One of my favorite South Park episodes of all time.

Nicole: [knocks on the closet door] Tom? Tom, It's Nicole.

Cruise: Ah hi Nicole.

Nicole: Tom, don't you think this has gone on long enough? It's time for you to come out of the clsoet.

Cruise: ...I'm not, I'm not in the closet.

Nicole: Yes you are, Tom. And you need to just end this and come out. [silence] I'm not gonna think any differently of you. Kaite's not gonna think any differently of you. You don't need to be in that closet anymore, Tom.

Cruise: I'm not in here, though.

Nicole: Yes, you are.

Cruise: I'm not, ...I'm not in the closet.

Nicole: Then how am I talking to you, Tom? [silence] Tom, you can't hide forever just because the reincarnation of L. Ron Hubbard doesn't like your acting. Come out of the closet, Tom. You're not fooling anyone.

Cruise: I'm, I'm not, I'm not in here.

And later:

Travolta: Tom! Hey Tom, this is John Travolta.

Cruise: Oh hey John.

Travolta: Tom, you've gotta come out of the closet. Oh my Gahd.

Cruise: L. Ron Hubbard doesn't think I'm a great actor.

Travolta: Mm-maybe you took what he said out of context. Okay, 's like, if you don't come out, can I at least come in and talk to you?

Cruise: Oh... Okay, but no tricks.

Travolta: No tricks. [gives the group standing out in the hall a thumbs-up. The door opens and John goes into the closet.] Hey, it's really nice n here.

Cruise: Yeah, see?

Travolta: I feel really safe. Oh my Gahd.

Randy: [knocks] Hello? [tries to force the door open] Hey, come out of there!

I don't know why Chef would quit now instead of BEFORE this episdoe aired- unless the evil Scientologists FORCED him to after the saw it.

Which just goes to show they are still controlled by the Thetans... or whatever.

I remember reading that he sat out that episode because of the Scientology issue, but I think he would have said something a bit before now.

It's incredibly obvious Hayes is just upset because Parker and Stone finally made fun of *him* instead of everyone else in the world, including themselves. Hayes had no problem being bigoted towards gays, Christians, atheists, Republicans, Catholics, Democrats, Hollywood stars, Muslims, Hispanics... etc... but its only when Scientology comes up that he quits.

Sort of like the people who laughed through the Scientology episode but got the Catholic episode the week after banned.

Ever see the Mormon episode? I had a mormon co-worker. I'd been trying for a long time to get him to watch South Park, as he was somewhat libertarian and I thought he'd enjoy it. That wound up being the first episode he ever saw.

He loved it.

The next day at work, he recounted the entire episode, over and over, to each of his Mormon co-workers (we had just integrated the Salt Lake City office into our Houston office--hence all the Mormons). They all thought it was great too. For some strange reason, my Mormon coworkers' ability to laugh at themselves and some of the rather sillier aspects of their religion increased my respect for Mormonism all together.

Adam: what's this about a banned Catholic episode? I'd never heard about that...

www.xenu.net covers the Scientology phenomenon. They're not particularly favorable, but given the anecdotes they've got, it's no wonder.

I am a Scientologist of 30 years and very proud to be so. The aforementioned South Park show was a grossly inaccurate representation of the Scientology philosophy and it's tenets and applications. (They couldn't even pronounce Thetan correctly...or perhaps that was a deliberate attempt to be "funny".) It is one thing to satirize something based on fact, and then exaggerate for the sake of comedic impact. But this was nothing more than an irresponsible distortion based on lies (half-truths at best) and conjecture and...someone else's misinterpretation of studies and activities they obviously never even took the time to research with an unbiased point of view. I will bet that if the show which satirized the Mormons (or any other religion South Park has chosen to bash) blatantly and outwardly referenced their religion as a worldwide "scam", they wouldn't have been so favorably entertained as to "laugh at themselves".

(A sidenote: Did the producers and writers believe themselves to be so expert and ordained in the teachings of Scientology as to be empowered to include their caption "This is what Scientologists really believe"?)

I won't bother to waste anyone's time defending what I know to be true and accurate. Rather, I would advise anyone to be so naive as to believe this extremely negative picture of Scientology, to take the time to go to the official web site (scientology.org) and click on the "World Activities" link to get the facts about the organization and it's contributions worldwide. One can also get an accurate and historical picture of L. Ron Hubbard: his history, books, and the many accolades he has recieved globally for his accomplishments in the field of social betterment. Most importantly, there are the basic books for those who would venture to get the true picture of the Scientology applied religious philosophy.

Satire is defined as:
1. A literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit.
The branch of literature constituting such works.
2. Irony, sarcasm, or caustic wit used to attack or expose folly, vice, or stupidity.

Those who have benefited greatly by Scientology (I being one) can attest that it does NOT fall under the category of "folly, vice, or stupidity". It is also my belief that if one must attack or criticize, even for the sake of wit or entertainment, that more than a mere sketchy knowledge of his or her target be attained beforehand, and from reliable sources. Otherwise it becomes a blind and irresponsible attack resembling little more than defamation and an attempt to misinform and decieve.