The title is the question: why are so many celebrities, especially movie stars, Scientologists?
Because it doesn’t require a brain to be a movie star. All it requires is a desperate, pathetic ego. They also have lots of disposable income. Viola! A Scientology candidate.
Scientology is a rather recently invented religion that combines pop psychology with some odd science fiction legend at the higher levels. It is marketed to people with money and it can cost a great deal of money as you progress from one step to the next. Celebrities get special treatment because they are good for Scientology marketing and they have the extra cash to give to the church. Traditional religions are not supposed to give preferential treatment based on celebrity status. Scientology is a social club as well so it serves a dual purpose.
Some people have a need for religion yet don’t want to be apart from the restrictions imposed by the traditional ones. This combination of features makes Scientology appealing to some celebrities although most members are not celebrities.
“So many”? I thought there were maybe two.
Of course, I avoid celebrity culture like I avoid debt, so I wouldn’t know the details.
There’s an acting school, the Beverley Hills Playhouse, run by a guy called Milton Katselas, who’s a Scientologist … it might be stretching a bit to call the place a recruiting front for Scientology, but it certainly serves as a point of contact between Hollywood hopefuls and the cult. So that might be part of the reason, at least.
***Keep in mind that I am not advocating Scientology in any way and I think it is still quite kooky. However, there is a very popular afternoon talk show in the Boston area (Toucher and Rich - WBCN - 104.1 - 3 - 7 pm weekdays) whose popularity is attributed to promoting crazies in a fun but not but not completely mocking style.
They set out to explore Scientology honestly over a few months. They didn’t even tape anything but just took notes. Looking at it piece by piece, it didn’t even sound that nutty compared to traditional religions, multi-level marketing schemes, or any other thing that lots of people fall for. It is basically just a bunch of white people with money that are looking for motivational structure outside of traditional religion and based around pop psychology. I almost feel sorry for Scientologists now.
Scientology thrives on money but other religions do to. Jewish synagogues for example charge a hefty flat fee of thousands of dollars a year for joining and Christian churches often encourage tithing which is up to 10% of gross income even for the poorest members. It seems easy to see why some celebrities and lots of others would want to join such a thing. It is also a social club like the Masons and even my own Episcopal church has been accused of being an elitist religious organization.
I almost feel sorry for them now for being singled out in so many ways. Who would have thought it?
That link leads you to the quote:
*The Church often quotes L. Ron Hubbard as saying that A culture is only as great as its dreams and its dreams are dreamed by artists, *
as an explaination of why they established the Celebrity Centre in Hollywood in 1969.
It goes on to say:
…since at least 1955 L. Ron Hubbard created “Project Celebrity”, offering rewards to Scientologists who recruited targeted celebrities.
Because a state of celebrity doesn’t necessarily foster basic intelligence, honesty, or reasoning skills.
Violin! Cello!
I just went through that list of “famous Scientologists”. Many names were unknown to me. Even if they are all famous (including that one chiropracter), they make up a small sliver of America’s famous people. A better question might be, "If Scientology is the key to success, and all that, why are so few successful people Scientologists?
Wow, Bart Simpson is a Scientologist.
Looks like you can add Will Smith to that list.
Either they’re Scientologists, the thing was sponsored by Scientology and they were sucked in by the PR machine, they were threatened, or they’re the laziest “explorers” ever, because even the most casual delve on the web will reveal that Scientology, while certainly having nutty and laughable beliefs, is also a cult that’s ruthless and dangerous, especially to their own members (look up Lisa McPherson , something these guys obviously didn’t do). The organization lies, cheats, steals and kills. Plenty of evidence is on the web. They’ve toned down themselves in the past few years hoping people will forget, but some of us will never forget. No way did those two jokers even scratch the surface of what Scientology is REALLY all about.
They deserve it.
The only Scientologists I feel sorry for are the ones born into it. They don’t stand a chance, brainwashed from day one.
As far as the OP, celebrities bring in publicity, money, and the celebrity’s fans. In general, the celebrities themselves don’t know about the nasty, seedy underbelly of the cult because they’re treated like royalty. Some do, like Cruise and Travolta, but don’t care. They’re in too deep and are lost causes.
I heard a story that John Travolta cannot leave $cientology, because of his self-confessed homosexuality. In his auditing sessions, his handlers got a complete run down about John’s sexual history. Were he to try to leave, all of this would be made public.
If true, $cientology is not that friendly a group!
Which begs the question: Why would one care if John Travolta is a homosexual?
I’d go so far as to say celebrity selects against brains.
Well, neither does being an anonymous poster on an Internet message board, but I don’t see a lot of Scientologists around here.
The question has been answered, more or less factually; it’s because Scientology has deliberately targeted celebrities for recruitment. If they had speciically targeted machinists or nurses or schoolteachers, they would be disproportionately repreented among those groups.
Let me know when they get to the level of insanity, anguish, death and destruction wrought by the Catholic church. They’ve got a long way to go.
To be fair, the Church had a 1600-year head start.
That story has been around for ages. Obviously it’s conjecture, but I believe it. He did leave once, saying he was unhappy with them. He went back and no one knows (for sure) why. The theory is that his audit folder was pulled and the juicy bits read back to him, and wouldn’t it be a shame if a young, up and coming heartthrob was outed? True, few people would care today, but back then, in the 70’s, it could have ruined his career. Much the same thing happened with Tom Cruise. Or so I hear.
Absolutely! God, I bet Hubbard envied the Catholic church. But just because Scientology isn’t “as bad” doesn’t make them any less slimy and dangerous (as I said, to its own members mainly, not the general public). Part of their doctrine says that if you leave Scientology you’ll die. The stories of Scientologists’ committing suicide are pretty disturbing.
Delusion is what they’re all about anyway. Forget Xenu and body thetans, Hubbard wanted to rule the world, and some Scientologists still believe it can be done. That’s a massive delusion, especially thanks to the Internet, and, ha, South Park, but they still take this shit seriously. Every word Hubbard said is law, including Fair Game. Just read about Disconnection at Ex-Scientology Kids. It’s sobering. Hubbard wrote this stuff and what he says goes.
No, they haven’t killed a tiny fraction of people compared to Christianity or Catholics, but they’re creepy as all get out.