Why I Trust L. Ron Hubbard

Occasionally in the course of a day, I hear disparaging things about people I know and love.

I’m sure this has happened to you.

When it happens repeatedly about someone I respect, then I feel I have to say something.

When I was in my early twenties I was scared and anxious about what life would hold. Like a lot of young people, I found temporary relief from that anxiety and fear in drugs. First pot, then a myriad of other substances.

I started to go down that road, a road I now recognize as a classic trap.

Many artists, in pursuing their own creative identity, have made this error, and it’s cost many their creativity and, some, even their lives. It nearly cost me mine.

The one person who was able to help me get off this road for good was someone whom I never met personally, but from whose wisdom I benefit to this day.

He helped me to discover my own purpose. That alone was a lifesaver.

His simple, effective drug rehab program helped me stop using drugs to “solve” my problems, helped me completely reboot my physical health, and pointed me in a direction that would unlock doors to success for me as an actor, artist, husband and father.

He helped me to discover my own purpose. That alone was a lifesaver.

I never met the writer and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard, but I feel I know him far better than many people with whom I’ve had actual contact. I’ve read his books and listened to thousands of hours of his recorded lectures. He’s an incredibly articulate speaker, and often very funny.

I had the honor of directing the audiobooks of nearly every one of Mr. Hubbard’s published fiction works. They total some 500 hours, and have won numerous industry awards.

I’ve met some of his family and many who knew and worked with him personally. They tell stories of a man whose incredible empathy and personal kindness changed their lives for the better.

I’ve also read and heard lies, predictably from media sources that happily promote shady, degraded and unethical behavior.

That L. Ron Hubbard was an extraordinary person is undeniable; even his detractors grant that.

But knowing him as I do, and seeing the effect his humanitarian work has on others who, like me, live happier lives thanks to him, means that when people say ignorant things about L. Ron Hubbard, I know instantly they haven’t done their homework.

It’s one thing to be merely uninformed about someone and quite another to spread false information without caring enough to consult the facts. I have seen this happen and watched old lies—ones discredited again and again over the decades—unearthed and put back into circulation in an attempt to distort his legacy.

Occam’s famous razor applies: simpler solutions are more likely to be correct than complex ones. The simplicity is that L. Ron Hubbard was a man who from a very early age demonstrated a strong intention to help others, and who, throughout his life, was single-minded in his desire to do something positive for Mankind.

One of the many things I respect about him is that although he founded Scientology, the only major religion to emerge from the 20th century, he never claimed to be divine. In fact, he said he was a man as others are men. He was dedicated to helping others simply as a fellow human being.

Unique among people who have founded past religions, L. Ron Hubbard specifically stated that one need not abandon one’s own religion to explore Scientology. “Converting” people did not form part of his goal of bringing help to a troubled world.

My family and I have been beneficiaries of the many methods Mr. Hubbard developed to better conditions. As I said, first he saved my life by helping me free me from the enslavement of drugs. Later, he helped me chart my course as a creative person and build a career, have a loving family, and be of use to my friends, associates and the society at large.

I had a very distinct epiphany one day in Madrid, Spain, days after completing the drug rehabilitation program. It was the realization that, although painting was a beautiful occupation, it would be far too solitary a career for me, whereas acting, which I also loved, was a social art form that would make me happiest. I had achieved clarity of thought sufficient to recognize this.

I made the choice in a heartbeat, and a question that had remained unsolved for years—causing the kind of discomfort that had driven me to my previous drug use—was suddenly solved.

I had regained enough awareness and certainty to alter my whole life’s direction without regret or fear of failure, and it turned out to be one of the smartest moves I ever made.

Besides my lovely wife of 32 years, I have many warm friends because of what I learned from Mr. Hubbard—friends I never would have had were it not for his teachings.

In those long-gone, uncomfortable years, a happy life seemed impossible. Today I can look back nearly 40 years later and see that the stepping-stones that L. Ron Hubbard laid down were the very ones that led me to the life I now enjoy.

For me, there is a very clear line of demarcation between “before and after” my connection to L. Ron Hubbard. So I don’t take ignorant comments about him lightly.

Perhaps it’s true that all great men and women are attacked by lesser people who out of greed, jealousy or some other warped instinct, feel compelled to tear them down. Maybe the attacker feels the only way to personally rise higher is to reduce those more accomplished people who dwarf him.

But it’s a misguided and all-too-common offense against men and women of goodwill, and it frankly makes me sick.

L. Ron Hubbard was an honest man. I know this as well as I know my own name.

So if you happen to come across anything to the contrary said about Mr. Hubbard, or anyone who is trying to do good, realize that there is always another side to the story.

Alarming reports are never meant to convey the truth. They are merely attempts to mock for mockery’s sake, to block your ability to perceive the truth, and to create controversy where there is none.

Why would someone do that? I will leave that up to you to sort out.

But in the end, I think you will find that it has mainly to do with their own dirty hands.

To gain an understanding of who L. Ron Hubbard really was, a good place to start is by reading one of his many books. They are available in libraries and in the usual ways one gets books these days.

You could also watch a short video or find the Scientology Channel 320 on Direct TV.