Dear Gary, I do not know Tom Cruise and have read very little about him. But I have formed the impression that he makes irresponsible and misguided assertions about psychology and psychiatry. As to Scientology, I have not read anything on that subject in nearly 40 years, but everything I read left a very bad impression on me. When Nathaniel Branden Institute was operating, we had a "Book Club" department where we recommended and offered for sale books we thought would be of value to Objectivists. One such book included a chapter highly critical of Scientology. I received a threatening letter from someone allegedly in the Scientology hierarchy, saying that if I did not withdraw support for this book, seriously unpleasant things would befall me. I think I was intended to interpret this as life-threatening. I did not withdraw support for the book and that was the end of that. Years later a friend of mine rose quite high in the Scientology world, tried to convert me, later broke free of it when he decided it was a dangerous racket, and left me with the conclusion that Scientology was bad news. Over the years, I heard more negative reports. One person conveyed he was placing his life in danger by telling me some of the things he reported. I hope this this is of some value to you. Cordially, Nathaniel Branden www.nathanielbranden.net
