After he left the church of scientology, Oscar-winning director Paul Haggis said, “I was in a cult for thirty-four years. Everyone else could see it. I don’t know why I couldn’t.” Going clear: Scientology and the prison of belief is a new HBO documentary. The church’s founder L. Ron Hubbard may have started with good intentions, but as seen in the film it soon became a money grab as he fought the IRS to obtain tax reliefs through a religious organization status. A science fiction writer, Hubbard created what he said was a new cure for mental illness and a self-improvement tool called Dianetics. Then came scientology, the religion that came with a promise of wealth and richness. There is a series exercise called “auditing”, with technical details and rules so complex that it is difficult to comprehend why some got so caught up in it. Some people who have left the church, now call it “Brainwashing”. They lured famous celebrities like actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta. Hubbard is now dead and the church’s new ruler is now David Miscavige and he is a man with a strong presence. Miscavige has obtained a religious organization status from the IRS. He has, the film alleges, successfully kill the rumors about John Travolta’s sexual orientation. Another story is that following Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman’s divorce, scientology turned their children against Kidman. But most of the film consists of interviews with ex-scientologists. Beside Paul Haggis, there is Chicago P.D. actor Jason Beghe. Some left because they were troubled by their own actions. Some very prominent scientologists, men and women, were sent to a compound called “the hole”, where they had to live in sub-human conditions, humiliated and beaten, sometimes by David Miscavige himself. And some left when the church ask them to cut off all ties with family members the church deemed “suppressive person” (believed to be working against the church and not to be associated with). But their stories does not end there. According to the filmmakers, once they left, the church started to follow and harass them. There is an internet site attacking director Alex Gibney, the author of the book Lawrence Wright, and everyone interviewed in Going clear: Scientology and the prison of belief. It is a documentary, and like all documentaries (and films, news article, work of art, ect) it is biased, it has a point of view. But I found it credible, and scary. Of course, David Miscavige, Tom Cruise and John Travolta all refused to be interviewed.
Rémi-Serge Gratton
Going clear: Scientology and the prison of belief
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