{"id":1613,"date":"2008-01-11T12:36:32","date_gmt":"2008-01-11T12:36:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/idolchatter\/2008\/01\/this-just-in-scientology-uses.html"},"modified":"2008-01-11T12:36:32","modified_gmt":"2008-01-11T12:36:32","slug":"this-just-in-scientology-uses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2008\/01\/this-just-in-scientology-uses.html","title":{"rendered":"This Just In: Scientology Uses Celebs to Draw Recruits"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"scientologycentre.jpg\"The New Yorker magazine this week takes a peek inside <\/a>the Church of Scientology\u2019s Celebrity Centre, the hulking but elegance Hollywood palace that serves as the church\u2019s clubhouse for the likes of Tom Cruise, John Travolta and other Sci-celebs. Built by a silent-movie director\u2019s widow as a swanky hostel for movie stars, the former Chateau Elysee was purchased by the Scientologists in 1973 and restored to its former splendor.<\/p>\n


\nThe piece attempts to shame the church for invoking its grand past, noting that a menu from its Hollywood heyday hangs in the modern day restaurant–featuring creamed turnips, gooseberry cobbler, and a $1.50 filet-mignon dinner. \u201cIt\u2019s as if Falun Gong bought the Algonquin and advertised the gin Martinis that Dorothy Parker used to drink,\u201d snarks author Dana Goodyear. She quotes industry types who claim they were proselytized at the Centre.
\nBut Goodyear ends up gawking like a schoolgirl at the lush life, past and present, and try as she might, she can\u2019t catch the Scientologists being duplicitous about their aims. \u201c\u201cThose seminars are absolutely, utterly, entirely an introduction to Scientology,\u201d Celebrity Centre Greg LeClaire tells her. \u201cThey are an introductory service of the Church.\u201d The best bubble-bursting moment is when tour guides wiggle their fingers at visitors and satirically hiss, \u201c\u201cWoooo, it\u2019s so spooky, we\u2019re Scientologists.\u201d
\nChurch officials also frankly admit that they use celebrities to build interest in Scientology. But the celebrity connection works both ways. The Celebrity Centre holds workshops and holiday parties that are target-rich events for networkers. As a Scientology official tells the New Yorker, \u201cA huge percentage of Scientologists who are well-known weren\u2019t well-known before Scientology.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New Yorker magazine this week takes a peek inside the Church of Scientology\u2019s Celebrity Centre, the hulking but elegance Hollywood palace that serves as the church\u2019s clubhouse for the likes of Tom Cruise, John Travolta and other Sci-celebs. Built by a silent-movie director\u2019s widow as a swanky hostel for movie stars, the former Chateau…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-television"],"yoast_head":"\nThis Just In: Scientology Uses Celebs to Draw Recruits<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2008\/01\/this-just-in-scientology-uses.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"This Just In: Scientology Uses Celebs to Draw Recruits\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The New Yorker magazine this week takes a peek inside the Church of Scientology\u2019s Celebrity Centre, the hulking but elegance Hollywood palace that serves as the church\u2019s clubhouse for the likes of Tom Cruise, John Travolta and other Sci-celebs. 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