Jon Atack on Scientology, Authoritarianism, and the Psychology of Belief

Jon Atack on Scientology, Authoritarianism, and the Psychology of Belief

September 9, 2026 · 1h 39m

About this episode

Rachel speaks with Jon Atack about his experiences with Scientology and the psychological impacts of authoritarian belief systems.

In this episode, Rachel speaks with Jon Atack about Scientology, authoritarianism, and the ways belief systems can shape behavior. Jon reflects on his experience with Scientology, the harassment he encountered after speaking out, and the contradictions he found within its teachings. Rachel and Jon examine moral injury, magical thinking, othering, certainty, and the difficulty of psychologically separating from a controlling group. They also discuss developing a sense of self, compassion, and humility, the role of humor in recovery, and Jon’s return to painting, writing, music, and other interests outside his work on cults. Jon's Links: https://jonatack.co.uk/ Links: https://linktr.ee/indoctrination Support IndoctriNation on Patreon for exclusive bonus episodes and more: https://www.patreon.com/indoctrination Prefer to support the IndoctriNation show with a one-time donation? Use this link: https://www.paypal.biz/indoctriNATION Watch full video episodes of IndoctriNation here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNAi0T2hzH9dM029dkTfj635PzuXl67jS Restart and Restore: A Journal for Survivors of Manipulation: https://a.co/d/1ssz4Rm Restart and Restore: Companion Notebook…

People in this episode

Host: Rachel

Guest: Jon Atack

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Scientology, Patreon, YouTube

Products: Restart and Restore: A Journal for Survivors of Manipulation, Restart and Restore: Companion Notebook, Journal App

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