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News & ArtsMonday, July 9, 2012
Celeb / Religion Speaking of Pinching Scientologists...
Posted by Paul Constant on Mon, Jul 9, 2012 at 5:51 PM
...in what must be some kind of land speed record for divorces, Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise have reached a settlement. Holmes gets primary custody, and there's allegedly a very interesting clause in the agreement:
We're told there are restrictions on what Tom and Katie can discuss with Suri on the subject of religion, including Scientology, however, those restrictions are eased the older Suri gets.
Well. That'll certainly squelch all the rumors about this divorce, for sure. Glad to see all's well that ends well!
3
@2 But Tom can't send her off on a billion-year contract to Sea Org or something without violating the religion clause. I think that's the important bit.
4
@2: I was going to ask how such a thing can be binding. Not to talk about something? Privately? Do courts uphold stuff like that?
5
@2, if the settlement agreement says specifically neither parent can discuss religion until X age, that couldn't be enforced because of the 2nd Amendment, but often people agree to such just to get the damned thing done. But I'd bet that if Katie wanted to restrict Tom's right to formally indoctrinate Suri (through some outside organization/class/etc), the agreement would contain some clause saying that he'd have to get Katie's agreement before doing so. If she didn't agree and he did it anyway, she could apply to the court for sanctions.
7
I'm no constitutional scholar, but the First Amendment states that Congress can't make laws prohibiting free exercise of religion. To the best of my knowledge, people are free to sign legally binding contracts restricting their own exercise of religion all they want. Think of it like a religion non-disclosure agreement.
(For example) I'm free(dom of speech) to criticize Microsoft all I want unless I revel information that a Microsoft NDA I signed prohibits me from talking about.
(For example) I'm free(dom of speech) to criticize Microsoft all I want unless I revel information that a Microsoft NDA I signed prohibits me from talking about.
8
What @7 said. Of course they can make an agreement not to talk religion until she's older. It's a contract, not a law. And if Suri comes home and says "Mommy, Daddy told me how I got stuffed in a volcano and blown up millions of years ago," there's going to at the very least be a court hearing about it.
9
@3: "Tom can't send her off on a billion-year contract to Sea Org or something without violating the religion clause"
Children of celebrities aren't "freeloaders", and would never have to sign up for their paramilitary service to pay their "billion year" debt to learn about the mysteries of the universe. They're also not going to sent to RPF re-education camps. That's for the poor underlings, not the darlings.
Children of celebrities aren't "freeloaders", and would never have to sign up for their paramilitary service to pay their "billion year" debt to learn about the mysteries of the universe. They're also not going to sent to RPF re-education camps. That's for the poor underlings, not the darlings.
10
They had to shut Katie up. By giving her most of what she wants (apparently they can both say anything they want to her about religion), they keep Katie quiet.
She's smarter than she looks.
She's smarter than she looks.
11
@6, that may be so, but it's much funnier the first way that you wrote it.
I recently worked on a settlement agreement that required each party to offer the other a verbal apology that was written out in the agreement. I thought it absurd and childish, but I really wanted to be there for the exchange of the clenched-teeth apologies. Predictably, they still hate each other passionately.
I recently worked on a settlement agreement that required each party to offer the other a verbal apology that was written out in the agreement. I thought it absurd and childish, but I really wanted to be there for the exchange of the clenched-teeth apologies. Predictably, they still hate each other passionately.
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