Man explains why he had to get out of Scientology after being in the 'cult' for years

A man has revealed why he had to leave Scientology and why it was so difficult.

The religion that's synonymous with Tom Cruise is based on the beliefs and practices of American author L. Ron Hubbard.

While many have fled the religious movement, past members have noted the difficulty in breaking free as followers are entirely independent on a social network from within the ‘organisation’.

As part of LADbible’s new Hindsight series, Jake Howie, sat down to reveal how he left the church.

Jake was born into a family of Scientologists and was raised in the church for the first decade of his life.

He said: “I think a lot of the time, these things start as such innocent, wonderful things.”

However, Jake began to notice that the movement didn’t encourage independent or critical thought.

He admitted that he enjoyed the comfort of being told what to think, describing it as ‘easy’.

Jake added: “If you’re ever anywhere where you can’t question what is being put before you, that’s a f**king cult.”

While he and his family began questioning the church's motives, he revealed there was no divine moment that caused them to leave.

He said: “Slowly but surely, it’s like, ‘Ok, we’re not going every week, ok we’re not going every month’, ok the energy that they [parents] possessed for it slowly started to fade.”

He added: “I think the kind of reverb of that, I’ve never felt like I’m in a group since I left Scientology.

“I don’t know if that’s because I was young and I liked being part of it, and then what I got from it was that kind of like

camaraderie, of like, ‘We all think the same,’ even though I had no f**king clue what we thought.”

After Jake left that church, he decided to pursue a stand-up comedy career, revealing that he was desperate to be a part of a community again.

However, since leaving, he has managed to evade cults entirely, realising that the only belief he needs is self-acceptance.

He said: "It’s almost like the minute I feel like I’m subscribing to that kind of common group thing, I’ve kind of lost the battle, and then I’m in a cult again.”

His experience with cultism has led him to reject the status quo in every sense.

He continued: “I’m a contrarian for that reason. If someone’s like, ‘This season is all about purple,” I’m like, “Well, this is pink b**ch.”

LADbible's Hindsight series is available on YouTube now.

Other episodes includes hearing from OnlyFans stars as well as paramedics to discuss their careers.