Mike Rinder, Who Likely Saved Thousands From Joining Scientology, Dies At 69
The former high-ranking church official became one of its most vocal critics.
At the end of 2024, the official website of the Church of Scientology proudly celebrated “a year of explosive growth,” a claim that sounds utterly delusional given that it’s hard to imagine too many people are lining up to join them these days. At this point, it’s hard to even find anyone who hasn’t heard about the horrible things the CoS has done to members and nonmembers alike, and a lot of the credit for that goes to Mike Rinder.
Rinder has passed away at the age of 69, a year-and-a-half after having been diagnosed with advanced esophageal cancer and a few months after having been declared cancer-free. His official cause of death has not yet been listed.
Best known for co-hosting Scientology and the Aftermath with fellow former Scientologist Leah Remini, Rinder had been a nearly-lifelong adherent, his mother having been a founding member of the church, joining up when he was just five years old. He signed a billion-year contract to join the Sea Org — the church’s nautical-themed highest rung of staff members — at just 18.
Rinder broke that contract and defected from Scientology in 2007, having previously been a high-ranking executive in the organization and a Church of Scientology International (CSI) board member. He was the executive director of its Office of Special Affairs, which is more or less their version of the CIA.
As director of the OSA, Rinder said his primary job was to "intimidate, defame, harass, discredit, and effectively silence any criticism of Scientology" as part of the “fair game” policy they have repeatedly claimed is no longer a thing. He later became a victim of this policy once he left, which he said was the thing that pushed him to become an outspoken critic of the religion.
Rinder was not the first Scientology defector, but because of his previous position so high up within the organization, he was able lend credence to the claims that those previous defectors and other critics had been making for so long, especially with regards to the harassment and stalking they’d experienced. He was also able to validate, for them, the things they believed were happening to them but couldn’t prove.
People tend to be more convinced by someone saying “Yes, I/we did that horrible thing to people and here is how and why we did it” than by someone else saying “This horrible thing happened to me.” Of course, with regards to Scientology, the fact that all of the stories of horrible things were pretty much the exact same horrible thing, it’s not that easy to turn a blind eye.
The first time I ever saw Rinder was in The Secrets of Scientology, John Sweeney’s second BBC Panorama documentary on the subject. He had appeared in the first, Scientology and Me, but only in the background, standing by the side of former Scientology chief spokesman, son of Ann Archer and half-baked clone of Tom Cruise, Tommy Davis.
In the second documentary, Rinder confessed to having Sweeney followed around, and even following him and the crew to San Francisco himself, where they stopped before heading to Los Angeles to continue filming. It was, of course, fairly apparent that this is what was going on, as Davis managed to show up every time Sweeney tried to talk to a critic or former member of Scientology.
After that, as we know, he continued fighting to bring the CoS’s abuses — which have, according to him and other former members, included sexual assault, physical attacks, false imprisonment, harassment and stalking — to light for years upon years, despite the constant attacks and harassment. Because of this, and the work of others, people all over will be less prone to fall for their bullshit, less likely to be abused and less likely to be drained of all their money and alienated from their family members. That’s pretty freaking remarkable.
In a post on Instagram announcing his death, Rinder’s wife Christie King Collbran shared what he wanted to be his last words.
“My only real regret is not having achieved what I said I wanted to — ending the abuses of Scientology, especially disconnection and seeing Jack into adulthood. If you are in any way fighting to end those abuses please keep the flag flying — never give up,” he wrote.
PREVIOUSLY ON WONKETTE!
I still don't know how Scientology managed to get itself tax exempt as a religion. It's fucking based on badly written sci-fi novels. Includes use of "E-Meters" that back then you could build with Radio Shack parts. It's a cult without being a religion, which is quite the accomplishment. (: MAGA crowd enters chat)
$cientology is the perfect example of why there should be no tax exemptions for religious organizations. They make the Roman Catholic Church look like rank amateurs.