Celebrity

Her preteen daughter became one of the main reasons she left the Church because she believes in 'family first.'

Feb 27, 2014

AceShowbiz - Leah Remini talked some more of what drove her out of Scientology. The former "The King of Queens" star revealed that her daughter Sophia, now aged 9, was among "dozens of influencing factors" in why she left after committing herself to lifelong membership.

"[My daughter Sophia] was getting to the age where the acclimation into the Church would have to start," Remini told Buzzfeed of the process where a series of probing questions are asked. "I started thinking of my own childhood and how I grew up resenting my mother because she was never home. In my house, it's family first - but I was spending most of my time at the Church. So, I was saying 'family first,' but I wasn't showing that. I didn't like the message that sent my daughter."

The 43-year-old actress tried to influence her friends within the church to propose a change but "they only cared that their lives would be disrupted if they stood with me. They didn't care about doing the right thing. That showed me everything the Church taught me was a lie."

Remini went on, "In the Church, you're taught that everybody is lost. They say they're loving, caring, non-judgmental people, but secretly, they were judging the world for not believing what they believed. To me, that is not a spiritual person. That's a judgmental person and that is the person that I was. I was a hypocrite, and the worst thing you can be in this world is a hypocrite."

She also dished out restrictions that come with being a Scientologist. "Before, I would be going to the church right after lunch. There's no going to dinner with friends and having a glass of wine - I never did that in my adult life," she said. "It was so crazy to me because you can't get counseling the next day at the church if you've had a drink, so most Scientologists don't drink."