Is Katie Holmes Scientology’s worst fear?

Reports suggest that Holmes’ split with Cruise out of fear for their daughter Suri.

The blindsided announcement of Katie Holmes’ divorce from Tom Cruise may have to do with keeping their daughter, Suri, away from the Church of Scientology, of which Cruise is a member. According to The Hollywood Reporter, ex-members of the church have been praising Holmes for her bravery in combating it using its own tactic; aggression.

“With Katie, it’s like she’s taking a leaf from L Ron Hubbard’s own playbook,” said Marc Headley, who fled the church in 2005 with the help of police, and worked closely with Cruise and Scientology’s powerful chairman, David Miscavige. “Hubbard always said: Attack, don’t defend.”

In a statement issued this week, Jenna Miscavige Hill, the niece of David Miscavige and a former Scientologist herself, said about life as a Scientologist: “I was allowed to see my parents only once a week at best – sometimes not for years.”

The church has a history of intimidating, harassing and even exiling its members, including their own families. ”We got a lousy education from unqualified teachers, forced labour, long hours, forced confessions, being held in rooms, not to mention the mental anguish of trying to figure out all of the conflicting information they force upon you as a young child,” continued Hill, who has given her support to Holmes.

Holmes recently disclosed she is sure the Church is following her and fears for her daughter’s safety.

“I have no doubt that she’s being tailed by them. But she had to have planned this very carefully, right down to using disposable cell phones and laptops to throw people off her trail. It had to have been a very cloak-and-dagger operation,” says Karen De La Carriere, wife of Heber Jentzsch, Scientology’s long-time president, and formerly one of the most powerful executives in the church, until her sudden departure in 2010. “Katie ambushed Tom Cruise and in doing so outwitted some of the most controlling people on earth.”

One thing’s for sure, Holmes is sending a strong message to the Scientology community. She’s showing them that regardless of Cruise’s ties to the inner circle of the Church, she is determined and ready to fight.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 6^th, 2012.