A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology by Mike Rinder

A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology

by Mike Rinder

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Memoir & BiographyTheology & Faith

A billion years is the term of the Sea Organization contract Mike Rinder signed after high school, having been raised in Scientology from about five. He rose to international spokesperson and head of its Office of Special Affairs, and in his account you watch leadership turn abusive before he leaves in 2007.

Core ideas
  • Defending the church: He helped negotiate Scientology's tax exemption with the IRS and dealt with celebrity members like Tom Cruise and John Travolta.
  • After Hubbard: Disillusionment grew once David Miscavige succeeded L. Ron Hubbard and confined senior executives, Rinder among them, in a compound called the Hole.
  • Leaving has a price: Getting out made him a public critic, and it also made him the subject of surveillance and harassment.
Published2022
Pages336
ISBN9781982185763
ReadFeb 2025

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