Some material for penitential suffering - The TomKat Saga

Ugh! Here are some painful quote-pulls (plus my own snide comments) from a story about Hollywood's religiously-dysfunctional dynamic duo:

From Reuters:

Asked whether their baby would be given a Catholic baptism, Cruise said, "No," then added: "I mean you can be Catholic and be a Scientologist. You can be Jewish and be a Scientologist. But we're just Scientologists."

No, you can't, Tom. You just... can't. Who told you that? I doubt Katie's parents did.

"Katie, too?" [is just a scientologist?] Sawyer asked.
"Katie, too," he replied.

It was the first public acknowledgment from the couple that Holmes has joined Cruise, one of Scientology's most prominent adherents, in embracing a faith founded by science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard.

Et tu, Katie?

Cruise denied media accounts of tension with Holmes' parents, who are devout Catholics, over her association with Scientology. "They're OK with her being a Scientologist since they're Catholic?" Sawyer asked, to which Cruise answered, "Absolutely, yes."

I just can't believe this claim (here's why). Why would they pull a 180?

Cruise has two older children, 13-year-old daughter Isabella and 11-year-old son Connor, whom he adopted with actress Nicole Kidman before their marriage ended in divorce in 2001.

Gee, what a stand-up guy. I guess Kidman wasn't getting the ratings Tom needed.

The AP news story also has Tom claiming that Katie's Catholic parents approve of Scientology:

"However, Cruise shrugs off the stories of family friction, telling Sawyer he's close with "the whole family" and _ "absolutely, yes" _ they approve of Scientology."

But hey, this stuff could all be part of a media blitz:

"Excerpts from the interview, conducted by Diane Sawyer, were released by the Walt Disney Co.-owned network as part of a publicity blitz linking the impending birth of Cruise's first biological child with his upcoming film, "Mission: Impossible: III.""

Ah, Walt Disney, faith, and summer blockbusters - there's a good mix.

Tom also backpeddled saying that Scientology doesn't require a mother to give birth "silently" and that Scientolgoy doesn't prevent the use of painkillers during birth. Let's face it: Cruise can't afford to alienate a large portion of his popular support base of women so of course it was essential to recant on these well-known ugly facets of Scientology. That's just good business sense.

Anyway, my hasty conclusions based on what I've learned about the TomKat drama (which is basically whenever I let my guard down for five seconds or walk through a grocery store checkout line):

• Katie Holmes has thrown her Catholic "faith" to the wind for good ol' riches and fame.
• Katie's parents aren't happy at all about what is going on, and probably hate Tom's guts.
• Tom Cruise is in this thing for the marketing hype and will most likely drop Katie flat in about 4-5 years tops. The TomKat relationship started in the months leading up to War of the Worlds, and now the baby/marriage hype is happening in the months leading up to Mission Impossible II. Coincidence? I don't care.
• As for the decision not to baptize - well, that could be better than the alternative.

(and sorry if anyone took offense at the title - it was meant in jest.)