You wrote “I certainly am for journalism that unravels the darker side of Scientology.”
What about the millions (Scientologists and non-Scientologists) during the past 60 years whose lives have improved as a result of problem solving technologies researched and developed by L Ron Hubbard? (See: Association for Better Living and Education)
Where is the media informing the public of the 12-year massive international human rights campaign paid for primarily by the Church of Scientology and Scientologists to promote the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights? (see Youth for Human Rights).
Why isn’t the media informing the public that it now has access to the FDAs database in an UNDERSTANDABLE way at the Scientology sponsored CCHRInt.org site? Finally, citizens can discover the details of the more than 4,000 suicides and homicides caused by psych drugs, which only represent those that were reported to the FDA. The FDA states that only 2-10 percent of all adverse incidents get reported, so the number of suicides and homicides during the past 10 years can be more than 40,000.
You want the darker side? How about the drug companies who — to increase the value of their stock and get everyone on hugely profitable psych drugs — are now promoting pregnant women be given psych drugs thus causing the fetus to be saturated in drugs. and

Katie probably knows that Scientology’s “study-tech” based schools have been
rejected by school districts and educational professionals. There is no proof
that “study-tech” is effective and many people think it’s just a “feeder line” to cult indoctrination that targets children.

Does it really matter if you attend a Catholic School, or a Jewish School? What about Historical Black College or a Private School for the wealthy? It seems that we are all so worried about nothing and that a good education in which a child can learn equals one thing, a good education.
Who cares if she attends a Catholic School over a Jewish school, or a Scientology school over a charter school? We are so worried over nothing and gossip about nothing. Suri looks happy and Tom and Katie seem to be amazing parents. They will make the right choice for their daughter.
Ohh and people please get a life! If you believe in these gossip sites for info you might as well consider Comic books educational.

TruthLover – There are a lot of things that have been rejected school districts and educational professionals from prohibited of student from wearing a Malcolm X T-shirt, to even gay pride programs within schools. Your argument is outdated just like many of the U.S. school districts and educational programs.
I honestly do not see a problem here and this is the parents choice for their child education not ours.

L Ron Hubbard awarded himself a fake “doctorate” from a diploma mill he owned
back in the 60′s, otherwise he flunked out his first year of college with horrible grades. The website http://www.studytech.org/ has some great info,
Seemingly not content just to enjoy the near-worship of his followers, Hubbard also craved the respect of his peers. His lack of a degree became an embarassment to him during this period. In the 1950s he appended the title “C.E.” to his name, despite never having actually qualified as a civil engineer. He also claimed to have been a “nuclear physicist” on the basis of having attended a class in “Atomic and Molecular Phenomena” during his civil engineering course. In 1953, he decided to bolster his academic credentials with a degree purchased for $20 from “Sequoia University,” a notorious Californian degree mill run by a Los Angeles chiropodist named Joseph Hough. On 27 February, Hubbard sent a cable to his agent in Los Angeles: “PLEASE INFORM DR HOUGH PHD VERY ACCEPTABLE. PRIVATELY TO YOU. FOR GOSH SAKES EXPEDITE. WORK HERE UTTERLY DEPENDANT ON IT. CABLE REPLY. RON.” The reply came through the following day: “PHD GRANTED. HOUGH’S AIRMAIL LETTER OF CONFIRMATION FOLLOWS. GOOD LUCK.” (Miller, 1988)
Hubbard thereby acquired wholly bogus titles as a “Doctor of Divinity” and “Doctor of Scientology,” and subsequently took to referring to himself as “Dr” Hubbard. But this too became an embarassment when the falsity of the degree was pointed out, prompting Hubbard to insist that “I was a Ph.D., Sequoia’s University and therefore a perfectly valid doctor under the laws of the State of California” (“Doctor Title Abolished,” HCO Policy Letter of 14 February 1966

Since Hubbard was a known scam artist, college flunk out and hypnotist, it is good Katie fought to put Suri in Catholic pre-school, where she’ll learn her ABCs instead of the ABCs of brainwashing, slavishly following that fake, Hubbard.
Listen to the many tapes of Hubbard on YOUTUBE and elsewhere. He sounds like a raving lunatic, and he’s obviously uneducated as well. Scientologists wouldn’t know. They accepted a high school dropout as their current leader, to push Study Tech, CCHR and all of Scientology’s over one hundred mind-bending money grubbing front groups.
The percentage of people who benefit from Scientology, of the dupes who walk through their doors, is tiny, compared to the people who merely get the idea it is a scam, and leave. That’s why their real number is worldwide is 55,000, and dropping rapidly, not the 8 to 10 million the scam advertises.

SCIENTOLOGISTS VIEW OF L RON HUBBARD
Those who oppose Scientology attempt to create impressions that are false. Hubbard is viewed simply as a man who devoted his life to developing effective methods to make it easier for people to understand and resolve problems in life as well as to increase awareness of self as an immortal spiritual being who continues after the physical body dies. This has been known in the East for 11,000 years, starting with the Veda. (It goes earlier, but the Veda is the earliest written record found to date.)
The popularity of Dianetics in 1950 worried (justifiably) the American Psychiatric and the American Psychological Associations because Dianetics was an effective method for any person to use to help another resolve depression and other unwanted conditions. Dianetics was correctly perceived as a threat to the psych’s monopoly and cash flow.
The newly relesed Dianetics DVD (2 disc set/ 4.25 hours / $20) can be used by anyone to learn Dianetics, which removes the necessity of psych drugs — and THAT concerns the drug companies, which — along with the psychiatric industry — pocket $2 TRILLION a year (world wide) in revenue.
That immense amount of money buys a lot of media and elected officials.
An organization as large as Scientology — staffed by thousands of individuals — does make errors, particularly when defending itself from extremely powerful, wealthy monopolies.
What is important is the quantity of efffective solutions (see VolunteerMinisters.org) available to anyone.

