Book Review: "A Billion Years" by Mike Rinder

I haven't read a cult book in a long time and that's not something like misidentifying Chuck Palahniuk or Bret Easton Ellis. It's actually regarding full on cults. When it comes to Scientology I've read a fair few books but when it comes to Jonestown I've probably read all of the major ones going. Books about cults often change your mindset about who can become a part of one. A lot of people tend to think that they could never be part of a cult and then, they are part of some ideological doublethink that permeates places like Twitter. It is relatively the same thing. Mike Rinder was once a high-ranking member of the Scientology religion and at the age of 52, left it all behind...

Rinder starts by describing how he got into the cult to begin with, looking at his parents and how he was basically raised into Scientology with few other options. He paid careful attention to the teachings of this religion and explains that his parents were drawn mainly to the concepts of emotional healing that were put out by L.Ron Hubbard. He talks about the way in which parts of Australia restricted the expansion of Scientology but his parents were still quite adamant they wanted to be a part of the religion and so, also wanted to move abroad to do so. I think this is odd because I'm quite supportive of the idea that a parent should never push a religious belief system on to their child, but I don't know how it would be policed that they are not doing that. It does start off as Rinder explaining the 'why' behind everything he did in Scientology and the 'why' is really that he was resigned to follow his parents into a cult that was really about to change - and not for the better.

Once he finished high school, Rinder was made to sign a billion-year contract in which he would vow his devotion to Scientology. This is where he enters into the strange militant service of the infamous Sea Org. Upon a ship, he was scrubbing the floors of a ship, often following a highly regimented schedule alongside their uniforms and totalitarian governing body. He stated that he was taught that comfort was the basis of evil and therefore, internalised comfort as a moral failure. If you don't understand how damaging that can be for someone, then check out all of those people who chase a moving goalpost of perfection. It's basically the same thing. I feel like a lot of religions teach people to internalise these issues as moral failings rather than confronting them psychologically and trying to fix them. It's pretty much where the treatment of addicts as moral failures comes from and so, as Scientology's method might be more regimented and abusive, it is no different to other religions of the planet.

Eventually, Rinder became the international spokesperson for the Office of Special Affairs, having worked his way up in the ranks by giving nothing but his entire life and complete unwavering and unquestioning loyalty. This happened in the early 1980s and there was a looming oddity amongst the keen follower - the weird conman L.Ron Hubbard was about to die. When he did, David Miscaviage seized power and obviously, there is something really wrong there. Rinder explains that within these times he would discuss with high profile Scientologists and he would also deal with the tax exemptions that Scientology is so famed for.

I felt like perhaps Rinder was already too far in to suddenly say that he wanted to leave and because of being in such a publicly connected position, if he tried to leave someone could have tried to Shelley Miscaviage him, if you know what I mean. Whether he had internal doubts at this time is not clear, but if there was (and there probably was) internalisation of 'moral failings' when it came to any ethical dilemma of the soul we can guarantee they were replaced by fear of what might happen if one were to open their mouth.

When it came to what Rinder was doing in the media, we know how Scientology doesn't like its critics, often making them disappear and often having poster-people for the religion. As someone who adores Tom Cruise, I don't think I have ever thought about him as a raging Scientologist. But there is definitely a media manipulation technique going on there, the implicit nature of his religion is probably done on purpose. His achievements are almost a subliminal advertisement. If there is a man who fears nothing, it is probably him. When it came to the other suppression techniques, they were far more aggressive.

Legal pressure, personal attacks and witch hunts of journalists are not uncommon and this makes me think that perhaps the alt-journalist Andrew Gold has had his fair share as well from his choice words about the cult. Rinder was one of the people who would be organising these attacks on critics - these would be with the help of private investigators assembling dossiers on very particular people. Some of them have been 'disappeared'. I find this a very frightening prospect since Scientology has since pretty much taken over the city of Clearwater, Florida in the same way Salt Lake City is home to the LDS folk.

One of the most unsettling things I learned about was 'The Hole'. After the take over of one of the strangest men I have ever had to read about in my life, Rinder and a number of other top executives of the cult were often confined to the Hole. Rinder witnessed and participated in punishing internal dissent: forced labor, sleep deprivation, coercion. Of course, this Gulag-style prison sentence was meant to crush dissidence and punish questioning of any kind.

Paradoxically, these abuses were justified as salvation work, showing the twisted logic that permitted cruelty in the name of spiritual progress. This clandestine brutality shattered Rinder’s illusions and deepened his internal schism. Honestly, this is something again that is usually born out of a cultish mindset towards religion or belief. We can even see that today through re-education centres and even in the fact that both sides of our divisive political landscape believes the other side should be forced into it. We simply cannot leave the other person with other beliefs alone.

After being no longer able to reconcile what he had been a part of after Scientology chose to harrass an average Australian grandmother in grief, Rinder left. He was followed, harrassed even more and even had attack after attack upon his character. He eventually founded a charity to help other people trying to leave and gave a helping hand to Leah Remini with her investigations when she left the cult.

I would say that this autobiography shatters the 'grand myth' of the church but at this point, I haven't met very many people who have something nice to say about the church, and absolutely no person who is not already a part of it. I'll stop here because this has gone on for long enough. But I'll leave with this message: how do you think this cult still has so many followers around the world? Even after what we know about them? Why are people today still signing up?