"Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, & The Prison of Belief" by Lawrence Wright
General overview:
The book “Going Clear” by Lawrence Wright discusses an
in-depth look of Scientology and what this type of cult-like religion is about.
The first part of the book describes the founder of Scientology named L. Ron
Hubbard. Hubbard invented Scientology through his work as a science-fiction
writer. Wright describes Hubbard as someone who was suffering from mental
illness and was abusive toward his family. His reasons for creating Scientology
were to make everyone seem like he was creating a better life to the surface
for anyone who joined, and not letting them understand the true meaning of
Scientology until they had spent some time in to learn about a science-fiction
sounding story with a galactic overlord named Xenu. His other reason for
creating Scientology was part of a scheme that would make him and his religion
very wealthy by taking payments from members of the group. Hubbard welcomed
celebrities to join Scientology to use them to expand both financially and
using them as spokespersons. Celebrities such as John Travolta and Tom Cruise
have been known members of Scientology.
After Hubbard passed away a new leader named David
Miscavige replaces him as the new face of Scientology. Miscavige carries the
torch and stands by everything that Hubbard believed in. Once Miscavige takes
over, the reader gets more of an insight into how members of the church are
treated. Children that belong to the church are forced to work for them and not
go to school. Ex-members of the group described Miscavige as causing physical
harm and immoral punishments to anyone that questioned the beliefs of the
church. If family members were shunned from the church or deemed a suppressive
person, their families have to disconnect from them as well. Miscavige would
attack anyone to better Scientology, especially the IRS to make their organization
tax free. Though they declared their organization as a nonprofit, it is hard to
believe this to be true as of all the money they acquire and spend. Miscavige
was able to succeed in getting what he wanted through the church being
protected under the first amendment and brainwashing all members into giving
the church donations, and in return, they have the answer to everything these
members could ask for.
Favorite Part:
My favorite part of the book was the clear indication
that the members and celebrities like Tom Cruise were being brainwashed by having
the leader of Scientology make them believe anything they wanted. The overall
goal of Scientology was to give the illusion that anyone who joined would be
saved and people saw the answers to issues so vivid and clearly. Behind the
scenes, the church would eventually corrupt them. The part about controlling
the members was my favorite because the reader discovers the intentions of the
church, and how they plan to use their manipulation for the greater good of
Scientology. This is the part where the cult-like behavior appeared more
dominant.
I thought it
was interesting to see the steps these leaders of Scientology took and how they
manipulated the members to get exactly what they wanted. They state an issue
that relates to the specific member and how they can fix that problem. They
claim they have all answers, and they can cure mental illness or an answer to
anything wrong in the world such as war and violence. They keep hidden the
upper tiers of the religion to make people believe there is an ultimate answer
that the average individual could not handle yet. The organization then has its
members so brainwashed that they feel obligated to give donations to
Scientology of thousands of dollars. People even accept getting punishments and
beatings from this church. This part aligns with what we learned in various
lecture slides of someone who believes myths to be true such as using tricks to
believe in a creature or an illusion that one has psychic abilities.
Related:
The book Going Clear relates to our lecture of using
ten percent of our brains and out of body experiences. On top of the variety of
beliefs and practices they perform, Scientology’s main belief is that humans
are immortal. It is discussed that the spiritual being of Thetan is the spirit
of the body and commands the vessel. Scientology also believes that individuals
have suppressed power, like the idea of people only using ten percent of their
brain. The church believes that they can gain their full potential if they are
cleared of impurities, like the idea of becoming perfect versions of themselves
by activating a higher percentage of brain power. Much like explaining the real
reason behind telekinetic ability, taking away the tricks and illusion and you
are left with the truth. Scientology claims to be backed by factual information
but there is nothing that is compatible with scientific method.
Creative:
Below is a link to a screencast of the website of
Scientology. I delved deeper into how they reach out to new members of the
group. It is interesting to see how positive everything is on their website and
how it is straight forward that they have the answers to fix common issues in
the world. Much like what Lawrence Wright was explaining in the book. Their
intentions are to bait in new members by showing positivity and by joining
Scientology, all problems will be solved. I have also included a link that
discusses some facts of Scientology and the type of scary cult that it is.
Facts of Scientology as a cult
Extension:
Thinking of this book outside of class, it brings up a
real-world problem which in this case that many people seek things to make them
feel better, things that make sense to them, or ways that they can benefit and
get a sense of belonging. Scientology wants people to believe that they have
all the answers to many unsolved questions and issues to the world. We as
individuals need to find answers and seek help when we are struggling. If
something seems too good to be true, then it usually is. Scientology touches on
current issues in the world like relating to people with mental health issues
and drug abuse problems. They want the public to believe that their
organization can cure people struggling with mental health and other issues
they face in the world. What is crucial is the public need to see through this
scheme and know that cult organizations like this are not really interested in
bettering the lives of others. They are filled with greed and only want to
benefit themselves, as well as their organization. The evidence that backs up
David Miscavige and Scientology’s great is the net worth of being worth at
least one billion dollars.
Going Clear by
Lawrence Wright can help solve the current issue because it calls out
Scientology for the cult that it is and ensure that the past members voices are
heard about the lies, abuse, corruption, and manipulation that is behind Scientology
and David Miscavige. There are many organizations and affiliations like
Scientology in the world, and Lawrence Wright addressed the issue at hand with
Scientology through the book Going Clear.
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