Live Q&As

Hi there,

No - i found the stories pretty fascinating, and it made me want to just explore more and more.

Hello,

Pat Broeker is a man who does not want to talk about these issues, quite clearly. As to the people who have taken issue with my sources, I have interviewed many Scientologists in good standing, including Kirstie Alley and Kelly Preston, two of the most famous Scientologists in the world. There is one Scientologist in good standing with the organized Church of Scientology in my book as a character; that does not mean i only spoke one. Many, many others informed my understanding of Scientology, and informed the book. Additionally, there is a tremendous number of people I interviewed who practice Scientology outside of the official church and consider themselves Scientologists, so it is really a question of what you consider a Scientologist to be - must you be "in good standing" with Scientology the organization to be a "Scientologist"? I think there are many different answers to that question.

There is no physical evidence that David Miscavige assaulted anyone - no physical proof. But there are overwhelming reports that he has. Over the past few years, I was given multiple, and identical, reports by various former staffers who claim they were either the victims of or witnessed these assaults. I was told of these events by people in different cities, states, and countries, and totally independent of one another.  

I don't think i will be writing much more about the Church, though i know that in so many ways, i have only touched the tip of the iceberg. I hope that other authors may take up this challenge, and in fact, i know of one who is doing so right now! (And i wish him much success.) 

Hi Richard,

I'm sorry to hear of your illness, and your loss. I found this to be hugely prevalent - basically everyone no longer in Scientology who I interviewed had experienced disconnection of one sort or another, some to greater extremes than others. Some people feared disconnection so much that they were deeply afraid of speaking with me. Disconnection is to me one of the hugest problems in the Church, and it has obviously caused massive problems for the organization.

To my knowledge Pat Broeker is alive, but he is not interested in talking to the media. I respected that, as have all of the other reporters i know who've tried.

My book does not attempt to judge Scientology as a practice or set of beliefs and if it has helped you and your family, I think that's wonderful -I mean that very sincerely. Far be it from me to judge anyone on their religious beliefs, and my book does not make those judgments. What my book does is examine the history of the organized Church of Scientology, the "church" as an institution. Prior books on Scientology did not examine the recent history -they tended to stop around 1990. So in that way, it is obviously different because it is more complete. But i think your question really asks, why should you read it. And to that, I'll say that what I do is look at organized Scientology, the Church of Scientology as institution, and without bias regarding its beliefs. I take Scientology seriously as a belief system, and I also take it seriously as an institution, and look at it in contrast with others, in a serious context. Here's something i write in my book: "Scientology, like all religions, accepts even grave imperfection as part of the human condition and, like all religions, seeks to transcend it. In Judaism, this is called justice. In Buddhism it is called seeking nirvana. In Christianity, it is absolution from sin. In Scientology, the route from flawed to flawless is called 'going Clear.'"  - this can be found on pg. 368. 

Not in the slightest.

I have heard that as well, and I know how people in the tax community view it. To me, it really is one of the enduring mysteries. I was told by a number of people that IRS officials were simply exhausted by the litigation and wanted to devote resources to other things, but that said, it is surprising, and I think everyone in the United States who knew anything about this matter was surprised by it. 

I did interview a number of graduates of Narconon centers, but my book is not about Narconon, nor the other social betterment programs Scientology promotes.  That said, one of the characters in the book went through the purification rundown and had a very good experience with it, and  you can refer to chapter 15 and read all about it.

Wrong impression. I interviewed many, and one of them has a key role in the book, and indeed, she ends the book. she's a fiercely dedicated Scientologist and was raised in much the same way that it seems you raised your own family.

Yes I did speak to Clearwater officials about the case. I think the incident has certainly put a pall over Scientology in Clearwater and probably elsewhere as well. I know a number of people who told me they left Scientology when they learned about the Lisa McPherson case, by going online and seeing her autopsy photos. So it certainly cost them some members.

I really can't speak to what made Mike or Marty change  other than what they have said themselves. According to them, they were fed up with the organizational leadership. They remain Scientologists though, just outside of the organized Church. Their stories and the story of the current CoS is covered extensively in my book and i think your answer lies within those pages....

Scientology charges money for virtually everything. You can go to a Friday night service at a temple, talk to a rabbi for free - you can also go to a Catholic Church and go to confession for free. If you are a Mormon you tithe, but that tithe pays for everything. In Scientology, every step of the way comes with a price tag.

The core foundational value is called "the greatest good," which is essentially acting in the best interest of your fellow Scientologists. Scientologists constantly measure themselves and their actions in terms of whether they are serving the greatest good.

I truly hope some of them will read the book. I hope the Church of Scientology becomes a more open place. I do not wish for the dissolution of the church but rather for Scientology members to be free to read, and say, what they want without fearing repercussions. And it saddens me that many of them will not be able to read my book due to those fears. I think they would learn a lot, and also might become emboldened to make positive changes.

Yes, and I really don't know if that status will be changed.

What about the evangelicals? The Protestant evangelical movement - the non-denominational movement - is huge, growing, and having a major impact. A wonderful book on the power of Protestant evangelicals in this country is Jeff Sharlet's "The Family." Important book if you are interested in religion.

Yes, and I spend two chapters on this in my book. There are more ways than i can describe in a short space.

so far and happily, i have been enjoying this chat.  freedom of speech is a wonderful thing. 

I think a lot is beneficial. Auditing, by all accounts, is hugely beneficial to many people. And the community is also beneficial -the sense of togetherness, shared mission and purpose... all of that was very good and as you (hopefully) will read in the book, many people who joined Scientology responded extremely positively to those things.

I hope so... I think this is being worked out but I have no further information. I was looking forward to talking to Matt Lauer too!

that's a wonderful way to answer the question of what's the difference between tithing and what scientologists are asked to pay. To my knowledge, it's very hard to be an upper level "public" - non-staff -scientologist without money. In the Sea Organization, though, which is the senior management of the Church, many people have achieved "upper level" status and have virtually no money because they got this auditing for free.  But the average person who does Scientology tends to need a real income to become an "OT" because it is pricey... that does not mean they have to be rich; they just have to have the money to pay for those courses - some people spend all the money they have on Scientology, and are by no means rich.