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Arcadia [NG]
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Scientology Exposed
When people hear the word "Scientology" they will typically think of one of several things. Tom Cruise, Hollywood, or that terrible Battlefield Earth movie that bombed at the cinemas back in mid 2000. These are all things that are fairly far removed from the average person, and it's really quite expected that most anyone will assume Scientology is simply something for rich Hollyweird types.
Though the so-called "Church" of Scientology has lost a great deal of its power and relevancy in the last decade, the fading knowledge of this predatory institution has had a regrettable side effect, insomuch that many normal, everyday people have been pulled into one of its many sub-organizations at their most vulnerable.
Just last year, a report was filed by the Guardian which detailed the horrendous track record of an NHS (National Health Service) registered rehabilitation clinic in East Sussex known as Narconon, which offered a supposedly holistic approach to freeing people from drug addiction. This was, for its part, an institution which did not particularly advertise itself as "Scientologist", and yet, it was majority funded by the International Association of Scientologists, all its senior staff were Scientologists, and many of its (outright bizarre if not harmful) practices were all taken from the work of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.
Needless to say, a rather disturbing number of people have died at these centres. Others have been left traumatized or irreparably scarred, one victim even saying that their "mind had been shattered into a million pieces". Patients would be given overdose levels of Niacin, sit in dry saunas for hours, and partake in bizarre training exercises where they would be told to yell at inanimate objects in order to get them to move. And these were just the things that were in line with the intended program.
It goes without saying that many of the people who had attended Narconon clinics were not Scientologists. Scientology has made a point to cloak itself behind a number of vaguely named secondary organizations. Criminon. Applied Scholastics. The Way to Happiness Foundation. Association for Better Living and Education. You'll see a common denominator here. Many of these groups are intentionally aimed at the vulnerable. Ex-criminals. Drug addicts. People seeking higher education or even simply happiness.
These are, sadly, not just issues affecting eccentric American celebrities, but real everyday people all around the world. It's for that reason I decided to even write this article in the first place. To fully understand the idiocy and depravity of this "religion" however, one has to start at the start.
So, what is Scientology anyway?
Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices founded by American author L. Ron Hubbard in the early 1950s, evolving from his earlier self-help system called Dianetics, which will be tackled later. Officially described by the Church of Scientology as a religion that provides a "precise path leading to a complete and certain understanding of one's true spiritual nature," it emphasizes spiritual enlightenment through structured processes aimed at overcoming mental and emotional barriers. As you'll soon learn, this is a very flattering way to put what will be some of the stupidest nonsense you've ever heard.
Starting with the basics, however, at its core, Scientology teaches that humans are immortal spiritual beings known as "thetans," who have existed through countless reincarnations but have forgotten their true divine nature due to traumatic experiences accumulated over lifetimes. These traumas, called "engrams," are subconscious recordings in the "reactive mind" that cause irrational behavior, mental illness, and physical ailments. The religion's primary practice is "auditing," a counseling-like process where participants use an "E-meter" (a device resembling a lie detector) to identify and eliminate engrams through guided questioning by an auditor. Auditing sessions are fee-based, often costing thousands of dollars, and progress is measured along a hierarchical "Bridge to Total Freedom," where adherents advance through levels by paying for courses and services. Simple enough, until it isn't.
Scientologists believe that clearing engrams leads to a state called "Clear," where individuals regain full control over their analytical minds and achieve heightened abilities. Beyond this, advanced "Operating Thetan" (OT) levels—kept secret from lower-level members—reveal esoteric teachings, including the infamous "Xenu" narrative. This is where all sense and logic will now be departing.
According to leaked OTIII documents, 75 million years ago, Xenu (as seen above, and also known as Xemu, as Hubbard seemingly couldn't make up his mind), the dictator of a Galactic Confederacy comprising 76 planets, solved an overpopulation crisis by transporting billions (having been gathered under the pretense of tax file inspections) of beings to Earth (then called Teegeeack, and yes I'm being serious), stacking them around volcanoes, and detonating hydrogen bombs inside the volcanoes, blowing them all up at once (save for a small handful, somehow).
The disembodied victims' souls, which, as you've seen, are called thetans, were blown into the air by the blast. They were then captured by Xenu's forces using an "electronic ribbon" (whatever the hell that is) and sucked up by vacuums, after which the then hundreds of billions of thetans taken to super-colossal movie cinemas (located in Hawaii and the Canary Islands, apparently) to watch a 3D film for thirty six days straight. Why? Don't ask, I don't think even Hubbard himself knew.
The film was filled with what Hubbard termed "misleading data", which was implanted into the "hapless thetans" (known in Scientology as the R6 implant). This information included all the world religions, everything to do with "God", "the Devil", and "etcetera" (Hubbbard's words, not mine).
In addition to implanting these new beliefs into the thetans, all the misleading data caused them to lose their sense of personal identity, so they began clustering together in groups of thousands, funneling themselves into the survivors of the bomb-volcanoes, becoming what's known as body thetans. It's these body thetans which cause all the spiritual and physical health issues humanity suffers today. Unless you're a Scientologist, of course.
A government faction known as the Loyal Officers overthrew Xenu and locked him in an "electric jail" somewhere in the Pyrenees (apparently we still haven't found him). "Teegeeack" was then abandoned by the Galactic Confederacy and remains a pariah "prison planet".
Again, to learn this information, one had to be OTIII, which could set you back well over $200,000 USD. What a bargain. By the way, reading the Xenu storyline before you're properly ready (aka, brainwashed) will apparently kill you. So if your head literally exploded reading this, I'm sorry.
These various incidents make up the "space opera" of Scientology, what is effectively its mythic narrative. The Xenu story makes up Incident 2. Incident 1 involves a thetan, approximately four quadrillion years ago hearing a loud snapping noise before witnessing a cherub driving a chariot. This was apparently another traumatic event ingrained in our psyche.
The more one digs, the more one can see where Hubbard got his inspiration from. In Scientology you can find various elements of Hinduism, Buddhism, Gnosticism, Thelema, all wrapped up in hokey science fiction. But how did such a thing come to be, and why did anyone even give it the time of day? For that, we have to talk more about the founder, L. Ron Hubbard himself.
L. Ron Hubbard - Failed Occultist Turned Charlatan
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, born on March 13, 1911, in Tilden, Nebraska, and deceased on January 24, 1986, was an American author, explorer, and the sole founder of Scientology. Before establishing the religion, Hubbard was a prolific writer of pulp science fiction (who'd have guessed?) and adventure stories, publishing over 1000 works across genres. Believe it or not, but he actually has the Guinness Book of World Records for amount of works published by any one man.
This was during the depression era, where pulp writers were paid a penny a word, so you might imagine he had something of an incentive to churn out work. Credit where credit is due, some of his works were actually pretty well received.
In 1941, Hubbard would join the United States Navy. Hubbard would self-describe himself as a war hero, supposedly having sunk two Japanese subs, and was the captain of a ship that was downed in the Pacific, after which he spent weeks on a raft, blinded by the sun, with a broken back. The reality however, was far less glamorous. Just off the coast of Oregon he had opened fire on a log, dropped most of his depth charges on magnetic rock, and shelled a Mexican island, after which he was relieved of his command, suffering only mild arthritis and conjunctivitis. These sorts of lies were not uncommon for Hubbard. He also used to claim he was a "blood brother" of the Native American Blackfeet tribe, despite growing up over a hundred miles from their reservation, and also despite the Blackfeet not having a system of blood brotherhood. He also variously lied about being the youngest Eagle Scout in Boy Scout history, visiting Manchuria and being a graduate engineer and doctor.
