Scientology certainly seems to be manipulative but most fundamentalist religious/cultlike sects are. I was raised Catholic and I am very sketchy on all of the religious dogma that’s part of my faith. If someone were to assume that I did every single thing that Catholics are supposed to do they’d be very mistaken.
Even among the most devoted adherents there’s often places where dogma and behavior don’t match. Unless Travolta has made declarative statements about the absolute correctness of Scientology on all fronts I think it’s an error to jump to the conclusion that he failed to provide adequate medical care for his son. That may well be the case, but I think folks can put out the torches for now and simply have sympathy for a family suffering an unimaginable loss.
(I don’t particularly rate Travolta as an actor either, but I do feel sorry for what he and his family are experiencing.)
I don’t think anyone here is saying, “Yup. Another death caused by Scientology.” but they’re all wondering if it didn’t play a factor in it. And being raised in a religion is different than converting to one (as Travolta did), because converts tend to be a little more devout than most folks raised in a religion. Scientology also can exert more power on its adherents than the Catholic Church can. After all, if you have a problem with a member of the Church and decide to take the matter up in court, rather than discussing it with the priest first, the Catholic Church won’t come after you. If you’re a Scientologist and you decide to take a fellow Scientologist to court (rather than using the internal Scientologist courts), the Scientologists will come after you.
Didn’t realize they had a home in Florida. They must, if they are going to bury their only son there.
I’m sure the news will be swarming over this story for weeks to come.
Yes, that’s the one. It’s in an “airport community” where people who own their own airplanes live. Mr. Travolta keeps several there, including his big Boeing.
My 14yo niece, diagnosed within the last year with a seizure disorder, is under strict orders from her doctor to not be alone in the bathroom until they get the seizures under control- any time she’s in the bathroom, someone has to either be in there with her or just outside the door (mortifying for an otherwise “normal” 14yo). She has a time limit for showers (and showers only- no baths) and has to sing along with the radio the whole time she’s in there. I can see why there would be a chime on the bathroom door, just to let a nanny/parent know that Jett was going in or out, but a baby monitor at all times? I would think that points to either a seizure d/o not anywhere near under control, or some other health problem.
What the hell is up with the Bahamas? The recent spate of celebs/pseudo-celebs dying there is going to turn it into a bad idea for a vacation.
Someone on CNN just mentioned “was he being neglected” and why didn’t anyone notice he didn’t come out of the bathroom.
Uh… when I was SIXTEEN YEARS OLD, I was quite capable of going into the bathroom alone. Also, if you’ve ever lived in the house with a teenage boy, long trips to the bathroom aren’t that unusual. Plus, I don’t always tend to notice when somebody goes into or comes out of a bathroom.
Anyway, there’s nobody I’d wish this on. When Saddam Hussein’s sons were killed I actually had a nanosecond of sympathy for their parents. Poor family.
Look – Scientology may be the root of many evils, but what happened here’s a tragedy or a very human, very real family.
I work with “celebrities”, day in, day out. Like 'em, love 'em, hate 'em… they have their quirks, they deal with their celebrity as best they can, really. Some better than others. Travolta is generally well liked. He is a family man, as far as I know. I can’t help but think this is a huge blow to someone.
It’s not our place, really, to pass any judgment. Face it, we know squat. Our horses are mightily high, though.
All I know is that I’m terribly sorry for the family. Losing a kid has got to be one of the hardest things to live through. Having to grieve publicly, and with people judging your every move along the way, has got to make it about a thousand-fold harder.
Also when Bill Cosby’s son died – in a routine carjacking that never would have made even the local paper’s front page if he were not Bill Cosby’s son.
That’s right up the road from me. Broomstick, you wouldn’t happen to know which one, do you, with your background in aviation?
It seems like his parents did everything they could to make him safe. I find it interesting, for a 16-year-old boy, that they still needed a baby monitor and a door chime on the bathroom door. But if that’s what they needed to do, that’s what they needed to do. Also, keep in mind, from what I understand, the family had five suites in this hotel. I would imagine it’s quite easy to lose track of one of your children for a few minutes in a space that big.
What a horrible horrible tragedy and I wouldn’t wish their pain on anyone.
Even if Travolta wasn’t a Scientologist, there’d be questions about the death simply because he was a celebrity. The stereotype of someone who is a celebrity is that they often have “whacky” beliefs, like Suzanne Sommers rejection of conventional treatment for breast cancer, Shirley MacClaine’s reincarnation mantra, Madonna’s conversion to Kabbalah, Michael Jackson’s collection of nuttiness, and even things like giving your child an unusual name or Angelina Jolie’s adoption of kids from other countries. All of these things give people the impression that celebs are a bit “off.” So when something bad happens to one of them, the first thing that pops into people’s minds is, “I wonder if they were a ‘normal’ person, if this would have happened to them.”
