Hot Off The Press

The New Yorker's Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Lawrence Wright has a new book out entitled, "Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief." According to reviews, the book presents a chilling but even-handed story of an organization that often employs authoritarian methods on its members, using everything from personal intimidation and lawsuits, to private "camps" for those straying from the organization. From Lisa Miller's review in the Kaplan Daily:

"If a powerful Scientologist, someone who has seen the organization’s inner workings at the highest levels, attempts to leave the church, Wright reports, he or she is followed — to the airport, to a motel — and every attempt is made to force a return. Certain Scientologists, notably [Scientologist leader David] Miscavige’s wife, Shelly, haven’t been seen publicly in years. (Wright’s sources suggest she’s being kept under guard at a Scientology facility in Running Springs, Calif.)"

One of its primary goals is to convert famous figures in the entertainment business (e.g., Tom Cruise, John Travolta, etc.) and use them as the organization's public face and to raise money and new converts. Cruise, in particular, is a major figure in the organization, and is treated accordingly:

"We are told that, before Katie Holmes, Scientology found a different girlfriend for Cruise, one who was raised in the church and groomed and styled to suit the star; she moved into his house, but after a gaffe at a dinner party, she was unceremoniously dismissed. 'Cruise was too busy to say good-bye,' Wright writes. The girlfriend’s 'last glimpse was of him working out in his home gym.' Any casual observer who might have considered Cruise a benign or naive participant in a Hollywood spiritual fad will have a different opinion after 'Going Clear.' The star comes across as a narcissistic monster who finds in Scientology an army of acolytes ready to deliver on his whims."

More light is being shed on Scientology, both by this book and by former members, and that's needed.