Tom Cruise‘s daughter, Suri Cruise, celebrated her 18th birthday this week.
According to reports, Suri Cruise’s 18th birthday was a joyous and intimate affair, filled with laughter and love as her close-knit family and friends surrounded her.
The young woman was spotted enjoying a casual walk with pals on her milestone birthday. Her public appearance in the streets of New York on her special day marked her transition into adulthood and sparked a wave of curiosity about her relationship with her father, Tom Cruise.
Why is Tom Cruise ignoring his child? Will he ever make a move to reconnect? What is keeping him away from Suri Cruise?
One Scientology expert has decided to answer some of these burning questions. Mike Rinder, a top person at the Church of Scientology, knew Tom Cruise and his family very well for many years.
Rinder has since left the controversial religion and written about his experience in the church. He has also become a whistleblower, and he wrote about the church in the book A Billion Years.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Rinder shared his insightful perspective on why he believes Tom Cruise has distanced himself from his youngest daughter, shedding light on the complex dynamics within Scientology.
He said that the church makes it impossible for Cruise to prioritize his family and added: “Katie was deemed a Suppressive Person and Suri, by extension, a Potential Trouble Source. Tom cannot engage or connect with his daughter. In Scientology, it is Scientology first; family priorities come low down in the order.”
Rinder went into more detail about why members of the church do not see the importance of family by saying: “Scientologists believe everyone is a spiritual being who lives many lifetimes. The being that is your mother this lifetime could have been your daughter in a previous life — and this diminishes the importance of familial ties.”
Brendan Tighe, who worked in Tom Cruise’s security detail and was a Scientologist, more or less said that the church would blame Suri Cruise for the divide.
The teen would have to cut ties with her mother, Katie Holmes, to fall into her father’s good grace and be accepted by the church.
He stated: “Basically, when it comes to Scientology thinking, there is a disconnection policy. When it’s applied rigorously, there is no room for emotion. So long as Suri sides with her mom, there will be no contact with her dad.”
He added why the church would view Katie Holmes as a culprit in the disastrous situation between Tom Cruise and Suri Cruise by saying: “Because Katie took the lead in getting the divorce, springing a ‘surprise’ on the most well-known Scientologist on Earth, she committed a ‘Suppressive Act.’ Thus, Tom could not be connected to her.”
Some observers say that things are unlikely to change in the near future.
