You may recognize Generation Cult’s next guest, Christi, who recently appeared on an episode of the A&E television show “Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath.”
On Friday, July 20, she will join us on Generation Cult’s Episode 3: “Thetans Anonymous” to discuss her story in more detail, including the Church of Scientology’s reaction to her TV appearance.
Starting around the age of 4, Christi and her sister were either left alone or with neighbors as her mother tried to work her way up through the levels of Scientology. Without proper adult supervision, the young girls were subjected to problems ranging from cooking fires to sexual abuse from strangers.
“(In Scientology), they teach that children are basically adults in small bodies … so we’ve already done this,” Christi said. “We’ve been reincarnated, we’ve lived these lives before, all we have to do is regain our abilities. …The expectation is that you are going to remember what you are supposed to do, you are going to remember how to protect yourself, you are going to remember how to be an adult.”
At the ages of 9 and 10, Christi and her sister signed billion-year contracts to join the Cadet Org, a now-defunct program for children training to dedicate their lives to Scientology. They were separated from their mother and put to work cleaning and preparing food. Around ages 12 and 13, they voiced their desires to leave and were punished by harder labor and unpleasant sleeping quarters. Eventually, they were assigned to the Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF), which Christi described as a prison program. Christi’s sister eventually ran away but Christi remained in the RPF until she was kicked out.
“I had nobody to go to,” she said. “So, I’m in Clearwater (Florida) on the streets at age 16. I slept in the park.”
What happened to Christi while she was out on her own as a teenager? Where did she end up? How did she survive? Here’s a hint: An anonymous person (“Essie”) we interview at the beginning of this episode lent her a hand.
Find out both of their stories when the podcast Generation Cult returns on Friday to iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play.
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