. >> reporter: serge gil is not a celebrity. book-publishing, semi-professional scientology critic. he is someone who spent his entire childhood in the church, and tonight, he's talking about it for the first time. >> this is why it's so important that i come forward, because i feel like, you know, we lived it. we lived the hell. >> reporter: serge was born into a large scientology family. his parents were devout parishioners who, serge says, he didn't see so much, because they were so busy doing the work of the church. >> my first memories of my childhood were already inside this organization. says his parents enrolled him in a course which involved an introduction to auditing techniques. auditing is one of the central practices of the church. it's a kind of therapy using a device, invented by l. ron hubbard, called an e-meter, which is supposed to help liberate you from negative feelings and the trauma of past experiences. >> this is just a flow of energy that's coming from the meter through you, back to the meter. but once a