Customer Reviews

Bare-Faced Messiah. The True Story of L.Ron Hubbard

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It gives you chills to consider that present Scientologists might believe even one-tenth of the lunacy of the L. Ron Hubbard that this book reveals as a paranoid, authoritarian, self-aggrandising, destructive, and pathalogical ( ).

Hubbard was clearly a severly disturbed individual, and his motivation for founding Scientology was also clearly a direct result of his delusions and desire for attention, and, later, for cash.

Scientology itself is revealled as a mixture of pop psychology, new age healing techniques, and belief in our heritage as space aliens - all three spiced-up by the illicit thrill that only secret knowledge (priced in US$ of course) can bring.

In other words, welcome to 20th Century free market Gnosticism, with a bit of everything tossed in, for good measure, by a deranged cook that seems to have no taste buds at all.

Even assuming (following the death of Hubbard) there has been a corporate sanitising of the whackier aspects of his philosophy (and trust me here, the book is overflowing with examples of these), the fact that anyone would choose such an obviously broken foundation stone to build anything on, is enough cause for the alarm bells to start ringing.

The book is exhaustively researched and is a completely mind-blowing read, as the reader gets to walk a path from a creative childhood in which we learn about Hubbard's natural talent for story-telling that later developed into his relatively successful science-fiction career, to a progressively-stunted adulthood where lies becomes the main creative media he works with.

It would be good to see a follow up that deals less with Hubbard and more with how the Scientologists absorbed his legacy into their current practice (quite well, it would seem, from the myriad of media reports of destructive cultic behaviour).

Now that would take some explaining.

But this is outside the scope of this biography.

The book has a ring of authenticity thanks to the well-established credentials of the journalist who wrote it, and thus stands as a credible portrait of a destructive cartoon character that - unfortunately - more than a few people saw as their messiah.

No, that's not an official title. But Summer '05 has definitely been the Summer of Scientology in the media, and I realized that to participate in the debate, I needed to know more about the Church and its founder. And while the author of this book (a former Fleet Street journalist) is clearly no friend of L Ron, it's hard to blame him in light of the simple facts surrounding the church, its history, and its founder. I don't think anyone, celebrities included, could put a positive spin on Operation Snow White, Scientology's attempt to steal and destroy government documents related to the church, performed via "covert operatives" over a period of ten years or more. Yes, they were busted. And why don't people talk about this when talking about the Church? Not sure. They also don't talk about L Ron's abandonment of his first two wives, and his eagerness to let the third take the fall for Snow White when it all shook out. It makes you wonder about the geniuses in the marketing department over in Clearwater.

But the book isn't as much about the Church as it is about the man who founded it - a fascinating guy, by any account, even his own. As the book says, L Ron didn't need to embellish and manipulate his life's story nearly as much as he did, since the facts of his upbringing, education, and career are pretty amazing in and of themselves. Friends of psychology and psychiatry will recognize a narcissist when they see one, although a very entertaining one.

Overall, this was a great read - I had expected it to be a bit more damning and vindictive, based on other reviews (and the crazy paperback cover, which looks like a soft core/science fiction novel). But after reading it, I was very impressed with the author's restraint.

L. Ron Hubbard, "founder" of Scientology, has the true story of his life laid bare in this book by Russell Miller. The book proves that Hubbard was a remarkable man... Though not at all in the way Scientologists are taught.

Hubbard, who wrote science fiction for pulp magazines at a penny-a-word in the 40s, hit upon the realization that "the way to make real money is to start a religion," leading to the birth of Dianetics and Scientology. This book tracks the amazing life of Hubbard- from his humble beginnings which he felt compelled to embellish upon; through a disastrous stint in the Navy, where he later claimed to have been the first U.S. serviceman wounded in WWII; to the jailing of his wife and nearly a dozen of Scientology's top management in the early '80s for illegal break-ins and infiltration of government agencies; and, finally, to his death in 1986 in a trailer in the desert- addicted to drugs and delirious.

Bare Faced Messiah is required reading for anyone even vaguely aware of the controversies that have surrounded the man, and his "church," since its beginning.

Scientology is about POWER and NOT about spirituality. The reason why Tom Cruise, John Travolta and their ilk tout it is because they're (bored) rich folks who need to have some sort of "tiller" in life and Scientology delivers that (note that many of the power players in Hollywood and Capitol Hill belong to this "religion"; if you're not a Scientologist, then you don't "play" with the big boys (or make the really big money) ...).

Read Jon Atack's "Piece of Blue Sky"; nothing like hearing about a religion from one who used to practice it.

And yes, I agree with other sentiments expressed here: it's scary to think that well-educated (mostly) intelligent people believe the chronic lies of Hubbard.

