going-clear-scientology-hollywood-and-the-prison-of-belief-by-lawrence-wright-2

Notes
INTRODUCTION
1 8 million members: Interview with Tommy Davis, the former chief spokesperson
for the Church of Scientology International. He explains the difficulty in getting
exact numbers: “There’s no process of conversion, there is no baptism.” Becoming
a Scientologist is a simple decision: “Either you are or you aren’t.”
2 welcomes 4.4 million: “What Is Scientology?” YouTube video, posted by Church
of Scientology, January 2, 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vcb_4L8T8gg.
3 about 30,000 members: Interview with Mike Rinder. Rinder is the former head of
Scientology’s Office of Special Affairs and functioned as the church’s chief
spokesperson from 1991 through 2007.
4 $1 billion in liquid assets: Interview with Mark “Marty” Rathbun. Rathbun is the
former Inspector General for Ethics for the church. Tony Ortega, “Scientology in
Turmoil: Debbie Cook’s E-mail, Annotated,” Runnin’ Scared (blog), The Village
Voice, Jan. 6, 2012. According to the distinguished religious historian R. Scott
Appleby at the University of Notre Dame, even the Roman Catholic Church is
unlikely to have $1 billion in cash on hand. R. Scott Appleby, personal
communication.
5 12 million square feet of property: Church of Scientology International,
“Scientology: Unparalleled Growth Since 2004,”
www.scientologynews.org/stats.html.
6 The most recent addition: Kevin Roderick, “Scientology Reveals Plans for Sunset
Boulevard Studio,” LA Observed, July 12, 2012.
7 apartment buildings, hotels: Pinellas County Property Appraiser, 2012 tax roll.
8 5,000, 6,000, or 10,000 members: Church of Scientology International, What Is
Scientology?, p. 324; interview with Tommy Davis; personal communication from
Karin Pouw.
9 between 3,000 and 5,000: Claire Headley and Mike Rinder, personal
communication. Rinder, who offers the higher number, places about 2,000 Sea Org
members at Flag, 1,500 in LA, 500 at Gold Base and Int Base, 200 in the UK, 300
in Denmark, 150 in Australia, 200 on the Freewinds, and the rest scattered around
Africa, Italy, Canada, and Mexico.
1. THE CONVERT
1 “You have a mind”: Interview with Jim Logan.
2 “What is true”: According to Haggis, the passage came from the Hubbard
Qualified Scientologist course. It was later published in Hubbard’s book The Way to