Customer Reviews

A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed

5 star:		(81)
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3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(26)

 

 

A Piece of Blue Sky is not the latest expose of the Scientology scam. More recent dissections of brainwashing cults have touched on Scientology. But there has not been a later book sufficiently focused to justify including the word Scientology in the title, perhaps because Atack does such a thorough job of exposing this moneymaking scam posing as a religion, that there is little more to say.
Human beings are not descended from any terrestrial lifeforms. The first humans were brought to earth by benevolent aliens millennia ago from a galaxy far, far away. If you believe that, you are not necessarily a Scientologist. But if you are a Scientologist, you are required to believe it, since the alternative is to recognize that you have been hoaxed by a cult that originated in the imagination of L. Ron Hubbard, a science fiction writer with such total contempt for anyone who could take his fantasy seriously, that he gloated to an associate, "Let's sell these people a piece of blue sky." When the associate expressed skepticism, Hubbard bet him that he could invent a new religion and have it showing a profit within a year. He won the bet. While no other evidence survives that Hubbard had a sense of humor, his naming the aliens' home planet "Arslycus" cannot have been a random choice.
But while it was L. Ron Hubbard who first organized the conspiracy to pass off science fiction as a religion, the cult leaders' true role model was Benito Mussolini. When A Piece of Blue Sky was first published, the Scientology hierarchy were able to intimidate Amazon into removing it from their catalogue, out of fear of the vicious reprisals that got eleven members of the cult, including Hubbard's wife, convicted and jailed in 1979. In 1978 Hubbard was himself convicted of fraud in a French court, in absentia, and sentenced to four years imprisonment. Amazon only relisted the book when public outrage threatened them with more serious financial consequences than even Hubbard's enforcers could inflict.
Much of Atack's book is an analysis of Hubbard's own published accounts of his life, which are so impossible to harmonize into a single biographical chronology, that the only reasonable conclusion is that they are a pack of lies from start to finish.
A judge of the High Court of London in 1984 ruled that, "Scientology is both immoral and socially obnoxious.... It is corrupt because it is based on lies and deceit and has as its real objective money and power." An American judge ruled, "The evidence portrays a man who has been virtually a pathological liar."
That Scientology is a criminally felonious swindle is the recorded judgement of law courts in America, England and France, and governments in Australia, New Zealand, Rhodesia and Germany.
See my unabridged review in, Where Is George Washington Now That America Really Needs Him?

Considering Scientology's penchant for suing everyone and anything (they even sued Time/Warner when Time Magazine called Scientology a "cult of greed and power"), this book took a lot of guts to write, and the author and publisher should be applauded.

Living in Los Angeles, I have met people whose lives have been destroyed by Scientology, and it is creepy driving down Hollywood Boulevard and seeing how much real estate the "church" owns. (I recommend, for a good laugh, people check out the L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibit.) That the group can afford so much premium property in one of the most expensive districts in the country is indicative of the millions of dollars "donated" by so many weak-minded, hapless people.

This book unmercifully exposes the cult for what it is, as seen first-hand by former members. Even if one has no interest in Scientology, it is a fascinating commentary on human behavior vis-a-vis modern cults. Atack's work is indicative that, in the face of brain-washed celebrities pushing Scientology, there is still some sanity left in the world.

As I type this review, "A Piece of Blue Sky" still remains firmly within the top 1000 sellers here at Amazon after years of obscurity. Ironically, if it weren't for the aggressive efforts by the Church of Scientology to eradicate this book, it probably would have disappeared off the shelves years ago. The Scientologists ought to apply the lesson learned ten years ago during the controversy over Salman Rushdie's "The Satanic Verses": Threaten it, and it gains notoriety.

"A Piece of Blue Sky" is one of those Books Scientology Doesn't Want You to Read. As they did with "Bare-Faced Messiah," Russell Miller's excellent biography of founder L. Ron Hubbard (unfortunately now out of print, although available on the Web with the author's blessing), the Church has attempted to stop publication of this book. They will tell you it is libelous. It is not - it has been challenged in the courts and vindicated. They will tell you it has been banned in Britain. It has not - one single paragraph did not meet Great Britain's stricter standards for documentation, and was removed (the book survives unexpurgated elsewhere). Given the Scientologists' well-known habit of aggressively defending their interests in the courts, surely they must accept the authority of the courts in this case, as well?

In addition, "A Piece of Blue Sky" will tell you Things Scientology Doesn't Want You to Know. If you read the Scientologists' own publication, "What is Scientology?", for example, you will learn that during the late 1970s, the Guardian's Office (GO) of the Church was "infiltrated and set up to fail." Criminal elements within the GO supposedly overstepped their authority, infiltrating and burglarizing government offices to steal files concerned with the Church, without the knowledge or approval of L. Ron Hubbard. These criminal elements, we are told, were caught, prosecuted, and "forever banned from Church employment." Will Scientology tell you that these convicted criminals included Hubbard's own wife, who was running the GO? Will they tell you that Hubbard himself, though unindicted, was named a co-conspirator in the trial? No, but Atack fills in the blanks that the Scientologists' PR department would rather have left unfilled. One wonders why the Church is quick to volunteer unsavoury details about Atack and his book, yet remains strangely silent when it comes to its own embarrassing moments . . .

