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)

Well worth reading

I got this book as the only one on a $4.95 list that I wanted, but I enjoyed it very much. I thought I knew a lot about Scientology, but this book goes far beyond the basics and is impeccably researched. There are other personal accounts by ex-members, but this has to be the definitive one done by a reporter. She didn't mention any harassment she has personally received, but one wonders.

The author takes a low-key, objective approach and lets the information stand for itself, which works well. Everything in Scientology is already so over-the-top, presenting it in a cool manner grounds the story. It's hard to believe that we could have and allow to happen such things happening in Scientology in democratic countries. I'm all in favour of religious freedom, but Scientology manipulates that human right for wrong purposes.

The epilogue for me was a bit odd, where I think the writer allowed in her own feelings, but that didn't detract from the overall experience. It's an important book containing information everyone should know.

Scary Good

It's frightening how easy it is to take advantage of a populous that has not been taught proper critical thinking skills and skepticism. The rise of Scientology is just the most recent example of this.
After reading/listening to this book, you may have a bleak and judgmental (dare I say discriminatory?) attitude towards Scientologists. Please don't.

While the author delves into the darkest aspects of the founders and leaders of Scientology, in the end she reveals the human and relatable nature of its practitioners. She does a good job showing that they really are just like every other person you meet.

One critique on the performance. The narrator was too .. Simpering? ... Like those touchy-feely teachers that talk softly and condescendingly to children.

Still, he deserves 4 stars for sexy smoothness.

eye-opening

The stories intrigued me the whole time. I appreciate how the book shared 1st hand accounts from the whole history of scientology, presenting individual perspectives and stories while rarely presenting the authors personal opinion. The author was objective and informative.

Liked the story and info…but

The performance was kind of, “snarky.” I am one who wants pertinent information and accurate knowledge. And it delivered. But the delivery was a bit condescending. And no…I’m not…nor have I ever been a Scientologist.

What a weird story

An in depth and comprehensive story from Dianetics to a corporation seeking tax exempt status as a religion. This story could only be revealed in the age of the internet because the secrets of Scientology can not be hidden so well.
The cat is out of the bag.
The book seems well balanced and factual.
'Very entertaining and weird.

The Religion That Wasn't

It continues to amaze me how my reading habits seem to line up with the other reviewers that I follow; with that in mind, let me say that Melinda just wrote an excellent review on this book yesterday; so I'm just going to add my additional two cents.

I want to stress that as a religious person myself, I know there is a HUGE difference between what an individual person interprets their religious views to be and the actions of some people running the "church institution". Religion is the set of beliefs in an individual's heart and mind that guides them to be the best person they can be. Churches are fallible, man made organizations that are susceptible to corruption. When I reference Scientology here, I'm referring to the fallible man-made organization, not any individual that uses that word to describe the set of beliefs they use to to guide them in trying to be kind and useful.

As referenced in other reviews, this can be DRY reading. I especially had trouble getting through the first two or so hours; I thought I wasn't going to make it. Then it picked up a little and became more interesting, while still admittedly dry. I hovered between giving the narration a 2 or a 3, but decided that My Hoye did the best he could have with the material he was working with.

I found it fascinating that Scientology was never meant to be a religion; that it was always a money making scheme, and they decided to categorize it as a church to avoid the regulatory issues they were having with the fact that their "councilors" had no legitimate accreditation, and also to avoid paying taxes. Saying they were a religion helped with both these issues. Being from Phoenix, I also found it fascinating to find out that L Ron Hubbard spent a little time living here while setting up the church, which I'd never known.

If you're picking up the book because of certain current events going on in the news, particularly a certain divorce in the headlines, I'll admit this book gives you a lot of information regarding some of the specific concerns or accusations that are flying out there. In particular, the book spends a good deal of time going over the inception and first few years of "Sea Org", which is the ship based program that (if you believe the stories) is one of the main concerns in the current divorce; the fact that the mother is concerned that her daughter was soon to be sent to this program.

The other big take away I had from the book is how little L Ron Hubbard had to do with what the church is currently; how out of touch with it he was in his last years of life, with other power players taking the helm.

Do you want to read this? I don't know. It's dry, it's very detailed, but I'm glad I did; I found the information was good and it gave me a lot that I didn't know before. It's certainly not a light beach read, but if you're really interested in learning more about how this organization morphed into what it is, it certainly gives you that.

Demagoguery, Peer Pressure, and Legal Blitzkrieg

You will ask yourself, "how is that even possible" roughly 1,000 times while listening. To me, this book is about a shocking tragedy, the sad story of how a group of militarized and highly strategic people preyed on ignorance and hope.

If you read this book, you will absolutely find what you expected...the story of a science fiction writer who invented his own religion and turned that into a cash cow with increadible audacity. There are three main parts to the book, namely, the life of L. Ron Hubbard, a collection of life-stories about individual Scientologists, and finally, the dictatorship of Hubbard's successor, David Miscavige.

The core beliefs are absurd. However, something will fascinate you about the effectiveness and level of organization this group employs. I couldn't help but wonder if Scientology was literally some front for the CIA or NSA...a great experiment to test the indocrination of human beings and the social rules that keep them in place.

I'll warn you that the book is a bit flat. The material is sensitive, so the author restricts her writing so much that her personality, individualism, and opinions have been eliminated. In many ways, perhaps, the author did fall victim to Scientology after all...

interesting, a bit drawn out

Where does Inside Scientology rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Non-fiction audiobooks can be challenging because the material can be a bit dry, but it was still an interesting listen.

Would you recommend Inside Scientology to your friends? Why or why not?

I would recommend this book for those interested in the subject matter (and who isn't?). It isn't the "unbiased" book it states it intended to be, but still worthwhile

What does Stephen Hoye bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I do think this would have been as interesting a read as it was a listen.....listening to the audiobook was a convenience, but not an improvement on the material, I think.

Any additional comments?

Interesting subject matter and competently read, for those interested in the subject.

In-Depth and Enlightening

This was a very educational look at the inner workings of Scientology, which most people think is just weird. In reality, it is actually much scarier and more dangerous to the people in it than you would think. This book gives a very detailed history and in-depth depiction of the cult and is seriously eye-opening. Truly engrossing and yet informative and detailed, after listening to this you will never see Scientologists as harmless weirdos ever again.

Important information about pseudo-religion

I have always suspected that Scientology was not an honest religion. I had heard of its unrelenting fight with the IRS that led to it being recognized by that agency as a church. It is not a church. What this book reveals is the very ugly underside of Scientology's formation and evolution. An important book to read and refer to others.