Germany bans Cruise film shoot from military sites (Scientology)

al-Reuters ^ | 25 June 2007 | Louis Charbonneau

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

Germany has barred the makers of a movie about a plot to kill Adolf Hitler from filming at German military sites because its star Tom Cruise is a Scientologist, the Defense Ministry said on Monday.

Cruise, also one of the film's producers, is a member of the Church of Scientology which the German government does not recognize as a church. Berlin says it masquerades as a religion to make money, a charge Scientology leaders reject.

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

Defense Ministry spokesman Harald Kammerbauer said the film makers "will not be allowed to film at German military sites if Count Stauffenberg is played by Tom Cruise, who has publicly professed to being a member of the Scientology cult".

Not defending the Cult which shall not be named, but this is an object example of what happens when you let governments think they can tell people what is and isn't acceptable in their religious beliefs.

[mainepatsfan]

Ugh. This is an important story to tell and they had to ruin it by casting Cruise as Stauffenberg.

[mutantcoil]

Those nutcases have the right to believe whatever insane thing they want. Who is the government to tell them otherwise?

[Vaquero]

ALL HALE XENU!!

[Taiku]

Germany’s history of religious intolerance is well known (my murdered relatives can attest to that) -— this is just one more chapter in their book of shame. Mr. Cruise, like the Rebbe, like the pope, even like ahmadnutjob, have every right to believe what they want to. Where I draw the line is foisting those beliefs and practices onto unwilling others by laws or by force. Merkel is no better than the islamofascists taking over her country on this issue....

[Taiku]

oops...I meant Kammerbauer, not Merkel

[TheDon]

I doubt that religion has anything to do with the reason for not allowing the movie to be filmed at the requested locations.

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

It was explicitly the stated reason (now, it may not have been the real reason, however....

Defense Ministry spokesman Harald Kammerbauer said the film makers "will not be allowed to film at German military sites if Count Stauffenberg is played by Tom Cruise, who has publicly professed to being a member of the Scientology cult".

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

Europe in general has never been (and still isn't) very good on the whole issue of religious freedom. The Jewish people aren't the only ones who've suffered for their faith, though they are the ones who have done so most systematically and severely. The Roma people, whose religion would be considered pagan, have also suffered the depradations of religious persecution and pogroms at times. The Thirty Years War (and associated other conflicts) involved a lot of religious intolerance between Catholics and Protestants, to say the least. The various Baptistic groups and other Bible-believing dissenters (Waldensians, Bogomils, Paulicians, Anabaptists, etc. etc.) were routinely persecuted by Catholics throughout European history, and by the Calvinists after the rise of Protestantism.

Caesaropapism and Papocaesarism are anathema to human liberty.

[janereinheimer]

For all the people who moan and groan about what they don’t like about the politics in the United States seem to forget that this is the greatest country on the planet.

All they have to do is set foot in other countries to realize that there are plenty of oppressive regimes out there who have no intention of allowing freedom of expression or freedom of religion.

And I don’t care what they say about it, we have our U.S. Military to thank for our freedoms. It’s the soldiers who protect the American way of life.

As citizens, we have a debt of gratitude to each and every one of them. And I, for one, am grateful to our military.

[-YYZ-]

“Not defending the Cult which shall not be named, but this is an object example of what happens when you let governments think they can tell people what is and isn’t acceptable in their religious beliefs.”

I tend to agree. While I have no use for the evil mind-control cult known as $cientology, I hardly think that the fact that Cruise is a member of it is reason to ban him from shooting a film at certain military sites. The gov’t would never get away with that in Canada or the US.

[lowbridge]

Ugh. This is an important story to tell and they had to ruin it by casting Cruise as Stauffenberg.

Exactly. Cruise hasnt been believeable in anything since "Risky Business" (In my opinion)

[Illuminatas]

Xenu is my homeboy.

[RobinOfKingston]

... Count Stauffenberg is played by Tom Cruise, ...

It is amazing that with 300,000,000 people in America, give or take, legal and illegal, that hollywood continues to use the same tiny handful of recycled, vacuous ninnies.

The same for Network news.

The same for our 'elected officials' at all levels, though that remains the fault of 'we the people.'

[CatoRenasci]

The Germans are right about the cult, but dead wrong about banning the filming because of an actor’s cult affiliation. Stupid.

[lowbridge]

Cruise casting criticised by character's decendant

Stauffenberg's Son on Tom Cruise Film: 'It's Bound To Be Rubbish'

Family of German war hero slam Cruise casting

Stauffenberg's son horrified over Cruise portraying his dad

[wolf78]

Germany’s history of religious intolerance is well known (my murdered relatives can attest to that) -— this is just one more chapter in their book of shame. Mr. Cruise, like the Rebbe, like the pope, even like ahmadnutjob, have every right to believe what they want to. Where I draw the line is foisting those beliefs and practices onto unwilling others by laws or by force. Merkel is no better than the islamofascists taking over her country on this issue....

Nonsense. The question here is not freedom of religion but property rights. After all, the US military also decided not to support the makers of "Hot Shots!".

[stinkerpot65]

Germany also sends in SWAT teams to arrest homeschooled children an puts them in mental institutions.

[duckln]

Fraud is a crime and Scientology is a fraud.