German's aren't so bad.

[nthfinity]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6240312.stm

Germany imposes ban on Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Stauffenberg's son has objected to Cruise playing his father
Germany has banned the makers of Tom Cruise's new movie from filming at military sites in the country because the actor is a Scientologist.

The German defence ministry said Cruise has "publicly professed to being a member of the Scientology cult".

Scientology masquerades as a religion to make money, Germany said, but leaders of the church reject this.

Cruise's producing partner Paula Wagner said the star's own convictions had no relation to the film's content.

"Personal beliefs have absolutely no bearing on the movie's plot or themes," she said.

'Heroic and principled'

Scientology has been monitored in Germany in the belief that its activities are "directed against the free democratic order" in the country.

Its status there as a commercial enterprise has prompted repeated protests from the organisation.


Paula Wagner
[Cruise's] personal beliefs have absolutely no bearing on the movie's plot, themes or content
Paula Wagner, Tom Cruise's co-producer

Cruise will play Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg in Valkyrie, leader of the 1944 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler using a bomb hidden in a briefcase, scheduled for release next year.

German defence ministry spokesman Harald Kammerbauer said that Germany's military "has a special interest in the serious and authentic portrayal of the events of July 20, 1944 and Stauffenberg's person".

Wagner said Cruise's portrayal in the film would be as a "heroic and principled figure", while "Germany is the only place we can truly do the story justice".

"We believe the film will go a long way toward reminding the world that even within the ranks of the German military, there was real resistance to the Nazi regime," she added.

Stauffenberg's son Berthold told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper earlier this week that he objected to Cruise taking the role because of his involvement with Scientology.

"He should keep his hands off my father," Mr von Stauffenberg said.

Mr Kammerbauer, meanwhile, said that official requests for filming in the country had yet to be received.
It appears that Germans hate Cruise as much as Americans hate Paris

[MotorWorld]

[mr burns]excellent![/mr burns]

[gucom]

as much as i dislike him, to ban the entire movie based on his personal beliefs goes too far i think, although i know very little of scientology... it does indeed have a pretty bad reputation

[ARMAN]

As far as I know its one political party in germany that "have a problem" with scientology and attacs it constatntly in media etc.
Dont know if mayor german public sees Cruise are americans sees Paris but I dont think so 8) german members could say how it is maybe.

The guy didnt have a problem with Cruise playing his father
So what do Stauffenberg's descendents think of a prominent Scientologist depicting their grandfather, a semi-hero in Germany after being executed by the Nazis for attempting to kill Hitler with two suitcase bombs on July 21, 1944? Grandson Caspar Graf von Stauffenberg, 41, told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper in March that he "didn't have any fundamental problem with a new film being made about his grandfather -- after all, this medium is good for explaining history." Nor is he bothered by the fact that Cruise is a Scientologist. "But it would bother me if the film were financed by Scientology in order to advance its propaganda," he said. "But we as the Stauffenberg family will not fight the film. After all, my grandfather was a historical figure."
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,489129,00.html thats a GERMAN news channel not BBC.
what could happen? :hmm:

[Pokiou]

lol ill convert to Scientology if it gets me a Lamborghini and a Ferrari in my driveway lol

[ARMAN]

Actually you dont make alot of money working there no matter what post you are on, that I am telling from a first hand experience. As in any organization the longer you work there the "more" your pay is but its not as much as you get in any other job.

[Shinigami]

although i know very little of scientology... it does indeed have a pretty bad reputationTo sum it up, it's pretty much like christianism, you tell a bunch of easily swayed individuals a bunch of crock, and then take their money from them. Only in christianism, you also rape their kids for good measure ;)

[nthfinity]

although i know very little of scientology... it does indeed have a pretty bad reputationTo sum it up, it's pretty much like christianism, you tell a bunch of easily swayed individuals a bunch of crock, and then take their money from them. Only in christianism, you also rape their kids for good measure ;)

Christianity requires zero money to do anything to be a member. It is your own prerogative to give any money to the church, and anybody can become a member. There is no restriction on age, race, creed, sexuality, or anything. There may be core christian beliefs that aren't supportive of various lifestyles, but the church cannot reject you (outside of catholosism anyway... which I don't think has been done for a very long time anyway... anybody know when the last excommunication was?)

