Inside Scientology

The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion

By: Janet Reitman

Narrated by: Stephen Hoye

Length: 15 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

Scientology, created in 1954 by a prolific sci-fi writer named L. Ron Hubbard, claims to be the world's fastest-growing religion, with millions of members around the world and huge financial holdings. Its celebrity believers keep its profile high, and its teams of "volunteer ministers" offer aid at disaster sites such as Haiti and the World Trade Center. But Scientology is also a notably closed faith, harassing journalists and others through litigation and intimidation, even infiltrating the highest levels of government to further its goals. Its attacks on psychiatry and its requirement that believers pay as much as tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars for salvation have drawn scrutiny and skepticism. And ex-members use the Internet to share stories of harassment and abuse.

Now Janet Reitman offers the first full journalistic history of the Church of Scientology, in an even-handed account that at last establishes the astonishing truth about the controversial religion. She traces Scientology's development from the birth of Dianetics to today, following its metamorphosis from a pseudoscientific self-help group to a worldwide spiritual corporation with profound control over its followers and even ex-followers.

Based on five years of research, unprecedented access to church officials, confidential documents, and extensive interviews with current and former Scientologists, this is the defining book about a little-known world.

©2011 Janet Reitman (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A detailed and readable examination of the life of L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the church, and his successor, David Miscavige." ( Publishers Weekly)

Hard to follow history via harder-to follow bot

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Unlike another reviewer, I wasn't bothered by the completely one-sided treatment of scientology. I expected that. I also learned many new things about the subject. I'm not sure that the book translates well to audio format, purely based on the bizarre nature of the text; lots of players, lots of moving parts, a timeline to keep in focus. I came away going, wow, that's weirder than I thought but retained little because ofthe density of facts.

What did you like best about this story?

I think the narrator did a good job, despite the text.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Not sure about this... Not really a plot-driven tale!

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No

Another great read into a redonkulous cult

Would you listen to Inside Scientology again? Why?

Definitely. It was interesting & very well researched. I have become incredibly interested in Scientology (this being my 4th book on the subject). All have been similar, but all have taught me something knew about the history of the craziness.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

Enjoyed hearing more in this book regarding the celebrities & the "seduction" of Tom Cruise. Also interesting to hear the background of how Travolta became involved. Can't believe either of these men - who I thought to be intelligent - buys into this garbage. Shook my head when I heard that people had to salute the DOGS because they held a higher rank than some humans. U gotta be kidding me?!?!

What about Stephen Hoye’s performance did you like?

Kept it moving well. Voice is easy to listen to & it even kept my interest when the details seems to be miniscule.

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

How the celebrities are treated differently than everyone else. Others are almost to be their "servants" to be sure their experience is the best possible.

Tom Cruise, L. Ron Hubbard, and Xenu

If you're like most people in the 21st century, the image you have of Scientology is probably Tom Cruise jumping up and down on a couch, while promoting War of the Worlds in 2005 on Oprah. His manic performance while waxing ecstatic over his love for Katie Holmes (wife #3) turned him into a punchline, and this was in the middle of his renewed advocacy for Scientology, a "religion" that is probably most famous for attracting so many Hollywood celebrities, most notably Tom Cruise and John Travolta, but the list is actually quite large.

Of course, this being the 21st century, everyone has access to the Internet and so if you've ever been the least bit interested in Scientology, you have probably also heard about Xenu and "Body Thetans" and all the other stuff Scientologists aren't supposed to learn about until they reach "OT3."

Tom Cruise himself, according to Janet Reitman's detailed history of the Church of Scientology and its founder, L. Ron Hubbard, said "What is this sci-fi bull****?" when the secrets of Galactic Overlord Xenu were finally revealed to him. And yet he went on to become Scientology's most public and effective advocate, and according to Inside Scientology, a one-man cash cow for the church, which has a habit of dramatically overstating its membership numbers.

L. Ron Hubbard himself, a science fiction author who knew all the big names back in the early days of pulp sci-fi, was a huckster, a con-man, and a relent self-promoting machine. You may consider his ethics and the made-up religion he created to be dodgy at best, but you cannot help but admire how he turned every adversity and setback into a win for himself. By the time he died, he was a Christ-like figure to his followers, who made him and his church incredibly rich.

