Blown For Good - An Ex-scientologist's Blow-by-blow Account

The most intimate and shocking details of the dark and secretive world of Scientology have surfaced in the form of Marc Headley, an ex-Scientologist, who has come out with his tell-all book, "Blown for Good". Having worked with the Church of Scientology for fifteen years, Marc's revealing insider account paints a never before known picture of life inside "Gold Base", the international headquarters of Scientology at Gilman Hot Springs, California.

Though Scientology is usually regarded by me as a topic not worthy of writing about, Headley presents an exceptional case. He was sucked into Scientology at the tender age of seven when his mother joined the organization. He never had a real chance to know another life. As an employee of the Church of Scientology for fifteen years, he wasn't even able to escape by going to work at a "normal" job.

Marc has given a detailed interview about his experiences at Gold Base to WikiNews. Among many other shocking revelations, a curious incident that we get to read about in this book is Marc's three week tryst with probably the world's most famous Scientologist - Tom Cruise. He was Mr. Cruise's partner in the Scientology counseling services, a practice referred to as "auditing". He attributes him being chosen to be Cruise's partner to his young age which made him less likely to leave and expose the famous actor's Scientology secrets with the media.

He describes daily life at the Gold Base; how infamous Scientology leader David Miscavige made employees sign absurd billion year service contracts which made them liable to work hundred hour weeks at a pittance. Punishments doled out to employees who committed "mistakes" included separation from family and harsh labor. He also confirms the allegations of physical abuse against Miscavige, made by former Scientologists before him. Marc managed to escape from the Scientology headquarters in the year 2005, on a motorcycle. Though he was chased by Scientology guards and fell off his motorcycle, he was able to escape with the help of the local police force.

Once he left and relocated to Kansas, one more challenge popped up when his wife contacted him and intimated him of her intention to leave the Scientology compound and reunite with him. He details her thrilling escape in the very last chapter of the book.

Hohn Kobylt and Ken Chiampou of The John and Ken Show on KFI, have this to say about Blown for Good: "This is, the Scientology cult, is I guarantee you, a thousand times more bizarre than you could have ever imagined. And what these celebrities do, like Tom Cruise, is a thousand times more strange than you could ever imagine. I have never read about behavior like this in my life, I can't imagine it. It's really weird,". It is also interesting to note that Marc himself started questioning his faith in Scientology after secretively watching Conan O' Brien make fun of Scientology celebrities on the same show!

On reading the book, what clearly comes across is the down to earth nature of Marc Headley. One would expect him to solely concentrate on the religous aspects of Scientology and its weird customs and practices. But, what Marc chooses to discuss in detail is about how the employment policies of the organization violate the United States Labor Law and the abuse of human rights within the organization.

Blown For Good has received excellent reviews for accuracy from many ex-Scientologists. It's also received a lot of complaints about grammar and editing. I'm not very interested in grammar and editing, but I am very interested in the truth. The book is self-published and I have to give Marc a lot of credit for making that work.

From what I am reading, it seems very clear that the Church of Scientology is actively suppressing the liberty of both church employees and church members. In our day and age, we normally expect that sort of bad behavior to only come from governments -- at least outside of the Muslim world. Western religions have largely been "civilized" so as to be mostly harmless. It appears that Scientology, one of the worlds youngest religions, needs a bit of civilizing.