I haven’t met the Travoltas or know of anyone who has, and to John’s credit, he’s not been out there jumping on couches or insulting people who take anti-depressants, but when you’re a celeb, you’re going to have to endure the crazy shit that comes with being a celeb.
Mind you, asking if Scientology had anything to do with Jett’s death on an obscure message board located on some backwater section of the internet is nowhere near as bad as the photographers who swarm around celebs every time they step outside their front door, or having someone like Charles Grodin or Nancy Grace turn their entire TV program into, “I know the SOB did it, and I’m going to use my show as a bully pulpit to hound them about it for as long as I’m on the air.” That is deplorable and petty, since it directly affects said celebrity and their family. What we do here is meaningless since they will never know about it, and its unlikely that their family will, either. (Lord knows we’ve said enough nasty things here about sue happy Tom Cruise, that if this board was on Scientology’s radar there would have been lawsuits aplenty.)
I don’t think anyone here, no matter how much they might hate Scientology, would want the death of a child to be the result of someone’s following Scientology. However, being a Scientologist (and/or a celebrity) means that when something bad happens to you (and losing a kid certainly qualifies) people are going to ask questions like, “Did his beliefs have anything to do with this?”
Nor do I think we’d limit it to celebrities, either. If I’m ever seriously mangled or killed in a car wreck, someone here is going to make a comment like, “I bet if you were in a Tucker that wouldn’t have happened!” or “Aren’t you glad you weren’t riding in a Tucker, since the airbag saved your life!” I’ll no doubt find such comments funny, provided that the person making them doesn’t follow me around (assuming I’m still alive) and stick that comment in every thread I participate in.
Sorry, not in the habit of giving out other peoples’ locations or information about their personal property on the internet even if some of it probably could be found with a little work on Google. A good friend of mine happens to be one of Mr. Travolta’s flight instructors so yes, I know a little bit about his flying life and such but I’m not inclined to share more than I already do. Ditto for some other aviators that are commonly known. There’s aren’t that many pilots in the US, after all, most of us are only one or two people removed from the others.
That said - Mr. Travolta does have a reputation among pilots at least as being a genuinely nice and decent human being, and pretty sensible. I don’t see where his scientology beliefs would interfere with him seeking appropriate treatment for his son’s seizure disorder. As for whether the kid has autism or not - all too many people are willing to diagnose from a distance. Yes, the kid had problems. What, exactly, they were I don’t know. I don’t think anyone else here does either. There are a lot of things that can cause learning or developmental issues, with difference causes and different potentials for treatment. I have no idea what, if any, official stance scientologists have on autism and even if there is one there’s no guarantee the Travoltas adhered to it. John Travolta is not Tom Cruise, please do not just one man by another man’s brand of whacky.
Technically, autism is a developmental spectrum disorder, not a mental illness; however, it is often mistakenly referred to as one, which causes a lot more prejudice against the syndrome than, say, epilepsy.
To correct what Mama Zappa said, autism by itself does not cause seizures – however, the syndrome is often co-morbid with a seizure disorder. (And “partially autistic” probably refers to Asperger’s Syndrome, which in 1979 would not have been known yet.) What’s troubling is that Jett wasn’t publicly diagnosed with anything except “Kawasaki Syndrome”, which does not cause seizures (and typically affects younger children, not teenagers) and the only treatment he’s received is Scientology’s patented “purification rundown.”
I fail to see why Jett Travolta’s diagnosis should be public at all. It’s no one’s business but his and his family. Whatever his medical condition he is as entitled to privacy as anyone else in this nation, and legally that shouldn’t be given out by anyone but his parents, himself, or someone like a lawyer deputized to do that. I don’t consider the media to be a reliable authority on these matters.
If any disabled child is being mistreated or neglected due to religious matters, it should be made public. The Travoltas have already publicized their devotion to Scientology, plus they’ve described what they believe was wrong with their son (KS) and promoted Scientology’s non-medical treatments. These public statements should be closely scrutinized, not buried in the ground – if not for Jett’s sake, for the sake of all children who are being medically mistreated by religiously delusional parents.
That’s fine. I wasn’t asking for his street address, just if you knew the name of the community. And even if I were so inclined to drive up there and try to pay my respects, I doubt I’d get past what must be a most formidable security system.
