All language subtitles for Americas.Book.Of.Secrets.S03E01_English

>> NARRATOR: It is one of the

most secret organizations in

America...

>> MARK RATHBUN: You want to

talk about secrets?

These people are the ne plus

ultra of secrets.

>> NARRATOR: ...and boasts more

than 100,000 faithful followers

throughout the world.

>> J. GORDON MEL They are

trying to save all humankind.

>> NARRATOR: For some, it is a

cult.

>> MARC HEADLEY: When you hear

about people that have "escaped

from Scientology," they really

did escape.

>> NARRATOR: To its members,

it's a way of life, a religion

based on the cosmic revelations

of an inspired genius.

>> ORTEGA: Everything in

Scientology is about you

discovering the universe within

yourself.

>> NARRATOR: But what exactly is

Scientology?

>> JENNA MISCAVIGE HILL: All

Scientologists are definitely

not equal.

>> NARRATOR: And what is its

ultimate plan?

>> RICK ROSS: Scientologists see

their mission as clearing the

planet.

>> NARRATOR: There are those

who believe in the existence

of a book.

A book that contains the most

highly guarded secrets of the

United States of America.

A book... whose very existence

is known to only a select few.

But if such a book exists,

what would it contain?

Secret origins?

Secret membership?

Secret agendas?

Does there really exist

America's Book of Secrets?

Hollywood, California.

July 11, 2013.

Actress Leah Remini publically

quits the Church of Scientology

and ignites a major scandal for

the already notorious

organization.

The firestorm of controversy

escalates when journalist Tony

Ortega breaks the news that

Remini had also filed a missing

person report for the wife of

Scientology's leader, David

Miscavige.

According to Remini, Miscavige's

wife, Shelly, had not been seen

in public for more than six

years.

(plane whirring)

>> ORTEGA: This was somebody

that used to run Scientology.

Where did she go?

I mean, how can the lea... how

can the wife of the leader of a

worldwide, billion-dollar

organization just vanish?

I broke the news on a Thursday

morning.

By that Thursday afternoon, the

LAPD was telling reporters, "No,

no, no, we've talked to her.

She's fine.

Case closed."

>> NARRATOR: But the Church of

Scientology's secrecy is not

unique to this case.

In fact, much of what is known

about the mysterious

organization is speculation,

including the size of its

membership.

>> ORTEGA: I heard the other day

Kirstie Alley claimed 20

million.

They've always exaggerated their

membership.

>> NARRATOR: But regardless of

its size, the Church of

Scientology is unquestionably a

wealthy and influential

institution.

>> ROSS: The Church has vast

resources.

I mean, we're talking about an

organization that is worth

billns, with an annual income

measured in not tens of millions

but hundreds of millions of

dollars.

>> NARRATOR: In addition to its

vast real estate holdings in Los

Angeles, the Southern

California-based organization

also owns billions of dollars

worth of property all over the

world, including the $100

million Super Power Building

in Clearwater, Florida, and the

massive Church of Spiritual

Technology, known as Trementina

Base, in New Mexico.

The Church's headquarters, which

insiders refer to as Gold Base,

is situated on a 700-acre

compound 90 miles from Los

Angeles.

It includes a multimillion-

dollar mansion and even a film

studio.

Strictly off-limits to

outsiders, the compound is

reportedly protected by spiked

fences and hidden bunkers.

Here, the Church leaders, known

as Sea Org, are protected from

outside influences.

>> MELTON: The Church of

Scientology is run by a-a group

of people who are essentially

monks.

>> RATHBUN: Sea Org is akin to

their priesthood.

The people who are in it don't

really interface with the

outside public except as they

deliver services to

Scientologists.

The vast majority of Sea Org

members are not permitted to

read newspapers.

They're not permitted to go on

the Internet.

They're completely cloistered

from the outside world.

>> NARRATOR: But while the

Church often boasts that it is

the fastest growing new religion

in the world, an increasing

number of former members, like

Jenna Miscavige Hill, the niece

of Scientology leader David

Miscavige, have denounced the

organization.

>> HILL: This blue building

right behind me is the Pacific

headquarters for Scientology.

