Inside Scientology Part 25

[>] Rinder began to berate her: Since leaving Scientology, Tanja has reflected on what happened between her and Mike Rinder, and in 2009, agreed to speak with him on the phone. Rinder, having left Scientology by that time, apologized for his behavior and, according to Tanja, asked her forgiveness.

17. Exodus Marc Headley first described the musical chairs game to me during several in-depth interviews I conducted with him and his wife in 2007; Amy Scobee also provided an account. Headley later sent me a written version, which he ultimately published in his memoir, Blown for Good. Tom De Vocht confirmed Headley's account in an interview with me, and Marty Rathbun further confirmed the events during his interview with Thomas Tobin and Joe Childs of the St. Petersburg Times in June 2009.

As with the prior chapter, the bulk of this chapter is based on interviews with key sources, notably the Headleys, the Castles, Jeff Hawkins, Tom De Vocht, Steve Hall, Dan Koon, Mike and Donna Henderson, and numerous others. Stefan Castle provided me with the text of his letter to Tanja, correspondence between himself and his lawyer, Ford Greene, and a copy of the missing person report he filed with the Hemet Police Department.

[>] "How many people are in the org?": Jefferson Hawkins, "Statistics," Leaving Scientology, accessed September 13, 2010, leavingscientology.wordpress.com/doubt-formulas/statistics.

[>] "vulture culture": Mike Rinder, "Survey: What Impinges-Results," Moving On Up a Little Higher, August 24, 2010, markrathbun.word press.com/2010/08/24/survey-what-impinges-results.

[>] the actress Nancy Cartwright: David K. Lin, "The Church of $impsontology," New York Post, January 31, 2008. According to Scientology's Impact magazine, Cartwright was awarded the status of IAS Patron Laureate for her donation. Kirstie Alley, who reportedly donated $5 million in 2007, was awarded a Diamond Meritorious medal.

Epilogue: What Is True for You For the opening of the Scientology Ideal Org in Los Angeles, I relied upon the Church of Scientology's own report of the event, plus video footage provided on the church website; similarly, all information about past and future Ideal Orgs is from the Church of Scientology's own publicity materials. Mat Pesch, Tom De Vocht, and several former Scientologist finance and legal officers (who wished to remain anonymous) provided critical a.n.a.lysis of the Ideal Org program.

Though I had been aware of Scientology's interest in appealing to African Americans, Marty Rathbun was the first to draw my attention to Scientology's current friendship with the Nation of Islam, and Rathbun also provided the text and a PDF file of the Clear African Americans conference schedule on his blog.

Kendra Wiseman has been a source since the earliest days of this project, and the remainder of her story told in this chapter is derived from perhaps two dozen or so lengthy telephone calls and e-mail exchanges over the past five years. Similarly, Natalie Walet, the very first Scientologist I met, has been a constant source, and the quotes that end this chapter come from several long telephone interviews conducted in 2009 and 2010.

[>] "Today marks a milestone step": "Los Angeles Cuts the Ribbon on a New Ideal Church of Scientology," Church of Scientology International, September 13, 2010, www.scientology.org/david-miscavige/churchopenings/church-of-scientology-los-angeles.html.

[>] Hayes struck both: Mark Rathbun, "Funeral for a Friend," Moving On Up a Little Higher, May 3, 2010, markrathbun.wordpress.com/2010/05/03/.

less for idealistic reasons: Ibid.

At Flag in June 2010: Brochure t.i.tled "Clear African Americans Convention at the Flag Land Base," Clearwater, Florida: Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization, 2010.

[>] Farrakhan did not, however: Louis Farrakhan, "Put On the New Man: Address by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan," Nation of Islam, August 22, 2010, www.noi.org/webcast/ug-22-2010.

[>] According to the Las Vegas Sun: David McGrath Schwartz, "Sharron Angle Campaign Working to Quiet Scientology Question,"Las Vegas Sun, May 26, 2010.

[>] "We need to get as much": E-mail sent to Church of Scientology membership, January 21, 2010, markrathbun.wordpress.com/2010/01/23 /the-church-of-disaster-capitalism/.

"wake-up call": David Miscavige, "Wake-Up Call-the Urgency of Planetary Clearing," Inspector General's Bulletin No. 44, September 11, 2001.

