Along with low pay and the requirement to live on-site -- the better to cult you with, my dear -- the rules are surprisingly prudish for an industry run by Hollywood. "Couples cannot live with, or be in each other's on-site housing, without being married, so there were multiple couples who'd know each other three to five months -- including as patients, most likely -- and then would get married," Jeffrey says. "Having children was borderline forbidden, and [there were] rumors of forced abortions, but I never saw proof."
Well, of course -- we wouldn't want recently recovered addicts to be rushing into any hasty commitments.
1
They Want To Bleed You Dry
WSB-2
Luckily, Jeffrey wasn't so easily recruited. "I started hearing about Captain Xenu and begged to leave," he says. They didn't exactly hold him hostage, which is sincerely surprising at this point, but "the taxi companies that serviced the area refused to come there unless they were told to by the facility staff," Jeffrey says. "Not quite sure how that worked." Remember, this place is 35 miles to the nearest gas station -- you're not walking to the airport. They also impress upon him that he needed to finish by making him feel like his life literally depended on the program. "So I stuck it out, and about two weeks later, my insurance cut out," he says.
BBC
You'd think a religion based around Rob Halford as Magneto would be more awesomely badass, but you'd be so very wrong.
Narconon charges around $23,000 for a three-month stay, so the people who were so concerned about his well being yesterday suddenly couldn't wait to put him on the street. OK, that's not fair: They decided they could wait an entire hour.
"They gave me one hour to figure out a way to leave, despite [me asking to leave] days before," Jeffrey says. "Luckily, someone there had money and bought me a ticket home."
We never thought we'd say it, but thank god for the stingy health insurance industry!
Those filthy Scientologists will never track Manna down; they can go ahead and try.
Have a story to share with Cracked? Email us here.
For more insider perspectives, check out 5 Weird Realities When Scientologists Run Your School and 5 Ways Growing Up Inside Scientology Was A Nightmare.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel, and check out How Ayn Rand And L. Ron Hubbard Came Up With Their Big Ideas, and other videos you won't see on the site!
Also, follow us on Facebook, and let's be best friends forever.
341 Comments