When you ask what comes to mind when you think of Tom Cruise, most people will say he is a blockbuster movie star known for films like Mission Impossible and Top Gun.

However, I first think of him as a strange actor who believes in the mysterious cult religion called Scientology.

Scientology is a religion created in the 1950s by a science fiction writer named L. Ron Hubbard. Just from this point, it's already laughable, right? Haha.

Christianity has prophets, Buddhism has practitioners, but Scientology has a novelist.

Moreover, Hubbard reportedly said, "Creating a religion is the best way to make money," so it's cult-like from the start. The imaginative fiction he wrote has transformed into religious doctrine, which is exactly what Scientology is.

Looking into the doctrine makes it even more absurd. The core belief is that humans are not just physical bodies but spiritual beings called 'thetans,' which supposedly wandered the universe and became trapped in human bodies on Earth. Just this alone is absurd enough, but when you hear that an alien leader named Xenu dropped billions of souls into a volcano, leading to the current human race, it sounds like the plot of a B-grade sci-fi movie.

If this religion had just remained strange, it might have been forgotten, but the situation changed when the super star Tom Cruise became deeply involved.

He was introduced to it in the 1980s through his ex-wife Mimi Rogers and later became a prominent member of the church. Scientology has promoted Tom Cruise as if he were an ambassador, and there are many stories that suggest they even intervened in his relationships and marriages. It's already well-known that his ex-wives, Nicole Kidman and Katie Holmes, had conflicts with Scientology, and there are rumors that Katie Holmes divorced to protect their child from the religion.

Tom Cruise himself has shown several incomprehensible behaviors due to the religion.

One notable example is the scene where he jumped on Oprah Winfrey's couch shouting about love. It's analyzed that this was not just excitement over a romance but rather a display of Scientology-style self-assurance and performance philosophy. Additionally, since Scientology strongly opposes psychiatric treatment, Tom Cruise openly stated, "There's no need for antidepressants; you should overcome it with exercise and willpower."

Scientology is not just strange in its doctrine but also comical in its operational methods.

There is a purification process that requires more money and loyalty as you progress through the levels. In other words, it's like a 'pay-to-level-up religious version.' They claim to use scientific equipment, but there are testimonies that it's actually a form of brainwashing that implants false memories or gives electric shocks. Hubbard's representative work, 'Battlefield Earth,' was somewhat enjoyable to read, but the movie starring John Travolta was a disaster, ironically, the religion still survives.

Internationally, while it is classified as an official religion in the United States, it is still considered a cult due to its bizarre actions. In Commonwealth countries like the UK, Canada, and Australia, and some European countries, it has been recognized as a religion. It's astonishing that in South Africa, marriages conducted in the Scientology way are legally recognized. On the other hand, in countries like France, it is classified as a heretical new religion and punished for fraud and extortion.

Ultimately, the reason Scientology still exists is that it has been legally recognized as a religion, and a global star like Tom Cruise actively maintains his faith and serves as a prominent figure. The immense Hollywood star power has become a promotional tool for the religion.

So, while people watch Tom Cruise movies and laugh, saying, "That's possible only in movies," when they look into his religious life, they can't help but think, "That's reality, but it's more like a movie than a movie itself." Perhaps the world's best action star has ultimately jumped into the reality of religious absurdity.

Scientology is a religion that endures due to its absurd doctrines, money-driven structure, and Hollywood star power. Seeing Tom Cruise at its center makes the saying that reality is more comedic than movies feel very real.