John Travolta has come out in support of Scientology after the documentary Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief depicted the church as dangerous.
The actor, who originally converted in 1975, has defended the religion in an interview with The Tampa Bay Times, saying that he hasn’t watched the film and that he doesn’t “really care to” see it.
“I haven’t experienced anything that the hearsay has [claimed], so why would I communicate something that wasn’t true for me?” he said. “It wouldn’t make sense, nor would it for Tom [Cruise], I imagine.”
In the film, directed by Alex Gibney, it’s claimed that members of the religion were physically abused and that Travolta was made aware of this. Instead, he claims that the religion has been an integral and inspiring part of his life.
“I’ve been brought through storms that were insurmountable,” he said, saying that Scientology has “been so beautiful for me, that I can’t even imagine attacking it.” He also believes that it’s allowed him to make life easier for others.
“I’ve helped so many people through hard times,” he said. “Loss of children, loved ones, physical illnesses. Through many tough, tough life situations I’ve used the technology to support them and help them. It’s always worked.
“So, why would I even approach a negative perspective? That would be a crime to me, personally, to do that.”
The church has already denied the claims made about ill-treatment and corruption highlighted in the film.
“In two hours this film racks up more falsehoods, errors, embellished tales and blatant omissions than were committed by Rolling Stone, Brian Williams and Bill O’Reilly combined. By our calculation, the film on average includes at least one major error every two minutes,” a letter to The Hollywood Reporter read last month.
