Bare-Faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard

I guess I've read this three or four times (NOTE: online-- you can find it in its entirety). It's an absolutely riveting look at one of the most compellingly INSANE religious leaders ever-- and the competition is pretty stiff, so that's saying a lot. Miller has done his homework, and knows his subject intimately. That he wrote this masterpiece of popular biography in the face of incredible hostility from the Church of Scientology is a real achievement, and you owe it to yourself to look into this almost unbelievable (but true!) tale of megalomania, paranoia, confabulation, and utterly NUTSOID behavior.

Well that's how the die-hard, cyborg-like Sea Org people tend to come across, in my experience. If I had thought this book was nothing more than an ill-informed cheap shot at Hubbard, I would not have read it, but it is not. My greatest problems with Scientology were never about the Technology, but with the over-zealousness (to put it very politely) of the Sea Org staff above all, and the absolutely unforgivable price of Services. If you ever complained about the totally unrealistic cost of Services - relative to average earnings, for example, you were met with facile, brainwashed responses about 'what is Freedom worth?' and 'No Clear thinks it's expensive...' all of which totally ignore the fact that the organization is 99% money driven, whether it started that way or not; and that most of The Bridge (the structured path to spiritual freedom) is way beyond the price range of the average individual - unless they become Staff members, of course... While Hubbard is seen to be a questionable character in terms of false claims about a number of issues, including aspects of his military service, as Miller reveals, he may well have developed some important technology at the heart of the Beast that Scientology eventually became. It does not have some of the more immediately threatening aspects of a Cult that many true Cults possess, but it is hard to see it as anything else when you add up the lists of experiences that Miller and others have recorded and analyzed. Don't be fooled by reviewers who hide behind 'attacks on their religion'. If Scientology operated more like a real religion (which it could do), it would not charge so much for its Services. It's pricing structure is simply a control weapon and nothing more. Read the book and make up your own mind.

This cult is absolutely the most bizzare thing I've ever heard of. Read this book and delve into the most incredible story you can imagine. And it's non-fiction! This cult is so creepy you will not sleep at night. Hard to believe this nonsense is actually considered a religion. Kudos to Mr. Miller for delivering a great read and revaling the inner workings of a true madman and a conman to rival any in history. The only sad part are the victims who have fallen for this science fiction mumbo jumbo and believe in such foolishness.

I've read Miller's book once and reread several chapters to use in countering claims by Scientologists as to Ron's great accomplishments. The book was not as attacking as Paulette Cooper's Scandal of Scientology. It simply states what he believes happened based on many thorough taped interviews with personal aides and associates of Ron. Also he uses government documents to back up his description of Ron's checkered military career and sleazy attempt to get government handouts. I was a Scientologist for 15 years and I appreciate his tracking this beast's movements across the United States , through Mediterranean ports, across the U.S again to his quietly paranoid end in California. It is a great read and should be a bible for any anti-Scientology advocates.