[>] "degraded values": Rathbun, "Funeral for a Friend," Moving On Up a Little Higher, May 3, 2010, markrathbun.wordpress.com /2010/05/03/.

[>] he has likened himself: Rathbun, "The Reformation," Moving On Up a Little Higher, February 17, 2010, markrathbun.wordpress .com/2010/02/17/the-reformation/.

"My wife and I can't": Rathbun, "Miscavige Black Ops Squad Hits Corpus Christi," Moving On Up a Little Higher, September 10, 2010, markrathbun.wordpress.com/2010/09/10.

"I joined Scientology for": Rathbun, "Murder Outs," Moving On Up a Little Higher, August 13, 2010, markrathbun.wordpress.com /2010/08/13.

"Inquiry into these allegations": Memorandum, Claire Headley v. The Church of Scientology International et al., Case No. CV 09-3987 DSF, filed in U.S. District Court Central District of California, August 5, 2010.

"Scientology wins": Thomas Tobin and Joe Childs, "Judge Dismisses Two Lawsuits Aimed at Scientology," St. Petersburg Times, August 6, 2010.

[>] According to several reports: Personal interviews with Amy Scobee and Mat Pesch, Jeff Hawkins, and others; Lawrence Wright, "The Apostate," New Yorker, February 14, 2011.

"One of the most addictive": Kendra Wiseman, "Growing Up a Scientologist," Ex-Scientology Kids, February 8, 2008; removed from the website; hard copy provided to author by Kendra. Also available at Ex-Scientologist Message Board, exscn.net/content/view/39/52/.

Selected Bibliography.

