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

Product Information

One of those things that I had to think about was the news a while ago that Nicole Kidman was not allowed to attend her children's wedding. The way Rinder explains that Scientology always comes first and that family and compassion are coming so far second that it's almost non-existing, it made a lot clear about that dynamic and how heartbreaking it must have been for Kidman. It also opens up a whole different light about Tom Cruise and other well known people who did or did not manage to get out of Scientology.

The audiobook gives a detailed account of Mike's harrowing experiences, from being constantly monitored and controlled by superiors to his eventual realization that he needed to break free. He talks candidly about the physical and emotional tolls that his years in Scientology took on him, but also highlights the strength of will and courage it took for him to eventually find his own way out. It's an inspiring story of someone's resilience in the face of extreme adversity.

Need Help?

Mike Rinder wrote his experiences down in a thoughtful, informative, eloquent way. The good and bad of decades of his life. He mostly did it for his two children, who stayed behind in the organization, hoping that they will one day understand and appreciate his message. In that case it was heartbreaking to me as a reader. He writes: I hope you come to see that scientology is a mind prison designed to be nearly impossible to escape'. Please allow me one more gush before I quit, okay? Just knowing Mike Rinder exists: that someone brought up in Scientology, which is hellbent on beating the human warmth out of people, can come out the other side twice as tender and emotionally adept as the average person …

In some ways, the book is Rinder’s attempt to parent Taryn and Benjamin, too; a chance to hold his side of that conversation at least. “Here’s what’s important to me. Here’s my life. Here are the things that I went through. Like all that time you didn’t see me, where was I?”I really really hope they sort the audiobook issue soon! It’s an accessibility issue for me too what with ADHD and am absoultely desperate to listen to it, as soon as I heard about it. Tom Cruise has done an awful lot to promote Scientology to a lot of people,” Rinder adds. “But worse than that, he has promoted Scientology as something that has been incredibly helpful to him, and there are a lot of people out in the world who take the lead from movie stars about how they should live their life.” Scientology is more exposed

Mike was born in Australia and raised in a scientology family. He joined the organization’s elite inner core (the “Sea Org”) at age 18 and rose through the ranks, working directly with both L. Ron Hubbard and his successor David Miscavige. He has a unique insider’s perspective on scientology. Rinder opens the book with a letter to his two estranged children, and that device creates a tension that hangs over the entire book. While we’re drawn through this fast-paced adventure and look forward to learning how Rinder finally escaped from the madness in Scientology, we know from the start that it’s not going to have a happy ending.creation I'll break down one critical section of the book, covering events I am intimately familiar with. In this section, Rinder attempts to fill a gigantic hole in the official anti-Scientology narrative. It might be the wildest fiction he has ever attempted on the subject. The hole in question was created by my widely-disseminated recitation of the facts leading up to Scientology's tax exemption recognition. I have described before the fraud perpetuated by Rinder, and promoted by Larry Wright and Alex Gibney, on that subject. You can find the numerous references on my YouTube channel (e.g., IRS, Fraudulent Deceptions ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usd4Y...), IRS, Wright fact inventions and joining sides So we’d like to hear what your highlights have been over the last decade. A HowdyCon? A court day? Some wild conversation in the comments section? Let us know. The first obstacle was that the Supreme Court had ruled Scientology donations were not tax-deductible. The second was a Federal Court ruling on Church of Spiritual Technology's (CST) tax exemption application. The latter was so critical that he quotes an entire paragraph from the

I am sorry to do this to you again, but CBS Mornings has delayed the airing of their interview with me. I don’t know when it will air, but will try to keep you informed as best I can. Seems they are worried about scientology saber-rattling their paper swords. Sigh. One of the basic principles of Scientology is that when something goes wrong in someone’s life, it is their fault, and they are doing Scientology wrong. But, “not only are you doing Scientology wrong, you have done something bad that has caused that to happen to you,” Rinder remarks. If you're looking for an engaging story that offers fascinating insight into a mysterious world then look no further than A Billion Years. It will leave you captivated and enlightened as you learn about one man's journey and struggles along the way. Highly recommended! " — chad88, 10/19/2022 If you go into this book with zero prior knowledge about Scientology, I believe it would be difficult to truly understand the magnitude of the information and follow along with all the jargon. Rinder does provide a glossary of terms which is helpful, but I would highly recommend either watching the aftermath series that he and Leah Remini did on A&E first, or spend some time on Aaron Smith Levin's YouTube channel. The very first information I got on Scientology was reading Leah remini's Troublemaker book a few years ago and I also would recommend that as a good place to start. From billion year contracts, to mysteriously missing people, to surveillance cameras, to Xenu the alien leader and his hydrogen bombs, Scientology is even more wild, and it’s leaders (past and present) even more unhinged than you ever thought possible.

However, nowadays it is also true of families and friends who are 'cancelled', even 'doxxed' if they reject/escape the teachings of a particular political eco chamber. How accurate was '1984' , or 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell? History teaches us that escapees of ideologies often are brutally prosecuted and killed; religions 'shun' people'. Jim Carrey's movie 'The Truman Show' gives me the heebie-jeebies too. Yikes! Despite his handling of Minton and many other matters for the church, Rinder repeatedly found that his loyalty was rewarded with increasingly harrowing punishments from Miscavige, who was always looking for ways to prove that he was top dog. This led to the creation of “The Hole” at Scientology’s secretive Int Base in early 2004, as an increasingly paranoid Miscavige created a bizarre office-as-prison for his top lieutenants, including longtime colleagues who had been among his best friends. Rinder himself ended up in The Hole, and so he can personally describe its depravations.