I can see how it could look like

a benign environment, with the

big cross on the top, but the

reality of what goes on in there

is completely different.

>> L. RON HUBBARD: I am studying

ancient civilizations, trying to

find what happened to them.

>> NARRATOR: Founded in 1952 by

a modestly successful science

fiction writer by the name of L.

Ron Hubbard, Scientology was

controversial from the very

beginning.

>> ROSS: Some people considered

L. Ron Hubbard a messiah.

Other people called him a

madman.

>> JAMIE DeWOLF: L. Ron Hubbard

is my great-grandfather on my

mother's side.

It's dangerous for me even to

sit here and to talk about him.

Um, I'm the only one in my

family that will.

L. Ron was a natural born

storyteller, one of the most

prolific writers, easily, of the

last century, and famously was

able to write books in an hour

in any genre while the

publishers were downstairs in

the hotel lobby.

And that led, very successfully,

into a science fiction career.

>> NARRATOR: In 1950, Hubbard's

literary success peaked with a

self-help book entitled,

Dianetics: The Modern Science

of Mental Health.

It made The New York Times Best

Seller list and was so popular

it virtually launched the

self-help industry.

But just how and why did Hubbard

turn his popular book into a

worldwide religion?

>> ORTEGA: Hubbard, from the

beginning, was saying, "If you

follow my counseling, you're

gonna be impervious to disease,

you're gonna have total recall,

you're gonna be this superhuman

being."

The government didn't like that.

He realized that if he kept

calling it a science that he

was gonna run into big trouble.

And so in 1953, he started

talking to a follower about,

"Maybe we should try the

'religion' angle."

>> NARRATOR: Hubbard allegedly

told several people, including

his agent, Forrest J Ackerman,

that by starting a new religion

based on Dianetics, he and the

other founding members could get

rich.

>> BRIAN FORBES: Forrest

Ackerman told me that L. Ron

Hubbard told him point-blank

that if you want to make a lot

of money, create a religion.

That's how you do it.

>> NARRATOR: But when Hubbard

created the Church of

Scientology, he expanded on the

principles of Dianetics by

adding a secret spiritual

doctrine, one that would only be

revealed to members who followed

a strict series of steps.

But why?

>> HILL: The secretiveness, um,

if you're a member, sort of adds

to its allure.

Um, it helps to keep you

interested, and it's like...

once you achieve one step,

there's always another step that

you don't know about that you're

not allowed to know about until

you're at that level.

You're taught that if those are

revealed to you before you're

ready, then you can die.

>> NARRATOR: Scientology's

spiritual path, called the

"Bridge to Total Freedom,"

starts by erasing the so-called

"reactive mind" until one

reaches a state known as

"clear."

>> ROSS: Scientologists see

their mission as clearing the

planet.

And what they mean by that is

clearing the negative reactive

mind through the technology.

And they believe that,

person by person, they will

change the world.

They will make it free of

insanity, free of criminal

activity, a better place for

everyone to live.

>> NARRATOR: Once members are

"clear," they're encouraged to

work their way up to becoming an

Operating Thetan and slowly

release supernatural powers

which Hubbard claimed were

trapped within.

Members do not pray to climb the

Bridge.

They must take classes and

undergo audits, the spiritual

equivalent of religious

services.

>> HILL: Unlike any other Church

in the world, everybody has to

pay to do services, and they're

not cheap.

>> ORTEGA: The first course will

only cost you $50, but by the

time you get to the top of the

Bridge, you're paying up to

$1,000 an hour for counseling.

>> J. GORDON MELTON: It's really

for the individual to judge if

the amount of money that they

paid for those classes is worth

the help they receive.

The Church of Scientology is a

religion in the fullest sense of

the word, so they are trying to

save all of humankind, uh, save

the world, as it were.

>> PROTESTER: Knowledge is free!

>> NARRATOR: But according to

its critics, the high cost of

Scientology also forces the

question about whether it is

sincere in propagating an

enlightened spiritual

philosophy.

Or is it really all about

money?

>> MARK EBNER: None of these

human beings that have paid all

that money and gotten so far in

Scientology have been gifted

with any of the "quote unquote"

superpowers that were promised

to them.

