Rumor has it that Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise split up over Scientology Parenting.
For the uninitiated, Tom Cruise is a staunch follower of Scientology – a religion which Tom is known to be one of the celebrity Scientologists.
But here’s the problem, Katie – raised as Catholic – doesn’t quite agree with the rules of Scientology that Tom wants Suri to follow.
Katie wants to raise her daughter differently. She is fed up with the demands of child rearing based on Scientology.
Among others, here are a few things that Katie objects to, according to an article on Us Weekly:
“As an infant, little Suri was fed a mixture of barley water, milk and corn syrup instead of formula or breast milk, as prescribed by founder L. Ron Hubbard.”
“All those trips to the ice-cream store and boutiques were apparently prompted by Scientology’s belief that children should be treated like adults. ”
“She is in favor of traditional education over Tom’s preference of having Scientology teachers homeschool her child.”
You see, I am not telling you whom I love better.
Honestly, I don’t really care whether celebrities get together or split. But this story of TomKat provokes me to think and they are giving me some great parenting lessons.
1. Both parents must be on the same page. I know I know. It’s not easy for two humans to reach a consensus because we are unique. This is where communication and tolerance are needed. If parents are talking on different wavelengths, the child suffers too.
2. Don’t be too bogged down by labels. First, before you read on, if my statement offends you, I am sorry. I know I am touching on a sensitive topic and I want to make it clear that I am not belittling any religion here.
Be it Catholic, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, or even Scientology, these are just labels that people put on them. They are just names with some rules attached to them.
(I believe there are only universal principles. And they are not separated by any labels.)
I hate to say this but following blindly all rules in your religion (or culture) doesn’t makes sense to me. As human, we have the intelligence and power to understand what makes sense and what doesn’t. Not only is it illogical, it is also dangerous to accept fully an idea without doing your own conscious thinking.
We have to be flexible and nothing is absolute. Sometimes you just have to challenge what is being taught to you.
Of course, that includes what I write and teach.
Next step, check out more parenting lessons that I have learned over the years at:
