Inside scientology

This book, which began as an article for Rolling Stone Magazine, is the result of a 5-year, in-depth investigation into Scientology. It's full of interviews from current and former members, information pulled from police reports, court filings, news articles, and documents released by the Church of Scientology itself.

It's a meticulously researched book, filled with information that is generally unavailable to the casual reader, and is easy to read. It details both the ups (tax exemption by the IRS) and the downs (the high-profile death of a member and the subsequent coverup and lawsuit) of the movement's history. Reitman comes across as a credible journalist, never sensationalizing what is an easily sensationalized topic, and for that reason alone it's worth the read.

Wow, what a thoroughly engaging book. I went from not surprised (who out there hasn't heard that L. Ron Hubbard had crazy ideas?) to shocked (the abuse!) to completely creeped out (the IRS stuff, Lisa McPherson, harassing critics).

This was a very interesting read behind the history and potential future of the Church Of Scientology.

It showed that from the very beginning of the Dianetics/Church of Scientology there was a requirement to control the members and to ensure that they stayed onside with whatever the thinking was at that time. It also showed that L Ron Hubbard was egotistical and that he appropriated a lot of information from other areas and put forward as his own - of course, this is often what other religions do as well - after all Christmas Day was a pagan festival before a Christian one.

It was also interesting to read how David Miscavige took control and the insinuation that this is not what LRH actually wanted.

What came across is that the auditing that Scientologists go through can be physically tiring and that in some cases, there was also apparent physical abuse as well (the Lisa McPherson case being one significant case) but it appears to some people to work for them but some would argue that also happens in other sleep deprivation/abuse scenarios.

Overall, I think that this was a balanced book which allows the reader to make their own decisions based on documented information (there are lots of cross references to source material). Of course, some of this source material may be biased in itself to begin with but to allow a in depth “introduction” to the background and power of the Church of Scientology, I would strongly recommend this book.