More scientology hoodoo.

I'm not the only one who noticed the Katie Holmes "conversion" to scientology story. This is from theOneRepublic and Cliff Kincaid:

Actress Katie Holmes, who was raised a Catholic, has announced that she is excited about taking lessons in Scientology, a New Age religion started by the late science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. Her new boyfriend and future husband, box-office megastar Tom Cruise, 42, is a Scientologist and has become very vocal in the media about it. A flurry of stories has appeared about Holmes, 26, converting to Scientology.

But the Los Angeles Times noted a bit of hypocrisy in the reaction of Hollywood to this development: “Although Hollywood reacted in panic last year to Mel Gibson’s evangelical zeal tied to the release of ‘The Passion of the Christ,’ it has generally responded to Cruise’s Scientology fervor with determinedly closed-lipped tolerance.”

It’s much more than tolerance. Converting to Scientology is considered fashionable. But if Mel Gibson were dating a young lady and it was announced that she was leaving her established religion or church to convert to his brand of conservative Catholicism, you could anticipate a wave of revulsion and horror.

The difference between Scientology and Catholicism is immense. For years, Scientology fought a battle with the IRS because the government would not recognize its claim to be a religion. The IRS finally granted Scientology its desired status under President Bill Clinton, the recipient of massive donations from the Hollywood glitterati.

If you go to the group’s website, under the “What is Scientology?” category, you won’t find a reference to Scientologists believing in God. Instead, you read such things as “The aims of Scientology are a world without insanity, without criminals, without war, where the able can prosper and where Man is free to rise to greater heights.”