Troublemaker

In one of those few books that I've read in the past 4 years, I found a bit of insight. Fundamentalist religion has common factors. While I don't think The Church I Attended (TCIA) was as fanatical or as controlling as the Church of Scientology, I found comparisons that made me uncomfortable.

Leah Remini is one of my favorite actresses. I've always been attracted to women who speak their mind and with her, I don't think there would be any ambiguity in what her opinion is. Plus, she's a beautiful woman. Hey, I'm a guy. In any case, looking at her life in Scientology brought a few similarities. The unfailing need for the authority to be respected. You can do almost anything, but you must acknowledge and acquiesce to their authority. The non-transparency of the money donated and what it is spent upon. The money needed to gain salvation. While TCIA doesn't make one pay to be taught or require frequent trips to certain locations for training, it does have temples where you must donate 10% of you income in order to attend. If you don't pay 10%, you don't get in to receive the higher ordinances.

The lack of depth of the relationships that the church fostered was a similarity too. The only people that contacted me when I stopped attending was leadership. No other personal contact was continued. My wife's experience is a bit different. She has had contact and for that I am appreciative. My complaints were never against the local membership but the actions of the leadership throughout the history. I love the people I attended church with. Now, I didn't seek them out either. I didn't want to have any arguements or complications from my leaving.

I won't go into any more comparisons, as I think Scientology is its own kind of mind-f**k but there were some similarities, some of them quite strong. I'll let the reader decide.

As a point of reference, I have a Dianetics book, one of the first written by L. Ron Hubbard (LRH) but as of this writing, I have not read it. I have watched the movie "Going Clear" that HBO had produced in 2015 and there where many knowing glances between my wife and I during that viewing. I also have read some of the fiction by LRH and I was entertained to a degree. Certainly he wasn't the best author I had read.