Leave The Scientologists Alone

Tom Cruise - the man never ceases to amaze. Clearly, based on the evidence of the video that was leaked onto Youtube of him raving on about the benefits of Scientology ("we're the only ones who can help" etc.) the man is more than a few sandwiches short of a picnic. As an atheist and someone who likes to think of myself as a fairly level-headed individual, I can't possibly take what Cruise says even remotely seriously, and like the rest of the world (Scientologists excepted) tend to laugh in his general direction.

However, I refrain from going overboard in my criticism. This is for two reasons - firstly, it's a very big target, and like all big targets is never really that satisfying when you hit it. Secondly, I always fear that the more the wider world mocks a religious sect, the more people are driven towards it. Society is full of marginalised, attention-desperate individuals who will happily flock to a new 'religion' that has got everybody talking and hogs more than it's fair share of column inches. As has been proven by the rise of religious extremism in the past decade, no matter how much tabloids may titter or how many Richard Dawkins books are published, it will only serve to swell the ranks of these loony religions.

So I say we leave them alone. Give them the Wilde-ean punishment of 'not being talked about', and it will surely scare them more than the fires of hell ever will.