-
Jan 17, 2008 10:31 am US/Pacific
-
Digg |
Facebook |
E-mail
|
Print
Figuring Out Tom Cruise Scientology Video
Making Rounds On Web; Expert Explains The Jargon, Meaning, And Aims
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
The Internet is buzzing with a video that shows a behind-the-scenes
interview of Tom Cruise discussing The Church of Scientology.
But the inside look has left many people wondering about the religion.
The video can be found on Gawker and YouTube, and is the center of a legal battle between Scientology and Gawker.
The video is a "Tom-Cruise-in-his-own-words"-type presentation that
was played at a Scientology awards dinner as a preamble to Cruise
winning an award several years ago.
Mark Oppenheimer, who's researched and written about Scientology
for The New York Times and other publications, analyzed the video on
The Early Show Thursday.
To see photos from Cruise's career, click here.Oppenheimer,
author of "Knocking on Heaven's Door: American Religion in the Age of
Counterculture," clarified what Cruise was saying, and what he meant by
many of the terms he used. Oppenheimer also shed light on several
aspects of Scientology.
Among the points Cruise made:
"Orgs are there to help but we as the public, we have a
responsibility, it's not just orgs, it's not just David Miscavige, not
just me -- it's you, it's everyone out there that's rereading KSW and
looking at what needs to be done and saying, 'OK, am I gonna do it or
am I not gonna do it?!' "
"I just go through that tech and it's just literally -- it's not
how to run from an SP, it's PTSSP -- it's how to confront, shatter
suppression, you apply it and it's like boom!
"You know we have more work, I need more help; you gotta get those
spectators either in the playing field or out of the arena. Really,
that's how I feel about it."
"We are the authorities on getting people off drugs, we are the
authorities on the mind, the authority on improving conditions.
Criminom -- we can rehabilitate criminals, we are the way to happiness,
we bring peace and unite cultures."
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)