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Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman? New York: Barricade Books, 1995 Crowley, Aleister, The Book of the Law, Boston: Weiser Books, 1987 David, Mike, City of Quartz, New York: Vintage, 1992 De Camp, L. Sprague, The Science Fiction Handbook, New York: Hermitage House, 1953 Del Rey, Lester, The World of Science Fiction, 19261976: The History of a Subculture, New York: Ballantine Books, 1979 El-Hai, Jack, The Lobotomist: A Maverick Medical Genius and His Tragic Quest to Rid the World of Mental Illness, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2005 Eshbach, Lloyd Arthur, Over My Shoulder: Reflections on a Science Fiction Era, Hampton Falls, NH: Donald M. Grant Publishers, 1982 Evans, Dr. Christopher, Cults of Unreason, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1974 Ewen, Stuart, Captains of Consciousness: Advertising and the Social Roots of the Consumer Culture, New York: Basic Books, 2001 Ferguson, Charles, A Confusion of Tongues: A Review of Modern Isms, New York: Doubleday, Doran & Co., 1928 Foster, Sir John, K.B.E., Q.C., M.P., Enquiry into the Practice and Effects of Scientology, London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1971, www.xenu.net/archive/audit/fosthome.html Fromm, Erich, Psychoa.n.a.lysis and Religion, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1950 Gardner, Martin, Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science, New York: Dover Publications, 1957 Garrison, Omar V., The Hidden Story of Scientology, Secaucus, NJ: Citadel Press, 1974 Gruber, Frank, The Pulp Jungle, Los Angeles: Sherbourne Press, 1967 Halberstam, David, The Fifties, New York: Ballantine Books, 1994 Ha.s.san, Steven, Combatting Cult Mind Control: The Number-One Best-Selling Guide to Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults, Rochester, VT: Park Street Press, 1990 Hawkins, Jefferson, Counterfeit Dreams, Portland, OR: Hawkeye Publishing Co., 2010 Headley, Marc, Blown for Good: Behind the Iron Curtain of Scientology, Oakton, VA: BFG, 2009 Hill, Napoleon, Think and Grow Rich!, San Diego, CA: Aventine Press, 2004 Hoffer, Eric, The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Ma.s.s Movements, New York: Harper & Row, 1951 Hunt, Morton, The Story of Psychology, New York: Anchor Books, 2007 Jackall, Robert, and Janice Hirota, Image Makers: Advertising, Public Relations, and the Ethos of Advocacy, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003 Jenkins, Phillip, Mystics and Messiahs: Cults and New Religions in American History, New York: Oxford University Press, 2000 Jung, C. G., The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Sir Herbert Read, ed., volume 4, Freud and Psychoa.n.a.lysis, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., 1993 Kent, Stephen A., From Slogans to Mantras: Social Protest and Religious Conversion in the Late Vietnam Era, Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2001 Kin, L., Scientology: More Than a Cult? 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Gordon, The Church of Scientology Studies in Contemporary Religions Series, volume 1, Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books, 2000 ---, ed., Encyclopedia of American Religions: A Comprehensive Study of the Major Religious Groups in the United States, Tarrytown, NY: Triumph Books, 1991 Miller, Russell, Barefaced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard, New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1987 O'Brien, Helen, Dianetics in Limbo, Philadelphia: Whitmore Publishing Company, 1966 Pendergrast, Mark, For G.o.d, Country, and Coca-Cola: The Definitive History of the Great American Soft Drink and the Company That Makes It, New York: Basic Books, 2000 Pendle, George, Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons, New York: Harvest Books, 2005 Pope, Daniel, The Making of Modern Advertising, New York: Basic Books, 1983 Rolph, C. H., Believe What You Like: What Happened Between the Scientologists and the National a.s.sociation for Mental Health, London: Andre Deutsch Limited, 1973 Sargant, William, Battle for the Mind: A Physiology of Conversion and Brainwashing, Cambridge, MA: Malor Books, 1997 Slater, Lauren, Opening Skinner's Box, New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2004 Stark, Rodney, and William Sims Bainbridge, The Future of Religion: Secularization, Revival, and Cult Formation, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986 Starr, Kevin, The Dream Endures: California Enters the 1940s, New York: Oxford University Press, 2002 Storr, Anthony, Feet of Clay: Saints, Sinners and Madmen: A Study of Gurus, New York: Free Press, 1997 Sutin, Lawrence, Do What Thou Wilt: A Life of Aleister Crowley, New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2002 Vosper, Cyril, The Mind Benders, London: Neville Spearman Limited, 1971 Wakefield, Margery, Understanding Scientology, 1991, www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/wakefield/us.html