FORMER SCIENTOLOGIST: ‘It ruined my relationship with my family’
Tara Reile, 36, a T mum-of-two from Ohio, US, says, “It’s been 20 years since I stopped practising Scientology, but it still affects me and I can understand why so many people and celebs are leaving – it takes over your life.
“When I was two, my mother remarried – I didn’t meet my biological dad until I was 18 and don’t have much contact with him. I was adopted by my stepfather, who was a Scientologist, so we began following the religion. My earliest memory of Scientology was when I was about five and I fell down some steps. I wasn’t allowed to cry and had to touch the part of my leg that hurt against the step until ‘the emotion’ went away.
“Aged 14, I was sent to a school founded by Scientologists for two years to become a practising Scientologist. It was tough and there was a lot of manual labour, such as cleaning. You’d also go through a lot of auditing, where you were asked questions about your life and how you felt.
TELLING LIES
“Often, they’d ask odd things about your family, like whether you’d ever lied about being ill to make them feel guilty. Auditing was supposed to make you a better Scientologist by improving your spiritual awareness. Sessions could go on for a long time and I’d find myself telling lies about my feelings to please my teachers. Then I began to believe the lies I told – it was really confusing.
“I wanted to fit in with my family and go back to them, so I worked hard and eventually graduated at the age of 16. But when I was allowed to leave the school, my family didn’t want me home as they didn’t believe I’d changed – so I left Scientology completely.
CUT OFF
“After that, I was in regular contact with my mum and stepfather. However, earlier this year, I decided to appear on a TV show to talk about my experience of Scientology. When the Church found out, they told my family to cut off contact with me, which is very sad.
“Earlier this year I decided to seek therapy. In Scientology, you’re taught that everything that occurs is your own fault, so I’ve always blamed myself whenever anything bad has happened. It’s also a very emotionless religion, so I’ve had to learn how to open up.
“These days, my son and daughter are my focus and I want to be a good mother to them. I talk to them about Scientology and everything I’ve been through – I’d never want them to enter the Church. Now I want to train to be a counsellor and start a new life.” The Church of Scientology disputed Tara’s claims and said, “Tara’s aunt Meg and her uncle Chris said they never heard her say anything negative about her experiences.”