No wonder Leah Remini's book is a blockbuster. It is extremely well written. More than that, she provides in detail a chilling account of the steps deployed to ensnare good and trusting people--and families--how they can be seduced into a dark cult of exploitation and isolation from the world. Leah Remini provides an heartfelt and honest task of describing how, in a needy moment, her mother believed that this spiritual path of Scientology was a positive and enlightening step for her daughters. Once inside, there is little chance to walk away. There is no part of an individual's life that is not excavated, plundered, and used against that person. In addition, as Remini describes in detail, there is no way that Scientology does not suck dry every possilble cent and asset from its victims. Start small with the cost of "teaching supplies" being about $35, and then get each person in financial quicksand and debt up to their ears for life in quicksand. Make them go in debt. Make them sell their 401Ks and cash out pensions. Make them sell their homes. All assets to the Church where the largesse of the fortune quietly disappears under the auspices of the Chairman of the Board, David Miscavige, a brutal sociopath at best. Through unbearable pressure and threats, Scientology extracts as much as a quarter-million dollars from many of its ordinary members (from credit card debt, retirement plans, homes, cars, educational funds, and from all tangible assets) that desperate members might be driven to liquidate. From celebrity members, frequent donations of a million or more are expected. Where it goes is into the pocket of Miscavige, his tiny cabal, and the impenetrable and inescapable compounds he builds throughout the world.
Those who come in alone are more empowered to walk away unscathed. Those who come in with family are sitting ducks for abuse and exploitation. Miscavige and his crew use the deadly ploy of triangulation to keep members hostage. Knowing that you can never, never, never have contact with a spouse, your children, or parents, or any other relatives--the fear and terror of that--means most of the victims choose to stay and see it through. If they can get to your family and friends inside the church (very possibly the only support system you've ever known), they can keep you from leaving. Even if a member decides to leave at all costs and leave many family members behind, the price is so high as to be at a criminal level. "Troubemakers" like Leah who dare to question the chain of authority and purpose of the Church find themselves slapped with loathsome jobs punished cruelly, assigned menial laboring tasks, forced to stand in a garbage can for hours while others pour water over them. Many have attested how Miscavige beat them mercilessly, choking them, giving them black eyes. A tiny man of slightly over 5-feet tall, Miscavige has overcompensated his inferiority by seizing power of an international scheme, conducting his entire life on God-like terms, and even requiring his own father to refer to him at all times by, "Sir." Children and parents are separated and rarely interact. Instead of a formal education, the children caught in the claws of Scientology are given books and lessons about Scientology, not about the real world. A member who has been in the Church for 25 years, like Remini and others, have no education, no skills, no money, no means of support, even if they were able to hatch a plan for escape. The more attention drawn to Scientology, the more easily appalled members can escape. Operating under secrecy makes Scientology powerful, but having to account for its actions breaks it open.
Those who do effect an escape are often subjected to years of harassment and intimidation in the outside world. False documents are prepared to get them fired. Pretext phone calls full of slander are sent to their families and friends. Lies about them being prostitutes with venereal diseases are copied onto papers and passed out to their neighbors. Their personal property is destroyed. The Mafia couldn't do a better job of terrifying and intimidating a marked person. The message is: Leave us at your peril. We will get you. We will destroy you.
The value of Leah's remarkable book is that it is deeply personal, told with an inner voice of great intelligence, compassion, and strength for the family she treasures. One cannot but admire the ferocity of her commitment to her husband and child, and her other family members. It is this burning determination of Leah's that transcends all the psycho/spiritual babble of the Church. Waking up from a nightmare is a frightening experience, but Leah uses every shred of her courage and intelligence to get her and her family out of the Church. She's one tough woman from the Brooklyn who doesn't tolerate BS. She speaks up. She challenges authority. She curses. She gives as good as she gets. She asks vital and key questions. She demands to know why she has devoted her life to this religious organization that devalues her. Her courage is overwhelming to witness. Even throughout her struggle, Remini has tried for years to meet the specific burdens and demands forced upon her by the Church, in the hope that, fulfilling these, might bring her solace, family connection, and peace. At every turn in attempting to uncover the real goal of the church, she is stymied, and this endless thwarting only serves to increase her suspicions that the Church is a fraud, a front for money and power. A fraud, and that is what Leah finally discovers. To this reader, I was appalled by the lengths Scientologists would go to intimidate and keep members from escaping. Newer members, or those who have expressed doubts about the Church, are assigned "minders" to ensure that they cannot escape, even if it's for a visit to the dentist. One can see the draconian measures the upper echelon has taken to assure that no one will leave, and it reminds one of the most heinous prisons worldwide. Simply google the secret HQ in Hemet, CA (Gold Base) to see the razor wire and long, sharp metal knives on the fence perimeter, pointing INWARD as well as outward to guarantee that no member can leave. It is a dark hole into which the "troublemakers" are thrown for years on end. And they are thrown there without any hope of contacting relatives and friends in the outside world by phone or letter. It is a prison overtly sparkling with exquisite buildings, lush accommodations for the wealthy, swimming pools and tennis courts for the elite even as the defiant are forced into hard labor all day, every day in dark holes of Gold Base--unable to leave.
At its most basic level, Scientology appears to the naive to be a spiritual haven for those who are searching for meaning in this word. That is a lofty goal. However, that is the trickster veneer. In fact, Scientoilogy's ultimate goal is a twisted, sharp-toothed, ravenous, voracious maw that sucks up fortunes, assets, families, and human labor to elevate its Lilliputian chairman and his ruthless henchmen to the height of power. The Office of the Attorney General should expend its resources to expose this malignant organization once and for all. Miscavige's wife Shelly has not been seen by any reliable source in more than 10 years. Most suspect that she is dead, though the Church refuses to admit it. Only in exposing the real purpose of Scientology will it crumble. Leah Remini, at great personal cost to herself and family, has begun that journey of exposure, and I am so deeply grateful for her courage in writing this book. Thank you, Leah. Thank you for showing the world the deadly jagged glass hidden inside the sugar-coated pill of Scientology. God-willing, potential victims will read your book and stay far, far away from this fascist organization.
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There is no “right” way to be. I am flawed and imperfect, but am uniquely me. I don’t fit in and probably never will. And I don’t have to try to anymore. That other person was a lie. And let’s face it, normal is boring. We all have something to offer the world in some way, but by not being our authentic selves, we are robbing the world of something different, something special.Highlighted by 915 Kindle readers- Belief and faith are great, but very few people have been led astray by thinking for themselves.Highlighted by 737 Kindle readers
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The Cult of Scientology
'Troublemaker' by Leah Remini is for anyone who knows that sometimes you must challenge authority figures. She paints a detailed picture about her life in scientology, starting with how her family was recruited and ending with the suspicious disappearance of Michele Miscavige. While her writing style portrays a tough woman from Brooklyn, the facts speak for themselves as she recounts how she witnessed the church prey on the innocent while simultaneously breaking the rules for celebrities like Tom Cruise. If he is the face of scientology, then Ms. Remini was an unsuspecting pawn in their attempt to recruit celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony.In a business full of fake people just trying to get ahead, Leah Remini proves she's one of the realest celebrities that refuses to be used. While she admits that sometimes she goes too far, it's that same attitude that saved her from the Cult of Scientology.
Top reviews from other countries
DD
Amazing ! One of the best books I have ever read !
Reviewed in Italy on December 28, 2021
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Enlightening, entertaining and engaging.
Reviewed in India on January 4, 2019
Sandra Biggs