“The popularity of Dianetics in 1950 worried (justifiably) the American Psychiatric and the American Psychological Associations because Dianetics was an effective method for any person to use to help another resolve depression and other unwanted conditions. Dianetics was correctly perceived as a threat to the psych’s monopoly and cash flow.”
Nope, L Ron only started attacking psychiatry and psychology after he failed
miserably to prove his claims about “clears” to them, back in the 60′s. He was
given a chance to demostrate his claims about clears to an audience of
psychiatrists and psychologists. He claimed that “clears” had perfect memory,
but the person who he used for his demonstration could’nt remember the color
of the tie he was wearing when he turned his back. After this miseable failure
of his claims, L Ron never allowed Dianetics or any of his goofy to be put to any sort of test, Scientologists won’t admit this though.
“Those who oppose Scientology attempt to create impressions that are false.”
Yeah, but you can never actually point out what we are saying is actually false. Because that would open you up to having your contention dismantled, piece by piece.

I think you’re right, Tom is on a shoot which of course is finite, and they were just visiting a school which apparently has special services for disadvantaged children. It also has a children’s museum. I think at best it was a pr stunt and possible just a museum trip. The reason people shudder at the idea of Scientology education is that they have a system which sounds sensible and recognizable enough at the beginning, but veers off into a rigid, frustrating and belabored system where the child is encouraged to ignore context and reasoning. “Misunderstood words” are not unique to the orgs, they’re also alive and well (and taught) in Scientology schools. It’s definitely cited by ex members as a inferior method of learning.
AS far as the psychological aspects of it, Hubbard’s agenda was not really to improve psychology, it was to distort it, through bait and switch. Altho he does give a nod to Frued, et al… in Hubbard-land, mom and dad traumas are eventually dropped and replaced with crimes of body thetans. He got in trouble for employing different forms of hypnotism and mind control and turned it all into a religion, which he felt was more lucrative anyway. The early repetitive exercises (repetitions are used by many cults that came along post mid 20th century) and staring into a partner’s face for 2 hours straight, is believed to prime people to become extremely malleable.
The anti psychiatry business and anti drugging was nonsense. In fact he drugged people and was himself a major drug addict. But it was an easy bandwagon to jump on bc there have always been critics of the way mentally ill patients are treated and that often involved treatments, notably over-drugging. He used an issue that was already recognizable to people and distorted it to his own ends; creating a tangible enemy and rallying the troops into a frenzy. One Dr (early 70s?) who was brought into the fold who himself believed, as many do, that patients are over-drugged and misdiagnosed, ran out screaming after 2 years. The brutality and distortions that existed in the “Church” was not what he signed on for.
Whatever else he was, L. Ron. Hubbard was a drug addict, a control freak and a huckster, who stole ideas and presented half-truths. He also seems to have been a sadistic psychopath.

why is scientology any crazier than any other religion?

Good for Katie. At least one of her family has a little sense!

Good! Suri has two parents, that both bring their backgrounds to the table. She should be introduced to both of their religions , not just one because he thinks hes better.

Why is Scientology crazier than other religions? First, it’s not a religion. Its so called religious scriptures are copyrighted. They charge huge amounts of money to see it, and they have harassed people who tells about it. It doesn’t tell what is in these scriptures until after people have paid thousands of dollars.
It does counseling sessions called “auditing” that can be like confession in the catholic faith. Except in Scientology, all your sins and embarrassing details are recorded and kept on file. People wanting to leave have reported being blackmailed with their secrets.
Does any of that even sound like a religion?

Altho he does give a nod to Frued, et al… in Hubbard-land, mom and dad traumas are eventually dropped and replaced with crimes of body thetans. http://www.cruise360.net/ He got in trouble for employing different forms of hypnotism and mind control and turned it all into a religion, which he felt was more lucrative anyway. The early repetitive exercises repetitions are used by many cults that came along post mid 20th century and staring into a partner’s face for 2 hours straight, is believed to prime people to become extremely malleable.

Good! Suri has two parents, that both bring their backgrounds to the table. She should be introduced to both of their religions , not just one because he thinks hes better.
http://www.wildlifeworld360.com/

I agree with the author. Scientology is not crazy and is not weird. What is weird are the rumors about the subject. Scientology is a religious philosophy not a religious practice. I know many people who are both doing Scientology classes and continuing their faiths in Judaism and Catholicism.

It does counseling sessions called “auditing” that can be like confession in the catholic faith. Except in Scientology, all your sins and embarrassing details are recorded and kept on file. People wanting to leave have reported being blackmailed with their secrets.
http://www.europevoyage.net/

The early repetitive exercises repetitions are used by many cults that came along post mid 20th century and staring into a partner’s face for 2 hours straight prostate massage

I think suri is a bit spoiled but who in hollywood isn’t? it’s weird that the two of them have different religion beliefs.

thats good. i think catholic schools are good especially in education! http://www.attractionsonline.com/