After seeing Alex Gibney’sdocumentary, I decided I had
to read the book his film was based on. If you watched the documentary on HBO
(and you should) and you want to know the whole story, you need to read Mr.
Wright’s book as well. Here you really get to learn how crazy and ultimately
rotten of a person L. Ron Hubbard was. He really was a manipulative,
pathological lying con artist, the perfect storm in a suit for becoming a
powerful cult leader. How the church can
declare this mediocre science-fiction writer a champion for spiritual
improvement is an insult to anyone with a brain. The facts in this book, and there are a lot of
them, are well-researched and you can tell are accurate. Here you really get to see why someone would
fall in with such an organization in Paul Haggis and others. I found that even
I could relate to their search for something different, something to help them
find community and purpose. Sadly this
is how cults work, they prey on receptive peoples’ “ruin” or the thing that
they want fixed. Here you get to really
meet David Miscaviage and see a man-child with a furious temper and an intense
demand for power. Here you get to meet the “real” Tom Cruise, a guy I still
love to see on the big screen but a guy who has abandoned any sense of reality
over celebrity and spiritual worship. There is so much crammed into this book
you almost wonder why Gibney didn’t make a four hour version of his film. I
usually read fiction but a good non-fiction book can be even more rewarding and
this is the case here; a fascinating and detailed look into an enslaving,
self-help scamming business that will do anything it can to remain vague and
celebrated, including harassment and psychological torture. I think the most
shocking aspect of the book wasn’t necessarily all the weird thetan theology
but how accommodating Mr. Wright is, giving Scientology every chance to comment
on his findings. Scattered throughout
the book are footnotes saying basically, the church doesn’t agree. It’s like Mr. Wright is trying to be fair and
balanced but in the end can only come to one conclusion and that is the entire
thing is a fraud. I came away feeling
bad for all the people (famous people included) who’ve become bamboozled by
this fake science. I believe for many people the techniques tricked themselves
into a better place, a sort of placebo for the soul. And if L. Ron Hubbard spread his theories with
the goal of helping people versus making a lot of tax-free money I wouldn’t
care. I don’t even care that these people believe in thetans or giant aliens
from along ago. Many traditional
religions have stories that are just as preposterous. Yet this organization controls its people and
feeds off their financial bloodline like a leech. If I had any wish is that this church crumbles
and people like Tom Cruise and John Travolta turn on David Miscaviage, suddenly
seeing him for the scumbag he is. Is it
fair to call him that while not having met him and judging him on a book
written by a Pulitzer Prizing winning writer? Maybe not, but you have to
remember Miscaviage doesn’t commit to interviews anymore ever since his last
one went so poorly. In conclusion I
think this is an important book to read.
Everyone should read it to help educate them not just on Scientology but
as an example how misinformation, organized pseudoscience and sensationalism
can warp anyone’s perspective of life and condemn that once individual to a controlling
corporation of lies. I believe without a
doubt I’ll see the end of Scientology as it is now in my lifetime. Sadly something like it will only rise from the
ashes. Why? Because of man’s search for truth in the
impossible answerless void of the universe is just too cold and frightening for
most to accept. Grade: A
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