Have you ever seen The Commitments? Based on the Roddy Doyle novel of the same name, this wonderful piece of cinema follows a group of unemployed Dublin losers who decide to form a soul band. While convincing his friends that white people can in fact play soul music, band manager Jimmy Rabbitte slings the classic line, "Do you not get it, lads? The Irish are the blacks of Europe. And Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland. And the Northside Dubliners are the blacks of Dublin. So say it once, say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud."Now, there's really no reason for me to bring this up other than the fact that I needed a contextual basis for my declaration that Scientologists are the blacks of Hollywood. Black sheep that is. The oppressed underdogs. Isaac "Chef" Hayes, a devout member of L. Ron Hubbard's religion, even quit his longtime role on the popular Comedy Central series South Park after it ruthlessly ridiculed Scientology in the episode "Trapped in the Closet."

In recent years, the ridicule has bordered on a rampant hate campaign. I mean sure, the whole religion could be viewed as pure crock-'o-poop-ism. (After all, it was invented by the guy who wrote Starship Troopers!) But isn't it unfair for us to ridicule such an infant ideology? Was Christ not mocked for his kind words? Was Moses not accused of senility and poor hearing? Was Mohammed not called a cheap con man? With time comes religious legitimacy, and Scientology has a long way to go before tall tale passes to story, to myth, to legend and finally, to doctrine.

The latest link in this cruel, cold, oppressing chain of hate is the already-oft-ridiculed Tom "Top Risky Samurai" Cruise. Recently, a video recorded in 2004 by Cruise for use by the Church of Scientology was leaked on to the Internet and has been a great source of discussion and derision ever since. In the video, Cruise gives a fireside-chat style sermon on what Scientology has done for him, what it can do for others, as well as his desire to help other people.

Now, somehow, this message has been construed as some sort of creepy indoctrination manifesto. But the amount of attention leveled at it has been almost entirely unwarranted. What about the massive indoctrination campaigns of the Evangelical movement? Or even those poor kids on Birthright? Maybe we should be focusing our attention on the movements that actually have power in this country, not a celebrity pastime. After all, what's wrong with Tom Cruise preaching about helping his fellow man? Sure, Christianity advocates the same position, but it hasn't exactly delivered consistently in the last two millennia. Let's give these poor boys a break.