Bowing To Elephants Podcast: 029

029 - Becoming a Scholar

Dec 21, 2021

A creative soul and lifelong scholar, Sands Hall is a blessing to everyone who meets her. She shares her brilliant spark in many ways: as a teacher, musician, actor, and writer. And today, she joins us to talk about her moving memoir, Reclaiming My Decade Lost in Scientology. In her memoir, Sands shares what first led her to Scientology, the darker undercurrents of Ron L. Hubbard’s leadership, and how she eventually disentangled herself from the Church.

Sands is also the author of a novel, Catching Heaven, and a writer’s handbook, Tools of The Writer’s Craft. She has extensive theater experience as a playwright, actor, and director. A woman of many talents, Sands is also a singer and songwriter. She currently resides in California, where she teaches at Franklin University and Marshall College.

What You Hear/Learn/Discover

[0:26] Guest introduction

[03:00] Sands explains why she loves to teach.

[6:16] Sands shares how her brother’s injury drove her to Scientology.

[10:00] Find out why studying the sacred works is an integral part of any religion.

[12:16] Mag and Sands talk about how we cope with chaos in our lives.

[13:17] Sands explains why she considers Scientology to be a cult.

[16:37] Mag and Sands discuss the commonalities between all major religions.

[28:56] Sands talks about the difference between our individual purpose and constructed belief systems.

[32:55] Discover why Sands didn’t get hung up on whether her memoir would be published or not.

[37:19] Sands answers the question, “What three creative geniuses would you invite to dinner if time and place weren’t a constraint?”

Quotes

“What attracted me so deeply to Scientology (and what I think attracts a great many people) is that it is so orderly. Everything in life is a big, messy thing. We're always confronting stuff. We're always facing stuff. We think we've got stuff sorted out, and then something else pops up to be a problem. And Scientology appears to offer this tremendous order in the way that it approaches life.”