TomKat made me wonder...what's a Scientology wedding like?
827583
If Tom Cruise ever gets around to marrying Katie Holmes, the Scientology wedding ceremony will likely be one of those listed in The Background, Ministry, Ceremonies & Sermons of the Scientology Religion, a $200 hard-bound volume published by the Church of Scientology for use by its ministers. (The leatherbound commemorative edition is priced at an unbelievable $2500.) The book contains five versions of the wedding ceremony: Traditional, Informal, Single Ring, Double Ring, and Concise Double Ring. Two of these are reproduced below, for comparison.\nSome interesting points:\n\nThe Traditional ceremony uses painfully stilted language -- a really bad attempt at free verse.\n\nThe groom is always referred to in the Traditional ceremony as a "man", while the bride is referred to in several places as a "girl". Note the brilliant observation that "girls need clothes and food and tender happiness and frills ... perhaps a cat."\n\nNeither ceremony offers much in the way of spiritual content, and there is no mention of any higher power.\n\nThe big spiritual advice offered to the newlyweds in the Double Ring ceremony is, basically, "never go to bed angry". Wow! That's deep!\n\nScientologists believe they are immortal spirits, and the Double Ring makes reference to the circle being an "emblem of permanency", representing "time and space -- which are without ending". The implication of this circle imagery is that the two people are to be joined together forever. But a few lines earlier the proposed bond is more tentative: "your one joint desire in present time is that the love you have created shall remain a reality throughout your future years." Does that mean future years in this lifetime?\n\nThe Traditional ceremony is more blunt: it ends with an acknowledgment that the marriage is over when the participants die. Although Scientologists believe in reincarnation, one's marital obligations are apparently only intended for the current lifetime. After that the individuals are free agents again.
505740
yeah. if thats all you want to ask. but how would one go about viewing that wedding
775040
My mother's boss's husband (that's a mouthful) who's also an old family friend just got ordained online so that he could perform his son's wedding ceremony. It's completely legit as long as you check out the site. Apparently there are some scammy type ways to be ordained online but there are some legitimate ones. I'm actually thinking about him doing my own wedding since we don't attend a specific church and have no minister of our own.
523764
Hi there,\nLong term Scientologist here (for 35 years plus).\nMy answer:\nIt's a "story". \nYOU don't take every story you hear seriously, especially when the source is from dubious websites and general rumour or media ........\n(I hope.)\nWell , neither do we.\nPeople who create this kind of thing usually have their own private agendas and are trying to ridicule and invalidate or attack their target for some hidden reason that you do not see.\nThis is not a new activity specific to the religion of Scientology.(or even religions actually)\nThe Romans circulated all kinds of rumours about the early Christians,\nto justify throwing them to the lions as a popular public event.\nHitler circulated similar false and alarming rumours about the Jews, not so long ago, (one of which was that they ate babies! ).\nThis allowed 6 million human beings to be murdered without any public protest from the German people.\nAnd so it goes on.
230218
It's interesting to note that the official Scientology FAQ's are at odds with some of the statements made as answers here. It has been stated here that Scientology is "not a belief or system of beliefs" and "there is no belief in Scientology", and yet, the church's official  website seems to state the exact opposite by listing its beliefs and talking about believers. It is no wonder that there is a bit of confusion as to what Scientology is and isn't, if the followers cannot agree with the information publicly posted by the church itself.\n\n\nFrom the official Scientology site mentioned a few times here, http://www.scientology.org \n\nWhy is Scientology called a religion? \n\nScientology certainly meets all three criteria generally used by religious scholars around the world to determine religiosity: (1) a belief in some Ultimate Reality, such as the Supreme or eternal truth that transcends the here and now of the secular world; (2) religious practices directed toward understanding, attaining or communing with this Ultimate Reality; and (3) a community of believers who join together in pursuing this Ultimate Reality.\n\nScientology’s beliefs in an Ultimate Reality that transcends the material world include its concepts of the thetan, the spiritual world (the seventh dynamic) and the Supreme Being (the eighth dynamic). The second element can be found in Scientology’s life-rite ceremonies such as naming, marriage and funeral services, but predominantly in the religious services of auditing and training, through which Scientologists increase their spiritual awareness of themselves and attain an understanding of the spiritual world and, ultimately, their relationship with the Supreme Being. As to the third element, a very vital community of believers can be found at any Church of Scientology at almost any time of the day.\n\nScientology is thus a religion in the most traditional sense of the term.