National Post (National Edition)
Scientology’s financial toll chronicled
Ex-member tells of ‘spiritual meat grinding’
In the third episode of Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, the formeractress-turned-docuseries creator met with Mary Kahn, a former Scientologist who said her experience with the church was “mentally abusive.”
Kahn, alongside her husband David, Remini, and former church spokesman Mike Rinder, revealed that she has not seen her son, who is also a Scientologist, since she left the church in 2013 and was “disconnected.”
“The church will pounce on your friends and your family to such a degree they won’t be able to see straight,” she said. “You won’t have a chance to get to them.”
One way they’ll try to tie you down beforehand is by having you invest not only a great deal of time, but money, into the organization. According to Remini, the average church member can end up spending at least $250,000 on courses alone, while Remini herself admitted to giving away “millions” to the church. The actress even showed off her “thousands and thousands of dollars” worth of books every member is required to purchase and read — all written by church founder L. Ron Hubbard.
“Then they go, ‘Hey, we found mistakes in these books,’” she said. “So you have to buy a new set.”
And that’s in addition to “The Bridge,” a set of courses all members are required to take in order to achieve “enlightenment.” Classes run from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., meaning those involved can’t hold a job at the same time, which is when funds begin to be a real problem.
While Remini said she found some parts of the classes to be helpful, she noted they can often be as trivial as teaching members how to perform telekinesis. And while the entire objective is to move up, church leaders will often make members retake classes, pretending new material has arisen, which, of course, means spending more money.
“The Church of Scientology is a business, and it’s a financial burden to most people,” Remini said.
Kahn reached the highest level of The Bridge, but was forced to retake most of her courses. The time and money took a toll, eventually bringing her to the decision to leave the church — and her 22-year-old son — behind.
But before she left, Kahn spent months aboard Freewinds, a ship that functions like a classroom at sea and holds members hostage until church leaders decide they’ve learned as much as they can. For Kahn, “every second of it was hell.”
The additional benefit of Freewinds is isolating members, and coercing them into giving up more funds.
“You are a captive audience on board a ship,” Rinder said. “So there are people that want to extract money from you and they have you and there’s no hiding.”
While on board the ship, Kahn said she was subject to intense questioning or, as she called it, “spiritual meat grinding,” admitting that she would often go to her room to “cry privately.”
After leaving the ship, Kahn began to research the church and discovered abuse allegations against it. When she discussed what she’d found and expressed that she was having doubts to her husband, he reported her to the church, and she was taken in for an interrogation (which can cost up to $800).
After being hooked up to an “e-meter” amid questioning, Kahn said she suddenly decided she could no longer handle the pressure and ran out of the room. After running into a locked door, she began to scream, then continued to run until she finally found an unlocked door and her way on to the street.
David admitted that he considered divorcing his wife in an effort to stay with their son, but ultimately he left the church with her.
“It was so mentally abusive and such torment that I would never subject myself to that again,” Kahn said. “I went through hell to try to save that family, and went through such mental brutality as well as all the money we spent to try to hang on to my family.”