Hannah Ferguson

I think this is such a big part of it as well, because that's what I mean if it started as self-help.

And it wasn't really until you'd already started paying and you already had committed yourself that you then work your way all the way up to level 12.

You've given so much of yourself by that point.

They've already got so much of you in the audits.

And then they go, aliens.

And at that point, you're like, I guess.

Oh, my God.

The second thing that Hubbard did to avoid authorities, in what People magazine called the craziest cruise on Earth...

Hubbard moves the headquarters of Scientology to the sea, hiring followers of his religion, like the most devout ones, to work on the boat.

Anyone who comes aboard the ship was promised a revelatory religious experience, but the sell was obviously far from reality.

To work for the Scientology Sea Org is essentially to be a Scientology version of a nun.

You sign a billion-year contract, again, in the book Beyond Belief.

It's crazy.

She's a kid, and she gets put into a room with other kids to sign their billion-year contract to Scientology.

Wear the Scientology clothing, work over 100 hours a week, often to the point of exhaustion, live in communal housing on the ship, and you aren't allowed to wash or change your clothes for several weeks at a time.

Most who joined had no nautical experience, so embarrassing incidents and near disasters were incredibly common.

Hubbard was big on disciplining his crew and he would often confine members to the ship's wastewater tank without a toilet for anywhere from a day to a week.

there are even records of him throwing people overboard.

Premarital sex was banned upon the ship and workers who got pregnant, whether married or not, were swiftly kicked off as, to quote, children hinder adults while performing their vital assignments.

Because of this, abortions were incredibly common.