The Church of High Rollaz

From the "This could only happen in Florida" files:

But mostly, folks in this picturesque Gulf Coast city have come to accept that Clearwater is to Scientologists what Salt Lake City is to Mormons, what Mecca is to Muslims. Though not everybody is happy about it.

[...]

The empire's thumbprint on the downtown corridor is considerable and conspicuous, from the uniformed church workers on the streets every day to the two dozen or so Scientology-owned buildings and other properties in the low-slung skyline, many of them fully or partially exempt from property taxes.

Emphasis mine.

Jesus Chuuurist look at that building. The article isn't clear on whether it's a church or just an administrative building. But if your "religion" has a building like that, chances are you can afford to pay property taxes. And that's true even assuming that Scientology didn't already hack the article and photoshop the top few floors off the building. Whenever I buy a house, I'm for sure going to try to get Nateism registered as an official religion.

To be fair, the article states in the final paragraph that the "church" paid about $900,000 in property taxes to the city last year, and its high rolla-ism stimulates the local economy. But still, let Travolta, Cruise and company pay the full tax rate that Joe Blow does, at least.

Rob,

I apologize in advance if this post causes TtP to be hacked by Scientology and revised to remove

the negative comments.

Love is a Battlefield Earth

He had to give a lot of money and eat a lot of placenta, but Tom Cruise has finally reached the highest level of Scientology. That level, known as "clear" (clear of what? Normalcy?), earns him the right to perform Scientology weddings. More here and here. Legend has it that a Scientology wedding involves [post your ideas in the comment section].

Reporter Goes Apeshit On Scientologist

John Sweeney, a BBC journalist, was working on a documentary about the CoS because the group/church/cult/whatever they are is apparently working its way into mainstream England in ways some Brits find chilling. Over time, things got testy, as is oft the case when anyone pokes around the Xenu destroyers and it looks like Sweeney was poking really hard. Then again, if he's like most journalists who've poked at the cult, he went in with his mind very made up. Anyway, the whole thing exploded into a scene of Sweeney going nuts on a Scientologist. Of course, it's on YouTube. As a journalist, it's fun to watch one's peers turn into fools. (Watch the YouTube here at Andrew Sullivan.)

Of course, Sweeney has issued a response.

"While making our BBC Panorama film "Scientology and Me" I have been shouted at, spied on, had my hotel invaded at midnight, denounced as a "bigot" by star Scientologists and been chased round the streets of Los Angeles by sinister strangers."

Travolta and Cruise calling someone a bigot? Sinister strangers in Los Angelese? Where can I get in on that?

Joking aside, we are at a very odd tipping point moment in psychology and psychiatry in the US and Britain and in other lands Western and high-tech. One that affects millions of people and billions of dollars and raises all sorts of uncomfortable questions about individual freedom--the psychological and behavioral kinds, at any rate--in modern urban America and elsewhere. But that's for another day.