Outspoken scientologist turns a blind eye to the protester

Jan 23, 2009 12:19 GMT  ·  By
Anonymous members protesting against the cult of Scientology, whose most outspoken supporter is Tom Cruise
   Anonymous members protesting against the cult of Scientology, whose most outspoken supporter is Tom Cruise

The silent war between the Church of Scientology and its biggest rival right now, the Anonymous group, has been raging for quite a while, with seemingly no one coming out as the winner. One step towards what could be some truce of sorts was made the other day, when Tom Cruise agreed to sign the Guy Fawkes mask of an Anonymous member, and return it to him in the most gentleman-like manner.

The actor was in Berlin for the premiere of his latest film “Valkyrie,” and, as customary, was giving out autographs on the red carpet. Smiling and more detached than he’d been in a couple of years, Cruise was the picture of star behavior, several media outlets have pointed out. Not even when he saw an Anonymous protester in the Fawkes mask did he blink or lose this temper, despite the fact that he knew only too well what he was there for.

Moreover, when one of the bodyguards snatched the mask from the man, Cruise took it from him and returned it to the Anonymous member – but not before signing it and drawing a large peace sign on it. While this may seem like nothing – and most likely is – representatives of the media could not but help notice that this was actually the first time that Cruise showed signs of knowing how to behave in “critical” situations. This, they say, could be his ticket back in the good graces of the public who, in its turn, would learn to appreciate him again for his films, regardless of his religious beliefs.

Since last year, when a couple of videos showing Cruise speaking about Scientology as “an authority on the mind” and in other godly-like terms, Anonymous has made it its mission to bring the cult down. So far, it has held silent protests both in front of the churches in main cities in the US, and at Tom’s movie premieres, while also hacking the Scientology website and bringing it down for a couple of hours. At the same time, Anonymous is set to reveal to the world all the secrets of the cult, including the many cases of death of former members who reportedly wanted to come clean with the media.

“You cannot hide; we are everywhere. Gradually as we merge our pulse with that of your ‘Church,’ the suppression of your followers will become increasingly difficult to maintain. Believers will wake, and see that salvation has no price. They will know that the stress, the frustration that they feel is not something that may be blamed upon Anonymous. Knowledge is free. We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive. WE DO NOT FORGET. Expect us.” Anonymous said in a video posted on YouTube in January last year.