[Read "Missionary Man," by James Verini, and "Stranger Than Fiction," by Laura Miller.]
It is interesting that a man who may be the highest-profile celebrity of our time has managed to stay out of the tabloids for so many decades because he actually leads a clean life. People want to know how Tom Cruise does it, and it would be wrong for him to keep his religion from the masses who want to know how he navigated the surly world of Top Celebrity. So he shares how he has managed to keep his life on track and offers help to anyone out there who wants it and the hacks go absolutely wild.
I actually can't get enough of the new Tom Cruise and love watching him come alive for the rest of us instead of living a sheltered life that none of us get to see. As for Scientology, you mention that he helped the firefighters at ground zero, can help people get off drugs, learn to read and stop being criminal. This is the man the press is attacking? I would bet money that his attack of psychiatry and its multibillion-dollar industry is what is stirring all of this up. A reward should be offered for the first patient of a psychiatrist who can offer up their lab work showing a chemical imbalance in the brain. Hate to say it, but I don't think people have Ritalin or Paxil deficiencies. You can't even get an insulin shot without proof of your blood sugar levels from a test. But psychiatry just looks at you and says, yep, your chemicals are out of whack, take this drug that will essentially damage your brain and you'll feel better after a while.
Maybe Tom just decided that saving humanity from this fraud was worth any amount of stone throwing. There have been a few throughout history who have had to stand up to the wrongheaded mobs of their day and try and put things right. Go, Tom, go!
-- Mary Panton
I read the "Missionary Man" article on Tom Cruise. I have been a Scientologist for 30 years and attribute the technology discovered by L. Ron Hubbard first of all to saving my life, and second to giving me insight into myself and others that no other philosophy or religion could give. I can't imagine a life without the knowledge I have about myself and how I fit into the universe and my purpose here.
The Scientology religion has no "must believe," "must do" catechism or orders. Ron said, "What's true for you is what is true for you, and what's true for you is what you have observed yourself." And he also said that a subject is only as valuable as it works. No other religion has ever proved that I am a spiritual being and have been here forever and will be here forever other than Buddhism, and unfortunately Buddha's technology in reaching a higher state was lost.
Scientology recognizes the plight of man on this planet, and Ron sought to provide simple and workable answers to help man out of his spiral into the mud by providing a means to solve his basic problems. His study technology gives a means to learning that never existed before -- I know, for had I known this I would have been summa cum laude in law school and only learned it when I was 40 years old. I am 70 now.
Ron provided means to clear the body of toxic material that is just about everywhere now in the environment and food. He gave a means to help criminals stop being criminals and most of all a technology of clearing one's self of upsets, misemotion and problems that have always plagued man through the auditing processes. I know, for it has done this for me. I have had my problems, believe me, and I do not know how I could have lived had it not been for what I have learned from this great man's life works.
-- L D Sledge
Earth to Salon.com. Guess what? The world is round and Scientology works!
-- Peter Marcotte
Get your facts straight.
No one in Scientology thinks the E-Meter is a "lie detector." You have to be a reporter to think that. And it doesn't "monitor brain activity."
The Scientology OT levels are not even close to a "central creation theory." Creation is far earlier.
And your pet sociologist Stephen Kent: You think he's objective?
Why do reporters bring up old attacks on Scientology by corrupt and oppressive governments? Why don't you defend Scientology? Where is your outrage? If the U.S. government attacked PETA, the ACLU, Greenpeace or any other organization you liked, you'd scream.
Always appreciate your contribution to religious tolerance in the world. We don't need it all that much, do we? What are a few more gunmen, firebombs and beat-up Scientologists? No worries, mate, they're Scientologists. Reporters needn't worry about their kids and wives. Small price for a byline.
Love the "may" and "could" and "rumored to." Solid reporting, that. It is now rumored that Salon.com writers and editors indulge in ... Naah, sorry, I'm too polite. But the likelihood of Cruise having signed a billion-year contract approaches the improbability that your review of "War of the Worlds" was unbiased.
-- Jon E. von Gunten
Shame on you. How stupid do you think we are? It is ridiculous of you to try to present an "unbiased" story about Scientology when it is obvious that you are expressly biased.
I found what Tom Cruise stated as absolutely true. I have been a Scientologist for more than 37 years and it has been extremely helpful to me.
-- Sally Slevin
Wow. I guess Laura Miller didn't like "Dianetics."
While I prefer my book reviews to be more about the book and less about the reviewer's biases, I suppose that has a lot to do with the intentions of the company that publishes the review. Is it to inform or to smear?
One of the most fundamental tenets of "Dianetics" and Scientology is to examine things for yourself. Is it true for you?
The fact is that besides having helped millions of people live a better life, the Church of Scientology has extraordinarily effective programs to handle the main scourges of our society: illiteracy, drugs, crime and lowered moral standards.
Scientology is also a leader in the area of human rights reform -- helping to eliminate abuses from child sex slavery to religious intolerance.
Opinions are only opinions; the facts speak for themselves -- just take a look.
-- Joel Morris
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