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By Jeralyn, Section Media
Posted on Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 08:18:00 AM EST
Tags: scientology (all tags)
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It looks like the end for Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Anne Sinclair. As the new editor for the French edition of the Huffington Post, she gets a life of her own, and as she puts it, "a chance:"

“This is a chance for me,” Ms. Sinclair said. “The Huffington Post gave me a chance.”

In the interview later with Elle, she said, “I am neither a saint nor a victim. I am a free woman.”

Dominique, by contrast, is unemployed, facing criminal investigation in France, and becoming something of a pariah, according to the Times. [More...]

And then there's Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, neither of whom are on my radar, who are getting divorced. It's Katie's decision, and she's seeking sole custody. That speaks volumes so what's the deal?

Looks like Scientology may be the factor ripping them apart. Their daughter, Suri, is about to reach an age where Scientology expects her cooperation. How so?

Suri is at the age when children typically begin participating in a core Scientology practice called auditing — a version of counseling in which an individual discusses painful experiences while connected to a lie detector-type device called an E-meter.

Many Scientology kids also go through a Purification Rundown in the elementary school years — a regime that includes vitamins and sitting in a sauna for hours on end to cleanse the body of toxins.

I'd want sole custody in that situation too. But shouldn't she have known this would happen when she married him?

Scientology just moved a major headquarters to Denver. I might choose Hare Krishna over Scientology, although any kind or organized mass culture based on a supreme or higher power makes me nervous. Surely, I can't be the only one.

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    Splitsville | 28 comments (28 topical)

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    What's wrong with this picture? (5.00 / 2) (#8)
    by SuzieTampa on Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 09:40:13 AM EST
    DSK and Anne Sinclair sue a publisher for invasion of privacy, while Sinclair begins work as the editor of the French Huffington Post?

    i've never had the impression (5.00 / 1) (#24)
    by cpinva on Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 02:38:12 PM EST
    either of them were the brightest bulbs in the box:

    But shouldn't she have known this would happen when she married him?

    of course, this could be asked of a lot of people, who marry someone who does something requiring, say, long periods of travel, or being shipped off to foreign lands, where they might get killed, etc., and then being "surprised" that their spouse does exactly what they have been doing all along.

    military spouses, police spouses, professional athlete spouses, actor spouses, religious spouses all presumably accept this as part of the deal. my mom did when she married my dad, a career marine during the cold war. she has little use for those who marry into the military, and then whine about the hardships involved. if you accept the benefits, you also agree to accept the hardships. it's a package. when i married, my wife knew there would be times i was gone for short or long periods, on business. she accepted that. she didn't like it at times, but it was her end of the bargain.

    perhaps ms. holmes is a little wiser for the experience.

    Warning that link goes to a Scientology page (none / 0) (#1)
    by ruffian on Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 06:43:17 AM EST
    not a newspaper story. I hope they did not get my IP address. Last thing I need is another mail barrage. I have to confess I dabbled briefly in my youth . I found a lot of it helpful, but the sci-fi, hierarchical stuff and 'dear leader' idolatry was too much. I didnt give up Catholocism for nothing.  Once they have your address you get mail bombs until you send them a legal sounding letter to cease and desist. It has to be worded in just the right way- I found a form on line, and that did the trick.

    Katy should have done her homework before she got married, that's for sure. Poor girl is never going to get rid of those people.

    Did you understand Dianetics? (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by Militarytracy on Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 08:36:32 AM EST
    I tried, but it turned to mashed potatoes in my noodle.

    Parent
    Have any of you read about Marty Rathbun? (5.00 / 1) (#19)
    by Angel on Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 11:40:58 AM EST
    He's a former leader in the movement.  They have made his life a living hell because he had the audacity to tell everyone what they do and what they are about.  Here's the link to his site.  I read about this in Texas Monthly, they had a really great article, but it's accessible by subscription only so I can't link to it here.  http://tinyurl.com/yfrz7lb


    Parent
    There's just something about Tom (none / 0) (#3)
    by Anne on Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 08:15:50 AM EST
    Cruise...something off...that I could never put my finger on, but that just didn't completely feel right.

    Maybe it's the Scientology, but I do get that slightly-off, slightly-creepy feeling from him.  

