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Saturday, Jan 26, 2013 2:00 PM UTC

L. Ron Hubbard’s great-grandson: Scientology is a brainwashing “cult”

Jamie DeWolf blasts the religion his family founded to Current TV's Cenk Uygar VIDEO

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Topics: Video, Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, current tv, Cenk Uygar, Jamie DeWolf,

L. Ron Hubbard's great-grandson: Scientology is a brainwashing
This article originally appeared on AlterNet.

AlterNet The great-grandson of the founder of Scientology said that the belief system is a “cult” last night on Current TV with Cenk Uygur. Jamie DeWolf, the great-grandson of L. Ron Hubbard, blasted Scientology in scathing terms.

Uygur had DeWolf on to talk about how people get sucked into Scientology. “How do they do it?” asked Uygur.

DeWolf said that Scientology leaders “prey on narcissism….[You’re] told you’re a God-like creature.”

DeWolf also explained how Scientology specifically tries to rope in celebrities, though they are often “insulated from the nastier aspects of it.” DeWolf said Elvis Presley turned down an offer to join Scientology.

“Is it a case study in how you can gradually brainwash people?” asked Uygur. “I think it’s one of the most brilliant and devious systematic brainwashing systems that’s ever been invented,” responded DeWolf.

Scientology “works through electrified hypnosis. It works through past life regression therapy. It works through a lot of hodgepodge of ideas thrown together with this extremely brutal sort of security sense and this kind of like CIA-like structure that becomes really intoxicating to people. But to meet people who’ve been out of the cult — I mean, yeah, you want to ask them about Xenu and aliens — but the fact is these are smart people. They’ve just been completely destroyed,” said DeWolf.

Watch the whole clip here:

Alex Kane is a staff reporter at Mondoweiss and the World editor at AlterNet. His work has also appeared in The Daily Beast, the Electronic Intifada, Extra! and Common Dreams. Follow him on Twitter @alexbkane. More Alex Kane.

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