I’m honestly a little bit afraid to write this review, having learned what I learned by reading Going Clear. I don’t want to crap out and not write a review. Other Cannonballers have been brave. What am I so afraid of? An aggressively, violently litigious organization with enormous reach that picks legal and physical fights with anyone who questions their legitimacy. A for-profit company that practically bankrupted the US Treasury in their fight for IRS-recognized status as a religion. An abusive institution that uses its […]
An Attempt to Clear the Air about Scientology
Going Clear is about the enigma that is Scientology, a religion marketed to the wealthy and famous who can afford undergoing years of auditing sessions. It’s a secretive religion that unfolds information in stages, making the stranger tenets of Scientology more palatable after acclimating one’s mind to less shocking, but priming “truths.” As a newer religion (founded by L. Ron Hubbard in the mid 1950’s), Scientology has recent history to its detriment. And it is this with which Wright begins…the story of L. Ron Hubbard, […]
A Bridge Too Far
This may be the first time I read a book about something and at the end, feel like I have learned absolutely nothing about the subject. Not because Going Clear is not a good book, but because so little is known about the organisation it discusses, the Church of Scientology, that it’s hard to know what to make of it. A quick google search doesn’t reveal anything more: the book says X, the church says Y. In fact, there is an entire website – run […]
Yeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaah
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFBZ_uAbxS0] “In 1996, the church sent CDs to members to help them build their own websites, which would then link them to the Scientology site; included in the software was a filter that would block any sites containing material that vilified the church or revealed esoteric doctrines.” This book is 450 pages long, and filled with horrifying – and fascinating – things. But it wasn’t until page 386 that I actually stopped in my tracks and dog-eared the page with the above sentence. It […]
The Crazy Land of Scientology
After reading Jenna Miscavige Hill’s book about her life in Scientology, Beyond Belief, I was still hungry for more information. Hill’s memoir was a fascinating but personal story and I was interested in a broader look at Scientology. So, I picked up Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, & the Prison of Belief (2013) by Lawrence Wright, after hearing some good things about it. Wright covers a lot of ground with this book, starting with L. Ron Hubbard, his life, his writings, and the beginnings of Scientology. […]