Lisa McPherson has been dead almost 16 years now, and yet, in Janet Reitman's terrific new history of the church, Inside Scientology, four central chapters are focused on McPherson's life and death.
I asked Reitman in an interview why one woman's death in 1995 is still such a big part of the Scientology story.
"Because nothing changes in Scientology," she answered. "The fundamental problem is that this is a fundamentalist religion. [David] Miscavige is a fundamentalist leader... Their mindset is that anything L. Ron Hubbard said or wrote is 'Source,' it's doctrine. This is literal. And as long as they have this literal interpretation of everything, [something like the McPherson incident] could happen again."
What did happen is that a young woman who wanted help with a bad marriage in 1982 turned to a group that she soon dedicated her life to. From Reitman's book:
Lisa McPherson fit right in. "She was a ball of fun," said Greg Barnes, who was Lisa's registrar in Dallas. "She was funny, she was exuberant, she was excited, she was humble -- she was a great person." But Lisa was also unaware of what Scientology would require of her, he said. "Was she naive? No. But did she know what she was getting herself into? No way. None of us did."
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