    Katie's been described as "devoutly Catholic," and I'm thinking that doesn't mesh so well with Scientology.  And while she surely knew that when they got married, I suspect maybe she didn't know just how different it is, and couldn't just substitute one for the other and live happily ever after.

    Oh, well...it's not like I actually know these people, but I can't help feeling bad for Suri; I hope she's not about to become the rope in a tug-of-war, but I suspect she might.

    Parent

    My best friend though (none / 0) (#6)
    by Militarytracy on Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 08:42:15 AM EST
    She was a terror in Junior High, ditching school like mad, crazy rebellious.  Her parents sent her an L. Ron Hubbard boarding type school in order to get a handle on this.  She of course had to be removed :)  She said that they each had to carry around a box that looked to her like an unadorned lunch box, and it had little plastic people in it.  Whenever a conversation or a situation took place that made you feel uncomfortable occurred, you were supposed to stop right there and get your plastic people out and reenact it for yourself.  You cannot believe the jokes mileage we got out of that in our high school years.  It sent us over the edge every time.

    Parent
    Oh no, what a thing to do to a kid (5.00 / 1) (#10)
    by ruffian on Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 10:02:14 AM EST
    The plastic people must be a variation on the clay modeling I learned in one of their classes - theory being that if you can solidify and demonstrate your thoughts in a physical form, they are clarified and lose their emotional grip on you. I think there is something to that, but hey, time and place!

    One other thing I found helpful - if you are reading, and start to lose concentration or feel drousy, it may be because at some point you did not understand something - a word, or an idea. If you backtrack and clear it up, it does help and get your alertness back.

    But yeah, the whole Dianetics part with the thetans and the aliens.....no thank you.

    Parent

    L. Ron Hubbard stole (none / 0) (#11)
    by Militarytracy on Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 10:18:03 AM EST
    artist process too? :)  I think he was a great renamer of known processes

    Parent
    Yeah, he stole ideas from everywhere (none / 0) (#12)
    by ruffian on Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 10:32:30 AM EST
    A master con man.

    Parent
    That said, is any of it any nuttier than other (none / 0) (#13)
    by ruffian on Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 10:34:54 AM EST
    major religions? Not much, IMO.

    Parent
    I thought the link would be helpful (none / 0) (#16)
    by Jeralyn on Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 11:09:40 AM EST
    to people who know nothing about Scientology.

    Parent
    I'm probably paranoid. No big deal. (none / 0) (#25)
    by ruffian on Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 02:53:59 PM EST


    Parent
    The extreme admiration for a person or principle (none / 0) (#2)
    by samsguy18 on Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 06:58:26 AM EST
    Whether it's attached to religious worship or lifestyle rituals  should make everyone nervous !  

    I don't think I'll ever be able to (none / 0) (#4)
    by Militarytracy on Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 08:30:25 AM EST
    participate in or enjoy any mass religious culture.  It all starts out great, but eventually I will be asked to do or support something crazy.  I was exposed mostly to the Lutheran faith.  My mother did start attending a Baptist church before her death, but most of my exposure was Lutheran.  And I was always comfortable there too. When we moved here we attended a few services at the local Lutheran church though, and during worship they would sing Onward Christian Soldiers more than once during the service.  Many retired military here, and it was obvious they were associating it with our being to the larger degree in Iraq and a smaller degree at that time in Afghanistan.  That was it for me.  My family felt momentarily embarrassed by my walking out and staying out too.  And I'm sorry that they momentarily felt that way, but I will NEVER spin those wars in that fashion and my family knows better than that too.  I was pretty surprised to watch a Lutheran church fold like that to propaganda.  Sad damned day!!  I was raised that practicing the Lutheran faith was to practice good works, and was not taught to proselytize.  I was taught to mind my own damned heart and soul and be an example, live as an example.  I'm not much of a Christian anyhow though, I'm more of a Buddhist.  I wanted my family to be able to fit in some here though on Sundays and had never had anything in the Lutheran philosophy conflict with or desire to damage my soul until then.

    I don't get much out of mass religious (5.00 / 1) (#9)
    by ruffian on Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 09:56:56 AM EST
    culture either. I know some feel nourished by communal worship, but it just has the opposite effect on me. Must be the introvert part of my personality. I like meditation and quiet thoughtful practice. I think about spiritual things, creation, the existence of god, a lot, but don't claim to have any answers, so I can't subscribe to any religions that claim they do.

