There have been a number of “tell all” books written in the past few years about Scientology. All of them have related horror stories about being trapped within the matrix of L. Ron Hubbard’s creation. This book follows in those footprints although from a slightly different angle. This is not a book on the general subject of Scientology; the author assumes that the reader already knows the basic facts and history of the cult and can differentiate between Sea Org members, contract staff and public members. That said the author had wide experience within Scientology, over many years, particularly in the area of fund raising.
Those who are familiar with the human rights violations within Scientology will not be particularly shocked by the revelations of horrific examples of sleep deprivation and grossly overcrowded, and often bug infested sleeping facilities in the Sea Org. Nor will they be impressed with the complete and utter lack of privacy that they are subject to or the inadequate and poor quality food that they are fed. Lack of proper medical care is endemic as is lack of time off. Their pay, if they get it, is insignificant. All of these abuses in Scientology are well documented. But even so I somehow expected that the people who did the fundraising, which is everything in Scientology, would be treated better. But alas, even those who poured the money into the never-satisfied maw on the cult are treated like, or worse, than barnyard animals.
Working for Scientology has been compared with being employed by the mafia which I think is an unfair comparison, at least as far as the mafia is concerned. In traditional organized crime those who bring in the money get perks and some luxury. But the only “reward” in Scientology is to escape immediate punishment. Any money made be earning commissions on donations gets sucked back into the cult in forced donations or other pretexts.
This book is about brutality. Plains and simple brutality used by skilled and merciless predators against those who have been infected with the mental virus of Scientology. The only positive thing is that the author managed to break out of the mental and physical confines. The hardships of starting over again, after dedicating the best years of her life, were very real as the author relates.
This book is a cautionary narrative which I recommend to anyone who is interested in learning just how nasty Scientology is. This is not a polished book of prose, no, it’s only one woman’s honest story about her life inside Scientology where honesty is one quality that can’t be found.
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Tim Burgess
