Dale Femrite

New: Joe Rogan is in a state of amazement when The Big Bang Theory creator Chuck Lorre reveals he fell into the Scientology cult for 10 years and exposes how they would charge people $50,000 to achieve a higher spiritual state: LORRE: “It’s all marketing. They’re always selling you on having the institutionally held secrets. You stick around because everyone wants to know the secrets of life.” ROGAN: “The added benefit they have is that they have all these successful celebrities.” CONTEXT: Chuck Lorre really did spend about a decade involved with Scientology. In a Los Angeles Times interview published today alongside his new memoir, Lorre called it “one of my darker secrets” and said he had been embarrassed by that decade of his life. He says he entered Scientology when he was a broke young musician looking for direction, continued taking courses after moving to Los Angeles and at one point even signed the Sea Organization’s infamous billion-year commitment. He lasted two days in the Sea Org. But Lorre’s broader point about secrets is not something the Church of Scientology itself denies. Scientology’s official website says that a small portion of its most advanced scriptures is deliberately kept confidential. The church says members must become sufficiently prepared “spiritually and ethically” before receiving them, and says premature exposure could interfere with spiritual development. Scientology even has a formal progression system for this. It is called the Bridge to Total Freedom. Members move through increasingly advanced levels, eventually reaching what Scientology calls Operating Thetan, or OT. The church says these levels must be taken in an established sequence and that putting somebody onto the OT levels before they are ready would be “fruitless.” So when Lorre says: “Oh, I want to know the secret. If I stick around, I’ll find out the secret.” he is describing a real structural feature of the religion: THE MOST ADVANCED INFORMATION IS AT THE END OF A PROGRESSION. And getting farther along that progression can require serious investments of both time and money. IMPORTANT NOTES: Religious-studies scholar Donald Westbrook, who conducted extensive fieldwork among Scientologists, describes advancement through the Bridge as something that usually costs money and always costs time. He also confirms that the OT materials are confidential. Historical reporting shows just how expensive that process could become. A major Los Angeles Times investigation found that auditing was sold in 12½-hour blocks that at the time ranged from roughly $3,000 to $11,000 depending on where it was purchased. Former Scientologists have separately described spending six figures over the course of years on auditing, courses and donations.