The longer your in the christian church, you do not get paid more.... you do not get paid, unless you are working for the church in some kind of regular way.... e.g. the pastor, the janitor... Some churches are more scrupulous then others with the money collected. A great deal of money goes straight to missions work, be it in Iowa, or India... most churches have outreach programs that give aid to those who need it, and work with them so that they may overcome the situation they are in... much of this kind of work by the various churches around the world goes unnoticed by the media, and the world at large.

On a missions trip, nobody makes a dime, every necessity is covered, but there is no pay.

Scientology requires substantial pay to increase one's level in scientology... usually accompanied by a new book which is a majority of that cost.

There have been legal battles in the USA over the "fair use" doctrine pertaining to these books... scientologists have sued the pants off anybody who has published even a small amount of script in these upper level books (that cost 25,000$ mind you)

[Shinigami]

So you're saying the church is not rich? I guess it must be BS that the Vatican is one of the richest countries in the world ;)

Granted, not all 'church establishments' ask their members for money, but there's the occasional black sheep core group of fanatics who know how to milk their followers for all it's worth.

What was it being said early this year about one such establishment telling their followers all the money they've raised would be used to buy a jet in order to spread the word of god throughout the world, and instead it was found that the jet was primarily used to fly the heads of said church to Hawaii and other holiday spots for some partying down at the beaches (all expenses paid by the sheep).

I'm sorry, but the 99% of all churches are money grubbing bastards. I'm extremely disappointed in them as I too was brought up a christian and found that the amount of lies thrown in my face was preposterous.

In fact, if I could, I'd go back and demand all the money my parents paid to the church just for one silly 'jesus camp' which is a sort of obligatory event held in Finland where you get a second christening at the age of 16. I was told if I didn't do it, I could not legally get married, so off I went (and hated every minute).

It was only later that I found out that there was nothing to those words and getting married 'the christian way' could happen no problem (just some money had to exchange hands, funnily enough, for something which should be a given right for any 'proper' christian you'd think).

Not all churches are bad, but I'm not going to break my back anymore trying to find a fair one. Way too many lies, way too many tainted stories, and way too many taking advantage of the feeble ;)

[philip]

By banning the movie they have created alot of publicity for the movie and Scientology. Had they just left it alone it would have served there purposes better.

If your confused about Scientology, view the Southpark episodes. They apparently believe they can cure gayness, this is why Tom and John are members.

[dutchmasterflex]

But they gladly take David Hasselhof in with open arms... :lol:

[philip]

By banning the movie they have created alot of publicity for the movie and Scientology. Had they just left it alone it would have served there purposes better.

If your confused about Scientology, view the Southpark episodes. They apparently believe they can cure gayness, this is why Tom and John are members.

What, there's no vaccine for it? :shock: :wink:

Gayness in males is apparently related to the testosterone in the mother's womb. First born male least likely to be gay. Last born male most likely. After 14 male children, mother has a 50/50 chance of having last male child gay.

Mother's womb adversly reacts to the testosterone present in the male fetus, apparently triggering the change. More male children the more likely for the reaction to occur. All this is still under study.

Lesbianism however is apparently purely environmental.

[nthfinity]

...

yeah, there are money grubbing guys out there... but I'd argue (at least here) that there are far more who are scrupulous. Secondly, I have no problem with a evangelist of some sort asking for money.. be it to take his daughter for a 15,000$ spending spree in NYC for a weekend (Bishop Keith Butler), or to buy a 15,000 sq. ft. mansion. That doesn't mean that I'm going to give a penny to those guys, but they make every effort that the congregation knows where the money is going. As a church grows, then so does it's income.. it is natural then that the heads of the church earn a better living.

The second you say "they should only earn xx amount of dollars" is when freedom is broken.

The church may "Demand" money, but in no way do they require you to give them it at any time. Thats all I'm saying.

OH, and don't get me started on Catholosism.... I have a lot of problems with the way they run their church.

[silentm]

who's tom cruise again? oh yeah i remember ... he jumped up and down on that show on TV shouting he loves someone.

meh i don't give a fuck about him or this movie. so let him be...

[Mattk]

Christianity requires zero money to do anything to be a member.

Not the Hillsong Church. They make rock songs about Jesus and make their members fund the recordings and buy their CDs. They also have a TV show every Sunday morning at 6:30 or so.

Anyway, I read about this and I thought it was pretty extreme for the Germans to ban a Tom Cruise film about a German soldier because Tom Cruise has quirky religious beliefs. As much as I am fascinated by history, though, I would not watch this film as I do not think Stauffenberg was a hero. He was a selfish bugger who wanted to grab power for himself, and it served him right that he was caught and shot.