Details Emerge on Cause of Holmes-Cruise Divorce

Posted on 07. Jul, 2012 by Dana Linn in category of Gossip, celebrities, Jordan Alexis

As expected, details have been trickling out this week about what went wrong in Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ marriage, and an overwhelming factor seems to be Cruise’s unconventional religion – Scientology.

According to sources close to Holmes, she believed she was being followed by members of the Church of Scientology who viewed her as a threat to the organization (a claim the church has denied). Reportedly the biggest catalyst for Holmes to leave Cruise was her fear that he’s planning to prep the couple’s six-year-old daughter, Suri, to go live at Sea Organization, or Sea Org as it is known – a militaristic arm of Scientology.

Under the influence of Scientology “elders,” Sea Org members are convinced to “volunteer” for punishments, which can include being given poor quality food, sleep deprivation, or being banned from talking to anyone, ABC News has reported.

The church has said Suri is not currently a candidate, since no one under sixteen can join Sea Org and that the consent of both parents is required.

The divorce, which is sure to be a long and ugly battle, has put the controversial religion of Scientology in the spotlight. This isn’t the first time, since many celebrities in addition to Cruise are practitioners, including John Travolta. But just what is Scientology? Well, it’s a set of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard in 1952 (yes, it’s a religion created by a sciene fiction writer).

The backbone of Scientology is the belief that people are immortal beings who have forgotten their true nature. Basically, their claim is that about 75 million years ago, an evil alien ruler named Xenu exiled a bunch of people from his colony to Earth. Xenu then did horrible things to these people, like drugging them, placing their bodies around a volcano, and blowing them up. Xenu wanted to make sure the “thetans” (spirits) of those people didn't come back, so when the souls started leaving the bodies, he captured them and forced them into a huge implant station – described as being "kind of like a movie theatre." There, he made them watch movies that “implanted” them with false pictures of Christ and other historical events that Hubbard says didn't happen.

Scientology’s method of spiritual rehabilitation is a type of counseling known as auditing, in which practitioners try to consciously re-experience painful or traumatic events in their past in order to free themselves of their limiting effects. Scientology has often been called a cult and allegedly financially defrauds and abuses its members, charging excessive fees for its spiritual services. Good thing Cruise can afford it!

So, while it looks like an ironclad pre-nup will keep Katie from making bank off the divorce, she may stand a decent chance in getting sole custody of Suri in light of Cruise’s diehard commitment to the controversial organization, of which Cruise is a top member.

CBSNews.com spoke with New York-based divorce and family attorney Raoul Felder, listed as one of New York Law Journal's 100 Most Powerful Lawyers in America.

"The test in custody anywhere in the United States is simply the best interest of the child," said Felder, who added, "Scientology would not play very well, certainly in New York. Maybe a little better in California."

The Cruise camp is firing back at Katie’s allegations, saying Katie and her team are leaking false stories to the media by saying she was trying to save Suri from the grips of Scientology, and that's why she left Tom.

As one well-connected Tom source put it, "She [Katie] was totally committed to Scientology. She had enthusiasm for it and would voluntarily and gladly participate in it when Tom was off shooting movies."

Good thing Holmes’ dad is a divorce lawyer, because she’s going to need all the advice and support she can get to take on Cruise.

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Editor’s note: At the time this went to press, Holmes and Cruise had settled.

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