>> NARRATOR: But despite the

frequent allegations of it being

a money-making scheme, the

Church of Scientology continues

to thrive, especially in

Hollywood.

But why?

What is it about this

organization that attracts so

many prominent celebrities?

>> NARRATOR: As Scientology was

virtually founded in Hollywood,

today it is virtually funded

by it.

Of the thousands of members who

live and work in and around

Southern California, many are

prominent players in the film

and television industry.

And although some prefer to

remain in the shadows, there are

many who are quite open in their

advocacy.

>> MAN: Get back, get back.

>> NARRATOR: In addition to Tom

Cruise, the list of prominent

Scientologists includes John

Travolta,

Kirstie Alley,

Greta Van Susteren,

Jenna Elfman,

and Jason Lee.

But just in case anyone thinks

that joining Scientology means

they will soon be rubbing elbows

with the likes of Tom Cruise or

Kirstie Alley, think again.

>> ROSS: There are three primary

levels of Scientologists.

There are the full-timers, the

Sea Organization, the workers.

Then there are the Publics, who

pay for courses and live in the

community.

And then there is this special

tier of celebrities that are

given preferred treatment.

>> HILL: All Scientologists are

definitely not equal.

They have the best-looking

church with their secret

entrances, and they're cared for

by specific handlers.

>> CLAIRE HEADLEY: I had

personal interaction with Tom

Cruise in 2004.

And no expense was spared to see

to it that he was serviced in

every way ssible-- gourmet

meals, beautiful lodgings.

Every effort was made to keep

him happy.

>> NARRATOR: But just how and

why did Scientology become so

entrenched in Hollywood?

>> EBNER: Hubbard was big on

opinion leaders.

He was big on recruiting, uh,

celebrities.

He tried to recruit Walt Disney.

Walt was like, "Uh-uh, no way."

>> ROSS: Celebrities are

important to Scientology because

they are magnets for

recruitment.

>> CLAIRE HEADLEY: They use

their celebrity members in the

extreme to suck people in.

>> NARRATOR: It is also believed

that members who are also

powerful Hollywood writers and

producers can be instrumental in

planting Scientology messages in

numerous films and television

shows.

>> ORTEGA: Battlefield Earth,

uh, was clearly an attempt by

John Travolta to bring a novel

written by L. Ron Hubbard to the

screen in order to spread, uh,

admiration for Hubbard and

ultima Scientology itself.

David Miscavige, the leader of

Scientology, was intimately

involved in the production of

Battlefield Earth.

>> NARRATOR: But just what is

Scientology's appeal in

Hollywood?

Especially considering its

controversial status.

>> ORTEGA: There are few

organizations more dedicated to

narcissism than Scientology.

When you go to a Catholic

church, you're asked to kind of

give up yourself to this larger

purpose.

What Scientology's like is you

sit down with one other person

and they ask you question

after question after question

about what?

You.

Everything in Scientology is

about you discovering the

universe within yourself.

>> ROSS: The acting profession

is tough.

And they seem to be, often, very

vulnerable people.

And so Scientology gives actors

a sense of security, a sense

that, yes, I can control my own

universe.

>> NARRATOR: But just how

powerful is Scientology's hold

over the Hollywood community?

And is there any truth to the

rumor that many actors strike a

kind of devil's bargain in

exchange for Scientology helping

to keep their secrets?

>> ORTEGA: One of the things

that we didn't know, in the

press, was that Tom Cruise was

virtually out of Scientology for

most of the time he was married

to Nicole Kidman.

Then he and Nicole broke up and

Miscavige then made it job one:

we're getting Tom back in.

>> RATHBUN: Some of the more

important projects I worked on

were the recovery of Tom Cruise

back to Scientology and serving

as his personal counselor over a

three- or four-year period.

>> NARRATOR: But in addition to

a celebrity using Scientology to

protect his or her secrets,

could the organization also be

using those secrets to keep

those people firmly under their

control?

>> MARC HEADLEY: One of my jobs,

when I worked for Scientology,

was to install audio-visual

systems, and I installed

hundreds and hundreds of cameras

in counseling rooms that would

record a person who's receiving

counseling.

