Paul Haggis on Scientology: 'Morally reprehensible'

Everybody has his or her own take on Paul Haggis' dramatic letter, announcing his break with Scientology after 35 years of membership in the church. But what especially fascinated me was how much his letter, full of passion and moral outrage, resembled large portions of his film and TV work, especially his scripts for "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Crash," the latter of which won him an Oscar.

If you missed the news, the Church of Scientology was a public sponsor of Proposition 8, which Haggis describes in his letter as "a hate-filled legislation that succeeded in taking away the civil rights of gay and lesbian citizens of California."

Haggis had apparently been campaigning for months to get the church's official spokesman, Tommy Davis, to condemn the Prop 8 sponsorship, saying he couldn't in good conscience be a member of an organization in which gay-bashing was tolerated. But to no avail. It's intriguing to see that once Haggis saw the church in a new light, he found himself alienated from some of its others actions. For me, the letter's most astounding revelation is that Haggis calls out the church for its policy of disconnection, which apparently calls for members to cut their ties with people Scientology has deemed as unfriendly to the church.

Haggis acknowledges that his wife was ordered to disconnect from her parents because of something they supposedly did 25 years earlier when they resigned from the church. His wife followed the church's orders, refusing to speak to her parents, who'd introduced her to Scientology in the first place. As for Haggis, he says that he refused to break off contact, explaining, "I've never been good at following orders, especially when I find them morally reprehensible."

It was at that point in his letter that I realized that Haggis was a dead-on spiritual heir to Dalton Trumbo, the best-known screenwriter of his generation and perhaps the most prominent member of the Hollywood 10, who was blacklisted for his membership in the Communist Party. Like Haggis, Trumbo was the high priest of righteous indignation, firing off blistering letters at a rapid pace to friends and enemies alike. (They are collected in "Additional Dialogue: Letters of Dalton Trumbo, 1942-1962," a must-read for anyone interested in the history of Hollywood in the era of the blacklist.) In Trumbo's day, the enemy wasn't Scientology but rabid anti-Communist crusaders as well as weaselly Hollywood careerists who refused to stand up to the worst excesses of the Red Scare.

But see for yourself. Here is Haggis, writing to Davis, in reference to a series of stories in the St. Petersburg Times, that detailed a host of church excesses:

"And when I pictured you assuring me that it is all lies, that this is nothing but an unfounded and vicious attack by a group of disgruntled employees, I am afraid that I saw the same face that looked in the camera and denied the policy of disconnection. I heard the same voice that professed outrage at our support of Proposition 8, who promised to correct it and did nothing. I was left feeling outraged, and frankly, more than a little stupid."

And here is Trumbo, writing to a former movie biz pal, who had turned on Trumbo when the screenwriter was being hounded by right-wing zealots:

"You should not, in your letter to me, assume a whore's virtue at confession by using the word 'affection.' My affection caused me to assert your ability to producers when you were out of favor; yours impelled you to cry out against me in the most fatal hour of my career. Mine persuaded me to spend long hours in discussion of your story problems when you sought to re-establish yourself; yours led you to organizational meetings calculated to deprive me of my rights within the Guild, to destroy my good name and to make it impossible for me to work in my profession. Give me no more such affection. I stagger beneath that already conferred. Give me rather your hatred and let me console myself by the exchange of a weak friend for a strong enemy."

Ah, the lesson here is clear: Beware the wrath of a screenwriter scorned!

RELATED:

Dalton Trumbo: Rare tribute to blacklisted screenwriter

Writers could learn a lesson from 'Trumbo'

Photos: Paul Haggis by Claudio Onorati / EPA; Dalton Trumbo by Mitzi Trumbo.

Comments

[markiejoe]

I'm only surprised that it took Haggis 35 years to realize that the Church of Scientology is neither a church nor scientific. It is, simply, superstitious quackery. Shouldn't take an intelligent human being 35 years to figure that out.

[JacklynD]

While I disagree with opposing gay marriage, I don’t see why Scientologists are any worse than the Mormons, Baptists and Catholics.

Martians, magic underwear or Christ who rose from the dead; it’s all allegorical anyway. I find it amusing that Christians find Scientology odd.

As for Paul's letter, I can only imagine how many outraged letters were sent to the Pope when the church tried to cover up pedophilia or opposed abortions or supported the ban on gay marriage.

[bill]

I'm not religious. But my favorite quote about religions vs. cults - the difference is only a hundred years.

More blood is shed over religion than any other conviction. I say do away with it all.

[Mary McKenny]

What!?!? Scientology is taking political positions? I thought that was illegal.

[Joe S.]

A HOLLYWOOD LIBERAL'S BIZARRE WORLD VIEW:
Scientology's belief in Extraterrestrial "thetans" indwelling Haggis' brain (and the rest of ours too) was acceptable to Paul. Haggis must've also believed in Emperor Xenu's coup against the Galactic Federation 75 million years ago and , *ahem*, Xenu's banishment of the thetans to Earth (Xenu's designated Prison Planet).

BUT STOP THE PRESSES!!! (Certain Scientologists actually believe that the marriage institution should remain between a man and woman? ) What kind of IDIOT and STRANGE-O do you Scientologists imagine Paul Haggis to be????

[chad]

Ok, Scientology is at best a hobby worst a cults but it is not a real religion. It was made up by a MAN who wanted to be a God. He was not cool enough to hang out with the cool kids in school so he made his own club as a adult to re-live his child hood. Pray to Ron, if you want but at the end of the day he is just a man he never walked on water and never will. Just look at Tom Cruise he has short man syndrome and is insecure he is what they are looking for someone who needs to be told he is special. Someday it will be know for the scam it is tell then it gives us something to laugh at.

[Tony]

It took how many years for Haggis to write this? Nothing more than a PR stunt. The point of this article? Nothing more than a PR stunt.

[pete]

I have my doubts about any writer buying into something as screwy as Scientology. Their basis of belief alone is enough to make anybody wince. Didn't he suspect something was wrong when they asked his wife never to talk to her parents again? The fact that she did it is scary, too. Haggis is an overrated writer, despite the accolades. Crash was terrible and a joke win at the Academy Awards. I suspect his career was aided significantly by those other Scientologists in the industry. To compare him to Dalton Trumbo is ridiculous. Trumbo was victimized by a fascist movement, disguised as a patriotic duty of every American to rat on your fellow man. Haggis had an elitist choice to join and did so, it appears, however naively, with eyes wide open. He must have been aware of the behavior of this cult over the years and chose to ignore it.

[Noah]

When I see a story in the newspaper , I like to know both sides to the story.

In an interview with CNN, Scientologist spokesman Davis said he understood that Haggis' letter was intended to be private. He said it was written by the director in August based on "whatever information [Haggis] happened to have at that time."

Davis said the local church in San Diego was incorrectly listed in some materials as supporting Prop 8 and that as soon as it was brought to his attention he had the church's name removed.

The Church of Scientology spokesman said his organization is "absolutely not anti-gay" and that its doors are open to everyone.

"As a church we don't take active stances on political issues," Davis said. "Being a minority, we are absolutely all for civil rights and the rights of any minority. We have a pretty complete understanding of what it is like to be persecuted or marginalized...being a minority religion ourselves."

[Samantha Degen]

SCIENTOLOGY IS A CULT! That braclet that everyone wears is a leash. You go Paul Haggis!