Tom Cruise and Scientology

Tom Cruise is one of Scientology's most famous celebrities. Scientology actively recruits celebrities to promote Scientology to the public at large. He's recently gotten engaged to Katie Holmes<, who started studying Scientology shortly after meeting Cruise.

Tom Cruise - Involvement in Scientology<

When did Tom Cruise join Scientology?

Cruise joined Scientology in the late 1980s. (Sources cited in the Scientology Celebrities FAQ< show him stating various years.)

What level has he reached in Scientology?

According to International Scientology News Issue 29, published in late 2004, Cruise has completed OT VI and begun OT VII.

According to a report posted to the alt.religion.scientology newsgroup<, Cruise attested to OT V in 2002<.

Has Cruise received any special recognition in Scientology?

According to International Scientology News Issue 29, published in late 2004, Cruise received the Freedom Medal of Valor from the International Association of Scientologists - the first such medal ever awarded. (The International Association of Scientologists awards Freedom Medals to prominent Scientology members each year, but this was the first Freedom Medal of Valor.) In the magazine's coverage of the award, Cruise's accomplishments on behalf of Scientology are described:

 

"From spearheading LRH Purification tech into the heart of human disaster, to changing the face of education at national levels, from eradicating the very thought of psychiatry<, to full global dissemination, it is factually a tale of towering scope, and a litany of accomplishments which would take a magazine in itself to catalog."


The feature then states that millions of people learn about Scientology, Scientology study tech, and the evils of psychiatry from Cruise, and claims that "every minute, of every hour - someone reaches for LRH technology [that is, expresses an interest in Scientology] ... simply because they know Tom Cruise is a Scientologist."

Unlike some other Scientology celebrities, his name does not appear in any of the hundreds of Scientology completion lists< I've acquired, and he has never been on the cover of Celebrity magazine<, which is highly unusual for a Scientology celebrity of his stature. He does appear in a single Scientology completion list under his real name, Tom Mapother, in Celebrity 228<, showing him having completed the Student Hat, along with his cousin, William Mapother.

Cruise Goes Public with Scientology<

When did Tom Cruise start talking more about Scientology?

In 2004, Cruise broke with his long-time publicist, the powerful Pat Kingsley, and hired his sister, Scientologist Lee Anne DeVette, to be his new publicist. According to Scientology's published completion lists<, DeVette has completed OT V<, as well as the Scientology Ethics Specialist Course< (which includes the "technology of investigations" and "how to investigate and locate sources of suppression standing in the way of achieving one's objectives").

Since then, he has talked much more extensively about Scientology in interviews and public appearances. He drew criticism from the International Dyslexia Association< for claiming that Scientology cured his dyslexia. When he publicly criticized Brooke Shields' use of medication to treat her depression (reflecting Scientology's fierce opposition to all psychiatric treatment<), she responded<, "His comments are dangerous. He should stick to saving the world from aliens<" - possibly a reference to a Scientology teaching revealed at OT III and above that our problems are caused by mental implants we received from space aliens< trillions of years ago.

More Information about Scientology and Tom Cruise:

Scientology Services Completed by Tom Cruise< (under the name Tom Mapother)

Tom Cruise and Scientology< at Google News

Tom Cruise and Scientology<

Cruise Launches War on Psychiatrists<

Catch a Rising Star< ( Premiere)

Scientologywood: Scientology and Celebrities<