Escape from the spell of evil
She grew up in the Church of Scientology. But once mature Jenna Miscavige Hill tore herself loose from this sect. In her book Blind Faith the 29-year-old exposes the American organization. "Tom Cruise should know that Scientology represents evil."
If only she can rescue a few people out of the hands of Scientology or prevent any new members to sign up, then her book already succeeded, Jenna Miscavige Hill sighs in a fancy hotel on the canals of Amsterdam. Until only a few years ago Hill, a niece of Scientology leader David Miscavige Hill, belonged to the top of this mysterious American sect. "If I can do something good with this horrible part of my life, it has still been useful."
You grew up in the Church of Scientology. How was that?
"My parents were at the Sea Org. This is the top in the Scientology hierarchy. When I was six I was removed from them and placed in a children's camp. After that I saw them sometimes once a month. In the camp we were trained to lead the sect later. We were subjected to a military regime, complete with uniforms, dormitories, appeal in the morning in straight rows and inspections. On my thirteenth I had to confess my entire sexual history. You could also snitchers that indicated you when you had done something wrong. That was all filed. And if didn't betrayed yourself, you could also be snitched for that. You never knew who was your friend. All was designed to humiliate and frighten you. Because with that they control and that is what Scientology eventually wants: power over people. "
What were your days like?
"We had to lug heavy stones. That was good for us, we were told. You must understand that in Scientology terms children do not exist. We were, we were led to believe, billions of years old souls in children's bodies. Hard work, the bad things and trauma purify our souls. Except for a little math and language we hardly got any education, because that would only pollute. "
How did you get out?
"When I was twenty I first came into contact with non-believers, when I was in Australia at Scientology there. They watched me less closely and I could watch television for the first time. It turned out that these "outsiders" were not as bad as I was told always. In addition, I realized what I would have to be missing when a friend of mine got a baby. As a member of Scientology you can not have children. Then I decided to quit. "
Wasn't that hard?
"Enormous. You must confess first, because leaving the church is seen as something really bad. For that I was attached to an E-meter, a Scientology invention. That is a kind of fake lie detector that supposedly reveals your true feelings. When you do not know any better, such a thing makes an impression. There was also tremendous pressure exerted on me. For example, they threatened to tell to my parents all my sexual details from those files. But when they realized I really was going to get out I had to sign a contract, in which I assured I would keep all the secrets of the church. Once in 2008 when I was gone, I even was followed for months by the Office of Special Affairs, the OSA, their intelligence service. Sometimes they even came with a helicopter, just to the show off force. And they said to the parents of my husband, who was also in Scientology, that we were terrorists."
You got out together?
"Yes, and we were not prepared for the outside world. We had learned nothing: we hardly knew what the Internet was, had no education, never learnt to drive. And all the people we knew, were in Scientology. That is why it is so difficult to leave: it's your world, it's all you know. Many people have also put their entire fortune into it and had to have a second mortgage."
You think Scientologists like Tom Cruise also know about all this?
"No. Celebrities like he or John Travolta never get to see this dark. It is carefully kept away. They, as 'celebrity apostles', are given special treatment because they are so important for the image of the church. They have such luxurious reception centers with a private entrance. Scientology has put software on their computers that filters out all websites with critical stories. And if Tom Cruise might get to see such stories and he would ask about it, my uncle dismisses them as lies. At that my uncle is good at, because except for a power hungry dictator, he is also very charming. "
What would you like to tell him? [Tom Cruise is meant, not DM, Trevanon]
"That he has a moral responsibility, and that if you adhere to Scientology, you should know that it is a destructive, dangerous, bad religion. And it will collapse with a thunderous roar. Despite their enormous fortune and armies of lawyers. It's a good thing there are fewer people signing up, and there are leaving more and more members thanks to the openness of the Internet. Scientology is shrinking. They say they have millions of followers worldwide, but I think there are 60,000 members at most."