Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape

It could have been about a hundred pages shorter, and it's awkwardly written, but the story of Jenna Miscavige Hill's life as a second-generation Scientologist should be read by anyone who wants to understand what it is like to grow up in this dangerous, soul-crushing group. Ms. Hill is the niece of the current leader, David Miscavige. Despite her family connections, or maybe because of them, Hill's growing-up years as a "staff" Scientologist were marked by bad food, little sleep or medical care, manual labor, arbitrary orders, and perhaps most tellingly, superiors yelling--all the time. It's amazing she turned out as well-adjusted as she seems to be.

I find certain religions and cults interesting. I want to understand how they attract people, what they actually do, what makes them cults. I am especially interested in Scientology. From the outside it seems insane, but getting into it may not seem that way at all.

When I was in my twenties I lived in Los Angeles and visited Hollywood frequently, with my friends. A familiar sight was the Scientology storefront, where people tried to draw people in to try out their "auditing". I have a vague memory of actually trying this once but I cannot recall any details so I may have simply thought about it. I could see, though, that it might be appealing: come in and find out more about yourself and what is keeping you from being more than you are. show more And do it for free! At least that was the initial pitch. Most of us know now that Scientology really rips you off. Many people go deeply into debt to climb the "bridge" to greater understanding of themselves and the world.

But that isn't what this book is about, at least not primarily. Jenna Miscavige Hill is the niece of the current leader of Scientology, David Miscavige. Her parents were heavily into the religion and this meant that, at a very young age, Jenna found herself on "the Ranch" in the Los Angeles area, with other children. The Ranch had been recently acquired and needed a lot of work. The children were there, ostensibly, to become good persons and good Scientologists. But their real purpose appeared to be used as workers. Some say slaves.

Jenna, as a young child, worked long hours, doing hard physical work, and also went to school as defined by the church. She learned basics but the main courses were related to the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology. And as further implemented by the current leaders of the church, particularly Miscavige.

In this memoir, Jenna reveals in remarkable detail what her days were like, how her work changed as she aged, and how she landed in Florida for special training before she was even a teen. Her entire young life was spent within the walls of Scientology, both physically and spiritually. Members of the church, particularly members of the Sea Org, the prestigious top level of membership, were discouraged from having friendships with persons in the outside world. Thus Jenna knew only Scientologists and studied only Scientology. Thus she believed the fundamental teachings: that she was a "Thetan" - an otherworldly creature who is essentially immortal, as Thetans acquire new lives when the old are worn out; and that "Clearing" is the primary purpose of the church. Clearing is the perfection of a person, essentially, leading to no more wars, sicknesses, and so on, and clearing is done by way of intense auditing.

Jenna learned that the path was not straightforward. In fact, at times she had to repeat courses somewhat on the whim of others. She held onto the belief that the auditing would make her a better person, and she loved hearing stories from others who said it did just that, that they were so grateful.

One of the commonalities of cults is the belief that members are creating a better world. This is what drives them to work extra-long hours for little or no pay, to sacrifice friendships and family as needed. It is for the greater good. Jenna saw this particularly in her mother, who was always away, and when they were together she had little time for her children. Or her husband. But she had a top-level position and was held in high regard. Jenna admired her and wanted to be like her.

Over time, though, the cracks started to show. It took a long time for Jenna to see them clearly and to find a way out of the church. At times I became impatient with all the details and wanted her to jump, but all that she went through, both as a regular student and as a relative of the leader, is revealing and filled in some blanks for me.

It isn't the most riveting of memoirs but it grabbed me enough to cause me to wolf it down in two days. show less

I don't normally read memoirs of celebrities or other people who were made known by public media. I feel that a person’s memoir shouldn’t be read as an entertainment, but as something that one could learn a few life lessons from. But, I need to read the newest Scientology Book [b:Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief|16142053|Going Clear Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief|Lawrence Wright|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358119149s/16142053.jpg|21973918] for a group discussion, and figured that this newly published memoir written in a first person account by a previous Scientologist would be a great complement to help my understanding of the organization. I'm so glad I did.

However, as a Chinese show more American whose parents and Grandparents suffered during the Cultural Revolution and Communist reign in China, it absolutely broke my heart to realize that similar practices could happen right here, right now, in our free and democratic country. Many techniques Jenna and her peers had suffered since young was not news for people who recognize them: Uniform dress code, isolation from the public, chanting/singing, vague and fuzzy ideals/doctrines, lack of privacy, controlled and public punishment, peer evaluation/finger-pointing, controlled diet, forced labor/resulted fatigues, metacommunications, mass gatherings, child/physical/mental abuse, personal and public humiliation, impossible and long work to move up the rank.... I could go on and on and on. It's unbelievable what kind of practice could evolve from the misuse of the First Amendment. Reading this book invoked lots of anger in me that I didn't even realize I have.

