Scientology: Celebrity Edition

When one thinks Scientology, certain celebrities may come to mind. Among the most well-known Scientologists are Tom Cruise and John Travolta. What may surprise you is that the list is much longer than that. Maybe you've seen a Scientologist on TV just today; in a weight loss commercial, well-known cartoon, or even a teenage sitcom. Check out the list of Scientologist celebrities here for more information.

When so many celebrities are Scientologists, it's not uncommon for the religion to be seen as a fad, a trendy religious practice like Wicca, Kabbalah, or wearing purity rings. How can such a trend be bad? The celebrities make Scientology look good, which is the whole reason why they're recruited in the first place. Celebrity members of the organization aren't treated the same way other members are. There's a special Celebrity Center in Los Angeles; the celebrities are given benefits so that they'll speak well of it, which will attract the interest of their fans. Then again, the death of John Travolta's son and Tom Cruise's crazy public rants against psychiatry have raised questions about the church's practices.

In 1955, Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard announced his "Project Celebrity," an initiative to recruit celebrities to Scientology. The plan was to essentially use those celebrities to promote the religion almost the same way companies use celebrities as spokespeople to advertise their products. After all, Hubbard did remark that starting a religion a good way to make a profit. Among the celebrities Hubbard wanted recruited were Ed Sullivan, Vincent Price, Bob Hope, Liberache, and Walt Disney. Whether any of them were even interested is not known. Elvis Presley at one point went to check out Scientology's Celebrity Center, then came out and said "F - - - those people! There's no way I'll ever get involved with that son-of-a-bitchin' group. All they want is my money." Elvis was only half right; they did want his money (they always want money), but they also wanted him as publicity tool.

Still, it would be nice if modern-day celebrities would echo Elvis's opinion of the church. The only time you hear a celebrity talk about Scientology is when they're either supporting it or making fun of it. Unfortunately, celebrities these days do shape public perception, thus they make Scientology seem like a legitimate religion, or a joke depending on who you're listening to. If a celebrity speaks about the true evils of Scientology, maybe then the public would listen. It is not reasonable to expect someone with a high profile to do such a thing, however, because that person could fall victim to Scientology's Fair Game policy.