Jenna Miscavige Hill, niece of Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige, was raised as a Scientologist but left the controversial religion in 2005. She joined John B. Wells to share her true story of life inside the upper ranks of the sect and her ultimate escape from it.
Hill's parents were members of the Sea Organization, a secretive military-style order whose members sign billion-year contracts dedicating their lives to the church. Children of executives in the church were known as cadets and sent to special boarding school called The Ranch, she explained.
Hill described her time there which included daily inspections, recitation of L. Ron Hubbard's writings, and 25 hours a week of manual labor.
There was an atmosphere of paranoia as children were encouraged to report on each other, she said, adding that any misbehavior was punishable by a written demerit and sometimes having one's head dunked in ice water.
From the ages of six to twelve I was allowed to see my parents only once a week and from twelve to eighteen I only say my mother two times, Hill continued.
She detailed the arduous process of leaving the organization, which can include weeks to months of mandatory "confessional" interrogations hooked to an E-meter (similar to a lie detector). "Every Scientology counselor is trained in physically restraining their subject if they try to leave the room," she noted.
Soon-to-be ex-members must sign non-disclosure bonds subjecting them to a $10,000 fine per violation for speaking out against the religion, she disclosed.
Hill also revealed how church leaders attempted to keep her fiancé from seeing her and leaving the organization. As we were driving away, the security chief actually threatened to do everything in his power to ensure that my fiancé's family never spoke to him again, she recalled.
http://exscientologykids.com/category/esk-stories/
