Is that a thetan in your pocket or are you just happy to see that picture of LRH?

For years now we've been hearing horror stories from high ranking and no ranking defectors of Scientology and they all match up. The church can call them liars all they want, but I believe every single word. Most of what you read in Jenna Miscavige Hill's book will not surprise you, it's not like you haven't heard the stories of slave labor, physical and psychological abuse, the poor living conditions and of the forced disconnects with family and friends. What did surprise me was that angry midget leader David Miscavige's own niece wasn't treated any better than her fellow cult members, but then neither were her parents. You'd think that the man at the top would be desperate for his whole family to be so into Scientology that he would have had them all treated like royalty. A united family front would have worked in his favor and had given the public the illusion that he was actually loved. I guess when you're that power hungry and a narcissistic asshole to boot the only things that matter to you are how high you can get your lifts before it looks like you're wearing lifts and who your OT Clear BFF Tom Cruise is dating. Oh and I forgot to mention how much money your "church" is bleeding its members dry of to continue to support your lavish lifestyle. 

At an early age Jenna was thrown to the wolves at a desert hell hole called The Ranch. The Ranch was a place that Sea Org members with children stowed their children away like so much old luggage. While the adults were away at their slave labor posts, their children were providing free labor to renovate and beautify the ranch. In exchange for room and board they were expected to sign a billion year contract for their services, continue their slave labor, received little to no education, were yelled at and humiliated in front of others and given meager meals. 

As the years passed Jenna would lose her family, not that this made much of an impact because technically she had lost them several years before, be punished and humiliated several times. Most of the punishments she would receive would be over stupid things like being friends with kitchen workers and liking a boy who wasn't in the same program as her. Her parents eventually left the "church" but she wanted to stay behind. As shocking as that decision to make was, it made sense at the time. All she knew was what her parents had forced onto her and she wasn't educated enough for public school and knew she would be labeled stupid and odd. That decision worked in her favor as she met her husband and had two children with him. If they would have stayed in Sea Org not only would they have been separated for years on end but having children would have been forbidden. 

Thankfully Jenna got out, it was difficult but she and her husband made it. Now she's helping other ex members of the church rebuild their lives and she helps run a website devoted to sharing the bad word on Scientology and all that it does not stand for. 

Bonus, here's an old commercial for Dianetics, the bullshit guide to life that conman extordinaire L. Ron Hubbard built his church of fear and lies on.