A Billion Years: My Escape from a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology

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I watched and then read Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief and saw "Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath." That might be the problem with this book. Most of the things in it are covered by those already. Mike Ridner's early life in scientology was interesting and mostly new, but most of this was handled in the series and in the previous book. Incredible. I listened to the audiobook and Mike did such a good job with the narration here. I've listened to quite a few books where the authors did their own narration, and it's not always great. It's really an ideal way to do an audiobook though if you've got the skill for it. As much as he attempts to paint himself the adorable victim, Rinder continually betrays his barn-sized ego throughout his book. Never, in my thirty plus years in and around Scientology have I encountered a person so admittedly in it to satisfy his own vanity. Fortunately, his editors have However, nowadays it is also true of families and friends who are 'cancelled', even 'doxxed' if they reject/escape the teachings of a particular political eco chamber. How accurate was '1984' , or 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell? History teaches us that escapees of ideologies often are brutally prosecuted and killed; religions 'shun' people'. Jim Carrey's movie 'The Truman Show' gives me the heebie-jeebies too. Yikes! Germany to this day have issues with Scientology, according to Mike. There are other countries as well, I just cannot remember right now.

Yet Rinder couldn’t shake a nagging feeling that something was amiss—Hubbard’s promises remained unfulfilled at his death, and his successor, David Miscavige, was a ruthless and vindictive man who did not hesitate to confine many top Scientologists, Mike among them, to a makeshift prison known as the Hole.

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I hate bullies. That's not alleged, that is fact. I'm giving this book five stars because, again, I hate bullies! Next, fifteen years after leaving Scientology Rinder suddenly emerges now as the cause of Scientology's tax exemption. He was mum on the subject for fifteen years - rightly deferring to me on that subject - precisely because he had little to nothing to do with the dozens of court struggles One of the punishments for those who messed up in the RPF [Rehabilitation Project Force] was assignment to the RPF's RPF. You slept and ate separately from and were not allowed to even talk to the other RPFers." (p. 106) [You know things are bad when there are punishments within punishments]

L. Ron Hubbard said: A civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war, where able can prosper and honest beings can have rights, and where is free to rise to greater heights are the aims of Scientology. What a talent, what a career, what a life, and what a treat to relive it all with this most down-to-earth of demigods. I don't know where I heard about this book by Mike Rinder. It might have been a podcast about secret societies, or a magazine about it, but I immediately wanted to read it. Eventually I discovered it as an audio book and put it on top of my list. Somehow Scientology has always been an interesting topic, mostly because of what you hear about it through modern media, where it's talked about in relevance to actors and celebrities who are involved in this. Having an ex scientology member who used to be in a higher rank talk about his experience seemed extremely interesting, and man, I wasn't wrong. Mike Rinder opens up a book full of stories that are so mindblowing that some of them are even very hard to believe. Yet, having read and seen stuff in the past, I also couldn't not believe his story. One of the highest-ranking defectors from Scientology exposes the secret inner workings of the powerful organization in this remarkable memoir.

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The author was inspired by books such as Educated by Tara Westover, and influenced by Russell Miller's unauthorized biography of Hubbard, Bare-faced Messiah(2012). Another book, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright(2013), remained a thorn in Scientology's side for many years. As to the 1989 Supreme Court decision, Rinder betrays even more ignorance, feigned or otherwise. Had Rinder even read the decision - let alone participated in litigating any corner of IRS matters - he would have known and stated that the court did not definitively decide the merits of whether Scientology donations could ever be deemed tax exempt. Instead, it ruled that in the single case in front of the court there was an insufficiency of evidence to reverse the IRS's deduction denial. It explicitly remanded the case for further proceedings and invited the petitioner to attempt to fill the gaps in that evidence insufficiency. If Rinder had lifted a finger of support to the effort to attain tax exemption he would have known and stated that in fact, upon remand a number of federal courts ruled in Scientologists' favor and were upheld by United States Appellate Court decisions across the country. Some courts ruled for the IRS too; establishing a classic split in the Circuits leading to an inevitable second appointment with the Supreme Court (just as the original Supreme Court decision contemplated). You could never predict whether you would be in or out with Misavige. I think this was deliberate. It was a tactic famously used by Stalin - keep your subordinates divided, fearful, confused, and off-balance. No cabal to overthrow the king can form if no one at court is certain of their position. One minute I was digging ditches and the next I was heading up external affairs for all of scientology." (p. 147)

Rinder's book makes it clear that he thinks it is better than good to be the king. I imagine it must be simply "thrilling" and "intoxicating" being at the "pinnacle of achievement," "front and center in the crowd" (sandwiched between Toby McGuire and Alec Baldwin no less). It sounds as if he has even developed a sense of "invincibility." The victim is really a hero? Or is the hero a victim? From billion year contracts, to mysteriously missing people, to surveillance cameras, to Xenu the alien leader and his hydrogen bombs, Scientology is even more wild, and it’s leaders (past and present) even more unhinged than you ever thought possible. Thus, Rinder carefully deep sixes any pesky facts that might contradict what Rinder would like to fancy about his history. And that paves the way for the creation of a brand-new then-Rinder: a super hero (the narcissist leg of victim narcissist). To demonstrate the depth of outright fact apparently persuaded him to let his hair down and let his consciousness flow to reveal the real Rinder. For example:At the outset, I was enthusiastic and determined to get the truth out to counteract what I believed were lies about Hubbard perpetuated by those who sought to take him down. Ultimately, however, the task of writing a church-authorized biography of L. Ron Hubbard was a fool's errand. There were too many things that could not be ignored or explained in the man's life. If everything that was a lie, embellishment, or embarrassment was omitted, the biography would be so full of holes that even scientologists wouldn't buy it. Furthermore, if we published a book that full of lies, we opened ourselves up to being dissected by reviewers and critics...So instead of publishing a biography that risked opening scientology up to criticism, we followed the example of the LRH Life Exhibition and published issues of Ron magazine that covered carefully selected stories about Hubbard's life, such as 'Master Mariner' and 'The Humanitarian.' Each included convenient facts but left huge gaps." (p. 136-37) If you are curious about cults, have an inkling your own weird movement might actually be a cult, or are interested in taking citizen action against Scientology… you won’t find a better resource than this. Rinder is articulate, sensitive, funny, and he knows everything there is to know about L. Ron Hubbard and his Sci-Fi pulp turned quasi-religious movement. If you have any interest in cults and extreme religions, and specifically if you have interest in Scientology, Mike Rinder’s book A Billion Years is a MUST READ. Even better - listen to Mike narrate his own story on audio.