Some of you may have noticed that, in our comments the other day, we mentioned that we were looking forward to a new article coming out about Tom Cruise and Scientology, written by a reporter we know who had hit us up for some quotes.
We were really anticipating this story, because we knew from what the reporter told us that he was going to begin to set the record straight about a lot of really dumb tabloidy nonsense about Cruise and his kids Connor and Isabella supposedly breaking away from Scientology. Our reporter friend had good evidence that the opposite was true — the Cruise clan is, if anything, tighter than ever with their fellow Scientologists. And anyway, we love seeing tabloid nonsense getting its comeuppance.
So we’re really disappointed that the story which did appear — in Grazia magazine in England — turned out to be such a dud, and only spawned some new incorrect notions about Tom Cruise and Scientology.
It’s not the reporter’s fault. We know he had really good stuff, and we don’t know how things got so muddled and really it doesn’t matter. We just feel an obligation to push back on the new nonsense now getting spun out all over the place.
1. No, Tom Cruise is not studying to be Scientology’s ‘co-leader.’ Oh, we can just hear our Scientologist sources guffawing about this one. This is total horse pucky. Here’s what’s really happening: Several of Scientology’s celebrities, such as Kelly Preston, Kirstie Alley, and Nancy Cartwright, have been making a big show lately of finishing some of the upper levels of Scientology’s “Bridge to Total Freedom.” We assume Scientology leader David Miscavige has spurred them to make showy progress as one strategy to counter the actual situation, that the church is in steep decline. But even with their shiny new certificates, Alley and the others are only celebrities, which the church treats as showy baubles to get good press. Even Tom Cruise, the most famous of the celebrities, is not a member of the “Sea Organization,” the people who really run things, and even if he did complete OT 8, the highest level, it would in no way make him a “co-leader” with David Miscavige. Miscavige shares power with no one.
2. No, Tom’s son Connor has not ‘rejected’ Scientology. This is even more bullshit than point one, and we’re disappointed because our reporter friend had evidence to the contrary. Connor Cruise, 19, is a world-tripping dj, and he posts pictures of himself online from all over the place. One of his photos happened to be taken in Morocco with his Scientologist buddy. But a tabloid seized the photo, and based on no evidence at all claimed that it showed Connor on a spiritual “quest” that was leading him to break away from Scientology. He’s not. Connor is surrounded by other Scientologists, as is his sister Isabella. And Cruise has had his other Scientologist family members move in with him. We were told the point of this story would be the Cruise clan is as dedicated as ever to the church, and part of their evidence for it was the photo we posted of Tom wearing his Freedom Medal of Valor in London in October (see above).
3. No, FBI files will not cause some kind of reckoning for Cruise. This is apparently a hamfisted reference to a recent National Enquirer story that turned out to be much ado about old news. The FBI did investigate Scientology for human trafficking in 2009 and 2010, and the agency came very close to raiding Scientology’s secretive international base east of Los Angeles. But that investigation petered out for reasons we went into some length explaining.
Well, this was disappointing. There is interesting Tom Cruise news — all the tabloid nonsense about his supposed break with Scientology turns out to be nonsense, and the Cruise family is more dedicated to Scientology than ever. It’s a strong story and a simple one. Why’d you drop the ball, Grazia?
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Lori Hodgson on the David Pakman Show
As we mentioned the other day, Lori was interviewed by David Pakman and she did a great job telling her story.
Note: Lori told us she knows full well that the Sea Org contract is for a billion years; she just slipped when she said ‘million.’
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Toys for Tots and Scientology
One of our readers, Semper Phi, notified us that Scientology’s division that publishes L. Ron Hubbard’s fiction — Galaxy Press — was telling people that it had teamed up with the Marine Corps for its annual Toys for Tots drive. Here’s what an email from Galaxy Press said about it…
We teamed up with the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation in support of their Literacy Program. The purpose of this program is to provide our disadvantaged youth the opportunity to succeed in life through resources—books—that will enhance their ability to read and to communicate effectively. In other words, a gift of literacy….
As expressed by the CEO of the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation at our annual event to celebrate our partnership and individual participants: “I genuinely believe if we could address the literacy problem, that is the best way to break the cycle of poverty that youngsters live in. That’s the key.”
“And the great thing about the books that L. Ron Hubbard wrote is they talk about values and doing the right thing. If they pick up one of these books you know that it’s going to be wholesome. And I think that’s really, really important.” —Lt. General (Ret.) Pete Osman
The rest of the email was an appeal to Scientologists to donate money to Galaxy Press to pay for books to be donated to the toy drive, at $10 each.
Yes, in other words, Scientology had found a way to turn the Marine Corps toy drive into yet another fundraising opportunity.
Alarmed that the Marine Corps didn’t know what it was getting into, Semper Phi sent the corps a letter, including this passage…
I was once a Scientologist, and we were encouraged to get these very books “disseminated” to the general public and especially to children, so that they would know about Hubbard and eventually decide to become Scientologists. Scientology is a CULT. Galaxy Press is one of their front groups that is used explicitly to make the cult well thought of and to get people interested in finding out more of the subject. Please believe me: no matter what the people at Galaxy Press tell you, it’s not about literacy at all; it’s about expanding their group. When I was being told to sell these very book packages, literacy was not the compelling motivation; dissemination of Scientology was what we were doing.
And here’s the really fun part. Semper Phi got a reply…
Thank you for taking the time to send your email. While it is too late for this year, we will take your warning under advisement and look into this before proceeding for 2015.
Best wishes,
Bill Grein
Major, USMC (Ret)
VP, Marketing & Development
Marine Toys for Tots Foundation
18251 Quantico Gateway Drive
Triangle, VA 22172
We hope they take Semper Phi’s warning seriously.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on December 3, 2014 at 07:00
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SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING (Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49
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