The Apostate

by Lawrence Wright

This has to be one of the best articles I've read in the New Yorker in months.  Lawrence Wright, in twenty-six full pages, thoroughly examines Scientology.  The article is centred on Paul Haggis, a filmmaker who has recently decided to leave the church after some thirty-four years in the organization.

Wright does not limit his reporting to Haggis's story though.  Instead, he digs into the history of the religion, the myths surrounding its founder, L. Ron Hubbard, and layer upon layer of hypocrisy and deception.

Again and again, we read stories of Scientologists being assaulted by David Miscavige, the head of the organization.  We also learn about people held in confinement for years on the Gold Base, the headquarters of the Sea Org, the militant branch of the faith (where teenagers sign billion-year contracts to work for slave wages).

Much of what Wright reveals about Scientology is deeply bizarre, even to someone who has seen the episode of South Park where Scientology is eviscerated.  The intergalactic cosmology of the faith is ridiculous, but even stranger is the willingness of educated, talented people, to buy in to this stuff.  At the same time though, Wright makes some of the tenets of the faith, such as the way people can apply Scientology to disagreements and debates, fully credible.

I'm sure that the New Yorker is going to receive a lot of flack from the Church for printing this article, but I feel that in addition to being a stunning piece of reportage, it is important to expose this 'faith' for the cult that it is.