Wallis, Roy, The Road to Total Freedom: A Sociological a.n.a.lysis of Scientology, New York: Columbia University Press, 1977 Whitehead, Harriett, Renunciation and Reformulation: A Study of Conversion in an American Sect, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1987 Whitfield, Stephen J., The Culture of the Cold War, 2nd ed., Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996 Williamson, Jack, Wonder's Child: My Life in Science Fiction, Dallas, TX: Benbella Books, 1984 Wilson, Bryan Key, and Bruce Ledford,The Age of Manipulation: The Con in Confidence, the Sin in Sincere, Boulder, CO: Madison Books, 1992 Winter, Joseph A., A Doctor's Report on Dianetics: Theory and Therapy, New York: Julian Press, 1951 Young, Paul, LA Exposed: Strange Myths and Curious Legends in the City of Angels, New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2002 Zablocki, Benjamin, and Thomas Robbins, eds., Misunderstanding Cults: Search for Objectivity in a Controversial Field, Toronto, Ontario: University of Toronto Press, 2001 Academic Papers, Periodicals, and Other Media Abel, Jonathan, "New Foe Emerges Against Scientology," St. Petersburg Times, February 8, 2008 Baker, Russ, "Clash of the t.i.tans: Scientology vs. Germany," George, April 1997 Barnes, John, "Sinking the Master Mariner," Sunday Times Magazine, October 28, 1984 Bra.s.sfield, Mike, "Scientology Church Gives Fort Harrison a $40M Makeover," St. Petersburg Times, March 22, 2009 Brill, Ann, and Ashley Packard, "Silencing Scientology's Critics on the Internet: A Mission Impossible?" Communications and the Law, December 1997 Brown, Janelle, "A Web of Their Own," Salon.com, July 15, 1998 Cagle, Jess, and Tom Cruise, "Tom Cruise: My Struggle to Read," People, July 21, 2003 Childs, Joe, and Thomas Tobin, "The Truth Rundown,"St. Petersburg Times, June 21, 2009 ---. "Death in Slow Motion,"St. Petersburg Times, June 22, 2009 ---. "Ecclesiastical Justice," St. Petersburg Times, June 23, 2009 ---. "Chased by Their Church," St. Petersburg Times, November 1, 2009 ---. "What Happened in Vegas," St. Petersburg Times, November 2, 2009 ---. "Caught Between Scientology and Her Husband, Annie Tidman Chose the Church," St. Petersburg Times, November 14, 2009 ---. "OT VII," St. Petersburg Times, December 31, 2009 ---. "He Wants His Money Back," January 24, 2010 ---. "No Kids Allowed," St. Petersburg Times, June 13, 2010 Dibbell, Julian, "The a.s.sclown Offensive," Wired, October 2009 Farley, Robert, "Scientologists Settle Death Suit," St. Petersburg Times, May 29, 2004 ---. "Scientology's Town," St. Petersburg Times, July 18, 2004 ---. "Striving for Mainstream, Building New Connections," St. Petersburg Times, July 19, 2004 ---. "Edifice Sits Empty, but Why?" St. Petersburg Times, December 19, 2004 ---. "Tom Cruise Is So Hot-That Is, for Scientology," St. Petersburg Times, July 10, 2005 ---. "Spiritual Symbiosis a Surprising One," St. Petersburg Times, October 30, 2005 ---. "Scientology Awards Reach Out to Black Community," St. Petersburg Times, February 18, 2006 ---. "Scientology Nearly Ready to Unveil Superpower,"St. Petersburg Times, May 6, 2006 ---. "The Unperson," St. Petersburg Times, June 25, 2006 ---. "Scientology Makes It in Cla.s.sroom Door," St. Petersburg Times, May 20, 2007 ---. "Group Fights Church Policies," St. Petersburg Times, March 16, 2008 Fisher, Marc, "Church in Cybers.p.a.ce," Washington Post, August 19, 1995 Frantz, Douglas, "Taxes and Tactics: Behind an IRS Reversal-A Special Report: Scientology's Puzzling Journey from Tax Rebel to Tax Exempt," New York Times, March 9, 1997 ---. "An Ultra-Aggressive Use of Investigators and the Courts," New York Times, March 9, 1997 ---. "Distrust in Clearwater-a Special Report: Death of Scientologist Heightens Suspicions in a Florida Town," New York Times, December 1, 1997 ---. "Scientology's Star Roster Enhances Image," New York Times, February 13, 1998 Gewertz, Catherine, "Scientology Loses Mistrial Motion," United Press International, May 10, 1986 Goodstein, Laurie, "Anti-Cult Group Dismembered as Former Foes Buy Its a.s.sets; Network Forced into Bankruptcy After Long Legal Battle," Washington Post, December 1, 1996 Goodyear, Dana, "Chateau Scientology," The New Yorker, January 14, 2008 Gorney, Cynthia, "Scientology: Money Maker or Religion?: Scientology Controversial in Many Lands," Washington Post, July 24, 1977 Grossman, Wendy, "alt.scientology.war," Wired, December 1995 Hoffman, Claire, and Kim Christensen, "At Inland Base, Scientologists Trained Top Gun," Los Angeles Times, December 18, 2005 Jacoby, Mary, "High-Profile Couple Never Pairs Church and State," St. Petersburg Times, December 13, 1998 Kent, Stephen A., "The Globalization of Scientology: Influence, Control, and Opposition in Transnational Markets," Revised Version of a Paper Presented at the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, November 1991, www.apologeticsindex.org/s04a13.html ---."Brainwashing in Scientology's Rehabilitation Project Force," in Behorde fur Inneres-Arbeitsgruppe