Clearly, life hasn’t worked as planned for Tom Cruise, who has achieved OT Level VIII as a Scientologist and, as a result, is said to possess unprecedented control over “life, thought, matter, energy, space and time.” Yet even with the benefit of this amazing (paid) accomplishment, Tom hasn’t been able to maintain any sense of control over his three marriages. As such, he finds himself so lonely and miserable, and it certainly doesn’t help that everyone now knows the details of his wife auditions, which included filing of incisors and ignoring menstrual pain. Everyone also knows that he yelled at Katie Holmes for four straight days about the CO$, and she was so terrified of him that she used burner phones to file for divorce. Poor Tom might be realizing that he’s not such a great catch after all.

The natural conclusion here (for normal people) would be for Tom to realize that maybe Scientology hasn’t been so great for him after all. He can’t seem to keep a wife, and everyone else thinks he’s crazy. No one will go watch any of his movies anymore unless he’s bungee jumping off the world’s tallest building. Sure, Tom has all the fame and money that a man could ever desire, but there’s still something definitely missing from his world (sanity?) that cannot possibly be filled by the CO$. Could he ever actually leave the cult though? That’s what this week’s issue of Star claims — that Tom is distancing himself from Scientology even though he hasn’t said whether or not he would ever actually leave the fold.

If Tom ever left, he’d have to worry about his videotaped audit tapes somehow being released. We already know that CO$ head David Miscavige is literally “obsessed” with Tom, and he’s already gone so far as to spy on Tom for years to bring him back from his previous years-long defection while he was married to Nicole Kidman. CO$ defector John Brousseau claims that Miscavige wouldn’t hesistate to throw Tom under the bus by exposing his secrets. All the same, Star maintains that Tom is “crushed that his faith destroyed yet another of his marriages, [and] friends say the poster boy for Scientology is finally ready to move on.” This sounds like wishful thinking on Star’s part, but here’s the story:

Since third wife Katie Holmes blindsided Tom Cruise by filing for divorce in June, he has lost his swagger — and enough weight to seem like a shell of his former action-hero self.

Insiders say it was his unwavering devotion to Scientology that cost Tom his marriage to Katie. And it wasn’t the first time that that controversial religion — which allegedly controls every aspect of his life — had destroyed one of his relationships: His breakups from second wife Nicole Kidman and girlfriend Penelope Cruz were also linked to Scientology’s stranglehold over the actor.

But now, insiders say, Tom, 50, is starting to recognize the role his faith has played in his love life. And after suffering through this most recent and particularly painful divorce, the superstar may be finally turning away from Scienotlogy!

“Tom hasn’t admitted that he’s definitely leaving Scientology for good,” says an insider close to him. “But he’s distanced himself from those in the church and has been hanging out with good firends who aren’t part of the religion.”

For Tom, who for the past decade has surrounded himself with followers of the cultlike organization at all times — even in private moments in his own home — branching out is a giant step. “Tom’s been leaning on friends who have different perspectives, getting advice on moving on from Katie as well as on everything he’s been going through with Scientology,” the insider explains. “He’s finally seeing that being such an advocate for Scientology hasn’t served him as well as he’d hoped — he’s gone through three divorces, and his public perception has sunk to an all-time low.”

Tom’s relationships aren’t the only things that have suffered from his devotion. His once thriving career also hit the skids after he became more vocal in his support of Scientology. Since his now infamous 2005 couch-jumping incident on “Oprah” and, a few weeks later, his controversial interview with Matt Lauer, in which he lectured the “Today” co-anchor on the history of psychology, his odd behavior has been slammed in the press, and audiences have bee less enthusiastic about his films. In fact, with the exception of Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol, his past few movies have flopped at the box office. Tom’s former chef, Sinar Partman, an ex-Scientologist, explains the public’s turning against the star: “He’s associated with a cult, and it’s hurting his reputation.”

If Tom does sever ties with the church again, one thing is clear: David Miscavige will not stop until the star comes back. “everything Tom does is monitored, Parman tells Star. “And David Miscavige has a hold on everything in Tom’s life.

[From Star, print edition, October 8, 2012]

If Tom ever had the balls to leave the CO$, I would have to start thinking differently about him and maybe even stop making fun of his lifts (okay, I wouldn’t go that far). But I honestly don’t ever see how Tom could survive on a daily basis without Scientology’s slaves doing everything for him. They literally do everything for him except actually appear onscreen in Tom Cruise movies. They build and remodel his homes, they cook his food and clean his houses, and they plan his itineraries. All the while, they do the most important thing ever — they totally kiss Tom’s ass. In the infamous October Vanity Fair article, Nazanin Boniadi discussed how Tom’s daily life with his CO$ entourage is a chorus of them reminding him of what a great job he was doing “saving the world” with Scientology. What would he do if he didn’t hear such praise on an hourly basis and his only constant company was the empty vessel left by decades worth of (useless) auditing? He’d completely lose it.

Also, I really don’t buy this story at all except as a necessary continuation of the “poor Tom” narrative. Who belongs to his camp that would say this stuff to Star? All of Tom’s “insiders” are CO$. His household staff is CO$. His entire travelling entourage? CO$. The story also goes on to push the whole Tom wants to get with Cameron Diaz angle too. Ha.

On a related note, a Texas lawsuit claims that David Miscavige has splashed out millions of dollars to spy on one ex-parishioner, Pat Broeker, over the past 24 years. Pat, who was Miscavige’s rival for control of the CO$ when L. Ron Hubbard passed on to his next meat vessel, has allegedly been followed by private investigators since 1988. If Miscavige is this obsessive and ruthless about his former competitor, think of how he’ll be if Tom ever decides to formally leave the cult. Seriously, it’s like a Fatal Attraction thing between those two, isn’t it?

Photos courtesy of Freewinds magazine and WENN