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"I am the way, the truth and the lifestyle"

The Independent, 16 December 1994

[Extract from "I am the way, the truth and the lifestyle", a TV review by Thomas Sutcliffe appearing in the Independent (UK national newspaper) 16 December 1994. The review is of the ITV network's programme "Why East Grinstead?", which gave a series of short portraits of the many spiritual and religious groups (and Scientology :-> ) that have bases in this Sussex town.]

The spookiest show in town, despite stiff competition from the Mormons, was the Scientologists. If shop dummies had a spiritual dimension the result might be something like this immaculately groomed, plastic conviction. Peter Zimmatore, now an "international auditior" explained that his conversion had followed a long period of interest in Eastern religions. Then he came up against Ron and his E-meter (two baked bean cans attached to a voltmeter) and realised that "Dianetics took all of the maybes out of it". Many religions are drugs for the dispersal of maybes, but in this case the cure looked much worse than the illness- a sterilization of the spirit.

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