The Week: Most Recent world-religions

Is The Master a stealth attack on Scientology?

By The Week Staff — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 14:58:00 -0400

Few directors are more critically-beloved than Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood). His new film, The Master, may prove his most acclaimed yet, but one group isn’t a fan: The Church of Scientology. The Master, which opens in limited release today, stars Joaquin Phoenix as a troubled drifter and Philip Seymour Hoffman as a would-be prophet named Lancaster Dodd — a character with more than a passing resemblance to Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Though Anderson has repeatedly downplayed the parallels in interviews, The Master has put Scientologists on the defensive...

Will Scientology survive Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' divorce?

By The Week Staff — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 16:12:00 -0400

Amid allegations that it's a mind-controlling cult that extorts money from its members, rips families apart, and brainwashes children, Scientology, the mysterious 12 million-strong religion founded by sci-fi author L. Ron Hubbard in the 1950s, has long relied on Tom Cruise and other celebrity members to maintain a veneer of respectability. Over the years, Scientology has tried to squelch negative press reports through costly lawsuits, and to play down its more bizarre aspects, such as the creation myth that Earth was founded by an intergalactic warlord named Xenu some 75 million years ago. However...

Scientology's role in the Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes divorce: A guide

By The Week Staff — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 16:00:00 -0400

When Katie Holmes abruptly filed for divorce last week from Tom Cruise, her husband of five years, reports quickly began to surface linking the actress' decision to her increasing discomfort with the role of Scientology in the family's life. (Neither Cruise nor the church has publicly addressed the broader issues behind these reports.) The marriage "began with Cruise's leap onto Oprah's couch, and will end with a renewed public interest in Scientology, the controversial religion the pair shared," says Maura Judkis at The Washington Post. So what is it about Scientology that reportedly...

Scientology's 'super-creepy' South Park investigation

By The Week Staff — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:42:00 -0400

A 2005 episode of South Park titled "Trapped in the Closet" ranks number 17 on TV Guide's list of TV's Top 100 Episodes of All Time. Of course, the episode, which mocks the Church of Scientology's tenets (as well as high-profile church member Tom Cruise), was slammed by Scientologists. But the true extent to which the show angered the church has only just been revealed, thanks to a document leaked by a former high-level Scientologist. The memo explains that following the episode, the church targeted South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone with an extensive investigation meant to embarrass...

Scientology's 'real-world Hogwarts' boarding school: 7 talking points

By The Week Staff — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 13:23:00 -0400

Situated high in the mountains of western Oregon, Delphian School is a "secretive and secluded" K-12 campus for budding Scientologists. The subject of a surprising, in-depth report by Benjamin Carlson at The Daily, the school likens itself to a "real-world Hogwarts" to woo potential students whose parents are willing to pay $42,000 a year in tuition. Here, seven of The Daily expose's most bizarre takeaways:

1. It's very much a Scientology school
Delphian was founded in the 1970s by Scientologists, reports Carlson. Roughly 250 students attend the boarding school, which, at $42,000 a year, is more...

The latest tweets on Scientology

By The Week Staff — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 15:46:00 -0400

Catholic priests and child abuse: Time to prosecute the Pope?

By The Week Staff — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 12:06:00 -0400

Human rights lawyers are asking the International Criminal Court to investigate and prosecute Pope Benedict XVI and three other Vatican officials for crimes against humanity, saying they covered up "long-standing and pervasive" sexual violence against children. The Vatican's U.S. lawyer called the complaint — filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) — "a ludicrous publicity stunt." Is it — or could Vatican officials really be prosecuted?

This is offensive to the Vatican and to victims: The ICC was established to handle...

The 'hilarious kitschy' Scientology recruitment video

By The Week Staff — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 15:02:00 -0400

The video: Scientology is a mystery to most outsiders, but a video that popped up on YouTube over the weekend is exposing the group to scrutiny — and ridicule. The clip is believed to be a production of the Church of Scientology itself, dating to the early 1990s. (Watch the video below.) It features "excited-looking Scientologists" performing a "sitcom-esque" sing-a-long called "We Stand Tall," says Amy Rolph in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Scientology leader David Miscavige even appears, singing earnestly in an auditorium full of clean-cut, smiling crooners. Several other former...

Does Pope John Paul II really deserve beatification?

