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Tom Cruise’s Commitment to Scientology Questioned By L.A. Community: He Used to Be a ‘Huge Presence’
Tom Cruise’s ongoing commitment to Scientology is once again being called into question, as insiders exclusively tell In Touch that he’s way less vocal or reliant on the beleaguered faith than ever before – and going out of his way to build a new life for himself outside of it.
“Tom is only in L.A. every six months or so but he used to be such a huge presence among the church community and at the church facilities and gatherings in Hollywood and in Los Feliz and that’s simply not the case now,” a source close to L.A.’s Scientology community exclusively tells In Touch. “It’s clear he comes to L.A. when he has movie business stuff to attend to but if he needs to practice Scientology, he’s doing it out of Florida, if at all.”
The source says that Tom, 61, doesn’t “relish spending his precious downtime with Los Angeles Scientologists” as most are “mixed up in the entertainment business or still trying to ‘make it.’”
“He’s got bigger and better things to do. But it really takes the air out of the Scientology community in L.A. that was once his home base,” the insider explains. “You also see him chasing after women who clearly have no interest in Scientology, which is very telling about where Tom’s heart truly is at the moment. How great for the church would it be if Tom actually dated a longtime, true-blue member? But that’s not what’s happening at all!”
Tom, who discovered Scientology through his first wife, Mimi Rogers, in 1986, has become one of the religion’s most famous faces. Scientology “is a religion that offers a precise path leading to a complete and certain understanding of one’s true spiritual nature and one’s relationship to self, family, groups, Mankind, all life forms, the material universe, the spiritual universe and the Supreme Being,” according to the organization’s official website.
According to the religion, the ultimate goal is “true spiritual enlightenment and freedom for all.”
“It’s something that has helped me incredibly in my life. I’ve been a Scientologist for over 30 years,” Tom said about the religion in a rare public statement in 2016. “It’s something, you know, without it, I wouldn’t be where I am. So it’s a beautiful religion. I’m incredibly proud.”
In 2004, the actor was awarded the Freedom Medal of Valor, which is awarded to those who have done “humanitarian work that reached a larger global population,” according to The Guardian.
“I think it’s a privilege to call yourself a Scientologist and it’s something you have to earn,” he said during his speech. “If you’re a Scientologist, you see life, you see things the way that they are. In all its glory, all of its complexity. The more you know as a Scientologist, you don’t become overwhelmed by it.”
The religion has had its negative effects on Tom’s personal life. It was reportedly one of the main reasons for his divorce from Katie Holmes, as the actress didn’t want their daughter, Suri, to be a member any longer.
“I know now [Katie] did what she did … because she had to protect her daughter,” former Scientologist Leah Remini commented on the split in her book, Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology.
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