Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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134 of 140 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
science fiction religion, March 13, 2005
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?
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84 of 87 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Intelligent, courageous piece of journalism..., July 21, 2002
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.
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252 of 277 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Important and Revealing work., July 27, 2002
By A Customer
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.
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