Mark Oppenheimer has spent the past year reporting on Scientology, and his articles for The New York Times Magazine, Slate, and elsewhere are some of the most informative and balanced that you'll find anywhere. Mark has now turned his attention to Tom Cruise's Scientology video, and in an article for Beliefnet he makes the case that Cruise is a particular kind of Scientology fundamentalist--and reminds us not to judge a whole religion by the antics of one fundamentalist. Read the whole thing here.
Tom Cruise, Scientology's Fundamentalist Spokesman
Wednesday January 16, 2008
Categories: Celebrities
Filed Under: Scientology, Tom Cruise
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As a former Scientologist (I was ordained there in the 70s), I just want to make a comment about Oppenheimer's article. Small one: SP is suppressive person, not suppressive personality. Larger one: Oppenheimer says that fundamentalists are one part of Scientology, just like other religions. That may be true, but LRH was very much a fundamentalist, so the anology to other religions fall short. If fundamentalists are characterized by strict adherence to the principles of the religion, then fundamentalism is the goal of Scientology. Deviations ("Squirreling" in Scientology speak) or dilletantism (a derogatory term in Scientology)are dealt with harshly. There may be casual members of the church, but the church has an aggressive attitude to such members and they are regularly pressured to "s--t or get off the pot". No other mainstream religion is like that.
People like me that have left are not looked on kindly either, so I'm glad you don't post our email addresses here.
Isn't fundamentalism, as per the definition James gives above (haven't read the article), the goal of all religions? What religion demands casual followers? While Scientology may seemingly deal with deviations harshly, it must be kept in mind that it's a fairly new religion with a relatively small group of followers. Christianity and Judaism, for instance, have so many denominations and so many followers that ferreting out "casual" believers would be near impossible. Look back to these early days of these religions, and you'll find the same sort of "aggressive attitude" that James attributes to Scientology.
Very cool article by Oppenheimer!
To April's query about a religion who doesn't demand much of anything from its followers...I'd cast my vote for Unitarian Universalists. :)
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