\n\n\nDoes Scientology have a scripture? \n\nYes. The writings and recorded spoken words of L. Ron Hubbard on the subject of Scientology collectively constitute the scripture of the religion. He set forth the Scientology theology and technologies in more than 500,000 pages of writings, including dozens of books and over 2,000 tape-recorded public lectures.\n===============\n\nSome interesting reading from an opposing view is found here,\n\nhttp://www.spaink.net/fishman/home.html\n"When Fishman was then brought to court, he used parts of Scientology-documents to prove he had been brainwashed by the Church. These Scientology documents thereby became public material: anybody could go to the court library and read them. The Church, fearing that its sacred secrets would be revealed, had some of their people going to the library every day to borrow these documents, thereby preventing other people (read: non-Scientologists) from reading them. Nevertheless, the Fishman Affidavit got copied (it was also available through the clerk of the court, for a mere $36.50). Somebody retrieved the affidavit via the clerk, scanned it, and posted it to the net. The Fishman Affidavit has been travelling on the Internet ever since."\n\nand here,\nhttp://www.spaink.net/fishman/ot3.html\n"In OT III, ("OPERATING THETAN, Section Three") Hubbard explains his cosmology and the ins & outs of 'body thetans'."\n\n"The head of the Galactic Federation (76 planets around larger stars visible from here) (founded 5,000,000 years ago, very space opera) solved overpopulation (250 billion or so per planet, 178 billion on average) by mass implanting. He caused people to be brought to Teegeeack (Earth) and put an H-Bomb on the principal volcanos (Incident II) and then the Pacific area ones were taken in boxes to Hawaii and the Atlantic area ones to Las Palmas and there "packaged". "\n\n==============\n\nI'm not taking either side.  I do think it's important to question your b
333689
About a year ago Tom realised people didn't like him very much (because of Nicole divorce, slagging off Brooke Shields, his Scientology cr8p) so he interviewed 3 possible future wives. One of them was Katie Holmes who lets face it was never gonna set the big screen on fire! KH then agreed to a $10 million contract that ties her to Tom for 5 years and she also agreed to have babies. Now we all know that these babies are created in a petri dish because Tom is gay. So there you have it, the sham that is TomKat in less than 100 words.
922304
It is a CULT. Despite what a few fanatical members may say, it IS a cult. The "church" harasses & bullies anyone who they deem an "enemy" (basically anyone who has anything negative to say about the "church"). They will RUIN YOUR LIFE if you speak out against them long enough.\n\nThe founder is L. Ron Hubbard, the science FICTION writer who once told a friend that the best way to make lots of money is to start your own religion. Though being a very outspoken critic of psychiatric drugs, it was discovered upon Hubbards death that the anti-anxiety drug hydroxyzine (Vistaril) was present in his body, which several of his assistants would later attest was only one of many psychiatric & pain medications Hubbard ingested over the years. (visit this link to read about the uses of hydoxyzine: http://www.drugs.com/mtm/v/vistaril.html )\n\nScientologists believe the evil alien ruler Xenu killed a lot of aliens (Thetans) from around the universe by bringing them to earth & blowing them up inside volcanoes. They believe the souls of these aliens (these souls are "Body Thetans") have attached themselves to us & cause many of our mental & physical ills. Members who know about Xenu will attempt to deny it or pretend like it doesn’t matter.  They are required to sign a contract binding them to silence on the matter.  Lower level members don’t know about Xenu & accordingly deny everything because they honestly don’t know.\n\nTo rid ourselves of "Body Thetans" & also “engrams” (past negative experiences stored in our unconscious mind) so that we can become “clear”, we have to go through "auditing" with a member of the “church” who uses an "e-meter" to measure our “reactive mind”...... & we have to pay lots & lots of money for “auditing” (purchased in 12.5-hour blocks, costing anywhere from $750 for introductory sessions to between $8,000 & $9,000 for advanced sessions) & to take courses on Scientology to advance to higher “levels” in the “church”. The “church” has also taken a very hostile stance towards psychiatry & psychiatric drugs irrespective of the fact that some people require medication to remain adequately functional in everyday life. They deny the reality of chemical imbalance & profound mental disturbance & accordingly do NOTHING to effectively stabilize the dangerously unstable. The “church” has been known to withhold prescription pharmaceuticals from member (with deadly results).\n\nScientology is undeniably a cult. For more information on what a cult is & what their damaging effects are, please visit the link provided at the bottom of the sources. Just know that Scientology DOES qualify by meeting these 5 criteria:\n\n(1) It uses psychological coercion to recruit, indoctrinate & retain its members. (2) It forms an elitist totalitarian society. (3) Its founder leader is self-appointed, dogmatic, messianic, not accountable & has charisma. (4) It believes 'the end justifies the means' in order to solicit funds & recruit people. (5) Its wealth does not benefit its members or society.
