Danielle Berrin at the Jewish Journal spoke with SWC Board Member, film director Brett Ratner. Ratner said:
“Tom Cruise cannot be responsible for an entire religion,” film director Brett Ratner, who sits on the Wiesenthal’s board of trustees said to me by phone last week. “You can’t say he’s the reason the religion is doing what it’s doing. That’s like saying, ‘The Jews killed f———Jesus; why am I a Jew?’”
Ratner is flat-out wrong. There is one man who is responsible for the entire religion, or cult as it is known in Israel, of Scientology: Tom Cruise’s best friend, “ecclesiastical leader” David Miscavige, who pimped out motorcycles for Cruise and himself using Church (slave) labor – arguably a case of innurement.
…After citing hair-raisingly hateful statements from L. Ron Hubbard, the astute Sarah Green asks What does Tom Cruise Stand For? She writes:
Perhaps Tom Cruise should be given the award. First, however, I would ask that he give a “yes” or “no” answer to this question — without any equivocation or evasion: “Tom, do you reject these statements of L. Ron Hubbard’s?” (followed by a selection of hateful writings such as those presented above).It would be interesting to hear his response.
Tom Cruise is not responsible for L. Ron Hubbard and David Miscavige’s violence and abuse. If he guilty of anything he is guilty of “willed myopia”, as Paul Haggis describes it.
Tom Cruise has enormous responsibility for acknowledging and ending Scientology abuses. Let us hope that he will soon join Paul Haggis in doing so.
PS:
Danielle Berrin and director Paul Ratner have a history. She wrote a profile on himwhich Jewish blogger Luke Ford called “her best article yet.”
Ratner put the moves on her. Luke Ford expands on what Danielle has called her sordid past with Ratner. Danielle and Brett have buried the hatchet. Here is a picture of them together at last year’s Wiesenthal Center’s award dinner.
Photo credit: The Jewish Journal