After his discharge, Hubbard opted to remain in California, moving into the mansion estate of one John "Jack" Whiteside Parsons, a rocket propulsion scientist and follower of none other than Aleister Crowley, who, if you've been interested in the occult long enough, you probably need no introduction to.
Hubbard, having become sexually involved with Parsons’ girlfriend, one Sara "Betty" Northrup, collaborated with him on the "Babalon Working", a series of sex magic rituals of supposedly Thelemic origin intended to summon an earthly incarnation of the Supreme Goddess figure (Babalon) of Crowley's pantheon. The intent, you see, was to bring about the birth of the "moonchild", a supernaturally superior being mightier than all the world's kings (their words, not mine). Of course, the Scientologist religion of later would have no choice but to admit these rites did take place (obviously no moonchild was born), though they attempted to spin it as Hubbard taking part only to nobly rescue poor Betty.
From here, Hubbard went on to use and discard Parsons in a petty scheme (leaving him in financial dire straits) and soon thereafter going on to marry Betty. The issue one might find, with the above noble portrayal of our character Hubbard, lies in some of the alleged issues that took place between him and Betty. In her own words, she described how Hubbard struck her in the face with a .45, for the crime of smiling while she slept. His reasoning? She must have been thinking of someone else. She also alleged that he threatened to kill her if she left.
All these details matter. After all, how best to immediately judge a religion, if not by the ethics and virtues of its founder? Of which Hubbard seemingly had little to none.
During his time in California, Hubbard briefly worked as something of an amateur stage hypnotist—a fact which will be relevant momentarily. It was at this stage that Hubbard began first conceptualizing his book, Dianetics. At this stage, the religion of Scientology did not yet exist, but Hubbard was already announcing to the world that his great work could make men supermen. Smarter, with photographic memories and psychic abilities, cured of all mental and physical ailments.
This early Dianetics, was, for its part, mostly just a retelling of the standard psychoanalytic theory of the time, mixed in with some pseudoscience and Freudian nonsense. He was, as a matter of fact, already beginning the process of "auditing" to render people "Clear." Though it went down like a lead balloon in the scientific world, Dianetics was a smash hit in the general public, so much so five hundred auditing clinics opened across the US.
Needless to say, Hubbard's wings were clipped when attempting a stage show in Los Angeles. He presented a woman, supposedly "Clear", who in his words, possessed perfect mental recall. She then closed her eyes and promptly forgot what color necktie Hubbard was wearing. Much of the audience simply got up and left right then and there.
Hubbard's institutions after this point began to fall to wrack and ruin. The Dianetics craze had ended about as quickly as it had began, though was temporarily saved by a millionaire investor, who, in turn, was immediately swindled by Hubbard, his institutions and wealth left in a state of total bankruptcy. If you see a pattern emerging here, you would be correct.
No longer possessing the rights to Dianetics, Hubbard now claimed to have discovered something beyond it. Something that could not only render you clear, but a Godlike being, an "Operating Thetan". This was Scientology. No longer just a self-help book you could pick up, but a whole religion. The Church of Scientology was thus formally founded in Los Angeles in 1954, and the money began rolling in, just as Hubbard anticipated (tax exempt status certainly helped).
Once the Church had found its footing, Hubbard would begin doing what he seemingly did best—try to destroy his enemies by any means possible. Hubbard, and Scientology at large even to this day, is particularly fond of what one would refer to as "lawfare". In his own words:
His own son, a later escapee of the Church, would say that his father really only knew how to do one thing, and that was destroy people. It was through these means Hubbard regained intellectual property control of Dianetics, simply drowning his opponent in an endless deluge of lawsuits.
This was one of the many functions of the so-called Guardian's Office (GO) established in 1966, with it churning out up to 40 trivial lawsuits every single day. The GO's operations went so far even beyond this, in fact, that one particular venture (dubbed "Operation Snow White" internally) saw Scientologists infiltrate not only the IRS, but other governmental organizations, stealing tens of thousands of documents on all manners of things, though particularly information on celebrities, politicians and the like. Eleven members, including Hubbard's wife of the time, would be prosecuted, and Scientology began its further descent into public infamy. In 1967, Hubbard established a new group, the Sea Organization or "Sea Org" for short, the membership of which was drawn from the most absolutely committed members of the Scientology organization. And when I say committed, I mean committed. People who join Sea Org sign a Billion Year Contract, that they would serve the institution across indefinite reincarnations.
Now sailing the world in his private navy, Hubbard would begin work on the infamous and aforementioned OTIII—the end result of him mixing alcohol, stimulants and depressants (as if one couldn't tell already).
Sea Org rarely stayed in one place, sailing from port to port, with the paranoid Hubbard claiming he was being pursued by "enemies" and that were he to be captured, global nuclear holocaust would imminently follow.
Needless to say, those within Scientology were given a very glamorized look at what life in the Sea Org would be. Going on a great odyssey with the man himself, side by side with "elite" Scientologists on a prestigious vessel, told they would find the great secret of their eternal destiny? How could they not sign that Billion Year Contract? Of course, the reality within Sea Org was (and still is) far less positive.
Most of the crew had no real naval experience. Blunders and disasters were commonplace. After one particular incident during a storm, one of the Sea Org vessels had its crew effectively demoted to lower life form status, made to wear grey rags, eat out of buckets, work to the point of physical collapse, be given no change of clothes, and even be confined in the ship's bilge tanks for long periods, without any toilet to use. Some members were even tossed overboard while Hubbard watched and filmed them struggle.
Naturally, life for Hubbard himself upon his lead vessel was different. From 1970 onwards, as part of the Commodore's Messenger Organization (CMO), Hubbard would be waited on by the children of Sea Org members. These were young girls, scantily clad in hot pants and bathing suits, who dressed him and lit his cigarettes. As he indulged himself in his perverse desires, Hubbard and the Sea Org continued to sail from nation to nation, looking for anywhere that would take them in long term. He tried Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), he tried Greece, and he tried Morocco (with him attempting to offer them a deal where he would help train their secret police to detect infiltrators, but this ultimately failed).
Around this time, France would prosecute Hubbard with various customs violations and fraud. Risking having to face the music, Hubbard would depart his own organization and live incognito in Queens, now back in America. Hubbard would, in some ways, suffer for his various sins during this time. Hardly the image of a glorious cult leader with supernatural abilities, Hubbard was an overweight chain smoker with a massive growth on his forehead. Only when the threat of extradition to France passed, did Hubbard return to his flagship vessel. And he did so with something of a vengeance.
In 1974, Hubbard established the Rehabilitation Project Force, which existed purely for the purpose of punishing Sea Org members that displeased him (something that will be touched upon further later in the article). Around this time, Hubbard's son Quentin would make an attempt on his own life. All the while, Hubbard would heavily invest himself in the operations of the GO taskforce, litigating basically anyone and everything he took umbrage with. He would continue to do so, until suffering a heart attack in 1974, relocating back to land in the United States.
As had been the pattern for several years, Hubbard would play cat and mouse with authorities, moving cross country and living in various safe spaces. In 1976, Quentin Hubbard would be found in a car in Los Angeles, unconscious, with a hose connected to the tailpipe. He would pass away two weeks later, never having regained consciousness. Hubbard's reaction was, if you've come to understand the nature of his character by now, should not surprise.
The next year, the FBI would conduct a larger raid into GO offices, collecting all manners of wiretaps, burglary equipment, and incriminating documents galore. Hubbard fled again, this time to Nevada, temporarily falling into a coma from a pulmonary embolism along the way, though recovering soon thereafter.
