Ok so most of my knowledge is also based on the Leah Rimany show but to add

They convince parents that children should act as adults (even though I’m pretty sure there’s science behind developing brains and such) so if a kid questions things, they’ve sent them to ‘camps’ in the past that really sound more like prisons. There was an episode recently on it but the kids weren’t taught any traditional schooling and were used for hard labor. Oh, and apparently they denied CHILDREN food.

There was also an episode where a lady discussed her escape from Scientology, they literally would not let her leave of her own accord.

Also, they have what I would consider pretty shady practices when people leave or speak out against the church. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t expect most churches to say ‘ok, so you believe this religion is a lie but feel free to hang out’ but they essentially blacklist people and have a record of producing inflammatory content to ruin their lives.

Honestly, if an adult wants to believe that spending thousands of dollars will help them achieve their higher greatness (they have some kinds of levels, I don’t recall exact names), go for it. I draw the line at actually torturing kids and holding people against their will when it comes to entities that want to be considered a religion.

Don’t get me wrong, I know every religion has issues/offshoots/overzealous members. But from what I can tell (and the show quotes the actual writings), these practices are common and are condoned by the church (even if they won’t admit it, it is very hard to believe that they denounce things happening at their upper level).