The Scientology Experience: Kat McElhinney

This week I have a new interview with a former Scientologist who really only had a brief but devastating experience many years ago and has been trying to deal with the consequences ever since, especially difficult since her mother is not just still a Scientologist but a staff member here in Denver at the “Ideal Org.” Every story counts and Kat McElhinney’s story is all too typical for those who have even a brief encounter with destructive cults during their formative years.

My intro to our interview:

As someone who has been talking about and exposing destructive cult abuses for the last few years, I am contacted all the time by people who want to share their stories with me. Many times they are just looking for a sympathetic and understanding ear, someone who gets what they have been through and just needs to be told that no, they are not crazy and yes, what they went through really was so insane that most people would probably have a hard time understanding it. I get these on an almost daily basis from former or even active members of very diverse groups all over the world, not just from ex-Scientologists.

Not all of these stories sound as salacious or outlandish as what we often see on TV. Leah Remini gets it right in Scientology and the Aftermath on A&E, but some of these other TV shows and news featurettes don’t always pay attention or understand their own story well enough to report accurately on all the facts. This can sometimes leave people with the idea that members of destructive cults always get sexually and physically abused or that they stalk and try to murder everyone who ever leaves. This kind of hyperbole isn’t helpful in the fight against these abusive groups, because not everyone has the same experience. However, almost uniformly what you do find in talking to former members of these groups are intense feelings of shame and guilt, the idea that they were the ones at fault because they couldn’t measure up to the cult’s impossible standards and ideals. They are traumatized and psychologically scarred, but have been indoctrinated that everything that happened to them was their fault because they weren’t good enough or strong enough or pure enough. They are gaslighted by being told that things which definitely happened to them didn’t really happen, that they either remember it wrong or are corrupting their own memories in order to make the cult look bad because they are just spiritual or moral failures.

This kind of behavior all by itself is reason enough to run, not walk, away from any such group. It’s not just what is done to a person that makes a cult destructive, it’s also what’s taken away from them. When real physical or sexual abuse is piled on top of that, you have an obvious case of abusive or even criminal behavior and we highlight those stories so people can easily understand why these groups are out of control and need to be regulated in some way.

Recently I was contacted by a former second generation Scientologist who lives here in Denver named Kat McElhinney. For 18 years she has been dealing with the guilt and shame of her brief but impactful experience with Scientology as a young teenager and the fact that her mother remains a Scientologist despite her efforts to talk to her about the abuse Kat experienced. It’s not any fun and it certainly doesn’t bring any monetary gain to speak out against destructive cults like Scientology but it definitely can be liberating. I therefore wanted to give Kat a chance to tell her story. For her, this is the story of some horrible experiences during the formative years of her life which she has been burdened with for too long. For us, this is another of the thousands of survivor stories we need to hear and be reminded of so we know that yes, this does go on right here in the United States, fully sanctioned and supported by our government and legal system under the misbegotten notion that freedom of religion is more important than freedom of life and freedom from abusive, predatory behavior. The recent scandal with the Catholic Church covering up yet hundreds more cases of pedophilia within its own ranks and lobbying to prevent laws that would stop its predation only highlight that it’s not just little cults like Scientology that try to get away with this. We have a lot of work to do and we cannot rest until every child in this country and around the world can grow up safe.

Here’s Kat.