Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion

Scientology, created in 1954 by pulp sf writer L. Ron Hubbard, claims to be the world’s fastest growing religion, with millions of members & huge financial holdings. Celebrity believers keep its profile high. Teams of volunteer ministers offer aid at disaster sites like Haiti & the World Trade Center. But Scientology is also a very closed faith, harassing journalists & others thru litigation & intimidation, even infiltrating high levels of the government to further its goals. Its attacks on psychiatry & its requirement that believers pay as much as tens, even hundreds of thousands of dollars for salvation have drawn scrutiny & skepticism. Ex-members use the Internet to share stories of harassment & abuse. Reitman offers the 1st full journalistic history of the Church of Scientology, in an evenhanded account that establishes the truth about the controversial religion. She traces Scientology’s development from the birth of Dianetics to today, following its metamorphosis from a pseudoscientific self-help group to a global spiritual corporation with profound control over its followers & ex-followers. Based on five years of research, unprecedented access to Church officials, confidential documents & extensive interviews with current & former members, this is a defining book about a little-known world.