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Notes -
I've read a few books about Scientology, including Beyond Belief, by David Miscavage's niece. She doesn't seem to have been close to her uncle, but she grew up in the church and says that nowadays, most die-hard Scientologists are those who, like her, grew up as children of Scientologists and have had little exposure to the world outside the Scientology bubble.
The degree to which high-ranking believers really believe in everything the church teaches is certainly an interesting question. Tom Cruise, when he reached level "Operating Thetan" or whatever and was told the secret Scientology history of the universe, including all the stuff about thetans and Galactic Overlord Xenu, reportedly said "What is this sci-fi bullshit?" And yet he stayed.
Scientology's biggest problem, and the reason recruitment has plummeted since their peak in the 90s, is the Internet. With ex-Scientologists putting all the Xenu nonsense online for everyone to see, it's pretty hard to get a full buy-in from newbies who won't go Google it and say "What is this sci-fi bullshit?"
Personal anecdote: I visited a Scientology center once, out of curiosity, and took their personality test. They were very nice and polite, and of course tried to get me to sign up for some of "Mr. Hubbard's" courses. I asked the Scientology lady about Xenu. She politely deflected in a way that made it obvious they were used to people off the street asking them about the crazy shit. I figured my skepticism must have been apparent because they didn't try a hard sell, but I got a letter three years later asking if I would like to come down for another "assessment."
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