Scientology Critics Leah Remini And Carmen Llywelyn Prove Church Comes First, Family Second

Scientology dominated Leah Remini‘s life for 30 years. For Carmen Llywelyn, her love for actor Jason Lee sucked her into a religion she’s since called a “sinister cult.” For one, the church threatened to split a family apart, and for another, it did just that.

Leah Remini opened up recently about the organization and why, two years ago, she finally decided to leave after a lifetime inside, Today reported.

Before she left, Leah had risen high in Scientology, reaching its highest spiritual level of Operation Thetan Level Five, the Independent reported. But it was family, something Scientology seems to suppress in favor of its own dominance in followers’ lives, that finally inspired Leah to leave.

Remini worried that someday, the church would come between her and her daughter, Sofia. For anyone who watched HBO’s revealing documentary, Going Clear, it’s common for families entrenched in the system to break up if one family member expresses even a hint of disbelief or rebellion.

In Remini’s own words, “the church becomes your everything. It becomes your mother, your father, your everything. You are dependent on (Scientology).” Leah’s fears, it seems, were perfectly warranted.

While Leah was entrenched in the church, Remini worried what would happen if she decided to leave one day, and her daughter, Sofia, chose to remain. Scientology’s rules on the matter are disturbing and strict.

“If you are raised in it as a child, you really don’t have loyalty to your family. The Church does come first to you,” Remini told People.

Leah had begun to question the religion’s values — as Carmen learned, even reading an anti-Scientology book is enough to get members shunned — and their effect on Sofia. Raising her daughter inside meant the repercussions for leaving later would be devastating, since Remini would likely be labeled a “suppressive person.”

“If you make a stink in the public world, they’ll call you a suppressive person, which means the church has put a stamp on you that said you are bad. They then go to all your family and friends and say you have to disconnect from this suppressive person.”

Llywelyn, who spoke out about her departure from the “surreal lifestyle for the privileged” late last month, had a similar story. Though Remini was worried about the future, the repercussions of Carmen’s choice were immediate.

How Scientologists forced @CarmenLlwelyn out of husband Jason Lee's life: http://t.co/INwmgwcPsV pic.twitter.com/Me9poSlhuO

— Decider (@decider) June 26, 2015

Unlike Leah, Carmen joined later in life. When she was 19, she met actor Jason Lee, who was already immersed in the religion. She realized that in order to keep him in her life, she’d have to join, too, the Independent added.

They married in 1995, but divorced in 2001. Their separation, Carmen said in a revealing essay, was the result of pressure from the church and some of its celebrity members, who actively tried to pull them apart. Reading that unacceptable book meant she was labeled a suppressive person, free to be bullied by members Jenna Elfman and her husband, Bodhi, and her talent manager, Gay Ribisi (and mom to actor and member Giovanni, the Decider added).

Soon after, she received a disconnection letter from her husband and agent, both of which said pretty much the same thing — never speak to them again.

“I lost Gay [her agent], Jason, and every friend and source of love I knew besides my family in Georgia, 3,000 miles away … I didn’t think anyone would ever tell me how to think and when to think it. But there are no choices in Scientology. There never were. It is all a ruse. In truth, after I left … I had to learn how to think for myself again, to speak for myself again.”

The church has responded to both her and Leah Remini’s public criticism in much the same way, issuing almost identical statements accusing both women of trying to get attention by exploiting the religion. To Remini, they were particularly harsh, added her interview was a “pathetic attempt to get ratings for her cable show and seem relevant again.”

[Photo Courtesy Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images]