more information on Jeff Quiros, the Scientology "minister" who
believes: "The FBI is the number one terrorist group in the United
States"
http://cbs5.com/entertainment/local_story_321182909.html
...Jeff Quiros is regarded as the foremost expert on Scientology
weddings, having performed countless ceremonies himself...
and a CNN transcript which you might find interesting:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0611/17/pzn.01.html
ZAHN: And welcome back. More now on tonight's top story in
entertainment.
In just a few hours in Italy, we're told Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes
are expected to take their vows, unless they're trying to fool us --
but it may not be the traditional ceremony that most of us are used to
seeing. Instead, they'll probably tie the knot Scientology style. But
what exactly does that mean? Entertainment correspondent Brooke
Anderson takes us inside a Scientology wedding.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over):
Newlyweds Nick and Erin Banks tied the knot just two and a half months
ago.
ERIN BANKS: That was one of my bridesmaids.
NICK BANKS: And I was definitely feeling nervous.
ANDERSON: Flowers, bridesmaids, a walk down the aisle.
E. BANKS: (inaudible) and it was amazing.
ANDERSON: In many ways, it was a typical ceremony, with one significant
difference. Theirs was a Scientology wedding.
E. BANKS: It's those fundamentals of Scientology that are put in
throughout the ceremony. You know, you don't go to sleep on an upset.
And that's something that you agree to in the ceremony.
ANDERSON: With all the curiosity over Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes
wedding, Scientologists like Nick and Erin are having to answer a lot
of questions about what it's like to get married in their faith.
E. BANKS: There's a part where the minister asks us, would I take Nick
for all his sterling qualities as well as his faults.
ANDERSON: This couple, like Tom and Katie, can choose from five
different ceremonies, as noted in Scientology fonder L. Ron Hubbard's
"Book of Ceremonies and Sermons." Traditional, informal, single-ring,
double-ring and concise double-ring, each with its own distinct vows.
In the traditional ceremony, the minister tells the groom, "girls need
clothes and food and tender happiness and frills -- a pan, a comb,
perhaps a cat. All caprice if you will, but still they need them." And
the minister tells the bride, "hear well, for promise binds. Young men
are free and may forget. Remind him then that you may have necessities
and follies too."
KAREN PRESSLEY, FORMER SCIENTOLOGIST: It's kind of the frivolous side
of L. Ron Hubbard. It's quite ludicrous.
ANDERSON: Karen Pressley, an ex-Scientologist who now embraces
Christianity, says she's attended a handful of Scientology weddings.
PRESSLEY: They're nothing like a Christian, a traditional wedding
ceremony. There's no mention of God in a Scientology wedding.
Scientology bases a marriage on a concept called the ARC Triangle.
JEFF QUIROS, SCIENTOLOGY MINISTER: The minister holds the rings up to
the -- to the audience and asks that the bride and groom imagine an
ARC, affinity-reality-communication triangle inside the center of each
one of those rings.
ANDERSON: Scientology Minister Jeff Quiros has officiated countless
weddings. He says it's possible to incorporate other religious
traditions into the ceremony, but Pressley maintains Scientology's
techniques for freeing a person's soul don't mix well with other
beliefs.
PRESSLEY: Tom Cruise specifically is very bold about saying that a
Christian can be a Scientologist at the same time, and that to me is an
oxymoron.
ANDERSON: Nick and Erin Banks say Scientologists and non-
Scientologists raved about their ,wedding and they wish Tom and Katie
all the best.
E. BANKS: They look like such a wonderful couple, and I think their
wedding is going to be amazing, I'm sure.
N. BANKS: It is going to be a beautiful wedding.
ANDERSON: Brooke Anderson, CNN, Hollywood.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: And right now, we're going to get our top story panel's take on
what this all means, all the Hollywood style.
Reverend Joe Watkins back, Rachel Maddow, Georgette Mosbacher.
Reverend, the last time you conducted a wedding ceremony...
WATKINS: Not too long ago.
ZAHN: ... did you make reference to a cat, a comb and a pan?
WATKINS: No, no, I didn't.
ZAHN: Do you understand what...
WATKINS: I don't agree with Tom Cruise when he says that you can be a
Christian and a Scientologist. You know, you can only follow one
master. You can't follow two masters. And either you follow Jesus or
you follow L. Ron Hubbard.
I choose to follow Jesus. And the ceremonies that I do, of course, are
Christ-centered ceremonies, where -- and hopefully the people love each
other.
In this wedding, what I'm hoping is that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes
love each other more than anything else, they love each other and they
pledge themselves to each other.
ZAHN: Are you surprised, Rachel, that people care about this as much as
they do? I mean, after all, this is a guy that was dumped by a studio
he was associated with for a very long time, because it was felt that
he had alienated women with his antics as of late, not the least of
which was proclaiming his love for his newfound -- soon to be found
wife on a sofa.
MADDOW: While jumping up and down on a sofa. I mean, it's true, if
Katie Holmes had not become engaged to Tom Cruise, we'd all still be
Wikipediaing her, looking her up, trying to figure out exactly why do I
know her, what was she in, is she famous? They're not actually that big
a deal on their own, but the pageantry around this -- we don't have
royals as Americans, and so we have sports stars and movie stars. And
those who choose to tap into our obsession with celebrity the way these
guys have, can make -- you know, this will make their whole careers.
ZAHN: Are you feeling blissful about this one, Georgette? You know a
thing or two about getting married, don't you?
MOSBACHER: I'll tell you what, Paula, I'll jump on a sofa for Tom
Cruise. I mean, excuse me. This is a fairy tale kind of thing. It's
tabloid. I mean, we have got a castle, we've got a beautiful woman,
we've got a movie star, we've got a baby. Yes, it's the kind of thing
that great for a diversion like this from the really important things
in life. I mean, this is just one of those, you know, why people read
romance novels.
ZAHN: Do you think people are partly drawn to this, besides the fantasy
and the majesty or whatever it is we're going to see play out, that
they just think he's one really odd guy?
MADDOW: I think that Tom Cruise does come across as a little -- and
that's part of the fascination. He comes across as a little kooky.
ZAHN: Not to Georgette.
(CROSSTALK)
MOSBACHER: He comes across as a gorgeous hunk of a movie star.
MADDOW: You know that you would dwarf him, right? I mean, you would
tower over him. Does that weird you out at all?
MOSBACHER: No.
MADDOW: No, that's no problem?
MOSBACHER: No, he's still cute. He's -- and "Top Gun," oh, let me see
that movie again.
ZAHN: (inaudible) "Top Gun" windows like they had displayed in Rome
this week. But a closing thought, and the fascination with Scientology
and all kind of assumptions that people launch to about how -- I don't
want to say it disparagingly. Do you think people misunderstand it?
WATKINS: I think so. I think a lot of people may misunderstand the
faith. I've had a chance to read about comparative religions. I know a
little bit about different faiths.
I choose the faith that I follow because I believe that that's the
answer, but the good thing is that Tom Cruise is sincere, I think,
about his faith more than anything else, and the fact that he wants to
make sure that the wedding is done in concert with the faith I think is
a good thing. People ought to do that who are Christians and Jews and
Muslims and everything else.
ZAHN: All right, what are the chances this is one giant ruse and he's
getting married in Cleveland tomorrow? I don't know. He could be
fooling us.
WATKINS: Well, we weren't invited. None of us were invited.
ZAHN: Exactly.
MADDOW: That's actually where I need to get to right now.
(CROSSTALK)
ZAHN: Reverend Joe Watkins, Rachel Maddow, Georgette Mosbacher. Glad to
have all of you with us tonight.
