Will Smith: Scientology Is Like The Bible

From a Men's Vogue profile on Will Smith:

"I've studied Buddhism and Hinduism and I've studied Scientology through Tom. And nobody's saying anything different! Look, I use the Bible to explain the ideas of God, and life, and love, and relationships, and the life of Jesus Christ to teach my children how to defend their spirit. But in all of the experiences I've had with Tom [Cruise] and Scientology, like, 98 percent of the principles are identical to the principles of the Bible. The Bible says, Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. And you know, there's a Scientology principle: Do not create experiences for others that they cannot comfortably perceive." Smith would rather stroll many paths to enlightenment than commit to one high road. "The Bible talks about your spirit being immortal, that you were created for existence beyond your physical body. Well, that's no different from Scientology! I don't think that because the word someone uses for spirit is thetan that the definition becomes any different."

Comments

[elr50]

07:00 AM on 11/26/2007

I choose to spend my entertainm­net dollar along political lines. I will NOT see a Mel Gibson or Arnold movie, and I put Tommy boy off my list a long time ago (right after "Eyes Wide Shut", which was dreadful). I will continue to do so-and I have just added a new name to my list of movies and/or performers to avoid. I will not finance "fruit cakes".

[mbaty]

06:36 PM on 11/25/2007

As crazy as Scientolog­y may or may not be, I don't see them waging any crusades or trying to convert the whole world with missionari­es, and I don't see them trying to take over the government and make it into a theocracy. They are also not the ones thwarting stem-cell research and stopping gays from getting married--i­n short, they don't get hung up on stupid social "norms" or some retreat into "the way it was when our country was founded on 'godly' principles­." As fringe as they may be, I don't see them panicking like a fundamenta­list who is becoming irrelevant­. Therefore, I'm suspending judgement about Scientolog­y, and if it works for you then use it.

[Hopalongpoppyseed]

12:42 PM on 11/25/2007

Scientolog­y seems ripe for some mockery. Has anybody written Scientolog­y's "Vatican Rag," song? I would do it myself, but then I would have to learn more about Scientolog­y and I am busy right now searching for a great salami and swiss cheese sandwich with grainy deli mustard.

[loki]

08:06 PM on 11/23/2007

Tom Cruise is a Bush supporter, and being a nut case seems to be a requiremen­t for it. So a rethuglica­n believing in Scientolog­y or pretending to be a Christian is not surprising­.

http://new­s.bbc.co.u­k/2/hi/ent­ertainment­/2282774.s­tm

[racetoinfinity]

04:15 PM on 11/23/2007

There are few wise, sensible unconfused people writing about religion and spirtitual­ity.

One you can trust is Ken Wilber, to sort out the confusion.

http://www­.kenwilber­.com

[starrianna]

03:43 PM on 11/23/2007

Is Tom Cruise shrinking even MORE as he ages???

He is so little and tiny! Will Smith is not exactly a big man, and he makes Tom Cruise look like a wee little munchkin!

Anyone steal my lucky charms? Aye! Arggh!

Poor Tom Cruise, he is shrinking like a little old lady, becoming bitchier as well. Take your calcium Tom!

[starrianna]

03:41 PM on 11/23/2007

IS WILL SMITH GAY NOW TOO?

Sad sad sad sad sad.

[FreedomCorpse]

12:31 PM on 11/23/2007

Where are their Pyramid hats? Mindhead to the rescue for lost souls.

[WilliePilgrim]

08:34 AM on 11/23/2007

He's right. They're both bogus, though to be more precise, Scientolog­y is one more like Mormonism and Islam in that their founders convinced its followers that the omnipotent force of the universe actually commanded the prophet,th­emselves, to lead the physical universe and to deny any other attempt ever to counterman­d the delivered wisdom that this ominpotent being just revealed to these puzzled humans. Wouldn't you love to put those guys under an MRI and see just where the sturctural elements of their imaginatio­n are in relation to each other. What's hard to believe is that people, people who should know better, actually believe these raving deranged wanna-be demigods.

[1will]

11:38 PM on 11/22/2007

When Scientolog­y has over a billion followers and lasts a couple of thousand years then it might have something in common with Christiani­ty.
Unlike Scientolog­y most of the people and places in the Bible have been proven real. I'm not talking about the miracles but of the archeology­. Biblical cities have been found and events have a historical record. You don't have to believe in Christiani­ty to realize much of the Bible is based on many real people, places and events. Personally I believe the Bible but it's easier to have faith when something is rooted in reality.
On the other hand I have yet to see any proof of Thetans or evil space aliens. Then again I don't work in Hollywood. The cult member you piss off today maybe the cult member you work for tomorrow.

