This week it’s answers about why Tom Cruise believes in Scientology, Jim Bakker as a human predator, why people can get away with believing stupid things and a lot more. Enjoy!
(1) Jim Bakker had a massively successful Christian ministry in 1988 called the PTL Network. He raised over 158 million dollars along with his wife and was able to build a full scale theme park called Heritage USA. Perhaps this is a simple question, but why would he, as a supposedly pious person, have an affair with church secretary Jessica Hahn and throw it all away? Do you think he simply gave in to temptation or was he a narcissist who thought he could get away with anything?
(2) I hear more and more about QAnon and cults and it just baffles me. The latest was a Telltale video about the QAnoner who died after contracting Covid I know you’ve talked about this kind of thinking before, but it boggles my mind how people can fall into such fantastical thinking without question. Or maybe we’re living just like Alice in that old story “Through the Looking Glass.” When we watch movies or read novels, we employ a thing called “the willing suspension of disbelief”. We choose to allow ourselves to believe that what we’re seeing or reading is true at that moment. Thing is, most people, when the movie ends, leave feeling entertained (unless it’s Battlefield Earth), but they don’t continue to think it was real. It seems, in the case of cult followers and QAnon, that they’ve suspended disbelief as a way of living. I’d be interested in your thoughts about this.
(3) How do you approach spirituality, if at all, after leaving a cult? Most people are drawn to religions or cults to find answers about life, our purpose in the world, inner peace, the afterlife, etc. What are your thoughts on these topics post-Scientology? Do you find it hard to believe in anything now for fear of being duped again?
(4) I was thinking recently and I was wondering where you think Tom Cruise’s seeming devotion to Scientology comes from. Personally, I wonder if it has more to do with his friendship with David Miscavaige than any actual belief in Scientology. So, let’s say Miscavaige passes away in 25 years or so. Is the now-older Tom Cruise likely to still be a public Scientologist, or would he just quietly slip away? And would the death of Miscavaige cause Cruise to rethink whether he wants to be involved in Scientology at all?
(5) Why is the city council in Clearwater against Aaron Smith-Levin winning a seat?
(6) I would like to know why, and how we could possibly benifit by opening our southern border.? All politics aside who is going to make money off this travesty? Its a good way to ruin our country. Thanks and keep up the good work.