>> HILL: Every session has a

case supervisor who is behind

the scenes directing every

action that the auditor does.

And those case supervisors are

controlled by some other

executive in Scientology.

>> ORTEGA: David Miscavige is

able to watch some auditing

sessions live from his remote

locations or get recordings of

them and watch them later.

There are decades of court

documents showing that they do

this... that these people give

up their innermost secrets.

>> ROSS: So there is this level

of fear on the part of a person

in Scientology, even

celebrities, that they know

everything, that there are no

boundaries in the auditing

process, which is a kind of

confessional...

and that the notes or the

videotapes of these sessions are

the church property of

Scientology.

And many have said: I was afraid

that they would use the

information that they had on

me and expose me.

>> EBNER: And guess what?

You've sold all your innermost

secrets to Scientology, and

they're building a dossier

on you.

>> NARRATOR: Fear?

Intimidation?

Is that really the way

Scientology keeps their members

tightly in their grip?

Or do they also employ other,

even more secret methods?

Methods that involve control,

not of a member's reputation,

but of their mind.

>> NARRATOR: Los Angeles,

California.December 17, 2005.

The Church of Scientology throws

a grand opening party for its

newest museum-- Psychiatry: An

Industry of Death.

Inside, visitors are presented

with a horror show of

psychiatric treatments gone

wrong.

>> ORTEGA: The story goes that

in 1948, Hubbard had formulated

his ideas, and he approached

the American Psychiatric

Association, says, "Here, I've

discovered how the mind works."

And... they rejected it.

And Hubbard's own personal

hatred for psychiatry then

permeated the organization.

>> MARC HEADLEY: You're

basically taught that

psychiatrists are responsible

for 99% of everything that's

wrong with the... with the

universe.

Not just Earth, but the

universe.

>> ROSS: Some of the things that

they say have gained credence,

such as: some people are

overmedicated.

But make no mistake about it,

Scientology is opposed to the

entire mental health profession.

>> NARRATOR: For most new

recruits, Scientology is

appealing because it promises to

unlock the secrets to their

happiness.

And part of that process

involves conducting what are

called "assessment tests."

>> MARC HEADLEY: You'll have

somebody who is walking down the

street, and he sees a little

table that says "stress test,"

and this guy just broke up with

his girlfriend five minutes ago.

And they say, "Listen, you're

having problems with

relationships.

We've got a course on how you

can handle that."

>> EBNER: I took the personality

test.

They deemed me suicidal.

Said, "Scientology can help you

with that."

They sold me their Scientology

bible Dianetics.

Uh, you know, the money train

started right away, and I

underwent auditing and

everything else.

>> ORTEGA: I've always felt that

what Scientology offers that is

attractive to people is

certainty.

Scientology comes to you and

says: we have all the answers.

We're gonna help you make more

money, we're gonna help your

relationships.

Some of the people I've met who

have left Scientology are among

the smartest people I've ever

met, but when I ask them, "What

was it that got you?"

And every single time, they talk

about being vulnerable.

They have just gone through a

breakup, they just lost a job.

There was something in their

lives that made them look for an

answer and something they could

grab on to.

>> HILL: Their patter is to say,

"Well, Scientology can help you

with that."

They get people at a vulnerable

point, and they bring you in

using that.

>> NARRATOR: Jenna Miscavige

Hill came into Scientology

because her parents were Church

executives.

She was sent to live at a

Scientology boarding school.

>> HILL: Every aspect of our

life at the ranch was

controlled.

And we would meet up at a

gathering called the "muster,"

where we all had our individual

lines.

They would literally salute,

like, "Unit one, all present

and accounted for."

Stepping out of line was futile.

We knew that, because we

practiced saying it every day,

saying that human emotion and

reaction was the primary block

to productivity.

>> ORTEGA: From a young age,

children are taught that if they

see their own parents saying

something negative about

Scientology, they have to turn

them in.

You have to write what's called

a "knowledge report," a K.R.,

d turn that in.

(camera shutter clicks)

>> NARRATOR: Scientologists also

have their own secret language,

in the form of military-style

acronyms.

Key terms include:

K.S.W., for "Keep Scientology

Working..."

