Oh to be a spoiled little Scientologist! Suri Cruise sounds like she’s got it made – at least for now. According to Us Weekly, the tot almost never hears the word “no.” In Scientology, it’s considered better to explain why actions are wrong. I can’t argue with that – but I think a “no” now and then might be useful, like “No! Don’t lay down in the train tracks!” It might be a little quicker than explaining what the force and weight of a train can do to a body. But that’s just me, and I’m close-minded like that. This article makes it sound like Suri is spoiled, so it’s hard to tell if it’s due to Scientology or overly-doting parents.

“Everyone knows that Suri Cruise, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ adorable little daughter, leads a charmed existence but her upbringing as a Scientologist remains largely a mystery. How does the religion started by L. Ron Hubbard influence Suri’s life on a daily basis? Us Weekly has learned that while Suri — who as a baby was breastfed and nursed on a mixture of barley water, milk and corn syrup which Hubbard advocated as being healthier than formula and breast milk — is too young to take classes at the Scientology Centre, the 18-month-old is constantly surrounded by believers, including her two nannies.

“‘Tom doesn’t like associating with people who aren’t Scientologists,’ says an insider. Additionally, Holmes, 29, and Cruise, 45, have a hard time saying no to Suri. But it’s not simply because they’re pushovers. ‘It’s all about being positive and supportive,’ says the couple’s friend (Hubbard advised parents to ‘try to be the child’s friend.’) As for discipline, one former church member tells Us that Scientologists do not scold their children, but instead explain that bad behavior (like throwing a toy) is the ‘wrong action.’ (A Scientology rep tells Us, ‘How a parent disciplines their child is left up to the parent.’)

“Cruise and Holmes, says their pal, are very lenient and do not like to give Suri too many rules: ‘Suri pretty much does whatever she wants, whenever she wants. If she fusses before bed, they let her stay up later. If they want her to go swimming and she cries, they’ll take her out. If she whines about food, they’ll ask her what else she wants to eat. They always want to please her.’”

[From Us Weekly]

Ooooohhh, Tom and Katie are such bad parents. They want to make their kid happy! I’m kidding, that’s a pretty natural inclination. On the one hand you want to be firm, and on the other you want your kid to like you. I can’t help but wonder if L Ron Hubbard would have the same ideas about parents being their children’s friend if he’d seen the way Lindsay Lohan turned out. Yeah, when your parent/friend snorts coke with you, you may have blurred the lines a bit.

What are some other scientology pearls of wisdom regarding child rearing? Here’s a recap of what Celebitchy wrote a year ago:

“In yet another disturbing chapter of the TomKat saga, Mike Wallace of the National Enquirer reports that Scientologists plan to commandeer Katie’s baby for three days after its birth. What’s more, the baby will be isolated for a day after it’s born. Despite reports that she’s spending 8 hours a day being indoctrinated into Scientology, Katie has come to her senses and is questioning this counter-intuitive practice:

“furious KATIE HOLMES warned fiancé/daddy-to-be TOM CRUISE that she’ll absolutely refuse to allow Scientologists to commandeer her newborn at birth for what their church calls “Processing a New Mother” – a bizarre ritual which involves separating mother and child for three days, allowing only minimal contact! As her time approaches, sources say, Katie’s becoming hysterical over the idea that her baby will be controlled by the sect’s handlers from the moment he/she enters the world. In a raging confrontation, Katie told Tom she flatly rejects Scientology’s edict that newborns should be left totally alone for the entire first day after birth.

“Any human who’s not brainwashed would agree that it’s harmful and cruel to leave a newborn baby alone at any time, especially on its first day in the world. It’s also quite difficult, if not impossible, to breastfeed if you don’t start up within the first three days after birth. This is wrong for so many reasons.”

Want to know some other freaky stuff? If you’re a Scientologist and your kid trips over the root of a tree and hurts himself, you’re supposed to take the kid back to the tree and press the root against the injury, and give the pain back to the root. True story.

“Parents are encouraged not to comfort or nurture young children because Hubbard believed children are small adults, able to think and fend for themselves from a very early age. For example, a child who falls and hurts himself is taken to the place where he was hurt and the injury is pressed against the object that caused it. It is believed the pain can be made to flow back into the object.

“‘That’s called a contact assist,’ Teresa Summers said. ‘There is also a fever assist. We were discouraged from seeking medical help or giving medication, even Tylenol, to bring down a fever. Instead, you get the child to hold an object still. That’s supposed to bring down the fever. When it doesn’t work, it’s because you aren’t doing it right or didn’t repeat it often enough. I tried it on my child. Naturally, it didn’t work.’”

[From the New York Post]

Good luck Suri!