By The Week Staff — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 15:30:00 -0400

The late Pope John Paul II is set to have his beatification ceremony, a final step towards being declared a saint, on Sunday, May 1. By most accounts, John Paul is being fast-tracked to saintly status. The current pope, Benedict XVI, waived the initial five-year waiting period, and his elevation of John Paul is the first by an immediate predecessor in a thousand years. But, given Pope John Paul's handling of the sexual abuse scandal that has rocked the Church in recent years, not everyone is convinced he is worthy of sainthood. Is he?

No, he failed to protect innocent children: John Paul was charming...

Who cares about Scientology? The Catholic Church is far worse

By The Week Staff — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 11:46:00 -0500

Lawrence Wright's sprawling expose of Scientology in this week's New Yorker is dominating media discussions. But Esquire's Mark Warren says that, however mockable journalists may find L. Ron Hubbard's outlandish belief system, the core beliefs of the Catholic Church — which "wields influence incalculably greater than Hubbard's itty-bitty religion" — are just as absurd. Catholics' "finances, earthly corruption, and raw power," should be catnip to muckraking writers; its wide-reaching pedophilia scandal, for instance, was a "monstrous crime" that deserved far more attention than...

The New Yorker's Scientology expose: 7 key revelations

By The Week Staff — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 14:47:00 -0500

The New Yorker has published "The Apostate," a 24,000-word investigation into the Church of Scientology, examining many of its biggest controversies and focusing in particular on Oscar-winning director Paul Haggis' defection from the religion. A member of the church for 35 years, the Crash director attained one of its highest levels of enlightenment, but fell out with church leaders over their stand on gay rights, and publicly left Scientology in 2009. "The article is fairly exhausting to read," says Nina Shen Rastogi at Slate, but Lawrence Wright's "diligent" reporting makes this "pure candy...

Why has P.T. Anderson's Scientology movie been canned? 3 theories

By The Week Staff — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 06:55:00 -0400

The Master, a Scientology parable in the making from There Will Be Blood director Paul Thomas Anderson, has been "postponed indefinitely" according to one of the film's stars, Jeremy Renner. The actor recently told Total Film magazine that "it really kind of stalled because when we were rehearsing —Phil, Paul, and myself — we kept coming up against a wall that we couldn't overcome." Given the film's subject matter — it tells the story of a religion called the Cause that has striking similarities to Scientology — film critics are speculating that some hidden controversy...

Talking points: The pope's controversial U.K. visit

By The Week Staff — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 13:39:00 -0400

Pope Benedict XVI has touched down in the United Kingdom for his first papal visit and received a chilly welcome from the famously pugnacious British press — which has seized on a papal aide's remark that Britain resembles a "third-world country" — and anti-religion activists, who've threatened to arrest the pontiff for "crimes against humanity." That said, at least one Brit was overwhelmed by excitement. Here's a more detailed guide to the key talking points: (Watch a report about his U.K. visit)

1. The attack of the atheists
When the pope's visit was announced back in April, anti...

Vatican: Female priests are as bad as pedophiles?

By The Week Staff — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 10:40:00 -0400

The Vatican issued updated rules Thursday that make it easier to punish sex-abuser Catholic priests, but also include new edicts on other particularly "grave" crimes against church law, including heresy, violating the seal of confession, and — controversially — ordaining women as priests. That last "crime" set off sparks, especially in the U.S., where a majority of Catholics favor admitting women to the priesthood. Is the Vatican really saying that ordaining women is as "grave" as pedophilia? (Watch a CNN report about the new Vatican rules)

Yes, and it will haunt them: Putting...

The Pope's battle against 'deplorable' sex abuse raids

By The Week Staff — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 19:06:00 -0400

In a sign that tensions are still rising in Europe over the Catholic sex abuse scandal, Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday criticized the Belgian authorities for what he called "deplorable" raids on church property. Seeking evidence of sexual abuse by priests, last week Belgian police detained bishops, confiscated files compiled by a church committee investigating abuse claims, and opened the tomb of a cardinal in a cathedral north of Brussels. Was Benedict right to stand up for the Belgian clergy, or was he sending the message that the victims aren't his first concern? (Watch a report about the...

Catholics in crisis

By The Week Staff — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 15:58:00 -0400

How severe is the crisis?
It’s “the largest institutional crisis in centuries, possibly in church history,” says the National Catholic Reporter. Worldwide, the Roman Catholic Church now has 1.1 billion members, compared with 1.5 billion Muslims and 593 million Protestants. In the U.S., all the major denominations have seen their numbers decline in recent years, but the Catholic Church has taken the biggest hit. Since the 1960s, four American-born Catholics have left the church for every one who has converted, according to a 2009 Pew study. In 2008 alone, Catholic membership declined...