Anyone who’s read Mind on Fire for awhile knows that I consider censorship to be one of the Great Evils, up there with killing small furry creatures and willfully making squeaky sounds with Styrofoam containers. So it should come as no surprise to you to know that Scientology is not one of my favorite institutions.
It’s not their beliefs that turn me off–Scientologist teachings are no more or less offensive to reason than fundamental doctrines of Christianity (or the versions peculiar to Mormonism). It’s that anytime someone criticizes the religion, Hubbard’s institution harasses them with high-priced lawyers, private investigators and the threat of a personal visit from Tom Cruise. In addition to countless websites, more recently they’ve completely shut down the publication of the unauthorized Cruise biography in Australia. In my Inferno, these lawyers would in habit the same circle of Hell as RIAA bullies, where they give each other Brazilian waxes and apply salves of hot chili oil and peppermint afterwards.
Fortunately, the little, lawyerless people have been able to resist Scientologist censorship via the Internet (yay, Internet!). Because the Church of Scientology is trying so hard to suppress it, I am publishing a link to this video of Tom Cruise spreading the good Scientologist word. You can chase it down with a Wikipedia article on Xenu.
13 responses so far ↓
1 Bored in Vernal // Jan 15, 2008 at 10:19 pm
…you’re just saying that to get your free visit from Tom Cruise, aren’t you?
2 Bored in Vernal // Jan 15, 2008 at 10:37 pm
ok, I just went to the video. It’s not so bad, really. Tom in a black turtleneck? The guy is soooooooo good looking. Just turn off the sound and feast your eyes.
3 Elaine // Jan 16, 2008 at 8:42 am
I’ll have to wait until I get my high-speed wireless internet to watch that. Fortunately that won’t be too long, I hope, as I’m looking into that now…just bought a new laptop (no, I couldn’t afford it, really, but I’ve been saving my pennies for a long time now) and I figured that its time to do the internet upgrade as well.
4 Rich // Jan 16, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Problem with turning off the sound is that you miss the part where, with growing certainty, you begin to realize this guy is seriously, mentally ill.
5 xJane // Jan 17, 2008 at 3:45 pm
You know, and I can’t believe I’m the one doing the defending here, he doesn’t sound all that kookier than any other believer. Yes, Scientology is a kooky religion with lots of lawyers. And I’m totally with you on the bikini wax thing, but some of the things he says are really potent.
Tom Cruise is born again:
Tom Cruise gets metaphysical:
I think every one of these are admirable sentiments, whether they’re spoken by a Mormon, a Buddhist, or a Scientologist.
Now he’s not the most articulate person; my favorite quote:
but he certainly seems to believe what he says.
Some of the things he says sound down-right Catholic:
but I guess they don’t have a monopoly on the crazy.
I really recommend the Martini Shot (a podcast) episode I Heart Scientology. Listen to it or read it.
6 Brian // Jan 18, 2008 at 10:29 am
I agree, xJane, though I approach this as a believer myself. Tom doesn’t really sound that crazy. I admire his dedication, assuming this isn’t just talk. His statements that you outlined above are powerful testimony of the need to love one another, to do all we can to help. Sure, his religion (from a theological standpoint) is wacky, and maybe it is a brainwashing cult like some detractors say. But if it really is asking people to give their all to help others, that’s a step in the right direction.
As to his ineloquence, I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s him skirting around one of those wacky OT III things you’re not supposed to talk about.
As to ethics…I have this impression that he means something different than I do by ethics, but I could be wrong. There are plenty of ethical guidelines I would feel obligated to make others live by, and others, though I think they would improve someone’s life, that I wouldn’t. (Taking the Decalogue as an example, I would be fine having a government enforce “You shall not murder” “You shall not steal” “You shall not bear false witness” and [controversial as it may be] perhaps even “You shall not commit adultery”. But I wouldn’t expect that everyone must keep holy the Sabbath, acknowledge my God as one god above all others, etc.)
7 xJane // Jan 18, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Brian: thank you. Although I have trouble with this statement: “his religion (from a theological standpoint) is wacky”. I think we can say it is wacky, or wacky from a rational standpoint, or wacky from a Christian standpoint (which is I think what you mean), but theology is simply the study of god & religions.
