There's No Escaping Google

What happened to a New York Times reporter investigating Scientology?

...I could, however, take a correspondence course — and to be nice, they let me start right there in the library. To reciprocate, I gave my real last name. And then I got down to studying.

The introduction to Mr. Hubbard’s “A New Slant on Life” tells readers to look up any words they don’t know. After I’d read a few chapters, a friendly young instructor quizzed me on some of the words they contained: Did I know what esoteric meant? Nobility? Critical? He seemed really impressed that I did.

One of the book’s main ideas is that people can learn only by questioning. Many pages are spent explaining the folly of believing something just because an authority figure said it was true. So then what about that waiver?

While I pondered this paradox, the instructors exchanged a few whispers, then asked everyone to leave for a short break. As they exited, a man in a tan suit entered, and extended his hand to me. He was the president of the New York chapter. Apparently while I had been studying, someone had been Googling. He complimented me on my articles in The New York Times. And my adventure in the press-shy Church of Scientology came to a halt.

He was very polite, even inviting me back for a tour. But after a few minutes, he escorted me out.