    Parent
    There was a long, and interesting (none / 0) (#14)
    by KeysDan on Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 10:53:11 AM EST
    article about Scientology in 'New Yorker' a few years back ("The Apostate, by Lawrence Wright, Feb 14 2009).  According to the author, the Church received its tax deductible status after it lodged two thousand lawsuits against the IRS; as a settlement, the Church dropped its legal campaign.

    Moreover, Scientology has a quiet, but active, lobbying program in Washington.  An ardent supporter is Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Republican Congresswomen from South Florida's 18th District.  Ileana is an important member of the Republican House majority, now chairing the House foreign affairs committee.

    The Congresswomen, herself, is listed as an Episcopalian, but she is a dear friend, having been "honored" at a Celebrity Centre (a Church facility) gala in 2004.  Ileana is your basic right winger, conservative on all fronts with the exception of GLBT rights--which is an odd mix in that Scientology is no friend of gays or of equality for them.

    This is John Travolta's spiritual home. (none / 0) (#17)
    by oculus on Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 11:38:40 AM EST
    Puzzling.

    Parent
    Sort of a (none / 0) (#20)
    by KeysDan on Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 12:26:29 PM EST
    "straight camp,"  I think.

    Parent
    Know someone who worked on Grease as a (none / 0) (#21)
    by Angel on Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 12:44:51 PM EST
    dancer way back when, and he told my sister at the time that JT was gay.

    Parent
    And for Tom Cruise?! lol (none / 0) (#22)
    by observed on Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 12:46:51 PM EST
    Seems to me that the Scientology intimidation factor is more usual to Tom "No, I don't have a line of boys at my movie trailer" Cruise than to Travolta, who doesn't seem to care what people say.

    Parent
    I share the feelings (none / 0) (#26)
    by NYShooter on Sun Jul 01, 2012 at 12:51:30 AM EST
    many here have expressed regarding Scientology, or any cult, for that matter.
    But, you can't deny the accomplishments John Travolta has achieved. Whether it was Scientology, or simply his crediting Scientology for his impressive achievements, I'd like to see an intelligent, expert discussion on the subject.

    There's no denying Travolta's acting skills have gotten exponentially better as time elapsed, as did his dancing abilities.

    But, the biggie was his advanced piloting ratings. Having flown small aircraft when I was younger I can tell you that John's ratings on big, complicated, state of the arts jets, has really been impressive.

    My guess is that Scientology wasn't necessary for his success but, if he thinks it was, and he restricts his involvement to a sort of discipline "crutch," what's the harm? I realize it's a slippery slope, and the end justifying the means, and all, but I haven't seen him as a major proselytizer, right?


    Parent

    Cruise is the one I find odious. (none / 0) (#27)
    by observed on Sun Jul 01, 2012 at 02:03:06 AM EST
    Remember his rant about psychiatric drugs?


    Parent
    Yup, I agree (none / 0) (#28)
    by NYShooter on Sun Jul 01, 2012 at 03:50:32 AM EST

    Like I stated in my post Travolta has actual, empirical achievements to point to.

    Cruise has Stardom. Yippy.


    Parent

    Germany Ministers banned Scientology (none / 0) (#15)
    by Jeralyn on Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 11:03:35 AM EST
    in 2007 as being incompatible with its Constitution-- I wrote about it at the time -- Tom Cruise was interviewed by Der Spiegel and said Scientology's drug rehab program was the "only successful drug rehabilitation program in the world." The magazine was skeptical. So were these people.

    For those who want to read more (none / 0) (#29)
    by SuzieTampa on Sun Jul 01, 2012 at 02:29:28 PM EST
    Here is a link to articles on Scientology from the Tampa Bay Times, which has investigated them off and on because of their hold on Clearwater, FL. Many people are wary of Scientology because of its secretiveness. Just because a religion or philosophy helps certain individuals, such as Travolta, doesn't mean that it can't cause larger harm in the world.

    Parent
    Splitsville cartoon: (none / 0) (#18)
    by oculus on Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 11:39:51 AM EST
    link

    I think... (none / 0) (#23)
    by DebFrmHell on Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 01:13:00 PM EST
    I got deleted but I have no clue as to why.

    Splitsville | 28 comments (28 topical)

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