Mike Rinder was a lifelong Scientologist who broke away from the organization and became one of its biggest detractors.
- Died: January 5, 2025 (Who else died on January 5?)
- Details of death: Died in Palm Harbor, Florida of esophageal cancer at the age of 69.
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Mike Rinder’s legacy
The Australia-born Rinder grew up in the Church of Scientology International, the often-controversial organization created by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard when he sought to create a new religion. Introduced to the movement by his parents when he was 5, by Rinder’s teen years, he was a member of the Sea Org, a high-ranking branch of the group. He rose to executive director of the church’s Office of Special Affairs, where he was the chief spokesman for CSI, serving for over two decades.
Then, he left.
After spending over two years at The Hole, a California compound where organization members are allegedly confined as punishment for misdeeds, Rinder was sent to England in 2007 to try to prevent the release of the documentary film, “Scientology and Me.” He failed. He was scheduled to dig ditches there as punishment, but instead he decided to leave the organization entirely. Once its key spokesman, Rinder became Scientology’s biggest critic.
First, in 2009, he spoke to the St. Petersburg Times after initially declining an interview, his earliest open criticism of his former church home. Then, Rinder began appearing in a wide range of reports and documentaries about CSI, speaking on television and talking to journalists for years. He also worked with a fellow former Scientologist, actress Leah Remini, on her docuseries, “Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath.” In 2019, the two were given the Barbara Blaine Trailblazer Award by CHILD USA for their actions. A year later, the show, of which Rinder was executive producer, won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special.
Rinder told his own story in the 2022 book “A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology.” He also co-founded the Aftermath Foundation to help others leave the organization.
Notable quote
“The absolute conviction that what you are doing is right and just and saving mankind provides enormous strength to persist and overcome incredible odds. It’s almost a superpower.”— from his book, “A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology”
Tributes to Mike Rinder
Full obituary: The New York Times