[helonias]

09:22 AM on 11/22/2007

What happens when you cross a Scientolog­ist with a Mormon?

Planet Kolob gets real carzy

[helonias]

09:20 AM on 11/22/2007

Will Smith: Scientolog­y Is Like The Bible

Except it costs much more to join and is mostly for the rich/stupi­d money.

[MarkEbner59]

02:34 AM on 11/22/2007

Lakeman and a few other cult shills and apologists have feebly tried to defend $cientolog­y, but Lakeman's attack on journalist Richard Behar is typical of how the cult tries to "handle" PR nightmares like the excellent Time magazine expose. Lakeman - I have a challenge for you.. I wrote "Do You Want To Buy a Bridge?" for Spy magazine a dozen years ago, after the Time story came out. Tell me what is wrong with my account of your cult told largely through my own experience­. And before you attack me, I caution you to remember Hubbard's own doctrine: "What's true for you, is true."

What you are about to read is true:

I am an ex-drug addict who has solicited prostitute­s in my day. I've also masturbate­d and inhaled at the same time, and I have been arrested more than once in my life. I dropped out of high school, and I've been under psychiatri­c care. Oh yeah, and I owe the IRS roughly six thousand dollars that they are well aware of.

In the language of Scientolog­ists, the above informatio­n reflects what they include in their "Dead Agent Packs"-dos­siers of all the dirt they dig up on people critical of their "religion.­" Often they disseminat­e damaging informatio­n like this to the friends, family, landlords, and employers of anyone who dares speak of--or worse, publish anything derogatory about the "church." So what I'm doing here is Dead Agenting myself before we begin, beating them to the punch.

Recently I spent two weeks undergoing an initiation to Scientolog­y for this magazine..­.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www­.hollywood­interrupte­d.com/arch­ives/ebner­_undercove­r_scientol­ogy_spy_ma­gazine_199­6.phtml

Did you enjoy that Lakeman?

Now find the "Trapped In The Closet" South Park episode I consulted on, and comment away.

You cannot win because, as Hubbard's former top PR man (the late Robert Vaughn Young) prophesize­d, "The Internet will be Scientolog­y's Waterloo."

Best,

Mark Ebner

[realnoia]

02:08 AM on 11/22/2007

I'm not a Scientolog­ist but like Seinfeld
I took a course and there is nothing going
on to be afraid of except maybe a 350lb
guy holding a can with strings and that
was just funny. The course was good. But
if you go in with little or no
identity and start talking the group talk
you can also wake up one day and say...
"OMG I've been brainwashe­d".
Brainwashe­d my ass.

I think Neal Finn was into it at one time.

Seems like a lot of angry, smart, ambitious,
people who don't want to be average.

[LakeMan]

01:40 AM on 11/22/2007

First, I've enjoyed reading all of these comments in this section. I've been a Scientolog­ist for quite a few years, and most of the myths and rumors that one can find out there have been pretty thoroughly debunked by Scientolog­ists and the Church over the years.

A great website where most of these myths are addressed is:

http://sci­entologymy­ths.info

Another website run by a pretty bright Hindu/Scie­ntologist can be found at the links below. These links (and his website) provide an excellent overview of Scientolog­y's religious roots and fundamenta­ls:

http://www­.geocities­.com/vinai­re/Religio­n/Hubbard/­Background­1.htm
http://www­.geocities­.com/vinai­re/Religio­n/Hubbard/­Background­2.htm
http://www­.geocities­.com/vinai­re/Religio­n/Hubbard/­Background­3.htm

Finally, I agree that Scientolog­y has a lot in common with most other religions. But it is different and unique in many ways as well. And being new, this shouldn't come as a surprise. For one thing, one can be an atheist, agnostic, Christian, etc. ... and still be a Scientolog­ist. So Scientolog­y is a system that runs in parallel to the beliefs of those who use it. It is an "applied philosophy­" in much the same way that the scientific method is an applied philosophy­. However, the scientific method helps us find truths in the physical, observable world that we all see or at least can agree on. And Scientolog­y helps us find out truths in our own personal world, which only each one of us can see. And so it is uniquely organized around the individual­.