course) known as the 3rd Joburg ACC in Johannesburg, South Africa. This course began on January 23, 1961. At the time he held it, he had held the 1st St. Hill ACC and the 2nd American ACC. There were 17 lectures given there. Scientology, of course offers them for sale. Although originally called the Johannesburg ACC, they are now called the 3rd South African ACC. Scientology sells the CD set for $200! Or you can get the same thing on eBay for $25. Or you can beat your head against a wall. That would be more fun.

Like most else Hubbard did, there weren’t just one or two ACCs. By the time he had finished, he had done 21 ACCs plus one special congress. Scientology offers the entire series on CD for only $12,675. That’s 22 sets of lectures. It also includes Hubbard’s patented, and no longer worth having, Clearsound Listening kit. You’ll be able to hear the CDs in all their outdated technological glory.

But, I digress. Why was Joburg so special, and what does that have to do with List One? Well, Hubbard was racist. Bridge Publications Proudly uses this Hubbard quote on their website. They say He flew to South Africa because, to quote Hubbard:

Cases—South Africa—were the roughest cases in the world in my experience. We had these cases scattered throughout the Central Organizations and so forth for a long time.

During those lectures, Hubbard came up with a series of questions that was designed to break even the hardest cases. He called it the Joburg Confessional. List One. By April 7, 1961, he had created the initial Joburg. The List One Sec Check.

This List One has a storied history in Scientology. If a person was a List One Rock Slammer, the e-meter had reacted violently to a question on List One. In the mid 1970s, a large group of executives were suddenly declared List One Rock Slammers. They were put on the RPF, Scientology’s punitive prison force. They were all sent to the newly purchased Cedars of Lebanon to help renovate it. It was later discovered that faulty e-meter circuits had caused the reads. Oops!

As is the Scientology way, no one was given an apology. They were just sent back to their organizations piecemeal. Over the years, List one has been modified to add questions. But its purpose has always been the same. This was Hubbard’s invention. He used it to break tough cases. If you are given a Joburg, be aware that the reason you are there is to break you. Whether or not you have evil purposes, it is believed you do. You will be given this security check until you confess. Even if you’ve done nothing wrong. That’s the Scientology way.

And there you have it, the dreaded List one. Be careful when you click the link to read that List One. Jeffrey has a lot of good stuff over there. You may be in that rabbit hole awhile..