I found Atack's writing style a little threadbare in spots. Also, I wish he had devoted more space to examining the space-opera "theology" of the Church. "A Piece of Blue Sky" is nonetheless compelling reading, and well-documented. This book is one of the must-reads for anyone interested in the Church of Scientology, the true story of which is often weirder and more fascinating than Hubbard's pulp science fiction.

I believe it is important for everybody to learn the truth about Scientology before they are trapped by a front organization. At some point in your life you very well may be scammed by Scientologists, my family lost $20,000 to them, and thus I think it is imperative to read this well-researched and well-written book.
Negative reviews are invariably written by Scientologists who see it as their duty to stiffle any criticsm of their church. That is their right, but it is important that you not be put off reading objective works about Scientology merely because of their attacks on the works.
By all means I would also suggest reading L. Ron Hubbard's original works as well--I know I have enjoyed reading them. It is important, though, that you read his books with the understanding that they are fiction--that includes the 'non-fiction' works like 'What is Scientology'.
At some point in your life you may yourself be caught up in Scientology or one of their many fronts, so educate yourself about them now.

I read this book after leaving Scientology ruined and perplexed. It answered my questions as to what had really been going on behind the scenes and helped me understand that the reality of the "dark side" of Scientology is what members really experience behind the slick "Hollywood facade" of the Public relations "image" of Scientology, Dianetics and L.Ron Hubbard.

I guess I've always loved reading about cults, their leaders and their followers. I think it started with the Baghwan section of the book "Cities on a Hill" ...that was just gripping.

There seem to be certain similarities between the personalities who head truly dark cults and charismatic figures who are viewed as legitimate even heroic. The Secrest book on Frank Lloyd Wright is a good one...generally admired as a genius, but also a completely unprincipled huckster. There's even a little bit of it in Wilhelm Reich, who is often viewed as one of the good guys.

I have read quite a bit on Hubbard and mostly I have just derived a good chuckle out of it. He's so obviously a Charlatan and a buffoon... it's written all over his face for one thing. He reminds me a lot of Mussolini. The book though actually ended up being rather sad; especially the undercover operations, personal vendettas and the insane internal machinations of the cult during the latter years of Hubbard's life.

I gotta say it's a hoot that there are actual scientologists posting one star reviews on this book! Way to go guys, why not order a couple of dozen copies of Battlefield Earth while you are here!

The book is not a literary masterpiece but it's pretty clearly written considering density of the material to be presented and all the mentions of orgs, OSTs, PRTs, Body-Thetans all all the other CoS jargon that cannot be avoided in telling the story. I wish there had been slightly more humor since some of the material is potentially so funny. I realize of course that the effect on thousands of people's live has been tragic and overall I finished the book feeling that the organization was far more sinister than I had previously given it credit for.

As to the CoS postings here warning of the perils of Atack's bias I can assure potential readers that there is very little in way of judgement or interpretation here... Hubbard's own proclamations and the uncontested facts more than make the case against him. If anything I would say that Atacks greatest failing in this book is failing make the reader (me at least) understand how a rational person could have been taken in by this foolishness for the length of time he was involved.

Perhaps he steered away from the pyschological aspects for fear of exploring his own weaknesses and gullibility or perhaps just to avoid making the book another self-obsessed confessional. If the latter then at least he learned something from the great Lafayette Ronald Hubbard.

As an ex-scientologist, I can say that this book is remarkable in its accuracy. Jon Atack is not writing from any sense of bitterness or wounded spirit. I have done a great deal of research around the subject of cults, since leaving scientology, and I can honestly say that this is the best book on the subject of scientology, period... Buy it, and read it.

Everyone i see criticizing this book is telling people to go out and find out for themselves. While normally this would be logical, in this case to get any true first hand objective experience with The Church of Scientology, you'd have to pay them and go through their auditing programs. Getting books that are pro-scientology is the same as reading ones that have a negative bias. Unless you're going to front money to get auditing, which is exactly what they want, your only reliable source is what a former member has to say on the subject. This book presents that in an acceptable manner. So to people advising me to go find out for myself, I say no thanks. I'll keep my money in my own pocket and out of the hands of Scientology.

I have found it amazing that the only people that posted their poor opinions of this book are spouting the same rhetoric that Scientologists have been doing about ex members, and investigators. Could it be that they are Closet/Sneaky Scientologists like the ones that lurk on Newsservers, or the ones that nay say any critics all over they world, and hire PIs to dig up dirt, and to engage in character assassinations, and sue at the drop of a hat? (Go ahead, sue me, I have Nada, and the time spent in court would be nice. At least it's climate controlled)

A very good book for anyone with a brain that isn't swamped with the garbage that was L Ron Hubbards "Dianetics" to read. And anyone that can't tell poorly written Science Fiction from religion... We can only hope that Darwin was right.

An excellent book that for once tells the truth about Scientology. Ignore the over-emotional 1/5 stars reviews here. These are generally from people who have invested time, effort and a heap of money into Scientology so are hardly likely to have an unbiased view. Read their literature, read this book. Then make your own mind up.