Amore Magazine

The Village Voice posted a very interesting article last week about how the Church of Scientology’s leader had Tom Cruise’s assistant (another Scientologist) provide him with daily reports on the actor's life. The spying started once Tom began seeing Nicole Kidman and he began to slowly cut ties with the church at the persistence of his soon-to-be bride and her parents. Unhappy to let a big star (and obvious obsession) pull away, the church's leader planted a spy to ensure that their aggressive plan to coax him back was tailored according to whatever weaknesses or problems Cruise had been facing. So basically they spied on him, manipulated him, and then brainwashed him. Fun times!

The Church's defected second-highest ranking executive participated in these daily briefing calls and alleges Tom's assistant would tell him what was "happening with Nic [Nicole Kidman], what was happening in the household, and what was happening between Tom and Steven Spielberg." The reporting began in the early 1990s.

See, this is what happens when you roll with the Scientologists. You get your phone bugged, you are consistently followed around town by a non-descript white moving van, and someone goes through your trash. You can’t even trust your assistant.

Is this a church you would want to call you own?

Maybe I am just old school. I prefer a church where I only have to show up on Sundays or maybe even just major holidays. No one asks questions, they are just happy you are there and hopeful you will drop a large chuck of change in the offertory basket. I prefer a relationship with my Priest that is distant and cordial. They don’t need to know that I watch Keeping Up With the Kardashians while running on my treadmill or that sometimes I watch Jersey Shore while my daughter plays with her blocks beside me. I like them to think I pray regularly and spend all my free time giving back to others. Why bother them with the reality that I usually reserve praying for finding parking spots and sometimes when faced with attending an 8:00 am service or sleeping in my pillow usually wins?

An additional highlight from the article:

Tom Cruise talks to ashtrays.

"Cruise, who was coming off his star turn in Days of Thunder, was spending a lot of time at the base as church leader David Miscavige groomed him to be an ideal face for the movement. Part of becoming a more advanced Scientologist meant that Cruise needed to learn how to "audit" -- or counsel -- other church members. Headley was chosen to be audited by Cruise, and the two spent hours and hours performing standard Scientology "training routines." As Headley explained to me in 2009, these drills included Cruise instructing Headley to talk to ashtrays, bottles, and books.”

Have you ever had a meaningful conversation with a water bottle?

I can’t even get my husband to listen to me half the time. So how does one get an ashtray to talk back to them?

-Kate Casey

Kate Casey is a Pop Culture Lover. PR Pro. New mom. Comedy nerd. Celebrity gossip fan. Follow her on Twitter