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Wright鈥檚 portrait of L. Ron Hubbard shows a man best described as 鈥渕alignantly narcissistic鈥�. His creations, Dianetics and Scientology, were designed to make him rich and famous. He used his tremendous charisma for his own personal glory with no concern for who was hurt. In his frequent tantrums and paranoia, he would do everything and anything to destroy his perceived enemies. His policy was never to admit fault and always attack the attacker. This modus operandi would persist in Scientology long after its founder was gone. Hubbard was probably more delusional than a purposeful fraud. His denatured psyche was exacerbated by heavy alcohol and drug use.

A prolific science fiction writer Hubbard latched onto the psychology of the unconscious which was popular in the 1940鈥檚 and 50鈥檚. In vogue was the idea of repressed memories. This formed the basis for Dianetics, which put forward techniques for recovering those memories to cure physical illness and mental trauma. Although inspired by themes popular in psychiatry at the time, Hubbard considered psychiatry the antithesis of his approach. The rejection of psychiatry and drug therapies for mental illness became a fundamental tenet of Scientology. Hubbard鈥檚 book, Dianetics, hit the New York Times best seller list in 1950 but after a year or so faded from prominence. Hubbard had trained 鈥渁uditors鈥� with specific interrogational methods based on the book. But after being trained the auditors usually struck out on their own and Hubbard鈥檚 income from the book and training fees declined.

Hubbard then hit on the idea of past lives. If memories could be recovered from childhood, even the womb, then why not before? This time he would build in recurring income by declaring his 鈥渟cience鈥� a religion, Scientology. As time went on he would add more and more layers including fantastical descriptions of four quadrillion year old planets and expelled souls known as body thetans that were banished to earth where they would come to inhabit the bodies of humans. Scientology considers people to be thetans that inhabit a human body. However the expelled disincarnate body thetans may also try to inhabit the same body causing mental trauma. Of course, Scientology has practices to expel these hangers on.

Through his ability to identify and recruit people he could personally control to do his bidding, Hubbard built his church and amassed great wealth despite numerous episodes of bizarre behavior. He created an elaborate organization with missionaries, enforcers (the Guardians) and a loyal staff (the Sea Org). The Sea Org was so named because of the many years Hubbard and his entourage spent at sea on his fleet of three ships that went from port to port as necessary to escape legal trouble from country after country. Hubbard married three times and was married to two women at the same time. Mary Sue, his third wife, an excellent administrator was put in charge of the Guardian鈥檚 Office with the mission to protect the organization through intelligence gathering and covert action. The Guardian鈥檚 Office would be a mainstay of Scientology operations that would be used to uncover opponents鈥� weaknesses and discredit or destroy them. Hubbard died at 74 after years of heavy smoking, drug and alcohol abuse in 1986. A young intense David Miscavige was able to wrest control from other contenders and take control of the church.

Miscavige built on Hubbard鈥檚 autocratic legacy employing the same bullying tactics to intimidate members into strict compliance with church doctrine as he defined it. Through 鈥渁uditing鈥�, which in Scientology requires confession of church defined wrongdoing that incudes things like adultery and homosexuality, personal information on members was compiled that could and would be used for blackmail as needed. Members who took stands against the church often had to abandon friends and family if they were deemed 鈥淪P鈥檚鈥�, Suppressive Persons, or a 鈥淧TS鈥�, Personal Trouble Source. Those in the Sea Org signed a billion-year contract of service and were tightly controlled facing severe punishments for any perceived disloyalty or infraction of the rules. Disobedience or poor performance could mean assignment to the 鈥淩PF鈥�, Rehabilitation Project Force, where they often were housed and fed in subhuman conditions and forced to do dangerous work for hours or simply to perform senseless humiliating tasks. Escape was difficult and many were trapped simply by their own strong belief in Scientology. Those who did leave the church were handed huge bills for services the church had provided and ostracized by their Scientology friends. As a cult, this was a tight-knit community and most members鈥� close relationships were with other members as were many of their work relationships. Thus exclusion had economic as well as social consequences.

Hubbard and Miscavige recognized the value of celebrities. Thus they were targeted for membership and commensurate with their prominence held to looser standards and catered to. Most notable were Tom Cruise and John Travolta, but there were many others forming an influential Hollywood entertainment community that could be used to attract members and make leaving difficult for those having second thoughts. Members formed close connections and the Hollywood community was no exception influencing casting and other decisions important to aspiring actors. One who did leave and called out Scientology as a cult was screenwriter and producer Paul Haggis. Even more outspoken in his criticism was actor Jason Beghe. Their revelations about the inner workings of Scientology put Scientology鈥檚 controlling and intimidating practices into the spotlight.

I read Going Clear while on a trip in the Los Angeles area and drove by the Scientology Information Center on Hollywood Boulevard with its huge sign attracting newcomers. Later that day I passed by another sign proclaiming, 鈥淚 believe then I see.鈥� This struck me as the perfect description for the way Scientologists process information from the world outside the church. Once they have bought in it is very difficult for them to change their mind. Not just because of intimidation but also because their commitment is so strong. Their minds automatically filter out everything not compatible with their beliefs. Scientology reinforces this by providing its own information sources to members and strongly discouraging outside sources. The success of cults like Scientology is very disturbing. That so many people can be controlled this way says something about the human psyche that is scary. Wright鈥檚 book documents how this works and in this way the book is important beyond its expose of Scientology. We learn just how effective cult leaders like Hubbard and Miscavige can be and how vulnerable so many among us are to these predators. Very highly recommended.