Inside Scientology is not a sensationalistic hit-piece on Scientology. Reitman tries to be as even-handed as possible, but just reporting the plain facts about Scientology, without the church's PR spin or outright falsification, inevitably casts it in a negative light. There are people, even who have left the church, who to this day insist that the "tech" works and that Scientology helped them. Yet the stories of abuse, of milking members for every dime of their savings and then putting them to work in what amounts to voluntary indentured servitude when their money runs out, of distortions and deceptions, of massive, widespread campaigns of organized harassment and gaslighting and ruinous litigation for the sake of destroying the church's enemies, make one wonder how anyone could see the Church of Scientology in a clear light and not see it for what it is? And for that matter, how does anyone in the 21st century with an Internet connection actually join this "religion" (yes, I'm going to insist on putting that in scare quotes), after reading about Xenu?

Well, in short, according to Reitman, Scientology has indeed taken a big hit since the advent of the Internet and the ability of anyone to go on online and read all about their more esoteric/bizarre doctrines and their history. Most new Scientologists today are kids who were raised in the church, and the church does its best to keep its members in a bubble, told to avoid reading critical books or articles or websites and avoid "suppressive personalities" (i.e., people hostile to Scientology). Yet evidently, some are still drawn into it, and the church's "celebrity strategy," which famously netted Tom Cruise, is still keeping their Hollywood org jumping.

Reitman's history goes all the way back to L. Ron Hubbard's early days, and the evolution of "Dianetics" into a full-blown religion. The tactics of the church, which were belligerent and ruthless even in the early days, and led to them essentially bullying the IRS into granting them tax-exempt status in 1993. Reitman is especially critical of Scientology's current leader, David Miscavage, who took over the reins of the church from LRH and is, from Reitman's account, exactly the sort of insecure, micromanaging, thin-skinned egomaniac you never want to see in power.

This is all fascinating stuff, and rather heart-breaking when you see how much damage the "religion" has caused over its relatively brief history. And yet, people still embrace it, even some of its outcasts. Are they really so different from Catholics or Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormons or Muslims? All religions have pretty lurid histories and it's easy to portray any of them as terrible, cult-like conspiracies.

I think after reading this book you will see plenty of differences that mark Scientology as... something else. Still, this book is written as a piece of journalism, not a critique, and the church itself was surprisingly cooperative with the author. So if you are interested in that wacky Hollywood religion with its arcane jargon, and don't just want to read a screed by an ex-Scientologist about how awful Scientology is, Inside Scientology is a very good place to start.

Hooking faith for a buck

Any additional comments?

L. Ron Hubbard was incredibly bold to use a person's hope and faith in continued life after death to make as much money as possible. The more money a "parishioner" pays, the quicker they "cross" the bridge of immortality. The ultimate scam.....Research of the book appears very thorough and includes views of the controversial religion from both positive and negative points of view.

Very Enlightening

Would you consider the audio edition of Inside Scientology to be better than the print version?

Haven't read the print version -- the audio version kept me listening long after I should have turned it off and started doing something else!

Who was your favorite character and why?

There was no favorite character -- the people described in story range from kind of pathetic to downright scary. I've heard many negative things over the years about Scientology, this just confirmed what I've heard in the past. I finished the book wondering how anyone could be pulled into such a money-centric "church".

Have you listened to any of Stephen Hoye’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Haven't listened to any of his other books. He did a great job reading this one.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I didn't laugh or cry, I just kept asking myself, "how could anyone get pulled into this organization, and not see Scientology for what it is -- a huge money making operation????

Boring

I'm sorry but this book is so boring I can't even finish it. I normally will finish any book to make sure I'm not missing something but I just don't care enough about the people in the book to continue. By the time I got to part 2 I completely lost interest in the subject.

Good Overview of Scientology

The first half chronicles L. Ron Hubbard's rise, and the second half examines various aspects of life in since the founder's death, including its use of celebrities, the suicide of one of its members, and, basically, its decline.

It suffers a bit from its length - I was captivated by Reitman's piece on Scientology for Rolling Stone a few years back, but the book is a little overlong. Still, it's the best book I've read on the subject.

Great read with lots of interesting information.

This book gives a detailed history of the rise of scientology and it's founder. Every chapter is full of surprising information that keeps you hooked. The author did a great job to convey the information in an unbiased tone and let the reader decide with the facts. Great Read!

Well worth the time!

What did you like best about this story?

This book does not sugar coat the reality. However, this book states the facts.

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

A deeper understanding as to the operations this organization.

not just the what, the who, why & how

The narration was lively and engaged. I came into reading this with a deep understanding of the nuts and bolts of the "religion," but what this book revealed to me was an understanding of humanity of the thing: who Scientology adherents are and why and how they can be made to believe in something so ludicrous - which has implications reaching beyond the scope of this buzzard belief system...