The next year, in 1979, Hubbard would see his wife for the final time, in the midst of the fallout from Operation Freakout, another one of the GO's brainchildren. Scientology's "fair game" policy was in full swing by this time, which authorized practically any action against enemies of the church, with the justification being that the church existed to supposedly save the world, and thus there was no cost or human toll too great. In this particular instance, Operation Freakout aimed to silence a specific journalist by having them imprisoned, committed to a psychiatric institution, or otherwise discredited so severely they would cease their investigations and writings. It should be noted these tactics were hardly exclusive to this Operation, and were employed broadly against basically anyone deemed an "SP" or "suppressive person" by the church. In this one singular example, Scientology operatives, under the direction of the Guardian's Office, stole stationery from the apartment of one such “suppressive person”, proceeding then to implicate their victim in sending bomb threats to various high-profile individuals.
Hubbard maintained a low profile for several years, in his attempt to avoid prosecution for the Guardian Office's various acts of harassment and espionage. During this time, he would pen both Battlefield Earth (which, as stated, would go on to get a fittingly horrendous film adaptation) and Mission Earth, a dekalogy (a series of ten books) containing 1.2 million words. It had, supposedly, topped numerous best-seller lists, though it was obvious to most that the church itself was simply buying copies in bulk to pump its numbers, and one of the only public figures to speak positively about it was now disgraced Jewish author Neil Gaiman (author of American Gods, Coraline and Stardust). No guesswork needed, but Gaiman was a Scientologist himself, and like many Scientologists, is an alleged sex pest of the highest degree. More on such things later.
Though these were works of fiction on the part of the author, the undercurrent of Scientologist thought and belief was still present in them. To take an excerpt of the plot synopsis of “Mission Earth” from Wikipedia (as nobody in their right mind should read 1.2 million words of this dreck):
Thrilling stuff. As one can see, the central alien invasion plotline, the loathing hatred of gay people and the slander cast at psychiatry are all typical mainstays of Scientology, and it should be noted that everything Hubbard ever said or wrote is considered gospel by Scientologists.
Speaking of gospel, one peculiar oddity of Hubbard remained his fascination in Crowley, which hadn't dimmed all that much even this late into his life. Even the Scientology eight-pointed cross itself is often considered to have been inspired by Thelema's own Cross of the Rose. Hubbard once stated that "My mission could be said to fulfill the Biblical promise represented by this brief anti-Christ period," and this awfully high opinion of himself was corroborated later by his son Nibs, who indeed confirmed that Hubbard considered himself the Anti-Christ.
Despite these lofty presumptions, in 1985 Hubbard would confide in close friend Steve "Sarge" Pfauth that he had "failed" all his work and everything and was "dropping his body" and "leaving". Cutting to the chase, he asked his friend to build a custom e-meter, one he would hook himself up to which would electrocute and kill him, in order to rid him of the "body thetan" that was the source of all his woes.
Pfauth did not go ahead with the Scientologist suicide machine, instead building one that would simply scare Hubbard instead of killing him. Ultimately, it blew up, and Hubbard was still alive.
Only for him to die three weeks later from an unrelated stroke. In the mind of Scientologists however, Hubbard had valiantly left his body to float about in the stars, his work here on earth having reached its limit. The Church's oft malevolent work however, would still continue.
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A.H. - After Hubbard
It would be none other than the man who first broke the news that Hubbard had "discarded" his body that would rise to the new head of the church. Enter David Miscavige. Miscavige grew up in a Catholic family of Polish-Italian descent, and became involved in Scientology after his father sought help for David's childhood asthma and allergies, which were allegedly alleviated through a 45-minute Dianetics session.
The family joined the Church in 1971 and relocated to Saint Hill Manor in England, Scientology's international headquarters at the time. There, young Miscavige trained as an auditor, becoming the youngest professional auditor at age 12. In typical storied fashion of a would-be religious leader, it's now considered that Miscavige was something of a Scientologist prodigy.
Miscavige dropped out of high school at 16 in 1976 to join the Sea Organization (Sea Org), Scientology's elite, quasi-military management group, with his father's permission. He started with menial tasks but quickly rose through the ranks, joining the Commodore's Messenger Organization, and later becoming a key asset when it came time for Scientology's various internal purgings.
In 1981, Miscavige played a pivotal role in dismantling the Guardian's Office (something done, of course, in an effort to cover Scientology's tracks after Operation Snow White, Freakout and others). He allegedly forced Hubbard's wife, Mary Sue, to resign amid scandals. The following year, Miscavige established the Religious Technology Center (RTC) to oversee Hubbard's intellectual property, appointing himself as Chairman of the Board—a position he holds today. Critics, including ex-members, argue Miscavige orchestrated a coup, sidelining potential successors like Pat and Annie Broeker, whom Hubbard had reportedly favored.
Much of what is commonly known of regarding Scientology and its various controversies today do not actually stem from Hubbard's era of the church. In 1993, Miscavige negotiated a landmark settlement with the IRS, granting Scientology tax-exempt religious status in the U.S., and during the early 2000s, Scientology went about its largest and most aggressive real estate expansions, building lavish centers all over the globe. Narconon, Applied Scholastics, Citizens Commission on Human Rights (the most staunch anti-psychiatry wing of Scientology, which is saying something given that psychiatrists are already considered the incarnation of evil in the church), were all Miscavige's efforts.
One thing that certainly didn't change in the Miscavige years was Scientology's intimate familiarity with controversy. Everything listed thus far continued, and in most cases, worsened. The harassment of anyone speaking ill of the church, or anyone deemed a Suppressive Person period. The criminal behavior with regards to government. The deplorable atrocities happening in the Sea Org under the cover of dubious international waters law, going as far as alleged child trafficking, or at the very least forced child labor.
Scientology's internal managing had also grown increasingly aggressive. Family members were now expected to fully detach (as per the doctrine of "disconnection") from anyone not actively part of the church. Given how severe these methods of isolation had become, it was inevitable that one day, genuine tragedy would strike.
Lisa McPherson, a 36-year-old American Scientologist, died on December 5, 1995, in Clearwater, Florida, under circumstances that sparked intense scrutiny and legal battles with the Church of Scientology. Her case became one of the most prominent controversies surrounding the organization. McPherson was deeply involved in Scientology, undergoing various auditing processes and achieving the state of "Clear" in September 1995. However, earlier that year, in June, she had experienced what church officials described as mental instability, leading to an "Introspection Rundown"—a Scientology procedure involving isolation and minimal communication to address psychotic episodes.
On November 18, 1995, McPherson was involved in a minor car accident in Clearwater. Though physically unharmed, she exhibited erratic behavior, removing her clothes in public and stating she needed help. Paramedics took her to a local hospital for evaluation, where doctors found no injuries but recommended psychiatric observation. McPherson, adhering to Scientology's aversion to psychiatry (which the church views as abusive), refused such care. Fellow Scientologists arrived and persuaded her to leave against medical advice, signing her out and transporting her to the Fort Harrison Hotel, the flagship facility of the Church of Scientology's Flag Service Organization (FSO).
At the hotel, McPherson was placed in a cabana for what church logs described as "rest and relaxation," but evidence later suggested it was another Introspection Rundown. Over the next 17 days, she was monitored around the clock by church staff without professional medical intervention. Care logs detailed her rapid deterioration: she became incoherent, violent toward herself and others, refused food and liquids, developed bruises from striking walls, and showed signs of severe illness, including spots resembling measles or insect bites. Staff administered natural supplements, aspirin, and sedatives like chloral hydrate, but her condition worsened—she grew weak, immobile, and eventually bedridden.
On December 5, after McPherson began gasping for air, staff contacted Scientologist physician David Minkoff, who had previously prescribed medications without seeing her. Concerned about potential psychiatric involvement at a nearby hospital, they drove her 45 minutes to Minkoff's facility, passing four closer hospitals. She arrived without vital signs and was pronounced dead.
Church officials initially informed her family that she had died from meningitis or a blood clot while resting.
