Like Ragnarok, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and The Sopranos – all things (good and bad) must end.
And that end has come for the Church of Scientology.
It was an experiment that just didn’t work.
For Tom Cruise, it’s another high-profile bomb – like “Rock Of Ages” and “Knight and Day.”
So… it’s time for all the vacant eyed, lost soul, followers of Scientology to leave the fields, re-enter society, and a have a few beers. Reality is waiting – time to get on with it.
The final nail in the coffin for Scientology is, of course, the TomKat divorce.
Finally, the “Church” has a scandal it cannot hide from or cover up – and an entire organizational collapse is imminent (and what an organization it is – see left).
To compare it to something in the media (this is a media blog after all), the TomKatSu divorce scandal is to Scientology what digital is to the newspaper industry. This scandal has effectively put an end to Scientology “subscriber growth” and it will not recover.
Its “best days” are behind it – and the end is near. Seriously, what movie star or powerful media figure would join Scientology now?
No amount of pressure by Thetan thugs or house visits to Katie by Anne Archer will get Scientology out of this mess.
It’s over.
[For full, unbelievably well-researched accounts of what happens behind the guarded walls at Scientology – please read this piece in the New Yorker and this piece in Rolling Stone.]
America and the world are completely on Katie’s side and anything other than full capitulation by Tom Cruise and Scientology will only make matters worse.
Words like ‘creepy,’ ‘evil,’ ‘cult,’ freaky,’ ‘fucking bizarre,’ ‘brainwashed,’ and just plain ‘disturbing’ are often used when people comment about Scientology.
But somehow, nothing much was done about it – probably because most people just think it’s a place where out of work actors go to detox and secure five and under guest shots on shows like “Dharma & Greg.”
Lots of allegations – but no real criminal charges have stuck against the “Church” other than random financial issues (taxes, etc.).
But now there is a very high-profile little face in the middle of it – little Suri Cruise – and the people of the world will not allow this “Church” to overtake her developing brain. [To see photos of Suri – you can Google her name. It felt wrong to put a photo of her in this blog.]
Either Scientology leaves them alone to live a somewhat normal life – or they commit organizational suicide by trying to force this little girl into the SeaOrg re-education school for high level Scientologists (or some other work farm type education).
Tom Cruise and, to a lesser extent, John Travolta (power is based on box office grosses) are the faces of Scientology. And the faces of Scientology look pretty shitty right now.
Leave Suri alone, cut the creepy secret cult shit that makes so many people afraid of you, and do the right thing for your members – let them go. Stop ruining lives.
Perhaps there are some decent life lessons to be learned from the writings of L. Ron Hubbard (i.e., “The fastest way to make a fortune is to invent a religion”…), but those lessons will never reach a mass audience as long as the perception of Scientology is that of a cult of zombies eating the brains of the young.
Jill Kennedy – OnMedea
HUBBARD COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE
Saint Hill Manor, East Grinstead, Sussex
HCO BULLETIN OF 21 SEPTEMBER 1961
Missions
SECURITY CHECK CHILDREN
HCO WW Security Form 8
The following is a processing check for use on children.
Children’s Security Check
Ages 6-12
1. WHAT HAS SOMEBODY TOLD YOU NOT TO TELL?
2. HAVE YOU EVER DECIDED YOU DIDN’T LIKE SOME MEMBER OF YOUR FAMILY?
3. HAVE YOU EVER TAKEN SOMETHING BELONGING TO SOMEBODY ELSE AND NEVER GIVEN IT BACK?
4. HAVE YOU EVER PRETENDED TO BE SICK (ILL)?
5. HAVE YOU EVER MADE YOURSELF SICK (ILL) OR HURT YOURSELF TO MAKE SOMEBODY SORRY?
6.HAVE YOU EVER WANTED SOMETHING VERY MUCH BUT NEVER TOLD ANYBODY ABOUT IT?
etc etc
Tom Cruise ought to come to his senses and leave Scientology. He certainly ought to keep those bullies from harassing his wife and attempting to brainwash his daughter. IF he has any sense.
I’m going to give Tom Cruise a little free advise; go away, make your little movies, collect your pay check and quietly live your creepy little life. Stop with the PR spins and stories, NO ONE IS BUYING IT ANYMORE, the 1988 Tom Cruise we gave a sh*t about, never existed, we know that now. 2012 Thomas Cruise gives me the creeps. Shall we change his name, like he did to “Kate.” Tom; Shut up and make your money, give it to the cult, burn it for all I care. You are a sad, lonely little man and until you embrace your true self, whatever that may be, you will continue to be the judgmental crazy nut job you are.
She knew he was a Scientologist when she married him, so why would raising Suri as a Scientologist come as a surprise? Honestly, she wanted to be more famous than her mediocre acting would allow, and she loved the publicity. But now she wants to move on…which is what happened with Kidman. I just don’t understand these women…it’s so obvious WHY they married him.
Hey Mechelle what’s happening with your $$$$$$$$$$$cientology these days? Alex Gibney’s ‘Going Clear’ making you poop in your pants, unfortunately not being a smart person you’re going down with your cult….tick tock tick tock…
Scientology is a crock but it’s doubtful this will be it’s downfall. The author is another know it all who knows nothing.