Also, “maybe it is a brainwashing cult like some detractors say” could be said of many, many religions. Although Germany has banned Scientology as a cult, so maybe we’re on to something…
8 Green Oasis » The Xenu Files // Jan 18, 2008 at 12:37 pm
[…] Tom Cruise speaks on what Scientology can do for you. (via Mind on Fire) […]
9 Rich // Jan 19, 2008 at 10:40 am
I know I sounded pretty harsh, and I suppose it comes from my current political frustrations, in a day and age where way too much of what should be importantly debated and seriously discussed instead, time after time, only result in sound byte answers that amount to a whole lot of nothing. That’s what this (admittedly skewed video) comes across as to me; what the hell is he even saying? How exactly is it that he’s helping people? I’m all for helping others, but just saying “I’m all about helping others!” and not giving anyone a single example of what that in actuality means amounts to, well, a whole lot of nothing. On reflection, this video isn’t at all fair to the guy, because I have no idea what’s been left out of the discussion — it may be so highly edited, with so much deliberately left out, that it’s perhaps intentionally meant to make him look silly — I don’t know. I suspect that if I could sit with Tom and talk face to face, a very different picture might emerge. But going strictly on what I saw, he’s just a kook (politician) that likes to talk about change and values and helping, but not delivering anything of substance.
10 Brian // Jan 19, 2008 at 11:25 am
xJane first. You are completely right. What I should have said was “my” theological standpoint. My rational arguments with Scientology are not really with the aspects of it touched on in this video, so I didn’t bring them up. (I should point out that I don’t see theology as opposed to reason, but as the application of it to revealed truth. Of course, the reasoning may be flawed, and obviously the premise, the revelation, may be inaccurate, but that’s a separate issue.)
Anyway, having semi-defended Tom in my last post, let me dig into what I think he actually means in response to Rich. I base this on what I have gleaned of Scientology as well as my personal experience as a Christian. When he talks about helping people, he means converting them. His language about “you know” and “You know you’re the only one who can really help them” seems to lead to this conclusion. If I, a Catholic, am driving by a car crash, I don’t think “I’m the only one who can pull that person out of that vehicle and administer proper medical attention.” but a Christian may indeed think, “If that person has never heard the gospel message, I may be the last chance his soul has of coming to know God.” That is my suspicion…of course Tom wants to help drug addicts, criminals, the sick, etc. The same way I do. Administer proper care, and introduce them to that thing that will help them change their life. In my case, I’d say it’s Jesus Christ. Tom would say it’s Scientology. The language is pretty much the same, and it’s the language of evangelization.
11 xJane // Jan 21, 2008 at 12:58 pm
I’m with Rich: it’d be nice if he gave some examples. The freeway thing always makes me think of my training to be a German driver: you’re required by law to stop & offer assistance unless, as a woman (although this may have changed), you fear for your safety on a dark night, then you are required to get off at the next exit & find authorities to notify. When I worked at a job that didn’t mind if I had a good reason for coming in late, as long as I made it up later, and had a 3-hour commute, I stopped for everyone I saw on the side of the road. Including a random dog, that I was not going to stop for but I was on the phone with my cousin, who insisted.
I hope he means that, “I’m the only one that can help because I can: I can stop. I can call on my cell for help if it’s required. I know enough CPR to do it until the EMTs get there.” But in retrospect, he probably means it in a creepy evangelist way.
12 Elaine // Jan 26, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Finally got my high-speed internet put in, so I finally got to see this. So, sorry I’m entering the discussion so late.
The thing that struck me so forcefully in watching this wasn’t the “help” part, although I agree that probably what he meant by “help” was “convert”, and that word was repeated awfully frequently…which could just be an artifact of the editing.
What hit me even more, and this is probably connected to having been Mormon, was the bit about “either you’re on board or you’re not on board” and that people are “either in or out”. That and the statement that “we are the authorities” on, among other things, psychology, which I believe he mentioned specifically.
I can’t begin to express how much that attitude bothers me…and I don’t really think that it is possible to interpret that any other way than that Scientiology is an incredibly exclusivist organization, in many of the same ways that Mormonism is an incredibly exclusivist organization. Because, you know, I can’t see how anything that was edited out could possibly change the vibe of those statements.
13 Brian // Jan 27, 2008 at 9:58 pm
And back to defense.
I liked what he said about being “in or out”, though maybe I’m just taking it the way I want to understand it. It seems to me a statement that, if you’re going to subscribe to this system of morality or ethics, you’re going to LIVE it, not just say it. It reminds me of the verses in Revelation about the church that was “neither hot nor cold”. I generally have more respect for a person who is ardently following what I believe to be an incorrect philosophical or religious system than one who blithely professes one which I agree with.
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