In an article entitled "Travolta admits Bill used sect's appeal to woo him" by Linda Massarella in the New York Post on the 2 February 1998:
"John Travolta says President Clinton offered to help him with a pet project - getting Scientology accepted as a religion in Germany - just as he was about to play a character based on the president.

"Travolta was manipulated as part of Clinton's campaign to soften his fictional alter-ego's image in the upcoming movie 'Primary Colors'." This claim is backed up by George magazine in its March 1998 issue.

The article continues: "Travolta told writer Josh Young that just before 'Primary Colors' went before the cameras last April, the actor was in Washington to promote Scientology.

"The next day, I met with Clinton," Travolta told George. "He told me: "Your program sounds great. More than that, I'd really love to help you with your issue over in Germany with Scientology.'"

"Clinton was referring to Germany's refusal to register Scientology as a religion because the government considers it a radical cult."

It's also widely reported that Travolta, in playing a leading role in the 2000 film 'Battlefield Earth', hoped that the movie would be the first in a series of Scientology films.

Hubbard wrote the novel on which the movie is based, and according to Wikipedia.org: "Scientology engaged in a massive public relations campaign to buy enormous quantities of the book, in order to place it onto bestseller lists and foster the image of Hubbard as a bestselling author.

"Various bookstore chains (including Waldenbooks) have cited examples of Scientologists repeatedly coming into stores and buying armfuls of the book at a time. Several bookstores reported that shipments of the book arrived with the store's own price tags already affixed to them, even before they were unpacked from the shipping boxes."

According to German news magazine Der Spiegel, during the filming of the 'War of the Worlds', a Scientology tent was pitched on the set of the movie.

When the paper confronted Tom about whether he was trying to recruit new members, he said he was "only trying to help people". When asked about the fact that he made Paramount executives tour the Scientology Celebrity Center, he repeated: "I just want to help people. I want everyone to do well."

Tom, even more worryingly, responded to claims that Scientology was considered a dangerous cult in Germany by saying: "A minority wants to hate — okay." When Spiegel responded by saying, "There is a difference between hate and having a critical perspective", Tom said: "For me, it's connected with intolerance."

As for claims that 'War of the Worlds' is a Scientology movie, Cruise has so far denied them.

Scientology's celeb critics

But for all it's power, Scientology has its critics – and they're celebs too. Take Elvis Presley for one. Alanna Nash writes in ' Elvis Aaron Presley: Revelations From The Memphis Mafia': "One day, in LA, we got in the limousine and went down to the Scientology Centre on Sunset, and Elvis went in and talked to them. We waited in the car, but apparently they started doing all these charts and crap for him. Elvis came out and said "Fuck those people! There's no way I'll ever get involved with that son-of-a-bitchin' group. All they want is my money". Well, Peggy still kept on about it, so Elvis didn't date her any more. And he stayed away from Scientology like it was a cobra. He'd shit a brick to see how far Lisa Marie's gotten into it."

Other critics include Brad Pitt, Nick Cage, Frank Zappa and Jerry Seinfeld. Jim Carey has been known to play prank calls on the Celebrity Center, shouting about how he's got these "things" stuck all over his body and he needs to get them off – apparently his ravings have the centre staff in a frenzy.

But for all its bizarre nature, Scientology is no joke. Like most cults (it enjoys an amicable relationship with the notorious Heaven's Gate group), it targets the young and the vulnerable, recruiting by offering seemingly harmless and free personality tests. Swing the spotlight away from the Hollywood walk of fame and the organisation's activities become a lot darker.

Scientology is seen as a dangerous cult in France and Germany — protestors to Tom Cruise's visit to Paris will attest to this — and it is not recognised as a religion in either the UK or Canada, though it enjoys tax-exempt status as a legal religion in the United States.

Scientology makes money and because of that it likes nothing more than having celebrities in its arsenal: as much as for their pulling power than for their deep pockets.

But by staying uncritical, and lapping up the Tom-Katie claptrap, the media and the public are making the Scientology myth — which hinges on the belief that ordinary people can become demi-gods — a reality.

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