Putting my own feelings aside. The book was wonderfully written. Jenna Miscavige is the niece of the leader of Scientology, Dave Miscavige. She was born into a Scientology family. Both sides of her grandparents were devoted Scientologists and her parents were leaders in the Sea Org (where the highest rank and most devoted Scientologists belong) with prominent and important jobs. She was raised a Scientologist since birth and was in a children's camp since a toddler until she voluntarily left the organization in her early 20's after her wedding and a fellow Scientologist. Her narrative voice was down to earth, even child-like...which drew me in right from the beginning. She was able to tell the story quite objectively, just like Jeanette Wall's [b:The Glass Castle|7445|The Glass Castle|Jeannette Walls|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348702077s/7445.jpg|2944133], with no self-pity or extreme anger. She laid out all the facts exactly as what they were with no up- or downplaying. Ultimately it's up to each reader to draw his/her own conclusion at the end. show less

I didn't know much about Scientology before reading this book...what I did know was based on "public Scientologists" -- those who live and work in the outside world. This book takes us inside the cult of this movement, the SeaOrg, where people are brainwashed and abused. Children are separated from their parents and live highly regimented lives, with no opportunity to think for themselves.

Jenna Miscavige Hill's story is that of a true insider; her uncle is the head of Scientology, having replaced L. Ron Hubbard, the founder. We see Jenna's life and her attempts to reconcile with Scientology, and ultimately her realization that she cannot accept that philosophy any more. Which means she has to leave. Which means she'll be isolated from show more her family and the only friends she's ever known. A remarkable story, told with much honesty. show less

Beyond Belief is an interesting read. The four star rating is for content. This is not a perfectly authored book but it is an incredibly honest and detailed look at the cult of Scientology. I would add this statement as a rider: if you are a Scientologist, you can consider me a suppressed person and not bother to email me a litany of verbal abuse about my opinion and your support of Scientology. I fully admit to not only not believing in it but viewing it as a pernicious abusive cult.

One thing this book cleared up for me was why celebrities seem to be attracted to it. Essentially it is because the heavy handed rules, security measures and abuses don’t happen to them because of the huge amounts of money they donate to the cause and the show more celebrity scientology center which is a long way from what the average member sees and experiences.

Sadly, the woman brought up in this cult, Jenna Miscavige Hill, started out as a child when her parents and grandparents became heavy Scientologists in the early 1970’s. She is also the niece of David Miscavige, who was mentored by L. Ron Hubbard and is currently the head of Scientology.

Although they call this a church, I am of the firm belief that their 501 status should be revoked immediately. They basically get as much money as possible and those in the upper echelons of the cult live high on the hog while those below live in substandard conditions – food, shelter and clothing. They are grossly underpaid for the work they do and that work is not just foisted on the adults but on the children as well. Incredibly, this woman worked as the medical officer at what Scientologists called “The Ranch” but which was essentially a child labor camp. She was seven years old.

The inner workings are exposed in this book and they are bizarre to say the least. Everything from addressing both males and females as Mr. and Sir, to splitting up families – parents from children and husbands from wives. Classic brainwashing tactics. Divide and conquer. There is hard labor and physical abuse as punishments, endless auditing sessions which are really used to obtain secrets about individuals to be used at a later date when individuals start to realize what is actually happening.

Indirectly, it even explains what happened with Tom Cruise and his two marriages. When the upper echelons of Scientology realized that Nicole Kidman, whose father was a psychologist, started to succeed in the deprogramming of Tom Cruise, he was immediately grabbed by David Miscavige and his marriage was dissolved and the children they adopted taken and brought into Scientology to be influenced to stay away from her. The same thing was happening to Katie Holmes who contacted her father to remove she and her daughter from the clutches of the cult.

This woman went through hell and it took her years to separate from the cult even though they made every attempt to keep her there. Her parents, siblings and grandparents have all left Scientology and after she was gone with her husband, whose parents are still public Scientologists, she was informed of many of the abuses and the controls she was subjected to by her uncle and others in the cult.

The book is contains an intricate glossary of Scientology terms as well. There are some that are made up words and sound ridiculous when rolled around on the tongue. My favorite was “enturbulated” which supposedly equates with being upset.

I can certainly say this after reading this book: L Ron Hubbard was an amazing cult leader and con man. He was able to invent the craziest movement ever, get it a nonprofit status and call it a church (which it bears no resemblance to whatsoever) and keep it going long after his death by telling members he would be back in a new body and that they needed to sign a contract for a billion years. I feel terrible for those whose lives have become enmeshed with this cult and who have lost family members and friends to it.

Good has come out of it. Jenna, her husband and others who have successfully left, have started speaking out and providing support for others. Those folks are going to need it. show less

Summary: Ms. Hill describes growing up within the inner echelons of Scientology. How, at first, she was fully indoctrinated (brainwashed, as she later called it), but after much emotional abuse she realized the church was not for her. She became an advocate for those who also escaped the inner echelons of Scientology, which (if her description is accurate) can only be described as a cult.

My Thoughts: This book was an eye-opener for me. I try not to call any religion a cult, even though I read Dianetics at one point and felt that it was very silly indeed. But if Ms. Hill’s descriptions are accurate (I also tend to take the descriptions of former members of churches with a grain of salt), Scientology is indeed a cult. And a fairly show more abusive one at that. I enjoyed listening to Jenna’s journey from indoctrination to disillusionment, and was emotionally involved in whether she would escape with any semblance of a family life. show less

I've been fascinated by cults since I was in my early teens but never gave them much thought. I have known about Scientology for a while now but, again, never really tried to find out more about them. Coming across this book, however, really pulled me into trying to understand how this so-called religion could exist even as I struggled to understand why and how anyone would want to be a part of it.
Jenna's story really is unbelievable but also quite frightening. To think that people - much less children- are led to be treated as horribly as that all in the name of the greater good?! There is some serious kool-aid addiction to behave that way and think that it isn't wrong!
Quite an eye-opening saga...