Oh gods, he's babbling...

[serai]

.
...he's babbling.


Tom Cruise, Scientologist, on...Tom Cruise, Scientologist!


Good Lord, what madness rules in brainsick men, as the Bard would say.

"He's bugfuck bananas," as Harlan would say.


The above link goes to post at Gawker, where a Church of Scientology indoctrination video has been posted. It's been popping up around the net the past few days, as the CoS keeps trying to bash it down like a prairie dog. In the video, Cruise talks about being a Scientologist, and you know, even given that a great deal of it is obviously code-speak, he still doesn't make any sense.

Now, I've had my run-ins with Scientology. Hell, living within walking distance of the West Coast headquarters (a building which reminds me of nothing so much as the Overlook Hotel, especially at night) it would be impossible not to be familiar with this, frankly, creepy cult. Both I and my ex worked for Scientologists at one time or another, and once I got to accompany him on an errand for his boss, which took us straight into the main admin building on their campus. (Wanna hear weird? Lord L.Ron's office is still there, just as he left it. Not a thing changed. It's roped off with velvet ropes. Wanna hear weirder? There's one in every CoS building in the world. No, there are no gods in Scientology. Or saints. Of course not.)

Scientology's a weird thing, whatever it is. I'm damn sure it's not what Hubbard intended. One of the things I saw on that little trip into the Twilight Zone was a waiting room TV showing a speech he gave just before his death. Lemme tell you, that was one wrung-out dude. I've rarely seen anyone so clearly tired, with this sort of foggy depressive air, a kind of crushed affect. It freaked me out, because that's not what I expected at all. I'd heard about him from some of his sci-fi writer pals, and what with all that money and power and all, I thought he'd be more...I don't know. Alive maybe. Later on Norman Spinrad told me he'd been really distressed to see what had happened to the guy.

So anyway, the creepy in this video is not all Cruise, not by a long way. This thing really does mess with your head, anyone who falls into its clutches. Here's this energetic and capable guy who used to be pretty damn charming and now sounds like a freak, and it occurs to me, watching him, that not until he changed over his PR people and started actually talking about this stuff (he never had before) did he start to seem crazy. So I gotta wonder how long this stuff's been eating his brain. He's probably been halfway round the bend ever since Mimi Rogers got her hooks into him.

So watch the video and take a lesson, my friends. It can happen to anyone. All it takes is one little in.


Now that I see him, I do pity him. - Frodo Baggins

Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair. - Ozymandius

Comments

[layne67.livejournal.com]

I don't really know much about scientology but when Katie Holmes gave birth and they said that absolute silence is a must during labour? And when Cruise had his run-in with Brooke Shields on post-natal depression? Freaky ...

[serai1.livejournal.com]

It's some seriously creepy shit. If you're interested, here is a page of links to sites that publish on the cult. This one lists eyewitness accounts and documents. Scary stuff.

[estelanui.livejournal.com]

I like to say only this:
Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves by Steven Hasson
and
Combatting Cult Mind Control: The #1 Best-selling Guide to Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults by Steven Hassan

[samena.livejournal.com]

Jeebus... what on earth is he going on about? He sure talks a lot, but he doesn't say a whole lot. Or at least, not a lot that makes sense. So, basically, he wants to help people? Well, maybe he could start by giving away some of his millions of dollars? I mean, if he really wants to do something. Geez...

[honeyandvinegar.livejournal.com]

Hubbard started Scientology on a bet.

Ever hear the Lisa McPherson (sp.?) story? It's been imprinted in my brain--especially her autopsy pics. (Sorry for the gruesome-like comment, but I have an intense fear/hatred for this organization...)

[verangel.livejournal.com]

I'll have to check this out. I just saw TCs video as VH1 picked it apart. It was freakin weird. He is over his head in his own pathetically into himself world. I will have to look at this story you mentioned. xoxo hugs..v

[honeyandvinegar.livejournal.com]

Be warned--there's some disturbing things about the case. EXTREMELY disturbing... like, I had bad dreams disturbing. That's how scary scientology is.

[serai1.livejournal.com]

The bet thing is Harlan's story, and he does tend to skew things a bit. L.Ron did indeed have that encounter with Harlan and Silverberg, but he also talked about starting a religion at other times as well. He's just the only guy among them all who actually went and did it. He wasn't a particularly nice guy, it seems, at least judging from some of the rules he set down for his...enterprise.* Like that shit about how it's ok to do whatever you want, no matter how criminal, to stop someone who gets in your or Scientology's way. The org is a prime example of why extending financial immunity to religious organizations is a terrible idea. It's bad enough they get power over people's minds; getting to be filthy rich by preying on people's spirit is just not on in any way, in my view.


*I'm sorry, I refuse to acknowledge it as a religion. It's well-known that Hubbard did that solely to escape the tax laws. Without that, it's just a batshit form of est, and nobody can claim that's a religion.)

[honeyandvinegar.livejournal.com]

Haha, why do you think I don't cap it? It doesn't deserve an "S", lol!

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

Well said!

[magpie-2.livejournal.com]

so sad, makes me nervous to watch it

[serai1.livejournal.com]

It is sad, isn't it? I may view the organization as a whole as completely evil, but I feel sorry for the individuals involved. That kind of thing is nothing to sneeze at.