Last year my boyfriend’s mother received an email from an SP. She started going on different anti-Scientology websites until she went into agreement with what was on the websites. After about a month of reading this stuff, she told her son and daughter about what she had read and persuaded them to read it. My boyfriend at the time became obsessed with reading anti-Scientology stuff, blew from course and went out of comm with his Scientologist comm lines. 

A few weeks later, my boyfriend decided to start showing me this anti-Scientology material – to bring me over to his way of thinking. At first, I rejected it but for the next several weeks both he and his mother were talking to me and trying to prove their warped ideas about my religion to me. Eventually, I started to believe it.

Once I was “sold” on it, they started working towards leaving the Church and spreading the word for others to come with them. After many months of comm with the creator of the anti-Scientology websites and other ex-Scientologists and disaffected people, and meetings and gatherings, they decided to write a “Knowledge Report” on “the Church” and publish it on the anti-Scientology sites.

Once the KR went public, my parents found out and asked me what was going on. By this time, I had totally bought into all of the lies and with my boyfriend’s mother encouraging me, I tried to recruit my parents to come with me to connect up with squirrels. My family wouldn’t agree with what they were telling me about the Church and refused to become squirrels. This was happening the day before my boyfriend and I had a vacation planned. Being as his mother was now actively attacking the Church and working with squirrels, and my family was refusing to go along with this, my boyfriend and his mother made it clear that there was a decision to make between them and staying with my family. I chose my family. 

I told my boyfriend to go on the trip without me and I will sort things out with him and that we were not breaking up. He started crying and begging me to stay with him. I told him I can’t do that to my family. He went on the trip. During the entire trip we talked. He kept trying to convince me to stick to the plan of leaving the Church and not break up with him. He even went as far as proposing to me and suggesting we elope. I told him we will talk about this once he gets back in town.

During his trip, I gathered a lot of information about just what this anti-Scientology group was that my boyfriend was connecting up with. I realized what I had almost gotten into and decided that I shouldn’t leave my religion based on the lies from squirrels. Once my boyfriend got back, we remained in comm. We were trying to figure out what to do as I wouldn’t leave the Church and my family and he refused to speak with anyone in the Church. 

My boyfriend continued to get more and more deeply involved with the anti-Scientology group. Then he cheated on me and told me he wanted to break up – as we had no future since I was going to remain a Scientologist.

During this same time, I had been restoring the relationships with my family and friends that had been damaged by my involvement with the squirrels and their lies. 

In that direction is only hate, betrayal and failure. 

In Scientology, I am winning and happy. My friends and family are also winning and enjoying their lives through their application of the tech. I have realized what I came so close to losing and will never fall for the lies about my religion again.

– Stephanie Leriche