Ethan Suplee is a popular American actor. Some link his success in Hollywood to his involvement in the controversial Scientology community.
It is believed that Ethan Suplee is a Scientologist. He has been an active member for over two decades, and his wife, Brandy Lewis, is also a member of the religion. Scientology is a religion aiming to use “scientific methods to help people self-actualize their full potential”.
Read further to find out what exactly Scientology is, and Ethan Suplee’s relationship with the religion.
What is Scientology?
Scientology is a belief system coined by L. Ron Hubbard, American author and discharged Naval officer.
The Church of Scientology, its associated institution, has a notorious reputation. It has been referred to as a ‘cult’ for its financial framework and doctrine.
Hubbard initially believed in Dianetics as a form of therapy to advance to a higher state of consciousness.
Unfortunately, his organization went bankrupt, and he was forced to rebrand Dianetics as the religion of Scientology.
After this, he regained the rights to Dianetics and incorporated several elements of it into Scientology, such as auditing.
His book on the matter quickly rose to popularity in America.
The Church of Scientology views humans as vessels for thetans (derived from the Greek letter theta), which are immortal, spiritual beings.
According to Scientology, the thetan is a soul using the human body as a physical holding place, and has lived an immeasurable number of lives.
A purpose of Scientology is to trigger and clear traumatic memories of these past lives via audits.
They unlock knowledge by doing this, and achieve a higher spiritual state, or “clear”.
Scientology believes in two distinct parts of the mind: the reactive mind, which holds trauma, and the analytical mind, which holds rationality.
Dianetic auditing sessions are essentially counselling sessions with a trained auditor to unlock trauma from past lives.
The religion believes that people have abilities that they have not yet unlocked but can obtain by progressing further up the levels of Operating Thetan (OTs) in the “Bridge to Total Freedom”.
Controversy surrounds the religion, from the alleged high prices for auditing sessions and pressure ex-Scientologists say they have felt to donate large sums of money to the organization, to underpaying their workers.
Ethan Suplee’s Relationship With Scientology
A New York Times article about American director Milton Katselas’ acting school mentions that despite the immaculate reviews, some students left due to a felt pressure to join the Church of Scientology.
Katselas credits the founder of Scientology, Ron Hubbard, for his success, and it is a widespread notion in Hollywood that association with Scientology is a route to success.
This has been suggested by Ethan Suplee, who starred in the hit television series My Name Is Earl. His co-star Jason Lee is also a former Scientologist.
Suplee has indeed had success in Hollywood, featuring in high grossing films such as The Wolf Of Wall Street and American History X.
Scientology’s publications are not available to the public, but it is reported that Suplee was featured in the 2004 edition of their Celebrity magazine.
He was allegedly a member of the tight Ribisi clan, a group of celebrity Scientologists, many of whom have since left the religion.
Suplee has been photographed at Scientology gatherings with other celebrities such as John Travolta.
He is married to Brandy Lewis, who is a devout Scientologist herself.
Brandy Lewis, and her sister, Juliette Lewis, were raised with the influence of Scientology.
Their father, Geoffrey Lewis, was an OT 5 level Scientologist before he died, and the family is known for being actively involved in the religion.
A-List celebrities such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta are also high profile Scientologists.
Although Suplee has not publicly spoken about his affiliation with the religion, it is thought that he is a Scientologist from his involvement with the organization.