International Journal of Coercion, Abuse, and Manipulation ■ Vol. 2, 2021 83
Organisation. In Section II, I attempt to
provide a framework through which we can
think about the billion-year contract. I
analyse the nature of contracts and of the
commitment that the billion-year contract
regulates. I also draw comparisons to other
religious legal and quasi-legal instruments.
I. The Sea Organisation and its Billion-
Year Contract
It is worth first reproducing in full the billion-year
contract. Although the version reproduced
following is technically unsourced, hundreds of
pictures of the billion-year contract have been
disclosed on the web over the past decades. I
reproduce here the version from the memoir of a
former Scientologist, which is the same as that
disclosed widely on the web. Flag Order 232,
mentioned in the contract, does not set out the
contract itself. The contract reads as follows:
SEA ORGANIZATION
Contract of Employment
I, .........................................
DO HEREBY AGREE to enter into
employmentx with the
SEA ORGANIZATION and, being of
sound mind, do fully
realize and agree to abide by its purpose
which is
to get ETHICSxi IN on this PLANET
AND THE UNIVERSE and, fully and
without reservation, subscribe to the
discipline, mores and conditions of this
group and
pledge to abide by them.
THEREFORE, I CONTRACT
MYSELF TO THE SEA
ORGANIZATION FOR THE NEXT
BILLION YEARS.
(As per Flag Order 232)
Date ......Signed .......
Date ......Witness .......
Date ......Witness .......
Have the Sea Org Recruiter perform the
Sea Org Swearing In Ceremony.
Your Signature .............
Recruiters Signature ..................xii
The contract has generated significant media
attention in recent years.xiii This attention is
part of a broader public fascination with the
religion of Scientology, a fascination that
culminated in a widely watched television
show, Leah Remini: Scientology and the
Aftermath. The show has run on national
television in the United States since 2016.xiv
Scientology has, indeed, garnered a great
deal of attention in recent years, and its
behaviour has been covered (and decried) in
national outlets reaching millions of people,
such as CNNxv and A&E.xvi
In my first paper, I address the sources of
rules in Scientology.xvii Although the public,
introductory books, known as The Basics,xviii
contain some rules and information regarding
enforcement mechanisms, the
comprehensive set of rules and enforcement
mechanisms is described in two, multi-
thousand-page sets of volumes, known to
Scientologists as the “red” (or “tech”) and
“green” (or “admin”) volumes. The red
volumes contain the technical bulletins of
Dianetics and Scientology, known as
Hubbard Communications Office Bulletins
(HCOBs). They cover Scientology’s
religious processes and practices. The green
Organisation. In Section II, I attempt to
provide a framework through which we can
think about the billion-year contract. I
analyse the nature of contracts and of the
commitment that the billion-year contract
regulates. I also draw comparisons to other
religious legal and quasi-legal instruments.
I. The Sea Organisation and its Billion-
Year Contract
It is worth first reproducing in full the billion-year
contract. Although the version reproduced
following is technically unsourced, hundreds of
pictures of the billion-year contract have been
disclosed on the web over the past decades. I
reproduce here the version from the memoir of a
former Scientologist, which is the same as that
disclosed widely on the web. Flag Order 232,
mentioned in the contract, does not set out the
contract itself. The contract reads as follows:
SEA ORGANIZATION
Contract of Employment
I, .........................................
DO HEREBY AGREE to enter into
employmentx with the
SEA ORGANIZATION and, being of
sound mind, do fully
realize and agree to abide by its purpose
which is
to get ETHICSxi IN on this PLANET
AND THE UNIVERSE and, fully and
without reservation, subscribe to the
discipline, mores and conditions of this
group and
pledge to abide by them.
THEREFORE, I CONTRACT
MYSELF TO THE SEA
ORGANIZATION FOR THE NEXT
BILLION YEARS.
(As per Flag Order 232)
Date ......Signed .......
Date ......Witness .......
Date ......Witness .......
Have the Sea Org Recruiter perform the
Sea Org Swearing In Ceremony.
Your Signature .............
Recruiters Signature ..................xii
The contract has generated significant media
attention in recent years.xiii This attention is
part of a broader public fascination with the
religion of Scientology, a fascination that
culminated in a widely watched television
show, Leah Remini: Scientology and the
Aftermath. The show has run on national
television in the United States since 2016.xiv
Scientology has, indeed, garnered a great
deal of attention in recent years, and its
behaviour has been covered (and decried) in
national outlets reaching millions of people,
such as CNNxv and A&E.xvi
In my first paper, I address the sources of
rules in Scientology.xvii Although the public,
introductory books, known as The Basics,xviii
contain some rules and information regarding
enforcement mechanisms, the
comprehensive set of rules and enforcement
mechanisms is described in two, multi-
thousand-page sets of volumes, known to
Scientologists as the “red” (or “tech”) and
“green” (or “admin”) volumes. The red
volumes contain the technical bulletins of
Dianetics and Scientology, known as
Hubbard Communications Office Bulletins
(HCOBs). They cover Scientology’s
religious processes and practices. The green
