Lawrence Wright’s Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief seeks to explain one of newest American religions: Scientology. The Pulitzer Prize winning author began his investigation after writing a piece on former Scientologist Paul Haggis for The New Yorker. His quest to understand this less than understood religion resulted in two years of investigation and a spot as a finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction.
Wright begins the story with the biography of its charismatic, controversial founder - L. Ron Hubbard. Hubbard is undeniably a genius. He publishes thousands of science fiction novels throughout his lifetime. Eventually, he is able to convince roughly a hundred people to sign a billion-year contract and join the Sea Org, sailing around the Atlantic to avoid government intervention. Soon, his religion would grow to include millions of followers, according to the Church of Scientology.
However, Hubbard is also a pathological liar, fabricating war stories, medals, and injuries to help further his religion. He is abusive to his second wife Sara, who accused him of “systematic torture” in divorce papers. Members of the Sea Org found him “comically self-important” and seemed to think he was insane at times. Despite his shortcomings, he was still able to become a powerful, influential religious figure.
Our first hint that Scientology might not be the best comes during this Sea Org period, as Hubbard’s paranoia leads to the creation of Operation Snow White. He and his wife, Mary Sue, convinced that the American and British governments are responsible for the negative reputation of Scientology, placed roughly 5,000 Scientologists in 136 government agencies worldwide. Their task was to serve as the Church’s intelligence agency, “gathering information on critics and government agencies around the world, generating lawsuits to intimidate opponents, and waging an unremitting campaign against mental health professionals”, according to Wright.
From there, Wright covers Scientology’s shift to Hollywood through the influence of several key members, including John Travolta, Paul Haggis, and most notably Tom Cruise. Following the death of Hubbard (explained to Scientologists as dropping the body “in order to move on to a higher level of existence”), David Miscavige takes over the Church. Miscavige is reportedly abusive to his fellow Scientologists, except for his friend and shining star of the Church, Tom Cruise, who receives luxury treatment. This brings us to the Scientology we see today - celebrities engaged in a very secretive, private religion that seems almost cult-like to an outside eye. It is amazing to see how a religion with money and resources has become so powerful.
Wright’s biggest strength is his fairness to the religion. He never seems vengeful, hateful, or disgusted by the material he is writing. As Michael Kinsley The New York Times jokes, “That crunching sound you hear is Lawrence Wright bending over backwards to be fair to Scientology.” Given the church’s extensive history of harassing and suing those who publish critical material on Scientology, it is easy to see why he took this route. However, it also adds to his credibility by showing his commitment to presenting the facts rather than making broad judgements. As Lisa Miller of The Washington Post points out, “this author is not fooling around.” His footnotes and list of sources could make a whole book on their own. Wright wants the reader to know that he searched for the truth, and he is not about to let anyone discredit his findings.
However, Wright’s work has not been without its critics. Obviously, the Church of Scientology was highly unhappy with the book. They reached out to several news organizations with a response to the highly damaging claims made in Going Clear. The Daily Beast published one such article written by Church lawyers, which accuses Wright of being “blatantly bigoted”. They claim that Wright refused their assistance and refused to provide an advance copy despite their many requests. They state that Wright “doesn’t inform his readers about the sources in the book” despite the roughly forty pages of listed sources Wright provides.
In fact, the lawyers clearly state that they only read “certain passages” provided on the Amazon.com website. It is hard to take their criticism seriously when they couldn’t even be bothered to read the entire book.
Wright’s biggest misstep is becoming so absorbed in his material that he often leaves the reader behind. By the middle of the book, the reader already forgets all of the newly-learned Scientology terms such as PTS/SP or OT V status. He is telling a complicated story and it is easy to leave the reader behind.
However, that should not scare anyone away - Going Clear is a highly informative and fascinating portrayal of Scientology. It is definitely worth the read. A religion that has long escaped understanding in America is finally explained in Going Clear.