The autopsy initially ruled the cause of death as a thromboembolism (blood clot) in the left pulmonary artery, stemming from bed rest and severe dehydration. The manner was listed as "undetermined," with notes of bruises, abrasions, and evidence of neglect, including cockroach bites. McPherson's decline was listed as a "slow death" from lack of fluids over 5–10 days.
The case fueled allegations of a cover-up: church staff destroyed original care logs for the final days, and former high-ranking officials like Mike Rinder claimed direct involvement by leader David Miscavige in managing the situation. The church defended the Introspection Rundown as a religious practice protected by the First Amendment and denied any wrongdoing.
If you thought any lesson would have been learned here, you would be wrong. Though Scientology had always operated in perverse ways, under Miscavige, its persona had only grown darker. Perhaps nothing personified this more than "The Hole."
A small building at the California Scientology based served as a prison for more than 30 of the highest-ranking officers in the Sea Org. They were only permitted to leave once a day, and slept on the floor. Miscavige would host abrupt meetings, even at 4am in the morning, keeping everyone in a perpetual state of confusion. He would badger them for ideas, only to throw them back in the face of the person suggesting them, labeling them Suppressive Persons who put the church at risk. They weren't going to be leaving until they "got it right", and were encouraged to invent fictitious crimes against the other inmates of The Hole.
This was not even the worst of it. Miscavige himself reportedly beat his fellow Scientologists. He would push them against walls, choke them, hit them in the head, push them to the ground and kick them. Though I would not make light of such things, I must comment on the sheer absurdity of this. Imagine for a second, you were Catholic, and the Pope came in and started kicking you in the head. This is what was effectively happening.
Of course, the beatings were only the half of it. One person it was said, was accused of being a lesbian, was sat in a bucket and then was kicked repeatedly by a group of women. Another apparently had water poured on their head and was sat underneath an air conditioner on full force until they turned blue.
As if this insanity wasn't enough, it was reported that one day, Miscavige arrived at The Hole with a boombox, playing Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. He told them they would play musical chairs. Whoever won, would get to stay, and the losers would be sent off to Scientology's most remote, far flung frontiers and cast out of the Sea Org. This included husbands and wives, who would be separated by thousands of miles. Enacting control over persons through separation from their families was ubiquitous in the Church of Scientology, so the participants took to this ridiculous exercise with full seriousness. Once the game of musical chairs had concluded, Miscavige was alleged to have decided to keep them all in the Sea Org “out the goodness of his heart”—fully expecting them to collaborate, cooperate and confess like never before.
Perhaps the worst part was, one ex-Scientologist themselves explained that, even if the FBI was to turn up and pay witness to this literal prison camp, everyone there would smile, wave and say that they were there voluntarily. That they were fighting to remain in The Hole. One particular individual remained in it for seven years.
There should be no surprise to anyone who has read this far, that this is barely scraping the tip of the iceberg, and Scientology has made a million and one attempts to try and prevent the general public from learning of its evils, with the church even lobbying Google to take down links that would direct users to exposure content. Needless to say, this sort of unchecked madness would eventually lead to an opposing reaction, and the 2008 Project Chanology protests, beginning on 4chan, would be one of the church's most public battles yet. This time, it was the church itself, hit by DDoS attacks, black faxes, prank calls and organized harassment. It was something of a taste of their own medicine.
Nevertheless, even with the sheer avalanche of negative press, the church has tried its best to keep its finger on the pulse of popular culture. If Scientology was notable for anything, perhaps it would be the frankly baffling amount of celebrity Scientologists. The lure of paying thousands to have invisible aliens pulled out of your body is seemingly too irresistible, it seems.
As mentioned, there is of course Tom Cruise, Scientology's golden boy. Miscavige had personally awarded him with Scientology's highest honor, and no expense was spared in making sure every whim of his was met. On the flipside, Miscavige also had untold hours of Cruise's Auditing sessions, and would regale his closest allies with tales of supposed sexual perversions. One hand doles out luxuries, but the other hand maintains a firm grip on what it must to destroy whoever steps out of line.
Speaking of sexual perversions, one can weigh and measure the morality of the Church by how it handles the scandals of its members. One such instance, that of Danny Masterson of That 70s Show fame, involved a great number of atrocities all occurring within the church itself. Danny Masterson was convicted of multiple counts of rape in 2023, and prior to this result, the church had discouraged these women from approaching the police, and even launched harassment campaigns against them once it became apparent they were going to seek justice. In this case alone, there were allegations of stalking, property damage and pet poisoning. The church would seek out and defend just about anyone so long as they could bring in celebrity attention and money.
Even Charles Manson studied Scientology while incarcerated in 1961. After his release in 1967, Manson reportedly completed 150 hours of Auditing, though it's popularly claimed that he would later decry the religion as "too crazy." Too crazy for Charles Manson is probably not what you would like to headline your religion with.
One particularly curious affiliation, on the topic of incarcerations, is Scientology's relations with the Nation of Islam. Starting 2009, thousands of members of the NOI received Dianetics training and Auditing sessions. This may strike most people as especially strange, but much of the NOI's insanity aligns surprisingly easily with Scientologist doctrine. The genetic scientist Yakub, the belief in a great Mother Ship hovering above the earth, and even aspects of their cosmogony (with the universe being an oddly specific 76 trillion years old, and a renegade figure who once blew up the world, just for some examples).
The fervent anti-white racism of the NOI, of course, did not really seem to bother the upper echelons of the Scientologist hierarchy. At the end of the day, this is really only further proof that the so-called "religion" of Scientology is more of a business than a church.
Perhaps this is why Scientology is somewhat unconcerned with their dropping numbers. Membership ultimately had become something of an increasing irrelevance, what with the fact that the church owns over 300 million dollars worth of property in Hollywood alone, and this is not counting their significant global real estate portfolio. Many of these buildings remain empty.
This isn't to say that Scientology has ceased recruiting. As was stated at the beginning of this article, Scientology remains something of a more subtle plague, rather than the bombastic movement it was during the latter 20th century and early 2000s. Given the sheer degree of bad press that exists for Scientology, it's obvious why entities like Narconon don't make their Scientologist leanings immediately apparent.
Scientology's relevancy as a religious movement appears set to continue its steady decline in cultural relevancy and membership, but given its infrastructural power, and its attempt at worming its way into the mental and physical health sectors, full awareness of the church, its deplorable founder, membership and litany of sins should always be maintained.
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Sources
Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief - Alfred A. Knopf
The Truth Rundown, Parts 1, 2 and 3 - Thomas C. Tobin and Joe Childs, St Petersburg Times
The Mind Behind the Religion : Life With L. Ron Hubbard - Joel Sappell and Robert W. Welkos, Los Angeles Times
A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed - Jon Atak
Renunciation and Reformulation: Study of Conversion in an American Sect - Harriet Whitehead
Scientology: An in-depth profile of a new force in Clearwater - Charles Stafford
Bare-faced Messiah : The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard - Russell Miller
Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me - Ron Miscavige with Dan Koon
Lawsuits against the Church of Scientology are piling up, alleging a vast network of human trafficking, child abuse, and forced labor - Michelle Mark, Insider Inc
Danny Masterson sentenced to 30 years to life for two rapes - Regan Morris in Los Angeles and Max Matza, BBC News
Neil Gaiman faces more sexual assault allegations - Paul Glynn, BBC News
‘My mind had been shattered into a million pieces’: inside the Scientology-linked UK rehab centre - Shanti Das, The Guardian
Scientology-linked UK drug rehab left vulnerable people ‘traumatised’ - Shanti Das, The Guardian
Anonymous names 10 February as its day of action against Scientology - Robert Vamosi, CNET News
Scientology's Hollywood Real Estate Empire - Daniel Miller, Hollywood Times
When people hear the word "Scientology" they will typically think of one of several things. Tom Cruise, Hollywood, or that terrible Battlefield Earth movie that bombed at the cinemas back in mid 2000. These are all things that are fairly far removed from the average person, and it's really quite expected that most anyone will assume Scientology is simply something for rich Hollyweird types.
