A matter of faith

It seems Tom Cruise is still going crazy, or is just further along than we thought he was a few years ago.\nMany of you have probably already seen the video, prepared for a private Scientology award ceremony, in which Tom Cruise rants about Orgs, SPs and other nonsensical phrases. Most telling, Cruise claims he is proud to be a Scientologist because, when it comes to problems like car accidents, “you know you’re the only one that can really help.” Thank you, Mr. Cruise, for being so modest.\nAll of this comes on top of Will Smith’s possible conversion to Scientology and Jerry Seinfeld’s recent admission that he dabbled in the faith. Sometimes I wish Scientology would stop ruining my movies and TV shows. But the actions of a recent anti-Scientology organization, known only as Anonymous, seem a bit extreme to me. \nAnonymous is really just a group of Internet activists that have organized a Web site, known as “Project Chanology,” which can be edited Wikipedia-style. By using this Web site and its chatrooms, these activists spread the “truth” about Scientology without becoming easy targets of the faith’s often overzealous lawyers. \nIt might sound innocent so far, but the group also engages in cyber warfare against Scientology using bogus requests for data to crash the Church’s servers. Most significantly, the group also launched major protests outside many Scientology offices worldwide on Sunday. \nProtestors handed out pamphlets that highlighted many admittedly questionable practices by the Church. One should certainly be skeptical of any religion that will point out problems you have for free, but charge you money for their solutions.\nI have often seen Scientology as nothing but a business, and I still laugh when I see the infamous “South Park” episode in which Scientology, along with Cruise’s sexuality, are deeply ridiculed. Still, some attacks on Scientology make me uncomfortable. Certainly the fact that Germany has banned Scientology seems extreme. Should Tom Cruise really not be allowed to shoot scenes from his upcoming WWII film “Valkyrie” because of his personal beliefs?\nI am not sure Scientology deserves its U.S. tax exemption status, especially because of the way in which it sells its copyrighted doctrine, but as a faith it probably deserves a certain amount of respect. While I hate to invoke the slippery slope argument, I think it must be acknowledged that drawing a line in terms of which faiths are rational enough and which aren’t is tricky business. \nThese days, it seems like pluralism is the only way to go in terms of religious beliefs. Any supposed exceptions to religious tolerance should be viewed with apprehension. \nThe Church of Scientology might very well do some unethical things, and if that’s the case, it should be slammed for them. Yet, as unconventional as Scientology might seem to be, we should learn to accept that many people are going to continue to believe in it.\nThose people deserve as much respect as those of any other faith.