The Haggis/New Yorker Brouhaha

A profile of writer/director Paul Haggis in the current issue of The New Yorker has caused distress among Hollywood's Scientology adherents. In the article, Haggis goes public with reasons for his resignation from the Scientology movement. He concludes by saying, somewhat ruefully, "I was in a cult for thirty-four years. Everyone else could see it. I don't know why I couldn't."  

The Pointless Digressions crew is not taking sides in this; at least, not while Tom Cruise is in town. But it did lead us to think of why people are drawn to belief systems, faith practices, political movements, guiding philosophies. It is a need to find meaning and direction in their lives. Even skeptics find comfort in the Hitchens-Dawkins School of Non-Belief.

California, and Hollywood, have always seemed particularly vulnerable to belief systems others may find curious. So, for the last word on this, we turn to that fabled philosopher of film, W.C. Fields. "A man has to believe in something," he declared, "so I believe I'll have another drink."