I actually had a very good friend who liked the book Battlefield Earth, but didn't like any of the Scientolo-gibberish. I remember him talking about it a few years ago, before I knew anything about that crazy cult. I think I had read an article in Rolling Stone tho, about one woman's nightmare at getting out of it. It's hard to understand from the outside how bad it could be, but since more people have gotten their stories out there, well, the stories are out there. It seems they are trying to turn out people who have no consciences. Either you pay out the money to have yourself brainwashed into subservience, or if you leave they hold anything that would make you embarrassed or guilty against you. So, what..someone is either deemed not good enough for their "system" because they have their own morality of "right and wrong", OR you ascend higher doing whatever the bleep you want. The second choice sounds dangerous to me. The epitome of self-centeredness = no love.