Why I feel sorry for Tom Cruise.

by cedars 18 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  cedars

  Hi everyone

  I'm usually not in the slightest bit interested by what goes on in the world of celebrities. I couldn't care less if this celebrity or that celebrity gets divorced, married or has kids. Not only is it none of my business what goes on in their private lives, but I also consider them to be shielded from reality anyway, so the decisions they make and their motives for making them will not always be readily understood by the ordinary person on the street such as you and I.

  However, the divorce of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes has struck a nerve. I'm not a massive Tom Cruise fan, although it's difficult not to love his films. As I glance up at my modest DVD collection I see at least four of his movies on display. Katie Holmes isn't the best of actresses, although I have no reason to believe she is anything but charming to know in real life. These are people we feel we know, even though we don't know them at all. But with Cruise, I see a lost soul, and one who is paying the price for a terrible decision he made many years ago.

  Before I continue, here is a video in which Tom's thoughts on Scientology are briefly expressed. The video is heavily edited, evidently with the purpose of making Cruise look silly - but when you watch it, you will find it difficult to believe that Cruise could look anything BUT silly even if the interview were shown in full.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFBZ_uAbxS0

  As you watch this video, you might very well identify with the giddy enthusiasm and unwavering conviction with which Cruise speaks of his beliefs. This is exactly how you and I will have sounded to outsiders when we were in the deepest throes of our own indoctrination. The religion may be different, but the blind faith and implicit trust in a human organization, together with the unwavering belief that you are "helping others" through your worship, is eerily similar.

  Tom Cruise, like many Hollywood actors, is vain and self-obsessed. Unfortunately, it comes with the territory when you're an international movie star having your ego massaged on a daily basis. However, Tom Cruise is also a victim. He didn't START the Church of Scientology, he was brainwashed by it. Who knows how differently his life and emotional/mental wellbeing would have turned out if he hadn't succumbed to the overtures of a devious and greedy cult? Maybe he would be less irritating than he is now, and I would even find him likeable. I suppose we'll never know.

  In Katie Holmes, it's fairly safe to say Tom Cruise had arguably one of the most understanding wives a man could wish for. I'm no expert on their relationship, but (from what I can gather) she humoured him with his beliefs and, apparently, did all she could to support him in his prominent role within the Church. I suppose we can never know the precise reasons behind their split, but if I would bet all the money I have that Scientology and Katie's exasperation therewith has at least something to do with it.

  Scientology has been a leech that has sucked Tom Cruise of considerable wealth, and it is now wreaking havoc on his marriage to an otherwise patient wife, and the mother of one of his children. Yet another family obliterated by a vicious cult.

  Cults are evil, terrible, and despicable stains on Society, and as much as I dislike Tom Cruise, I do feel sorry that (unbeknownst to him) he is paying such a heavy price for his loyalty to one of them.

  (As always, if you haven't taken part in the 2012 JW survey, please do so!)

  Cedars
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  Heaven

  A little insight on Tom Cruise...

  Years ago I worked with a co-op student who had worked on a movie set with Tom. The student's description of him was not very glowing.
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  Quendi

  I have never liked Tom Cruise or his films and probably never will. That being said, I can appreciate the sentiments about his religion you've shared with us, cedars. But like all of us, Tom Cruise is free to make his own choices and decisions. I don't doubt that Scientology's many warts have been pointed out to him and he simply refuses to see them. After all, there are none so blind as those who will not see. But he is hardly alone in being a cult follower. As you have noted many times, Jehovah's Witnesses are similarly afflicted and that includes many who are very bright, well-meaning and sincere.

  Having left the cult of Jehovah's Witnesses myself, I have to also remember that I should pity anyone still trapped within. It is so easy to keep the self-righteous attitude cult members have and say they deserve any misfortune they suffer. But we're supposed to be better than that. Thanks for the reminder that while my life is now better, that doesn't make me superior to anyone, and that I should always extend the compassion and comfort to others that I would want them to give to me.

  Quendi
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  elderelite

  Why i feel sorry for tom cruise...

  Because hes short, soon to be broke and dosent worship Thor?

  Jk of course.... Big picture i agree with cedars in that, having believed the tenants of a high control group/cult i can sympathize with him on a personal level. But i also have seen people even in the cult act decently and follow thier inner nature. Maybe not free as we know it and not without influance, but fairly true to their own nature. I was never an ass despite the cult. Im sure others can say the same, even if i did for go educational oportunities or carrer advancement and the like.... At my core i was always myself, albiet influanced by the cult.

  My point is, i feel bad and i see the harm, fincially and emotionally cults can bring, and i pitty him in that sense. I also know he is doing what he wants and what he feels comfortable with. I wouldnt force my current beliefs on anyone, knowing that they are subject to change. Its a balance. Hes entittled to believe as he wishes even if i think hes wrong.

  Personal freedom has responsiblity and consequences.
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  THE GLADIATOR

  A thoughtful and compassionate post cedars

  I always enjoy a Tom Cruise film. Top Gun is one of my top films.

  It does appear that belonging to a cult has influenced his life in a negative way. John Travolta watch out!
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  talesin

  I am hoping that this wife tells the tale - and opens the world up to some truths about the cult. I have no feelings for or against Tom Cruise. He is an actor. If Katie does "talk", then perhaps this money grubbing cult of Scientology will gain some international attention that is well-deserved.

  John Travolta already lost his beloved son, and there are questions as to whether it was due to, or aided by, refusal of medical treatment. That is sad, but if true, would show that Scientology is also responsible for the murders of children.

  Let the truth be told.

  tal
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  cedars

  Thanks everyone. Since posting this thread, I've watched one or two more Scientology videos. In one such video, Cruise discusses his dyslexia (which he describes as a "false label"). It seems to be his struggles with dyslexia as a young actor which opened the door for Scientologists to make inroads and exploit his situation, because he turned to the cult as a means of overcoming his learning difficulties.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S800ilR9c4

  This is eerily reminiscent of the way Jehovah's Witnesses often gain a foothold, at least in my own family. I'm a 3rd generation witness, and on both sides of my family it can be said that Jehovah's Witnesses first made inroads when my forebears were going through emotionally-charged or anxious situations, leaving them more susceptible to external influence. This is what I mean when I say I feel sorry for Cruise (despite my loathing of his current personality!). It seems that, although he's very much a driving force behind the current church, he is still ultimately a cult victim just as much as any other Scientologist rank-and-file member. They preyed on him at a vulnerable stage in his life, and he is now paying the price with the collapse of his family life decades later.

  Cedars
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  jookbeard

  I've met him, I also share the same birthdate with him
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  Glander

  Interesting that it is Tom Cruise & company that is going to develop the first film from the Lee Child series of action thrillers. The hero, Jack Reacher, is a retired military policeman who is a big, 6'7" brute. Tom will, naturally, play Reacher. One of Reacher's character schticks is that he loves coffee.

  Do Scientologists drink coffee?
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  MrFreeze

  A more dedicated actor, you will not find. He is batshit insane though.