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Contributors
Cliff Kincaid- Contributor
Cliff Kincaid, serves as editor of the Accuracy
in Media (AIM)
Report. A veteran journalist and media critic, Cliff has
appeared on the Fox News programs Hannity & Colmes and
The O'Reilly Factor, where he debated O'Reilly on global
warming, the death penalty,
and the homosexual agenda. He was a guest co-host on CNN's Crossfire
(filling in for Pat Buchanan) in the 1980s, where he confronted
the then-Libyan Ambassador to the U.N. with evidence of Libyan
involvement in international terrorism. Through his America's
Survival, Inc., organization (www.usasurvival.org), he has been
an advocate on behalf of the families of victims of terrorism
and has published reports and held conferences critical of the
United Nations. His articles have appeared in the Washington
Post, Washington Times, Chronicles, Human Events, Insight, and
other publications. He served on the staff of Human Events for
several years and was an editorial writer and newsletter editor
for former National Security Council staffer Oliver North at
his Freedom Alliance educational foundation. He has written or
co-authored nine books on media and cultural affairs and foreign
policy issues. Cliff is married and has three sons.[go to
Kincaid index]
 The
Press And Scientology
Religion Hollywood style…
[Cliff Kincaid] 6/24/05
Actress Katie Holmes, who was raised a Catholic, has announced
that she is excited about taking lessons in Scientology, a New
Age religion started by the late science fiction writer L. Ron
Hubbard. Her new boyfriend and future husband, box-office megastar
Tom Cruise, 42, is a Scientologist and has become very vocal
in the media about it. A flurry of stories has appeared about
Holmes, 26, converting to Scientology.
But the Los
Angeles Times noted a bit of hypocrisy in the reaction of Hollywood
to this development: “Although Hollywood reacted
in panic last year to Mel Gibson’s evangelical zeal tied
to the release of ‘The Passion of the Christ,’ it
has generally responded to Cruise’s Scientology fervor
with determinedly closed-lipped tolerance.”
It’s
much more than tolerance. Converting to Scientology is considered
fashionable.
But if Mel Gibson were dating a young
lady and it was announced that she was leaving her established
religion or church to convert to his brand of conservative Catholicism,
you could anticipate a wave of revulsion and horror.
The difference between Scientology and Catholicism is immense.
For years, Scientology fought a battle with the IRS because the
government would not recognize its claim to be a religion. The
IRS finally granted Scientology its desired status under President
Bill Clinton, the recipient of massive donations from the Hollywood
glitterati.
If you go
to the group’s website, under the “What
is Scientology?” category, you won’t find a reference
to Scientologists believing in God. Instead, you read such things
as “The aims of Scientology are a world without insanity,
without criminals, without war, where the able can prosper and
where Man is free to rise to greater heights.”
The RedEye,
a paper which targets youth and young adults and which is owned
by
the Tribune Company, has declared Scientology
the “it” religion. The upbeat piece, published because
of the interest in the Holmes-Cruise relationship, was also carried
by other Tribune papers, including Newsday. The article said
that with her newfound enthusiasm over Scientology, Holmes enters
a crowded circle of Hollywood A-listers. Among the positive aspects
of Scientology, the article noted, “Members are encouraged
to find the things in their life (or past lives) that cause pain
or trouble and clear them away. Once all those bad experiences
are gone, the person achieves a desired spiritual state, called ‘clear.’” Sources
were quoted as saying that the religion is “chic” and
a “haven” that helps people deal with the pressures
of their lives. The article did note that the religion had generated
controversy in the past, but only mentioned the taking in of
large sums of money.
An accompanying
link “Who digs Scientology,” took
readers to photos of celebrities like John Travolta and Kirstie
Alley.
John Travolta
and his wife, Kelly Preston, are Scientologists, and she has
been
on conservative Sean Hannity’s radio show
several times to argue against the use of psychiatric drugs on
children. She was said to be representing a group called FightForKids.com
Some of Hannity’s followers objected, asking, “Why
is Sean promoting Scientology?” The FightForKids.com website
is affiliated with the Citizens Commission on Human Rights International,
a group established by the Church of Scientology.
The announcement of Holmes embracing Scientology has been the
subject of many stories, which fail to note that some journalists
who have examined the religion critically have been strongly
attacked and sometimes sued.
Richard Behar’s May 6, 1991 Time magazine cover story “Scientology:
The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power,” charged that “Scientology
poses as a religion but really is a global scam…In reality
the church is a hugely profitable global racket that survives
by intimidating members and critics in a Mafia-like manner.”
Scientology
sued Time and Behar for libel. But the lawsuit was thrown out
of court.
Behar said he had ten attorneys and six
private detectives on his trail as he wrote the story. He said
private investigators began contacting his acquaintances to inquire
about his “health” and whether he had had trouble
with the IRS.
Robert Welkos
co-authored a series of articles on Scientology for the Los
Angeles Times in 1990. Shortly before it appeared,
he reported that “A deliveryman arrived at my house and
propped a large manila envelope against my front door. It was
from a mortuary, and inside was a brochure extolling the benefits
of arranging your funeral before you die.” But he found
the mortuary had not sent the material.
The Times continues to examine Scientology critically. A story by Rachel
Abramowitz
and Chris Lee about the Tom Cruise-Katie
Holmes relationship noted that critics call Scientology a cult
that uses mind-control techniques. The Times also noted the up-tick
in Cruise promoting Scientology as well as the servile press
reaction. When journalists recently set out to interview Cruise
they were invited to long tours through different Scientology
centers. The paper noted that “Access Hollywood” gave
the actor a “hefty chunk of time to enthuse about his religion
and spout off about a Scientology bête noire, the evils
of psychiatry.”
“I think it’s weird that (journalists) put up with
it,” Martin Kaplan, associate dean of the University of
Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication,
told the Times. “It’s OK for him or anyone to try
to evangelize if they want to. It’s a two-way street. What
it demonstrates to me is how degraded the position of entertainment
journalism is, that it not only succumbs to conditions like byline
approval and photo approval, but also Scientology boot camp.”
Journalists
do put up with it - in order to get a story about Cruise. But
there
are things Cruise won’t put up with.
On Sunday he was squirted in the face by a fake reporter and
camera crew working for a British comedy show. The squirt gun
was in the form of a fake microphone. Cruise told the fake reporter, “You’re
a jerk.”
The water
attack was in bad taste. We need fewer fake reporters and more
real ones.
But perhaps it’s safer to squirt water
at Cruise than scrutinize his religious evangelizing. tRO
copyright
2005 Accuracy in Media
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