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Leah Remini on leaving Scientology for her daughter's sake

Leah Remini is getting some heat for speaking out against Scientology, the religion she went public about splitting with in 2013.
/ Source: TODAY

Leah Remini is getting some heat for speaking out against Scientology, the religion she spent the majority of her life practicing. It wasn't until 2013 that the 45-year-old actress broke away from the church after deciding she didn't feel comfortable raising her daughter around its values.

Remini spoke exclusively with People magazine about the "hard repercussions" of her decision.

"I decided I didn't want to raise my daughter in the church because from what I've experienced and what I saw, the church becomes your everything," she says in the video alongside Vicki Marshall, her mother. "It becomes your mother, your father, your everything. You are dependent on the church."

MORE: Leah Remini opens up on 'Ellen' about 'hard' split with Scientology

She worried that one day she'd be cut off from her daughter Sofia, who was born in 2004, if down the line, she made the decision to leave Scientology. Through the teachings of the religion, those who leave are deemed "suppressive [people]."

"If you make a stink in the public world, they’ll call you a suppressive person, which means the church has put a stamp on you that said you are bad," she said. "They then go to all your family and friends and say you have to disconnect from this suppressive person."

But the church has a different perspective on Remini's decision to separate herself.

In a comment to People, the church said, "It comes as no surprise that someone as self-absorbed as Leah Remini continues to rewrite history and exploit her former religion in a pathetic attempt to get ratings for her cable show and seem relevant again."