Scientology und Landeszentrale fur Politische Building, 2000 ---. "Hollywood's Celebrity-Lobbyists and the Clinton Administration's American Foreign Policy Toward German Scientology," Journal of Religion and Popular Culture, volume 1, Spring 2002 Klinger, Judson, "Playboy Interview: John Travolta Interview," Playboy, March 1, 1996 Kroll, Jack, "Nicole Takes Off," Newsweek, December 14, 1998 Leiby, Richard, "Scientologists Plot City Takeover," Clearwater Sun, March 11, 1979 ---. "Cult Tried to Control Newspaper," Clearwater Sun, November 24, 1979 ---. "Cover Blown, 2 Spies Came in from the Cold," Clearwater Sun, November 27, 1979 ---. "Sect Courses Resemble Science Fiction," Clearwater Sun, August 20, 1981 ---. "Psychiatrist: Sect Drove Man Insane," Clearwater Sun, August 25, 1981 ---. "The Church's War Against Its Critics-and Truth," Washington Post, December 25, 1994 ---. "John Travolta's Alien Notion; He Plays a Strange Creature in a New Sci-Fi Film, but That's Not the Only Thing Curious About This Project," Washington Post, November 28, 1999 Maisel, Albert Q., "Dianetics: Science or Hoax?" Look, December 5, 1950 Mallia, Joseph, "Inside the Church of Scientology," Boston Herald, nine-part series, March 15, 1998 Meiszkowski, Katharine, "Scientology's War on Psychiatry," Salon, July 1, 2005, www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/07/01/sci_psy/?sid= 1361000 Miller, Laura, "Stranger Than Fiction," Salon, June 28, 2005, www.salon.com/books/review/2005/06/28/dianetics/index.html Nakaso, Dan, "In a Town with No Secrets, L. Ron Hubbard Died a Man of Mystery," St. Petersburg Evening Independent, February 1, 1986 Neuffer, Elizabeth, "Scientology Under Siege in Germany: Church Members Face Surveillance for Roles in 'Antidemocratic' Group," Boston Globe, June 7, 1997 "Of Two Minds," Time, July 24, 1950 "Poor Man's Psychoa.n.a.lysis," Newsweek, October 16, 1950 "Remember Venus?" Time, December 22, 1952 Richardson, John, "Catch a Rising Star," Premiere, September 1993 Rigley, Colin, "L. Ron Hubbard's Last Refuge," New Times, May 29, 2009 Ronson, Jon, "After Stanley Kubrick," The Guardian, August 18, 2010 Sappell, Joel, and Robert W. Welkos, "The Courting of Celebrities: Testimonials of the Famous Are Prominent in the Church's Push for Acceptability," Los Angeles Times, June 25, 1990 Smith, L. Christopher, "Scientology's Money Trail," Portfolio, December 2008January 2009 Sommer, Dave, "State Drops Scientology Charges," Tampa Tribune, June 13, 2000 Stafford, Charles, "Special Report: Scientology, an In-Depth Profile of a New Force in Clearwater," St. Petersburg Times, January 9, 1980 Stanley, Alessandra, "Talk Show Rarity: A True Believer's Candor," New York Times, June 25, 2005 Strauss, Neil, "The Pa.s.sion of the Cruise," Rolling Stone, September 2, 2004 Strupp, Joe, "The Press vs. Scientology," Salon, June 30, 2005, www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/06/30/scientology/ Swiatek, Jeff, "Lilly's Legal Tactics Disarmed Legions of Prozac Lawyers," Indianapolis Star, April 23, 2000 Tobin, Thomas, "David Miscavige Speaks," St. Petersburg Times, October 25, 1998 ---. "The Man Behind Scientology," St. Petersburg Times, October 25, 1998 ---."A Place Called Gold," St. Petersburg Times, October 25, 1998 Urban, Hugh, "Fair Game: Secrecy, Security, and the Church of Scientology in Cold War America," Journal of the American Academy of Religion, volume 74, number 2, June 2006, pp. 35689 Verini, James, "Missionary Man," Salon, June 27, 2005, www.salon.com/entertainment/feature/2005/06/27/cruise/index.html Vick, Karl, and David Dahl, "Scientologists Profit from New Members," St. Petersburg Times, October 15, 1993 Waldrip, Cheryl, "Mystery Surrounds Scientologist's Death," Tampa Tribune, December 15, 1996 ---. "Scientologist's Death: A Family Hunts for Answers," Tampa Tribune, December 22, 1996 Wallace, Mike, "The Clearwater Conspiracy," 60 Minutes, CBS, June 1, 1980 ---. "Scientology," 60 Minutes, CBS, December 22, 1985 Waxman, Sharon, "Tom Cruise's Effusive 'Oprah' Appearance Raises Hollywood Eyebrows," New York Times, June 2, 2005 Wright, Lawrence, "The Apostate: Paul Haggis vs. the Church of Scientology," The New Yorker, February 14, 2011 Scientology Publications, Tapes, and DVDs Church of Scientology International, Scientology: Theology and Practice of a Contemporary Religion, Los Angeles: Bridge Publications, 1998 ---. What Is Scientology? Los Angeles: Bridge Publications, 1998 Hubbard, L. Ron, Advanced Procedures and Axioms, Los Angeles: Bridge Publications, 2007 ---. "All About Radiation," Los Angeles: Bridge Publications, 1990 ---. Clear Mind, Clear Body, Los Angeles: Bridge Publications, 2002 ---. Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Heath, Los Angeles: Bridge Publications, 2007 ---. Dianetics and Scientology Technical Dictionary, Los Angeles: Bridge Publications, 1975 ---. The Freedoms of Clear, VHS tape, Golden Era Productions, 1987 ---. 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Acknowledgments.