Though the so-called "Church" of Scientology has lost a great deal of its power and relevancy in the last decade, the fading knowledge of this predatory institution has had a regrettable side effect, insomuch that many normal, everyday people have been pulled into one of its many sub-organizations at their most vulnerable.
Just last year, a report was filed by the Guardian which detailed the horrendous track record of an NHS (National Health Service) registered rehabilitation clinic in East Sussex known as Narconon, which offered a supposedly holistic approach to freeing people from drug addiction. This was, for its part, an institution which did not particularly advertise itself as "Scientologist", and yet, it was majority funded by the International Association of Scientologists, all its senior staff were Scientologists, and many of its (outright bizarre if not harmful) practices were all taken from the work of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.
Needless to say, a rather disturbing number of people have died at these centres. Others have been left traumatized or irreparably scarred, one victim even saying that their "mind had been shattered into a million pieces". Patients would be given overdose levels of Niacin, sit in dry saunas for hours, and partake in bizarre training exercises where they would be told to yell at inanimate objects in order to get them to move. And these were just the things that were in line with the intended program.
It goes without saying that many of the people who had attended Narconon clinics were not Scientologists. Scientology has made a point to cloak itself behind a number of vaguely named secondary organizations. Criminon. Applied Scholastics. The Way to Happiness Foundation. Association for Better Living and Education. You'll see a common denominator here. Many of these groups are intentionally aimed at the vulnerable. Ex-criminals. Drug addicts. People seeking higher education or even simply happiness.
These are, sadly, not just issues affecting eccentric American celebrities, but real everyday people all around the world. It's for that reason I decided to even write this article in the first place. To fully understand the idiocy and depravity of this "religion" however, one has to start at the start.
So, what is Scientology anyway?
Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices founded by American author L. Ron Hubbard in the early 1950s, evolving from his earlier self-help system called Dianetics, which will be tackled later. Officially described by the Church of Scientology as a religion that provides a "precise path leading to a complete and certain understanding of one's true spiritual nature," it emphasizes spiritual enlightenment through structured processes aimed at overcoming mental and emotional barriers. As you'll soon learn, this is a very flattering way to put what will be some of the stupidest nonsense you've ever heard.
Starting with the basics, however, at its core, Scientology teaches that humans are immortal spiritual beings known as "thetans," who have existed through countless reincarnations but have forgotten their true divine nature due to traumatic experiences accumulated over lifetimes. These traumas, called "engrams," are subconscious recordings in the "reactive mind" that cause irrational behavior, mental illness, and physical ailments. The religion's primary practice is "auditing," a counseling-like process where participants use an "E-meter" (a device resembling a lie detector) to identify and eliminate engrams through guided questioning by an auditor. Auditing sessions are fee-based, often costing thousands of dollars, and progress is measured along a hierarchical "Bridge to Total Freedom," where adherents advance through levels by paying for courses and services. Simple enough, until it isn't.
Scientologists believe that clearing engrams leads to a state called "Clear," where individuals regain full control over their analytical minds and achieve heightened abilities. Beyond this, advanced "Operating Thetan" (OT) levels—kept secret from lower-level members—reveal esoteric teachings, including the infamous "Xenu" narrative. This is where all sense and logic will now be departing.
According to leaked OTIII documents, 75 million years ago, Xenu (as seen above, and also known as Xemu, as Hubbard seemingly couldn't make up his mind), the dictator of a Galactic Confederacy comprising 76 planets, solved an overpopulation crisis by transporting billions (having been gathered under the pretense of tax file inspections) of beings to Earth (then called Teegeeack, and yes I'm being serious), stacking them around volcanoes, and detonating hydrogen bombs inside the volcanoes, blowing them all up at once (save for a small handful, somehow).
The disembodied victims' souls, which, as you've seen, are called thetans, were blown into the air by the blast. They were then captured by Xenu's forces using an "electronic ribbon" (whatever the hell that is) and sucked up by vacuums, after which the then hundreds of billions of thetans taken to super-colossal movie cinemas (located in Hawaii and the Canary Islands, apparently) to watch a 3D film for thirty six days straight. Why? Don't ask, I don't think even Hubbard himself knew.
The film was filled with what Hubbard termed "misleading data", which was implanted into the "hapless thetans" (known in Scientology as the R6 implant). This information included all the world religions, everything to do with "God", "the Devil", and "etcetera" (Hubbbard's words, not mine).
In addition to implanting these new beliefs into the thetans, all the misleading data caused them to lose their sense of personal identity, so they began clustering together in groups of thousands, funneling themselves into the survivors of the bomb-volcanoes, becoming what's known as body thetans. It's these body thetans which cause all the spiritual and physical health issues humanity suffers today. Unless you're a Scientologist, of course.
A government faction known as the Loyal Officers overthrew Xenu and locked him in an "electric jail" somewhere in the Pyrenees (apparently we still haven't found him). "Teegeeack" was then abandoned by the Galactic Confederacy and remains a pariah "prison planet".
Again, to learn this information, one had to be OTIII, which could set you back well over $200,000 USD. What a bargain. By the way, reading the Xenu storyline before you're properly ready (aka, brainwashed) will apparently kill you. So if your head literally exploded reading this, I'm sorry.
These various incidents make up the "space opera" of Scientology, what is effectively its mythic narrative. The Xenu story makes up Incident 2. Incident 1 involves a thetan, approximately four quadrillion years ago hearing a loud snapping noise before witnessing a cherub driving a chariot. This was apparently another traumatic event ingrained in our psyche.
The more one digs, the more one can see where Hubbard got his inspiration from. In Scientology you can find various elements of Hinduism, Buddhism, Gnosticism, Thelema, all wrapped up in hokey science fiction. But how did such a thing come to be, and why did anyone even give it the time of day? For that, we have to talk more about the founder, L. Ron Hubbard himself.
L. Ron Hubbard - Failed Occultist Turned Charlatan
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, born on March 13, 1911, in Tilden, Nebraska, and deceased on January 24, 1986, was an American author, explorer, and the sole founder of Scientology. Before establishing the religion, Hubbard was a prolific writer of pulp science fiction (who'd have guessed?) and adventure stories, publishing over 1000 works across genres. Believe it or not, but he actually has the Guinness Book of World Records for amount of works published by any one man.
This was during the depression era, where pulp writers were paid a penny a word, so you might imagine he had something of an incentive to churn out work. Credit where credit is due, some of his works were actually pretty well received.
In 1941, Hubbard would join the United States Navy. Hubbard would self-describe himself as a war hero, supposedly having sunk two Japanese subs, and was the captain of a ship that was downed in the Pacific, after which he spent weeks on a raft, blinded by the sun, with a broken back. The reality however, was far less glamorous. Just off the coast of Oregon he had opened fire on a log, dropped most of his depth charges on magnetic rock, and shelled a Mexican island, after which he was relieved of his command, suffering only mild arthritis and conjunctivitis. These sorts of lies were not uncommon for Hubbard. He also used to claim he was a "blood brother" of the Native American Blackfeet tribe, despite growing up over a hundred miles from their reservation, and also despite the Blackfeet not having a system of blood brotherhood. He also variously lied about being the youngest Eagle Scout in Boy Scout history, visiting Manchuria and being a graduate engineer and doctor.
After his discharge, Hubbard opted to remain in California, moving into the mansion estate of one John "Jack" Whiteside Parsons, a rocket propulsion scientist and follower of none other than Aleister Crowley, who, if you've been interested in the occult long enough, you probably need no introduction to.
