MAJOR props to Anderson Cooper. It’s no secret among those who know me that I have always respected (read: had a little crush on) Anderson Cooper. He is the son of Gloria Vanderbilt, and although he was born into an incredible fortune, he went to school and pursued a career. Aside from being really smart, and absolutely unafraid to investigate and report on some of the world’s scariest situations, he also successfully got through a conversation that I’ve never seen anyone maneuver through well: the Scientologist vs. Psychology debate.
If there is one person on this planet that gets me angrier than spit (yeah, that doesn’t make sense) it’s Tom Cruise. He is just so ARG. Whenever I hear him talk to someone it’s just “If you study the history of…..” and “You don’t know what you’re talking about, you haven’t studied,” and “You can’t even have this conversation, because you don’t know what I do.” So yeah- maybe I haven’t studied as much as you have, but does that make me unworthy to even talk to?
So anyway- back to the actual subject. Tonight on Anderson Cooper 360 there was some representative from Scientology there to talk about Psychology. He had three lines he kept repeating again and again and again, and he spouted a bunch of numbers about the number of people on psychiatric drugs being twice as likely for suicide. Anderson asked if maybe, just maybe, they were more likely to commit suicide because of whatever problem they had that required them to take the drugs in the first place. I did a little couch dance. Then Anderson asked if Scientology was against talk therapy- because not everyone who talks to a psychologist is treated with drugs. The guy ignored the questions and went back to talking about shock therapy and how it’s inhuman, citing the fact that even a 5 year old knows not to stick their finger in a light socket. Ok, well that’s nice, but back to talk therapy… Anderson said that even Scientology uses talk therapy to help people get over problems- and the guy said for the THIRD time that Scientology deals with the spirit whereas psychology simply pretends to be science. Once again, not an answer to the question.
So Anderson didn’t get any real answers out of the guy- more like bumper sticker mantras- but I was proud that he didn’t get sucked in a round of general arguments that don’t actually say anything. The guy had a ton of scary numbers- but Anderson had the numbers, too. He knew the data that the guy had taken and spun and changed to make it work for his own purposes. He was well prepared and wasn’t going to accept non-answers.
I don’t want to diss Scientology. I DO want to diss that guy, and I do wish Tom Cruise would disappear from society. Just become a recluse. A quiet one. I know that I get angry when someone represents my religion in an ugly or ignorant tone- and I think that this could totally be the case when it comes to Scientology. I wish that someone in an official position would let us know what’s true and real with regard to their beliefs, so we wouldn’t have to simply believe whoever talks the loudest.
*Clapping* You said it perfectly.