This book would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of Jann Wenner and Will Dana, my editors at Rolling Stone, who first a.s.signed me a story about Scientology in 2005 and then gave me the time and resources to develop it in a way few editors are willing to do. I am also indebted to the many others at Rolling Stone who offered their guidance and support, notably Sean Woods, Eric Bates, Jodi Peckman, Jim Kaminsky, and Coco McPherson.

My agent, Laurie Liss, was the first person to encourage me to expand my research into a book and helped shape the proposal as well as offer her tireless support and advocacy in the years since. Numerous individuals at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt made this book possible, among them Eamon Dolan and Webster Younce, who acquired the book and were early, and enthusiastic, supporters; the amazing Andrea Schulz, who saw the book from first draft to publication and worked relentlessly to make it the very best it could be; Lisa Glover, who managed production, and Susanna Brougham, who provided expert copyediting; and Christina Morgan, who took care of every other detail. In addition, an extra special thanks is due to Will Blythe, a longtime mentor and friend, for being the rare editor who can take a disorganized pile of pages and give them shape, structure, and depth. I truly could not have written this book without his help.

Of the many former and current Scientologists, academics, and researchers who spoke with me, I am most grateful to the woman I have called "Sandra Mercer"; without her insights, encouragement, and guidance, I would never have understood the first thing about Scientology. I am also deeply indebted to Nancy and Chris Many, who, over countless tuna sandwiches and cans of Diet c.o.ke, educated me about the Sea Organization, provided me with a library of Scientology texts and other doc.u.ments, and offered their house as a refuge and meeting place. A special thank-you also goes to Anne, Jeffrey, and Anthony Aylor; Chuck Beatty; Jason Beghe; Maureen Bolstad; Larry Brennan; Caroline and John Brown; Tanja and Stefan Castle; Neville Chamberlin; Art Cohan; Jana Daniels; Mark Fisher; Steve Hall; Jeff Hawkins; Marc and Claire Headley; Mike Henderson and Donna Shannon; Bruce Hines; Gale Irwin; Don Jason; Jason Knapmeyer; Dan Koon; Sinar Parman; Mat Pesch; DeDe Reisdorf; Glenn Samuels; Amy Scobee; Teresa Summers; Tom De Vocht; Natalie Walet; the late Alan Walter; Kendra Wiseman; Astra Woodcraft; and the many other former and current Scientologists who shared with me their joys, sorrows, fears, hopes, and disappointments during my five years of research into this mysterious and often incomprehensible church. That a number of them still value L. Ron Hubbard's technology, if not the organizational management of the Church of Scientology-and were eager to differentiate between the two-is a testament to the growing number of Scientologists who hope to form an independent, and free, movement. I wish them all the best of luck in doing so.

On the academic front, Drs. Stephen A. Kent and J. Gordon Melton, with their distinctly different views on Scientology, have each spent years painstakingly collecting Scientology's vast trove of doctrine, publications, and other materials; they made that research available to me. I am also deeply indebted to Kristi Wachter, who patiently scanned many of the key doc.u.ments on the Lisa McPherson case and posted them online, and to Mark Bunker, of XenuTV, for his ma.s.sive archive of news and video footage, articles, transcripts, and other materials. In Clearwater, Lee Strope and his colleagues in the law enforcement community proved invaluable when it came to understanding the Lisa McPherson case.

Of the many friends and colleagues who provided a.s.sistance and support, I want to particularly thank my father, Alan Reitman, a meticulous line editor and the man who inspired me to become a journalist and who never ceased to amaze me with his generosity, love, and guidance. Josh Hammer and Shannon Burke read early drafts of the book and offered valuable criticism, as did Richard Leiby, who knows more about Scientology than most journalists and shared his knowledge and insights freely. Nora Connor, my researcher, spent months synthesizing complex legal data and poring over doc.u.ments and transcripts; Alex Provan fact-checked every paragraph; Amelia McDonnell-Parry transcribed my interviews and also organized my office and files-not an easy task. Chris Steffen did additional transcribing and reporting. Raney Aronson at PBS's Frontline and Lisa Santandrea were amazing friends and sounding boards. To all I say thank you.

