Beyond Belief

My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape

By: Jenna Miscavige Hill

Narrated by: Sandy Rustin

Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Finalist, Non-Fiction, 2014

Jenna Miscavige Hill, niece of Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige, was raised as a Scientologist but left the controversial religion in 2005. In Beyond Belief, she shares her true story of life inside the upper ranks of the sect, details her experiences as a member Sea Org - the church's highest ministry - speaks of her "disconnection" from family outside of the organization, and tells the story of her ultimate escape.

In this tell-all memoir, Jenna Miscavige Hill, a prominent critic of Scientology who now helps others leave the organization, offers an insider's profile of the beliefs, rituals, and secrets of the religion that has captured the fascination of millions, including some of Hollywood's brightest stars such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta.

©2013 Jenna Miscavige Hill (P)2013 HarperCollinsPublishers

Liked everything about this book but the occasional vulgar language.

Liked everything about this book but the occasional vulgar language. Scientology is a scary organization.

Unbelievable

How sad that this kind of treatment is allowed. Maybe someday it will be taken down.

Truth is stranger than fiction in Scientology

I was really interested in this book and I found it very informative and entertaining. It explained a lot about the life in the Scientology cult and being raised as a child amongst it.

L R Hubbard wrote science fiction and founded a "religion". When he died, his chief officer, David Miscavige, became the new church leader. Jenna Miscavige is his Niece and grew up in the midst of Scientology. This is her story....

This was a very VERY informative book and I liked hearing about the "church" from an insider (and honestly you cannot get more inside than that). Many of the ex-members either cannot or will not speak about their experiences, whether it is due to fear or embarrassment. Jenna takes the leap and braves telling her story. It may open your eyes to the nature of the manipulation that they use to control their members.

Some of the examples of their logic will flip you out! For instance, they make Jenna the "Chief medical officer" at the age of 8. I was flabbergasted! Seriously, at 8, I was familiar with band-aids and that was about it. Her "personal scores" are based off of how many sick kids their are in the compound, something which she has absolutely no control over.

I admit that there is a morbid curiosity in learning about how Scientologist think. It gives good background and information on L R Hubbard and the thinking behind the "religion". It starts with the Billion year contract that they all have to sign and goes into details about the auditing sessions and the soup cans that they hold to measure their responses as well as what happens when their responses are not within the expected levels.

It talk about "Misunderstood words" and how they are the root of all the pain in the world, and if you have pain, it may be a misunderstood word from a PAST life that is messing you up *Yes I am being serious* How do you fight logic like that? LOL!

To me, the only down-sides were the narrator, who sounded like she was 13 and perpetually whiney, and it does tend to have an" I am a poor victim" mindset throughout the book, which I find to be frustrating. As a child, she certainly was a victim, but as an adult, she kept on CHOOSING to be in the cult. I understand that this is the nature of brain-washing but how much can a person take before they buy a vowel!

I don't think I would have ever read this book, as it is not in my normal genre, but I am very glad that I listened to it and I highly suggest it for anyone who is remotely curious about Tom Cruise and his crazy religion. I think it would also allow you to spot the signs of a cult and better understand the effects of brain-washing and manipulation (sleep and food deprivation, separation from loved ones, threats and pushing physical limits).

********* Some fun topic points to look forward to are :

*Auditing
*Pain and the causes of it and why they do not believe in pain pills even in the event of broken bones
*Their billion year contract and the life of eternal servitude
*How they are the only one's who can save the world *LOL! Seriously they believe THAT!
*The "Flagship"
*What is up with the "uniforms"
*Child slave labor
*Paying income tax on their allowance
*Secrets and lies
*The "Pledge of Allegiance" to L Ron Hubbard
*Celebrities
*Their money making schemes and how they fear loosing their "Non-profit" status
*Lots of Acronyms! and MORE!!!

Powerful

This was an amazing eye opening book. Just confirms what I've always thought about that" religion " better said cult!!

What a Crazy life to have survived!

The book is so very well written. Jenna let’s us see the inner-most secrets of “Scientology” through her eyes of growing up within this money-making cult and living through it day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute. I’m so grateful she wrote this book and exposed the scientology SHAM!! How has “scientology” not been outlawed by now?!!! It’s not a religion, it’s a SHAM! Poor Tom Cruise!! What an idiot he is to believe all this $hit!!

OMG I had no idea!

What a harrowing ordeal this poor girl was put through, all her life! You would think being the niece of the church leader she would have been protected but it turns out she had it worse.
I appreciated how she went through the years giving excruciating details of what was done to her. I learned a lot about brainwashing techniques from her story. She did an excellent job of describing the events from the cult point of view, and what it’s like to believe the party line.
One thing she said I will always remember is that you can’t tell a person in a cult that they’re in a cult.
This is an important book for understanding why people stay in cults and how strong the impulse to conform is among them.

READ THIS BOOK

I knew a little bit about Scientology; but I had no idea the bizarre extremities and inhuman places in took people. This story will stay with me forever. I was deeply touched and even cried. Sometimes you read a book and think, " well that was time I'll never get back." That is not the case with this book. If you are on the fence, read it! Thank you Jenna for coming forward and telling your story!

A.K.A. Cognitive Dissonance Exploited

A somewhat tediously written but undeniably interesting and troublesome inside account of a madman's exploitation of humanity. I have this image of LRH staying up late, drinking with a friend and wondering laughingly if they could convince people if a science fiction plot was real, and just how could they do it? Terrifying to think of the many lives destroyed in the name of his game. I hope that justice will eventually prevail and these poor souls will be freed from their psychological imprisonment. Kudos to the brave survivors and dissenters.

Excellent book!

I truly hope Jenna saves many people from the mind bending cult she was once a part of & broke free! This book gives a very clear picture of what Scientology is all about. A must read.

Beautifully read and intelligently written

Jenna had me hanging on her every word and feeling every emotion and truly seeing the pain around her!