Sunday, February 13, 2011

Battlefield: Earth

The New Yorker has an incredible article that profiles Paul Haggis and the Church of Scientology. This has got to be the longest New Yorker piece ever... at least the longest I've read. I got held on the F train for a little over an hour (for a trip that is usually but 35 minutes) and that still wasn't enough to get through the whole thing. But the length is worth it, as it is quite in-depth and engrossing, and hard to put down.
Scientology is fascinating because there is so much uncertainty about what exactly it is, what it's belief system entails. And the troubles the religion finds itself with are usually because the church tries to keep things hidden and mysterious, but is also constantly trying to clear up the misunderstandings that it wants straitened out. This comes across as disingenuous, especially when you then read about the people in the piece who have left the faith, and whose word was considered credible when they were Scientologists but are now considered liars.