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

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Germany to this day have issues with Scientology, according to Mike. There are other countries as well, I just cannot remember right now. But first, he had to negotiate growing up in a town, Adelaide, where Scientologists were not only rare but also seen with suspicion. When his family made the pilgrimage to Hubbard’s headquarters in the UK in 1967, Rinder blended in easily, getting to know Hubbard’s own children, who were about his age. In ensuing years, he continued his Zelig-like rise in the organization, being the right guy at the right time, joining Hubbard’s navy then sailing the Mediterranean and Atlantic. In Scientology, when a family divides into believers and nonbelievers, disconnection is a common and painful experience. Taryn, Benjamin and Cathy have all released videos in which they claim Rinder abandoned the family when he left Scientology. His eldest children have published an open letter, disowning him – which rather undercuts Rinder’s explicit aim in writing, to reach out to his children. “A book for an audience of two,” he calls it. I harbour hopes that the bubble in which my children live may eventually be burst apparently persuaded him to let his hair down and let his consciousness flow to reveal the real Rinder. For example: He says worst by a long way was the year or more that Rinder spent in a building known as “the Hole” at the church’s international base near Hemet, California. He was initially sent there to explore his subversive intentions, though at the time he didn’t have any , and then again, when as director of the Office of Special Affairs, he failed to prevent the BBC show Panorama from airing a programme on Scientology.

If you are curious about cults, have an inkling your own weird movement might actually be a cult, or are interested in taking citizen action against Scientology… you won’t find a better resource than this. Rinder is articulate, sensitive, funny, and he knows everything there is to know about L. Ron Hubbard and his Sci-Fi pulp turned quasi-religious movement. The way a Scientologist discovers his or her missteps is through repeated interrogations, performed through a machine-like lie detector called E-meter, which an operator “guides” a member during an auditing session. I don't know where I heard about this book by Mike Rinder. It might have been a podcast about secret societies, or a magazine about it, but I immediately wanted to read it. Eventually I discovered it as an audio book and put it on top of my list. Somehow Scientology has always been an interesting topic, mostly because of what you hear about it through modern media, where it's talked about in relevance to actors and celebrities who are involved in this. Having an ex scientology member who used to be in a higher rank talk about his experience seemed extremely interesting, and man, I wasn't wrong. Mike Rinder opens up a book full of stories that are so mindblowing that some of them are even very hard to believe. Yet, having read and seen stuff in the past, I also couldn't not believe his story. Nevertheless, the read taught me a couple of things about Rinder which helps to put him into accurate perspective. That is useful in the process of letting go. And so I thank Mike for his effort. Scientology [guides] you to coming to an understanding of what these horrible things are that you may have done previously, that caused you to now get run over by a car,” he says. Fair Game

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Maybe we can get #ReleaseTheRinderTapes trending in Europe and Australia! And all pester Audible daily/weekly etc till they sort it out. It’s almost as if they have Scientologists behind the scenes putting spanners in the works! In fairness to Scientology, there are a gazillion books written by deserters/runagates/apostates of many religions, political believes, or ideologies. Mike Rinder is just one of many. He is telling his story. It's sad, but positive. An encouraging, albeit in-depth experience for the reader. Remini Redux ( https://markrathbun.blog/2019/08/22/r...) and Bullshit Alert: Ortega, Rinder, Remini ( https://markrathbun.blog/2020/09/15/b...- Rinder’s high-ranking position at the organization gave him a window into celebrities' lives, including Cruise’s - one of the most recognizable Scientologists in the world.

Yet Rinder couldn’t shake a nagging feeling that something was amiss—Hubbard’s promises remained unfulfilled at his death, and his successor, David Miscavige, was a ruthless and vindictive man who did not hesitate to confine many top Scientologists, Mike among them, to a makeshift prison known as the Hole.Now I was the emperor of my own kingdom. It was intoxicating. It gave me a sense of invincibility." negotiations and historically in-depth IRS audits that culminated in tax exemption. Even with my detailed descriptions over the past several years publicly available, Rinder's new fiction betrays a remarkable degree of ignorance about Scientology's history vis a vis the IRS. 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. When Rinder finally got out of the Sea Org and then began finding a way to make a living in a modern world he had never really been a part of before (and that in itself is a fascinating story, the details of which we had never really heard before), he gradually began coming around to the idea that he must dedicate himself to exposing Miscavige and the insane cruelty of Scientology, and he begins talking to journalists and the FBI. The story told throughout this audiobook is captivating and engrossing; you can't help but be drawn in by Mike's narration and his attention to detail in describing his experiences with this controversial organization. His words come across as earnest and honest as he recounts both the good and bad aspects of his time there, allowing you to see, first hand, the inner workings of an organization shrouded in mystery.

Mike is a former senior executive of the Church of Scientology International (CSI) who has become a prominent whistleblower against abuses in scientology and other organizations. I hate bullies. That's not alleged, that is fact. I'm giving this book five stars because, again, I hate bullies!

We remember interviewing Rinder a few years later, and we can personally attest that at that time (March 2012), he was still somewhat protective of Hubbard and the subject of Scientology itself. In that interview, for example, he didn’t hesitate telling us his “OT” level and that he was still doing Scientology, but outside the church. Later, at his blog, Rinder obviously went through a period of rethinking Hubbard and the subject of Scientology (which, tellingly, he now insists on not capitalizing). Now, we learn that it was reading Miller’s Bare-Faced Messiah , the first, and still the best, full biography of Hubbard, that finally convinced Rinder that the founder was always selling deceptive nonsense.

I listened to many testimonials and experiences of people on Youtube, who were mentioned in the book. Too many people 'escaped'. Too many folks lost their families and friends in 'disconnection'. I'm so glad that I decided to listen to Mike Rinder's audiobook "A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology" because it is an incredibly powerful and moving account of his time in this dangerous cult. In his own words, Mike explains how he spent two decades as a high-ranking official for the Church of Scientology and his journey to ultimately escape. His narration style is calm and confident, yet careful to ensure listeners gain insight into the heavy emotions he experienced while inside the organization.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. I understand there is a problem with the audiobook in the UK and Australia. I do not understand the problem, as it had been all set to launch with the book itself and then it turns out there is some issue with distribution rights that is too complicated for me to understand. I have asked the appropriate people to see if they can step in and sort it out… For the time being, you will have to do things the old fashioned way and read the book. Remarkably, even after that, Rinder continued in his faith, identifying as a Scientologist while he worked as a car salesman, his first job on the outside. It was really only that he wanted Miscavige to leave.

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