Greetings subscribers. Don’t you love it when you come across something in your files that you forgot about but glad you kept? The following is a letter I emailed to The New Yorker magazine in March, 2011, in response to an article they published by Lawrence Wright, titled: “The Apostate.” When I read it, I had a strong reaction, so I put fingers to keyboard right away and emailed my letter to the magazine with high hopes. Well …
The magazine did not publish my letter. Why? you might ask. Of course, I asked myself why, too. Was it not written well enough? Was it rejected because I cited a specific group as a cult? Does my tone sound preachy? I’ll never know their reasons, but I try to be a writer with a thick skin (not easy) but also try to keep a soft heart (sometimes not easy, either), and I accepted their decision with respect and moved on. HOWEVER …
I say now’s the time and place for me to publish it myself. Why not? BTW, if you ever want to write to that magazine, here’s the address they ask you to use, which I did. Themail@newyorker.com
Note: You might realize that my posting this breaks my own rule of no longer saying any more stuff about The Way on my blog, but I just didn’t want this letter to go to waste. Depending on my mood, more instances of this rule-breaking may occur in the future.
My letter to The New Yorker
Lawrence Wright’s article, The Apostate, (Feb. 14 & 21, 2011) about Paul Haggis’ defection from Scientology after nearly thirty-five years, is a searchlight in the murky darkness of secretive cults – and more. Although Haggis regrets it took him so long to see he was in a cult, I think the article reveals why. It shows how this cult emotionally and mentally binds followers to its ideology. Cults hold out promises like carrots to hungry rabbits and those hungry enough for answers hop right up and grab them. I know from experience. I was involved in a manipulative religious cult, too: The Way International. I left in 1987 after seventeen years. In the 1980s it claimed more than 100,000 followers. In more than one paragraph of Wright’s dynamite article I easily could have substituted “The Way” for “Scientology” and kept on reading.
Tommy Davis, the Scientologist featured in the article, is reported as attacking the credibility of Haggis and other Scientology “defectors.” As a good cult defender does, Davis calls them “bitter apostates.” Granted, bitterness is often an emotional response to betrayal by a leader who claims to offer truth but delivers propaganda. Who promises healing but causes pain. Despite defectors’ emotions, however, I hope readers notice and heed the many collaborating facts. With so many similar stories, I think there’s some truth to their charges. Defectors in this story have something helpful and valid to say. Outsiders can decide which accounts “ring true,” but they are at a disadvantage without informative articles like this.
For us, “apostate defectors,” to earn credibility, it helps to gain distance on our experiences before speaking out, cultivate perspective before making judgments, sort through our vulnerabilities that drew us in, and study the interplay of who is responsible for what during our years of involvement. I credit Haggis for how he is doing that – and keeping a sense of humor – and applaud Wright for not clicking off the searchlight.
—END—
Thanks for reading!
Next time: my friend Peg’s article about trees, a continuation of her series on Caring for Mother Nature.
Your writer on the wing,
Charlene
Kathleen Brandt
This makes me wish I could read the article!
Charlene Edge
I wish I still had that issue of the magazine!
Charlene L. Edge
I just found it online, but not sure if everyone can access it.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/02/14/the-apostate-lawrence-wright
Gigi
The first sentence of your final paragraph offers a world of wisdom.
Charlene Edge
Somewhere, sometime I learned that when handling hot topics, it’s best to remain cool.
Hysteria over anything, no matter how true the words you may be saying, does not invite people to listen seriously.
Gary Williams
I found it online, too. Very long article, interesting exposé.
I suppose it’s (barely) plausible to call Hubbard himself “fascinating,” but as Haggis concluded at some point about Scientology, “This is madness.” Charlene describes it in her letter as “the murky darkness of secretive cults.” I also liked this: Haggis “felt unsettled by the lack of irony among fellow-Scientologists — an inability to laugh at themselves….”
I couldn’t get through the entire article; or rather, could only “finish” it by skimming most of it. “Intergalactic spirituality,” indeed. Even “madness” only touches the surface of cults. I guess.
[Charlene — You mean you don’t keep 20 years worth of 15 magazines? You could rent a storage area. Like I did, after my old mags filled up not only my office, but several otherwise unoccupied carrels in Olin Library. One simply must not jettison that stuff; it’s pure gold!]
Charlene Edge
Thanks for chiming in, Gary. It is a realllly looong article, but full of good points.
In belief systems like Scientology and The Way, I agree that at some point any sane, reasonable person would say, “This is madness.”
[Gary – Good heavens, a storage unit! Actually, I really do wish I had saved that magazine issue! And I do regret some other stuff I threw out or gave away, but my writing room feels like a storage unit even despite that. Especially with all the files that helped me document things in Undertow].
Gary Williams
[Charlene, I was …… um …… “exaggerating” about the storage unit, and the 2 unoccupied carrels in Olin, too. But I do still have, more than a decade after leaving Rollins, a whole bunch of stuff. I will say, when I intermittently summon the energy to get rid of Rollins things, I do (mostly) enjoy the memories. So, keeping stuff way too long can be both emotionally rewarding and pretty embarrassing.]
Charlene Edge
Ah ha, gotcha. Given the amout of stuff Hoyt had/has, it seemed entirely possible. LOL!
Sublimejah
Charlene, Thanks for breaking your rule. For some of us who never spoke up before it’s a powerful incentive to know your story and efforts to tell some truths about The Way. I’m soon going to be on Cult Vault with my story because TWI is trying to revive itself in the image of the early days. Loved your book.
Charlene L. Edge
Thank you for commenting here, Sublimejah, and for reading Undertow. I wish you the very best with your interview on Cult Vault! Be strong. Stay brave.