259815
if this gathers a large following of people with real lives then yes.  But its ludacrous beliefs make it unlikely there will be mass conversion, if you can actually consider scientology to be a religion at all.
452111
I like the way you think.\n\nHopefully TomKat will lead the way!
170235
why do so many gay celebrities get married...Tom Cruise?
558724
Scientology! ughhhh tom cruise and his messed up beliefs! why should anybody have to have a "silent birth"?! its totally ridiculous and full of crap.
349025
Nope -- the latest rumor is that they're planning a Catholic wedding.  She just got her 11 year marriage to Tom Cruise annuled because he didn't live up to the church's specifications.  ANd she's still wearing the same large diamond she started wearing on her wedding finger in November. Check EOnline or any other news entertainment source for the full dish...
1022118
Go here for this critics viewpoint then go search the whole site...\n\n"In a Nutshell\n\n    The Church of Scientology is a vicious and dangerous cult that masquerades as a religion. Its purpose is to make money. It practices a variety of mind-control techniques on people lured into its midst to gain control over their money and their lives. Its aim is to take from them every penny that they have and can ever borrow and to also enslave them to further its wicked ends.\n\n    It was started in the 1950s by a science fiction writer named L. Ron Hubbard in fulfilment to his declared aim to start a religion to make money. It is an offshoot to a method of psychotherapy he concocted from various sources which he named "Dianetics". Dianetics is a form of regression therapy. It was then further expanded to appear more like a religion in order to enjoy tax benefits. He called it "Scientology".\n\n    Scientology is a confused concoction of crackpot, dangerously applied psychotherapy, oversimplified, idiotic and inapplicable rules and ideas and science-fiction drivel that is presented to its members (at the "advanced" levels) as profound spiritual truth."\nhttp://www.clambake.org/roland-intro.html\n\nI personally believe scientology is a pseudo-science and a pseudo-religion.  I think the Church of Scientology is a cruel dangerous cult that takes your money and your ability to reason enough to see so.  \n\nThere is too much to post to give you the full answer, and indeed there are many opposing views.  You really just have to read and research some stuff for yourself.\n\nSee the links to important information on the internet about scientology:  The first 3 would probably suffice but in case you want to keep reading...\n\nSee here for the whole site, it is very interesting but horrifying reading, there is a wealth of critical information on scientology.\nhttp://www.clambake.org  (Same as http://www.xenu.net )\n\nTo find out about the beliefs of scientologists from a neutral site go here:\nhttp://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/scientology\nAnd more here:\nhttp://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/xenu\n\nThe CofS has been investigated by governments and taken to court many times.  "Some European governments (including notably, Germany, Belgium, France, and Austria) do not consider the Church to be a bona fide religious organization, but instead a commercial enterprise and / or a cult." wikipedia.org/scientology\n\nHere are the court files:\nhttp://www.clambake.org/archive/CourtFiles/\n\nHere is the UK Govt. Investigation, the Foster Report:\nhttp://www.xenu.net/archive/audit/foster01.html\n\nHere are whole books written mainly by ex-members, the authors have posted them for anyone to read:\nhttp://www.clambake.org/archive/books/\n\nHere are some quotes from some judges:\nhttp://www.clambake.org/archive/judge_quotes.html\n\nCheck this site out, although warning it isn't pleasant http://www.lisamcpherson.org\n\nIf you like videos here is a good site: http://www.xenutv.com\n\nNow i've given you all those links it might only be fair to give you the official link too:\nhttp://www.scientology.org
780633
In Scientology you have to also learn how to deceive your self. It is a self-deceptive cult.
568444
The answer to this is pretty simple, scientology doesn't care about helping people, they only care about their image and making money. Tom Cruise has mental problems and NEEDS psychiatry, but his religion tells him that he can out think these issues, but as his public appearance has shown, that is not the case.\n\nScientology is not a community of caring individuals hoping to make the world a better place, it is a pyramid scheme trying to rid it's members of individuality and hard earned cash.\n\nI fear for Katie Holmes and ESPECIALLY for her baby.
828875
Tomkat's not even royalty! They'll have their day or two in the presses, but no one's going to produce memorabilia-t-shirts, mugs, plates, stamps etc etc etc to their honour!\nJust wait till the British youngsters or one of the Swedes marry, that'll blow the presses!
391588
Scientology.  Here's some info: