"Be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. In the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul." -- Max Ehrmann
In an interview with Parade magazine, comedian Jerry Seinfeld talked about, among many other things, the benefits of his youthful flirtation with Scientology. “I last really studied, oh, it’s almost 30 years ago. Believe it or not...it’s extremely intellectual and clinical in its approach to problem solving, which really appealed to me. I actually got to it from my auto mechanics teacher in high school, who was into it, and he was telling me about it. In my early years of stand-up, it was very helpful. I took a couple of courses. One of them was in communication, and I learned some things about communication that really got my act going.”
Unlike Scientology’s high profile members such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta, Seinfeld had but a brief interlude with the controversial church. And despite a small jab in the episode of Seinfeldspent lost in the parking garage, he doesn’t seem to have had any hard feelings either, unlike the guys at South Park, who vented in their controversial episode, Trapped in the Closet. What may be more revealing however is the perhaps unconscious connection Seinfeld made when talking about the church during an interview to promote the new animated film Bee Movie (in theaters Nov 2). Could it have been the hive minded similarities?
In her book, The Scandal of Scientology, author Paulette Cooper reveals how the cult-like religion founded by sci-fi writer L. Ron Hubbard, targeted celebrities. “Their celebrity chasing goes back to around 1955 when Hubbard invited his followers to write and tell him which celebrity they wanted,” writes Cooper in a chapter entitled Children and Celebrities. According to the book, the list of celebs Hubbard hoped to attract included numerous comedians such as Ed Sullivan, Ernest Hemingway, Danny Kaye, Liberace, James Stewart, Bob Hope, Walt Disney, Milton Berle and Groucho Marx. The church opened a Celebrity Center in 1969 to cater to the needs of their A-list disciples.
Much of the criticism leveled at the church lies in the numerous reports of difficulties members experience when trying to leave the fold. “Even worse than what happens to an outsider who tries to attack Scientology is what happens to a Scientologist who turns against or displeases the group,” says Paulette in a chapter entitled, The Suppressives. Fortunately for Seinfeld, he doesn’t seem to have had any problems severing ties with Scientology; Cooper was not so fortunate. After publishing her book in 1971, the author, who was born in the Auschwitz concentration camp, was the subject of an organized campaign of harassment and litigation which was codenamed Operation Freakout and was exposed by the FBI after a raid on Scientology offices in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. in 1977.
Though out of print now, Paulette’s book is highly collectible, with second hand copies selling for up to $115 on Amazon.com. The full text is also available on the internet.
