Moresome force 'em

Germany has banned the makers of Tom Cruise's new movie from filming at military sites in the country because the actor is a Scientologist.

The German defence ministry said Cruise has "publicly professed to being a member of the Scientology cult".

Scientologist: not good. 'Publicly professed': seems OK, given that this is what he is. Banning the making of the movie because of the beliefs and allegiance of one of the stars: not at all OK. Even if Scientology is a cult whose activities are 'directed against the free democratic order', it can hardly be said to constitute a significant threat to German democracy. And we're not even talking here about whether the organization's activities should be proscribed - only about whether a film can be made with the Scientologist actor's participation. What next? No showings of Rain Man and Collateral in Berlin or Leipzig?