Demagogue

This blog is generally a Hollywood celebrity-free space. But when someone is being a total asshat in the name of their religion, I make an exception. Plus I loathe Tom Cruise to begin with, he's one of the most overrated actors in this history of cinema, so he irks me anyways.

The backstory-- Brooke Shields recently wrote a memior about dealing with dehabilitating postpartum depression where she admits she took Paxil to treat it. In an interview Tom Cruise, the devoted Scientologist, said the following about Shields:

"When you talk about emotional, chemical imbalances in people, there is no science behind that. You can use vitamins to help a woman through those things," Cruise says, adding, "Here is a woman, and I care about Brooke Shields because I think she is an incredibly talented woman. You look at, where has her career gone?"

So a religion called "Scientology" eschews scientific facts such as chemical imbalances or denies the reality that bad postpartum depression, if left untreated, can be potentially dangerous for both the mother and baby. But Scientologists don't believe in science or medicine sort of the same way that the Christian Science Church rejects science and modern medicine in favor of prayer. I think both of these groups should strongly consider changing their names, they are quite misleading.

Also, any man who says that bad postpartum depression should be treated with vitamins deserves to pass a cantelope through his urethra and then take high, irregular doses of hormones for a year or so. What a jerk.