CSI and the Wrath of Cruise, part 2

Scientology began their efforts on recruiting young celebrities in the 1960’s. The idea came from the top that if they had famous people as members, they would draw in interest from everyday people. Specifically in the 60’s, most well known celebrities “tried out” various religions, i.e. Transcendental Meditation for the Beatles, Magik for Led Zeppelin.

While they might not have stayed as long as the religious leaders would have like them to, they did bring a cache to various movements. L. Ron Hubbard believed that their religion would draw in the rich and the famous because of its tenets and practices. Hubbard and the executive members of the church became obsessed with obtaining celebrity members. Down to the nitty gritty of CSI, the core “belief” is to improve your status on this earth, you need to improve yourself. After spending about $867,045 on your various classes and audits to get yourself to the point of “clear”, Scientologists believe that once they achieve that level they will be able to control time, matter and space. So basically, this would make the highest ranking members, those who have obtained the highest OT Levels, as present day gods. Now they believe if you are able to rid yourself of your body thetans, or the aliens who came back to the earth to inhabit humans and lower their success rates for a positive life, you have obtained the highest levels and therefore can control the things around you. Anything that I have not covered in this introduction to the Wrath of Cruise about Scientology can be easily found here and here and here.One could easily see why this religion would be quite attractive to a narcissistic character, which most famous celebs and actors are. (Forgive the generalization!)

While the religious “fad” began to all but stop in Hollywood in the 1970’s, Scientology still knew they needed famous followers to promote “their brand”. I am not one hundred percent sure of the reason they first targeted John Travolta for a coveted space in the church, but after receiving audits on a movie set, he was hooked. Insiders say that he turned to the religion to “clean himself” of his homosexuality and increase his presence in Hollywood. He became a poster boy for religion in the early 80’s, at the peak of his career. While many other celebs are members, Travolta was a golden child who cited Scientology has the helping force which led to his success and stardom. But differently then Cruise's relationship with the church and before Micavige's revamping the "branding", most members were quiet about their involvement, only citing the books and techniques as tools as to remove stress and negative effects on their daily lives.

After his marriage to Kelly Preston, who is also a member of the church, and his obtaining the highest level within CSI, Travolta’s career began to fail. His movie roles were weak and the public’s interest in him continued to diminish. His private life was also an issue for him, with the various inside talk about his secret affairs and “boy toys”. Some have said that since the church was not able to fully “cure” him of his homosexuality, they merely helped him keep it under wraps to prevent scandal for both him and CSI. The only problem with this is that while you are getting audited, which is the removal of negative aliens and previous experiences who diminish your capacity to succeed, you end up coping to a lot of shit you might not say otherwise, quite similar to a visit to the psychiatrist, except these recordings are taped and cataloged. Travolta knew that there is no way to leave the church, since the damning evidence they have on him is so strong, so he maintained his position and continued with his practices. While this was occurring, David Miscavige was using his new position as Chairman or leader of the Church of Scientology, to promote it in a different way.
Miscavige, who was once an aid to Hubbard as a teenager, wanted to present the religion with a new focus to the masses. The church would go through various issues in the mid 1980's, including the purchasing of the majority of the downtown area of Clearwater, FL and vast exeposure they were actually seeking now to increase membership. In order to do this, there would have to be a new poster boy and a different image. What is awfully ironic is that when they decided upon Cruise, no one was aware of how much notoriety would be brought to the religion with his association, nor the effect he himself would have on the church.

TO BE CONTINUED
Part 1 of CSI and the Wrath of Cruise

In the meantime, read Radar's coverage with CSI expert Rick Ross.
Check out videos of Cruise and his Scientology rants! courtesy of Oh No They Didn't
Ian Halperin's Cruise/Scientology story courtesy of
Jossip
& Gawker's endless coverage