O.T., for "Operating Thetan,"

a phrase for someone high up on

the Bridge to Total Freedom,

and S.P., which stands for

"Suppressive Person," or someone

who is an enemy of Scientology.

>> MARC HEADLEY: And there are

so many acronyms that not only

can we have a conversation and

the person next to us doesn't

understand it, but if you're

pretending to be a

Scientologist, I can tell in

one second that you're not, just

by the way you're talking to me.

>> CLAIRE HEADLEY: It keeps

members in, and it excludes

outsiders.

It's very much a part of the

mindset and the mental triggers

that are put in place for a

Scientologist.

I know it took me years to get

past that.

>> NARRATOR: But is the unique

language of the Church of

Scientology really designed to

keep practices a secret from the

public?

Or is it, as some insiders

believe, a way to control a

member's behavior, and even

their innermost thoughts?

>> NARRATOR: One of the tools

Scientologists use in breaking

down a member's past emotional

traumas...

(camera shutter clicking)

...is an electropsychometer,

or E-meter.

It is used during audit sessions

to measure a member's so-called

"static field."

>> ROSS: An E-meter is a

galvanic response measuring

apparatus...

which measures nervous tension

in your hands.

It's part of a polygraph

machine, which would also have a

galvanic response measuring

apparatus feature.

>> RATHBUN: An E-meter detects

resistance in electric flow--

because the body does conduct

electricity-- and so the meter

reads when that flow is

disrupted, and that tends to

indicate that what you're

discussing is an area that

likely has some trauma beneath

it.

I'm gonna do what's called a

"pinch test," and I'm gonna

pinch you, and I want you to

watch the needle so you can see

that you're gonna get a read on

that needle.

See, you got a little bit of

a... to the right?

>> MAN: Mm-hmm.

>> RATHBUN: And then what I will

do is, I'll ask you to recall

the moment of that pinch.

See? You got a little...

Now, recall a moment of that

pinch-- you got a less one.

Each time through it, it lessens

that read until, finally, you're

done with it.

And that was how the auditing

session actually works.

>> EBNER: When I went in as a

journalist and joined at the

very base level of Scientology

auditing, I could see some value

in it.

What happens is, is they'll say,

"Take me back to an early trauma

in your life."

You will repeat this same story

over and over to the point where

you're just absolutely, uh, at a

point of elation and good humor

about it.

They want to break you down like

that, and they will tell you

this.

You've blown the charge of that

trauma.

The truth of the matter is,

you're being hypnotized.

Hypnosis is not a bad thing at

its core, in its essence.

It's helped a lot of people

therapeutically.

>> NARRATOR: But there are those

that wonder: if the E-Meter can

help to improve a person's

mental health, could it also be

used to impair it?

Could auditing-- the religious

core of Scientology-- also be

part of a secret process?

>> ROSS: In my opinion,

Scientology's process of putting

people through auditing breaks

down critical and independent

thinking and promotes a mindset

where Scientology basically

takes control of people.

>> HILL: Many times, they would

ask questions like, "Did you

steal this?"

And I would be like, "No."

And they would indicate that the

E-meter is saying that I did.

And so, it would mess with your

mind.

It would be like you've been

taught to trust this E-meter,

and you're like, "Did I steal

it and I'm so deluded that I

don't even think I did, but I

really did?"

It makes you crazy.

>> ROSS: So what the auditor

has at his or her disposal is a

machine that can measure if

you're nervous when they're

asking you questions.

And so that gives them an edge

to potentially exploit the

session and manipulate the

person who is being audited.

>> HILL: If you try to leave the

room, you are physically

stopped.

So you cannot get out of that

room unless you answer the

question that the E-meter said

you did or didn't do.

>> ORTEGA: They have something

called a sec check.

A security check.

If you're suspected of having

negative thoughts, you not only

have to go in to be questioned,

but then you're billed for it.

Leah Remini, after she expressed

some concern about the leader of

the Church-- her sec check took

three months, and at the end of

it, she was billed $300,000, and

by the end of that time, she

then rescinded her report about

the leader.

That's how Scientology maintains

control.

People are terrified of having

to go through that kind of

questioning, and so they don't

dare say anything negative about

Scientology.