Hubbard, having become sexually involved with Parsons’ girlfriend, one Sara "Betty" Northrup, collaborated with him on the "Babalon Working", a series of sex magic rituals of supposedly Thelemic origin intended to summon an earthly incarnation of the Supreme Goddess figure (Babalon) of Crowley's pantheon. The intent, you see, was to bring about the birth of the "moonchild", a supernaturally superior being mightier than all the world's kings (their words, not mine). Of course, the Scientologist religion of later would have no choice but to admit these rites did take place (obviously no moonchild was born), though they attempted to spin it as Hubbard taking part only to nobly rescue poor Betty.
From here, Hubbard went on to use and discard Parsons in a petty scheme (leaving him in financial dire straits) and soon thereafter going on to marry Betty. The issue one might find, with the above noble portrayal of our character Hubbard, lies in some of the alleged issues that took place between him and Betty. In her own words, she described how Hubbard struck her in the face with a .45, for the crime of smiling while she slept. His reasoning? She must have been thinking of someone else. She also alleged that he threatened to kill her if she left.
All these details matter. After all, how best to immediately judge a religion, if not by the ethics and virtues of its founder? Of which Hubbard seemingly had little to none.
During his time in California, Hubbard briefly worked as something of an amateur stage hypnotist—a fact which will be relevant momentarily. It was at this stage that Hubbard began first conceptualizing his book, Dianetics. At this stage, the religion of Scientology did not yet exist, but Hubbard was already announcing to the world that his great work could make men supermen. Smarter, with photographic memories and psychic abilities, cured of all mental and physical ailments.
This early Dianetics, was, for its part, mostly just a retelling of the standard psychoanalytic theory of the time, mixed in with some pseudoscience and Freudian nonsense. He was, as a matter of fact, already beginning the process of "auditing" to render people "Clear." Though it went down like a lead balloon in the scientific world, Dianetics was a smash hit in the general public, so much so five hundred auditing clinics opened across the US.
Needless to say, Hubbard's wings were clipped when attempting a stage show in Los Angeles. He presented a woman, supposedly "Clear", who in his words, possessed perfect mental recall. She then closed her eyes and promptly forgot what color necktie Hubbard was wearing. Much of the audience simply got up and left right then and there.
Hubbard's institutions after this point began to fall to wrack and ruin. The Dianetics craze had ended about as quickly as it had began, though was temporarily saved by a millionaire investor, who, in turn, was immediately swindled by Hubbard, his institutions and wealth left in a state of total bankruptcy. If you see a pattern emerging here, you would be correct.
No longer possessing the rights to Dianetics, Hubbard now claimed to have discovered something beyond it. Something that could not only render you clear, but a Godlike being, an "Operating Thetan". This was Scientology. No longer just a self-help book you could pick up, but a whole religion. The Church of Scientology was thus formally founded in Los Angeles in 1954, and the money began rolling in, just as Hubbard anticipated (tax exempt status certainly helped).
Once the Church had found its footing, Hubbard would begin doing what he seemingly did best—try to destroy his enemies by any means possible. Hubbard, and Scientology at large even to this day, is particularly fond of what one would refer to as "lawfare". In his own words:
His own son, a later escapee of the Church, would say that his father really only knew how to do one thing, and that was destroy people. It was through these means Hubbard regained intellectual property control of Dianetics, simply drowning his opponent in an endless deluge of lawsuits.
This was one of the many functions of the so-called Guardian's Office (GO) established in 1966, with it churning out up to 40 trivial lawsuits every single day. The GO's operations went so far even beyond this, in fact, that one particular venture (dubbed "Operation Snow White" internally) saw Scientologists infiltrate not only the IRS, but other governmental organizations, stealing tens of thousands of documents on all manners of things, though particularly information on celebrities, politicians and the like. Eleven members, including Hubbard's wife of the time, would be prosecuted, and Scientology began its further descent into public infamy. In 1967, Hubbard established a new group, the Sea Organization or "Sea Org" for short, the membership of which was drawn from the most absolutely committed members of the Scientology organization. And when I say committed, I mean committed. People who join Sea Org sign a Billion Year Contract, that they would serve the institution across indefinite reincarnations.
Now sailing the world in his private navy, Hubbard would begin work on the infamous and aforementioned OTIII—the end result of him mixing alcohol, stimulants and depressants (as if one couldn't tell already).
Sea Org rarely stayed in one place, sailing from port to port, with the paranoid Hubbard claiming he was being pursued by "enemies" and that were he to be captured, global nuclear holocaust would imminently follow.
Needless to say, those within Scientology were given a very glamorized look at what life in the Sea Org would be. Going on a great odyssey with the man himself, side by side with "elite" Scientologists on a prestigious vessel, told they would find the great secret of their eternal destiny? How could they not sign that Billion Year Contract? Of course, the reality within Sea Org was (and still is) far less positive.
Most of the crew had no real naval experience. Blunders and disasters were commonplace. After one particular incident during a storm, one of the Sea Org vessels had its crew effectively demoted to lower life form status, made to wear grey rags, eat out of buckets, work to the point of physical collapse, be given no change of clothes, and even be confined in the ship's bilge tanks for long periods, without any toilet to use. Some members were even tossed overboard while Hubbard watched and filmed them struggle.
Naturally, life for Hubbard himself upon his lead vessel was different. From 1970 onwards, as part of the Commodore's Messenger Organization (CMO), Hubbard would be waited on by the children of Sea Org members. These were young girls, scantily clad in hot pants and bathing suits, who dressed him and lit his cigarettes. As he indulged himself in his perverse desires, Hubbard and the Sea Org continued to sail from nation to nation, looking for anywhere that would take them in long term. He tried Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), he tried Greece, and he tried Morocco (with him attempting to offer them a deal where he would help train their secret police to detect infiltrators, but this ultimately failed).
Around this time, France would prosecute Hubbard with various customs violations and fraud. Risking having to face the music, Hubbard would depart his own organization and live incognito in Queens, now back in America. Hubbard would, in some ways, suffer for his various sins during this time. Hardly the image of a glorious cult leader with supernatural abilities, Hubbard was an overweight chain smoker with a massive growth on his forehead. Only when the threat of extradition to France passed, did Hubbard return to his flagship vessel. And he did so with something of a vengeance.
In 1974, Hubbard established the Rehabilitation Project Force, which existed purely for the purpose of punishing Sea Org members that displeased him (something that will be touched upon further later in the article). Around this time, Hubbard's son Quentin would make an attempt on his own life. All the while, Hubbard would heavily invest himself in the operations of the GO taskforce, litigating basically anyone and everything he took umbrage with. He would continue to do so, until suffering a heart attack in 1974, relocating back to land in the United States.
As had been the pattern for several years, Hubbard would play cat and mouse with authorities, moving cross country and living in various safe spaces. In 1976, Quentin Hubbard would be found in a car in Los Angeles, unconscious, with a hose connected to the tailpipe. He would pass away two weeks later, never having regained consciousness. Hubbard's reaction was, if you've come to understand the nature of his character by now, should not surprise.
The next year, the FBI would conduct a larger raid into GO offices, collecting all manners of wiretaps, burglary equipment, and incriminating documents galore. Hubbard fled again, this time to Nevada, temporarily falling into a coma from a pulmonary embolism along the way, though recovering soon thereafter.
