Tom Cruise & Katie Holmes

[Celestique]

I believe the Will/Tom connection came via Jada. After Jada and Tom filmed Collateral, he went to support her band on tour, and I'm assuming that's how their friendship started. Tom probably saw the potential to get to Will, one of the most bankable movie stars, right there.

If he's smart, he'll take the Denzel route rather than the Tom route.

[Google]

 

[Nemeses]

Originally Posted by PugMum

I have heard that Jada is a Scientologists and she home schools her kids in it.
As for his beliefs, even tom has said that you can be any religion/Scientologist.

Again, Will has said Scientology wasn't for him. I don't know how much clearer he can be. He allows that anyone can be whatever they want, but he doesn't want to be a Scientologist. Both Jada and Will have said neither of them are Scientologists. I really know very little about Jada, and I do know there are rumors she's a Scientologist, but to date, that's all they are.. rumors. If someday we find out otherwise from them, then we'll know, but for now it's only rumors with nothing to back them up yet.

Also, I don't think the fact that a free personality test was included among many other nice items in a wrap party gift goodie bag means anything at all. If it were the only thing given, then perhaps I'd raise an eyebrow, but since it was just filler in the gift bag of many goodies, it doesn't bother me in the least.

At a press event for his film, "I Am Legend," Will cleared up any rumors that he had joined the pricey church by saying, ""I love my God, my higher power, but it is mine and mine alone, and I create my connection, and I decide how my connection is going to be." Mine's high-speed. Me and God like to instant message a lot.

Scientology sceptic Will Smith
04th Dec 2007 12:05

Will Smith has distanced himself from Scientology.

The 'I Am Legend' star and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith were introduced to the bizarre sci-fi cult by friend Tom Cruise, but Will has chosen not to become a follower.

He said: "I don't necessarily believe in organised religion. I love my God, my higher power, but it is mine and mine alone, and I create my connection, and I decide how my connection is going to be. I believe that my connection to my higher power is separate from everybody's."

"I don't believe Muslims have all the answers and all the beliefs. I don't believe Christians have all the answers and beliefs, or that Jews have all the answers."

Despite his scepticism, Will - whose wife Jada is still believed to be an active member of the Church of Scientology - insists everybody has the right to believe whatever they want.

The 39-year-old actor added to US TV show 'Access Hollywood': "I was introduced to Scientology by Tom and I'm a student of world religion. I was raised in a Baptist household, I went to a Catholic school, but the ideas of the Bible are 98 per cent the same ideas of Scientology, 98 per cent the same ideas of Hinduism and Buddhism.

"When I sit and I talk with Tom, he is one of the greatest spirits that I've ever met - someone who is committed to making the world better.

"You have people who are attacking and want to fight that don't know nothing - how you going to not know nothing about Scientology and attack somebody? It's dangerous and it's ignorant.

"How can I condemn someone for what they believe and I believe that God was born from a pregnant virgin?"

At this point it comes down to a do you want to believe what Will says or not, and for me, I choose to believe him until he says otherwise. He's been pretty straight and honest about his life when he speaks.

As to the home schooling, it would not surprise me that they include among other studies something about Scientology, given Will's feeling that one should at least study the concepts of many religions, since you can't talk about a religion or make judgements if you don't know what it involves. I see no harm in study it along with other religious/belief systems in schooling. As for it being the reason for the home-schooling, that is not true. Their decision over 6 years ago to home-school has been well known and publicized for years and had nothing to do with Scientology. Both Jada and Will have spoken publicly many times for their reasons for the decision. Will and Jada have adopted many of their own theories in home-schooling (which is no longer an uncommon practice in this country) and are even working on the possibility of opening their own school, due to their dissatisfaction with the current education system:

Having immersed himself in educational theories while home-schooling his kids, Will Smith says he and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, plan to put that knowledge to greater use by teaming with like-minded parents and creating a full school.

The institution could launch next year, Smith, 39, said Wednesday on Live with Regis & Kelly. He didn't offer details, but said the idea came out of his family's experience in grouping home-schooled children together.

"We started home-schooling our children probably six years ago," he said. "We found about eight or nine other parents that home-school, so we put them together. ... There's just very powerful educational concepts that we believe in, and we feel like 'I want to design the system that revolutionizes public education.' "

The Smiths have two children together: Jaden, 9, and Willow, 7.

In 2005, Jada Pinkett Smith told Essence that the decision to home-school was based partly on the family's extensive travel schedule – but also on dissatisfaction with the other options.

"The school system in this country – public and private – is designed for the industrial age," she said. "We're in a technological age. We don't want our kids to memorize. We want them to learn."

[GingerLVNV]

Originally Posted by Krom

A follow up on Broadway's post about "the video":

Be prepared to be VERY scared...


Neither of these will last long, because the Scientologists are sure to get a court order forcing them down (they bullied YouTube into taking down THAT copy pretty quickly).

Just wow. Can we call CPS yet?

[buglover]

He took his adopted son out to dinner last night at his favorite restaurant. That's a narcissist to the extreme. He doesn't care the kid is 13 and would probably rather not dress in a full suit to go to a restaurant of his father's chosing.

[Nemeses]

Originally Posted by buglover

He took his adopted son out to dinner last night at his favorite restaurant. That's a narcissist to the extreme. He doesn't care the kid is 13 and would probably rather not dress in a full suit to go to a restaurant of his father's chosing.

I saw that pic, and Connor doesn't exactly look like a happy birthday boy. On another note, Connor is quite a cutie.

[bbnbama]

Connor is a good looking fella!

[canadian_angel]

I love how in the pic it looks like Connor's trying to walk away from his father.

[buglover]

He may be trying to run...go Connor go!

[PugMum]

It looks like a cut and paste picture, but they messed it up.

[buglover]

It does seem contrived. I hope that Connor has enough time with his mom to not be pulled into all the stuff with his dad and robot step mom.