I've read Miller's book once and reread several chapters to use in countering claims by Scientologists as to Ron's great accomplishments. The book was not as attacking as Paulette Cooper's Scandal of Scientology. It simply states what he believes happened based on many thorough taped interviews with personal aides and associates of Ron. Also he uses government documents to back up his description of Ron's checkered military career and sleazy attempt to get government handouts. I was a Scientologist for 15 years and I appreciate his tracking this beast's movements across the United States , through Mediterranean ports, across the U.S again to his quietly paranoid end in California. It is a great read and should be a bible for any anti-Scientology advocates.

Well that's how the die-hard, cyborg-like Sea Org people tend to come across, in my experience.

If I had thought this book was nothing more than an ill-informed cheap shot at Hubbard, I would not have read it, but it is not. My greatest problems with Scientology were never about the Technology, but with the over-zealousness (to put it very politely) of the Sea Org staff above all, and the absolutely unforgivable price of Services.

If you ever complained about the totally unrealistic cost of Services - relative to average earnings, for example, you were met with facile, brainwashed responses about 'what is Freedom worth?' and 'No Clear thinks it's expensive...' all of which totally ignore the fact that the organization is 99% money driven, whether it started that way or not; and that most of The Bridge (the structured path to spiritual freedom) is way beyond the price range of the average individual - unless they become Staff members, of course...

While Hubbard is seen to be a questionable character in terms of false claims about a number of issues, including aspects of his military service, as Miller reveals, he may well have developed some important technology at the heart of the Beast that Scientology eventually became.

It does not have some of the more immediately threatening aspects of a Cult that many true Cults possess, but it is hard to see it as anything else when you add up the lists of experiences that Miller and others have recorded and analyzed.

Don't be fooled by reviewers who hide behind 'attacks on their religion'. If Scientology operated more like a real religion (which it could do), it would not charge so much for its Services. It's pricing structure is simply a control weapon and nothing more.

Read the book and make up your own mind.

I guess I've read this three or four times (NOTE: online-- you can find it in its entirety). It's an absolutely riveting look at one of the most compellingly INSANE religious leaders ever-- and the competition is pretty stiff, so that's saying a lot. Miller has done his homework, and knows his subject intimately. That he wrote this masterpiece of popular biography in the face of incredible hostility from the Church of Scientology is a real achievement, and you owe it to yourself to look into this almost unbelievable (but true!) tale of megalomania, paranoia, confabulation, and utterly NUTSOID behavior.

Miller is the first writer to conduct real research into the life story of L. Ron Hubbard. Earlier writers, even those highly critical of Scientology such as Paulette Cooper, had tended to take Hubbard's official biography at face value.

In fact, Hubbard was a man of immense ability, energy, ambition, and ego. He regularly undertook difficult projects, and, when describing the results, regularly transformed failure or marginal success into dazzling triumph. Miller's work in separating fact from fiction in Hubbard's early exploits is valuable, as is his recounting of the early years and growth of Scientology and Dianetics.

Miller has, though, probably underestimated his subject. He ends with the prediction that Scientology is not likely to long outlive its founder. Although Scientology is struggling - propaganda describing it as the world's fastest growing religion is as fictional as Hubbard's career as a war hero - it remains very much alive. It also has had a vast influence on many similar movements (quite a few started by ex-Scientologists), an intriguing story that Miller passes by entirely. However, Miller is centering on Hubbard's life; he wasn't attempting to write the definitive study on the subjects of Scientology and Dianetics.

Aside from its value, this is just an interesting story, one so strange that if you read it as fiction, you would question the plausibility.

This cult is absolutely the most bizzare thing I've ever heard of. Read this book and delve into the most incredible story you can imagine. And it's non-fiction! This cult is so creepy you will not sleep at night. Hard to believe this nonsense is actually considered a religion. Kudos to Mr. Miller for delivering a great read and revaling the inner workings of a true madman and a conman to rival any in history. The only sad part are the victims who have fallen for this science fiction mumbo jumbo and believe in such foolishness.

Bare Faced Messiah is a must read for anyone in the field of religion or an interest in Scientology. There is much controversy circling around Hubbard and anyone who wishes to know the truth would be hard pressed to get it out of anyone in the Church of Scientology. They would prefer to spout the creative lies which Hubbard invented. Bare Faced Messiah gives us the truth to the best of his ability in a way that is neither hurtful nor damaging to Hubbard but simply the truth. This man is intriguing to say the least and possibly one of the most brilliant men of our time and Bare Faced Messiah makes this clear but also gives us the facts behind the stories we hear. The book is well written and laid out and tells a story in documentary form. It doesn't only feed the reader with straight facts regarding the brains behind Dianetic and Scientology, an amazing religion in itself, but it attempts to allow us to be in his place and understand him. He may have been the world's biggest con-artist, which is a whole discussion in itself, but he did make many people believe in hope and it is made very clear that he stood for what he believe. This book is a 10+ must read for anyone. I welcome any further discussion to my e-mail. I would be happy to discuss any matters of religion.