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Since its inception in the 1950s, the Church of Scientology has rarely been far from controversy. And now the Church is under attack again. Former senior insiders claim the Church's current leader, David Miscavige, has created and encouraged a climate of violence within senior staff and was frequently violent himself.
Marty Rathbun was an "Inspector General," a top lieutenant to David Miscavige, and oversaw the Church's legal affairs.
"[Miscavige] viciously beat him, knocked him to the ground," said Rathbun, describing one attack.
Hill, the niece of church leader David Miscavige and author of Beyond Belief, told HuffPost Live host Ahmed Shihab-Eldin about the oppressive practices of the church, which include forced abortion and abuse. "If you do become pregnant when you're there, you get kicked out," she said. "Or many of my friends were actually coerced into having abortions."
Hill also described tales of forced labor and abusive teachers, and said she knew she had to leave the church after being exposed to the outside world on a mission trip abroad.
"When we went back to LA after that mission, it was like, everything was in plain view," she said. "Back to fifteen minute meals, you can't go to bed before 1:00 AM, you have to stay up all night even though you did yesterday...It put a lot of things in plain sight. There was no denying it. They started taking away your phones, your internet access...that was a big turning point for me."
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The Scientologists have a LONG way to go to catch up to the 55+ million "unforced" abortions that have occurred since Roe v. Wade.
When I was young I read Hubbard's scifi novels - never thought they were all that good.
