Silent birth

[Breeze]

Travolta and Preston urge silent birth for Holmes


Oct 7, 2005, 5:42 GMT




Scientology couple John Travolta and Kelly Preston are urging Katie Holmes to have a 'silent birth' when she delivers fiance Tom Cruise's baby next year (06) and follow the church's strict doctrines.

Scientologists believe children should be brought into the world without any fuss and be allowed to quietly get used to their surroundings. That means no music, no chatting and no expressions of pain from the mother.

Preston explains, "It's just because everything in moments of pain is really recorded and you want to have that (the birth) peaceful and clear of sort of suggestions or different words that can then affect them (babies) in their future."

[Breeze]

Heres another link, just gets weirder and weirder.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_obje...name_page.html

EVEN by Hollywood's skewed standards, the birth of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' baby is set to be decidedly odd.

When the 27-year-old actress is wheeled into the delivery room, she will be under strict instructions not to cry or scream out, no matter how painful her labour.

The Dawson's Creek star has agreed to convert to her fiance's Church of Scientology, which insists on "silent births" to avoid traumatising newborn babies.

And that is only the start of the sect's unique take on how to bring up children.

Youngsters are given lie-detector tests, asked to spy on their classmates and face cutting themselves off from family members if they are non-believers.

The revelations are sure to worry Katie's close-knit family and friends who were reported to be "uncomfortable" with her whirlwind romance with the twice-married Mission Impossible hunk.

Mike Sitter, 49, a parishioner at Christ the King Catholic Church in Toledo, Ohio, where Katie's family regularly worship, said: "Katie's uncle Fritz approached me and said, 'So what do you make of this Tom and Katie business? I think Tom seems like a real jerk'. Nobody thinks it will last."

Established by American science fiction writer L Ron Hubbard in 1952, Scientology followers believe humans are riddled with the ghosts of dead aliens.

Before his death in 1986, Hubbard produced a series of controversial papers on how to raise children.

Many of the 50,000 members have adopted his rules, which will discourage Tom and Katie from comforting or nurturing their child.

If it knocks its head against a door while learning to walk, the superstar parents will not give it a cuddle and kiss it better. Instead they are supposed to gently place the baby's head against the door in the belief that the pain will flow back into the object.

Astra Woodcraft, a British-born Scientologist, was in the church from the age of three to 22.

Now 28, she said: "If I was ill my mother would give me a 'touch assist' - I would lie down and she would touch me with her finger. She would say, 'Feel my finger'. She wouldn't stop until I felt better, so to stop her prodding me I'd say I felt better."

And while the church insists its practices make for bright and happy children, some ex-members are urging Katie - who had vowed to stay a virgin until her wedding night - to think twice before embracing it.

Teresa Summers, 47, who was a member for 20 years, said: "Mothers who have raised children in the Church of Scientology and come out have a terrible sense of guilt over what our children went through.

"Teachers don't have college degrees. They are trained in Scientology method. They don't explain. They don't help." The sect runs a network of private schools around the world, including one in Britain, and members are encouraged to enrol their children.

One recent flier warned against state education, saying: "If you turn your kids over to the enemy all day for 12 to 15 years, which side do you think they will come out on?"

At the schools, children may use a "learning accelerator" device that detects small amounts of electrical resistance in the palms of their hands. The child holds two electrodes and answers questions - with a needle on the device indicating if they are lying.

Hubbard also designed a 60-question test to be used on children as young as six, including "Have you spoiled things for people?"

ASTRA, who lives in California, said when she was five or six years old, she was put through a series of bizarre tests.

"It was like a drill where I was told, 'Look at the wall, walk to the wall, touch the wall, walk away from the wall'.

"Other times I would be told to follow someone's hand movements with my eyes. It was supposed to calm you down and help you see the world clearly, it was hypnotic."

Teresa also says children are asked to spy on each other and subjected to laborious punishments. "It's called making amends," she explained. "My daughter was made to scrub poles, paint walls, report on her friends. I let her do all that."

It is believed Tom and Katie will set up home in a new £15million pad in an upmarket suburb of Montecito, California. Boasting four bedrooms - and a nursery - pool and tennis courts, their neighbours will include Kevin Costner and Oprah Winfrey.

There is certainly no doubt how much Tom wants the child.

After he split from first wife Mimi Rogers in 1990 following a childless marriage, he said: "I have cried tears of frustration. I would turn down an Oscar to see my boy at a baseball game or my girl at a song recital."

[chewysmom]

yeah, I heard about this. What a load of ********. Let's see how silent they would want it to be if the men had to give birth.

[chewysmom]

Oh, and by the way, silence for a newborn is extremely jarring. The sound inside the the womb is relatively loud for them. Noise is actually a comfort for newborns and small babies

[orinskye]

Originally Posted by chewysmom

Let's see how silent they would want it to be if the men had to give birth.

lol....... yeah, and you gotta know that it was a MAN that came up with the ridiculous rule..

[Kelz]

That's whole thing seems so stupid if ya ask me!

[YorkieRose]

Only 50,000 members..I thought they had so many more!! Interesting article.
My mother and grandmother believed illness was mind over matter. It has been both a plus and minus in my life..unfortunately, I am not always good about seeking medical help when I need it.

[eensor]

Originally Posted by chewysmom

yeah, I heard about this. What a load of ********. Let's see how silent they would want it to be if the men had to give birth.

I think everyone of those Scientology idiot men should have to pull their bottom lip over their head and swallow without making a sound.......

[Bentley&BitsysMom]

Originally Posted by eensor

I think everyone of those Scientology idiot men should have to pull their bottom lip over their head and swallow without making a sound.......

LOL!!! I was thinking when I read it that she will change her tune when she actually starts giving birth! That is absolutley rediculous...the whole idea of it! Those people are being decieved!!!

[Sherry Lynn]

Originally Posted by eensor

I think everyone of those Scientology idiot men should have to pull their bottom lip over their head and swallow without making a sound.......

LMAO !! Too funny, Elizabeth!!

And heaven forbid should Kate get post partum depression!!!! Looks like she has totally jumped the couch with Tom..

[txshopper73]

um...okay....

[Shanatink]

I dont know about ya'll but if I ever give birth I am pretty sure I will be expressing my pain- verbally .

[Breeze]

The whole thing just makes me sick, I don't understand why the baby can't hear the noises of labor as it might be tramatized but yet as they baby gets bigger and gets hurt they are not allowed to be comforted. Its seems as that would do more damage in the end to the poor child. Imagine a life with no hugs?

[centralnewyorki]

First of all, you can definitely tell that a man came up with this idea. Second, I plan to have many o' drugs in my delivery room! Please, kick a man in his groin for hours on end and see if he has anything to say about this issue.

[Marie]

That is so ridiculous. I agreed a man had to came out with those stupids rules. I had an epidural whe I had my 2, . I dont think Katie knows what she got herself into.