There are a lot of scary things in this world. Disease, guns, nuclear war, spiders, axe murderers, clowns, Oprah, terrorism, that woman who has had plastic surgery to look like her cat, natural disasters, freak accidents, The Kardashian family (including Kanye West), snakes, zombies, the dentist, “really smart, very stable men” in power who don’t know how to stay off of Twitter. The list can go on and on, but there is only one scary subject that we need to touch on today and that is Scientology.
Just like in the Harry Potter books when you say Lord Voldemort, I know that just by saying the word Scientology, I’m probably now a spot on their radar and they will be tracking my every move and bad word that I say about them. I wasn’t very familiar with the made up “religion” until a friend told me that I just had to read Leah Remini’s book Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology. Just a few pages into the book and the crazy, twisted world that she was thrown into and I was already desperately needing to know more about how insane Tom Cruise really is.
While you and I may think that a cult is easy to avoid, considering we aren’t easily brainwashed into believing crazy things or worshiping aliens, Leah Remini elaborates a lot more into how families can get sucked into this world and find themselves stuck in this mess of a fictional “religion”. The beginners classes are simple, self help classes; How to learn to deal with stress, how to time manage, how to become a better you. Once they get you through those classes, they entice you with much more to move up the “Bridge” of Scientology where you are helping the planet by becoming a better you and preparing your soul for the next life, making it easy to prey on the weak who are just looking for a place to belong. Meanwhile, you don’t even realize that you are handing over your paycheck and kissing your family/life as you know it goodbye.
I like most of you, when hearing the word Scientology, I think cult. I think of this scary group of people that are mentally/physically stuck in a world that they aren’t allowed to leave because they are so brainwashed by someone telling them that the end of the world is coming. While that is only partially true for the Scientology community, there is a lot more to how the people of Scientology are sucked into this world to feel like they are doing common good, not just for themselves, but for the planet. They feel like they are martyrs and that they are helping to save the world from evil and destruction, but Leah demonstrates many times in her book and in her TV show on A&E, Scientology and the Aftermath, that the good that they claim to do never outweighs the evil of what they are forced to sacrifice with their own lives.
In both the book and the TV show, Leah elaborates how they make you feel as though your donations are going to foundations that are helping with clean up of natural disasters or towards the education of young people (always helping the good), but in reality, that money is just going right back into the “church” (and into the pockets of those at the top). There are branches of the church where they are forced to sign a billion, that is right – no typo, a billion year contract to the Scientology community, where you will be working for the rest of your life, but there is no guarantee of a paycheck at the end, there is no guarantee that you will not be abused in some way and there is no guarantee that if you at some point change your mind and want out, you will be allowed out or be able to talk to you family ever again. The sad thing is, this is just the tip of the iceberg with this cult hot mess express.
Ginger Views: Leah Remini knows what she is talking about! Pick up a copy of Leah Remini’s book Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology or watch Scientology and the Aftermath on A&E to hear more about this crazy, made up “religion”, as well as to hear just how crazy Tom Cruise is. It is complete and utter insanity what these people have gone through and continue to go through. You will get sucked into this world that you never realized had so many complex levels and had so much insanity to it. I’m telling you, it is so fascinating, it will leave you feeling so uneasy, but desperately wanting more!
Featured image via SexyAndHotTV on Flickr