Paul Haggis exits Scientology

Scientology isn't our idea of a religion, but to 'Crash' Director Paul Haggis, it was. He resigned in a blistering four-part letter [1, 2, 3, 4] at the blog of Marty Rathbun, a former high-level Scientology official who left the church and is a critic of it.

New York Magazine's Adam K. Raymond writes:

It all started when a San Diego church publicly supported Prop 8. Haggis asked [Scientology national spokesman Tommy] Davis to denounce its actions but Davis never went through with it. Then the already-pissed Haggis read an interview in which Davis denied Scientology's practice of "disconnection" (forcing members to cut off communication with loved ones who oppose Scientology). But Haggis knew disconnection first-hand. His wife was forced to cut ties with her parents. The last straw came when Haggis read about the smear tactics Scientology used against its former members. That's when he knew it was time to go.

Though it has lost the author of Million Dollar Baby and Flags of Our Fathers, it is still the church of Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Jenna Elfman.

For now. Even a cult has to adapt to shifting views of gay rights and repair key internal contradictions, or pay in lost members.