Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes: Will their divorce destroy Scientology?
The background
The Church of Scientology, that closed-off organization that attracts Hollywood celebrities and controversy in nearly equal measure, is having a rough summer.
Though Tom Cruise, 50, claims that Scientology is not at the center of his divorce from actress Katie Holmes, 33, media outlets would like to argue otherwise. And as if the potentially messy divorce of the neo-religion’s most famous adherent wasn’t bad enough, Scientology is also dealing with the defection of two major players, as well as one entire church.
Scientology is not considered a religion by several governments, including Chile, Belgium, Denmark, France, and others; in some places, it has been declared a cult, and in Russia, a court in March upheld a ruling banning its materials.
On the plus side, however, Scientology is evidently gaining popularity – in India.
Is Scientology at the heart of the TomKat split?
Cruise says no, everyone else, including Holmes’s “people”, says yes. This week, the Holmes camp reportedly leaked stories claiming that Holmes was divorcing Cruise to save their 6-year-old daughter Suri from a Scientology ritual called “sec checking”, which asks young children personal questions in order to locate “areas of spiritual distress”, Hollywood insider site TMZ reported, and that Scientology defectors claim is psychological terrorism designed to turn children into informants. But, the site later reported, Holmes is a devout Scientologist herself and is only leaking these stories to hurt Cruise. Why? No one knows – yet.
More on the TomKat split.
The divorce could destroy Scientology
Holmes’s divorce from Cruise could, one ex-member told The Hollywood Reporter, be the religion’s implosion: “Katie could blow Scientology wide open. If Tom’s smart, he won’t fight her on anything, even custody. He should just try to settle his way out of it,” Marty Rathburn, a member for 22 years and the man who “audited” Cruise, told the site. “She could press this sole-custody issue and litigate it, and that would be the biggest nightmare in the Church of Scientology’s history.”
Scientology is an ‘Orwellian world of rules, rewards, and punishments’
But with Scientology back in the spotlight, media outlets are posting a flurry of stories from Scientology survivors. Astra Woodcraft told The Daily Beast that when she was 7 years old, her parents decided to become more involved in the Church of Scientology and moved their family to the organization’s headquarters in Clearwater, Florida. There, she entered an “Orwellian world of rules, rewards, and punishments”, she said. Woodcraft warned that Suri Cruise could be going through the same kind of indoctrination that she went through: Days of drudgery and work, forced disconnection from her family, being cut off from the rest of the world. “I felt I had utterly no freedom or control over my life.” Sharone Stainforth told her story to The Sun, telling the tabloid that Scientology drove her to try and kill herself: “They took my childhood and left me in a terrible mess. When I attempted suicide it was because I couldn’t deal with things any longer, directly related to years of misery in Scientology.”
High profile defections
Jenna Miscavige Hill, 28, niece of church leader David Miscavige, issued a public warning this week to Holmes that the church is “no place for an innocent child”, but she isn’t the only high-profile Scientologist to jump ship. The Village Voice’s Tony Ortega, who frequently reports on Scientology, reported recently that the granddaughter of Scientology founder and science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard, Roanne Leake, and Miscavige’s own father, Ron Sr., have also left the church. And now, an entire church is leaving, to become part of the growing “independent Scientology” movement – Israel’s Dror Center, in Haifa, declared that it is rejecting the leadership of Miscavige and the official church.
Who’s next?
Bookmakers Paddy Power is giving odds on who will be the next famous face to defect, according to The Mirror: “Peaches Geldof is 5-1 favourite, followed by Mad Men actress Elisabeth Moss at 7-1 and Lisa Marie Presley at 8-1.”
There’s always India
According to the local outreach branch of Scientology in Delhi, the religion is growing, largely based on its self-help efforts. Success can be yours, the outreach center promises, through courses in communication, relationships and study techniques – and for a “donation” of 3,000 rupees ($55) and 5,000 rupees ($90), The Wall Street Journal reported. To put that in perspective, the average Indian’s income is only around 50,000 rupees per year, according to the most recent figures.
More on Tom Cruise and Scientology
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