Like other religions Scientology has a scripture and a major aspect of the religion is the study of these scriptures.  In fact all Scientologists are expected to read Scientology books and listen to taped lectures that were recorded by L. Ron Hubbard (there are over 3000 of these!) and we are encouraged to study these as a routine in our lives.  There is absolutely NO requirement that one think or believe in any way with regard to these materials, but rather to study them and see if they are true.  Period.

However one aspect of Scientology is spiritual counseling, called "Auditing."  When someone undertakes to apply Scientology to another as an auditor he is required to do so with exact application of the techniques, exactly as laid out by LRH.  The same applies if one is using Scientology study technology to train someone -  you are expected to do this exactly as laid out.

Staff members are also required to apply LRH's administrative procedures exactly as written.

But that is because Scientology is both a religious philosophy and a religious practice, and exact application is required in the religious practice or it won't work.  Just as you can't build a bridge or a hellicopter unless you follow the laws of physics as studied in the technology of engineerinig.

So when you talk about "Scientology beliefs" where does this really fit?  In neither the technology nor the religious philosophy does "belief" enter in.

One place where belief is mentioned is in the Creed of the Church of Scientology.  Here L. Ron Hubbard lays out certain common concepts that are a thread throughout Scientology. 

I loved with the New York Times' Alessandra Stanley said:

"So that's what Tom Cruise really looks like.

"He is a passionate, stubborn, true believer, who can lecture Matt Lauer about the perils of Ritalin, psychiatry and talk-show-host glibness.

"Whatever else it may do - or undo - for the movie star, Mr. Cruise's off-message, antidrug performance on "Today" yesterday on NBC cleared up one misconception about L. Ron Hubbard's mysterious church: Scientology does not command loyalty from celebrities by protecting their privacy and whitewashing their image.

"Mr. Cruise seemed unbound, and perhaps even a little unsound, but there was something enjoyably bracing and bold about his outburst. It was as jarring as his crazy-in-love ode to the actress Katie Holmes on Oprah Winfrey's show last month, and that was perhaps the most e-mailed video clip since the Howard Dean Scream. But this latest display of kookiness lent the actor new credibility: his over-the-top declarations of love may look to some like a publicity stunt, but there was nothing self-serving or career-enhancing about his rant with Mr. Lauer.

" 'Matt, Matt, you don't even - you're glib,' Mr. Cruise said. 'You don't even know what Ritalin is. If you start talking about chemical imbalance, you have to evaluate and read the research papers on how they came up with these theories, Matt, O.K.? That's what I've done.' "

"And, actually, he had a point. Morning talk show hosts are facile and heavily scripted, and too often they recite streams of perceived wisdom as if they were undeniable facts. Mr. Lauer showed grace but not much intellectual skill as he was out-debated by a Hollywood actor who described psychiatry as a pseudoscience and said vitamins and exercise could cure postpartum depression.

"But Mr. Lauer was also lucky. Mr. Cruise provided exactly what talk show hosts are supposed to elicit from celebrity guests and so rarely do: sincerity. Viewers have become so inured to the gamesmanship of the celebrity "get," that it is now a running joke, even on game shows.

"On Friday, a contestant on Meredith Vieira's daytime quiz show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire " game show was asked to select from a list of celebrities that included Courtney Love and Patrick Swayze the one who had not wept during a Barbara Walters interview. (Answer: Diane Keaton.)

"Mr. Cruise has appeared on almost every imaginable talk show to promote his latest film, "War of the Worlds," and he has shed some of his boyish good humor. He sternly confronted a prankster who squirted him with a water toy at the film's London premiere; he grimly shrugs off the skeptics who mock his rapture for Ms. Holmes. (Even on MSNBC yesterday, the daytime anchors played and replayed tape of the couple ostentatiously kissing at the New York opening, and derisively rolled their eyes.)

"When David Letterman asked Mr. Cruise the same questions on Thursday night that he used in their last interview on his show last summer, the actor called him on it.

"And he went way off on a tangent with Mr. Lauer, veering away from his movie and new fiancée to defend his attack on Brooke Shields. (He reproached her for relying on antidepressants to treat her postpartum blues.) "She doesn't understand the history of psychiatry in the same way you don't understand it, Matt," the actor said. Mr. Lauer sputtered a response, but Mr. Cruise was adamant. "And to talk about it in a way of saying, 'Well, isn't it O.K.?' and being reasonable about it when you don't know and I do, I think that you should be a little bit more responsible in knowing what it is."

"It was not the agreeable, affable Tom Cruise that viewers are accustomed to, and that alone made it worth a glance: an actor who has kicked the publicist habit."

And thank you Alesandra for having the courage to say what you see.