Scientology is a dangerous cult that utilizes brainwashing and bullying tactics to keep their members in line. As long as Tom Cruise is involved with Scientology only supervised visits with Suri should be allowed. Google Shelly Miscavige and see what they do to women that disobey their husbands. Shelly is the wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige who happens to be Cruise’s best friend and best man at his wedding to Katie Holmes. Shelly carried out Scientology orders without getting David’s approval and she has not been seen since 2006. When you sign up for Scientology you sign a billion year contract and allow them to lock you up if they feel you disobeyed or went against them. If I were on Katie’s legal team I would petition the court for a paternity test to see if Cruise is actually Suri’s biological father. While he was married to Nicole Kidman they adopted 2 children, Nicole went on to have a biological child with her new husband. I do not think Cruise can father a child.
Scientology will get round this one as all religions do Jill. The state itself needs to define minors as incapable of making personal decisions concerning their faith.
A starting point would be to outlaw faith schools altogether. I cannot see that happening in an ignorant nation like the US, where religiosity is on a par with India.
I hope for a day in the future where no one will be allowed to call a child a “jewish kid”, “muslim kid”, “scientologist child” etc. Faith should be like sex. You have to attain a certain age to be allowed to opt in or out of it.
Atheists need to unite behind these ideas and push the agenda. RIP Christopher Hitchens
Sadly, I have to disagree with the premise of the article that Scientology is over. Anyone who cares to know the truth can learn with a little internet research just how bizarre its beliefs and practices are. One can also easily learn how its founder lied about his accomplishments and background that make up this cult’s history and serve as part of the foundation as to why its beliefs are supposed to be valid. Furthermore, anyone who stays in the cult has to keep dumping money into the organization, which is an embarrassing psychological anchor to have to own up to even if they privately admit that the whole belief system is insane.
Scientology members are brainwashed, coerced, manipulated, have their sense of reality twisted, and blackmailed into staying in line. With Tom Cruise’s long history, just imagine all the very delicate private information he’s given them as part of his sec checks. In my opinion, only if a few major celebrities defect (e.g. Cruise and Travolta) and go on a fearless public campaign to inform people of the evils of this cult will there be any serious impact on its membership numbers. Even then, there are always lost souls who are easily taken in by fraudsters who will promise them everything as long as they “follow the rules”, as irrational and destructive as they may be.
Thank goodness that at least Katie Holmes saved her daughter from such a future.
Haven’t you been reading all the news articles? Haven’t you heard anything about the cult of Scientology? They don’t reveal their true inner workings to people on the outside. Katie had no idea what she was getting into. And it wasn’t Katie pursuing Tom so much as he pursued her and faked his love for her (jumping on Oprah’s couch which was so phony. OK, Katie should have seen through that). After she had been under Tom and Scientology’s clutches for awhile she realized the awful truth. And she realized how dangerous it would be for her child. That’s why she’s leaving.
Tom Cruise is a vile, disgusting creep and Scientology is a dangerous and abusive CULT. Warn your friends and family to stay away.
There’s a lot of misunderstanding about Scientology and in this article what you’ll find is that the author is the first to have them.
Please learn the facts. Don’t stop to prejudices and false ideas.
There is a pattern in the lives of people heavily involved with Scientology before they got involved. Those who stay in are there because they may not have an internal sense of self to handle life without someone having the answers for them.
Dear Jill, I hope you are right. It would be a pleasure to see this cult of lies, deception and greed utterly collapse. Unfortunately, I think the slide downhill will be slower than we’d like to see, although the TomKat thing gave it a dramatic push. Consider, for example, that they haven’t had a spokesliar who will lie to the public, in over a year. Word is, Tommy Davis is gone, not coming back.
Even in the beginning of Dianetics in the 50’s Scientology had a very narrow appeal, and did best at targeting vulnerable wishful thinkers. I know of at least one person who knew about Xenu and the high prices and everything, and still got involved in Scientology because when they read their literature (propaganda) it just sounded like everything they always wanted. Having billions of dollars allowed Scientology to do that, develop propaganda for that is effective on a tiny percentage of the general population who are wiling to try almost anything.
Scientology’s target audience is gullible, vulnerable, wishful thinkers. Rich people who are bored not having more answers, and who will try anything that sounds safe. It’s less than 1% of the population, but that’s all they need. They are currently worth between 3 and 6 billion dollars probably. Another portion of their membership just wants to belong to something, that they are told they can make up as they go along and decide what is true for them. That’s the illusion, the carrot that this cult dangles before people. Then comes the control.
There are people who get involved in Scientology BECAUSE other people are skeptical or warn against it. This is why most of their trade has been in young people. People want their reality shifted dramatically, and Scientology can do that, maybe bringing them out of a rut, before they squeeze them for every penny.
The other horror is, as your chart shows, the complexity of it. Besides all of that on your chart, they have 100 front groups that often do business without Scientology in the name, but it’s Scientology nevertheless.
Consider how Narconon was marketed on the web. They had graduates, former addicts, offering drug rehab center selection services, where they pointed nearly everyone who wrote to their website or YouTube ad, toward Narconon. They got 10% of the $30,000 fee, so $3,000 a head, of the people they were able to get into Narconon.
I totally agree. Co$ is almost done and dm wil take the biggest fall.( big smile)