>> NARRATOR: But is it really

machines like E-meters that are

controlling members' behavior,

or could it be the collective

behavior of the members

themselves?

Some believe peer pressure plays

a large role in keeping

Scientologists under control.

>> DeWOLF: You are paying

someone to brainwash you.

And that's incredibly painful

for people to admit when they

emerge, because a lot of them

believed that they were helping

the world.

>> ROSS: I have worked with

people through interventions to

get them out of Scientology, and

what I've seen is that people

have a sense that: I have

invested so much time and money

in Scientology that I can't walk

away from this.

>> MARC HEADLEY: It takes a big

person to say, "I just wasted 30

years of my life on something

that I gave $2 million to,

and it's amounted to nothing."

And that's where you get a lot

of people going, "You know what?

I'm just gonna stay."

>> NARRATOR: But with all the

negative publicity and

controversy surrounding

Scientology, how is it that they

are still able to recruit new

members?

Is what Scientology offers

really so appealing?

Or could there be other, perhaps

more secret, reasons?

>> NARRATOR: February 10, 2008.

A group of Internet hackers

calling themselves "Anonymous"

stages a global protest against

the Church of Scientology.

Thousands of people, from 14

different countries and more

than 50 cities, show up.

Just weeks earlier, Anonymous

had uploaded a "Message to

Scientology," accusing the

Church of multiple crimes.

>> ANONYMOUS: Hello, leaders

of Scientology.

We are Anonymous.

We have been watching you.

We shall expel you from the

Internet and systematically

dismantle the Church of

Scientology.

>> NARRATOR: Anonymous's

relentless campaign against the

Church was sparked after a video

of Tom Cruise extolling the

virtues of Scientology was

leaked to the media in January

2008.

The Church threatened legal

action against anyone who

streamed it.

But as far as Anonymous was

concerned, that threat infringed

on what they called "Internet

freedom."

>> HOUSH: One of the big

problems of Scientology at that

point was that the media would

not talk about them in any

negative way.

We thought one of the things

that would help was getting

everyone's eyeballs on them.

>> NARRATOR: After the protest,

some of the members of

Anonymous, including Gregg

Housh, say they found themselves

under attack.

>> HOUSH: Scientology's

retaliation took on a lot of

different facets.

One of them was that they would

follow various members of

Anonymous from the protests to

their houses.

And they would hire private

investigators to stay overnight

and wait until the person went

to work so they would get good

pictures of them so they could

call up their bosses and call

them "cyber terrorists," trying

to get people fired from their

jobs.

They would file false police

reports to harass us with the

law.

I spent seven months in court

for those charges that,

actually, I got off on, because

I didn't do it.

>> NARRATOR: Anonymous's battle

with Scientology was known as

"Project Chanology."

And caught in the crosshairs was

Craigslist, a Web site often

used by Scientology in its

recruiting efforts.

Sherri Pender was fresh out of

college when she said she

answered a job ad on Craigslist

for a teaching position at an

art school.

>> PENDER: When I went in for

the interview, everything

looked totally legit.

And after I met with somebody

briefly, they sat me down with

personality test, I guess, is

what it's called.

>> NARRATOR: According to

Pender, she was offered the

position, but was told she would

have to undergo special

training.

>> PENDER: A few weeks into the

training, I thought it was

really strange.

I remember being, like, affected

emotionally by it.

Like, there were many days when

I would leave after training,

and I was very, like, upset.

I would start crying in my car.

I didn't know what was going on.

>> NARRATOR: Pender researched

terminology being used by the

school, suspecting it was linked

to Scientology.

She then reached out to

investigative journalist Mark

Ebner for advice.

>> EBNER: She was like,

"They're using weird jargon, and

I think this is Scientology."

I did some research, and yes,

this program was a Scientology

front group, and I said, "You

seem to be a talented artist and

a nice person.

Get the hell out."

And she did.

>> NARRATOR: Anotherently

exposed front group for

Scientology is Narconon, a

nationwide drug rehab program

founded in 1966.

>> ROSS: If you become involved

in Narconon, that can be the

gateway to becoming involved

with Scientology, because

Narconon is all about the

technology, the training as

conceived and written by L. Ron

Hubbard.