The next year, in 1979, Hubbard would see his wife for the final time, in the midst of the fallout from Operation Freakout, another one of the GO's brainchildren. Scientology's "fair game" policy was in full swing by this time, which authorized practically any action against enemies of the church, with the justification being that the church existed to supposedly save the world, and thus there was no cost or human toll too great. In this particular instance, Operation Freakout aimed to silence a specific journalist by having them imprisoned, committed to a psychiatric institution, or otherwise discredited so severely they would cease their investigations and writings. It should be noted these tactics were hardly exclusive to this Operation, and were employed broadly against basically anyone deemed an "SP" or "suppressive person" by the church. In this one singular example, Scientology operatives, under the direction of the Guardian's Office, stole stationery from the apartment of one such “suppressive person”, proceeding then to implicate their victim in sending bomb threats to various high-profile individuals.
Hubbard maintained a low profile for several years, in his attempt to avoid prosecution for the Guardian Office's various acts of harassment and espionage. During this time, he would pen both Battlefield Earth (which, as stated, would go on to get a fittingly horrendous film adaptation) and Mission Earth, a dekalogy (a series of ten books) containing 1.2 million words. It had, supposedly, topped numerous best-seller lists, though it was obvious to most that the church itself was simply buying copies in bulk to pump its numbers, and one of the only public figures to speak positively about it was now disgraced Jewish author Neil Gaiman (author of American Gods, Coraline and Stardust). No guesswork needed, but Gaiman was a Scientologist himself, and like many Scientologists, is an alleged sex pest of the highest degree. More on such things later.
Though these were works of fiction on the part of the author, the undercurrent of Scientologist thought and belief was still present in them. To take an excerpt of the plot synopsis of “Mission Earth” from Wikipedia (as nobody in their right mind should read 1.2 million words of this dreck):
Thrilling stuff. As one can see, the central alien invasion plotline, the loathing hatred of gay people and the slander cast at psychiatry are all typical mainstays of Scientology, and it should be noted that everything Hubbard ever said or wrote is considered gospel by Scientologists.
Speaking of gospel, one peculiar oddity of Hubbard remained his fascination in Crowley, which hadn't dimmed all that much even this late into his life. Even the Scientology eight-pointed cross itself is often considered to have been inspired by Thelema's own Cross of the Rose. Hubbard once stated that "My mission could be said to fulfill the Biblical promise represented by this brief anti-Christ period," and this awfully high opinion of himself was corroborated later by his son Nibs, who indeed confirmed that Hubbard considered himself the Anti-Christ.
Despite these lofty presumptions, in 1985 Hubbard would confide in close friend Steve "Sarge" Pfauth that he had "failed" all his work and everything and was "dropping his body" and "leaving". Cutting to the chase, he asked his friend to build a custom e-meter, one he would hook himself up to which would electrocute and kill him, in order to rid him of the "body thetan" that was the source of all his woes.
Pfauth did not go ahead with the Scientologist suicide machine, instead building one that would simply scare Hubbard instead of killing him. Ultimately, it blew up, and Hubbard was still alive.
Only for him to die three weeks later from an unrelated stroke. In the mind of Scientologists however, Hubbard had valiantly left his body to float about in the stars, his work here on earth having reached its limit. The Church's oft malevolent work however, would still continue.
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A.H. - After Hubbard
It would be none other than the man who first broke the news that Hubbard had "discarded" his body that would rise to the new head of the church. Enter David Miscavige. Miscavige grew up in a Catholic family of Polish-Italian descent, and became involved in Scientology after his father sought help for David's childhood asthma and allergies, which were allegedly alleviated through a 45-minute Dianetics session.
The family joined the Church in 1971 and relocated to Saint Hill Manor in England, Scientology's international headquarters at the time. There, young Miscavige trained as an auditor, becoming the youngest professional auditor at age 12. In typical storied fashion of a would-be religious leader, it's now considered that Miscavige was something of a Scientologist prodigy.
Miscavige dropped out of high school at 16 in 1976 to join the Sea Organization (Sea Org), Scientology's elite, quasi-military management group, with his father's permission. He started with menial tasks but quickly rose through the ranks, joining the Commodore's Messenger Organization, and later becoming a key asset when it came time for Scientology's various internal purgings.
In 1981, Miscavige played a pivotal role in dismantling the Guardian's Office (something done, of course, in an effort to cover Scientology's tracks after Operation Snow White, Freakout and others). He allegedly forced Hubbard's wife, Mary Sue, to resign amid scandals. The following year, Miscavige established the Religious Technology Center (RTC) to oversee Hubbard's intellectual property, appointing himself as Chairman of the Board—a position he holds today. Critics, including ex-members, argue Miscavige orchestrated a coup, sidelining potential successors like Pat and Annie Broeker, whom Hubbard had reportedly favored.
Much of what is commonly known of regarding Scientology and its various controversies today do not actually stem from Hubbard's era of the church. In 1993, Miscavige negotiated a landmark settlement with the IRS, granting Scientology tax-exempt religious status in the U.S., and during the early 2000s, Scientology went about its largest and most aggressive real estate expansions, building lavish centers all over the globe. Narconon, Applied Scholastics, Citizens Commission on Human Rights (the most staunch anti-psychiatry wing of Scientology, which is saying something given that psychiatrists are already considered the incarnation of evil in the church), were all Miscavige's efforts.
One thing that certainly didn't change in the Miscavige years was Scientology's intimate familiarity with controversy. Everything listed thus far continued, and in most cases, worsened. The harassment of anyone speaking ill of the church, or anyone deemed a Suppressive Person period. The criminal behavior with regards to government. The deplorable atrocities happening in the Sea Org under the cover of dubious international waters law, going as far as alleged child trafficking, or at the very least forced child labor.
Scientology's internal managing had also grown increasingly aggressive. Family members were now expected to fully detach (as per the doctrine of "disconnection") from anyone not actively part of the church. Given how severe these methods of isolation had become, it was inevitable that one day, genuine tragedy would strike.
Lisa McPherson, a 36-year-old American Scientologist, died on December 5, 1995, in Clearwater, Florida, under circumstances that sparked intense scrutiny and legal battles with the Church of Scientology. Her case became one of the most prominent controversies surrounding the organization. McPherson was deeply involved in Scientology, undergoing various auditing processes and achieving the state of "Clear" in September 1995. However, earlier that year, in June, she had experienced what church officials described as mental instability, leading to an "Introspection Rundown"—a Scientology procedure involving isolation and minimal communication to address psychotic episodes.
On November 18, 1995, McPherson was involved in a minor car accident in Clearwater. Though physically unharmed, she exhibited erratic behavior, removing her clothes in public and stating she needed help. Paramedics took her to a local hospital for evaluation, where doctors found no injuries but recommended psychiatric observation. McPherson, adhering to Scientology's aversion to psychiatry (which the church views as abusive), refused such care. Fellow Scientologists arrived and persuaded her to leave against medical advice, signing her out and transporting her to the Fort Harrison Hotel, the flagship facility of the Church of Scientology's Flag Service Organization (FSO).
At the hotel, McPherson was placed in a cabana for what church logs described as "rest and relaxation," but evidence later suggested it was another Introspection Rundown. Over the next 17 days, she was monitored around the clock by church staff without professional medical intervention. Care logs detailed her rapid deterioration: she became incoherent, violent toward herself and others, refused food and liquids, developed bruises from striking walls, and showed signs of severe illness, including spots resembling measles or insect bites. Staff administered natural supplements, aspirin, and sedatives like chloral hydrate, but her condition worsened—she grew weak, immobile, and eventually bedridden.
On December 5, after McPherson began gasping for air, staff contacted Scientologist physician David Minkoff, who had previously prescribed medications without seeing her. Concerned about potential psychiatric involvement at a nearby hospital, they drove her 45 minutes to Minkoff's facility, passing four closer hospitals. She arrived without vital signs and was pronounced dead.
Church officials initially informed her family that she had died from meningitis or a blood clot while resting.
