Video of Tom Cruise Touting Scientology Leaked On Internet

Tom Cruise and the Church of Scientology are the subjects of a newly "pirated" video on the internet. According to CNN, a 2004 video starring Tom Cruise was recently leaked on the internet on such video sites as YouTube and Gawker.com. The article describes Cruise as describing the meaning behind Scientology, as he extols his religion's virtues and speaks of the way it has influenced his life. In the video, Cruise is quoted as describing Scientology as such: "If you're a Scientologist ... you see things the way they are" and "The more you know as a Scientologist, you don't become overwhelmed by it."

The video starring Cruise has apparently been taken off of YouTube, after The Church of Scientology complained about the video, which supposedly can be viewed at Scientology churches. Cruise has been on the airwaves most recently because of a new and allegedly unauthorized biography of the actor and the way he has become involved in Scientology. The religion, founded by writer L. Ron Hubbard, has come under intense scrutiny especially over the last decade, as a number of high profile stars have joined it. Praised as a useful humanitarian organization by some, as a cult by others, a large part of the interest in the organization can be attributed to the secrecy with which members guard their beliefs. The CNN article also states that the author of the new Cruise biography, Andrew Mortin, defended his new book, explaining that as a superstar/poster child for Scientology, Cruise's publicly espoused views are quite worthy of scrutiny. Mortin was on "The O'Reilly Factor" discussing the importance of scrutinizing Cruise and his allegedly mysterious faith.