Tom Cruise and Scientology
Jan 17th, 2008 by Amanda
I wrote this post once already, but my computer at work ate it. Here’s the second try…
Unless you live in a cave somewhere, you’ve probably heard all of the hullaballoo surrounding the video of Tom Cruise that the Church of Scientology demanded YouTube take down. If you don’t know about it, there was a video of Tom Cruise talking about Scientology that the Church of Scientology demanded YouTube take down.
Up to speed? Good.
The first thing I noticed about the video is that Tom Cruise should never ever wear turtleneck sweaters. Ever.
Once I got past the chubby chin and really paid attention to what he was saying, I noticed a few things.
Tom Cruise is really passionate about Scientology. He genuinely and sincerely believes what he’s shouting to the world. I can’t help but admire him for it. If only all of us were so vocal about our passions and beliefs.
The strange thing is that a lot of the things he said remind me an awful lot of the things I’ve heard conservative fundamentalist Christians say.
“We have a responsibility.
“We are the authorities on getting people off drugs, we are the authorities on the mind, we are the authorities on improving conditions… we can rehabilitate criminals.
“If you’re a Scientologist, you see life, you see things the way they are, in all its glory, all of its complexity and the more you know as a Scientologist, you don’t become overwhelmed by it.
“So it’s our responsibility to educate, create the new reality. We have that responsibility to say, ‘Hey, this is the way it should be done because we do it this way and people are actually getting better.’
“And let’s get it done. Let’s really get it done and have enough love and compassion and toughness that you’re really going to do it and do it right.
It kinda sounds good, doesn’t it? Now I know that the beliefs of Scientology go deeper than that and some of them really are whacked out. And my point isn’t to compare Scientology with Christianity. My point is to show that Mr. Cruise is a man who stands for what he believes in, and he gets called crazy. In our culture, we teach our kids to make a stand for what they believe in. But when this guy does… what happens? He’s considered a wacko. For telling people about what he believes to genuinely be a better way.
And you wonder why more people don’t talk about their faith and belief systems.
The first thing I noticed about the video is that Tom Cruise should never ever wear turtleneck sweaters. Ever.
hmm the first thing I noticed was that Tom Cruise should never speak candidly. Ever.
Honestly scientology and any other religion all just seem the same to me. As far as I know there are no fundamentalist scientologists out there killing abortion doctors or bombing cars. Does that make them a better religion? It just seems the same.
Don;t all religions espouce something about responsibility? Arent there christian organizations that think they are the ones who can get kids off drugs, and de-gayify them? dont all religions teach the wonder and specialness of life?
Its all the same to me. Its all about taking one book or story or another and thinking its as real as gravity or the sun rising or the dinosaurs existing.
Do we really need martians from Xenu, or God, or a giant spaghetti monster to teach these sort of values that have direct and obvious positive consequences on humanity as a whole? I just don’t see it.
On the other hand, if no-one stood up to Tom’s clearly non-reality-based beliefs, impressionable members of the public might get the mistaken idea that they were credible. It’s a fine line between creating a public forum and creating a soapbox for cranks.
Well, here’s the thing:
You can be passionate, and committed, and also completely wrong in an uncritical way. You can have an incredible presence on screen, be really skilled at your craft in what you do and yet be absolutely dreadful at articulating what it is you believe. That’s why the COS tried to suppress the video, because Cruise comes across as, frankly, brainwashed and mouthing platitudes in a very empty-headed way.
In behaving thus, Cruise’s conduct in the video doesn’t come across as particularly brave to me. What I see is a guy who is a narcissist, and who has found a belief system that ’spiritualizes’ his narcissism, so that he can constantly kvetch over his own mental states, all the while believing that by doing so he is participating an odyssey of self-discovery that will bring enlightenment, purpose to others, etc.
But all this multimillionaire is really doing is serving as a poster child for a legal racket that offers a spiritual Ponzi scheme for the credulous.
doesn’t the fact that he says we are The authorities scare you? Doesn’t that set off any bells? What makes them The Authorities? Is Scientology the one true belief? Do they negate all the other religions or for that matter no religious beliefs? What makes them The Authorities? Pedophiles are passionate about their beliefs too, does that make them something to feel good about? You see, I don’t care what anyone’s beliefs are, if they empower you and help you to make it through life, that’s great. But don’t tell me you know what’s best for me based on passionate beliefs…
Oh, I wasn’t condoning what he believes! I’m sorry if that’s how it came across. I just meant that I understand and appreciate his passion.
Hi Amanda, I understood that you were appreciated his passion. My point is that, his passion is the least important part of it. Anyone can be passionate. Lord knows I can be passionate over a really great pair of shoes…. It’s his words that freaked people out…and that’s why I reacted to strongly to your posting…