Ex-Scientology Kids: A New Cyberspace Phenomenon

Astra, Jenna, and Kendra are three young women who built the website Ex-Scientology Kids, after leaving the Church of Scientology. At first glance, these attractive young women look more likely to promote some innovative New Age Spiritualism or Herbal Gardening co-operative. Digging deeper, I found that each girl was born into a family within the Scientology Church, and felt compelled to leave. In fact, Astra was pressured by the Church to have an abortion. Jenna and Kendra's family ties were severed as a result of leaving, while Astra, her father and her sister all walked away from the group. Finding strength and therapy through discussing their common experiences, they developed this forum. Although pro-Scientology letters are welcome, they're very up front about the fact that, "Most of the people that write for this site have had extremely negative experiences in Scientology."

The site itself is attractive, well-planned, and easy-to use. The lay-out is colorful, straight to the point, and simple to navigate. There's a series of hyperlinks to the right side of the screen, where background information, discussion formats and links to other sites are listed. The most important one, containing first-hand accounts of Scientology Kids who've left the Church is where it belongs, right on top! The three women work to be non-judgemental; in fact, there's direct links to websites managed by the Church of Scientology. Pro-Scientology informational material is faithfully reproduced on the website, and it's easy to find. They're not trying to say that they support the Church; rather, they believe that full disclosure will benefit folks both within and outside the Church of Scientology.

The Berlin branch of the Church of Scientology is pictured here.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons (GNU free distro)

Copyright: Wikimedia Commons (GNU free distro)