The autopsy initially ruled the cause of death as a thromboembolism (blood clot) in the left pulmonary artery, stemming from bed rest and severe dehydration. The manner was listed as "undetermined," with notes of bruises, abrasions, and evidence of neglect, including cockroach bites. McPherson's decline was listed as a "slow death" from lack of fluids over 5–10 days.
The case fueled allegations of a cover-up: church staff destroyed original care logs for the final days, and former high-ranking officials like Mike Rinder claimed direct involvement by leader David Miscavige in managing the situation. The church defended the Introspection Rundown as a religious practice protected by the First Amendment and denied any wrongdoing.
If you thought any lesson would have been learned here, you would be wrong. Though Scientology had always operated in perverse ways, under Miscavige, its persona had only grown darker. Perhaps nothing personified this more than "The Hole."
A small building at the California Scientology based served as a prison for more than 30 of the highest-ranking officers in the Sea Org. They were only permitted to leave once a day, and slept on the floor. Miscavige would host abrupt meetings, even at 4am in the morning, keeping everyone in a perpetual state of confusion. He would badger them for ideas, only to throw them back in the face of the person suggesting them, labeling them Suppressive Persons who put the church at risk. They weren't going to be leaving until they "got it right", and were encouraged to invent fictitious crimes against the other inmates of The Hole.
This was not even the worst of it. Miscavige himself reportedly beat his fellow Scientologists. He would push them against walls, choke them, hit them in the head, push them to the ground and kick them. Though I would not make light of such things, I must comment on the sheer absurdity of this. Imagine for a second, you were Catholic, and the Pope came in and started kicking you in the head. This is what was effectively happening.
Of course, the beatings were only the half of it. One person it was said, was accused of being a lesbian, was sat in a bucket and then was kicked repeatedly by a group of women. Another apparently had water poured on their head and was sat underneath an air conditioner on full force until they turned blue.
As if this insanity wasn't enough, it was reported that one day, Miscavige arrived at The Hole with a boombox, playing Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. He told them they would play musical chairs. Whoever won, would get to stay, and the losers would be sent off to Scientology's most remote, far flung frontiers and cast out of the Sea Org. This included husbands and wives, who would be separated by thousands of miles. Enacting control over persons through separation from their families was ubiquitous in the Church of Scientology, so the participants took to this ridiculous exercise with full seriousness. Once the game of musical chairs had concluded, Miscavige was alleged to have decided to keep them all in the Sea Org “out the goodness of his heart”—fully expecting them to collaborate, cooperate and confess like never before.
Perhaps the worst part was, one ex-Scientologist themselves explained that, even if the FBI was to turn up and pay witness to this literal prison camp, everyone there would smile, wave and say that they were there voluntarily. That they were fighting to remain in The Hole. One particular individual remained in it for seven years.
There should be no surprise to anyone who has read this far, that this is barely scraping the tip of the iceberg, and Scientology has made a million and one attempts to try and prevent the general public from learning of its evils, with the church even lobbying Google to take down links that would direct users to exposure content. Needless to say, this sort of unchecked madness would eventually lead to an opposing reaction, and the 2008 Project Chanology protests, beginning on 4chan, would be one of the church's most public battles yet. This time, it was the church itself, hit by DDoS attacks, black faxes, prank calls and organized harassment. It was something of a taste of their own medicine.
Nevertheless, even with the sheer avalanche of negative press, the church has tried its best to keep its finger on the pulse of popular culture. If Scientology was notable for anything, perhaps it would be the frankly baffling amount of celebrity Scientologists. The lure of paying thousands to have invisible aliens pulled out of your body is seemingly too irresistible, it seems.
As mentioned, there is of course Tom Cruise, Scientology's golden boy. Miscavige had personally awarded him with Scientology's highest honor, and no expense was spared in making sure every whim of his was met. On the flipside, Miscavige also had untold hours of Cruise's Auditing sessions, and would regale his closest allies with tales of supposed sexual perversions. One hand doles out luxuries, but the other hand maintains a firm grip on what it must to destroy whoever steps out of line.
Speaking of sexual perversions, one can weigh and measure the morality of the Church by how it handles the scandals of its members. One such instance, that of Danny Masterson of That 70s Show fame, involved a great number of atrocities all occurring within the church itself. Danny Masterson was convicted of multiple counts of rape in 2023, and prior to this result, the church had discouraged these women from approaching the police, and even launched harassment campaigns against them once it became apparent they were going to seek justice. In this case alone, there were allegations of stalking, property damage and pet poisoning. The church would seek out and defend just about anyone so long as they could bring in celebrity attention and money.
Even Charles Manson studied Scientology while incarcerated in 1961. After his release in 1967, Manson reportedly completed 150 hours of Auditing, though it's popularly claimed that he would later decry the religion as "too crazy." Too crazy for Charles Manson is probably not what you would like to headline your religion with.
One particularly curious affiliation, on the topic of incarcerations, is Scientology's relations with the Nation of Islam. Starting 2009, thousands of members of the NOI received Dianetics training and Auditing sessions. This may strike most people as especially strange, but much of the NOI's insanity aligns surprisingly easily with Scientologist doctrine. The genetic scientist Yakub, the belief in a great Mother Ship hovering above the earth, and even aspects of their cosmogony (with the universe being an oddly specific 76 trillion years old, and a renegade figure who once blew up the world, just for some examples).
The fervent anti-white racism of the NOI, of course, did not really seem to bother the upper echelons of the Scientologist hierarchy. At the end of the day, this is really only further proof that the so-called "religion" of Scientology is more of a business than a church.
Perhaps this is why Scientology is somewhat unconcerned with their dropping numbers. Membership ultimately had become something of an increasing irrelevance, what with the fact that the church owns over 300 million dollars worth of property in Hollywood alone, and this is not counting their significant global real estate portfolio. Many of these buildings remain empty.
This isn't to say that Scientology has ceased recruiting. As was stated at the beginning of this article, Scientology remains something of a more subtle plague, rather than the bombastic movement it was during the latter 20th century and early 2000s. Given the sheer degree of bad press that exists for Scientology, it's obvious why entities like Narconon don't make their Scientologist leanings immediately apparent.
Scientology's relevancy as a religious movement appears set to continue its steady decline in cultural relevancy and membership, but given its infrastructural power, and its attempt at worming its way into the mental and physical health sectors, full awareness of the church, its deplorable founder, membership and litany of sins should always be maintained.
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Sources
Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief - Alfred A. Knopf
The Truth Rundown, Parts 1, 2 and 3 - Thomas C. Tobin and Joe Childs, St Petersburg Times
The Mind Behind the Religion : Life With L. Ron Hubbard - Joel Sappell and Robert W. Welkos, Los Angeles Times
A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed - Jon Atak
Renunciation and Reformulation: Study of Conversion in an American Sect - Harriet Whitehead
Scientology: An in-depth profile of a new force in Clearwater - Charles Stafford
Bare-faced Messiah : The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard - Russell Miller
Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me - Ron Miscavige with Dan Koon
Lawsuits against the Church of Scientology are piling up, alleging a vast network of human trafficking, child abuse, and forced labor - Michelle Mark, Insider Inc
Danny Masterson sentenced to 30 years to life for two rapes - Regan Morris in Los Angeles and Max Matza, BBC News
Neil Gaiman faces more sexual assault allegations - Paul Glynn, BBC News
‘My mind had been shattered into a million pieces’: inside the Scientology-linked UK rehab centre - Shanti Das, The Guardian
Scientology-linked UK drug rehab left vulnerable people ‘traumatised’ - Shanti Das, The Guardian
Anonymous names 10 February as its day of action against Scientology - Robert Vamosi, CNET News
Scientology's Hollywood Real Estate Empire - Daniel Miller, Hollywood Times
