Hollywood and religion, can they coincide?

Many would think that the two completely contradict each other, but yes, if you dig deep enough you will find that Hollywood and religion can exist together. For my COMM 336 class (a.k.a. Mass Media Writing) I have chosen two of my favorite topics, celebrities and religion, and tied them together to create four blog entries filled with religious views, scandals and controversies. Hopefully you enjoy them as much as I did, and maybe learn a thing or two.

Scientology

Scientology is a religion that has become quite popular with today's celebrities. Everyone knows (especially after watching the "South Park" episode, "Trapped In The Closet") that Tom Cruise is an extreme Scientology activist. But he isn't the only one. Celebrities such as: John Travolta, Kelly Preston, Kirstie Alley, Katie Holmes and Will Smith have also jumped on this religion bandwagon.

In 2005, when Scientology was becoming more than mainstream, being the naive 15-year-old that I was, I thought Scientology was new on the scene. Little did I know it had been around long before Cruise of Travolta. After doing more research I realized that Scientology was founded in 1952 by L. Ron Hubbard.

Scientology is defined by the Church of Scientology as a religion in its highest meaning, as it helps bring man to total freedom and truth.

In 1955, Hubbard launched "Project Celebrity": a project with the goal of spreading the world of Scientology. Hubbard created a list of 63 celebrities that he recruited to help in the conversion. Of these celebrities was former silent-screen star Gloria Swanson and jazz pianist Dave Brubeck.

With myself being a Southern Baptist and being raised in the "Bible belt" I don't agree with the religion nor understand all the hype over it. But for those that do follow the beliefs of Scientology there are eight Celebrity Centers across the US; the largest being in Hollywood. These Centers are designated for celebrity followers but it is open to the public as well.

For more information on Scientology visit http://www.scientology.org/.