Book Review: Inside Scientology

Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion by Janet Reitman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is a fascinating, well-written and meticulously researched book on Scientology, a religion that, before reading this, I knew absolutely nothing about. Somewhat reminiscent of Jon Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven, the author weaves together the history of the religion, the life of founder L. Ron Hubbard, and the mostly tragic stories of past and present Scientologists. I think Under the Banner of Heaven is a superior work, not because the history of Scientology lacks strange and compelling things to discuss, but just because I think Krakauer is a more gripping story-teller than Reitman.

While this book presents many interesting things to ponder, I was most facinated by how Scientology gets away with calling itself a religion, thus enjoying all the tax benefits and privacy rights that a religion can claim, when, in reality, it functions much more like McDonald's than First Baptist Church of Churchtown. It's hard to imagine how a reasonable person could not be cynical about a faith that charges exorbitant amounts of money in exchange for promised inner peace and future salvation. And yet, Scientology still manages to lure people in. This book helped me understand why that is the case.



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