>> ORTEGA: So, for example, one

early form of training in

Scientology is to shout

instructions at an ashtray.

You're literally asked to tell

this ashtray to stand up, sit

down, and you move this ashtray

around.

They say it's to help you get

your intention across.

At Narconon, one of the things

you have to do is talk to an

ashtray.

>> NARRATOR: The Church of

Scientology insists Narconon has

nearly a 90% success rate.

Even Lisa Marie Presley famously

credited the program with saving

her life.

But even though it boasts a list

of prominent and powerful

advocates, are the Church's

detractors winning the war

against it?

Could Scientology's entire

future be in jeopardy?

>> NARRATOR: New York City.

June 28, 2012.

Actress Katie Holmes files for

divorce from Tom Cruise.

Court records later reveal that

she allegedly left him to

protect their daughter Suri

from the Church of Scientology.

But given Scientology's

reputation for tightfisted

control, are members really

allowed to simply walk away from

the Church?

>> HILL: I decided to leave

Scientology after a lifetime of

control, manipulation, abuse...

both physical and mostly mental.

And at some point, I realized

the hypocrisy of everything, and

I just couldn't live with that

anymore.

>> MARC HEADLEY: When you hear

about people that have "escaped

from Scientology," they real

did escape.

It's not something that's being

sensationalized.

There are a lot of people that

literally had to physically

escape from Scientology, 'cause

they send people after people to

get them back, and it's all for

one reason: so that these

secrets that they have don't get

leaked out.

>> NARRATOR: Marc and Claire

Headley met and married in the

Sea Org.

When they decided to leave the

Church, they planned separate

escapes, not knowing if they

would see each other again.

>> CLAIRE HEADLEY: It's against

their laws to even express

wanting to leave, so I never

expressed anything of that to

Marc, um, and vice versa.

He never said anything of that

to me, um, until January 2005

when he made his escape.

>> MARC HEADLEY: When I decided

to leave Scientology, I knew

that there was a very, very high

chance that I would never see my

family or my friends ever again

for the rest of eternity, so it

was almost like I'm gonna

suffer and I'm gonna be part

of this organization

and be connected to my family or

I can just leave and take the

chance that maybe they'll also

leave.

>> NARRATOR: Many former

Scientologists claim that the

Church has a secret

"disconnection policy."

It exists not only to discourage

people from leaving, but also to

prevent them from revealing the

organization's closely guarded

secrets.

>> EBNER: Scientology is not a

turn-the-other-cheek religion.

If you're against us, we will do

everything we can to destroy

you.

>> MELTON: The Church of

Scientology wants to make sure

that people who are disconnected

from the Church do so on cordial

terms.

The Church has formalized that

into a very set process.

It's all part of what they call

the technology process, and they

get upset when people skip that

process.

>> NARRATOR: Could the Church of

Scientology really be what its

critics say it is?

Is it masquerading as a

religion?

A business that will stop at

nothing to control its members?

>> ROSS: It has its critics, but

I think there are people that

have benefited in some way,

shape or form from Scientology.

>> RATHBUN: The Church of

Scientology is built on secrets.

The compartmentalization of

information is so well organized

within Scientology that it's

almost impossible to show the

world what's actually happening

inside.

>> NARRATOR: Attacked by the

tabloids... plagued by

scandal... and shrouded in

secrecy.

Does Scientology still have a

future?

And can it survive in th

so-called Information Age?

>> DeWOLF: Scientology claims to

be the fastest growing religion

on the planet.

From what I understand, they're

dwindling by the day, because

with a mouse click, I can find

out what normally would have

taken me two decades and

$100,000 to find out, then

you have nothing to sell me.

>> ROSS: Even though people are

leaving, the Church soldiers on.

I think Scientology will

continue to go on as long as it

has its vast resources and

cash flow.

>> NARRATOR: Is Scientology

really a religion-- a spiritual

choice that helps its members

achieve an inner peace?

Or is it fueled by false

hopes and paranoia?

One thing is certain:

Scientology is alive and well.

It is rich and it is powerful

and it may very well be here to

stay.

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