Finally, Lee Smith, an amazing journalist who understands better than most the emotional and financial costs of this profession, not only insisted I write this book but stuck it out with me through all the years it took me to finish it. Key chapters could not have been completed without his editorial guidance; the entire book could not have been written without his patience, encouragement, and most of all his love. Thank you for enduring ... and Bode, too.

Footnotes

* The issue of Time published on May 6, 1991, bore the cover story "Scientology: The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power," which accused the church of "Mafia-like tactics"; it remains one of the most scathing exposes of the church ever written. In response, Scientology sued Time and the reporter Richard Behar for libel, and lost, though the suit cost the publisher, Time Warner, millions of dollars.

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* Hubbard, an avid Boy Scout, became an Eagle Scout at the age of twelve, making him the youngest Eagle Scout in the country at the time, according to the Church of Scientology.

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* Staff at the New York Times would later tell the biographer Russell Miller that they had no record of ever buying any photographs from Hubbard or making any agreement to do so.

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* The Church of Scientology has long held that L. Ron Hubbard had two war records, one possibly used as a front. In the official record released by the U.S. Department of the Navy, Hubbard's achievements are meager. But church officials have explained this by stating that most of what is in the record is falsified to cover up Hubbard's more sensitive and covert activities as a member of naval Intelligence.

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* In 1969, in response to an investigation by the London Sunday Times into Hubbard's relationship with Parsons, the Church of Scientology issued a statement explaining that Hubbard had been sent to 1003 South Orange Grove Avenue by U.S. Naval Intelligence, a.s.signed to infiltrate and break up a so-called black magic cult. The church gave as evidence the fact that the Agape Lodge ultimately dissolved and that a number of high-ranking physicists a.s.sociated with Parsons were ultimately put on a U.S. "enemies list" and stripped of security clearance. A few historical facts support this claim: by the 1940s, a widespread anti-cult campaign was sweeping the country, and numerous groups and individuals suspected of cult activity, including Parsons, had been investigated by the FBI. But, as many of Hubbard's critics have pointed out, no evidence substantiates the claim that he was a.s.signed intelligence work, and though, because of his odd activities, Parsons's FBI file had grown quite thick, he retained top-secret security clearance until his death in 1952. Hubbard is not mentioned in connection to Parsons in any FBI papers.

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* No evidence has been found in Hubbard's medical records to suggest he was ever crippled or blinded in World War II, or at any other time.

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* Though Hubbard had been discharged from active duty in the navy, he remained a commissioned officer until October 30, 1950.

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* With the halcyon days of the Parsonage at an end, Parsons and Marjorie Cameron moved into a smaller house in Pasadena. In 1952, at the age of thirty-six, Parsons was killed in a mysterious chemical explosion in his garage. It was, as many have noted, a fitting way for a black magician to die.

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* Polly filed for divorce in 1947, still unaware that Hubbard had remarried. Later that year, he scandalized his parents by bringing Sara to Washington, where they settled, briefly, into the house he and Polly, and their two children, had once shared. The divorce was finalized in 1948.

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* This is an actual scientific term defined by Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary as "a hypothetical change in neural tissue postulated in order to account for persistence of memory called also memory trace."

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* In his first edition of Dianetics, Hubbard acknowledged "fifty thousand years of thinking men without whose speculations and observations the creation and construction of Dianetics would not have been possible," giving particular credit to "Anaxagoras, Thomas Paine, Aristotle, Thomas Jefferson, Socrates, Rene Descartes, Plato, James Clerk Maxwell, Euclid, Charcot, Lucretius, Herbert Spencer, Roger Bacon, William James, Francis Bacon, Sigmund Freud, Isaac Newton, van Leeuwenhoek, Cmdr. Joseph Thompson (MC) USN, William A. White, Voltaire, Will Durant, Count Alfred Korzybski, and my instructors in atomic and molecular phenomena, mathematics and the humanities at George Washington University and at Princeton." Later editions of the book, however, do not carry this acknowledgment.

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