Scientology is a religion, described as such by its own doing and its disciples. Its foundation dates back to the 1950s, when L. Ron Hubbard founded it. Core principles of the faith postulate that every human being has a mind that is reactive and consequently responsive to traumas of life. The reactive mind curbs the ability of the analytic mind that humans possess. As a result, humans are prevented from experiencing reality as they should. Believers of the religion go through a process of auditing which aims at finding the origins of the trauma. Members relive experiences so that they can neutralize them and re-establish the importance of the analytical mind. By this method of reasserting logical reasoning, believers work towards a spiritual condition, referred to as the “clear.”

Image source

Popularity among celebrities

The religion is popular in Los Angeles and is associated with many a Hollywood celebrity. Tom Cruise has always been in the news in connection with his ties to the faith. He destined to join the faith as L. Ron Hubbard, its founder, had a key role to play in getting over dyslexia that Tom Cruise had as a child. Cruise’s father was also involved in the religion from early times. Besides celebrities, Scientology is gaining popularity with a lot of people from all walks of life. The critics who shun it in the media and otherwise, tend to have misunderstood its basic tenets. Most people who believe in the religion, like Cruise, claim that they can change and control the material world by the strength of their minds.

What Cruise believes

The first Church of Scientology opened its doors in Los Angeles, USA, in 1954. It is now run and led by David Miscavige. Tom Cruise is close to Miscavige and doesn’t hide this fact. Cruise has often told media that the religion of Scientology has helped him to do things in a better way in his life. He reveals that Scientology has helped him to improve as a person and live a better life as an outcome of his undying faith.

Image source

The journey

Tom Cruise has reached the pinnacle of success as a Hollywood star. He is, in a way, an icon in Tinseltown. He is also a popular Scientologist and has reached the higher echelons of the sect that has new believers joining as we speak. The actor promotes the religion with gusto and is very involved in its development. With all his achievements, there can be no doubt that he owes them, in a large part, to his devotion to Scientology. In the 1990s, when he was a rising star, he began his lifelong journey with the Church of Scientology.

A firmly acknowledged fact in Scientology and Hollywood circles suggests that his first wife, Mimi Rogers, introduced him to the religion. He soon started attending meetings and felt that the doctrines of the faith made a lot of logical sense to him. He is known to be a committed individual by many in Hollywood and outside film circles. It is no wonder, then, that once he embraced the faith, he found a great deal of self-fulfillment and continued to stick with it. It is rumored that Cruise’s two marriages, after he got a divorce from Mimi Rogers, have failed because of Scientology. Yet, despite losing custody of his only biological child, Suri, with ex-wife and actor Katie Holmes, Cruise is still heavily into the faith.

Cruise’s family members, namely his father, and his sister, Lee Anne Devette, have been well established members of the religion as well. They have strongly influenced Cruise in his early days. Cruise also owes a debt of gratitude to the founder of Scientology for being instrumental in his overcoming of Dyslexia. The actor is very close to the leader of the faith, David Miscavige. All these factors seem to be rock solid reasons why he has latched on to the religion, while many others have left. Scientology seems to benefit Cruise on a personal level, and he has admitted that on many shows and in interviews as well.

Tom Cruise rarely comments on his involvement in the religion nowadays, as he has been steeped in controversy regarding his bond with it. Almost all the news is based on rumors and tabloid press. Nonetheless, he does make the rare comment now and again. He spoke to The Guardian in 2016, stating that the religion had helped him “incredibly” in his life. He admitted to being a Scientologist for over 30 years. The actor also believes that he wouldn’t be in the place he is today without being a faithful devotee of Scientology. In 2003, Cruise told People Magazine that the teachings of the faith have been the paramount reason for his success as an actor. He also credits Scientology with being able to take on new challenges in his life, such as race car driving and flying a jet.

When the media and people outside the faith criticize it for reports of abuse in the Church of Scientology, the actor is the first to defend his faith. He has been reprimanded by media for not talking enough about the faith and his actual involvement. Cruise responds by claiming that this is part of his personal life and his decision to have the freedom to believe in what he wants.