While the right to freely practice ones chosen faithmust be considered a fundamental right of any free state, there can be no doubt that it is a right that comes at a grievous cost. For while the world is bettered by the good works of the peaceful multitudes who faithfully hold with creeds out of the need to believe in something greater than themselves, it is also darkened by those other practitioners, men and women who twist, pervert and prey upon our need for salvation to sew unimaginable misery. It does not matter what corrosive force motivates these madmen, revenge, ego, spite, or even envy; it matters only that the world has been blighted by their existences, the lives of innocents corrupted by the chains that bind them to these preachers and prophets.
And so we come to the vital questions. How can we guard the innocent without violating their right to practice? How do we distinguish between a cult and a religion as a means of stamping out the former while respecting the latter? How can we promote the values of the good while minimizing the damage of the unhealthy? These are weighty queries which may not be answered any time soon, but perhaps we can come closer to an answer by studying the anatomy of a cult. This Mr. Wright has most thoroughly done in Going Clear.
Though it has been a faith for less than 60 years, Scientology has left its mark on the world. Teachings distilled from the life and times of L. Ron Hubbard, a prolific American author of science fiction with a penchant for bending the truth, it is the systematic attempt to rid oneself of burdensome influences as a means of elevating ones spirit and enabling ones dreams. Through great discipline and concentration, through the rigorous deployment of honest self-examination, the scientologist ascends through the ranks of his faith, each plateau revealing to him more secrets of his religion, secrets carefully measured out in order to encourage him to continue seeking the pinnacle of purity. This seems innocent enough; the world can hardly be made the poorer for having yet another faith capable of providing a ladder up which the struggling can climb to peace and enlightenment. And yet, Scientology has a darker side, one that hides behind the Hollywood glamour that so often shields it from scrutiny.
Scientology is more than a religion; it is a machine for making money. Promising to be the owner's manual with which the troubled can be lead out of darkness, it encourages its adherents to surrender their self-determination to their elders who, by dint of being higher in the church, ostensibly have the best interests of their souls in mind. Money in exchange for knowledge, service in exchange for enlightenment... The faith may be new, but the game is ancient, a truth Mr. Wright documents here in stunning detail. For while Scientology may put handsome faces to the world, Tom Cruise and John Travolta to name but two, it is built atop the labors of thousands of faceless souls sold into its servitude, souls blackmailed into continued obedience through the heavy-handed use of confessions practitioners are all-but forced to make. It is the gestalt of the voiceless and the vulnerable upon whom it rests. Their names, their deeds and their punishments occupy these pages.
Going Clear is mesmerizing work. Building upon a thorough biography of L. Ron Hubbard, a fevered genius whose desperate need to be a hero lead him into the seductive arms of megalomania, Mr. Wright uses the experiences of dozens of men and women to capture a stunning portrait of one of the world's most successful young faiths. From its secrets to its rituals, from sea voyages to Hollywood screenings, Mr. Wright weaves a portrait of a belief system that capitalizes on the credulity of innocents and the desperation of the lost to forge for itself a powerbase from which it cannot be challenged. Endless research and informative prose march us through the faith's history, from its inception as an outgrowth of Hubbard's ego through to its acknowledgement, t least by the government of the United States, as a religion worthy of the First Amendment's protection, a decision that, to this day, bewilders parts of the world who clearly view Scientology as nothing short of a cult.
Those who sympathize with Scientology will find cause to criticize Mr. Wright's work regardless of its rigor, but rational readers will find here an exceptionally researched document that is supported by extensive interviews with key men and women within Scientology. Their harrowing tales provide the work its most devastating punch by acknowledging that Scientology utilizes child labor and perhaps even stoops to child enslavement, as a means of compelling enlightenment. Practices that would land regular citizens in jail for years at a stretch are commonplace in Scientology which hides behind the firewall of the first Amendment to escape responsibility for these crimes. For they are crimes, make no mistake, crimes of coercion, crimes of violence, crimes of bigotry and crimes of self-delusion, all of which leave in their wake the wreckage of lives that will not be easily mended.
Mr. Wright won himself great respect with his examination of the lives and deeds that paved the road to 9/11. He only furthers his status as a first-rate researcher and revealer of truth with Going Clear. Outstanding work marred only by its minor fixation with Scientology's Hollywood overtones. (5/5 Stars)
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