Opening Our Minds
on Jon Atack
There’s this guy.
Jon Atack requires no introduction from me but probably does for my regular readers accustomed to my other nonsenses. I hope you’ll forgive my egocentric approach as I explain how I know of him.
Like many nerds I first became aware of Scientology in the early 1990s with the Usenet group alt.religion.scientology. In comparison to the other Usenet topics the content was completely mad and fascinating, though my attention to it was vague. A few years later Scientology became the first organisation to tempt the wrath of the Internet by cancelling the group and the backlash caught my attention. I started reading about it.
Beyond the superficiality of celebrity, the subject of Scientology is multi-faceted and the literature reflects this. Escape stories from the likes of Marc Headley, insider accounts from Mike Rinder, Jeff Hawkins and Jenna Miscavige, and astonishing long-form analyses from dedicated journalists such as Tony Ortega and Paulette Cooper. There’s a fair amount of dross to wade through as well with, in my opinion, Janette Reitman at the top of that list.
And above it all stands two books, and Jon Atack.
Russell Miller’s Bare-faced Messiah, which Mr. Atack collaborated upon, is comprehensive and Mr. Atack’s own Let's Sell These People A Piece of Blue Sky is the definitive work. Together these two books are the preeminent treatise on the history of Scientology and its founder, L. Ron Hubbard, notable for their matter-of-fact, dispassionately academic and exhaustively-sourced approach to the subject. And therein lies a delicious irony:
Practising Scientologists refer to L. Ron Hubbard as Source. This is their messed-up equivalent to the Doctrine of Papal Infallibility in Catholicism or the Isma of the Prophet in Islam. In practise Scientology’s reverence for everything Hubbard most closely resembles the adoration expressed by Woke NPCs for pronouncements of the archfiend Jacinda Ardern. Now to the irony: Never mind Hubbard, Jon Atack is the source for all things Scientology. With the greatest respect for other historians such as Gerry Armstrong, Mr. Atack is the ultimate authority. Considered an enemy by the Cherch this indisputable fact causes a great deal of consternation to Scientologists and a diametric amount of merriment for everyone else.
I knew all of this as background, previous chapters in a long story. I knew that after decades of harassment Mr. Atack had withdrawn from the field and had moved onto other interests (more about those later) which seems to happen a lot in Scientology: people make a significant contribution then decamp to other things.
Which brings me to my “Tony Ortega Moment”, a moment I shared with many other people. With its daily updates Tony Ortega’s The Underground Bunker has been the centre of gravity for Scientology watchers for many years, and Mr. Ortega has recently migrated over to Substack:
Mr. Ortega tells the story of receiving an email once from someone claiming to be Paulette Cooper (another prominent contributor to the Scientology story from the mists of time) containing the words "keep going.” It transpired his correspondent really was Ms. Cooper and that email eventually lead to the publication of Mr. Ortega’s wonderful biography. Along with many other readers of his blog my Ortega Moment occurred in (I think) 2012 where someone in the comments section used the handle “Jon Atack.”
Now anyone can use a handle but the nature of the comment drew attention. Claiming to be Jon Atack is different to sounding like Jon Atack. As it happened it really was him and it was a sensation, almost like that time Nigel Short got thrashed by an anonymous chess player who was probably Bobby Fischer.
Mr. Atack was back, at least temporarily, in the public domain.
His contributions continued into written columns and media appearances and serendipitously, introduced the world to his other work. For as it transpired Mr. Atack hadn’t moved on from Scientology as much as he had moved beyond it: into the fields of the occult, psychology and -for want of a better term- the study of authoritarianism.
All of which barely scratches the surface of Mr. Atack’s authority and expertise, the bloke is a bona fide polymath. Cult deprogramming? Steve Hassan and Jon Atack. The definitive translation of the Tao Te Ching from 300 B.C.? Jon Atack. The bloke is prolific and scary, scary smart.
And above all, kind. In the factious field of Scientology Mr. Atack distinguishes himself through his polite and urbane manner, an example others would do well to emulate. So I was delighted but not altogether surprised three weeks ago that he replied to my email and agreed to appear on SimonTV.
He’s a busy chap, especially so at the moment recording the audiobook for his latest publication and attending to the promotional engagements arranged by his publisher. It’s exceptionally charitable of Mr. Atack to take time out from his schedule to spend some time with me and the SimonTV audience, and I am absolutely thrilled to be hosting him sometime in June, when the star of his schedule aligns with mine.
-SRA. Auckland, 31/v 2025.
(Jon Atack’s works can be accessed at his website. Our conversation for SimonTV will be simulcast to Substack, X, Youtube, Rumble, Instagram and the Fediverse, and syndicated by Resonate Radio.)