Leah Remini spoke with Oprah about her life after scientology for Oprah Winfrey's "Where are they Now?" Apparently, Remini made the decision to leave for her daughter, Sophia.
Remini told the OWN show: "My mother was in Scientology my whole life. Most people don't know that we were raised in it. I didn't decide to get into it - I was brought into it by my mom."
Remini dedicated more than 30 years to the religion. "I don't think people know the amount of dedication it takes to be in this organization," she said. "I mean it was every day, three-and-a-half hours minimum, seven days a week usually. You know, I'm working most of my time, and then the other time was spent at the church, so minimal time is really spent with your family."
"I was at one of these hotels in Florida, and I saw my daughter swimming for the first time while I'm reading this thing. And a tear came down my face. And I was like, 'What am I doing?'"
Remini left the church in 2013 and she and her family are adjusting to life after the life the documentary "Going Clear" described. "Our decision to leave the organization - it's not just something you get over," Remini said. "It's people and a lifestyle you've known all your life. It formed who I am, good and bad. It formed the way I think, good and bad. And so there's a lot of pain connected to it, there's a lot of healing.
"When you are raised in something, and you are taught to think a certain way, a lot of times you grow up thinking, 'That's the way I think.' I'm learning there's a new world out here, and there shouldn't be any kind of judgment toward somebody who has a belief system that is not yours."
The church doesn't seem to agree with Remini's new outlook on life. The church responded, according to Perez Hilton: "Given Leah's insatiable desire for attention, it comes as no surprise that for two years she has been incapable of moving on with her life and remains obsessed with shamelessly exploiting her former religion in a pathetic attempt to get publicity."
