Tom Cruise Attacked by German Church As 'Goebbels of Scientology'

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HOLLYWOOD - The German Protestant Church has attacked Tom Cruise over his Scientology beliefs, likening the actor to the Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.

Cruise is playing World War II hero Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg--who led an unsuccessful plot to assassinate Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler--in new film Rubicon, formerly titled Valkyrie.

However, efforts to shoot the movie on military sites have been thwarted by Germany's Defense Ministry, allegedly because Cruise's Scientology beliefs are viewed as a "moneymaking cult" instead of a legitimate church by the German government.

And now the German Protestant Church has further ignited the feud by comparing the actor to one of Hitler's closest allies, renowned for his zealous and outspoken nature.

Thomas Gandow, the Church's chief spokesman on religious cults, dismissed Cruise's controversial religion as a "totalitarian organization" with the Top Gun star equivalent to "the Goebbels of Scientology."

Gandow added, "This film (Rubicon) will have the same propaganda advantages for Scientology as the 1936 Olympics had for the Nazis."

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