>>
so nice you're here.
>>>
but let's begin this half hour with the secretive and controversial
church of scientology
. in a moment, a defector from the
church
's leadership corps will speak out in an exclusive live interview. but first, nbc's
kerry sanders
is outside the
church of scientology
's headquarters. that's in clearwater, florida.
kerry
, good morning to you.
>>
reporter: well, good morning, matt. yes, behind me is the ornate world headquarters of the
church of scientology
. the elite group that helps run the
church
is known as the
sea organization
, and this morning a member is breaking ranks and silence and telling stories of finances, abortions and mime control.
business as usual
, it seems, for scientologists at the
organization
's expanding world headquarters in florida, but for 33-year-old
christine
collbran
, once a member of scientology's elite corps,
sea org
, life is anything but. she was born into a family of scientologists, but since
christine
and her husband, chris, also a member of the
church
,
broke away
and started speaking out against scientology, as they did in a recent "the new york times" article,
christine
says the
church
has cut her off from her family.
>>
they have to make a choice between their daughter or, you know, their eternity or what they think is their eternity as far as their salvation goes spiritually.
>>
reporter: spokesman
tommy davis
says the
church
denies interfering in her family but does say members are taught to cut contact with so-called suppressives, people who viciously attack the
church
.
>>
i've been labeled a
suppressive person
because i, you know, basically no longer support the
church
.
>>
reporter: her decision to leave, she says, was emotionally and financially costly.
christine
says every member signs a so-called eternity contract to remain a
scientologist
for a billion years. when she broke that contract, she says the
church
, which had paid her $50 a week, handed her a $40,000 bill for counseling services the
church
had given her over her lifetime.
>>
i signed a contract that said i was going to be there for the rest of my life and beyond, so i didn't fulfill that contract and they bill you.
>>
reporter: that bill was later reduced to $10,000, but still,
christine
claims the
church
made leaving so difficult, she made an extreme choice. the
sea org
does not allow members to have children, so she got pregnant and hid it until it was too late for an abortion. the
church
denies putting any pressure on members to have abortions. scientology boasts millions in their congregation, including high-profile
movie stars
john travolta
and
tom cruise
.
>>
being a
scientologist
, people turning to you --
>>
reporter: whose scientology video on youtube has been viewed more than 5 million times, a testament to the public's fascination with this secretive religion. but "the new york times" reports members are
walking away
in increasing numbers.
>>
now there is the sense that people who do leave have company, they're not alone, and that that's what's contributing, i think, in some ways to this flood of people who are kind of, you know, stepping out of the
church
.
>>
reporter:
church
spokesman
tommy davis
says
christine
is a liar who has been heavily influenced by a former ranking leader of the
church
who was expelled. matt?
>>
kerry sanders
in clearwater for us this morning.
kerry
, thank you very much.
christie
king
collbran
is with us exclusively.
christie
, good morning.
>>
good morning.
>>
nice to see you. first of all, your response to the statement
kerry
just gave from
tommy davis
.
>>
i'm not a liar, so -- is that what you're referring to?
>>
yeah.
>>
no, i mean, the information that i've spoken out about is true. i still consider myself a
scientologist
.
>>
you would like to be a practicing
scientologist
. you're speaking out less about the
church
and the fundamentals of the
church
than you are about this
sea organization
.
>>
well, yeah. i was in the
sea organization
, which is basically the elite corps of scientologists. they're staff members. you don't have to be a
sea org
member to be a
scientologist
and that's where you sign that billion-year contract is in the
sea org
.
>>
you were a
scientologist
since you were born. you became a member of that
organization
. it's kind of like a leadership order within the
church
. you obviously liked your role there for a while. you worked long hours for very little pay. what changed all that? what made you decide this was not what you signed up for?
>>
well, there was a different atmosphere at the very end of my career in the
sea org
. things had changed. the leader of the
church
, david miskavich, had implemented things that trickled down even to the
organization
that i was at that, you know, it was an atmosphere of sort of fear. people were scared. there wasn't -- you know, scientology is supposed to make you more able to
think for yourself
, live a happier life, and the people there weren't happy. so, it wasn't really something -- you know, you're there to make a difference and to help people, and the people there themselves aren't happy.
>>
when you and your husband both decided it was
time to leave
that
organization
, how difficult did they make it on you?
>>
it was difficult. i mean, it took my husband over a year to get out of the
organization
, you know, from the original time he decided he wanted to leave. and you know, there's a lot of things. there's a program you have to go through. you can't just walk through the door. you have to go through certain steps.
>>
somebody watching this might say why can't you just walk out the door? why can't you get in your car and
drive away
?
>>
well, you can if you really want to, but what happens is that you can then be considered a
suppressive person
for just walking out the door and not going through the steps that they require you to go through.
>>
as a result, you lose contact with the other people in your family and your friends.
>>
that's right.
>>
tommy davis
went on in a statement he sent to us, "ms.
collbran
left the
organization
, the
religious order
of the
church of scientology
, four years ago, having never held a
senior management
position. she has no knowledge of the management of the
church
today. she was later expelled for violating the
church
's ethical codes. she's not a
scientologist
, is not welcome inside any
church of scientology
and must be bitter as a result."
>>
okay. well, i do consider myself a
scientologist
, and there is, you know, it's my human right to be and to do whatever i want to do. i believe in the philosophy. i did not leave the faith. and you know, there's actually a creed of the
church
that says, you know, you're free to believe and practice and do
whatever you want
to do with regards to that kind of thing. so, for him to say that, it's just not -- it's really inhumane.
>>
when people hear scientology, they think of some high-profile scientologists like
john travolta
and
tom cruise
. in your opinion, are they shielded from some of what's going on inside groups like the
sea organization
?
>>
well, yeah. there's a lot of pr that goes on to make it look like it's a very, you know, successful, expanding
organization
, and you know, i wish that was true, i do, because i believe in the philosophy. i want it to do well. but there's things they don't know about. there's things -- you know, there's abuse at the top of the
organization
by david miskavich that they don't know about and they're not being allowed to see that, because you know, that wouldn't be what's wanted.
>>
christie
king
collbran
.
christie
, thanks for joining us this morning. i appreciate it.
“ ”