The BBC recently did an investigation of Scientology in the UK. It resulted in a much publicized temper flare-up by the interviewer. It was another reminder to me that Scientology is not going to go away, despite it’s nuttiness.
I’ve been watching Scientology for a while. I don’t know why, but it has always stood out to me as particularly dangerous and insipid. I know, I know. How dangerous can a cult be that believes in an evil (pronounced ‘eeeee’ – ‘villllll’) overlord alien that tried to take over the earth to solve his overpopulation problems be “dangerous and insipid”?
It’s because this is new age universalism combined with pop psychology and they are targeting Hollywood. They aren’t targeting you and me in the suburbs. They know that we think they’re cracked nuts and Tom Cruise is creepy. But they know that if they can get their world view implanted in pop culture they can rule the suburbs and the cities and the people. Now, these guys will never tell you the real story until you have worked your way up through the ranks. At each level you will become more indoctrinated until the idea that an alien named Xenu even exists at all is no longer preposterous.
I’m not going into a bunch of details about scientology. Partly because I don’t think many of you would by it. Here’s a link to a page about it on beliefnet. It’s a pretty good overview. If you want more info, ask in the comments and I’ll throw some more links your way. Or you can always Google it for an entertaining list of craziness.
There is a long and documented history of the Scientology church using all kinds of mind control, intimidation, stalking, harrassment, legal action, and more to suppress negative press and promote their “faith”. This is not a religion! It is a cult that is gaining a large following in the celebrity universe and therefore is beginning to have a striking influence on our films, media, television and music.
Did you know that Tom Cruise is an “Operating Thetan VII”? There are 8 OT levels. This essentially means that he claims (and I’ve seen him do so in interviews) that he is a spirit who can control matter, energy, space, time, thought, and life. Seriously. That’s nuts. Jumping up and down like a freak on Oprah’s couch is the least of it. Maverick, what would Goose say if he were alive today?
And He is not alone! Here is a website cataloging celebs that are currently associated with the church of Scientology. As Christians, we need to be vigilant in identifying the world views that are motivating the people of power in our society. As “alien” as this stuff sounds, you need to pay attention to it’s influence.
Here’s a mashup of the BBC interview:
And a video from MSNBC about Scientology in general:
[tags]Tom Cruise, scientology, hollywood, celebrities, universalism, new age, religion, BBC[/tags]
Good post, Ben. I remember when a leading cult expert from Texas came to speak at our church in Boone back in the late 1990s and I asked him if he wanted to go see the then-new TM meditation center and he jumped at the chance. While we were up there looking around I remember a comment he made: “It’s a good thing these people are TMers.” To which I gave him a puzzled look and he continued: “Because if they were Scientologists we’d be DEAD about now!”
Yep, these guys are claiming to have stopped some of their aggressive and illegal tactics but they’ve just gotten smarter about it.
The most chilling thing to me is the clip from MSNBC where Tom Cruise is saying that when people in Hollywood have trouble they call him. He’s effectively “pastoring” Hollywood.
Not good.
I researched Scientology a while ago, and it’s hard to believe anyone would fall for this. BBC did some great reporting on the Global Warming Hoax also. It seems they are learning some intimidation techniques from the Scientologists. I wonder how many celebrities stay in Scientology because of the blackmail factor from their auditing sessions.