Scientology has only come out recently as some of the ex-members have begun to speak out about it. The face of it all is Leah Remini, a former Hollywood star known for appearing on the tv show Kings of Queens. She is known as public enemy number 1 for The Church of Scientology.

“The word Scientology, conceived by L. Ron Hubbard, comes from the Latin scio which means “knowing, in the fullest meaning of the word” and the Greek word logos which means “study of.” It means knowing how to know. Scientology is further defined as “the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, universes and other life.” (https://www.scientology.org/faq/background-and-bas...) The definition of it may sound the same as any other religion, but it is nothing like it.

Scientology is doing nothing but pulling families apart, kids leaving at young ages to join and family members staying away from each other if they’re not involved, and keeping them confined to the walls of the Scientology buildings. The headquarters in Gilman Hot Springs, California is comparable to a college campus, but the people aren’t allowed to leave and there is no connection to the outside world. This “religion” is one that people devote parts of their lives to or even sometimes their whole lives, never knowing anything different than Scientology.

When someone joins, they leave your family and give everything up (known as “disconnection”), living in a dorm-like building and confining themselves to learning, practicing, and understanding everything having to do with Scientology and nothing else.

And then only some understand how much Scientology ruined their lives. These people leave the religion, often being called traitors of the church and are completely dismissed from the lives of the people they knew on the inside, including friends and even family members.

Leah Remini is the church’s number 1 enemy, but there are many other regular people who also feel the same way as she does about Scientology. Her series on A&E highlights her experiences and others, truly defacing the church and highlighting all of its flaws.

But there are also many notable people who are still (and might always be) on the inside, including Tom Cruise and John Travolta. Both of these Hollywood stars are large advocates for the church, devoting time to their career and time to learning, studying, and understanding Scientology. But that’s only a perk that Hollywood stars get. Otherwise, one is shut out completely from the outside world and is not allowed to do anything but live, breathe, and eat Scientology.

But the scary part is that the people within Scientology do not know how the world feels about their religion because they aren’t allowed to stream anything from the outside world. The Church of Scientology believes and teaches to their followers that anything found on the internet or spoken about the religion from the outside world is a lie.

But Leah is telling the truth and so are the people she is interviewing in her series. These people are telling their stories about how and why they joined Scientology, their experiences, and how and why they left Scientology and what the church did to them. So how could the church say they’re full of lies if these people are telling the truth from experience?

Scientology is a cult by definition. It is defined as “great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work,” “formal religious veneration; worship” and “a system of religious beliefs and rituals.” But along with that, it includes disassociation from family, friends, and the outside world, and many rules and regulations that keep them confined to Scientology.